Its Potty Time

This was written at the beginning of October but never got posted:
On Monday we dove into the potty training world!  Breanna has been showing signs that she was ready to take this step for a while, but we've been waiting until we had a stretch of time to be focused and in the house.  I read lots of books and articles and got advice from other parents, and came up with a plan that fit our family.  We've been reading potty books and talking about the process for quite a while, so Monday morning we ditched the diapers and hung out in the kitchen (easy to clean wood floors) in a dress with nothing underneath.  She had an accident pretty early that morning and was pretty upset about it to say the least.  She wanted to sit on the potty ALL DAY.  She also insisted on using the full size toilet instead of her little floor one, so that meant we were stuck in the bathroom.  I didn't want to discourage her, so that first day was so boring!  At least with the little potty it could have been moved around the house.  Despite being on the potty for so long we never had any happy accidents.  Instead she held her pee until naptime and then again until bedtime because she was in a diaper for both.  She was so excited about it, but she hates when she does something wrong.  I refer to her as my little rule follower because she hates messing up.  So, that night I was a little worried that she wasn't ready emotionally and maybe I should wait.  I figured I would see what would happen on day 2 before I decided to hold off.  I'm glad I did b/c she took off with the idea on the second day.  I put her in her "big girl underwear" and she worked hard to keep them dry.  We have not had any other "puddles" on the floor since that first one.  Instead she would get a few drops on her underwear and then run to the bathroom before she actually started going.  I also encouraged her to use her little potty so we could keep it close to where we were initially.  We talked about "listening to our body" and she caught on really quickly.  Today was day 6 and she has kept her underwear dry for the past 5 days.  Today was the first day I also never had to ask her if she needed to go b/c she was fidgeting.  Instead she told me she needed to go on her own.  The last 3 days she has also insisted that she keep her diaper dry at naptime.  Breanna has been "resting" at naptime instead of sleeping as of late (more on that later) and she even called me to take her to the potty and then went back to her bed.  She has been so proud of herself, and always asks to call a family member right after she goes to let them know she did it.  Haha!  We have an amazing family that has been very enthusiastic for her!  I debated for a while what type of reward system I would use or if I would use one at all.  In the end I decided this was a big change for her, and I figured a reward would help encourage and excite her.  I made several potty charts that required her to go multiple times before she got a prize, but after the first day of no real attempts I made a few that had only one square so she would instantly fill up her chart and get one.  She got a sticker for sitting on the potty and her "prize" if she went.  The prizes started out big like a popsicle or new nail polish and have now turned into a chocolate chip.  My daughter is a chocolate girl and I think she's more excited about the little chocolate chip than the big prizes!  We'll start weaning her off them soon by going back to the potty charts that require multiple uses, but right now I'm not too concerned that she is getting a mini chocolate chip a couple times a day.  I'm sure as we start to do more things outside of the house again I'll have to do more reminding and I'm sure we'll have an accident or two.  I also know it's normal to regress and have setbacks.  I'm expecting all of those things to happen, especially as the excitement and newness wears off, but I'm so happy with our start.  I'm really proud of Breanna and how hard she's been working.  That may sound a little funny to say I'm proud she's peeing and pooping in a potty, but it's a pretty big deal for a kid.  I'm sure it's hard to make such a drastic change, especially since it's so conveinent to use a diaper.  Our big debate right now is whether we should use pull-ups when we know we are going to be in public places that might not have easy bathroom access, or stick with just underwear.  We've kept our out of the house excursions to places that we could bring our little potty (friends' houses), places we could keep the potty in the car and get to it really quickly (parks), or short errands.
As a cute sidenote, the first time Breanna used the potty she put both hands in the air and shouted, "Yay!  I did it!  I'm a potty princess!"  Apparently she was paying attention to all our potty books, because that's what one of them was titled.  Haha!  She's so stinking cute!

Update:  About a month later and we decided to go in just just underwear, no pull-ups.  She has done awesome!  So far no accidents and she does an awesome job telling us when she has to go.  We even took a small road trip for her cousin's birthday and she did awesome.  The trip is a little over 2 hours, and she told us she had to potty while in the car and then waited until we could pull over!  Of course, I'm still sure we may have an accident or two in the future and that's okay.  It's a learning process with ups and downs, but I'm so proud of her!