Potty trained

I am pleased to report that Addison is more or less completely potty trained (with the exception of bedtime when she still wears pull-ups). She pretty much refuses to wear anything but her "big girl panties" (regular underwear) during the day. As a matter of fact, yesterday she was putting up a fight about wearing the pull-ups for her nap but I was able to convince her to wear them by putting her panties over them. Leaving the house with regular underwear makes me a little nervous, but I've learned that she is able to hold her urine for many, many hours at a time. Knock on wood, but we haven't had an accident (yet). I say yet because I feel like accidents are inevitable at this age. Regardless, I am so proud of my girl for this huge accomplishment!

Asthma update

Thanks for everyone who threw up a little prayer for Addison. She is doing great - she's made almost a complete 180 since yesterday! Other than a little cough once in a while and some breathing that is just a little "off", you wouldn't even know anything was wrong! Those breathing treatments make such a difference. Whew!

In other news, Addison pulled another de-robing during her nap today. I wasn't here to witness it as my mother-in-law was watching her, but apparently she took her pants and diaper off and peed in a corner of her crib. I wasn't planning on transitioning her to her big girl bed anytime soon, but I have a feeling it's not going to be long before we will have to do so. She really seems to be taking this "keeping her pants dry" thing very seriously! She's kept them dry for days now (except during sleep times) and is getting better at telling me she has to go, which she usually indicates by pulling her pants down. Plus, she seems to be consistently holding it longer, which is a huge step in the right direction. Go Addison!

I am my mother

When I was in first grade, I went to school without underwear on. I was wearing my school uniform (a very thin, plaid jumper). I remember first noticing my lack of underwear during my morning music class when I went to sit on the hard, metal chairs and noticing the already cool chairs felt quite significantly colder on my bottom than usual.

I was mortified and prayed all day that one of the boys wouldn't lift up my skirt (as they often did, which is why we typically wore shorts under our jumpers as extra protection!), or that it wouldn’t fly up during recess. I didn't bend over at all that day and slid into my chair at my table in the classroom ever so gingerly, as not to reveal anything.

My mom picked me up from school that day and remembers me bawling on my way to the car. I quickly got in and closed the door behind me. When she asked me what was wrong, I cried, "Mommy, you forgot to give me underwear this morning!" She felt horrible. All of my clean underwear was in the laundry and she meant to grab a pair out of the dryer before leaving the house for school. I can't blame her now (though I did that day and maybe the few days or weeks or months following) for forgetting...she was a single mother of 3, after all! The fact that I was even dressed is quite the accomplishment in my eye...and I only have one child...oh, and I am NOT single!

My mom was superwoman.

So, this story has gone down in history with my family. Somehow, everyone got wind of my embarrassing day and teased me…siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, probably even my dear old grandpa. To this day, I am asked if I remembered to put on my underwear. Obviously, I can now laugh about it but for a long time, it was a very sensitive subject. And I think my mom still feels bad about it.

Last Friday, Addison and I went to our weekly music class. It’s an early morning class and we were rushing around to get ready. I didn’t have underwear/pull-up/diaper on Addison that morning because that’s just how we’ve been rolling around our house lately with this whole potty training business. (It’s much easier to get her to the potty every 30 minutes or so when she’s bottomless!)

I had my OB appointment immediately following music class (which added to the morning chaos) and a friend of mine, who also attends class with her little girl Addison’s age, was going to take her home for a play date while I was at my appointment.

After class, I took Addison to the potty before sending her off. I pulled down her pants and realized she wasn’t wearing anything underneath them! I couldn’t believe it! After briefly laughing about it with my friend and then thanking God that Addison hadn’t wet her pants (because I didn’t have an extra pair with me), my memory flashed over to my mom. I was becoming my mother. I am my mother!

I sent my daughter to school without her underwear! And music class, of all places!

Oh, the irony….or genetics, perhaps.

Love you, Mom!!!!!!!

A whole new can of worms

I have to share a story on here because a) it's funny and b) I really want to keep it for my records.

Just minutes after I blogged yesterday about Addison being in big girl underwear, the following happened:

Addison was down for a nap and I heard her talking in her room. I glanced at the video monitor to see her still laying there, so I turned the sound off because I was on the phone and needed a couple more minutes to finish up my conversation. She began to sit, but was quiet and within a few minutes she was standing. Note: I was not closely monitoring her activity during this time.

Once she is standing in her crib, that's usually my cue to go retrieve her from the bedroom. I went up to get her and was shocked with what was laying before my eyes. Poop. Lots of poop. On the floor. Poop that had apparently been thrown from one little girl's crib, landing in 3 different places, several feet from her crib. With my bottom jaw still on the floor, I looked over at Addison, who was standing in her crib sans pants or pull-ups. She has never de-robed. Ever. Her bedsheets were soaking wet too.

Good for my little girl for wanting to keep her pants dry like we've been talking about, but I think we may have opened a can of worms that I'm not sure I'm ready for.

I told Dustin about it and when he arrived home, he asked Addison if she was a monkey. Addison replied "yes". Maybe we've taken one too many trips to the zoo. Yes, we've actually seen the Bonobo's (the monkey species with the very unattractive rear-ends) throw their poop. We even once saw the baby Bonobo pee in her hand and drink it. Uh oh. Addison is not going near those animals for quite a while! :)

Mommy, Wow! I'm a big kid now!

Look who is wearing big girl panties for the second day in a row!

(She was adamant about wearing this hat. I must say she is really good at coordinating her outfits.)


Addison is doing great potty training (if you could even call it that - see below). She is getting better at telling me when she has to go, though I usually beat her to the punch because I put her on the potty so often. She usually always goes, even if just a drop, which is good. And she has been doing her number 2 business on the potty too, always receiving a "special treat" (1 swedish fish) afterwards. :)

The main problem we've run into with "potty training" Addison is me! We introduced her to the potty at 18 months and she would occasionally use it (more often as she got older), but I haven't been taking the process seriously. There are a few reasons for this:

1. She is still young and I am in no hurry for her to be potty trained (though only having one baby in diapers once little brother comes around would be wonderful)

2. It is a huge commitment on my part, one that requires a lot of energy which I have been lacking the last few months and

3. We are always on the go, which makes it extremely difficult to get her to a potty every hour.

A few weeks ago, I bought her some pull-ups and when I am feeling ambitious (as in, I am willing to take her to the potty a lot that day), Addison wears those because they are so much easier than a diaper to get on and off. Recently, I've noticed that we'll be out for 2-3 hours and when we get home, she is still dry. This amazes me, considering I am about to wet myself by then! Anyway....

Due to the recent change in Addison's ability to "hold it" for a longer period of time, I've decided to really, really (for the most part) commit to this potty training thing.

She kept her pull-ups dry for 4 straight days (except for bedtime), so I pulled out the training underwear yesterday (her big girl panties) and gave it a go. She went a little bit yesterday afternoon and realized it right away and has kept them dry so far today (7 hours and counting)!

So, I'd say Addison is well on her way to being potty trained by the time her baby brother will be arriving. Hopefully we won't have any regression (on Addison's part OR mine!). I will say that it's pretty awesome to not have to change so many diapers, especially the dirty ones!

Poo-Poo on the Potty

UPDATE: She went pee and poo on her little training potty tonight (8/26/09) before bath time! We aren't formally potty-training yet, but I think this is a great start! Oh, and she proved me wrong by pooping twice today. Little stinker.

ORIGINAL POST:
Addison went poo-poo on the potty for the first time today! Every day after lunch/before her nap, if she hasn't already gone, I ask her to go poo-poo (so she doesn't wake up halfway through her nap and go, thus resulting in a shortened nap). 9 out of 10 times, she'll squat in place and go (in her diaper). She also tells us when she has to go. But, she only poo's once a day, so if she's already gone, I know it means she is just having gas.

Yesterday after lunch, she said she had to go poo-poo and I told her that was fine and to go ahead and go. Then she told me she wanted her clothes off. Next, she wanted her diaper off. So, I stripped her down and off to the bathroom she ran. I helped her up on the potty and as she watched through her legs (which sounds icky, I know, but it was humorous to mommy) - she pooped! And let me tell you how much easier the clean-up was....

We're so proud. :)

2 little milestone updates

I just have to update that Addison is going pee-pee in the big potty daily now, usually once or twice a day before a diaper change. I bought (but have yet to use) a training potty. It's sitting in her closet and she knows it's her potty, which seems to be exciting for her. Maybe next week I will have to pull it out and give it a shot.

Also, Addison has always used a pacifier. Her Paci. Since the day in the hospital that her breathing tubes were removed, the doctors and nurses offered her a paci to teach her how to suck. The sucking, swallowing and breathing (at the same time) reflex is usually developed in utero at about 36 weeks. Because Addison was born at 31 weeks, she needed a little push to develop this skill earlier.

The paci has always been our friend. It has been one of Addison's ways to self-soothe...something she learned at an early age. It has been nice for us, too, because not only did it help her fall asleep, but if she would wake in the middle of the night or early in the morning, she would find her paci and fall back to sleep.

Since about a year old, Addison has only been allowed to have her paci in her bed. It was my way to try to control it from becoming a long-term pacifier habit. I've been thinking for a few months about weaning her off the paci, basically because I didn't want it to start affecting her teeth and I thought the earlier she was when I took it away, the easier it would be. Though no easy task would that be, I thought.

Surprisingly, both her pediatrician and dentist found no reason why I should need to take it away. On top of that, her Early Intervention Specialist recently told me that she thought it has probably helped her oral development. She, too, questioned my desire to take the paci away. Nevertheless, I promised myself that I would try to take it away once vacation was over.

And that's what I did. Last night, before I laid her down for bed, I showed her that her paci was no longer there. She said "Paci?" and I said "Paci's all gone. It went bye bye because you're a big girl now." She said "Paci bye bye. Addison big girl." I said "Yes! Addison's a big girl now. Bye Bye, Paci!" Of course I focused on her lovey, which used to go hand in hand with her paci and told her that if she ever got scared or sad, she could hug her lovey real tight and kiss it.

She really seemed to understand. She laid down and I did not hear a word from her the entire night. Same thing for her nap today and for night time tonight (and we aren't even home tonight so she isn't in her comfort zone). YAY!!!!!

I do feel slightly guilty for taking away such a beloved item (though I know it's for the best) and I must say that she woke up this morning at 7 and did not go back to sleep like she usually does. This may be the tradeoff. But, that's okay. She is paci-free and is such a good girl!