another reason to smile

Autumn is potty training. And she is doing very, very well. The afternoon after I returned from NYC (I got back fairly late on the 8th), I was attempting to change "Missy's" diaper and she was goofing off/being uncooperative. Nothing new. I mean, really...how many times do we encounter that as parents while a child is a diaper-wearer?!?! But, for whatever reason, it clicked. I was done. Finished. I finally had the desire and the "uumph" to officially embark on the path of 'getting her out of diapers'. Sure, I wanted her to potty train before now. Sure, I wanted no more of the nasty changes, leaky times and screams due to rashes. However, one thing you might not know about me is that I HATE potty training. With a passion. And I don't use that word lightly. Ask the boys. I'm always trying to encourage them to not say hate, but rather say "don't like" and save the word "hate" for those few things that really, truly fit the definition. This ABSOLUTELY fits the definition for me. In general, and without deeply pondering it all for days, I believe the only thing about parenting that I HATE even more than potty training is dealing with vomit (and 'it out the other end'). But, I digress. SOOO, for me to 'feel the urge' (no pun intended) to potty train is a significant, marvelous thing! Anyway, I asked Autumn if she wanted to put on a pull-up. She said yes excitedly. Never have used pull-ups before, but my friend Karyn gave me about half(?) a box of them after she used them for the first time to get her son (who is 6 months older than A) potty-trained. They were blue and Cars-themed (Autumn didn't know what Cars was, which her cousin Shaelyn might be appalled to learn) :)...she didn't care. I had to explain what a pull-up entailed, and I tried to make certain she understood...she agreed to it. And she even stayed dry 'til after Peter got home from work 3-4 hours later. She did pretty well those first few days. She peed a time or two (or three--and maybe one day, a fourth or fifth time) in her pull-up every day, but the great part was that I wasn't growling or yelling. Or having to clean up messes on the chair or carpet or her clothes. (She was perfect with pooping, by the way.) It was terrrr-ific!!! She did end up 'doing #2' in her pull-up 3 days in a row, which I was really disappointed with, but I calmly expressed my feelings to her and gave her some mild consequence (like no piece of candy; she asks for that several times a day). On Monday the 15th, she only had one (pee) accident in her pull-up...! And the next day, she stayed dry ALL DAY...! On the morning of the 17th, she protested when Peter was changing her out of her diaper (she's still been needing to wear them at night; she's not as soaked first thing like she used to be, but she is still rather wet) and starting to put a pull-up on her; she wanted to wear UNDERWEAR. I was nervous, but she had been doing well overall, and I knew eventually she was going to move out of pull-ups, and if SHE wanted to take the next step, then I had to support her. She did well all day until that evening when she and Ethan got playing. I'd asked her before she went downstairs if she needed to go, and she said no, and since I was busy, I let it be. A short while later, she came upstairs whimpering and walking funny. Lo and behold, her pants were soaked. I grumbled at her, but I was calm. I made sure I firmly let her know though that THAT was not OK. And I was kinda irked with myself 'cause I should've just taken her to the bathroom instead of asking her if she needed to go. On that matter, I realized somewhere in that previous weekend (I think) that we needed to quit asking her and just take her, but of course, I still had times where I was just asking her. (Initially, I was setting a timer, but that quickly fizzled out.) Anyway, on the 18th, she...wait for it...was DRY in her UNDERWEAR ALL DAY!! Yip-pee (no pun intended)...! The next day, she only peed a little bit--just enough to require a change of pants. On Saturday, she was DRY. Even her diaper was dry after she took a 3 hour nap. Yesterday she did perfectly. And today, more of the same--and she took another nap since Katie is arriving here past her bedtime. ......What can I say??!? I'm elated. Thrilled. So proud of her. So, so, SO grateful it has gone this well. Especially since I HATE potty training, remember. Oh, I should mention that fairly early on, she was able to go to the bathroom by herself, though usually she wants someone to go with her. And I don't leave the wiping of a #2 to her. I'm too anal (again, no pun intended) for that. It's cute to see her wearing her Curious George underwear I bought for her at least a year ago, since she's our 'monkey girl' and I wasn't sure if C.G. would still be "in" when she potty trained. Can't resist giving her little underweared bum a squish. :) (She also has Sleeping Beauty underwear from her birthday from Grandma Lis & Papa Phil.) As it turns out, we used up all the Cars pull-ups and started in on a package of girl Wal-Mart brand pull-ups. Only used a handful. Now I get to decide who will be the lucky recipient of our 'hand-me-down pull-ups'... :)