Potty Training Begins....

It's finally time to potty train Olivia, a task I have not exactly looked forward to or had any interest in starting. But, she's scheduled to start at Spanish Schoolhouse on Wednesday August 13th with the "Meet the Teacher" on Tuesday August 12th and she must be potty trained! I was hoping that potty training would just take hold with the right pair of undies, like it was with Sofia. Now we have fairy, princess, Frozen and cartoon undies - none having done the trick.

A few weeks ago, I started putting Olivia on the potty after naps and after waking in the morning since she's dry nearly all the time. After one nap, she was sitting on the potty and actually peed which surprised me and I gave a little yelp which scared her! She started crying uncontrollably (she's also very sleepy and not awake for a bit after her naps). After that incident, she wouldn't even get near the potty, let alone sit on it. I took a break and then slowly got her comfortable sitting on the potty in her clothes and then with her bottoms dropped. She wouldn't entertain the idea of a pull-up either, but one day I put one on her without her knowing it and realized it wasn't so bad. So, we've slowly made progress toward the potty.

Finally she actually went potty on the toilet on Sunday! I was so proud of her! However, since then she has gone back to her habit of wearing her pull-up and being dry for hours until I bring her into the bathroom where she goes potty just before sitting on the potty. At least she's understanding the concept and hope she's close to actually going in the potty regularly. However, if I ask her if she plans on being in diapers at Sofia's age (as a joke obviously), she says "Yes!" Yikes!

Now that she sits on the potty, she loves to grab a stack of books and use the step stool as a table to sit on the potty and read. She will literally do this for nearly an hour with no activity. At least she's enjoying potty time now.

I called Spanish Schoolhouse and told them that she isn't really ready for school since she isn't potty trained and they told me that they suggest she start in the 3-year old class as planned and give her a month to figure out the potty situation. If that doesn't work, she can drop down to the 2-year old class where diapers are still allowed, but they don't anticipate that happening and I think they are right. Once she's surrounded by other kids going potty around her she will get the program. We are looking forward to being a diaper-free house!

Ready and "focusing" on the potty....more reading than anything.