Well it’s finally Friday and I’m finally able to post on the most prominent focal point of the week;
Justice started Potty Training on Monday!! Yay!!!!!!!!
My sweet little beauty has been showing readiness signs for a couple of months now. First off, she started “telling” us when she was pooping when she was about 8-9 months old. Helpful. Cute. A little TMI sometimes sure, but it was the start of her realization of her bodily functions. She was workin on somethin’ there and it wasn’t just the gift in her diaper. Then, she started waking up with a dry diaper a couple of months ago. As long as she didn’t sit in her crib for too long after she woke up, she had a dry tooshie. So I’d undo her diaper cover, tuck the front of her dry prefold under her butt and tell her to go potty. And lo and behold, she would!!! 
Sure, it was 1st thing in the morning and she hadn’t peed in 11 or so hours so it was going to come out anyway, but still! She was starting to understand and I was over the moon!
She’s been quite consistant in this routine so Monday morning, we went to Babies R Us and got her a potty. No spectacular features. No singing. No characters on it. It’s got everything she needs. A place to get the hang of it, that just happens to be pretty and pink, then it converts to fitting on the BIG potty so she doesn’t fall through and the base becomes a step to get up there. It has an extension that holds a roll of toilet paper and a place to put flushable wipes. That’s it. Nothing fancy, but it’s all hers!! Then came the search for training pants. I knew that our new favorite store eco-POLITAN had a few different styles and brands as I’ve perused them twice in the last couple of weeks. I also knew that they were a little out of our price range for the time being. So, with potty in cart, I decided to see what BRU had. I was surprised to find that they had the classic Gerber training pants. And in 2 different styles no less! I was NOT surprised to find that the smallest size they offered was 2T (28-32lbs.). Justice is 24lbs. at most. I had had a feeling that this was going to be the case, but was still a little disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they carried classic “rubber pants”. And not only did they carry them, but they had them in a size that fit her better! Sweet! Ok, well, now we’re getting somewhere. I then debated between the regular, more panty like style trainer and the plastic shelled style. hmmm…….. I decided to try the regular panty like type and get a couple of “rubber pants” rather than spending the money on 2 different types. Plus, the “rubber pants” were cheaper than either of the other two, so just adding those was more cost effective. How very spend savvy of me! 
So, 2 packages of “Big girl training panties”, 1 package of “rubber pants”, 1 Big Girl Potty, Justice, Evan and I headed to the register where the lovely lady commented how very special and big Justice must be to be getting a potty and then came the inevitable……”How old is she?” The look of shock and mild disbelief was pretty expected when I replied with “17 months”. (I’ve gotten rather used to that look when asked the same question, although usually it’s related to how long her hair is.) The lady, whom I’m pretty sure has told me before that she is now a very happy grandma, was delighted. She commented on how wonderful that was and told Justice what a lovely girl she was and how proud of her we all were.
In to the truck we got and home we ventured. I immediately busted out the potty, relieved my daughter of her pants and diaper, plopped her down and waited. And waited….. And waited….. We talked about the potty, about peeing in the potty, about the box, etc…We had quite the conversation. We did NOT have peeing in the potty. Ok. No big deal!! It’s the very 1st time. And afterall, she IS only 17 months! So off she came and down for a nap she went. Buying a potty is exciting stuff you know?!
Mondays final potty tally was an impressive 3 times!!!!!! As was Tuesdays!! This girl is doin great!! Wednesdays total was 4 and Thursdays was an awe-inspiring 7 times!!! Her potty goes everywhere with us. To pick up Evan from school, to karate/work, to Chili’s…you name it!! Yes, I really really did take her potty into Chili’s with us last night (that explains why there haven’t been any recipe posts this week huh?!?!!!). It was in the box, which may or may not make it any less ‘weird’, but you bet I took it in! I am very dedicated to my daughters’ potty training success. Normally kids are attempting this around age 2 and they have a hard enough time fitting on “grown-up” potties. My little 24lb. 17 month old is at even more of a disadvantage so you better believe I’m going to do any and every thing I can to help her with this daunting lesson. I’m all about consistancy baby! One of the parents at karate saw me carrying the box out of the bathroom the other day and said, laughing, “You brought her potty?” and I said, “You bet!!! It’s all about consistancy!!” She laughed with me despite her obvious surprise, but hey, I want this to be as easy for Justice as it can be. Easier for Justice means easier for me in the grand scheme of things. And I’m DEFINITELY a big fan of that!!
So, that brings us to today. We had 2 potty successes this morning before she went down for her nap and I know that this afternoon will bring even more. I know that this will probably be a long process because while she is physically ready, she’s not quite old enough to really understand it all. Will she just start going over to her potty on her own? Probably not anytime soon. And you know what? I’m ok with that. But I’m willing to stick with her and take the time out of stuff that really isn’t nearly as important to make the trips with her to help her. Bring it on! This is precious time with my sweet little love. Watching her grow and learn. I wouldn’t trade it for the world….
Mo
