We have a winner

Yes my friends, I have successfully gotten my finicky toddler to eat butternut squash and zucchini. OOO, I feel so evil.

My secret, "blue box" mac and cheese with butternut squash puree. And Chocolate zucchini cake with shredded zucchini. You can't taste it, smell it or see it. It is moist and very tasty.

"And today's prize for getting that wonderful lovely fiber into your toddlers diet...Drum roll please...."

Jelly bean: "I pooped on the potty! Mommy, want to see it?"
Me: "Yes you did, good job."
Jelly bean: "I ate a lot and now I poop." smiling proudly.

Hooray! Potty-parent-training is going great. The trick, she gets a new (very cheap) book for going #2...in fact it is going so well...the rule has now changed to (for my wallet's benefit), during the week Jelly will collect stickers on a card, in which she can then redeem for a trip to the Local Library and pick out some books of her choice.

She is very excited. And this may be it...the accidents are getting less and less! WooHooo!

Poopy Dilemma

Maybe I jumped the gun...maybe just a little.

Here is my dilemma, and I am sure there are other parents out there as frustrated -- if not more than we are. Everyday, Jelly goes to day care and everyday she stays dry (going to the potty - no problem)...but get her home for the weekend and it is like she has forgotten all about how to do it. But it isn't with the peeing that we have this problem...just the bowel movement.

I love being a parent, just because I can say bowel movement in a paragraph and no one thinks twice about it.

Anyway, my child has gone several times on the potty (both #1 and #2)...but lately she just won't do #2...she is even holding it in...which worries me. It is typical right? OR am I really going to lose all my hair due to frustration? Seriously, I would rather just turn gray!

Prayers for poopy on the potty are needed...

It's Potty-time!

We did it Hooray!

Ok, maybe I am jumping the gun just a wee bit, but I can hardly contain myself...Jelly is in big girl pants! She officially took the dive on Monday at school. She went all day in under wear, no accidents...even on the way home...which is a 45 minute drive.

And she has been hanging in there all week. Tomorrow, she gets the special princess pants..she is very excited. I am still nervous...but this is a huge milestone and I am certainly proud of her.

So hooray, no more diapers for Jelly!

She is the lollipop kid

I really wish I could blame the weather...or even the fact that it is tv season finale time...but nope, it is just that piece-o-crap-computer-trouble-thing! I hope to have my issues resolved by this weekend.

In the meantime...Jelly was telling me about her day today, she was visiting Preschool again...and in our day care, they provide sheets letting us know how our kids do on the potty all day. When I asked her how she did on the potty, she jumped up and down and said, "I stay dry mommy! I stay dry!" However, her sheet did not agree...don't get me wrong, cause she did in fact pee on the potty all day, but her pull-ups were wet too. And the deal was that Jelly needed to stay dry all day and use the potty for a special treat at the end of the day...And yes, our latest bribe is a lollipop.

"I want my lollipop."
"I am sorry sweetie, but you didn't stay dry all day."
"Yes I did."
"That is not what your potty sheet says."
"YES I DID!"
"I know you tried honey, but you can try again tomorrow."
"YES I DID! I want my lollipop."
"Look a choo choo train!"

There was no winning this thing, so the first thing that came to mind -Redirect (Thanks Shawn!). I had to turn her attention to something else, and for the time being...it worked! But as all the books say, you can't rationalize with a 3 year old...and gosh darn it, they are right!

Happy Weekend!

Potty training - schmatty training

Potty training, more like Parent training. We are only kidding ourselves. Those toddlers have us all fooled. They can hold it, they can control it, they just don't want to do it. And why? Because you want them to master it...but they won't because they want to control you.

Jelly goes to the potty at day care. She stays dry for most of the day, but at home it is a different story.

"Do you need to go potty?"
"No, I fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yup."

"I go pee, poop and fart on the potty!"
"You do?"
"Yup and Cinderella come to my house."
"OK." wondering how I would accomplish this...

A friend at work gave her daughter a princess party for mastering the potty. Castle cake, pin the tail on the princess (something like that) and all guests dressed-up like little princesses. I thought this was an awesome idea...and it worked for her!

Another friend of mine recommended an article she found on CNN about potty school. And basically touched on my daughters fear of the automatic flusher. My daughter is terrified of that thing.

"Its too loud mommy!" trying to run out of the stall before my pants are up...
"Wait!" Nothing like losing your dignity in a public bathroom!

We started the potty-journey 7 months ago, maybe, just maybe we will get lucky and Jelly will be using the toilet by her 1 year anniversary. Fingers crossed...

The power of an M and M

Who knew that a tiny candy coated piece of chocolate could be used to bribe a two-year old? I have two stories...about the power of the M and M...

At my daughter's "Harvest Parade" (Not to offend those who don't celebrate Halloween) it was pretty hard to get my 2 year-old to sit, let alone 12 before the parade. So, I came armed with a snack size pack of M and M's.

Before I was a parent, I laughed and blew-off any notion that I would ever use anything, let alone candy, to bribe my children...But now I have a 2 year-old. Times change. I have pictures that need taken, memories to be preserved...and by golly...if an M and M works, it works!

So, before the kids began trekking through their parade, I coerced them to get my pictures...all for the price of 2 M and M's...not bad.

But sometimes an M and M can back-fire...

We have been in the process of potty-training our daughter for approximately 4 months. We started with a sticker reward chart, it worked one week. Then we tried the oh-so-crunchy-and-sweet M and M, and well, it kind of worked. The rules were: she would get an M and M for sitting on the potty, two for pee pee, three for poo poo.

Excited, Jelly bean went to the potty, and sat but no pee pee....5 mins. later, still no pee pee, 10 mins later no pee pee. I told her if she didn't have to go, it was ok, we could try again later, "No, mommy listen, I pee pee." 15 mins. later, still no pee pee. After about 30mins. on the potty (red ring on her bottom) and still no pee pee, I convinced her off the potty. And she got 1 M and M. After she savored it for a minute..."Mommy I go pee pee (pause) I get nutter M and M." "Yes later." I replied. "No mommy, I go now, I want nutter M and M now."

So, I guess it can work sometimes and sometimes not.

We are making progress

Potty Update: Today was a grand day...a moment that every parent dreams about...it was the day the poop fell into the potty! Ok, little gross...but really. She did it, Jelly bean pooped on the potty all on her own.

We are making progress! Hooray!

PT 101

Here is my update on Our Adventures in Potty Training. Yesterday she went 3 times on the potty, and had 2 dry diapers! Yeah! This morning she woke up with a "practically dry" diaper, and went on the potty 4 times today. But still no BM, she doesn't let us know yet when she goes or has to go...In time.

Bye Bye Stinky Poo!

Last week, our little jelly bean moved up to the older toddler classroom, and we can finally focus on ditching those stinky diapers!

Her primary teacher has been so wonderful with helping her ditch the bottle and binky, I have complete faith that, together, we will help her master the potty too!

So far so good...She loves to sit on the potty, she has successfully pee'd on the potty and she even knows what to do with the toilet paper! Just today, jelly bean went 3 times on the potty, but no poop yet! Well, she did poop in her diaper today but she refused to be changed...Anyone else have this problem?

I will keep you updated on "Our Adventures of Bye-Bye Stinky Poo!"

Potty Time

Call it curious or trying to imitate mommy and daddy, but our little Jelly-Bean asked to use the potty, and actually peed too! This has been happening on and off for the past couple weeks.

Honestly, I am trying to contain my excitement, I do realize that potty-training your child can take a full year.

I finally broke down and bought a potty seat, not one of those stand-alone things you have to clean out, personally I find that offensive...don't get me wrong, I just don't want to clean it out myself. So the seat that I bought fits over our toilet seat. It seems to make sense, if you are out and about are you going to drag a port-a-pot with you? No, well at least I wouldn't.

Right now our daughter is in a classroom (at day care) that doesn't have the capability to potty-train, so we won't be pushing the issue too much. But I will keep you updated on our progress...

Do you have any potty-advice for our little Jelly-Bean?

A Lesson in Potty Training

A friend of mine, we will call her Fern, wanted to share an adventure she recently encountered with her 19-month old daughter and her dog...

"Sunday night I gave my daughter a bath and afterwards she was "air drying" around her room while I was getting her clothes ready for the next day. I turned around to see what she was into and she had that look on her face, you know the one...contemplating with a touch of strain. And then next thing I know she dropped a bomb right on the carpet. I ran over and grabbed her and ran her to the potty to finish her business and then cleaned her up. I grabbed an extra wipe to clean up her room and when I got there I looked around and couldn't find it. I looked under the dresser and the chair, no where. Then it hit me, I looked at the dog and she had that "Huh?? What??" look. I pried her mouth open and tried to smell for residual poo but all I could smell was baby wipe. What is a mother to do with no one else in the house to help with the doodie duty? Answer: What any other "sane and rational" person would do. Grab the dog, give her a bath, brush her teeth like you have never brushed them before, and shove multiple dental treats down her throat! The joys never end, do they??"

Thanks for sharing my Fern!