Great Expectations

This weekend we resolved to potty train Baker. It was to be a Friday thru Sunday, all-day, intensive training session. The expected result: a [mostly] potty trained child. (Josh's goal was potty training in a day!)

Things did not go as we expected. Here are some of the 3 day highlights:

• Friday a.m.: Baker woke up and we heard on her monitor "Baker wear panties, Baker go pee pee and poo poo on the potty". A promising sign, right?
• Baker was very into the "rewards" for staying clean & dry (stickers and m&m's). Once we realized this, we were able to get her to stay on the potty for over 45 minutes the first day - waiting for results.
• Half of the time, nothing came out. And usually after getting off the chair her panties were soiled within 3 minutes. Apparently she was holding it in, or maybe she just needs to be standing to go pee pee? (Josh has the same problem!)
• Timing seemed to have everything to do with her success. We tried to load her up with liquids and have her sit on the potty chair every hour or so. Her need to pee pee seemed to have no rhyme or reason. Sometimes it would take her an hour to go, other times it would be just 15 minutes after she just went. Either way, she never seemed to know herself when she needed to go, since she never told us if she had to go.
• At the end of Day 2, she seemed to recognize that she was wet after peeing her pants. We were hopeful this was progress? We were wrong.
• By Day 3, Josh and I were exhausted. We were frustrated by having each "success" met by soiled panties. And Baker was starting to get frustrated with us for constantly asking if she was clean & dry. Plus, she was less & less willing to sit on the potty chair.

For our own sanity, we decided to give potty training a break for several months. We don't think Baker is quite ready for it, and we know we're not ready for any more! Fortunately for you, Josh got A LOT of great video footage of Baker during the weekend. In fact, there's too much to put in 1 post. Here's the first peek at our weekend.