It was the worst of times, and somehow the best. . . .

Anya has early on shown a lot of interest in potty training. Months ago she started indicating when her diaper was wet and asking for a change. It didn't occur to me until a little later that those were signs of wanting to potty train. I always seem to be a little behind on this parenting thing. I mean we didn't start Anya on a sippy cup until way late- it just wasn't on my radar. Thankfully, I started reading about potty training and the best time to start it. I had always thought that it was something that happened around 2-3. But it turns out it works better if you start them earlier. So the research was there, her interest was there, so I thought- lets give it a try. She took to it right away and had lot of success . . . . until it came to poop. The first time she saw poop in the potty, she freaked out and suddenly lost all interest in going to the bathroom. So we decided to back off and give her some time to figure it out.

This last weekend was MEA and I had been planning for some time to do a "potty boot camp" to get her switched over. It just felt like she was stuck in sort of going and that this method had the best research behind it. It required at least 3 days of being home no pants, no diaper and just nothing but practice. Day 1 was decent, day 2 was AWFUL, and day 3 was redemption. On day 3 we were dry all day AND pooped in the potty. Amazing stuff. Funny, how something that little makes such a huge difference.

Day 2 almost wrecked me. S was gone all day at my dad's fixing my car and so it was the second long day with just the two of us in the house. We both got up early and I was not feeling great- and she was pretty whiny. By 9:30 we were both out of things to do and looking at a long rest of the morning. She was not quite together on the potty thing and we were just butting heads right and left. I felt like the worst parent who ever existed. My own exhaustion was taking over any patience I had left. She was cranky, I was cranky and we were stuck in the house. It was a long day, and honestly I felt like this whole boot camp was the biggest waste of my break. But we persevered, S brought home a hot chocolate and things got much better.

Today was the big test, her first day back at daycare after the big weekend. And she did so great. She was dry all day. Ridiculous how happy that makes me. Strange how tied I am to her success. Something that I need to keep an eye on for sure. But it is weird how fast she is growing up. She is a little person right before our eyes. . . .