good bye diapers!

Last fall, we made a half hearted attempt at potty training.  We used the same tricks we tried on the bigger girls, the training doll, the treat rewards, cute panties, etc.  By the end of day 2, we knew E wasn't ready.

Two weeks ago, she didn't seem any more "ready" in particular but we decided to give it another shot.  Rather abruptly actually.  So on a lazy Saturday morning, I offered her panties and we had begun.  With lots of encouragement from sisters and M&Ms as frequent rewards, we spent a few days close to home and had minimal accidents.  At her one week mark, she stop having even occasional accidents and has been dry ever since.  I have no idea what the difference was; her sisters took nearly six months of pull-ups before we felt confident in their new skills.  But this little one was much easier and she's now potty trained.

But one big step meant another: converting her bed.  L attempted to climb and fell out of her crib at 15 months.  A at 18 months.  So they were both in toddler beds and even twin sized beds by the time they were 2 and a half.  But E never tried so she has kept her crib status until now.  But being potty trained means she needs to get out of bed on her own at night.  So that same day, Daddy converted the crib into a toddler bed.  (This part, I was less ready for.  I got a little sad just watching him dismantle it and even more so when she tried climbing in and out for the first time.)  But for the first week, nothing changed.  She still went to bed easily, slept well, and when she awoke, she sat in her crib and called for me until I picked her up.  Eventually she realized she was able to get out and then my peaceful little world abruptly and we have struggled ever since.  She won't go to bed on her own, I have to beg and bribe and then sit with her until she falls asleep.  She wakes up at least twice a night until we sit with her again and then she promptly cries again/escapes as soon as we leave.  Mostly, she just ends up in our bed.  But she's really fun to cuddle.  (sometimes.  sometimes she's a midnight acrobat and flips in full circles while she sleeps.  like a small but fierce Tasmanian devil.)  She's also quickly realized that we can't make her stay in bed to nap anymore either.  So we've taken to letting her join the big girls for a "quiet time movie".  As long as they all have blankets and a pillow, she's fallen asleep and gotten the nap in anyway (most days).

And apparently she's decided if she she uses the potty like a big girl and gets a big girl bed she is definitely not going to use a high chair but needs a regular chair like a big girl too.

So somehow, seemingly overnight, my sweet baby has turned into a kid.  The good news is that I'm not buying any more diapers.  The bad news, she's kind of a monster.  stubborn and brilliant and running a million miles an hour.  And I kind of miss having a baby.  a lot.