Potty Incentives

Mia is now 90% potty trained. She still has small accidents when she's preoccupied, so I usually put a Pull-Up on her when we're out and about, but overall she's doing really well. I'm constantly thinking of new incentives to keep her motivated - especially when we have to use a public potty. I think the loud flushes scare her - especially with the ones that flush automatically and sound like they're going to suck the toilet down with the water. Or, maybe she's just a germaphobe like me. So, I sometimes have to bribe her to use them. That has gotten better, though. She used to have a fear of all potties outside of our house - even at the grandparents'.

We've used just about every incentive in the book - stickers, M&Ms, gum (yes, she loves sugarfree Orbitz gum - we give her 1/2 piece, which she chews and then spits out when she's finished), dum dums - and my latest - pretty toes. I told her since she's a big girl and goes potty now, she can have pretty painted toes like mommy. So, I painted her toes pink. She was so cute. She sat perfectly still on my lap while I painted them and then helped me fan them dry. It was a very exciting moment for her. She couldn't wait to show daddy when he got home.

Snow Day - Finally!!!

We finally got a good snow day. I bundled Mia up this morning and we went out to play with some of her friends in the neighborhood. Mia lasted all of 10 minutes. She's like her mommy and much prefers the warmer weather. Her favorite part was her little friend D, who kept falling and couldn't get up - that elicited belly laughs from Mia.