Potty Training Olivia - Day 5

On Tuesdays after school drop-off the kids and I typically stay at the school and volunteer in the library before the Noah's Ark program begins.  I didn't try to get Olivia's morning pee and I didn't put her into a clean one until we left to go to the school.  I felt her diaper half-way through our morning, and she was dry.  I checked her again when we got home at around 11:15am and she was still dry.  I put her on the potty and within a minute or so, she peed!  She peed again at 12:30pm (before her nap) and at 2:00pm (before I had to leave to get the older kids from school).  I missed her pee at 3:30pm (she was wearing a diaper still so no mess!), but was successful again at 4:45pm.  She had a LOT of chocolate milk at dinner.  At 5:40pm she started panicking, asking for a diaper, so I quickly grabbed her and put her on the potty and she peed!  At 7:15pm, just before bed, she peed again on the potty.  What a successful day!  My determination is paying off!!

Potty Training Olivia - Day 4

So we took yesterday off from potty training.  Having church in the morning and then coffee at my parents' and then Jon's parent's over and then dinner at the church would have made it just far too difficult.  It was a nice break.

We started up again this morning after we got back from school drop-off.  She had done a little pee while at the school, so I knew it wouldn't be a while before she peed again.  She ended up going pee on the potty at 11:45am. 

My Mom stopped by around 12:30pm, so I didn't lay Olivia down for a nap.  At around 1:30pm Olivia started crossing her legs, so I knew she had to go.  I had 45 minutes to get her to pee on the potty or I knew she would pee during school pick-up.  She wasn't able to pee before we had to leave, and then I allowed her to fall asleep in the car on the way to the school to at least give her a little bit of a rest because she hasn't napped for quite a few days now.  When she woke up at 2:40pm she peed in her diaper.  I knew it would happen.

At 5:35pm she willingly sat on the potty with her LeapPad and did pee after about 5 minutes.  This was the first time that she peed while being occupied with the toy.  It was quite interesting because just before she peed she stopped playing and gazed off into outer space, and then she peed.

At 5:45pm she had a nasty diarrhea accident in her underwear and so she needed a bath.  I let her play in the bath until 6:15pm and then put underwear on her again.

It was just minutes after she came downstairs that she peed in her underwear.  AUGH.  I cleaned her up and put new underwear on again.

At 7:15pm all of the kids headed upstairs for bed.  After brushing her teeth and having a small drink of water I put her on the potty "so that she could do her bedtime pee like the other kids."  I left her for 30 seconds to grab a diaper and when I returned she had proudly showed me that she had done pee.  I was thrilled.  Maybe we're making progress?  Slowly, but surely.

Potty Training Olivia - Day 3

What a chaotic day.

I woke up as soon as Olivia woke up at 7:20am (AUGH!  Why couldn't she have slept longer so I could have slept longer?!?!?).  I took her to the potty but I figured she had done a little pee already in her diaper since it was wet.  No big deal.  I put her underwear on and downstairs we went.  Because she isn't allowed to sleep with her water bottle anymore, she was thirsty so I gave it to her and she chugged.  "Awesome" I thought.  "She'll need to pee quicker then."

By 9:00am I had to leave to go grocery shopping and left Jon in charge of her.  She didn't show any signs of having to pee.

I got home at 10:25am but had to leave again at 10:30am to take Kayla to soccer.  Olivia screamed when I left.  She did NOT want me to go.  She hasn't done that for so long!  My assumption at the time was because she had to pee and wanted me there.  By 10:55am she did a partial pee in her underwear.  Jon was not impressed.  10 minutes later she peed all over the kitchen floor.  I got home at 12:30pm to a chaotic household.  Groceries all over (because I didn't have time to put them away before).  Toys all over.  Lunch in progress.  Some kids changed, some not.  Counter buried under who-knows-what.  Olivia naked from the waist down because Jon didn't know where her underwear was.  I spent the next hour and a half cleaning up and clothing children.  I was not watching Olivia, so of course, she peed.  I figured it was perfect timing and because she hadn't napped the last few days, I put a diaper on her and put her upstairs to sleep.  She had other plans.  Twenty minutes later I took her out because she was just not feeling it.  I left her in the diaper for the next hour and a half because I was busy making apple strudels with my Mom and didn't even know if I wanted to bother potty training anymore.  Jon was not on board anymore so it made me second-guess myself.  When we were done baking, I checked Olivia's diaper and she was still dry, so I gave her a large cup of apple juice and put her on the potty (no success) and then put her back in underwear.  She was pretty adamant for the next two hours that she didn't have to go.  After that, I could tell she had to go because she would hold her legs together, but she was pretty stubborn about sitting on the potty.  I was able to bribe her a few times, but she never peed.    We had dinner and she continued to hold her legs and be stubborn.  Finally, at 6:30pm, I had had enough and carried her to the potty and held her there for 20 seconds and then she peed.  Finally.  Then we headed upstairs for a bath and a diaper and bedtime.  Tomorrow is church, so she'll be diapered and then we'll see what happens in the afternoon.  Monday is another low-key day for me so I might continue persevering. 

I have learned two things about Olivia these past three days:
1.  She has a bladder of steel.  Seriously.  How can she hold her pee for 4-5 hour stretches?!?!?
2.  She is stubborn.  Oh wait.  I already knew that.  Maybe I should say she is EXTREMELY stubborn.

I will win this, right?  Eventually, I guess.  "She's the last one, she's the last one, she's the last one" is my chant.

Potty Training Olivia - Day 2

Today was much like yesterday.

When she woke up Jon quickly ran to put her on the potty (I was in the shower) and discovered that she had already pooped.  I was a little bit relieved because then I knew I wouldn't have to worry about her pooping during the day.  She didn't do pee on the potty; she had probably done it in her diaper already.  We put her in underwear and I went about the craziness of getting everyone ready and out the door for school.  I didn't pay any attention to her or watch her at all, so it's no surprise that she peed in her underwear around 8:20am.  Kind of nice because then I knew she would be dry for school drop off and I took her in her underwear.

At 11:40am she did pee on the potty, after multiple attempts everyone minute just before that.  She definitely knows when she has to go, but just can't remember how to release her pee instantly.  She stood up once she started peeing which made a bit of a mess.

She couldn't pee before school pick-up, so I put a diaper over her underwear and gave her the iPad to play on during the car ride to keep her awake.  I took the potty in the car and tried to get her to pee on it at the school, around 2:45pm, but she couldn't.

She managed to stay dry until 3:40pm when she did a large pee on the potty without a mess!  Once again, she was on and off the potty for the fifteen minutes leading up to it so she knows that she has to go.

Olivia didn't pee again until 7:00pm, but half was in her underwear and then she ran to the potty and did the other half.  I knew she had to go (and she knew it, too), but she was too stubborn to sit on the potty when I told her to.  I put a diaper and pajamas on her and she was dry when she went to bed at 8:00pm.  It will be interesting to see how tomorrow goes.

Potty Training Olivia - Day 1

Well, I decided to jump on the "potty train your two-year-old train" and make a serious effort to potty train Olivia.  I had done a couple trial run half-days a couple weeks ago to test her readiness, and she proved that she could potentially be ready because she was fully aware every time she was peeing on the floor.  Today seemed like a good day to start because I don't have to work until next Wednesday and have no official plans between now and then so I have a solid six days to get her trained enough to be babysat by my Mom.

She started out the morning doing her morning pee in her diaper (I would assume).  Her diaper was still dry when we got to the school to drop Matthew and Kayla off, but by the time we had finished saying goodbye to them she had peed in her diaper.  When we got home at 9 we officially started.  We took off the diaper and put on her training underwear and away we went.  I knew she wouldn't have to pee for a while since she had just gone, and so I baked a batch of muffins (a new recipe: zucchini chocolate chip which are insanely good!).  Olivia and Nathan shared a juice box at snack time at 10am and then I started watching her like a hawk.  I think she loved all of the attention from me!

By 10:20am she started feeling that she had to pee because she kept wanting to sit on the potty, and then would stand up, and then would sit down again.  Finally at 12:15pm she did a few squirts of pee on the potty, and then stopped it.  It was a good start!  We had lunch and then I decided to keep her up from her nap because I figured she would have to pee again fairly quickly, and wanted to get that pee in the potty, too.

By 2:05pm she still hadn't gone again, so I put a diaper on her over top of her training underwear in case she peed while we were driving to the school to get the older kids.  Because she hadn't napped, she fell asleep in the car and was still sleeping at 2:40pm when I hopped out of the car to grab Matthew and Kayla.  I had brought the potty with me to put her on it (in the car) at the school, but when I came back to the car at 2:45pm she was awake and had done a little pee in her underwear.

She had juice with her snack at 3:30pm, and then at 3:45pm she let a little pee in her underwear but stopped it and couldn't release the rest of it into the potty.  At 4:00pm she peed on the potty.  She stood up when she realized she was peeing which made a bit of a mess but at least she did a pee on the potty.  At 4:20pm I was pre-occupied helping Jon clean up the basement while Olivia played down there and she did a large pee on the floor.  Not totally her fault because I wasn't watching and I didn't even have a potty down there.  At 4:55pm while I was cooking dinner and Jon was (supposed to be) watching her she peed in her underwear.  Luckily I also had comfy pants on her so there was no mess on the ground.  I saw her go running to the potty on her own but it was too late.  She asked for a tic tac (her reward for peeing on the potty, a tic tac colour of her choice), but I said no because the pee wasn't in the potty and she didn't even complain.  I thought for sure she would!  She must have understood.

From 6:30pm - 7:30pm she made multiple unsuccessful attempts to pee on the potty, but didn't have any accidents.  Finally, at 7:30pm, she did it!  I was glad to get her last pee in the potty.  I put her diaper a pajamas on her and am ready to start again tomorrow.  A good first day, I'd say!

Conversation with Nathan

Nathan was having trouble falling asleep so I told him he could come downstairs and sit with me.

When he came down, I explained to him that I was watching a show about girls that got pregnant when they were still in school.

A few minutes into the show, he says to me, “Mom, wouldn’t it be funny if a baby died right when it came out of its Mommy’s tummy?”

I said to him, “Nathan, that would be really sad.  Did you know that it sometimes happens?  It’s not funny, but really sad.” 

He looked shocked and was speechless for a few moments, and then he said, “If that happens to my wife when she has a baby in her tummy then I will tell you when I die, okay?”

I responded, “Nathan, I hopefully won’t be in Heaven when you have babies.  Hopefully I will be at the hospital so I can hold your baby!”

He was silent for a second, and then giggled, “Mom, then you would be my kids’ Grandma!  And Dad would be their Grandpa!  I don’t know who their aunts and uncles would be though.”

“Yes, you do!  It would be Auntie Kayla and Auntie Olivia and Uncle Matthew!”  We had a good laugh J.

**

Seriously though, so many deep thoughts that run through this child’s mind.  We touched on a few (teen pregnancy, miscarriage/stillborn, death) in just a matter of a couple minutes.  Conversations like that happen on a frequent basis.