Potty Training-WOO!, Terrible Twos-BOO!

First, potty training. With so much stuff out there and so many different opinions on when/how to do it, I read A LOT of stuff. But when it came down to formal training I used the methods described in an ebook, 3 Day Potty Training by Lora Jensen and Potty Training 1-2-3: What Works, How it Works, Why it Works by Gary Ezzo (author of the "Wise" series). They are both very easy reads. The biggest thing I realized is that I need to buy into whatever method I'm going to use and stick to it. Whether you choose to potty train in days, weeks, or months you have to stick to it. For the bulk of the training I stuck to the method by Lora Jensen. In a nutshell, you go "cold turkey", the child throws away all diapers and you don't ever go back or use pull-ups. You give liquids all day, praise for staying "clean & dry" and praise/rewards for going in the toilet (high fives and stickers work best for Audrey, M&Ms were good now and then). The biggest thing is that you only take her to the bathroom when she asks, shows signs of needing to go, or starts to have an accident. You don't try every 30 minutes or anything. You just say all day long "Tell Mama/Papa when you have to go potty." It's all about the child having ownership of it and making it a positive experience. Today is day 4, so I've done the 3 day method. Here's how our days went:

Day 1, Friday: Start time 7:30am, she had the bulk of her accidents in the morning. Accidents meaning she would start and I'd scoop her up and she'd finish in the toilet. Of course a few times none made it to the toilet. From 12-6 she was accident free, she only went in the toilet. What I noticed was that a few times she had caught herself, her panties had a little wet spot, but none made it to the floor. So, she was learning that she was about to have an accident, held it and ran to the bathroom. Another good thing was that she always went poo in the toilet. She woke up two times that night, so I tried to get her to go potty. But she never did, however she stayed dry the entire night. No sheets to change in the middle of the night! Which is what the method says to expect--since she wasn't consistently dry in the morning when she was wearing diapers.

Day 2, Saturday: She went potty right when we woke up. It was great and I was on a high from having, what I considered to be a very successful first day. Then she just wouldn't go. She didn't care about all the cute, tasty drinks I was offering her. She rarely gets juice and I even bought some things I normally wouldn't buy, but apparently the novelty of that wore off the first day. You could tell she was just thinking "Listen lady, I am not thirsty!" Then when she finally went after 4 hours, it was a huge mess all on the floor. She stopped dancing and singing and said "Oh no! Yucky!" The rest of the day didn't get much better. It was usually some in her panties, some in the toilet. And no poo in the toilet...enough said! She did wake up in the middle of the night again (not normal), but did go pee this time. She stayed dry the whole night again!

Day 3, Sunday: I had a meeting with 4 new members for the mom's group, so I left Paul alone for a few hours on this one. Of course right when I was leaving she messed her pants and I had to help Paul clean it up. Why? I don't know, I did it all by myself the day before. Hmmmm...anyhow, she had a couple accidents, but the rest was in the toilet. We used the least number of panties this day. Night 3 was also a dry night!

Day 4, Today: It's 2:50pm, she's had no accidents and has been going to the bathroom herself. Just drops what she is doing and goes. I'm still reminding her to tell us, like the method says you will continue to do for months anyway...just not 100 times a day like during the training. So, is Audrey fully potty trained? What does that even mean really? I know that she is doing well and that she was definitely ready. I also know I am staying close to home for a while, so that it really sinks in. We did venture to get drive-thru the other day and no accidents!

Okay, just a bit on "Terrible Twos". Well, I had decided that the Terrible Twos really started at 18 months...after listening to so many others experiences and seeing what Audrey went through. I was also told that at 2 it got better. WRONG! I officially take it back. Terrible Twos do start at 2. 18 month tantrums are just a preview...at least it was for us. All of a sudden, during the past week Audrey has started to so "No" to a lot of things. She used to be so helpful and cute and playful--ok, she still is most all the time, but now she will just scream. And I mean SCREAM, right at me! "NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" she'll say and fold her arms, scrunch her face up tight. I am hoping some of it is just presenting itself because we've been trapped in the house for the past 4 days with no visitors and a lot of our normal routine. I am officially inviting anyone over to help keep my sanity while I am home for a while for this potty training business! I'm actually very excited for my first sub job this Friday, though I feel a bit worried about how she'll act at Aunt Rae Lynne's!