Chloe is Potty Training!

I started potty training Chloe on June 15th. I thought that the timing was good because we would be home for two weeks before going out of town again, and we would be going to Mark's where we could be pretty casual and laid back about the whole process. She actually did ever better than I thought at Mark's. She never had an accident, and even kept her swim diapers dry (as dry as a swim diaper can be, that is). I think it was in large thanks to Kayla. It was so funny to see them lined up in the restroom. I brought Chloe's potty and Kayla had hers, too. What a sight!

I started with her in Pull-Ups, but quickly realized that I wasn't going to get very far going the Pull-Up route. I had gone from changing wet diapers to changing wet Pull-Ups. She didn't seem to understand what I was trying to tell her about keeping them dry, but I really didn't give her much of a chance, either. I just kept hearing "girls are much easier than boys," which was the what I heard one million times while I was training Sawyer, so I just had a feeling that she would do great in big girl panties.

I was having flashbacks of starting the process with Sawyer. I remembered how he started wetting Pull-Ups, and then moved to wetting training pants, only to quit the process until the following summer when he was three. I am still putting her in the nighttime Pull-Ups, but we have just recently started Sawyer in underwear at night, but that's another story!

Everything is going really well with Chloe, and I think it is because of some major differences from what I did with Sawyer. She is crazy about the Disney Princesses, so I took her to Wal-Mart to let her choose her own big girl panties, knowing the royal ladies would be her choice. Sure enough, she gravitated to Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and the gang, so I knew we were on our way! It may mean a larger carpet cleaning bill, but I have the Kiwi warranty for a good reason!

The other thing I have been doing is keeping her potty as close to her as possible. The potty changes rooms when she does. If it's just us at home, who really cares if there's a potty in the living room? I sure don't, especially if it means that we will be able to avoid an accident!

She started telling me when she needed to go in about a week and a half, and she's on target about half of the time. The rest of the time she just sits and sits, but I think that is a normal part of the process. They seem to realize pretty quickly that this whole potty training thing is a way for them to gain some control over their little lives.

My life on the road has gotten really interesting since both kids are wanting to use the travel potty. I pretty much have to add at least ten minutes to each stop so that each child can do their thing. I know that the novelty will wear off with Chloe, and Sawyer will go back to only using it when he really needs to go. I don't know what I would do without the Tahoe. It's Pit Stop Express on the tailgate most of the time!

I was a little worried about how she would do in a public restroom, but I fretted for nothing, which seems to be pretty common where Chloe is concerned. I think it is kind of funny that Target's restroom was the first public restroom she used because it was Sawyer's too. Target was also the first place I took each of my kids other than the pediatrician's office when they were newborns. I guess that I should stop spending so much time at Target!

Another difference is that I haven't done any type of reward or prize with Chloe. I almost went to the poor house (not really) buying trinkets for Sawyer's "Treasure Bowl" that he would be allowed to choose from and unwrap upon completing his mission. It just seemed to lose its appeal before he had really gotten the hang of using the potty, which conflicted with what was referenced in the book I read. I only read one book, which was The No-Cry Potty Training Solution by Elizabeth Pantley.

All I have done with Chloe is the "potty dance." Everyone joins in and has a grand old time shaking their groove thing to celebrate Chloe's accomplishment. I took a quick video to torture them with when they get older.



Something that I took from the book was to make them their very own potty book. It turned out that Chloe's is much nicer than Sawyer's, but I attribute that to the fact that Chloe was only three months old when I made Sawyer's. I have quite a bit more time these days! I took pictures, as rated G as possible, in their various stages of using the restroom. I put it together in a book, had it laminated and bound, and the potty book was born!

I had quite a bit of drama with Chloe's book. I took it to a UPS store that I don't usually use because the one closest to me didn't have the coil binding. I didn't want to go back to Kinko's, because that's where I went with Sawyer's, and I didn't think that they did the best job because the holes for the binding weren't far enough away from the end and soon began to tear. I guess that I should have gone to Kinko's, because the man didn't put the pages in the correct order when it was bound so I had to redo all of the pages. I was so upset!!! I had left the book with him for a few hours, per his request, so I wasn't there to verify. I went home and worked on the second book during nap time and most of the evening. I was also upset because I had missed going to the gym that Monday because I had stayed up until almost 2 AM working on the silly thing only to have it ruined.

I was waiting for the store to open the following morning with my new potty book in hand. This time I was able to cut the pages out of the laminate myself (one had already started to unravel in the other one), and triple check before they were bound.

I think that the worst part was that he never apologized, and he was the owner of the store! I swear customer service just isn't like it used to be! The good news is Chloe is enjoying her book, and is well on her way to being a big girl (and increasing the balance of Mommy's checking account!) :)

This is one of my favorite pictures of Chloe!



I love to sit and listen to her "read" her potty book to me.