Well, Babycake is growing up! At around 18 months of age we began the journey of potty training. The initial experience of that is also what prompted this blog. Over the summer we had a huge regression in her potty training experience, which happens to be normal, but I of course assumed my child would never do that "she's so advanced. she's so amazing." Ah, she's a typical two year old. ;-)
I have never liked using candy to coerce a child to go potty (how are you going to stop giving them candy?) instead I've used and liked the sticker reward method. Babycake loves rewards and stickers- so brilliant! Well after her regression, which was in response to Mommy and Daddy "abandoning" her for a two week vacation, the stickers weren't really working anymore (which was surprising b/c before leaving for vacation she no longer needed the sticker rewards to entice using the potty, she'd go on her own and not even mention it). It was a huge battle for about a month, consisting of a lot of "Mama, potty" while standing there and peeing herself- seriously... just to spite me... Anyway, around the same time Babycake discovered Disney's Frozen. Oh man! I can't think of the last time I went a whole day without singing a Frozen song at some point. So in my desperation to get Babycake back on board with using the potty, I bought some Frozen stickers. In two days time there was a complete 180.
Now after a month of Frozen stickers, I can say with pride that she is again excelling in the potty area. She rarely has accidents. She can clearly express her need to go. She wakes from naps dry, and tonight we are attempting our first diaper free night. Last night we exchanged her bathroom potty chair for a new toilet seat with child seat option on the real toilet. Hurray for no more potty dumping! Babycake loves that she gets to use the big potty like Mommy and Daddy. It's really not that big of a change since it's what she does when we are out and about, but it makes her happy and feel special.
Besides completing potty training, we also took down her bed railing this month. Babycake sleeps in a toddler bed, but when we switched her out of the crib setting (being enclosed) she couldn't handle the amount of freedom to get out of bed and needed the enclosed feeling to get comfortable and sleep. Since her bed in only about 5-6 inches off the ground, I've never worried about her falling out of bed, just her ability to lay there until she passes out. Since removing the railing we haven't had any falling out of bed experiences, though the second night of having no bed rail, we did check the monitor and saw her head on the bed while the rest of her body was kneeling next to the bed. Five minutes later she had climbed back into bed and was curled up comfy as could be. We don't know if she had woken and climbed in or done it in her sleep. Either way it doesn't matter as she was comfortable enough in knowing where she was that she didn't call for us for help and took care of the situation herself.
Next week we begin our big girl classes at the Y. Again Babycake is participating in Gymnastics Together which she happened to have a blast in this past spring. She will also begin taking Tippy Toe Tutus. I can't believe she is doing all these "big kid" things. It's so awesome to watch her learn and grow. I'm so proud, and yet a the same time my heart hurts a little knowing my baby is no longer a baby, and will never be a baby again. Well!.. Let's get tumbling and dancing!
