Potty time

Why not?  Since the pace is hectic around here anyway, we decided to add potty training to the mix.  Really, I am so sick of changing Ella's diapers.  It is incongruent with the rest of her to still be in them... she is Miss Independent, mature and always showing us how much she knows and can pick up on.  Diapers don't make sense.  And since I can hardly brush my teeth each day, let alone get the three of us out of the house, we are usually close to her potty.

So Scott and I started talking up the "Princess Diapers" (aka Pull-Ups) and did not get much of a response from Ella.  Then we bought some and they sat there.  So I decided to put one on her the other day to make the whole thing a little more real and see what happened.  Well, she has taken to it pretty well so far.  She had 4 successful attempts at using the potty on the first day and has done really well ever since.  She is learning to tell when she has to go and will sometimes alert us before the diaper is ruined.  She of course loves the praise and one-on-one attention that comes with her successes and if we are not quick enough to praise her, she reminds us.  "I'm so proud of you, Mommy!"  

Ella's independence and tendency to be perfectionistic (sometimes) seem to be helping out as well, but we have to keep an eye on her.  When she noticed how impressed we were with her first "poopie", she thought that was the thing to produce and would try and force more.  We managed to convince her that either type was okay and just trying was also great.  Her favorite remains the poopie, though, and she likes especially to use all of her favorite adjectives to describe it... "Mommy, it's a big, new, HUGE one!"  (Big, new and huge are Very Important Words and she uses them often)  Our next challenge will be to generalize using the potty to Other Places... something that defies my comprehension at this point.  I am more than happy to bust out a regular old diaper for any trips out right now.

We are working toward the grand prize of Dora panties.  They are waiting for us at Target and we visit them often, waiting for that happy day when diapers are very nearly a thing of the past!

Hmmm... a whole post on using the potty.  Who'd of thought?