Nell is officially three years old. I wish I could say I celebrated her with all my heart, but I didn't. Her third birthday was a flop, and thankfully she's too young to notice. The day after we got back from Utah we started potty training. She was ready, I was ready, we were ready! Or so I thought.

Ugh, potty training Nell was a nightmare.

Nothing motivates that girl. She cannot be bribed or bought, coaxed or corralled. She is her own person and she decides everything for herself. Even threats don't work. I told her she wouldn't get a cake or party until she used the potty consistently.

Thus, the birthday fail. By the end of the week I was exhausted and my house was a mess. There was no time to make her Sofia cake or decorate our house or put a ton of thought into her present. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa saved the day. They stayed with us Friday night and watched the kids while Ben and I went out on a date. Later that evening Ben and his dad went to the store for a cake. And I have such an addiction to toy sales that we just pulled something out of the basement closet and called it a present.

Saturday we went to the zoo and played at the park. Nell pooped and peed all over herself while running around with Reid. It was disgusting and I felt horrible. Of course that was going to happen, I took a not-yet-fully-potty-trained child away from her home for two full hours. Cleaning her up in the park bathroom was a nightmare. She sobbed and I apologized over and over. What a rough day.

Well, some kind of birthday post this is turning into! There was some humor during our three week long potty training experience. I even blogged about it that day (Sept 20th), and just held onto it until I finished up all our Utah posts (Oct 27th, yes I am writing this a month late) . Here it is:

By day 3 she was pretty good with #1, but she'd only produced little deer size #2s. Well, except for that one moment we let her out of our sights and she put 5lbs of #2 in her underwear. Anyway, on the evening of day 3 I told her she had to make a big poop on the potty before bedtime. She replied "No, no, no. I don't want to."

"Well, then you don't get to have a birthday party," because that is the consequence of not being potty trained by age 3 in this house.

Immediately she declared, "I'm going to make a big big poop that will destroy the whole city!"

I can still picture her hand movement as she said that last line. She is so full of goofiness. We can always count on her for a giggle.

She had her three year check up on Friday (a couple days before her birthday). Here are her stats, and a bunch of cute photos from the past month of her life:

Weight: 43 lbs, 99%
Height: 39.5 inches, 93%