big girl potty.

it's day 3 of our potty training adventure.

we came home from the little gym on saturday morning and i wasted no time stripping her naked from the waste down. "okay elsie, when you have to go potty, you need to use the big-girl potty now." of course she loved being naked so there was no argument from her. within 20 minutes she was on the back patio with her dad saying, "eldie (elsie) tooting!" dad says, "do you have to go potty?" um, no. i go ahead and lead her to the potty anyway, in time to see a little poop fall to the floor. "that's okay honey, if you just sit in the big-girl potty and put it in there, you can have an m&m." (don't judge me.) with some hesitation, she sat and put the rest in the potty as her dad and i erupted with excitement, cheers and kisses of congrats. you would've thought we won the lottery. her face lit up and something clicked. off we went to wash hands before devouring an m&m as reward for her new skill.

and she got it right away. "need go pee-pee" she'd announce, heading for her potty. all day. she and i even went for a short walk with our woofie and she was able to hold it. so proud of her. at one point she sat down to pee and must've had some stage fright. she looks at me with a sheepish smile and says, "wait for it...." hilarious. now it's a pretty common comment when she's trying to go pee.

after about a dozen successful potties, she looks up at me as she's washing her hands and says, "eldie get big-girl bed now!"

sunday morning, after a night with a diaper, we stripped her again. she went potty right away and kept it up well. she even lead me into my bathroom one time and sat on the big-big potty with no kiddo potty seat. amazing. she was doing so well we put her and the dog in the car and headed to the dog park...with the potty seat in the back of the car, of course.

she didn't have any accidents while we were at the park, but she did tell me she had a tummy ache. oh no. i was thinking maybe she needed to go but was holding it, giving her cramps or something. no. when we got home, she threw up a little. poor kid. then she had runny poos. are you kidding me? of all the times for her to get a tummy bug, it's this weekend? the weekend we're trying to teach her to go in the potty? unbelievable. and this kid never gets sick! confirming it was learning that sophie, elsie's friend next door, had also gotten sick. elsie was amazing though, never once had an accident. she struggled a little to go in the potty when she wasn't feeling well last night, but eventually she did it.

today was her very first day wearing underwear! her little bottom looks so skinny without a diaper. it's been a tough day though. kayley came to take care of her this morning and elsie was already feeling kind of punky. she added to her own misery when she took a header into our kitchen table as kayley and i stood there, helpless. ugh! she's got a giant goose egg on the side of her forehead now, the poor kid. but no accidents. no wet underwear. no poop in her pants. i took her to the park for a little break, potty in tow. she was wonderful. went on the potty while we were at the park and had a great time.

i realize we may run into struggles with this at some point, but i'm so proud of her for how well she's done thus far. it's really amazing. i think she must just be ready to move on.

her bigger reward for this is a big-girl bed, coming in just over a week!