a space of her own

Tonight, the smell hit my room again.

J and I tiptoed into the RGs bedroom to determine the culprit.

It was tricky to find her. They were dog piled on Em's bed. Em at the foot, Roo at the head and a menagerie of Muppets in between.

We moved Roo back to her bed, changed out her pull-up and tucked her in.

As for Em, bless her heart. She must have fallen asleep first. Roo had tucked her Sesame Street friends into every nook and cranny she could find on Em.

I found Bert in the bend of her knee. Grover under her arm. Cookie Monster up against her belly. Ernie in the crook of her neck. And so on and so on.
Roo currently has 9 Sesame Street friends.

It explains a bit about what I witnessed this afternoon.

After swimming all morning, the RGs were exhausted. To ensure a proper nap, I split the girls up. Roo napped in the guest room in her PeaPod (with all of her friends). Em got the bedroom all to herself.

Shortly after tucking everyone in and closing the doors, I peeked at the monitor.
Em was doing a little boogie, celebrating the space and the freedom. Then, she hopped into bed and spread her arms wide.
And sighed, loudly.

Weebegon Update

Potty Boot Camp wasn't quite as exciting today. I think the girls thought that was a fun Friday activity, but now on to our normal Saturday routine. They were both less than excited when the requested diapers did not appear.

They made it to lunch time without peeing once. Despite lots of liquids and much encouragement. Once M&Ms were mentioned as a bribe, Em was on board and got her business done a few times. Roo held out until right before naptime. The afternoon brought much of the same. Em had an accident on purpose, just testing what might happen and if rewards were offered for pee even if it wasn't in the potty. Roo forgot to pull off her panties while she sat on the potty.
So, a bit more clean up today, even though there was less pee. We'll see if they're more resigned to the new routine tomorrow.

Also, I may have to offer up more tempting beverages. The juice boxes are old hat and lemonade and orange juice have lost their appeal. Maybe just more salty snacks so they're thirsty. Ideas?

Lake Weebegon

What a difference 5 months make.

Em picked out her panties this morning, proceeded to drink 32 ounces of liquid and then hold her pee for 3 hours. Obviously, at critical mass, flooding was imminent. I was watching her like a hawk. Then, Roo told me she had the stinky pants. In the moments it took to clean Roo up, Em darted away to pee her pants.

I caught her quickly, managed to help her finish in the potty and then handed out rewards like a drunk, happy Santa.
It must have done the trick. Because she got herself to the potty the rest of the day and cleaned out my prize closet!

Nap time was somewhat successful. Meaning, Em took a great nap and woke up with damp undies, not soaked. We'll keep working on that and are choosing to go the pull-up route for night sleeping.

But the biggest surprise was Roo! She watched all the goings-on and decided to get her potty train on for the afternoon. I couldn't be more thrilled. She missed a few times, but got herself on a potty 5 times this evening for success. She's excited about going for "F" tomorrow. Because she gets a letter sticker for each pee in the potty.

Em's currency is, well, currency. The girl is mad for money. Each time she sat on the potty today she got a penny. Every time she peed, she got a 'box' for her pennies. The boxes are tiny drawers in a small chest. Six of them all together. She earned them all today. And dubbed it her "Penny House". Tomorrow, I'll let her choose more things to go in the 'house' (pennies, nickles, colored beads, polished stones). Em just adores tiny trinkets.

Here's hoping the news from Lake Weebegon is good tomorrow, as well.

unpaid and unskilled labor

Not that I'll be getting paid for it, but Project Potty Training is on, as of tomorrow. For Em. Roo gets to put it off one more week. Bribes have been purchased and pull-ups are running low. Please, Lord! Have mercy on us!

how I knew

alternately titled: Pee - Eww

I heard you wake up early from your nap.

Then, distinctly, over the baby monitor, I heard you whimpering and saying something about the "pee pee and the poo poo".

So, I was fairly certain you had a dirty diaper/pull up.

But, the real clue came seconds later when the air conditioner kicked on.

The scent of stink wafted through the vents and piped directly into the master bedroom.

I'm not exactly sure what the a/c maintenance man did when he serviced our system, but that did not happen before he came.

Clearly, that is the issue, and not that my 3 year olds are still un-potty trained.

wise words from Kenny

You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.

We are taking a breather on the potty training.
After a hardcore 3 day weekend of no diapers and, sadly, no real success.

The girls can recite the potty doctrine verbatim.
"Tinkle goes in the potty!" "Dry panties, yea!"
They can hold their pee and will slink off to find a private place to get business done.

BUT...
They are just not making the connections between it all. Understanding it all separately and putting it all together to make it work are two very different things.

So, until we see some signs of the connect, we'll be taking a break. Not what we hoped for, but it was anticipated as a possible outcome. It's why we did the 3day method in the first place. Find out all at once.
Um, mission achieved.

find.a.happy.place.

"So, how goes the potty training?", you ask.

J and I have assumed the role of the starfish.

"Find a happy place! Find a happy place! Find a happy place!"