Prepping for Panties

I was not eager to hit the potty training milestone. Compared to some, I don't really mind changing a dirty diaper. Sure, if my husband is around I might try and finagle him into changing Addison (secretly it is hoping it is a poopy diaper and I can hear his groans of displeasure). But, then the day came. Addison began asking to go to the potty, multiple times a day. I worried that if I didn't take advantage of her curioristy and enthusiasm that this moment might pass me by. More signs came. My mom came to wake Addison after her nap only to find that Addison had removed her diaper. I noticed Addison attempting to remove her diaper many times. My favorite "readiness sign" was while I was teaching sharing time at a ward I was visiting. One of the nursery leaders comes to tell me that Addison needs a diaper change. I go to the nursery to find my child missing! The nursery leader informs me that Addison is already in the bathroom. I walk into the bathroom, assuming a nursery leader has Addison in there awaiting my diaper change. Instead, Addison is sitting on the potty! The nursery leader explains how confused she was that Addison had on a diaper but was asking to go the bathroom.
Okay, I get it. I give up. Let's potty train. First, I needed some prep before I went and bought princess panties (actually, I ended up with Dora panties, heart panties, and flowers. . .) I opened up the E book recommended to me by a friend from school 3 Day Potty Training. I read through it about 5 times and even took notes over the principles it taught. What I enjoyed most about this method was the focus on remaining positive and on actually dedicating 3 days to just potty training. Originally, I had pictured myself setting a timer and every 15 minutes, 30 minutes taking Addison to the potty to "try." Instead, the author encouraged statements such as "Tell mommy when you need to go potty, okay?" thus allowing Addison to feel trusted and like she was in control of the situations. Accidents were expected to happen and were to be treated as part of the learning experience. No lecturing, no timeouts. Instead, saying something like "Yucky, your panties aren't dry anymore!" was enough to indicate that Addison had failed to keep her panties dry as instructed.
After reading 3 Day Potty Training multiple times and making a checklist for myself (if you know anything about me, you know I love a checklist!), I went shopping for rewards for Addison. I got her coloring books, fruit snacks, stickers, play food for her kitchen etc. I also made her own custom reward chart. I was able to save money, make it personal for Addison, and was able to get the reward chart to fit with my intentions. Some charts have you giving stickers for each step wiping, flushing, peeing, etc. . .I knew that I would not be able to keep up with that kind of chart every day! I also wrote out what we would be eating (including snacks) and prepped as much food as possible. That way, I would be able to focus on Addison and her potty training the entire day!
Potty Training Day 1: After breakfast, I took Addison into her room and removed her diaper. I showed her the big girl panties and told her how proud I was of her. Addison and I together threw away the last diapers and wipes that we had (part of the 3 day training method- shows Addison that we are done with diapers and also removes the temptation for mommy to put diapers back on!) To summarize the day: Addison had about 10-15 accidents, most of which were not difficult to clean up. Addison went potty on the toilet 5 times today! Granted, she is still telling me "potty" right as she begins to pee so she only finishes going potty on the toilet, but she is still figuring out her own body and the "when" she is going to go. Addison didn't poop today, so it will be interesting to see how she handles getting to the toilet for that. After 3 heart stickers, Addison received her present. She got a sheep car and a mini package of m&ms. She quickly gobbled the m&ms and kept her sheep car close to her the rest of the night, often reminding me that she went "potty" got "hearts" and "hearts" got her "sheep car".
Overall, I am very pleased with the first day of training. My favorite part was that neither Addison nor I broke down in tears and I think she felt herself getting big. Addison kept pointing to her panties and saying "Kenna", because she recognizes that she has big girl panties just like her cousin Makenna.