We've begun!

This entry is bound to be lengthy. My apologies. This is also not for the squeamish. We've begun potty training! I had no plans to begin this soon but it just kind of happened on a whim and based on Kadyn's cues. The first day I did panties only and I must have cleaned a gazillion puddles off the floor. I could tell Kadyn felt awkward about going on the potty because a few times she stood up halfway off of the potty and let it go on the floor instead. My favorite was when I was cleaning up my dog's puddle while Kadyn was busy making a puddle with a few turds of her own beside her potty. Not using pullups was really giving her a full experience of wetting herself and she didn't like it much. She got really good the first day of telling me immediately after it happened or during but never before. So... most of it ended up on the floor and we probably went through a dozen outfit changes if not more.

She did manage to go on the potty two times. Once because she sat on it forever just for the sheer enjoyment and newness of it and the second time was only because I caught her in the act half way through and rushed her to it. She tried to add more to it and convinced herself everytime she got up that it was new pee and exclaimed, "I peed" with her nose about 3 inches from it. Very cute!

Day two by midmorning we had one accident. I asked her shortly after if she needed to go and she said yes. I did not know she had just finished pooping in her panties which is why she said yes and she did actually still needed to pee. I pulled down her panties to put her on the potty and three poop balls roll out on the floor and she starts to pee. Brutus, our dog, takes off with one. I got upset, which upset Kadyn, and ran after Brutus. Rescued the poop ball out of his mouth and then proceeded to clean up the rest of the pee that started to come out of her before I was able to get her on the potty. Are you laughing yet?

That inspired me to take my mom's advice and try something different; I knew if I had to clean up this many messes for too much longer I would get burnt out really quick. I caved and bought pullups, cloth training pants, and vinyl covers. Started with the pullups (the kind that get cold). That totally didn't work. She didn't even tell me when she wet in them which she did so well with the day before when she was wearing regular panties. Next I put her in the cloth training pants with the vinyl cover. That didn't work either. She wet in them and never told me, although it didn't leak. So finally I just put her in the cloth training pants without the vinyl cover and without pants. This time when she peed she told me during so I whisked her to the potty and let her finish on the potty. I gave her a chocolate egg as a reward and she was so excited. I let her do the honors of flushing it down the toilet and saying bye bye to it. Even though she starting peeing in the training panties they did not leak on the floor.

10 minutes later she says to me "poo" (we're still learning the difference between poo and pee).
So I whisk her off to the potty again and she pees again this time without wetting her training panties at all. I COULDN'T believe it! She was once again excited for her reward and to get the opportunity to flush it. All my fears about this being too early to train her just went out the window. Maybe she can do this. I know tomorrow will bring more accidents but at least I know if she did it once surely it can happen again.

My plan now is to only use the cloth diapers without a cover and without pants during the day, use them with a cover when we're out in public so we don't leak (FYI they didn't leak down her leg without the pants but they would probably get the pants wet if she had them on) and to use pull ups only at night while she's sleeping so she will stay dry and not get diaper rash. I'm going to save so much money on diapers. Yee haw!

I have decided not to night train her just yet. I'm going to postpone that for quite awhile. I don't think she would wake when she feels the urge to pee which would mean a lot of wet sheets to clean for me. Of course if she starts asking to pee in the middle of the night I won't discourage that. For now, I'm just happy to be seeing progress with what I'm doing. I don't expect we'll be done training anytime soon, but at least I know she can do it. Go Kadyn!

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Birthday girl and Easter amor

Great weekend!

This weekend went great! Our trip to KC went well with the exception of Kadyn having a horrible night of sleep. Our family's visit went really well too. Kadyn's party was a blast and she really got into the easter egg hunt. The easter egg dying wasn't quite as appealing to her, but at least she did it. I just love that she's old enough to actually do these things now.

To my surprise she was very receptive to her entire family even though she rarely gets to see them. She was a little social butterfly. Wish it didn't have to end, but onward we go. My folks are coming memorial day weekend so I guess that will give me something to look forward to again.

I will post some pictures later when I figure out where Jeff stored them on this computer. Until then, taa, taa!

The gang

Here's a pic of my daycare gang and one of Kadyn and Liam sporting the hats they made and were very proud of. It's not very often that I get the whole gang in one area for a picture. They're too busy.

Just for fun

Gearing up for madness

What a week this is going to be. Kadyn's party is on Saturday. Easter is on Sunday. Sometime during the week we have to go to KC although I'm not sure exactly when that will be. Jeff's parents will be driving in on Friday night as well as another surprise guest (it's a secret I can't spoil it). I think I'm ready for the party, though something always seems to come up that I forget about. Last year we ended up having to get a number one candle three times. I am trying my best not to stress about all that is ahead, but it's difficult I just want everything to run smoothly.

I ended up getting the flu after Kadyn got it. I was MISERABLE! The worst part was that Jeff couldn't take off of work to help me with Kadyn. I felt like death and she was crawling all over me. Of course discipline was next to impossible so she got away with murder. Trying to make her food or snacks made me nauseas. Needless to say, Kadyn got to take in too much TV last week. It was shortlived thank goodness, but the recovery took quite a bit more time. Even today my appetite still seems funky. I feel overly full eating very little.

Like my friend Sarah, I too have been obsessing over potty training. I really think Kadyn is ready and keep thinking how nice it would be to change diapers on only 3 kids everyday instead of 4, but really want to time this right. Since I have decided to be brave and go the no pull ups route I don't want this to be long and drawn out. If only we could get as lucky as we did with moving to the big girl bed and have absolutely no problems. I keep imagining Kadyn peeing on the floor and then one of the other kids stepping in it and walking through the rest of the house with a pee sock. Hmmm, this could be tricky! And the time I've heard you spend just sitting in the bathroom waiting for them to go. What in the world do I do with the boys during that time? Do I just let them come in and watch Kadyn go? Would that be wrong? Surely it doesn't matter this early. They're too young for modesty. Right? Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm. I need to ponder my battle plan a little further.

Toodles!