Bye-Bye Diapers

Way back in September, Zoee started trying to use the potty.  She collected purple M&M's and pink stickers along the way and seemed to be off to a great start. 

Until she got to the 4th sticker and 4th purple M&M and decided she had had enough of using the potty.

In October, when we were in Chicago, we visited the American Girl store and Zoee got to pick out a new outfit for her Bitty Baby.  The condition, however, was that she would have to get all 40 stickers on her potty chart to earn that new baby outfit.  She loved that idea!

The outfit has been in the box, in her closet since October.

On Zoee's birthday in November, she informed me that she is a big girl now because she is three.  I again suggested that she start using the potty since she is such a big girl.  I even stated that once the diapers run out we won't be buying any more for her to wear. 

The potty continued to sit in the bathroom, untouched by Zoee.

Until this week!

Monday morning I opened the drawer with the diapers and realized that they were all gone.  I said, "Uh oh, Zoee, we're all out of diapers!"  She looked me right in the eye, and said, "Well, we can't buy more diapers because we only buy more diapers for babies and I am a big girl."

I was dumbfounded.  I asked her what we should do.  She walked over to the stash of Pull Up training pants behind her bed and pulled one out.  She said she would wear those and wear "big girl panties" from now on. 

And she has been!  It is now Day 4 of the latest potty training round, and Zoee has been doing great!  She has 24 stickers, and has been able to trade those in for a special prize.  She went back to the dollar store and picked out a package of stickers and a mermaid coloring book.  After the next ten, she gets to download a Little Einstein movie to the Ipod.  And she is only 16 stickers away from that Bitty Baby outfit waiting in her closet.  At the rate she is going, I have a feeling we will see it on her baby by the weekend. 

New coloring book with new stickers already stuck in it

The "Potty Sticker Chart"

I am so proud of her efforts this week, and she is so proud of herself.  But my heart is also breaking that there are no more diapers in our house, which means that there are definitely no more babies in our house either.  I know there are wonderful adventures ahead of us still, but I will miss these baby years more than they will ever understand. 

Watching Owyn and Zoee grow up before my eyes is a very hard thing to do!