Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Potty On, Dude

This Spring Break may go down in history as the Break of Bodily Functions and Minor Disasters. Thankfully, as of this moment, Jen and I have managed to escape Natalie's stomach bug (god, I hope I haven't cursed us by saying that). And the other bodily functions are much more exciting, as they involve new steps and milestones.

Natalie has been mostly diaperless around the house of late. She either goes bare, or wears training pants, and has become more reliable about telling us when she needs to pee. Within the last few weeks, she has also started asking to pee when we're out, but has been intimidated by big, loudly flushing toilets in public restrooms, so has quickly given up on attempts to pee, and has more often ended up holding it until she floods her diaper so quickly that she soaks her clothes as well.

Yesterday we had a breakthrough. While shopping at the brand new Target (first one in the city--a block from my school), Natalie demanded "pee potty right now!" We made our way to the family restroom, where I held her over the toilet and she peed! She nearly exploded with pride right then and there. Next we went to hang out with some friends, where she did the same thing on their big toilet. Her diaper remained dry all morning.

After her nap, we decided to build on her success and let her wear training pants while we ran a few more errands (a feat not yet attempted in - rather, out of - this household). She peed in two more public restrooms (at her request) and stayed dry. On the way home, I cut a corner too close and flattened our tire. We were convinced that the delay while changing the flat would kill our potty success for the day. Amazingly, it did not.

The flat has killed our plans to go to Baltimore today, but we're on day 3 of no diapers (except sleeping) and no accidents. Apparently the Easter Bunny was right on in adding big girl underpants to her Easter Basket.

Next on the list: handling the pooping fear. Luckily, Natalie picked up some potty reading from her aunt this weekend, so she's up for the challenge. I'm not sure we are, but only time will tell.


6 Comments:

  • OMG, this is greatest picture!! :)
    Congrats to Natalie and to you girls on the diaper accomplishment!!

    By Blogger JS, at 11:38 AM  

  • Go Natalie!
    I love the idea of big girl underpants in the Easter basket.

    By Blogger Lo, at 12:04 PM  

  • Lo, I rolled them up and stuffed them into carrot-shaped plastic eggs. She was acceptably impressed, but more excited by the very small chocolate bunny (the only edible thing in the basket).

    By Blogger Cait, at 12:07 PM  

  • Go N!! :-)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:33 PM  

  • Eh, well, she just had an accident when we went out to play, but I suppose that's to be expected. We'll see what the rest of the week brings...

    By Blogger Cait, at 3:11 PM  

  • Having 2 girls who hate those auto-flusheres (as do I!), I purchased some larger bandaids and stickers at the dollar store and carried those in the purse for years. Around here, the auto-flush "eye" is mounted in the wall behind the toilets. I just slapped a sticker/bandaid over the toilet's "eye" so it can't register any movements. Cheap solution!

    As they're older (and you don't need 2 hands to help them go potty) just put your hand over the "eye". As long as you don't move your hand (or sticker/bandaid), it won't flush!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:36 PM  

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