Potty Training Day 4 and Day 5

Day 4. I have to admit, I didn't completely keep my cool over the last few days but the one time I felt annoyed and used a little too mean of a Mommy voice I'm pretty sure Chloe didn't notice. It was the time she ran away from me to hide and pee. I told her, "Noooo Chloeeee! You do NOT run away from Mommy and pee pee on your pants! That is NOT ok!" and she replied, "Why?" I just stood there in stunned silence (pretty sure my mouth was gaping) before she and I went to work cleaning. That was the end of day 2 and I wasn't feeling great about potty training at the end of Day 2. I was persistent, though, and never went back to diapers (even though the little devil on my shoulder - aka Dave Hendrickson - tried to convince me otherwise on multiple occassions). My left knee is killing me from kneeling on the hard floor to put panties on, clean messes, clean the potty chair, keeping Chloe company on the potty, etc.

The results of Day 4 are as follows:

-Zero accidents

-Several potty successes

-A few extended potty trips but shorter on average than the day before

-2.5 hours playing in the snow and staying dry

-More time spent in the carpeted areas of the house

A few things that I think really helped:
-Owning a home with a large floored area enclosed by really nice gates. We comfortably spent the majority of 4 days in the kitchen/fireplace room/four seasons room area and didn't worry too much about accidents. Of course, the four seasons room has carpet but it's that short hard kind and has already seen its fair share of cat pee. I wasn't too worried about cleaning that carpet. Dave also kept a fire going for two days. As a result, the fireplace room was cozy warm and filled with fun toys, potty training books, and potty training videos. It was a pretty nice potty training environment.
-Doing potty training over the winter break. No school, no appointments, and no trips anywhere to create extra stress.
-Doing the groceries and all errands before beginning potty training.
-Devoting myself to potty training. Besides cooking and maybe a little laundry I pretty much did nothing else for three days straight. Staring at Chloe's naked butt and monitoring her fluid intake/output became tiresome, for sure, but it made a big difference.
-Committing to panties and sticking to it.
-Getting Chloe involved in cleaning up of messes. She helped wipe the floor, pulled off her own soiled clothes, and took them to the washing machine. It's a natural consequence to making messes and showed her that messes don't magically disappear.
-Potty training at 3 years 4 months. She was definitely ready.
-Peanut M&M's. She never got those before and they were such a big deal. She never forgot to get her potty treat with every success. The variety of colors also made it exciting because she made a big deal about picking the color each time. "Hmmm. I waaaaant GREEN!"
-Letting her get up and walk around during extended potty visits. She was always surrounded by toys and books while sitting on the potty. Often times she wanted to switch out a toy or book and would get up to pick a new one. I would let her. If she peed on the way to get a new toy it would be a learning/teaching moment. But that never happened. Of course, I wouldn't let her doddle and stand at the dollhouse playing because that would be asking for an accident but I would let her walk to the doll house, pick out a new doll, and come back. There was a time or two when I took her pants off her ankles and we ran circles around the room together just to stretch her legs. Those were during the really long potty visits when I knew for sure that her bladder was full and wanted her to continue on the potty. Because she had some freedom and wasn't tied down to the potty she was ok with staying on the potty until she made peepee.

Playing in the snow on Day 4

Potty training wasn't always fun and games. This is what happened when I told Chloe it was time to come inside from playing to take a potty break. Biggest fit ever! I felt bad for making her come in from the snow so I offered her a cookie (I know, horrible) and she immediately said in the cheeriest sweetest voice ever, "Okay! I'm as happy as can be!" I couldn't help but laugh.

It looks like Solana is teaching Chloe some new tricks.

Day 5

9:00 Trip to the Dentist with Solana. Chloe went potty twice before we left. While at the dentist she opened her legs, squatted a bit, and asked to go potty. I grabbed my Potty Training Travel Bag (equiped with seat insert, clean pants and panties, and wipes), scooped her up, and ran to the bathroom. I was sure she had wet herself but she was dry and immediately went in the toilet!

11:00 My friend, Kristine, came over with her kids to sled in the snow. Chloe went #1 and #2 in the potty right before they arrived. We spent an hour outside and then went out for lunch. She has been clean all day.

I think potty training is over. We're now in maintenance phase. That wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. Two tiring days where I'd much rather have been doing something else. But all in all a success. Way to go Chloe Bea! You're a big girl now!