And, She's....TRAINED!

The Christmas Miracle to end all miracles: Abigail Jordan Strongin is (mostly) considered potty trained (during the day)!!!! Yes, folks, you read that right. My 3.5 yr old child who adamantly refused to so much as sit on the potty a week ago, is now wearing underwear during the day and telling mommy and daddy when she needs to pee! My dreams came true!

Here's how it all went down: On Thursday night, Dec. 23, the Diaper Fairy (aka mom) sent Abby a box that containted Kandoo flushable wipes & Pull-Ups, with a note to Abby that she was to take those items and put her diapers and wipes in the box to send it back to the Fairy to receive lots of great presents in return. So Abby threw her remaining size 4 diapers and wipes in the box and left it outside for the DF to pick up that night.

When Abby woke up bright and early on Christmas Eve morning, Jason "answered" the door to find the huge box from the DF with a million "B" and "C" presents in it (more to come on that). It also contained a letter from the DF, a potty chart and sparkly star stickers. Abby put on her big girl underwear around 7:30 am and we waited. And waited. And waited. The 3Day Potty Training lady told us to tell her to say "Tell mommy when you need to pee" and wait for her to have an accident and then rush her to the potty. By 1:30 pm, she still had not peed! Then, she had her first accident and we did as we were told. Some crying ensued as she did NOT want to use the potty, but we convinced her (ok, an M&M convinced her) to at least sit on it. A little while later, she told us she needed to go and lo and behold, she went and peed on the potty! OMG. And guess what - she did it 1 more time that first day and had one more accident, but 2/4 isn't bad for Day 1.

Day 2 came around and she only had one accident and made it to the potty 3 successful times! I have to say, this kid has a huge bladder - she held it in for 4-6 hours each day! Every time she'd pee in the potty, she would get an "A" present - an M&M, hershey kiss, chocolate-covered raisin, etc. and a star on her chart. 6 stars = a big "C" prize. The "B" prizes were for poops.

Day 3 - no accidents, more stickers and finally a "C" prize! Still no poops.

Day 4 - no accidents, more stickers and finally a poop - in her underwear. Another "C" prize!

Day 5 - no accidents, more stickers and another poop in her underwear. Another "C" prize!

Day 6 (today) - no accidents, more stickers, no poop and another "C" prize.

You see where this is going?! We are almost out of "C" prizes but still have LOTS of "B" prizes for when she decides to poop on the potty eventually. We even sing her favorite "pooping on the potty" song (thanks to Clara & Emma for that!) and she knows where she should do it but seems afraid to. But regardless of the poop issue, I am beyond thrilled that she is in underwear ("nighttime underwear" or Pull-Ups, are for night). Hopefully she will figure out that pooping in her underwear is not so fun and will try to go in the potty. And hopefully, the transition back at school next week will be a smooth one.

Not to neglect my second child - happy 8-month birthday, big guy! Zach got shots today and barely cried, weighed in at 17 lbs, 13 ozs, and finally decided to roll over from his back to his tummy (about time, dude!).

As we come to the end of year where we became a family of 4, welcoming a baby boy into our world, I recognize that it was a great year. Abby became a big sister and transitioned to a big girl bed; Zach was born and has spent the last 8 months of his life laughing and smiling and I became the mommy of 2 amazing kids and can only dream of what's in store for 2011. Happy New Year!