Potty Time

Abby watching Claire go potty.  She's so proud of her big sister

Claire has been using the potty since the beginning of the month.   She has been doing so well!  We are so proud of the progress she has made.  We have learned a lot along the way.  There is still so much to learn.  For some reason I thought potty training would be a lot harder but it's not too bad.  I guess I have heard so many stories about other little ones who fight it and fight it.  Well here's our potty story.


We thought Claire was ready for the potty when she would go for several hours without wetting her diaper.  She was also asking to sit on the potty by choice.  She also loved reading the book Potty for Me and was interested in wearing panties or as Claire calls them "big girl panties." just like the character in the book. 

Claire's favourite potty book to read

On Friday, June 6th we decided to have her wear panties after her nap in the afternoon.  Once she woke up I told her with great excitement that she was going to wear panties and we were going to use the potty in the afternoon.  She was a little hesitant because she had worn a diaper for so long and this was a big change for her.  I let her pick out a pair of panties to wear, of course the pink princess ones. We went downstairs and I put the white potty in the middle of the living room and had rolled up our carpet.  We have laminate flooring in the living room so that leaves easy clean up when she has an accident.  We have an open floor plan on our main floor but if it was closed off I would have just kept her in one room to contain the mess when it happened. 

Claire wanted 'Claire Bear' to go on the potty with her

I also gave her a sippy cup full of water to drink.  The more she drank the more she would need to go on the potty.  Now when she is on the potty and hasn't peed yet I will often offer her the sippy cup of cold water and I think it helps her go pee. (Maybe I'm just crazy!) 

I found this fun sippy cup at Target for $2.99
If I change up her sippy cups every once in a while I find she drinks more water

On that first day she went on the potty many times and made both a pee and a poo.  We had told her that if she did go on the potty she could have ice cream, so right after she went of course she asked for some ice cream.  I made sure I had some in the freezer. She requested vanilla with sprinkles, her favourite!  Of course there were several accidents that afternoon and evening. I remember we were eating dinner and she was sitting in her high chair and all of a sudden there was a large pool of pee under her chair.  She didn't even realize she had gone pee.  One thing I told myself before starting potty training with Claire was that we were not going to get angry about her having accidents or punish her, because accidents are part of the process and it's not fair to do that.  I think in the long run it will create resentment and she will take longer to train.  Kyle and I just laughed and took her out and cleaned it all up.  We also stuck her right on the potty even though she may have emptied her bladder we wanted to put her there so she knows I go pee on the potty. 

My favourite shot! 

As the days went on she was able to have less accidents and more success going on the potty. During naps and bedtime we still have her in a diaper.  I am still taking her out during the day with a diaper on as well.  I know I should really have her wear panties but it just seems a little too much when I have to go out on my own with both girls.  I think we will try it when Kyle comes out with us so that if she does have an accident there is an extra set of hands there to help clean up.  I need to read up on pointers for night time and naps for potty training.  I think we may leave that part until Abby is sleeping through the night because Claire sleeps great at night and I really need her to continue that until Abby gets the hang of it.  We are also going to a wedding in Vancouver in July and it would be nice to get her potty trained fully before that trip so we don't have to pack lots of diapers, wipes and cream. 


So here is a recap of what I have learned so far about potty training

1) Books we book several books to Claire on potty training and helped her get prepared for the big day by reading them months in advance. 

2) Potty Out we made sure to have a couple potties in both bathrooms for her to see and invited her to take a seat every once in awhile

3) Contained Area we put the potty in the living room where it was easy to clean up an accident. If you have a carpeted living room maybe have your little one hang out in the kitchen, playroom or outside if it's summer time anywhere where there is no carpet. 

4) Antibacterial Wipes I have these on hand at all times for when Claire has an accident it's easy to quickly disinfect the area. 

5) Go with the flow Claire still has accidents but I'm not worried she will eventually get the hang of it. The doctor said we should not push it on her since we just had a baby and most little ones aren't ready until  3 years old. I think she's doing great for her age. 

6) Incentives Claire did well on the potty in the beginning when we used the incentive of ice cream but now she will go without asking at all. I was worried we would need to give her ice cream every time she went but luckily she forgot about it.

How is your little one's potty training going? 

What things have you learned about potty training?

Can you give me any tips or advice for night training? 

Our Weekend Adventures

Our Weekend Adventures

For the first day of Summer we took both girls to a wedding. Claire hadn't been to a wedding since she was a baby. It was hot and muggy when we arrived but the sun was out and looked like the bride and groom were going to have a nice day. The ceremony was beauitful and then soon after we ate dinner which was catered by Danny's Whole Hog, it was delicious! They made two cake pops for each person and also had a self serve sundae bar with all the fixings. Yum! Claire was ready to dance the night away as soon as they started to play music. Boy did she bust a move out there! 

The bride being walked down the isle

Claire flipping through the wedding itinerary

Abby did well considering the heat, mosquitoes and thunderstorm that pasted over us, luckily we were under the tent. I was able to breastfeed her in the car twice with the AC on full blast and put her down for a 40 minute nap on the front seat. Around 9:00 pm we started to get ready to go home, dark clouds with lightning and thunder followed us home from the wedding. The girls were both sleeping by 10:30, which is extremely late for them but it was worth the late night for the fun that we had with both girls. 

Abby napping on the front seat while the thunderstorm passed over us

After a late night Saturday Claire slept in until 9:30, Abby on the other hand slept great 4 1/2 hours the first time then almost 3 hours the second time, she was awake for good around 7:20. It was another gorgeous day and Kyle set up the pool his parent bought the girls. It is much bigger than her other pool. 

We ate lunch, chicken caesar salad with a strong garlic dressing homemade by moi. here is the dressing recipe I use all the time by Michael Smith http://chefmichaelsmith.com/recipe/caesar-salad-with-lemon-parmesan-dressing/#.U6ifMf3ePwI 

Claire and Abby both went down for naps at 1:30 and slept for over 2 hours. I was able to do some serious work on each of their baby books. I had developed pictures the week before and was able to glue them into their baby books and write some captions. It was so nice to have sometime to myself without Abby fussing or Claire needing my attention.

It was Claire's first time eating salmon, she liked it!

After their naps Claire put on her bathing suit and we all went outside to watch her have fun in the pool. Kyle marinated some salmon steaks to BBQ. He doesn't like to eat fish but wanted to try it again. He made a delicious dinner, salmon, rice and grilled asparagus and zucchini. It was a perfect way to end the day! 

Claire enjoying her pool

How did you spend the first day of summer?

Please leave your stories below!

4 Tips for Summer Fun

4 Tips for Summer Fun!

I am going to share some of my favourite summer items and organization tips. These are things I love to have on hand with my two little girls. There are also ways I like to organize things in the summer to make the most of the gorgeous weather. 

Chill'n out at the park (my little movie star)

Sun Protection 

Spray sunscreen makes things much easier when you have a two year old that just wants to go play on the slide or run through the water park as fast as they can. It's quick and painless, no rubbing in or greasy hands afterwards. Coppertone Kids SPF 50

I also love Aveeno Baby Sunscreen Stick SPF 50 because it's super easy and fast to put on your little ones face. I even use it on my own face when we are out in the sun. 

C wearing lots of sunscreen and a sunhat

Snack Anyone

During the summer I like to have plenty of pre cut vegetables and fruits at hand in the fridge. At the beginning of the week I will buy my fruit and veggies and then cut them up and store them in air tight containers in the fridge so they are ready when I need them. This also eliminates eating other foods that aren't so healthy. I am lucky my two year old loves eating her veggies and fruit. We love to have watermelon, pineapple, grapes, any berries, melon and oranges. For veggies I cut up carrots, celery, peppers, and cucumber. We also have snap peas and cherry tomatoes as well. My daughter is also enjoys eating her veggies with hummus it's one of her favourite snacks, so I always make sure I have a container of hummus in the fridge. It's very easy to make from scratch, here is one of my favourite recipes. Hummus by Michael Smith

Her favourite snack hummus and veggies

Personalized Baskets

In our mudroom I have organized a basket for each person in our family. I use wicker baskets that are nice and deep with handles. I put sun hats, a sweater, rain pants, sunglasses and sunscreen in each of the girls baskets. In the shoe closet I keep my two years olds sandals and shoes in a basket as well that is easy for her to access on her own. For my four month old I keep her little shoes in her wicker basket on the shelf. Then in the fall and winter I change the baskets with mitts, toques and scarfs. It keeps our lives a lot easier. 

C's basket full of summer stuff

Busy Bee!

During the summer I like to have lots of activities for my two year old to do outside. Here are somethings you can incorporate into your day to keep your little one busy and entertained. We have both a sandbox and water table for C to play in. She loves to create in the sand and splash around in the water. We just recently bought her a playhouse for the backyard as well. She even helped me plant flowers in the boxes by her door. We also have a bucket of different bubble gadgets on hand. She loves to make bubbles while we're outside and catch them before the pop. While my 4 month old is napping in the morning (which isn't for very long) I take C outside to play so she keeps active and I don't have to shh! her every 2 minutes. We haven't pulled out her blow up pool yet but that is next on the list to do in the next couple weeks. 

C's playhouse and the flowers she planted

C playing in her sandbox

How do you organize yourself for summer with your little ones?

What do your little ones like to do during the summer? 

Share your tips!