SAYONARA DIAPERS!!

Although we haven't blogged about it all that much, even though we should have, over the last month and a week (starting the Monday after Easter to be exact) we have been potty training Isabelle and are so proud to say that she has it down...both #1 and #2!

Accessorizing!

We introduced Isabelle to the potty when she was around 18 months old so she is familiar with it and has gone a few times here and there when WE wanted to work with her on it but, we never forced the issue. After her 2n birthday we started working on it some more but she was still in a diaper at least 50% of the time. Before Easter weekend, I spoke with one of Isabelle's teachers about wanting to start potty training her that following Monday and wondering what they do in school (since she is there 3 full days a week) to assist with the process. Ms. Amanda told me that its easy; bring her to school in underwear with lots of extra socks, underwear and pants and they will start her "cold turkey"...no Pull Ups and no diapers (besides at nap time). She also mentioned that there were 2 other kids who just started so the three of them will have a potty team. So with the whole family on board, since we all have turns watching her during the week, we agreed upon no more diapers besides for nap time or long trips.

At Mia's 2nd Birthday Party with Paul

We started with her hardcore on Easter weekend-no diapers besides for nap and bedtime. She had a few accidents on Saturday but all in all did really good. As mentioned in our Easter post, she actually told me during the church service she had to go potty so we figured she was on her way.

Michael took her to school in a diaper the first day of school potty training so when I picked her up there was no report on how her first day of potty training went. He didn't want to chance an accident in the car ride over, which is understandable, but the teacher who Isabelle came into school to that morning did not relay the message to Ms. Holly that today was "P-Day". To ease Micheal's concern, beside having a "piddle pad" in her car seat, he took her to school in a diaper with a pair of panties over them so the teacher would just have to take off the diaper and she would be ready to start her day of potty training.

The first "real day" was insane! I picked her up in clothes that her school let her borrow since she had gone through everything we had brought in-4 outfits! Needless to say we had laundry to do that night. Then the next 2 days were great...only two accidents-one per day! We were shocked on how quickly she took to using the potty and knowing when to go. At home that first weekend we asked her frequently and we have to admit she had some accidents at home (#1 & #2) since we weren't on top of it like they are at school.

Kyle Chapman's 1st Birthday Party-ARGH!

The second week of school she had no accidents on the first day but the second day she had two of them-both #1 and #2. Now #2's were our problem. Isabelle is sent home with reports from her teachers letting us know how/what she did and learned as well as what/how much she ate, if she slept and how long and how many times she went to the bathroom and if it were "p.p" or a "bm". We noticed that for about 3 days (home with Grandmama that Wednesday then back at school for the last 2 days of the week) that she hadn't pooped which wasn't a good sign (WARNING: the following may not be for everyone but it is what it is-POOP). I was starting to worry until over that weekend, she was out on the patio playing and she suddenly stopped and got quiet. I knew exactly what was going on so I quickly picked her up and said, "hold on! lets go poo poo in the potty." I ran her into the bathroom, sat her down on her Elmo seat and nothing! I think I either scared it back in or she had stage fright. We went back out and she continued playing for about 15 minutes and then that same look came across her face...that stare of concentration :) I waited a few seconds, slowly walked over to her and picked her up, told her to keep pushing out the poo-poo and as I sat her down onto her potty seat, she did it...right into the potty and had to push more out! We clapped and praised her as she was waving and saying "bye bye" to her poo-poo as she flushed it down :)

Her third week was a little on the shaky side...she had 3 accidents at school that week and a few at home. We had Mia's 2nd birthday party that weekend and even there she had 3 accidents; within a 5 hour time period! I am betting it on too much fun that she didn't want to stop and tell me she had to go potty because the rest of the weekend was accident free!

Week four was GREAT! No accidents at school (her teachers are shocked on how quickly she picked it up) and only one at Grandmama's-she didn't make it to the potty fast enough. Over that weekend we went and celebrated Kyle's 1st birthday and even there, an unfamiliar place to her, she told me she had to do and she went #1 and #2. But that was also the day I noticed that her right eye was not looking so good. It kept watering and getting bugary (is that even a word?) and the next morning it seemed to have the same thing going on in her other eye.

On Tuesday of the following week, when I was in Orlando on business, she was sent home from school with what they thought was "pink eye"-YUCK! I will have to say, this kid is a trooper. For the 3 days we had to keep her home, and with yucky eyes and a runny nose (we think its allergies but kept giving her the drops that the doctor prescribed her), she kept right on track with telling everyone when she had to go potty. One night she woke up at some point with poop in her Pull Up, took it off, reached through the slats in her crib and put the poopie Pull Up on her bedside table, put her jammie shorts back on (both legs in one hole) then went back to sleep! When he went to get her up for school, her bed was wet and Michael wondered what the heck happened. She pointed to her bedside table and said "poo poo diaper" and he immediately put the pieces together realizing what she had done. Too funny!

Cheesy butt in Vegas!

This past weekend we headed out to Las Vegas and as we mentioned above, we put her in pull ups or a diaper for nap/bed time or long trips and Vegas is about a 4 1/2 drive. Mom/Grandmama, Michael, Isabelle (in her pull up) and I piled into the car for our road trip and with only 2 pit stops, she made it all the way through without going potty in her pull up! We stopped at Jack in the Box in Baker and she went there and also again as we approached the strip. She had no accidents at Leo and Kathy's nor for the ride home except for one time and that was all my fault. We stopped at the outlets in Primm to see about getting Mom a new pair of sandals for Mother's Day. We were in our 3rd shop and Isabelle told me she had to go potty. I told her OK...hang on; as I had flashbacks of that same morning at breakfast and the fact that she said she had to go 4 times and didn't go once when I took her...you all know that game! Well, as Mom was trying on the last pair of sandals sure enough I see Isabelle crouching in her stroller seat in a puddle of pee. OK, lesson learned :)

Potty training was not/is not as bad as we had thought (and dreaded) it would be. Isabelle is still in a pull up or diaper at nap/bed time but more and more frequently she is waking up dry. I am thinking that we may have purchased our last package of diapers a few weeks back :) I also think we may have to dig out some of her 18 month clothes because without a diaper, she has nothing to hold her size 24 month and 2T bottoms up! The End :)