Panties to Bed

Last night, Lexi wore her panties to bed for the first time. She has been wearing pull-ups at night for a little less than a year. Lots of different moms told me that their kids were fully night potty trained right about their 3rd birthday, so I haven't been thinking about it much. However, her pull-ups are almost always dry in the morning, so why spend the extra money? I decided that I wasn't going to buy any new bags. I had planned to wait for us to finish up this last bag, but then realized it would be nice to keep some on hand in case her stomach isn't feeling too well one evening. Needless to say, her first night went well.

Red Hair

Big changes in a kid’s life often cause them to regress a little. For Lexi, school has been something she looks forward to, but has also seemed to cause two side-effects. One is baby talk. She jabbers and talks like a baby at times, which really annoys Steve. I think that is why she does it more in the evenings and on the weekends. It is a way to get extra attention from him. The other negative side-effect is annoying mostly me - she is having #2 accidents in her panties. She has done it twice at school and many times at home. I've tried reasoning, praising, etc. Now, I am going with bribing. I took her to the store to buy a special doll that she can play with after going "caca in the potty."

We looked at lots of different dolls. She decided she wanted Tinker Bell. I picked up the blonde one, but she said no. She pointed at the red haired one and said "Grandma Margie." The funny thing is that for the last few weeks she has been calling her Raggedy Ann Doll Grandma Margie too. At first, I thought she was trying to say it was Grandma Margie that gave her the doll. I kept telling her that Granny Lou gave it to her, but she insisted on saying Grandma Margie. Then, I realized that she was talking about the red hair. I guess she is going through a red hair doll phase.

Potty Time

Sunday night when I felt the stars lining up, I decided to start officially potty training Lexi. Ok, so I really just realized that she had been making a lot of progress on her own and it was time for me to catch up and bump it up a notch. Monday morning, we put on the big girl panties and haven't looked back even when going out in public for a couple of hours. She had a few accidents the first day, but none since except for one that was entirely my fault. I just couldn't act fast enough with Jordan and everything else going on at the time.

As impressed as I have been with her progress, I was more surprised about her willingness to go #2. She actually is even better about warning me that she must go caca (a little Spanish left in her). The idea of doing that in her panties just disturbs her more. Several moms I know have mentioned that potty training for BMs took longer.

She still has a few more hurtles like going in a toilet that isn't ours. She prefers to hold it, which I can't blame her. I am not fond of using other restrooms either. I have taken her many times this week, but she will not let loose. Other than that, I still put a pull-up on for nap time and a diaper for bedtime. Half the time it is just a safety procaution, because she doesn't use it.

As you can guess, I am thrilled with how well it has gone. I think procrastination worked on my side this time. Hopefully, we will continue to advance in this matter.

Transition to Big Girl Bed

Yesterday morning, I woke up with a plan to attack the house. We are planning a big birthday party for Lexi this Saturday and cleaning is on top of the To Do List. I had no intention of transitioning Lexi into her new room and toddler bed. I wanted to do that right after her party. In fact, I planned on calling Steve’s cousin, Emily, for ideas of what worked with Camille. However, once I started organizing, I realized that I was tired of thinking about doing it. I moved the rocking chair, her dresses, and her beloved piggy bank (another post about that). The most important thing I did was to build up her excitement about the transition.

Yesterday afternoon, we had our first test. I took her in for her nap. As usual, I rocked and sang a few songs to her. Then, I helped her say a prayer. I put her in bed with hugs and kisses, told her I loved her, and left. She was happy. I went into our room to play on the computer and wait for her to come running out. It did not take long. I took her back into her room and explained that she needed to stay in there until nap time was over. I also handed her a few books. To my amazement, she quietly played for an hour and a half before running out.

Since I knew we would not be so lucky again, I called Steve and asked him to pick up a door knob blocker on his way home. When he got home, he decided that he would set up the tent she got for Christmas in case she was going to play herself to sleep. She was very excited and helped him with it. I must say that it was funny watching a big guy play with a little girl in her tent. They both loved every minute of it.

Later, Lexi and I did the regular bed time ritual. I left with her feeling just fine. About 5 minutes later, we heard her try to open the door and then she started crying. I decided to give her 10 minutes and I would go in to rock her & sing another little song before sticking her back in bed, but she quieted down within 5 minutes. When I woke up at 1am to feed Jordan, I decided to sneak in to check on her. She was on the floor next to her bed snuggling with her favorite purple blankey. At 4am, she started crying. I went in and explained to her that it wasn’t time yet. I did the regular bed time ritual and left her without a peep.

This morning, I brought the camera in with me and took a few photos to commemorate this achievement. Now, we will work on potty training. Actually, it is going very well, but she still does not want to wear big girl panties. I decided not to mention it for a week or two. Then, I will probably have to force her to wear them once or twice before she is fine with it.

Potty Training Herself?

While I was changing Lexi's diaper first thing yesterday morning, I noticed that it was dry. I asked her if she wanted to use the potty & she said yes. She trotted it there & did her business right away. That was nice, but it has happened before so I didn't think much of it. That was until it happened 3 more times. She didn't wet her diaper at all yesterday. Each time, I asked her if she wanted to wear her "big girl panties" and she absolutely declared that she DID NOT! Not the panties or the pull-ups (both have princesses on them so you would think she would want to). She wanted her diapers. We haven't had the same success today, but then again I took her to the library and out for lunch.

We have several things we are going to work on in the next few months and potty training is one of them. It isn't high on the priority list for me, because she has regressed a little with a few things in the last month (like her desire for her pacifier during the day, her attachment to "purple blankey," and her drama queen attempts at getting attention). I am not sure that the regression is directly related to Jordan. Actually, I think it has more to do with changes in routine.

It started when I was in the hospital and suddenly her Dadda was doing everything for her. She certainly didn't mind that, but it wasn't normal. Next, Grandma Margie took over for a week while I was recovering. I had Lexi the next week and then Aunt Paige came. Routines were out the window for the most part and of course everyone else is prone to spoiling Lexi more than I do. I decided to be patient and let her twist them around her finger a little, but they are all gone and we are back to routines & no nonsense.

You can bet that she is improving. Right off, she stopped trying to get others to rescue her from timeout even though that never worked. To be honest, she has no choice, but to get back on track.

The New Years Resolutions Include:

1. Getting rid of the pacifier. We'll limit it back to nights for a few weeks. Then **puff**, it will magically disappear.
2. Being attached to the purple blankey only for nap & night time (back to how it was before Jordan).
3. Moving into the big girl bed, which she has NO interest in so far. She seems to LOVE her crib. I can't really figure out why because her toys are in the room with the big girl bed.
4. Potty Training - I actually have this priority lower than the big girl bed, but she seems more ready for this step, so we'll see if I can figure out the deal with the sudden dislike for big girl panties.

There are probably others, but these are the ones that come to mind. Wish me luck or give me ideas...