You may remember me mentioning a few months ago that potty training was not going to plan. I’m happy to report that we now seem to be over that hurdle, and that Inaaya is using the toilet. In the end she absolutely refused to sit on the potty, wanting to go straight onto the toilet, which was easy for me and the staff at the nursery as it meant no mess and no puddles!

When I first did away with the nappies we moved on to pull ups, these really helped because Inaaya understood that if she needed to go toilet, but couldn’t make it in time, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Although they’ve been great, I’m happy to say that we now use them only at night, and that Inaaya wears normal underwear during the day. She loves this and runs around in her knickers and vest reminding me that she’s a ‘big girl’ and that she ‘hates nappies’. I love it too because we’re saving so much money not having to buy nappies!

Inaaya also loves going to the toilet, I think she sees it as a special treat because she gets to wash her hands and play in the water. It’s all about the playing in the water! Don’t get me wrong we still have the odd accident, which Inaaya finds upsetting, but it’s nothing that can’t be sorted out with a kiss and a cuddle.

Inaaya showing off her new favourite knickers and vest combo: 

I’m disappointed to admit that potty training is not going brilliantly: some days Inaaya is willing to sit on the potty, but most days it’s just not happening. Don’t get me wrong I’m always encouraging her to go, to the extent that every time I go to the toilet, I take Inaaya with me and say to her “Mummy needs the potty”.

Now that Inaaya has joined the toddler group, and some of the other children are already using the toilet facilities, I think we might see an improvement. It helps that Amy, Inaaya’s key worker, is always encouraging her to use the potty or even the toilet with the rest of them. Even if it means she is just sitting on the potty and not doing anything, it’s still a big step. And most importantly it’s so great when she doesn’t mess her nappy…

I guess I’ve been a bit naïve, when we started potty training I thought “today is the day that Inaaya is going to start using the potty”, but obviously it’s not that easy. I know now that it’s a case of when Inaaya is ready and not me. I always have high expectations so when things don’t come together I feel like a bit of a failure. I need to acknowledge that sometimes you have to work harder to hit your goals. I’m sticking at it and I’ll keep you posted on our progress…

My baby is not a baby anymore, she’s my little girl now, and I cannot believe how much she has grown up. She has recently been moved into the toddler room at Nursery and it’s just manic in there. The children all speak in sentences and understand everything that is set out for them. It’s a bit scary as we have been used to one-word requests and answers, like ‘juice’ or ‘down’. Now it’s ‘juice please Mummy’ and ‘sit down Daddy’.

We decided it was time to re-arrange her bedroom, and also to take the bars off the cot to turn it into a bed. Inaaya was really keen to help daddy with the changes, and was so pleased with the result. My little girl has her own bed now – it’s so cute!

Inaaya enjoys playing with her toys: she has a lot to choose from. When it comes to bedtime though we make her sit quietly, and we read to her just before she has her bottle. It’s daddy’s reading she hears most nights.

Recently I’ve been thrilled to see that Inaaya has been sitting on her own and reading to herself. It’s amazing to listen and hear her waffling on, although it makes no sense at all, I think it’s a big step that she’s picking up the book to read – most children just look at the pictures. A few times we have collected her from nursery and she is sitting on the carpets with her key stage worker reading books, whilst the other children are playing with toys.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that when I was pregnant with her I used to read aloud for her to hear, and she would wriggle around in my tummy. I mainly read baby and pregnancy books, which served the dual purpose of helping me to understand the changes in my body.

Inaaya shows off her latest favourite hobby – book reading. It might sound like nonsense but it’s absolutely not!

I’ve been finding it hard to get Inaaya to brush her teeth so today we tried something new. I made her watch me brush my teeth and then I said “your turn” and helped her to brush her own. I gave her a helping hand just to make sure all the teeth got brushed, and then let her have time to hold the brush. It was definitely a struggle though because she is getting to the age where she is more independent and likes to do things her own way.

She showed me what she had learnt by watching mummy do it – it was great when Inaaya started to mimic the sound effects because it gave me an idea that she was learning and picking up tips from mummy. She hasn’t quite got the hang of rinsing yet as most of the toothpaste was eaten, that’s another obstacle we need to practice.

Now that she is becoming more independent I decided to give Inaaya a lesson in dental hygiene.