Ramblings: Potty Training

I may have mentioned in the past how much I was dreading potty training.  

Well I can't officially declare Ellie potty trained, but we're fantastically close!  

We tried the "Kool-Aid Method", which is what my mother-in-law did with her kids.  

Basically you let them have a big cup of Kool-Aid and you hang out in the bathroom, read books, until they go potty.  It's more of a get-them-acquainted-with-the-potty-chair system, than a long-term plan.  I tried it when Ellie was interested in the potty, but wasn't quite aware of when she had to go.  I figured a little Kool-Aid couldn't hurt, but I was secretly hoping it wouldn't work.  I wasn't super excited about the idea of filling Ellie with sugar water.  

Well, it turns out Ellie doesn't like Kool-Aid.  

She seemed into it at first, but after about four sips, she was done and asked for water.  

I was okay with that, less sugar means a better bedtime for me!

When Ellie got really into the idea of sitting on the potty, I made her a Potty Chart.  I just bought a poster board, a bunch of stickers, and made a grid.  This kid is obsessed with stickers, so I thought it would work as a reward.  

At the beginning our system was:

• Sit on the potty = 1 sticker (even if she didn't do anything)*
• Pee on the potty = 2 stickers
• Poop on the potty = 3 stickers**

I was hopeful that by the time we filled up the chart she would be potty trained, 

but I wasn't counting on it.  

Well, the chart is full and we're so close!  

I am really glad we didn't have to resort to candy.  

Although I would have done it, if it came down to it.  

Now I have to dig out some of Ellie's old clothes 

because without a diaper she's back to 12 month size pants...

*Once she got accustomed to sitting on the potty, she no longer received a sticker unless she actually went to the bathroom.

**She still has yet to poop on the potty.

Ramblings: Toddlers

We are trying to potty train.  I hate potty training.  I want her to be potty trained, but I don't want to do it.  Is there just a seminar you can send them to for a couple days and they come back potty trained?  I feel like there's millions to be made in something like that, but I still don't want to do it.

We converted her crib to a toddler bed.  Here is what her pediatrician (the father of a daughter the same age as Ellie) told me when I asked about this particular transition:

                 "Keep her in that crib until she climbs out."

Seemed like great advice, right?  Well, a couple weeks ago she was scaled the outside of her crib to try to get the toy she had just thrown into her crib.  We thought we were really lucky because she had yet to try to leave her room.  We would put her to bed, she would get out of bed and go lay down by her nightlight to read her books.  Usually she fell asleep by the nightlight and we'd have to move her later.  Nick and I were discussing our success with this transition, knowing it would be short lived, and the very next day she opened the door to her room at 6:15am to wake us up.  I will never brag about my parenting skills again.

The Terrible Twos are a real thing, at least for girls.  Until Ellie was born, I only had nephews.  Boys are different.  They seem to have a Terrible Threes phase.  I have also noticed that toddlers are like mini-teenagers, which makes me wonder if teenagers are just giant toddlers.  I mean, I've met a good share of adults who clearly never developed beyond the Terrible Twos.  If this is the case, if Ellie's Terrible Twos are any indication of her teenage years, I'm going to just start drinking now.  Seriously, it's like the worst case of PMS.  Ever.

I had this wonderful weight loss goal for this summer.  I had a whole routine figured out.  I would work out during her nap time and possibly also after she went to bed.  I would take her on walks in the jogging stroller around the neighborhood and on the greenway.  Instead, by the time I put her to bed, I'm mentally and emotionally spent.  You would think getting on the elliptical would help that (it probably would, I should probably do it), but all I want to do is sit in front of the TV and let my brain turn to mush.

I do want to lose the weight, I just don't feel motivated anymore.  I just want to be skinny again.  Can someone please arrange that for me? (I'm going to go eat a cookie now)