Potty Training!

So here we are, 16 Months and 3 Weeks old, and we've officially started potty training!

My beginning thoughts...
I honestly did very little research on this.  I feel that going to the bathroom is an instinct that just needs to be recognized and will probably take a few steps to get there.

I decided it is time to potty train because Lillian knows where her "pee" and "poop" are.  And I believe she tells me she went to the bathroom by pointing and saying "pee" or "poop" although not always the case.

I realized (quite some time ago) that Lillian could really care less if she's wet or has a poopy diaper.  Pretty much since she was born she hasn't really cared.  She never even had a diaper rash until she was over a year old.  I was glad to have those pampers that show a line on them when they are wet cause other wise I was constantly squeezing at her crotch to make sure her diaper wasn't soaked.  It is amazing how "dry" the diapers these days keep a babies bottom.  So back to topic, I realized that she needed to learn what "wet" feels like.  A few months ago I bought her some of those Pull.Ups with the "cool alert".  Yeah well they didn't "alert" her to much except she couldn't take them off and got to stand up to put them on rather than lay down.  This is where I did some research.  Turns out Pull.Ups and Easy.Ups still keep their bottoms pretty dry.  So I went in search of leak proof undies.  And I found some great ones (I think), but there is no way I'm paying $8.95 for a pair of underwear, I don't even pay that for my underwear!!!  They also have ones that aren't "waterproof" and you can get 3 pair for $12.95, but why get them when I can just go to WallyWord and get these.  Yes her pants still get wet when she misses the potty and some times even her socks, but guess what, she tells me when she has to pee!!!

Day 1:
So we started first thing Saturday morning.  We got up and instead of putting a diaper on we put big girl undies on.  She thought it was fun.  Then I had her "help" me move her potty chair from the bathroom (where she would occasionally use it before bath time) out into the main living area where we spend most of our time.  I continually asked her if she had to go potty and she always said no.  Eventually she did have to go and ended up going in her pants.  It was actually quite comical because she looked at me, while she was going and her pants were getting wet, with total confusion.  Like she knew she was going potty, but didn't understand why her legs were wet.  I took her over to her potty chair and said "this is where we pee".  I also let her go around with nothing on for a while after a few trips to the bathroom.  When it got close to nap time we put on a Pull.up.  Throughout the day we never actually made it to the potty in time, be she would tell me "potty" and we'd go over and sit there and talk about the potty and peeing and what not.

Day 2:
Day two was pretty much the same as day 1.  We got up and put underwear on.  We had an accident after breakfast put she said "potty" to daddy (who let's face it is totally clueless) and he picked her up and looked at me horrified and said "she already peed!" We took her to the potty and changed and put a Pull.Up on because it was almost nap time.  As she was running around playing she ran over to the potty and said "poop" and sat on her potty.  By the time I got over there she had pooped in her Pull.Up but I was so proud of her for going over there.  We went to her grandma's to watch football and took a potty with us (along with 3 pairs of pants, underwear and some Pull.Ups.  We went through all the undies and pants, but in the process she made it to the potty in time TWICE!!!

After Thoughts:
I think celebrating the small accomplishments is important.  The first day we really celebrated her just telling us she peed and just sitting on the potty.  The second day we just told her good girl for trying, but really celebrated when she made it in time.  And I think this is how we will continue for a while.

I also think it really helps that we put the potty in a main area where it doesn't seem like a "burden" to go.  I also think her seeing it frequently while playing helps her keep her mind on it.

And she also likes to put her own underwear on!