I'll give the same warning I gave at the beginning of the post I wrote about Will's potty training exploits in September 2009. If you (looking at you, Pop-pop) are uncomfortable with talk about poop, pee, vomit, toilet humor and more, just skip this post and catch up later in the week. We will have pictures of pumpkins and farms and good, clean fun. But today, I must recap the potty training experience of Miss Reina Pauley.
I (prematurely) wrote a few months ago that Reina was practically potty training herself! It was going to be so easy! She was excited to use the potty! It was all true but see, Reina has some pretty lazy parents at times. We didn't capitalize on all of the toilet momentum and then found ourselves with a 2 1/2 yr old who would stay dry at school all day and then come home and be content to think that the bathroom was just for baths and making big splashy messes in the sink. With a little firm nudging from her preschool teachers ("So, hey why don't you bring underwear for Reina to wear tomorrow?" Me: "Wha? She's ready for that?"), I decided that it was time to take the plunge.
We picked out little pink and purple princess underpants and added some Dora and Boots for good measure and off we went. I woke up Reina on Saturday morning and told her that she was a BIG GIRL and no more diapers! Yeah! Insert all sorts of enthusiastic, gung-ho, platitudes here. It was slightly worrisome when she said, "I'm not a big girl. I'm a baby!" but I tried to stay optimistic. The first day wasn't as bad as I expected but there were a few accidents and one giggly moment for me when she peed all over the rug and then looked appropriately bewildered like, "Where did that just come from?"
On Sunday, Reina started to get the hang of it and had slightly fewer accidents than the day before. She stayed home on Monday with me because she had a bad cold, but we kept on trucking and by Thursday she was accident-free and she's stayed that way since. We even endured a quick visit from Mr. Stomach Flu and I thought for sure we'd have to pull the diapers out again but she was a trooper. At one point between vomits, she weakly told me that she had to go potty. All together now, awwwwww!
I'm so proud of my sweet girl. Reina still loves her M&M's and hones her negotiation skills before and after each trip to the pot. As we were walking out of the bathroom yesterday, she pointed out that I had failed to pay the potty tax ("You forgot something mama!") and she asked for 10 M&M's. The potty tax is high! For the record, the current payment schedule is 2 yellow M&M's for #1 and 3 assorted colors for #2. Will has an astonishing ability to hear the slightest rustle of the M&M bag and he's by your side in a flash to get his fair share. At the risk of having a really wierd and unfortunate reversion/backslide/whatever, he gets a few too.
As I was hugging Reina yesterday and telling her what a good job she was doing, she proudly told me "I'm not a baby anymore - I'm a big girl!"
Me: Whimper.
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