Potty Training Tales

I'd like to say that we're almost done with potty training here, but when can you ever truly think that?   When you make it through a nap without a pull up?  or when you make it through the night with a dry diaper?  or when kindergarten starts? Just when I think Bailey is doing great, we have a day like today--pooping in the pool with friends and then peeing twice in a pull up.

You could say that I like potty training just as much as I like being pregnant--I'm not a big fan of either.  I really love the outcome of both items, but just wish that I could magically fast forward to the end result for both.  These are two instances in my life where I don't enjoy the journey at all.  Despite all the frustration with potty training, there are some rather funny moments:

Peanut Butter Ice Cream: 
Last week I wanted two things with all my heart--Bailey to stop pooping in her big girl panties and frozen yogurt.  Bailey had had a few bad days in a row in regards to doing #2 in her big girl panties and I was sick of it.  I am all about bribing her to go potty, so I told her that if she went poop in the potty we could go get ice cream (frozen yogurt) after dinner.  She thought about it for a moment, and then quietly asked from her car seat, "Peanut butter ice cream?"  I quickly thought about it and said, "Sure!"

Now why is this a big deal?  It is because we have been telling Bailey her whole life that she's allergic to peanuts.  Brian is allergic to peanuts so we were just being really cautious because allergic reactions to peanuts can be pretty severe.  She had an allergy test earlier in the year, and everything came back clear but we were still waiting on peanuts.  So Bailey knew that asking for and eating peanut butter ice cream would be a momentous occasion in her life.  It also shows what a little negotiator she is!  If I had known that all it would take was peanut butter to get her potty trained, it would have happened a long time ago! 

Once we got home she promptly went poop in the potty and so we all were rewarded with frozen yogurt.  Bailey ate a big bowl of it with tons of toppings and loved every last drop.  The next day she even ate her very first PB&J sandwhich for lunch.  Since then she has kind of come a peanut butter fanatic.  I might just start offering spoonfuls of peanut butter for rewards, but I worry she might turn into one of those huge kids on the Maury Povich show who eat ribs for dinner with baby bottles filled with soda.

Isn't it Ironic?:
One of the big rewards that I had posted for Bailey was a date to see the movie HOP.  I printed out a picture of it and taped it to the bathroom wall.  I told her that when she was totally done wearing diapers, we could go see the movie.  Last week was a pretty good week and Brian was home from work, so we took her to see the movie on Friday.  She was so excited to see it!!  She wanted her own drink and a tiny popcorn.  We sat in those front seats at the bottom of the stadium seating.  She laughed and danced through the whole movie.  She even asked to go to the bathroom during the movie.  Brian took her out, since I had Brooklynn asleep in my arms.  I was so proud of her! 

On the way out of the movie theater, she had a meltdown because of all the candy that she couldn't have.  It was also well past her nap time, so we were in dangerous territory.  Bailey is not one of those kids who you can just put in her crib and let her cry it out until she eventually calms down.  When she cries and is upset, it quickly escalates and spirals out of control rapidly.  In the car she continued to cry for the candy that she couldn't eat.  After about 10 minutes, she  quieted down but was still very upset.  As we drove home I reached back to hold her hand, but she wouldn't give me her hand.  She always gives me her hand, so I asked her what was wrong.  When I looked back she had THAT look on her face.  She had, in fact, peed her pants on the way home from her potty training reward.  Isn't that irony for you!  That is what Alanis Morissette should have sung about in her song.  I do take partial blame for the accident since we did push through her nap time.  But I guess accidents will happen no matter what the occasion.

Highlights:  She did make it through an entire day at Trisha's house with dry big girl panties!  She even made it through a nap without a pull up.  That means that she remembered to go potty even though she was playing with friends all day long.  I do feel like we're very close to being done, but I should just keep an extra outift in my car for a while.  She asks to go on her own all the time and doesn't even expect a reward.  She can do this!  We can do this!