Officially Potty Trained

Today, Helen Claire's teachers sent home her last daily report.  That's a big deal because it means she is officially, school approved, potty trained!!!

I have to admit that I was a little tiny bit sad.  Jonathan picked her up today and Mrs. Abby asked if we would be ok with not getting a report every day, since she is using the potty full time now.  Part of me remembered her first day in Room 5 and her very first ever daily report... it was a little bit sad, but we were also really, really proud of Helen Claire.

I don't think I've given many updates about potty training, since our first post, back when Papa took her shopping for a potty chair.

Helen Claire really has been pretty easy to potty train.  We let her start "using" the potty right after she got it, almost a year ago.  She had her first pee-pee in the potty on March 31, 2012 and she told mother and Jonathan she used it.  They cheered, but didn't really believe her because we pretend a lot and sit on the potty while we watch TV or read, just so she won't be scared of it... BUT- she had actually peed, and she was so excited to show them!

I have so many other cute pictures, but I'm afraid we'd get reported if we posted them  :)  Helen Claire spent a lot of time being "netid baby" because it's easier to get to the potty that way!

This may be too much information, but she used the potty for number two right after we got it, but it was a complete accident, and I think it scared her!  She was really surprised.

The funniest thing about potty training was Helen Claire figuring out how girls potty and how boys potty.  Jonathan kept her one night while I worked housing sign-ups last Spring, around the end of March, and after that, she tried to potty standing up.  Not that she saw anything, but she saw him standing at the potty, so she tried to do it too :)  We have had lots of conversations about the differences between boys and girls this last year.

When we moved this summer, and especially when she started in the 2 year old room at school, we moved from using the potty for fun and practice to really potty training.

We bought new Minnie Mouse panties and wore them all the time at home (except at night).  We didn't do the bootcamp weekend potty training.  We sort of let her set her own pace and figure out when she actually needed to go, not just when we were sitting her on the potty.  Dr. Cortopassi stressed to us the importance of associating the feeling of needing to use the bathroom with sitting on the potty.  So, we didn't force it.

By this fall, she had it down pat at home.  So much so, in fact, that we could go out in public in panties.  She could tell us when she needed to go, and we could use the bathroom away from home.

She would NOT use the school potty for a while, though.  She would either hold it, wear a diaper to school, or have an accident.  One day, though, she just decided to do it.  When I picked her up that afternoon, she said "I just did that."  We were so so proud!

After that, she took her time deciding to go number 2 at school, but she's got that down now too, and we have an officially potty-trained girl!

So proud of you Helen Claire!