Potty Training Details

But first, a photo, since I seem to be slacking on that front...
And now... the gory potty details:

Stickers didn't work, celebration didn't work. The secret to our success: M&Ms

After a lot of trial and error, I realized what worked best for Victoria was reward for the little things.

We started out asking her if she needed to go, but after seeing some advice on a free DVD, they made a point for changing wording to "Okay, potty break time!" Which worked well in the beginning - of course, if you ask a toddler if they need to go, they'll say NO - it's in their nature!

Regular M&Ms for #1, peanut for #2. If all goes well, she got between 2 and 4 M&Ms with each potty visit.

The first step was recognizing her if her diaper/pullup/underwear was dry when we got into the bathroom ("Are your undies wet or dry? Dry? WooHoo!!!")

Next was to go potty, wipe, wash hands, etc. When all is cleaned up, we go to the packages of M&Ms. If V just peed, she would get two regular M&Ms, and I would explain that one was for dry undies, and one was for peeing in the potty. Ditto with Peanut M&Ms.

We started with peanut M&Ms and realized quickly they were the perfect motivator. She would get one for pooping in the potty, but she would get TWO if ALL the poop was in the potty (as opposed to starting in her pullup, then going on the potty).

We had a little bit of a tough time explaining that the M&M reward isn't a forever thing, but I explained to Victoria as the bags were getting emptier (I was only using small packets of candy) that they were almost gone, and once they were gone, she was to go in the potty because that's where big girls go. So far, so good!

Of course there are still a few accidents here and there, mostly when she's too distracted to realize she needs to go until it's too late.

Hmmm... what else? Victoria is now only in pullups for naptime and at night (and the occasional long trip, depending on where we're going). And so far it's gone much smoother than I anticipated. We're not having nearly the issues I thought we would with having to be out and about needing to find a bathroom.

I think we've cut back on her overall liquid intake a bit, too. She still gets a drink whenever she wants one, but we're not offering water/juice/milk constantly. I think that cuts down on accidents as well.

Well, it's taken me over a week to get this post out, but hopefully it works for someone!

Please take a moment today

To hop over to Manna's blog and wish her a very happy birthday.

To Manna: Happy Birthday to my dear, dear friend. I'm so glad we're still friends after all these years. I just wish we were closer together to celebrate. I love you, and miss you.

A couple videos

Victoria's newest song: Ring around the rosie, poca poca rosies, ashes, ashes we all fall down! As you can tell by the video, she's out of breath because she does this nonstop for 10 minutes straight! It's her alternative to not jumping on the bed.


And talking to Busha on the phone... I tried to catch her when she was really chatty, but missed. Still too cute!

Fall Spring Cleaning

In an effort to declutter Victoria's bedroom and make it a little more toddler-friendly, I just went through and pulled out any clothes that are or will soon be too small for her.

So, to Jeff & Marie, Natalie, and Manna... Head's up! Many outfits are coming your way soon! Everything on the dresser top and the closet floor are too small.

Now, half of her closet, all her baskets, and half her dresser drawers are empty!

Other goings on: We had our first white-trash weekend at our house last week. We ended up with three trailers, three families camping out and had a blast. With the exception of course of our monster, man-eating, killer mosquitoes!

Shrinking!

Well, not really, but I am finding out that a Victoria sans-diaper needs smaller clothes (at least when it comes to shorts and capri's). Meaning that it's still going to be a little while before she's out of her 18-24 month and 2T clothes!

Some capri's have become more like bermuda shorts, which are just as trendy for now!

Though the shirts are getting a little tight, and a little short, and the 2T pants are just starting to get too short. Not that she spends much time in pants these days.

I do fear we'll run into the same problem we've had in the past for pants, where the waist is going to be far too big when we get pants in the length Victoria needs.

She's been much better about trying whatever food we're eating (steak, chinese, etc), partly due to a growth spurt in the past few weeks. Yet another reason pants aren't going to fit come fall.

Exciting Week!

Victoria has a play mate every day this week. Lauren's daughter Elisabeth (just turned 3) is hanging out, and (for the most part - they're still toddlers!) they're having a blast!
I make Victoria sing the alphabet when she washes her hands so she scrubs for long enough...

Random pics

Not to much out of the ordinary going on around here...

Some pictures of Victoria in her big girl bed



And just some other cute pics from the past few days.