Yay, Baby Brooke!!!

Potty training is going extremely well! Miss Brooke has only been wearing panties and has kept them dry for FIVE days!!! My approach was making the switch quick and intense. No pull-ups for us. For the first two days everything in our house revolved around her learning to use the potty. Here's a picture of her "practicing" while watching a potty-themed video. Notice how even the little potty needs a step stool!

She's kept herself dry since Friday afternoon, and we've had lots of outings (including to the zoo, church, the lake, and lots of shopping and errand-running). She's consistently telling me when she has to pee, so I'm only prompting her before we leave the house. I'm so proud of her... and the fun part is seeing how proud she is of herself! She loves to say, "Yay, Baby Brooke!!!" (Even with all of the big-girl talk lately, she still wants to be a baby. Of course, all children under the age of 8 are babies in her language.) The jellybeans are a big incentive, too!

Speaking of babies, it's been cute to see Brooke helping her babies go potty. She loves to take off their clothes, help them walk up the step stools, go, wipe, and wash their hands. With her new step stool, she's tall enough now to give her baby a bath (a very fun and messy project!). The biggest problem with it is that our sink doesn't have a overflow drain, so I have to constantly monitor the water level. That, and she seems to want to wash the baby all of the time, especially when I want us to eat lunch or go somewhere!




I still put her in a diaper at night and for her nap. (She's still in a crib, which doesn't give her any other options if she has to go.) However, she's been keeping her diaper dry during most naps (a very sudden change) and even for a night or two.

(For those who don't want potty details, skip this paragraph.) We still have to clear the #2 hurdle, but I'm hoping that a few more days will help her figure that out. I've offered to put her back in a diaper so that she can do that business, but she doesn't want that, either. I'll give it a little more time and then come up with a strategy if it doesn't work itself out. I've read that it's pretty common for kids to master either one function or the other first. She's doing so well staying dry that I'm okay if this aspect takes a little longer. Fortunately it doesn't happen very often!

The part I didn't plan on is how much time this all takes! Brooke loves to go potty and wash her hands. She'll do it two or three times in a row sometimes. I need to adjust my schedule to allow for all of that. (It's starting to become a stalling technique, too, so I have to discourage that.)

On another note, we've done a lot of gardening this week. She loves digging with the trowel, finding worms, and pushing dirt back in the holes. She's also very good about making sure that all of the plants have "juice" (water). We've planted tomatoes and annual herbs, re-potted houseplants and outdoor flowers, and relocated some ferns. Yesterday we bought okra, squash, and grape tomatoes and will have another planting session today or tomorrow.