Potty Training
So this is my first try at potty training, only having one child. I must admit that I was dreading the day that I had to start potty training Makenna but decided that we would start when she turned two. Well, after dragging my feet a bit more we officially started one month after she turned two. Since she had just had a birthday one of the gifts that she got was an easel, so I waited until her first day of potty training to set it up and let her play on it…mostly because it would entice her to stay on the tile and away from the carpet when accidents were inevitable:-) We did the bare bottomed approach and with only 4 accidents the first day by the afternoon she was going 100% of the time in the toilet! And yes, they all managed to happen on the tile. I was amazed!! We stayed indoors for a few days mostly because it might be weird for me to bring my toddler around in public with no pants; but when we did go out I reverted back to a diaper so I didn’t have to deal with public restrooms yet. It took us about a month of somewhat inconsistent bare bottomed potty training at home to get her to the point of underwear but she is finally at that stage now. We still haven’t ventured out of the house yet without diapers because Makenna will still fall asleep in the car and she does not have the control yet when she is sleeping. Although I have had to face my phobias of public restrooms several times lately because she will ask to go and use the toilet instead of going in her diaper when we are out and about. I am so proud of her:-) She is doing amazingly well and I am hoping for no reverting once her baby brother is born. I have to share this cute potty training picture; all decked out and ready for pottying.
Big Girl Bed
Although potty training has gone relatively well, knock on wood, we are still in the transitional phase of the big bed situation. We just put in Makenna's new twin mattress, moved out baby furniture (crib, changing table, and rocking chair), strapped furniture to the walls, and decked out her room with curtains and new bedding. I am confident that she is old enough to transition into a “big girl” bed, hopefully without too much chaos. We wanted to switch her with enough time before the new baby is born and takes over the crib. And when I had enough energy to deal with the possibility of waking up early with a toddler in our room and nap time catastrophes:-) At night from the get-go she seemed to do very well, which I think also accounts for the fact that Makenna is a bit afraid of the dark. So venturing out of her room in the middle of the night is not too enticing for her, thank goodness. She did however greet us cheerily the first morning by coming into our room and announcing “I awake!”; that made both Toby and I giggle a little until we looked at the clock (6:00am). Much to our dismay though, nap time didn't go as smoothly as she was enjoying the “freedom” that her bed allowed her. Without the threat of darkness during nap time she felt inclined to come out of her room numerous times, play in her closet, and essentially hold the power in her hands to just not nap. The first day she came out her her room 20+ times over an hour and a half and then just decided not to nap. On that day I did very much did have a meltdown and wondered why I was torturing myself with this. I used to watch Super Nanny do this with the parents and wonder why the parents had such a hard time with it; well now I know how draining it really is. The second day she only came out of her room once at nap time and played with her radio and in the closet for 10-20 minutes and then fell asleep. The third day she didn't come out of her room but played for almost an hour before crying out for me to tuck her back in and then she fell asleep. Day four through now, almost two weeks later, she has been doing well at naps and will sometimes get out of bed to play with her radio or read a book but she doesn't do that for long before climbing back in bed to fall asleep. And I am happy to report that she actually stays in her room even after she wakes up in the morning or at nap time until Toby or I go in and get her. I find that very impressive; hopefully it lasts:-) Here is a picture of how pleased Makenna was the first day in her new “Big Girl” bed.
