Potty Trained!

Evi has been out of diapers during the day for about a month now. In the beginning we had about a missed pee a day, and then it dwindled to about a miss every other day. Now her only misses seem to be our fault - either we move to slow or think she can't possibly need to go. She puts her poos exclusively in the potty; she is very adamant about that point.

Yesterday, Evi was running around the dining room. She suddenly paused and turned, saying "pee-pee, pee-pee" and ran to her potty in the other room. When I followed her, I found she had started to pee herself in the dining room, stopped, and ran to the potty to finish.

I am officially making the announcement today. Evi's potty trained! Well, at least during the day. Is it considered potty trained if she still pees herself at night?

Back in panties

I decided a few days ago to restore Evi to her "Diaper Free" status. She hasn't been diaper free since before Guatemala. Because she has been occasionally telling me when she needs to pee or poop, I want to see if she can be officially potty trained. She has done great; we have only had two accidents in three days. I am going to try it for two weeks and then evaluate if its worth continuing. Stay tuned!

Twice is nice.

It is only 10:00 AM and Evi has told me twice today that she needs to pee and then peed!

Evi is fourteen months today.

I realize that going four months without blogging can hardly hold one's interest. I can hardly call what a do a blog. I'll call it a slog. Or a bog. Or a bore.

As Evi's vocabulary has budded, she's learned to say "pee-pee." She says pee-pee when she sees the potty, when I ask her if she needs to potty, or - the most revolutionary of all - when she has to pee! The latter has only occurred about four times now. The first time, Samy, Evi, and I woke up from a siesta and after a few moments she began saying "pee-pee, pee-pee, pee-pee." I set her on the potty and the little doodle did her deed.

Evi's other words include agua, leche, gato, doggie, duckie, uh-oh, night-night, mommy, and papi. You can ask her age in English or Spanish and she will proudly raise one finger high. She is walking now and I am following. She unpacks and I pack. Today she pulled nearly an entire box of Kleenex before I noticed. She is fast.

The Perfect Potty Day

Memorial Day 2009 will go down into history as Evi's first Perfect Potty Day. She kept her diaper clean all night and all day. Not bad for a 10-month, 3-day old.

Samy took Evi in the lake for the first time yesterday. I wanted to swim too, but my toes felt the water and my body said "no way." Despite the cold water, Evi cried for a couple seconds and then was fine. She did great. The swimming at the YMCA seems to have paid off.

Hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend.

Hi again.

I have not blogged in 3 and a half months. So sorry to leave you dangling in the depths of my potty despair. Things have been considerably better than I left them and the Great Potty Chronicles will go on.

Evi crawls everywhere now, but prefers to stand up supported whenever possible. She is very vocal and prefers forbidden items, like stereos and cords, over toys.

Lately we have been back to one or two diapers during the day and one at night. Evi uses the potty much more often than the diaper and she rarely poops in her diaper. It is fantastic.

Serves me right...

Why is it the minute you brag about your child, they turn? Ever since my post about having a baby who never poops in her diaper, she has presented me with numerous full and stinky diapers. She prefers to do so in front of avid readers of The Great Potty Chronicles, readers who only hours previously had read my brag, I mean, blog.

I'm not eating my words, I am wiping them off her bum.

At least she's peeing in the potty more again.

Evi conquered her first fear yesterday. Apparently she developed a doggie fear on Saturday, when we visited a neighbor. They have a large and crazy, but very friendly, dog who exploded to the gate upon our arrival . He jumped on the gate barking furiously and happily while we waited outside so he could be put away. The second Evi saw him, her lower lip popped out, she squeezed me tight and started bawling.

I didn't give this episode another thought until she repeated the reaction at a friend's house with their two small and comparably calmer dogs. She had a fear of dogs! Not good considering we would love to have a dog someday. Under our friends' advice, we allowed the dogs to get much closer than Evi was confortable with. We showed her that we were okay with the dogs and she was safe. She gradually got calmer and began reaching out to touch their fur. The second her fingers met the fur, she would jerk them back and shiver.

A few days later, Evi met Max (the original dog) again and after a few tears, settled down and made friends. Yay!

How many times can I say "poop" in one blog?

The greatest thing about pottying Evi? Catching poops. Lately we miss alot of pees, but we catch ALL the poops. And her poops these days are not small. When she is done on the potty, I just clean the tiniest amount of poop off her bottom. I still feel dainty afterwards!

Here are some bathtime pictures for your enjoyment.

In the subject of water, Evi's first swim class is Thursday. I can hardly contain myself I am so excited. It's at the YMCA and you don't have to be a member to join, so bring your baby and join us! :) We decided to do this when we heard a story about one of Samy's cousins. She was leaving the park with her baby boy and packing up the car. When she turned around, he was gone. She searched frantically until someone saw a diaper floating in the pond; he was upside down in the water. Pulling him out, they tried desperately to revive him for about five minutes to no avail. When she stopped trying and started praying, he coughed water and came to - praise God!

Since Grandma and Grandpa live at the lake, it's important to teach Evi what to do if she fell in. I don't know how detailed this class will be (it's only 4 thirty minute sessions), but I understand you can teach babies to flip over and float on their back if they fall into water. I hope to teach her both respect and enjoyment of the water. What fun the lake will be this summer!

On another note, Evi has started eating some solids. So far she hasn't met a food she doesn't like. Of course, all she has had is avocado, sweet potato, banana, apple, and pees, in that order. I enjoy making her foods; what a $$ savings! That alone makes it worth it.

She eats very enthusiastically.

I know she lacks a bib. I realized it before we started eating, but I was too lazy to go get it.

Hit or Miss

Besides being newly addicted to the show 24 and enjoying the January lull that follows the holidays, I am still toting Evi to the potty regularly. She is quite the little trooper. Her newfound joy is blowing juicy raspberries, so my arms can get quite soaked while holding her on the potty.

I have kept Evi diapered since the Providence trip. While we were going diaper free alot, lately I miss as many pees as I catch, so it's not worth changing her clothes 20 times a day. Since I said I would only do this as long as I wasn't stressing about it, we are just taking one day at a time, one pee at a time, and I try not to be disappointed when she uses the diaper instead of the potty. The verdict is still out on the whole success of this practice, but again, she is only 5 and a half months old and she has used the potty way more than most 2 year olds! That has to count for something. :)

I'll post more pictures soon (and I'm trying to catch a good video of the raspberries). It's late; I'm going to bed.

Providence...

This is our friend Hilary with her 9 month baby and Ana with Evi. Hilary, her husband, and two children live in Pennsylvania now and we hadn't seen them since our wedding until we ran into them outside a restaurant in Providence! So exciting.


Evi's first Christmas. She got a little overwhelmed by all the kisses.



Evi's new best friend, second only to the thumb.

Potty Renaissance

After a week of pee-filled frustration, we're back in the saddle again... on rather, on the potty again. Last Saturday, Evi came down with her first cold, what I know suppose was the culprit of her seeming inability to use the potty. Now, she has resumed diaperlessness. Yay!

System breakdown.

Evi is wearing a diaper, has a bit of a rash, and there is nothing in the potty. I'm not sure where the system is breaking down, but it sure is! Before Evi would pee almost as soon as I would put her on the potty, now she does only occasionally. I think that since my shoulder episode, followed by inlaws visiting, I maybe haven't invested the time. But now I have more time again, so I would think it would get better. It hasn't yet! Stay tuned...