Hey Baby, you can do it!

well, she did it!

all by herself, she did it!

im talking of the exhausting task of potty training. dun dun dun! (thats supposed to be scary background music)

warning: this is a rather lengthy post dealing with a lot of potty talk. proceed with caution. im sure ellie will be so glad that i recorded this for her when she is about 16. but its my journal of sorts, so i dont really give a darn tootin'! ok, back to the post...

after what we went through with jack, i decided to take the laid-back, stress-free approach, and wait until she was completely ready. i guess you could say that it was the lazy approach. yeah, you could say that... and you'd be correct.

she's been going tinkles on her potty every once in a while for quite some time. but if i ever asked her if she wanted to go, she'd say no. so i didnt push it. well i decided to put a potty chart on the fridge a couple weeks ago and told her if she went potty ten times, she got to pick out a new toy. and that was it. no pressure. i never asked her if she wanted to go or tried to put her in panties. if she wanted to go, she'd tell me and i'd take her in and she'd go. then sometimes she'd ask to wear panties and i'd let her and just remind her that we dont pee pee in our panties. that was it. and of course, she would always end up pooping in them, but hardly ever tinkled in them. i knew it would be a long process, but at least i wasnt pulling my hair out and feeling frustrated beyond all reason.

never under estimate the power and influence of friends! she's learning this very important lesson at a young age. she's so wise. i guess having all of her little friends potty training right now had a great influence on her because this morning she decided she didnt want anything to do with a diaper. not even for her nap. all day she took herself to the bathroom and she even ended up pooping on the potty, which she has never done before. she even put panties on her babies and set them on her potty and she'd pretend like they went and dance around the bathroom in celebration, which is what jack and i have always done for her. so after filling out her chart with stickers, we went shopping!

it was a very difficult choice...

... but i think she chose the right one. a new stroller for her babies!

can you tell she's excited?!

now comes the tricky part- waiting to see if she sticks with it! only time will tell

my mom found this song online that ellie adores.

here she is, our little singer doin' her doodie, oops... i meant duty :)

in case you cant tell what she's saying, here are the lyrics:

Hey baby! you can do it!

squat on the pot

ain't nothin' to it!