Wednesday, August 18, 2010

All things LIQUID.

(lkwd) noun

1. The state of matter in which a substance exhibits a characteristic readiness to flow, little or no tendency to disperse, and relatively high incompressibility.

Rain in Arizona is a rare, yet WONDERFUL event.

No really. Our annual average rainfall is 7 inches. For those of you that think that sounds like a lot... the annual average rainfall of my hometown (Lexington, Kentucky) is 47 inches. Do the math. We don't get much.

Inevitably, when the rain does come, a party ensues. Last night was no exception.

I showed Emma the rain, to which she responded, "I play in it, Mommy?". Why the heck not? It's like Christmas in August to Phoenicians. If you think I'm kidding... check out the glee on little Emma (and Greg for that matter) in the picture below. Priceless. And a little pathetic that she is so STARVED for rain that a little bit makes her this happy.

One saturated, but VERY happy little 2 1/2 year-old.

And speaking of liquid...

I FINALLY took the "plunge" and started potty training Emma on Monday.

After an $80 trip to Target, we felt ready to tackle our Goliath.

Here are Emma and Daddy making her "potty chart" to make progress.

Here is the bin of toys for bribery. Half of it was provided by my AMAZING sister-in-law Gina who struck some incredible deals at Target and needed us to take them off her hands. :) Thanks so much Gina! You can always take partial credit for Emma's toilet training. What an honor.

And of course, the princess underwear.

And MORE bribes. Mike and Ike's for staying dry. M&M's for actually going to the bathroom. And stickers for the chart to mark "trying". If you'd like a snack yourself, come on over and utilize our bathroom. Help yourself to a tasty treat as your "reward". I have to admit, that I've never enjoyed using the bathroom so much! Love telling Emma I just used the bathroom and then shoving a handful of candy into my mouth to "help keep her motivated". NICE. Should have started potty training when she was 3 months.

The progress has been good. She has used the potty many times successfully (pee and poo) and has only had one accident each day. She can't tell me yet on her own when she needs to go, so I have continued to set the timer for every hour to put her on the toilet and let her try. I hope that skill of identifying the "need" will come soon. To be honest, I haven't tackled naps/bedtime yet. I figure I'll wait until next week when she gets the day time down better.

Overall, it has not been as bad as I anticipated. Expect the worst and things can only get better... right? :) We've even run a few errands this week and she has stayed dry both times. A special THANK YOU to all the amazing suggestions from friends/family on the blog. It was seriously a HUGE help.

Here is the proud little diva. If you think she has a rash on her chin/lips... look again... she has just applied her own lip gloss. Don't think she'll be working at the Clinique counter anytime soon.


7 comments:

Erin said...

Best of luck with the potty training. I hope that your girl is more obliging in that department than mine. Maybe the lack of candy in the bathroom is where I went wrong. Although I think I should institute it for the whole family.

Lana said...

Hooray for you guys! I knew she'd be so great at it. We did pull-ups for naps and bedtime for awhile--until they were dry for several weeks in a row. Dane still has a plastic mattress cover on his bed just to be safe.

The candy is the greatest part of potty training!

Heather B said...

AZ rain is like gold. :) Love those gleeful pictures. and CONGRATS on the potty training successes, YAHOO!!

Allyson & Jere said...

You are QUITE prepared, charts, toys, candy, stickers....wow! Like I said before...I'm just too lazy for all that. When Maggie was ready, she just did it. Ok FINE, I did give her candy each time she went, which she milked for a good month. But other than that, only one nighttime pee accident. It's so great when they are trained.

Love Emmas happy rain pics, her dress was adorable too.

As you can tell from my post today...AZ rain is ridiculously rare, hence posts need to be written about it. haha

Erin-lou said...

Roman did the exact same in the rain. I wanted to be out there with him, but alas we hosted a dinner and I thought the company might not want me sopping wet. I would love to potty train Roman but he flat out refuses. I'll try your chart and candy and see if there is any progress to his motivation. Ugh...not looking forward to potty training.

Sarah and Trent said...

Love that little girl!! Her eyes are gorgeous in that picture where she's drenched.
Way to go Tammy and Greg on all the hard work! And Emma too~ congrats to you!! I'm excited to get some treats when I use your BR next week.

Don and Robin Cooper said...

Love the rain story...we sure get plenty here in KY! Emma is such a pretty little girl, I know you can't help but enjoy her more each day! Glad life is good for our little Tammy! :)