Phases of the moon

Just as the moon goes through phases, Heidi's potty training went through phases as well.

New Moon:  The new, tiny little bum of sweet baby Heidi in a diaper.

Waxing Crescent:  At 2 years old, Heidi stayed dry through the night...a clear sign that she MUST be ready to potty train.  (I'll admit I was a little anxious knowing once she was toilet trained I would never have to change my own kid's diaper again.)

First Quarter: At 2 1/2 I first attempted to but Heidi on the potty in hopes of spurring some excitement.  I might have dropped her in the frigid toilet water quickly reversing all positive effects...but I don't really remember :/

Waxing Gibbous: Just before she turned 3 I thought buying Pull-Ups might encourage her again.  She liked wearing them.  So much in fact that she didn't want to pee in them.  So Heidi would wear them all day, staying dry, and when she knew she needed to wet, she would bring me a diaper, take off her pull up and lie down so I could put the diaper on her.  When I did, she would take care of business, take the diaper off, put it in the garbage and then put her Pull-Up back on. 

Full Moon:  At 3 I thought buying undies would encourage Heidi to at least SIT on the toilet again.  I got her cute little Dora undies and got rid of the diapers.  Well, now she would wear her undies until she had to wet, then she would put on a Pull-Up, fill it, take it off , put it in the trash and put her undies back on.  

Waning Gibbous:  Any time I tried to get Heidi anywhere near the toilet she would scream.  I started thinking some therapy might be in order...for BOTH of us.

Last Quarter:  Heidi refuse to wear Pull-Ups and still refused to use the toilet.  After one accident at my friend's house, Natalie my friend's 10 year old daughter took it upon herself to potty train Heidi.  She gave Heidi a Hershey's kiss every time she sat on the toilet.  Natalie got Heidi to use the toilet twice.  When we got home, Heidi insisted she would only use Natalie's potty and continued to pee on my floor.  

Waning Crescent:  Heidi figured out peeing her pants multiple times a day really wasn't any fun...especially when we made her clean up her own mess.  Her compromise was to strip down, stand over the bath tub with one foot on either side ledge and pee.  That way she didn't get a drip on her AND she didn't have to clean up the floor.  As an added bonus...my bathtub has never been scrubbed so many times in a week.

NEW Moon:  At 2 am Heidi woke up whimpering that she needed to use the potty.  I was too tired to play her game and she must have been too tired to fight because I just plunked her on the toilet and she took care of business.  She's been going on her own IN the toilet ever since!!!!!  Happy day!