It's Potty Time!!!

I'll give you one guess who used the potty today.

No, not me. Well, I did, but I don't consider it blogworthy news. Nothing special about it at all, or weird, like, I don't know, peeing orange or something. Then, it might be something one would blog about.

Clara did! I was utterly shocked when she peed for the first time and just beside myself when she pooped in the potty. I will now recount today's events, primarily for my potty training records, but you can read if you're so inclined.

I bought some training pants a couple of weeks ago just so I'd have them handy when the time comes to start. I also bought a little potty a couple of months ago to get her used to the idea. I'd sit her on it every once in awhile, especially when I was going. After I bought the training pants, I decided to try 'em out until I had gone through the three pair I had just bought, just to see what she did. Yeah, that lasted a couple of hours, but I really wasn't trying too hard.

I consulted the potty training guru, Becky, for some tips on how to start. She should write a book, or maybe a brochure, 'cause after one day I've got a big girl potti-er on my hands. This morning I put on her training pants and took her to the potty every 15 minutes or so. She stayed dry for the first couple of hours, but never would go on the potty. Lo and behold about the 6th or 7th attempt, I'm reading her a book on the potty and I hear a glorious noise. Who knew a tinkle could elicit such enthusiasm from a mommy. And there was much rejoicing. There was clapping and cheering and 3 dogs barking at all the commotion.

I left the panties on her for her nap, knowing full well they wouldn't make it through the ordeal dry, and they didn't. She had her first accident while eating lunch. Then in the afternoon, we went to Babies R Us to get a potty seat that goes on the toilet (since I don't want to be lugging a potty up and down the stairs all day). She stayed dry during the shopping trip (I put a diaper on her just in case) and when we got home, we tried again on the new potty seat. She got her "serious" look on, but I didn't dare to hope I may hear the sound that I did in fact hear next. If I thought the sound of tinkling was awesome, I had no idea the effect that a plopping sound would have on me. I just about cried. Seriously. I have never been more excited about one of her milestones than I was at that very moment.

Throughout the day, she peed another 4 or 5 times. She did have a few accidents after Daddy got home and during dinner. I think I may have been more distracted during that time and didn't take her often enough. But one accident between 8am and 6 pm on your first day isn't bad.

I'm not going to get my hopes up here. I really wasn't expecting her to go on the first day. I especially didn't expect her to stay dry most of the day. If she has a few really bad days, we'll just wait and try again in a few weeks. I know that I'm starting this really early since she's not quite 18 months, but she does at least have the concept of going on the potty down. She's probably got a ways to go until she can hold it or tell me she needs to go, but that's ok. I'm just so stinkin' proud of her.

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I bought her a plastic juice cup a few days ago so we could practice drinking from a cup. I had been putting water in it and she wasn't doing very well. She just poured it down her front every time. Today, I realized how thick the drinkable yogurt we give her is, so I decided to try it in the cup since she'd have a little more control of the speed at which the yogurt descends the cup. Sure enough, she hardly made a mess. Her face was a bit messy, but at least it wasn't all in her lap or on her tray.

Would you say she's proud of her newly honed drinking skills?