Attempt #1 at Potty Training

I was incredibly fortunate to have an ENTIRE week off of work after Christmas. It is something I look forward to every year! I had my list of projects, but my top priority was potty training Malia. Up until now we have been sitting her on her potty most mornings and evenings with quite the success. Malia will jump up after going and yell "shi-shi!" with excitment. Then we'll pour it into the toilet while she flushes and waves "bye-bye." It is so cute! We've even gotten her to take a few poops too. Since I had so much time, I figured I could dedicate a full day to sitting around the house doing nothing but "potty training in a day". The theory is simple: You pump your child full of fluids, let them run around pant-less, and by the end of the day you should have a potty-trained child on your hands! Sounds easy enough right? We got the house ready... we cleared out the dining room table and chairs, brought ALL of Malia's toys into the dining room, put the potties in the middle of the play area, and pretty much let Malia know that we were spending the ENTIRE day in the kitchen/dining room area... the area with linoleum for easy clean-up.

Malia was so cute. She loved making her doll go "shi-shi" as we call it. She also LOVES reading while taking care of business. Unfortunately though, I don't think Malia is quite ready for the whole thing. After she woke up I put her on her potty as usual and left the bathroom for like 30seconds. When I came back, Malia was standing up saying "uh-oh, shi-shi" and pointed down NEXT to her potty. I already knew this was going to be a day... SEVEN accidents later, and only ONE success (after being carried mid-stream to her potty) I realized she just wasn't recognizing WHEN she had to go. She knows WHAT shi-shi is, and knows WHERE it goes when we make her sit on the potty, just not WHEN! I was at least hoping that she would maybe have a little trickle, stop it, and then run to her potty. Oh well. We will continue the morning, after nap, and night time ritual, and hopefully in another month she'll be ready to try again!