Big Girl Diapers

Warning: The following post includes talk of pee-pee and poop.

I had no intention of starting the potty-training process before Julia turned 2, but early this year, I purchased a potty and some potty-training books to start her slowly getting used to the idea.

She was VERY interested in the potty. She liked to sit on it (fully clothed), stand in it, wear the cup part on her head as a hat, and put her dolls on it. She likes the books, too, especially the Where's the Poop? book.

Shortly after, Julia started telling us when she was pee-peeing or pooping (sometimes when she wasn't), and on March 18th, she said she was pooping, so Karina, our babysitter, whipped off her diaper and placed her on the potty. I was working from home, so I did not miss the momentous occasion. She pooped and pee-peed on the potty for the first time! We were so excited and screamed so loudly, I was sure we frightened her from ever using the potty again. She pee-peed on the potty the next day, so we must not have frightened her that badly.

I purchased some Pull-ups (or Big Girl Diapers, as they are known at our house), because at times, this is the way it goes: she wants diaper off, sits on potty, nothing happens, wants diaper on, walks around talking about pee-pee or poop, diaper off, sits on potty, nothing happens, diaper on, etc. etc.

Over the last two and a half months, she will have some weeks where she is very interested in using potty and some weeks where she is not. Last Monday, while I was distracted and doing something with the camera, she was standing right next to me. She pulled her pants down, pulled off her regular diaper, and handed it to me. So, I took this not-so-subtle hint that I needed to get her to the potty. Sure enough, she used it!

We visited her cousin, Scott, who is 3 1/2 and potty-trained this past weekend. When he went into the bathroom to use the potty, she took off her diaper and insisted she was next. Just this morning, she was talking about pooping, so I rushed her to the bathroom, whipped off her diaper, and popped her on the potty. She did both poop and pee-pee, and you should have seen the very proud grin on her face!

So, I had not planned to start potty-training until after August, but Julia had other ideas. I'm sure it won't be an entirely easy process, but she certainly has set her mind to doing as much like a big girl as she can.