It's going.

Well, today marks one week since I began potty training Bubby. And it's going much better than I could have hoped! We've made the transition to wearing underwear around the house. I have to be really on top of things though, because she tends to have small accidents in them. No puddles or anything, but she has a hard time getting them off so she'll tinkle in them, stop the flow, and then finish on the toilet. She needs help, though. If I let her go bare-bottomed, she never has accidents. Her little bum is so chubby, it's hard to get those things up and down over it!

So far, she's pooped in the toilet once, too. That was seriously the happiest moment of my life! It was hilarious, actually. I heard her go into the bathroom, so I went in to check on her and she was sitting up there, reading a book. A few minutes later, she came out and said, "I did it!" Sure enough, she had. I was so impressed! Since then, she's gone in her nighttime diaper once. I can't really blame her for that, though. I have to make sure I wake up before her so I can catch her before that happens again.

Going in public is another story ... Bubby obviously doesn't know where the toilet is and hasn't figured out she has to tell me when she needs to go. So, I pretty much just have to pray that she won't have an accident. I take two extra underwear, a pair of pants and a plastic bag wherever we go, just in case. The good news is, she has a bladder of steel and only goes about 4 times a day. So if I time it right, we can usually avoid an accident.

Anyway. I'm so happy to not have to use five diapers a day anymore. Just one for bedtime. It's awesome. Those things are not cheap. I really hope things can continue to go well so I don't have to buy diapers for TWO kids. I might lose my mind if it comes to that.

One thing I've learned through all this is potty training is pretty much the first time a parent has to trust their children to make their own decisions as autonomous beings. When they're babies, we get to decide when they eat, when they go in their cribs to sleep, and we change their diapers when needed. But you absolutely cannot exercise control over your child's bodily functions. Obvious, I know, but it's not something you typically think about until you're potty training. You just have to teach them what to do and trust that they'll get it. For someone like me, who prefers having her ducks in a row at all times, this was difficult to reconcile with. At first, I wished there was a little button on Bubby's tummy I could push to make her go potty. But, there isn't. I had to relax and let her figure it out. And she is.

Any tips on how to get Bubby to tell me when she has to go potty? If we can overcome that minor obstacle, we'll be well on our way. Until then, I just have to watch her like a hawk and follow her into the bathroom all day.