We were driving through our neighborhood and saw a large dog, happily taking a walk. I noticed that the dog only had 3 legs, so I commented to Abby, "Look, a doggy taking a walk. Poor doggy, he only has 3 legs, though."

Abby's response: "Don't worry, doggy! I only have TWO legs......but I'm not a doggy."

More than 6 weeks have passed since Abby became potty trained. We have had only one accident in the bathroom when she got too wrapped up playing with us before using the potty early one morning. Otherwise, she has been consistently dry at daycare and at night. So, all in all, I would say we couldn't have asked for a better potty training experience.

As nice as it has been to have a break from changing diapers, I must say there are far more inconveniences with having a potty trained vs a diapered toddler and I am glad that we waited until she was older (2 years 6 months) to deal with them.

My BIGGEST issue is with the use of public toilets with my daughter. First of all, they scare her, so she doesn't REALLY want to use them if she can help it, which can result in an uncomfortable and stressful drive home sometimes. On the other hand, she is FASCINATED by them, so will say she needs to use the potty everywhere we go. We can't NOT take her. However, she'll get in the bathroom, look around, sit on the toilet, touch everything, then say, "I don't need to go!" Being in my last trimester of pregnancy, the constant picking up and putting down from the toilet and for hand-washing (on which we insist even if she doesn't go) can turn me into a bear!

For on-the-go emergencies, we considered bringing our Baby Bjorn Potty Chair everywhere we went. (After all, we do have a mini-van now!) This Potty Chair has been great at home and is the perfect size for my daughter. Nowadays, though, she prefers to use the regular toilet with no inserts or adapters. However, waste disposal would have been a big issue with the Potty Chair, so we invested in the Kalencom 2-in-1 Potette Plus in pink/purple, which Abby really loves, but which we haven't had the need to use. What's great about the Potette Plus is that the tiny package is thrown in the back of the van and can be pulled out at any given moment, anywhere, or it can be taken with us to any public restroom and used as a seat cover. There is a bag with absorbent liner that is attached to the seat so that waste can be easily taken care of when convenient.

However, since the seat comes in its own carrying pouch, it's not discrete or easy to haul, unless you're also toting a large beach bag or stroller and can toss it into the basket below. At first, I wanted a foldable seat that can fit easily into my regular purse. We purchased the Especially for Kids Potty Adapter from Babies R Us based on a store worker's recommendation, but quite frankly I haven't gotten it to work very well. True, the rubber hinges make it so that there's no fear of bottom pinching and is more comfortable for the kid, but since they are stored folded up most of the time, they tend to warp when placed on the toilet and will fall off easily. (Perhaps if I took a minute to massage the rubber hinges flat we can fix this problem, though.) The Potty Adapter has a nice handle for the kid to hold onto, which is extremely nice since she would otherwise be propping herself up by touching the main seat!

The most advertised foldable seat is the Ginsey Folding Travel Potty Seat like the Sesame Street characters version shown at the link. I do believe they will stay on better, but also knowing how unsteady they will be on the toilet seats, there is no doubt you'll have a few bottom pinching episodes, so I'm avoiding them.

For ultimate portability and to get away from the foldable seats, I think I'm going to try these Public Potty Protectors next. I love the size and the fact that they have a sticky strip to help them stay put. Like I said, the kid resists holding my hands and will have her hands all over the toilet seat, so the fact that these have excellent coverage is very appealing. I only wonder if they're flushable - not that that would be a deal-breaker.

So, the toddler/public restrooms combination is a major pain in the bottom for me - no pun intended. That is just one of the many things to worry about after your child is potty trained, though. For example, how do you get them to use the potty before heading out on an errand when they don't absolutely need to go? A problem with newly trained toddlers. Or, the extra changes of clothes (we're talking not just underwear and pants, but socks, shoes, shirts, and even a change of clothes for the parents!) in case of accidents. Or, finding the right step stools (impossible, by the way!) that will allow them to reach toilets and sinks without skidding. Or, to buy or not to buy flushable wipes for the heavy-duty wiping needs? Just to name a few....

The answer to flushable wipes is yes, do it! They clean so quickly and effectively and are gentle on delicate kid bottoms. We've tried a few brands and as far as I can tell they're all about the same and none have clogged our easily cloggable toilets, so choose whichever flushable wipe is the most economical and readily available.

One last thing to note about the public restrooms....I HATE those automatic flushers! I completely understand the hygienic reasons for them, but they scare the bejeezes out of me sometimes, so imagine what they do to a toddler! The best advice was found online where parents carried around post-it notes to cover the sensors. They work! Don't leave home without those yellow stickies!!!

Ok, enough potty talk!

This Friday marks the beginning of my 9th month of pregnancy.

I'm feeling pretty good and I honestly don't think I'm THAT big, causing me to move awkwardly.....but my toddler obviously sees things differently!

Below is a video clip of Abby showing you how I am walking around these days.

Abigail's daily report from school today had the following comment:

"She practiced dancing with Sebastian at music time. She was holding his hand and had her arm behind his back and they slowly danced to the beat. So very cute!"

I still can't believe what a girly girl she has turned out to be. Still, it is pretty darned cute to picture her dragging this poor boy into a waltz with her at school, though.

Seriously, I think we have been watching way too many Disney Princess movies lately!

Abby is fascinated by anything princess related these days, which isn't a bad thing, as we've used it to our advantage when we were potty training ("You need to try and keep your Princess Jasmine [panties] dry, ok?") and switching from training toothpaste to regular, fluoridated kids' toothpaste (artwork on the tube is of 3 Disney Princesses..."The three princesses are watching you, making sure you brush properly and don't swallow the toothpaste!")

The more verbal Abigail becomes, the more she has been able to teach us the many preschool songs she's been learning. Here are lyrics to a couple of my favorites.

Herman the Worm (or "Hermy," according to Abby)

Sitting on the sidewalk
Chewing my bubble gum (pretend to chew)
Playing with my yoyo - WOO WOO (act like you are playing with a yoyo
And along comes Herman the worm. (do your index finger like it is crawling like a worm)
And he was this big (hold your fingers a few inches apart)
I said, "Herman, what happened?" (Abby's version: I said, "Hermy, what's wrong?")
And he said, "I ate an apple"

Sitting on the sidewalk
Chewing my bubble gum (pretend to chew)
Playing with my yoyo - WOO WOO (act like you are playing with a yoyo
And along comes Herman the worm. (do your index finger like it is crawling like a worm)
And he was this big (hold your hands a foot apart)
I said, "Herman, what happened?"
And he said, "I ate a banana"

Sitting on the sidewalk
Chewing my bubble gum (pretend to chew)
Playing with my yoyo - WOO WOO (act like you are playing with a yoyo
And along comes Herman the worm. (do your index finger like it is crawling like a worm)
And he was this big (hold your hands about 4 feet apart)
I said, "Herman, what happened?"
And he said, "I ate a watermelon"

Sitting on the sidewalk
Chewing my bubble gum (pretend to chew)
Playing with my yoyo - WOO WOO (act like you are playing with a yoyo
And along comes Herman the worm. (do your index finger like it is crawling like a worm)
And he was this big (hold you hands or fingers close together)
I said, "Herman, what happened?"
And he said, "I burped"

Slippery Fish (a song Abby likes to sing when washing her hands)

(Put your hands together in a prayer position to resemble a fish and wiggle them together as if swimming)
Slippery fish, slippery fish, sliding through the water,
Slippery fish, slippery fish, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by an …

(Wave your arms up and down like the flailing arms of an octopus.)
Octopus, octopus, squiggling in the water
Octopus, octopus, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by a …

(Put your hands together with your figners slightly bent and spread, keeping your palms touching each other. Open and close your hands as you sing.)
Tuna fish, tuna fish, flashing in the water,
Tuna fish, tuna fish, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by a …

(Place one hand, with fingers straight upwards, on top of your head.)
Great white shark, great white shark, lurking in the water,
Great white shark, great white shark, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by a …

(Make big upward motions with your arms to resemble the spouting of water by a whale.)
Humongous whale, humongous whale, spouting in the water,
Humongous whale, humongous whale,
Gulp! … Gulp! … Gulp! … BURP!
(Cover your mouth.) Pardon me!

There are many, many online tutorials for making a simple, dress-up tutu for kids. Since we have found Abby running around daycare with a tutu and refusing to leave because she didn't want to take it off many many times, I had been checking consignment stores and online stores in an effort to get one for her. However, the simplest tutu costs anywhere from $20 to $45!

Last week, though, I came across a tutu tutorial in the archives of Design Mom, a blog I frequently visit. The instructions for making a no-sew, elastic waist-band tutu were really easy to follow and made me think, "I can do that!"

A few more internet searches turned up various other no-sew instructions for tutus - some made with a ribbon waist-band, details on figuring out the right waist size for child, length of tutu, embellishment ideas, etc.

We went to Jo-Ann Fabrics yesterday and came away with 3 rolls (25 yards each) of 6-inch wide, different colored tulle, chosen by Abby, and a package of 1/2-inch wide elastic, said to be the perfect width for baby/toddler tutus. The material can easily make 2 toddler tutus of the fullness you'll see in the pictures below. I cut 16 2-feet long strips of each color and tied them along the elastic, alternating colors. (The elastic band was cut to 20.5 inches, recommended for kids in the 2T -3T size.) Once all the tulle got tied on, I did need to thread a needle and sew the two ends of the elastic together to form the waist band. A bit of scrunching was required to fluff the tutu to the fullness it needed.

The project started when Abby went down for a nap and was complete well before she woke up. She absolutely LOVES the tutu and starts twirling around the house with it on. What a girly-girl! I had some spare green ribbon, which I used for embellishment.


Total cost of project: ~$7 and 2 hours of labor, even though I was not able to get anything on sale.

A few notes on what I would do differently next time:

1) To make a "fairy" tutu, I might cut the ends of the tulle strips at a point, rather than straight across. The straight cut makes it more like a ballerina tutu.
2) If she was a bit older, I would have used a ribbon for the waistband rather than the elastic. Elastic makes it a lot easier for her to put on and take off by herself, but with stretching, the tulle knots pull out of place and need to be adjusted every now and then.
3) No-sew is nice, but the tulle strips will pull loose after time, so a few stitches per strip would be very useful.
4) I do not like the ribbon embellishment and the silk ribbon I used keeps coming loose, so I'm thinking of finding some cute silk flowers to glue on with a hot-glue gun. Pom-poms might also be fun. If I keep the ribbons, either add a few stitches to hold the knots in place or tie with a more permanent knot.
5) If I can find cheap, shimmering tulle, that would have been awesome. Maybe next time for a Halloween costume I'll invest in it.
6) Since Abby wants to wear this thing for hours on end and in the car and for naps, I think I could have gone with a less fluffy tutu - maybe 1/3 fewer strips. I like the way this one looks, but for playing around the house, it is a tad inconvenient.

***The following has a lot of potty training details, so consider yourself warned.***

Last Saturday, Paul and I decided we had put it off long enough and that we needed to finally brave the Potty Training Test of Parental Patience and Persistence. Even though Abby had been ready for awhile, Paul and I were not. When do we start? How do we start? Where do we find the extra patience? What if we screw it all up?!

Well, we never found any satisfactory answers as the experience seems to be different for every child and every parent. So, we decided to take a deep breath and just go for it! Abby turned 2 years and 6 months earlier that week.

We started Saturday afternoon after Abby's nap. The plan was to try to get her to drink as much as possible and put her on the potty every 30-45 minutes to see if she would go. This would allow her to associate the feeling of going with using the potty. We were armed with both a toilet seat insert (one that fits over a regular toilet, but had handles to allow her a place to hold on) and a "kid-size" potty chair. We gave her the choice of what she wanted to use every time. We watched a lot of Disney movies that afternoon, but saw no results. At dinner time, she finally said she needed to use the potty and we ushered her to the bathroom, but she had a small accident right by the toilet. Less than half an hour later, she had another small accident, but we couldn't get her to finish going on the toilet. Another half hour later, we were getting ready for bed and she said she needed to go potty, so we let her try again and.....success! She was so proud of herself and we gave her a lot of hugs and kisses, plus a few stickers. That night, she went to bed with just training pants.

Sunday morning, she woke up dry and as we were putting on her pair of princess underwear, she claimed she needed to use the potty and again was successful! Keeping her princess dry (as Abby calls it) lasted ALL DAY! At night, we rewarded her by letting her watch the movie, "Up." She loved the movie so much that she wouldn't allow us to pause it for a potty break. Unfortunately, this led to a strange bout of tantrums after the movie ended because she couldn't handle the urgency of having to use the bathroom. She didn't know what to do and ran around the house screaming. We suspected she needed to use the potty, so we took her to the bathroom and yet she continued to cry and scream. Finally, I asked if she wanted a diaper. That immediately calmed her down, but a second later, she had an accident right next to the toilet. We were able to pick her up and allow her to finish on the potty. Having the accident really upset her, but we talked her through it and let her know it was ok to have accidents and we have been so proud of her successes all day!

Monday was incredibly stressful for me because I didn't know how she would do at daycare. Would she speak up and let the teachers know if she needed to go? Would she do #2 in the potty, which we had yet to experience? However, I had no need to worry as she came home dry and had successfully used the potty twice at school!

Fast forward to now. We have not put a diaper on Abby since last Saturday morning. Abby is wearing training pants at night, but has not wet a single one yet. She has been 100% accident-free since Sunday night. She is able to handle having a bowel movement in the potty without a problem (the first time she hesitated, but when she did it successfully, we gave her a lot of praise and it brushed away her fears). And finally, it took her only 2 days to figure out going when it's convenient (like before leaving the house) versus only going when she feels the need to go, which we have been told - and have read - could takes months before kids figure it out.

We are so proud of Abby for achieving this huge accomplishment so quickly. Paul and I never imagined we could have gotten off so easily!! I think the key was really never pushing her to learn too quickly. Right after she turned two, we bought the potty chair and started to talk to her about using the toilet, but only every now and then. When several classmates at daycare were potty training, she showed interest and actually managed to use the toilet a couple of times. However, as these older classmates move up in class, Abby's interest in potty training dwindled and we didn't insist on her making progress. Around the holidays, Abby moved up to the next class and was once again in a class where several kids were training or were trained. By this time, Paul and I were finally ready to accept that we needed to give potty training a fair try. We were prepared to take many backwards steps in reaching this milestone, but I am pretty sure Abby was so ready by now to move on that she was willing to focus and push through it as soon as we let her.

Me: Who did you play with at school today?
Abby: Larissa, Payton, and 'livia. [Her eyebrows scrunch together in a look of concern.] 'Livia won't stand next to me.
Me: Olivia won't stand next to you?
Abby: Uh-huh!
Me: That doesn't feel nice, huh? Why won't Olivia stand next to you?

[I am beginning to feel sorry for Abby at this point, seeing the hurt look on her face.]

Abby: 'Cuz she comes by me and I run away!

Normally very sensitive to her friends, I'm quite frankly stunned at her confession to poor social etiquette. We will need to keep reinforcing the concept of inclusiveness.

We are smack in the middle of winter right now, enjoying high temperatures in the teens, but Abby and I had a heated debate yesterday where she insisted that it was summer already!

[In the car, as we're driving home from dinner. It had snowed lightly yesterday, but roads are all clear.]

Abby: Mama?
Me: Yes?
Abby: It's summer!
Me: No it's not, it's wintertime. It's freezing. See the snow on the ground?

[Abby pauses to look at the clear road in front of the car.]

Abby: There's no snow. There's sun! It's summer.
Me: Abby, it's 7pm, there's no sun and it's not summertime.
Abby: Yes, it is! Sun is just down. See? [points out the window] See the stars? That means sun is down. I wake up, the sun will be up 'cuz it's summer 'cuz sun will be out!
Me: The sun comes up everyday and it doesn't necessarily mean it's summer.
Abby: NO! NOOOO!!

At that point, I realized I had lost the argument and she wasn't going to give in. I'll let her win this time and we'll work on learning more about the seasons.