Potty trained!

Yes, my 22 month old is potty trained!  We are sooo excited and so proud of little Claire for being such a big girl.  I know some train a lot earlier and probably most around 3, but Claire was ready all on her own.  

Here's the story.  About 6 months ago, we bought her her own "potty."

We also got this one for upstairs:

We weren't planning on starting any time soon, but just wanted to get it and maybe start opening her up to the idea with it being in the bathroom.  My goal was to try in August or September before baby #2 arrives, but even then I knew it was a little early and I wasn't very optimistic.  Every now and then she would come in with us and sit on it in her underwear and read this book we got her.  

Then in March, she took off her diaper and sat down for about 15 minutes.  I got all excited and waited and waited, but nothing came.  Oh well.  She was starting to get it. 

Nothing ever really happened again for a couple of months, until last Thursday (June 7th).  I was working at my desk, Ben was in his office, and Claire was in the kitchen. She took off her diaper and went into the bathroom and sat on the potty.  I followed her but she wouldn't let me in the room with her.  She had to have the door shut and said, "Bye, momma" so I let her go and went back to my desk thinking nothing about it.   I heard the door open and she went into Ben's office saying, "Ew, daddy, ew."  She took his hand and led him back to the bathroom where he saw her wonderful work.  #1 and #2, he got all excited and told me to hurry and come so I did and couldn't believe it. We then flushed it down the toilet together and got her a sucker for her big girl job! YAY.  We were excited and I decided to just go for it!  Why not?  

{I'm writing the whole story for our journal, but feel free to read it all:)  }

Day 1: was horrible.  After her first success, I put her in underwear and she had at least 5 accidents without anymore successes that day.  I was super frustrated and ready to give up. That night I cried and didn't know what to do.  I didn't want to go back after I felt like she "got it" and didn't want to repeat that day.  

Day 2: I woke up with a new resolve and wanted to keep going.  I didn't have anything going all day and wanted to focus on it all day without any interruptions.   I got her up, took off her diaper, and noticed it was completely dry!  I took her right to the toilet and she went #1. Great way to start the day. We had 3 tiny accidents in a row after that but then the rest of the day was nearly 100%!

Since she doesn't say a whole lot, I didn't know how we were going to get her to let us know when she needed to go.   We were both learning as we went, but what worked was when I would ask her, "Do you need to go potty?" every 20 minutes, and if she needed to go, she would start walking towards the bathroom, if she didn't, she would shake her head or continue what she was doing.  

Ben left for the weekend with my brother to join his dad and some friends to hike the Subway (like we did here), which is part of the Narrows, so my mom invited Claire and me down to Lagoon to join them for a couple of hours (just to walk around)... and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go.  I didn't really want to leave our routine and the comfort of our place with the potty training, but I put her in a pull-up and decided to go for it.  We were there for 2 hours and tried twice to put her on the toilets (with no success... the toilet flushed while she was on it and it scared her out of trying the rest of Lagoon).  I felt her pull-up as we were leaving and it was dry!  I was so impressed, but knew she'd probably let it go on the drive home (which she did).   Then we were back to normal at home.  

Day 3:  was great.  She hadn't gone #2 since Thursday morning and I knew it was probably just because this was a new deal and she didn't feel totally comfortable yet.  She did go Saturday morning just a little bit, but she got so excited to dump it in the toilet that she probably could have gone more.  

We decided to join my family and try boating that day.  I put her in a swim diaper and up we went.  She went #1 when she came to the beach and saw/heard the waves to get on the boat (understandable), but didn't go again until we got back to my parent's house, where she went in the toilet.  I had a wedding the rest of the day, but she did great with my mom with just one little accident.  She was put in a pull-up for the night. 

Day 4: She and I were back at our home and ready for another day.  The first couple of days were hard for both of us, but by Sunday I was much more chill about it. I knew that she was getting it, that we weren't going back to diapers, and I knew it was a process and that there wasn't a rush.  She would get it and it would be worth it. I was just so proud of her for what she'd already done.  We chilled that morning, had a #2 a couple of #1's in the toilet, and headed off to church.  I dropped her off at nursery and told the leader that we were potty training and just to ask her now and then if she needed to go.  During hour 2, I thought about going to check on her but didn't want to her to get all upset when I left again so I decided I'd just let her wet her pull-up and not worry about it that day.  The leader came towards the end of primary and told me that this time when she asked Claire if she needed to go potty, Claire got all excited and looked like she did.  I took her to the big toilets and she went!  (kinda sprayed on us both), but I was so proud!  Dry pull-up!!  

She was 100% the rest of the day, with one minor accident that was totally my fault.  We were at my parent's for dinner and I got interested in the conversation, not paying attention to Claire and the fact that she had run to the bathroom and was yelling for me. By the time I got to her, she was holding onto the toilet, standing there with a "you're too late mom" look on her face.  I felt so bad.  She had been ready to go #2 on the toilet but I wasn't paying attention.  We live and learn:)

Love this cute wedgie-bum: 

Day 5:  I would call her potty trained today!  We will still probably have an accident or two each day for a week or so, but we did it and WE ARE SO PROUD OF HER!!  

 FYI: we have some normal thin underwear like these (for wearing around our house, except I don't love this brand because she always has a wedgie... a cute one though), some training pants like these (for when we aren't at our house but still near a "potty" toilet like at my parent's house, or for nap times), and we have Huggies pull-ups for night time and public. 

Anyway, there ya go!  NO MORE DIAPERS!!   (Until October....)