We finally bit the bullet and spent the entire weekend potty training. We used Gary Ezzo’s method in Potty Training 1-2-3.  I bought the book while still pregnant with Harper and for months it has been staring me in the face.  I originally decided on his method as he was the author of Baby Wise, which was the foundation for the method of breastfeeding that I utilized with the girls.  Finally with a weekend of not having any commitments and a forecast of rain, we decided IT WAS TIME!

We started with a trip to Giant Friday night to prepare.  That involved two little girls who for the first time were customers in training. 

They filled their carts with juice, M&M’s, chips, and lifesaver gummies. 

They had a great time navigating through the aisles and being little shoppers.  Before bed we talked to them about the big day ahead.  When the girls woke up in the morning they were ready to get this potty started!  Avery and Emerson each got a cup with juice for their baby.  After their babies had a drink, they asked their babies (a.k.a. Maya and Sophia) if they were “dry and clean.”  Maya and Sophia each received an M&M for staying “dry and clean”.  After a few minutes Avery and Emerson sat Maya and Sophia on the potty and they each made a little bit of pee pee (a syringe with diluted apple juice worked perfectly….great thinking daddy).  After lots of cheering, Avery and Emerson helped pour the pee pee in the big potty to flush.  Once hands were clean, Maya and Sophia each received two more M&M’s.  In time the novelty of Maya and Sophia wore off, but the idea of panties and candy remained exciting.

The focus of the weekend was staying “dry and clean”.  We had many accidents especially at first but we also had many successes. We were constantly cleaning up pee, changing panties, and doing load after load of laundry.  We even ran out of panties at one point and Emerson had to use a pair of bloomers.

Staying “dry and clean” was the task at hand and even brushing teeth and brushing hair was put on hold for a day.  It seemed like not a minute went by where we weren’t on our hands and knees cleaning pee off the floor and quickly carrying a girl to the potty to make it in time.  And while it was exhausting for all of us, seeing the excitement on the girl’s faces when they went pee pee and even poo poo in the potty was awesome. The joy in their innocent faces each time they successfully used the potty makes even the most mundane activity joyful.  While I don’t wish their life away, I look forward to being their cheerleader for each and every event in their lives, no matter how big or small. It brings me so much joy to be their mommy and constant supporter.

And where was Harper during all this you wonder?  Well, with the exception of grandma giving Harper her first bottle Saturday morning upstairs away from the commotion, she pretty much hung out right next to us all day in her new little chair that grandma bought for her and her pack n play.

It amazes me how my little baby is so low maintenance and content.  As long as she is fed every so often she is happy and smiling.  She likes to sit back, watch and enjoy all the crazy commotion of her family.  She doesn’t even mind when her sisters hug her (a.k.a. tug and pull her).

Harper even had her 5 month birthday on Sunday and the girls sang Happy Birthday to her a number of times while happily hanging out in their panties.

There has been a noticeable difference in Harper’s growth this month.  From 3-4 months, there didn’t seem to be that much difference, but I swear in the last two weeks, she has just gotten so much bigger!  Being a 9 pound baby at birth, I guess she has always been big but she has never seemed chunky to me….but the past two weeks she has developed rolls…her knees even make faces according to Granddaddy!

 Harper – 5 Month Snapshot

• Losing hair by the minute!  Her hair is coming in lighter…much like the girls now. She reminds me of an old balding man, but MUCH MUCH cuter!
• 50% of nights sleeps through the night (9/10 hours), 50% of the nights wakes at 5:00/6:00 am and nurses for 10 minutes before falling back asleep for 3 or 4 more hours.
• Still napping sporadically throughout the day
• Nursing/ 7 oz. bottle every 3 – 4 hours, 4 – 5 times daily
• Still wearing size 2 diapers, but almost ready to graduate to size 3.
• Thumbsucker…especially the left thumb… paci’s are a thing of the past.
• LOVES watching her very active sisters and easily gets distracted by them especially now that they LOVE to get in her face and play with her.
• Has really started talking…she sounds like a t-rex .
• LOVES smiling and is still the calmest, happiest, most perfect baby!

Harper’s 5 month birthday came and went as did our potty training weekend….It has been a few days since the weekend and realistically we couldn’t continue with the same intense routine while our nannies were here as it is too difficult for one person to handle two toddlers in panties and an infant all at the same time.  The girls have been wearing pull ups and while I can’t yet say the girls are potty trained, I can say we had a successful weekend and made significant progress in that area.  Emerson is able to control pee pee and poo poo now and does both those in the potty now more so than her pull up.  Avery on the other hand is still a little scared of the potty and treats her pull up more like a diaper.  While she has had a few pee pees in the potty, she still isn’t comfortable with letting go of the idea of the diaper just yet.  We’ll get there….This potty is only just getting started.