We ARE Potty Trained!!!

Evelyn has been very, very good about using the potty since about the end of May. When she moved up to the next class at her day care center, she was the only one who moved up to the "potty training room" already potty trained. When she started showing interest at school, I took a week off from work and followed many of the tips in "Potty Boot Camp" and we had success. There was still the occasional accident, but the girl must be part camel because she can go hours and hours between potty breaks. To my friends out there still working on this, one tip I have that I didn't read anywhere (at least not specific to potty training) was to not ask a yes or no question like, "Do you have to go potty?" Rather, let your child chose, "Do you want to use the big potty or the little potty?" In our house we have a little potty in Evie's room and in the half bath on our first level.

For the last week, we've been brave enough to wear cotton panties at night time, too. I'm ecstatic that she has taken advantage of the potty in her bedroom when she has to go potty at night--even going so far as to take the bowl into the nearest bathroom in the middle of the night. (YIKES!!!) So far, I have not convinced her that it is okay to "let it mellow" overnight. Hopefully it will not take a middle of the night spill to make the case.

Most family and local friends know this, but I also wanted to share with my friends out there that less than a week after we said goodbye to my Zoey, I did a bad, bad thing and spent an afternoon at the Franklin County Animal Shelter. The next day, I dragged my husband and daughter there and came home with "Cleo" who we renames "Pickles." (Since I was the one who wanted the dog, I got no say in what to re-name her.) Justin narrowed it down to "Cairo" and "Pickles" and left it up to the two-year-old to chose.

When we adopted Pickles, we were told that she was a black lab mix, but after a few months with her, we are beginning to believe that she is part Pit Bull. No clue what else, but she weighs 36 pounds--which is about 14 pounds less than Zoey did. She is an exuberant tail-wagger to the point of having "Happy Tail Syndrome." What's that, you ask? It is when a dog wags their tail so hard against whatever surface that she damages the skin on her tail. If you've ever flicked water off a spoon, you can imagine what a bleeding tail can do to your walls, curtains, and furniture. A week ago, we had her at the vet to get her tail bandaged. Have you ever seen anything so pitiful?