Potty Training

After we mastered the chupeta free days, Ava was eager to continue with her potty training and wanted to wear her calcinhas (panties) all the time. She has probably been ready for almost a year now, but with Alex's arrival, a lot of transition between new brother, new school, new house, traveling, and the lack of calcinhas that would fit her little body, it was never a good time to complete the potty training.  Even so, Ava has used her potty off and on, but never with any consistency.  So beginning this January, I was finally ready to dedicate the time she needed, and had succeeded in finding calcinhas that would fit this petite little one. I was ready to be trained on how to train. :)  I sought a little advice from friends and off we went.

Ava has been great and she loves being so independent to do it all by herself.  We did a couple days of dedicated timers to remind her she was wearing her calcinhas, we had a couple accidents (mainly because I ignored the signs of concentration on her face), but then in no time at all we were diaper free (during the day, that is).

By the middle of January there was no more setting timers, no more reminding all the time, no more hovering. I learned she had it figured out and that she found my micromanaging to be a little annoying. She doesn't even want to put on a diaper to come back home from school!  It is at least an hour in the car, but we risk it in the name of supporting her quest for independence.

Ava's version of a little bathroom reading ;)

I also just got her a step stool to give her a little more freedom/independence with the downstairs potty (this is how they do it at her school).  Now she can climb on the potty by herself, and happily washes her hands at the sink.  Besides, Alex's mobility was becoming a risk factor - Ava is so independent that I don't always know when she has used her little potty, and I don't want Alex using the little potty to pull himself up and making a mess everywhere.  It was a disaster waiting to happen!

Ava loves having her step stool to assert her independence - lights on, potty, flushing, washing hands, and turning out the light.