The proof is in the potty

After MONTHS of tears, frustration, agonizing and many, many dollars spent on Pull-Ups, it has finally happened!!!

Emma. Is. Potty. Trained.

It is a miracle.
Or at least it feels like one.

I really was beginning to doubt if this day would ever happen. We have been fighting (literally on some days) for months about this. Ever since her 3 year 'well check' when the pediatrician essentially scolded me because (GASP!) Emma wasn't yet potty trained...I have been waiting for this day.

We tried everything on the road to potty training.
We bribed her.
We yelled. (Which, for the record, DOES NOT work).
She cried.
I almost cried a few times.
We begged.
We pleaded.
We bargained ("If you pee on the potty we'll buy you a Leapster. Or a pony. Or an Annual Pass to Walt Disney World.")**

Nothing worked.

This potty time struggle went on for weeks and weeks.
I was beginning to think that Emma would forever be in Pull-Ups.

And then, this week something clicked.
The light went on.
And the proof was in the potty.

Now, Emma is refusing to wear a Pull-Up for anything (even at bedtime...but we fought her on that and won. She's not quite ready for the all-night-without-a-Pull-Up marathon.)

She is SO proud of herself and what she has accomplished!
It only took 6 1/2 months of trying...but she did it!

Every time she runs to the bathroom Kevin and I look at each other and (1) smile and (2) breath a huge sigh of relief.

She's a big girl now!


**Emma's "reward" for potty training success? A Buzz Lightyear, just like the one in Toy Story. Totally her choice. She's so happy about Buzz that she now takes him everywhere.

It's time to potty....or so I've been told

Today the girls had their annual "well check" visits with the pediatrician, and before we even walked through the doors, I knew I would get a lecture from our doctor. And no, it wasn't because I let them have TVs in their bedrooms, or because I feed them chicken nuggets three or four times a week.

You see, now that Emma is 3 years old, it's all about the potty training.

Or in our house, the lack of potty training.

First question from the doctor: So, is Emma potty trained?

Not yet. We're working on it.

"Well you know Mom, she SHOULD be potty trained by now."

Yes, and I should also weigh 125 pounds and be a size 8, but I'm not. Poop happens. And at our house, it still happens in the Pull-ups.*

We're trying. Really we are. But it's not easy. It's not easy for us. It's not easy for Emma, who for three years has been using her diaper as her potty. This isn't an overnight kind of thing. [And no, I don't want to hear about your overnight success stories if you have one.]

Every day Emma says this: "Emma tell mommy when I have to go potty." And she does. AFTER the fact. We had a couple of days where she really was going ON the potty. But those days are gone and we're back to square one.

I just don't need our pediatrician to tell me that she should ALREADY be potty trained. She just turned 3 a week ago. In my mind, she's not behind the curve. She still on track. The train just happens to be delayed a bit.

We will get there. It might not happen this week. Or next week. Or this month. But it will happen. And when it does, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll post the news right here, guaranteeing Emma years of therapy because Mommy just HAD to write about poop.


*I didn't REALLY say that to the doctor. Although I could have. I merely said "yes, we're working on it" and left it at that.

Poop! In the potty!

Yes, I'm once again writing about poop.

I make no apologies for this - I have two kids, one of whom is learning how to use the potty.

And today, we had a small success (but really, when it comes to potty training...any success is good!).

I found Emma standing the family room in what I like to call her "poop stance" - she stands very still with a look of sheer concentration on her face until she does the dirty deed.

"Emma, are you poopy?"

"No."

"Do you need to go potty?"

"Yes. Emma go on potty."

And so, I set Em on the potty and well....she pooped.

And I jumped up and down yelling "Yay Emma! You POOPED ON THE POTTY!"

My favorite moment: when we flushed and Emma said "bye bye poopy!!" while waving at the swirling toilet water.

I'm hoping this was the first of many potty training success.

Yay poop.

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Update 8:03 pm: So, I just changed yet another poopy diaper. So much for success.

Another post where I talk about poop

As any mom with a toddler/preschooler (read: 3 year old) will tell you....potty training is never easy. Oh sure, there are books out there claiming you can POTTY TRAIN YOUR CHILD IN 20 MINUTES! (OK, so I think it's really two days, but c'mon...seriously) .... but it's really not that easy.

I have yet to find a tried-and-true method to get my kid to sit on the potty and do her business.

And believe me, I've tried just about everything.

When we were potty training Olivia we were essentially clueless (as most first-time parents are...and if anyone tries to tell you they knew EXACTLY what they were doing...they're lying! Yeah, I went there). We had potty training charts (thank you, Huggies), we had potty training books ("Potty Time with Elmo" was my personal favorite, although our copy said "Uh-oh! Who wants to die?!" rather than "Uh-oh! Who has to go?" You think I'm joking? I'm not.). We also had prizes and we bribed and we pleaded and finally, in April 2007, Olivia was potty trained.

Yes, she was 3 years 3 months old. We almost had her potty trained BEFORE she turned 3, but then Emma was born and Olivia reverted back to 'wanting' to be in diapers (just like the pediatrician said she would). And we actually accomplished the potty training in about a week. The 'overnight' training would take a few more months.

And now, Emma is almost 3 years old.
And we've been trying for a few months to just get here interested in sitting on the potty....to no avail.

We've tried telling her that EVERYONE sits on the potty and then she proceeds to list everyone she knows (Nana, Papa, Daddy, Mommy, Sissy, Mady, Tami, Jon and boy). "Boy" would be my almost-two-year-old nephew Cameron ... Em just calls him "boy". When I say "No, boy doesn't sit on the potty", Em says "No Emma sit on potty!"

Great.

The frustrating part is this: Emma tells us she needs to be changed as soon as it happens. "Mama, pee!" or "Daddy!!! Poopy!!!!" are heard daily around here. [And I'm going to talk poop for a second - for the record, a 3 year old's poop is NOTHING like a baby's poop.] So, it's not as if she ENJOYS walking around with a soiled pull-up. Nope. She just refuses to even TRY.

I tell her every single day that she needs to try and that it would be so "cool" to get princess underwear and it all just goes in one ear and out the other. While I KNOW that you can't force a child to get potty trained, it would be so nice if she would just show a little bit of interest in at least TRYING.

So, all you moms out there who might be reading this blog -- what worked for you in the quest to potty train your toddler?

I suppose as someone who has already successfully potty trained one child, I shouldn't be asking for advice, but what worked for us with Olivia is NOT working with Emma. And I'd really like to have Em potty trained before the end of 2010.