Potty Camp...

We have tried SO MANY THINGS in the area of potty training.   Incentives are one of them.  Alex has promised Amelia a huge trip to build-a-bear.  Every time we walk by BAB in the mall, she mentions that when she's potty trained, she gets to make two stuffed animals and get clothes for them.  She has a play grill in the garage that she spotted at Sam's a couple of weeks ago.  Her Daddy bought it and told her when she's potty trained, she can open it.  You would think that would be torture to a child but nope, not my child. She'll look at it every time she gets out of the car and say, "I sure can't wait until I'm potty trained so I can play with this grill."  Yet won't go in the potty.  Obviously, incentives are not the way to my child losing the pull-ups forever.

I haven't made it a huge deal with Amelia because everyone says she'll do it in her own time. But fact is, she'll be four years old on October 22nd.  I know a lot of maturing can happen in five months and I've had several people tell me their child was four years old when it finally "clicked" and if that's the case with Amelia - that's ok.  But there is something in me that tells me she's ready.  This is the child that says she's not hungry simply because she doesn't want to stop and fork food into her mouth.  She asks me to feed her sometimes!  And every meal is a round of "let's make a deal."  She'll ask how many pieces of hot dog she needs to eat before she can get up or how much of her of mac-n-cheese does she need to eat before she can play.  She's a smart little girl.  The conversations I have with her sometimes blow my mind.  She'll go #1 in the potty - just not #2.  She actually told me yesterday "I don't like to flush the toilet because I can't get back what's mine, it will be gone."  I have no clue what that means but it sounds like she has some major attachment issues. (LOL)  I wish I could get inside that mind of hers!  

Several of my LG friends and my SIL gave me some new ideas regarding potty training, so I thought we would try them this week while Alex is away.  My SIL, Jen suggested we tell her that all of the pull-ups are gone and we have to use panties now.  My friend, Heather suggested I put a dress on her without panties.  So I decided to do both of these things today and add in a little fun.  We're calling it "Potty Camp."  At first, she thought I was taking her somewhere and leaving her there and I thought she was going to have an anxiety attack.  I then explained "potty camp" is here at our house.  And Mama is the camp counselor.  

I didn't do anything to prepare for this - I just woke up this morning and started pulling stuff out of the pantry and gift closet.  And can I just say, if there were a potty camp out there, I'd sure pay any amount of money to send my child.  Potty training is not my thing. I have no clue what I'm doing.

So here's what potty camp includes:

Snacks: she gets two for #1 - five for #2.

Potty whistle: every time she feels like she needs to potty - she blows the whistle and runs to the potty as fast as she can.

Journal: every time she goes potty - we write it down.  The journal just happened to say Faith, Hope & Love on the front.  We're needing all three of those things here at potty camp.

Potty dress: a special dress that we only wear to potty camp.

Activities: videos, baking, dancing, anything I can think of to motivate the camper.

 Amelia loves to make a list and write her name, 

so I told her she needs to sign her name each time she goes potty.  

She thinks this is the coolest thing ever and it makes everything feel very official. ;) 

We've watched every potty training cartoon/video known to man.

This actually worked!  

My friend, Jennifer told me to do this and it really seemed to help 

Amelia understand things better.

I'm so proud of my brown-eyed girl. 

She hasn't had an accident all day and just keeps 

blowing that whistle and going potty on her own.

We even had to run to a chiropractor appointment 

and she wore panties and didn't have an accident!

And my blue-eyed girl is just being sweet as sugar today

while Mama spends a lot of time with her big sister.

I'm hoping she's getting a break from teething for a bit.

This was Alex's view at breakfast this morning. 

Breathtaking. 

I can't wait to hear all about this trip when he returns!

Please pray for them while they're in Costa Rica.

My camper is down for a nap, so I'm going to catch a few Zzzz's myself.

Feel free to say a little prayer for all of us here at Potty Camp too. :)

Love to all,