July 14th was the day of your potty party! After reading a couple different books on potty training, and getting all the supplies, I was ready to go. When you woke up that morning, Ellie was wearing the diaper you had put on her the night before. After changing your diaper, we went to go change Ellie. Instead of putting her back in a diaper, though, I brought out some fairy panties for Ellie to wear. You immediately loved them and couldn't wait to put them on her. I explained that today, you were going to teach Ellie how to use big girl underwear! Sometimes Ellie would stay dry and get a treat or go in the potty and get a treat, but sometimes when we checked, Ellie was wet and wouldn't get a treat. She, of course shared her treats with you when she got them :) We read lots of books together about big girls going on the potty and had a fun picnic with all your animal friends. Then, in the afternoon, it was your turn :)
When you woke up from your nap, Ellie had a surprise for you! You got to open a gift with lots of fairy panties in it...just for you! You were excited to put on your new big girl underwear! You immediately got a treat, which was one chocolate chip, because your panties were dry :) The afternoon went fairly well, except the only problem was, you didn't really understand the concept of getting rewarded with a treat. When you got one, you just wanted another one, and didn't make the connection of why you were getting one in the first place. I'm not a huge fan of using food, especially sweets, as a reward, anyway, so we ditched that reward system. You did much better with verbal praise :) Since you have been using the potty since you were 7 months old, you were already very aware of how to use it. What I was trying to teach you was how to recognize the sensations on your own, hold it and walk to the potty without any promptings.
At the end of the day, you got to open another gift for being such a big girl! Grammy had made you a purple elephant dress and Ellie a matching skirt!! You loved them and wanted to put them on right away!
Progress really didn't happen until we did things our own way. The next day, we moved your potty into the living room and left your underwear off. You didn't quite have the dexterity to pull down your underwear by yourself, so we just removed that obstacle completely. And we saw the results immediately! You caught on very quickly and by the the next day, you could recognize the sensation, tell me by touching your lower belly, point to the potty, then run over, crawl backwards, sit down, and go all by yourself. I was so so so proud of you!! Daddy was so impressed that you learned so quickly!!
It's now been a week and a half since you started using the potty on your own and I'm proud to say, you my dear, are potty trained! You still wear a diaper to bed, but we'll work on that when you're a little older :)
