Potty training adventures

Potty training.  Hilarious, but not so funny at times.  Totally mind-boggling.  Day-to-day.  Exciting and at times totally defeating.  A work in progress.

Potty training is going slowly and surely at our house.  Here are a few things I've learned in the past couple of weeks. 

• Miss E is not motivated by stickers, stars, or candy.  She goes when she wants to, not EVER when I suggest (I still feel like I need to ask her a million times).  I tried to set a timer at first so she would at least sit on the potty regularly.  That worked...NEVER. 
• Potty training (for us) did not happen in a weekend.  The result?  We leave the house...a lot.  Therefore it's a constant battle knowing whether or not to make her wear a diaper for our outings.  I've felt pretty brave lately and let her wear panties out several times.  The good news is she peed in the potty at the mall.  The bad news is she pooped in her panties when we were over at a friend's house for dinner.
• Accidents can be really traumatic!  Oh the drama...
• Princess panties are a great motivator.
• I never knew I would be SO excited to have my child poop in the toilet.  This is apparently, not as easy to learn as I remembered. 
• Following the last point, it's very difficult for a toddler to fully empty their bladder/etc when they're so excited at what's happening.

All in all, Miss E is doing pretty amazing.  In some ways her independence is helpful (she will go to the bathroom without prompting, all by herself), but in some ways it can mean a battle (she doesn't want to put a diaper on for a nap, I can't make her sit on the toilet if she doesn't want to).  She had only one very small accident today, and a couple days ago she was accident free.  Our biggest struggle lately is not peeing, but in the pooping department.  I'm sure this must be common, but it's difficult to know quite how to deal with it.

Today, I'm thankful for pooping in the potty!  It's the small joys in life...