I love being a dad…

Here’s what we’ve been up to:

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Please note *asterisks*
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Here’s the bathroom chart Allison made up:

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And this is the prize box that Ava gets to pick from whenever she completes the task:

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And here’s the spoon I found hidden behind the prize box this morning:

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Nothing builds your faith quite like trading diapers for big girl underwear.

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36 Responses to “I love being a dad…”

  1. Andrea says:

    Yay! Go Ava!

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  2. Andrea says:

    What prize did she choose first?

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  3. Elaine says:

    Oh man. The prize box is a good idea! I’m glad you guys had a baby first because I like to steal all of your tricks.

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  4. Erin Hull says:

    Ah, yes. The trusty prize box. The finest form of bribery! Torin used to hide under the table, squat and poop. I always knew what was up when I heard grunting sounds coming from under the table.

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  5. Liz says:

    Oh man….that was the first phase of parenting that I really tried my patience. I was totally desperate to potty train my son. I tried everything. I would sit in the bathroom with him reading the books, creating rap songs in order to get him excited about it. It took him about 6 months to get him completely potty trained. It took my daughter about 6 days. Whew….

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  6. Helen says:

    yay AVA!

    Do I even want to know what the asterisks note is?

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  7. Gosh there is some GOOOOOD stuff in that princess box!
    Go Ava girl… you can do it!

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  8. Annie says:

    Good for you guys! I think you’re more organized about it than we are. Supposedly, I’m putting Caroline on the toilet at regular intervals, but REALLY what happens is I do it when I think of it or when she announces that she’s going to. I need to work a bit harder, I think. But she’s doing well, nonetheless. If we had a chart, her #2 column would be empty, too.

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  9. Carrie says:

    Are you going to clue us in to what the *** stand for? I saw them twice. Weird.

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  10. snobound says:

    How sweet. Hope the learning curve on this one is short and sweet! Big girl panties rock.

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  11. kelli says:

    Ah, yes, the challenge of the potty. The girls got it quickly in our house, but my son had a harder time of it. Until I put a couple drops of blue food coloring in the toilet and challenged him to turn the water green! Gross, but true.

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  12. Yay Ava! Toilet training is a big deal; our oldest two trained at the same time. Yeah, that was a fun couple of weeks! :)

    ~Brea

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  13. Kelly says:

    Oh yes, I remember those times well. Jonathan was a little more difficult than Rebecca. Videos can also be helpful. I love the peanut butter spoon!

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  14. Shelly says:

    We are trying really hard to potty train my son. So far, it is a no go. He turned 3 in November but is very lazy in the potty dept. He goes when he feels like it but will only pee on the potty. I think that he must like the warmth of the poo because he will only let that go in his diapers.

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  15. bdaiss says:

    Hey! We have that book (except the boy version). Don’t you love the flushing noise? That’s my boy’s favorite part. He just turned 2 in October so I haven’t pushed the potty training. He has no interest in the toilet at this point. *sigh* I’d love to be rid of the diapers.

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  16. Fran says:

    Or you can follow The Lazy Mom’s Guide To Potty Training and just wait until they’re like three, three and half and they ask you, “Mom (Dad), can you please buy me some big kid underwear!” That’s what I did.

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  17. Meg says:

    very good idea! The character in the book looks just like her, same hair and cute button nose!

    Good luck!

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  18. Angela says:

    Almost (almost!) makes me want to consider having kids. Not just yet for us. I love the book.
    Funny story: I was never allowed to take my socks off on the toilet – if I did, I’d sit there for half an hour picking “wuff” (ie. sock fluff) from between my toes :)

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  19. MommyAmy says:

    Yay Ava!

    Yikes… I know that phase is coming soon with my girls. I just got our potty benches in the mail the other day. Yup, I’ll be potty training twins. Wish me luck!

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  20. Ann Calcara says:

    Ryan, we used the same book (the boy version) for Anthony! the flushing sound is sooooo annoying! I’m thanking God once again that we done with the diaper years in our house!

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  21. Kim says:

    YAY Ava! :) We used the same book….um, 7 years ago…only the boy version. “I stand up to go pee pee, I sit down to go poo poo.” And the flushing sound was his favorite of course!

    GREAT prize box!!! We did NOT do that! But thinking maybe I should have! :)

    Good luck Ava!! Freedom is within your grasp! Or at least mommy and daddy’s!

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  22. Dyan says:

    To MommyAmy: I potty trained my son and daycare child at the same time – both just under the age of two! It’s not that bad – I think they actually encouraged each other ;)

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  23. Ryan says:

    Really great last picture walking across the bridge.

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  24. all I have to say is good luck! this was not my favorite part of child rearing!! and the asterisks?? maybe to subsitute Mommy & Mommy or Daddy & Daddy?? THat’s all I can figure! so what’s up?
    kris

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  25. Sarah S. says:

    Oh good luck! There is a really good book called everyone poops. Try it out.
    Love the spoon :)

    The prize box looks really sparkely and girly. I used M&Ms for my girls, worked like a charm!

    http://sprucehill.typepad.com/
    My day to day life while kicking cancer’s butt

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  26. Kimberly says:

    @ Ava: You go girl! Congrats on being a big girl. Have fun with your prize box.

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  27. Cara says:

    Wish i had a prize box like that when i was little!

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  28. Plano Mom says:

    Awesome! Way to go Ava! With our son, we didn’t have a box, but we promised him an electric jeep that he could ride in. He’s 10 now, and I still have the hole in the dining room wall where he “parked” it.

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  29. vickie johnson says:

    We are going through the same thing at our house with Land except we call them push presents because he says “push” when he has to potty, except he’s kind of going through the rebellious stage, he was doing so good, now he wants nothing to do with it. The doc told us not to worry too much about potty training, that kids do it when they are ready, he also said he doesn’t know why they call it “training” we don’t “train” our kids to do anything else…interesting

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  30. Lo says:

    oh, my goodness, is it strange that the last photo my eyes totally teared up???? sigh. they grow so fast…..

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  31. Tracie says:

    Good luck with this adventure of parenting. It is my least favorite thing of all. My daughter was so darn stubborn and we finally threw away the pull-ups and put her in underwear. After peeing in her pants a few times, she was “trained.” Our son is 2.5 and has no interest at all in the potty, so we’re waiting until it’s a little warmer to start trying. I figure we’ll let him run around naked all spring/ summer!

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  32. Philly says:

    My guess is that there will be more stickers on the Pee Pee side rather than the Poop side.

    #1

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  33. Kelly says:

    Very cute! And good luck! They grow up fast. Don’t blink.

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  34. Oh I remember those days! Seems like yesterday. Well atleast you have a little girl. It was…interesting trying to potty train a boy. LOL!

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  35. Sara says:

    Hey, we have that book at our house! My trick for my daughter was to let her run around (we live in the country, so no neighbors) without a diaper or undies on. I always had her wear a play dress so she wouldn’t ruin her nice dresses. That seemed to do the trick–she hated the feel of potty running down her legs.

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  36. Janet says:

    OMG that is sooo cute! I heard it’s easier to train girls than boys when it comes to the potty. My dad had a potty chair made for my daughter and when she would go I would clap my hands and say: “Oh you are such a big girl now!” And with eyes wide my kid would say: “I’m a good girl!” GOD! I miss those days…(she’s 20 now and yes at times I WILL bring up that story to her). ;^)

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