Wait and Pee

Yesterday wasn't much to blog about, just a typical day where I got peed on and spit up on; but today came the unexpected---potty training!

At breakfast, Haleah asked to get down from the table to go "poop in toy room," as she typically says and does in the mornings. But today for some reason I asked her, "Do you want to try to go in big girl potty?" And she said, "Yes!"

So off we went to big girl potty. She wanted to use the regular potty with the Elmo seat, not the little potty that I bought her. She was afraid to sit up there at first, so we tried it with her pants on, then we tried it with her diaper on and finally we tried it with the bare bum. I gave Haleah a Reader's Digest to look at while she sat there. I "talked up" the potty, making it sound as exciting as possible. And she finally went pee! Yippee!

Haleah then went to her drawer in her room and pulled out her Dora underwear. I told her she could put them on because I was so proud of her. I told her as long as she was willing to try to go in the potty today, that she could wear the undies. A short time later, we went outside to the swing and Haleah started crying all of the sudden. The pee started to drip down her leg. I said, "Do you have to go potty?" She cried, "Yes!" I said, "That's okay. Let's go!" So I picked her and Kaelah up and ran to the potty. Haleah went pee in the potty again. And I gave her a couple of chocolate chips for doing a good job. This time I also put on Pull-Ups, and told the same thing--that she had to try to tell Mommy when she had to go and that I would take her to the potty. I used Pull-Ups because I want her to get used to the potty process before we go straight to underwear. And besides that, I haven't purchased many pairs of underwear for her yet, as there hasn't been a need until now.

By 9:30am, David was trying to get out the door and was frustrated with me and upset that I "wasn't watching the children" because they were bugging him while he was at the computer. I was like, "excuse me?" I mean, I was potty training one, nursing another, and chasing a third one who kept pulling her own pants down and taking her diaper off. Holy cow!

Over the course of the next few hours, I think Haleah was trying to train me. I swear that every 5 minutes Haleah kept telling me that she had to go potty. I was a wreck running back and forth to the potty, but I had to take her seriously, as I didn't want to put a damper on her growing up to be a big girl on the potty. But man, she ran me ragged! She wanted me to sit on the edge of the tub while she sat on the pot. And she wanted to hold pieces of toilet paper in her hand and rip tiny pieces to put into the potty while she sat there. I didn't have a minute to do one thing for myself this morning----including going to the bathroom! After a while I started to wonder if she just wanted to use the potty to get more chocolate chips. I couldn't figure it all out. But this was her day, so I let her lead. Poor Kaelah and Bekah took a spot on the back burner today. Kaelah kept sitting on her little potty, trying to "fit in." I think I can only manage to potty train one at a time with a newborn, however. And I don't think Kaelah is quite ready, though she does show willingness...

In the midst of all the potty stuff, I put Kaelah down for nap and nursed Bekah on the edge of the tub. I tried to put Haleah down for nap too at her regular time (noon), but she kept calling me from her bed, telling me she had to go. And she would go in the potty, but only a little bit each time, but she kept her Pull Up dry. Before I knew it, 2pm was rolling around and Haleah STILL hadn't napped. Normally, I would never let her out of bed so much, but on her first potty day I had to. She kept asking me for a diaper so she could poop, but I just kept bringing her to the potty to try. I couldn't give in, but wondered if I should. Finally, she napped, but only for an hour.

I forgot to mention that Haleah got to call both of her grandmothers and Aunt Mimi (Missy) to tell them about her using Big Girl Potty. It was very exciting. When Haleah woke up from nap, her Pull Up was still dry, and I was SO proud of her. I also took her straight to the potty. She told me she had to go poopy again (she still hadn't gone yet from her mention of it this morning). She was scared to go poopy, so I asked her if she wanted to eat watermelon on the potty while she waited to go (not the best idea that I ever had). It was super messy, and she kept trying to feed Kaelah a bite while up there, and no poopy ever came of it.

By dinner time, David came home and took her to the potty for a couple of rounds. She got excited to hear the pee drizzle into the potty. She thought it was funny. We gave her ice cream as a treat after that. She didn't really eat healthfully today because everything was so concentrated on sweets and treats for going potty. By this evening, I tried to revert to sticker rewards and need to make a Potty Chart tonight. This whole process just snuck up on me today and I wasn't fully prepared. I am wiped out!

The final potty moment of the day came when Haleah kept asking for a diaper after I got her pajamas on. I had taken her to the potty one last time before bed and told her this was her time to go. I switched roles with David so that I could take Bekah, and he tried to coax Haleah into pooping in the potty. And once I started to nurse Bekah, I could hear Haleah moaning in the bathroom and started to feel bad for her. She had such a long day and was so determined to pee in the potty and keep herself dry. She is really hard on herself, and she was so tired. So I went to David and told him that I was proud of her for today and that she truly did accomplish a lot and that maybe we should let up a bit now. I asked him to get a diaper for Haleah. So he did. Haleah then immediately went to "poop in toy room," as she had requested this morning. David then changed her, asked her to watch him drop the poopy in the toilet (so she could see that she didn't have to be afraid of it in there), and brought Haleah to bed. Poor thing was out like a light. And we have to go through all of this again tomorrow.

I asked my mother-in-law how long this process takes, as she had come over tonight with some small gifts for Haleah for using the Big Girl Potty. I guess with each child it's different. Tomorrow is a new day with new possibilities, so we will all just have to wait and pee... I mean see!