On Saturday, we took away diapers. I explained to Liliana about the whole potty thing and that she didn’t want to get (her) Dora (underwear) wet. Her reply?

“Yea, she doesn’t have an umbrella!”

That kid cracks me up. I never know what’s going to come out of her mouth. She made it through the first day with absolutely no accidents. I was quite surprised. She woke up with a dry diaper and didn’t make her first potty success until 10:30am. That’s about FIFTEEN HOURS of holding it. And she only went twice the rest of the day. She’s apparently exactly opposite of her sister, who goes ever 3 minutes.

(They’re going to hate this post, aren’t they?) (At least I didn’t take any potty photos. I’m not a fan of potty photos.)

It took a lot of coaxing to get her to go on the potty that first time. Until then, I’d reminded her every once in a while to tell me when she had to go. She was fine until about 10am when she would start to cry and do a little potty dance and I could tell that she had to go but didn’t want to get Dora wet (no umbrella, remember?) and didn’t want to go on the potty. She’s rivaling my stubbornness.

Eventually I made her sit on the potty because I KNEW she had to go and Noah read to her. After about 10 minutes, she started crying “Oh no!” and it finally happened. She didn’t exactly know how to handle it and seemed to be a little terrified that she’d finally let go. We all cheered for her and she joined in with “Yay! I did it!” through her tears.

And then she got a sticker on her potty chart and a swirling wind*. I wanted Liliana to see how the whole reward system worked, so I made Kaylie a potty chart and gave her a swirling wind every time she used the “big potty”. Kaylie got a lot of swirling winds that day.

Day 2 Liliana woke up dry again and I put her into underwear right away. By about 9am she was potty-dancing in front of the TV but an attempt to get her to sit on the potty was met with screaming. By the afternoon, she had her first real success in my opinion. She TOLD us she had to go pee, took off her underwear by herself, and went by herself. Yea, she’d been going for the last day and a half, but it was more forced. Then she went two more times in the next hour. I think she was just soaking up the praise. She peed in the tub that evening, but I guess that’s what warm water does to you when you’re not prepared, right? I’m sure she’ll get that soon too.

Day 3 she woke up dry again and started the day off with telling us she had to go, and went by herself. I was so shocked that she’d yet to have an accident (besides in the tub). We’re so impressed (and surprised) by her. She had her first accident that afternoon and it freaked her out. We figured she just forgot as she was watching a movie with Kaylie and we hadn’t reminded her in a while to tell us when she had to go. She did stay dry during our evening out though – her soccer practice and then Kaylie’s soccer game.

To say we’ve been shocked by her potty ability would be an understatement. I expected the weekend to be a battle with lots of accidents and lots of frustration and lots of tears and lots of screaming. (Okay, so there was a lot of screaming (by HER) on the first day.) Noah kept her home today just to make sure she had a handle on things before sending her to daycare tomorrow. She called me this morning to say that she’d gone pee on the potty. I love her phone calls.

I can’t say I’m sad to be rid of diapers.

Way to go Liliana!!

*”Swirling wind” is red licorice. Liliana has her own vocabulary. Like an ipod cord is a “dragon kite”, a coat hanger is a “rocket ship”, a hair clip is a “violin fairy”. She’s weird. I blame it on the Wilson side of the family.

Apparently even when a mother of a three-year-old is having blog-shutting-down nervous break-downs, she still needs the brilliant advice of the people she’s so fond of on the internet. So, I’m seeking your advice, oh wise ones.

Liliana turned THREE last Sunday. Although there are many things that Noah and I love about her three-ness, there are also things that drive us clinically insane. Like the Screamy Screaminess and All The Screaming. And the “I DON’T HAVE TO!” responses to EVERYTHING SHE IS INSTRUCTED TO DO. Also, she’s scared of her own shadow. No, really. That and EVERYTHING ELSE.

Here are some of the things I can remember off-hand that scare the tar out of her. As in, she starts hysterically crying and grabbing for us like a shark just bit off her pinky toe and is now going for the full meal deal.

• the blender
• the coffee grinder
• the car wash
• rain
• wind
• the drive-thru ATM
• the Good Nite Lite
• the red exercise ball at my in-laws’ place
• her own shadow

The blender and the coffee grinder, yea, okay, I can see how those can be scary. I’ll give her those. The car wash? She has to sit on my lap huddled up with her blanket over her head the entire time the car is going through. Rain, as it’s quite rare here – as rare as sunshine in Terrace – reminds her of the car wash and sends her into a terrified screaming fit. The drive-thru ATM reminds her of the entrance to the car wash and every time we go through, I explain to her that this is a BANK MACHINE and it does not spray water. Just cash. Sometimes.

Kaylie, when she was two and we lived in Grande Prairie, had a good reason to be scared of the car wash. I accidentally left her window open a crack and water sprayed in and got her. Whoops. I was a lot more careful after that to make sure the windows were ALL THE WAY closed. I have no idea why Liliana is scared of the car wash though.

The wind? Well, we live on the prairies. It’s windy ALL THE TIME. Walking to and from the car is a TREAT on super windy days.

Amanda posted a while ago about the the Good Nite Lite and how it helped her daughter stay in bed until a reasonable hour. Liliana’s been getting up earlier and earlier and since I am a night owl, I refuse to get up earlier than I have to. So, I ordered one a couple weeks ago and it came in the other day. I programmed it and plugged it in and explained to Liliana that while the moon was blue, it was good night time, but when the sun was orange, it was get up time. The first night, it worked like a charm. The second night, she was terrified of it BECAUSE THE SUN IS SCARY. I sat down with her and explained that the sun is NOT scary and got her to touch and feel the light to see that it was not scary. She finally did, but moments later she came screaming that THE SUN IS SCARY. And then I tossed her out the window.

Before she went to bed tonight (an hour early) (for everybody’s sake), she brought me her old night light and made me switch it out for the SCARY SUN.

I haven’t a clue why she’s scared of the red exercise ball, but she will not go anywhere near it and will not even be in the same room as it. And her shadow? SUMMER IS GOING TO BE A BLAST. Seriously though, she’s afraid of her shadow, but will repeat what we’ve taught her when she sees her shadow. “Oh, there’s my shadow! But it’s not scary, right? My shadow is not scary.” AS SHE BACKS AWAY FROM IT.

So, here’s where I get your advice. Is there anything that your 3-ish-year-old child is/was terrified of? How did you get him/her to NOT be terrified of it anymore?

I’d really love your input.