Princess of the Potty

A month or so ago, I would have never thought Lilly would be potty trained by now. She was more than resistant and defiant at even the mention of being a big girl and sitting on the potty. If I said to her, "Lilly...you can be a big girl and use the potty instead of wearing diapers" her reply would sound something like this, "No Mommy! I NOT use the potty!" as she stomped away. After talking to lots of other moms and the pediatrician, and observing Lilly more closely (she was waking up with a bone-dry diaper everyday, told me when she had a dirty diaper, and even used the toilet at the church nursery), I decided it was time to toss out the diapers for her, and potty training boot camp began! It was not fun. There were lots of tears the first few days...both hers and mine. And I'll admit that there was some yelling on both our ends, as well bribery involved (M&Ms as rewards and the threat of turning off Sesame Street when she yelled at me). But, on about day three, she got it...WHEW! What a relief that the hardest part of that was over! She still has a few accidents and I put a pull-up on her when we're out of the house (mostly for my convenience). But for the most part, she is potty trained. She does great here at the house and when we're out (though I did have to purchase a portable, collapsible potty seat with Sesame Street characters on it to get her to use the bathroom in public...a small price to pay!). The only place she usually has accidents now is in the car...I can deal with that. When we were visiting Louisville a few weeks ago we were at my parents house and the girls were playing dress-up when Lilly announced that she had to go potty. We rushed to the bathroom and as she succeeded she broke out in this big grin. So me, being the great mom I am, thought 'This would be a fantastic photo for a senior slide show when she graduates from high school someday!' And I grabbed the nearest camera. Aren't the girls lucky to have me as their mom! ;-)