Potty Training

Potty training has been a never ending struggle in this house. We started a little early, here. But then Will decided to climb out of his crib, so we decided to postpone the potty training while we all adjusted to a big boy bed. We picked the PT back up a few month later and it was just awful… So here we are in 2012, and since January, we’ve been booty first into PT. Before his 3rd birthday at the end of March, we started seeing the light at the end of the fecal tunnel.

I already laid out the down and dirty deets for you here. You can also read about Lani’s adventures in potty training here and here.

Needless to say… it’s not our favorite job in the world. The process sucks. It’s tiring and exhausting and disgusting and annoying. It takes far longer than you think it should or could. And that bedtime routine, when it’s time to put on PJs and a Pull-Up, cannot come soon enough! Throw in working again into the mix, and it has been a process that is even more time consuming & difficult.

My major lesson is that EVERYONE has to be on board. You need EVERYONE’s help. Even if someone is watching your kid for an hour while you run to Target, they should take your kid to the bathroom at least once in that hour. Even if you’re just whining to your mom that you smell like pee, you feel like you’re covered in pee, and your house smells like pee, you need them to be your cheerleader.


BUT


Now, that’s a big but! Once you get through to the other side, it’s GLORIOUS! Imagine me doing a spin with my hands in the air and a ridiculous smile on my face as I sing GLOOOOOOORIOUS. You have to go in public bathrooms, A LOT. More than you wish you did. You get to watch your cute kid run around in minimal clothing while you’re at home because it makes life a lot easier for the both of you. (I think he’s practicing his Blue Steel pose to the right…)

Realistically, we still have a few accidents throughout the week. It’s a handful or less, and I don’t technically count a lot of them because sometimes its just that we can’t get pants off fast enough. We are in the bathroom and the zipper is stuck, or he’s in there by himself, because he’s very independent & says “No help me!”, so he has a little trouble. But pee on the bathroom tile vs. pee on the carpet is a welcome clean up. We make sure we pee before we leave the house and it’s the 1st thing we do when we arrive at our destination.

It’s incredibly embarrassing when he pees on the floor at the bank when you literally are taking 90 seconds to deposit a check & you would’ve been out of there. Make sure you always have an extra set or two of clothes for your kid-in-training. Honestly, sometimes I put a Pull-Up on him when we leave the house, but the routine stays the same for peeing before we leave and as soon as we arrive. The money savings is awesome. You know us, always on a budget, so less wipes to purchase, now we are buying Pull-Ups, but the amount is far less than 5+ diapers a day… Money in my pocket makes momma happy!

And I think boys are harder to train than girls. I’m probably biased, but the stories I’ve heard from moms with girls vs. boys are that they basically took a long weekend to train their girls. But boys you’re looking at a week or two. And it’s confusing for boys! Standing to pee, sitting to poop. What the heck?! Although throwing some Cheerios or Corn flakes in the bowl for Will to “shoot the bad guys” as he pees was a tremendous help in jumpstarting the process. He thought that was so much fun and maybe I made it more interesting by pretending they’re attacking me, so he needs to save me! Half the time I just asked if he wanted to go shoot the bad guys instead of asking “Do you need to go potty?” every 30 seconds.

My other favorite trick is that if we are in a public bathroom and the toilet is a little high, since he uses a stool at home, I stand him on my shoes. Thanks for that trick, Aunt Pam! Now it’s automatic for both of us when we’re out. And really? It’s as much training your kid to pee, as it is training mom and dad to just take him without asking, especially when we’re out and about.

Of course all kids are different. Sometimes it doesn’t matter whether you’re training a boy or girl, it’s about maturity and development. I probably could’ve pushed through around Christmastime right before Will’s 2nd birthday, but I would’ve lost my mind in the process. This time around I’ve kept my expectations lower and increased my patience only to be pleasantly surprised with Will’s readiness.

Let’s hear your potty training stories! Now that I’m out of the trenches, and Lani is with Hunter, but is prepping for training Jagger this summer… Tell us your potty training war stories!

Balancing? Juggling? Failing...?

and Flailing! I really could be the juggling act in a circus.

How can there only be 24 hours in a day? Seriously. It's impossible to get everything I need to get done in a day around the house, while working on my own business stuff, caring for a toddler, and comforting a beyond stressed out Hubby after his 10-12 hour day. IMPOSSIBLE!

While I'm on the subject, here's my little business venture: www.paper-monkey.com. I've also started an Etsy shop, and have a few things on consignment at a local boutique. So exciting and SO stressful! More exciting than stressful, though. 

Oh, I'm also looking into preschools because in this neck of the woods there are TWO YEAR waiting lists. Yep. You read that right. Kill me now.

Will's birthday party is also a measly 6 weeks away. Yowza! Kids' parties sneak up on you quick! I have booked his Toy Story themed party at Pioneer Park in Tustin, CA. How cool is this park!?

Yep. Those are covered wagon jungle gyms!

And the picnic area. So so awesome!

I have some really cool things in the works for his party. I'll be sure to post my DIY projects because his party will be on a budget, of course! I'm planning on making some alien goodie bags, a rope Happy Birthday sign, some Chinese lanterns turned Toy Story characters, maybe a pie-in-a-jar take home goodies for the parents, but I'm starting with the invitations this week. I borrowed the Toy Story Cricut cartridge from a friend, although now that I see it up close...I want to buy one for myself. And I got this stamp for his invites:

I can't wait to get crackin' on 'em! I'm so excited. Hubby is pushing for a SuperHero and/or Iron Man themed party since Will is completely obsessed with him right now, but I think this will be the last year that I get to pick....so Toy Story it is! He'll just be happy we're having pizza (his favorite dinner selection since he can say it, "tee-zah") we'll be at a park where he can roam for as long as he wants. Hubby will also be getting some use out of his new jigsaw and sander I got him for Christmas. Oh yeahhhhhh...power tools!

A major upgrade from last year's party is that Hubby doesn't have to get to the park at 6am to make sure we have a spot! We can reserve the park. They only allow one reservation per day. And they even give us the phone number for the police in case someone tries to encroach on our reserved space. Booya! They mean business! There's also ample parking, which was another issue we had last year. See? I'm learning! I am definitely sticking to the park scenario since we don't have a large house to host the party at. We don't have any backyard space, so that's definitely out. Will is not a sitter. He's a mover and a shaker (and a screamer, and a runner), so we like wide open spaces. A park means easy set up and clean up and built in entertainment for a relatively low price (or maybe free if you're lucky). I'm sold.

With all that's going on in our lives at the moment, I'm slowly learning that life as a Stay at Home Mom and now a Work at Home Mom is stressful. There really isn't much balance. It's tough to put a messy house on the side burner while I work on stuff to make some cash-olah. I hate having a messy house. Yes, it's messy just because we have a toddler, but now things tend to pile up more as my projects stay sprawled out on the table, and on my desk, and on our bed, and on the floor...

But it's fun and exciting! And surprise! There's no way to strike a balance. You just have to go through it, doing the best you can, and cleaning up as best you can. Knowing beforehand that everything can't be perfect all the time, helps. But I did lost my mind a time or two... the dishes piled up for a day or two... the laundry full of wet/pee clothes piled up for a day or two... but we all survived. Shockingly enough, we did.

It looks like 2011 is shaping up to be an eventful and interesting year. How about you?

Super Bowl?

There used to be a girl that could sit and watch the Super Bowl from start to finish. Laughing at all of the commercials, and definitely not missing a single one, while sneaking away to grab a snack or two while the game was going, but managing not to miss any of the primo action.

And then she had a 2 year old.

Ok. He's not 2 years old yet. He's only 7 weeks away from that birthday, but acts like he's been 2 for at least 6 months. Needless to say, the Terrible Twos have definitely hit our house. Hard.

I managed to make some killer pulled pork sandwiches and cole slaw, thanks to the recipe I got from Tyler Florence over here. (Ohhhh Dream Weaver...Tyler Florence can get me through the ni-hiiiiiiiiiiight.... - What? Oh...sorry. I most definitely do not have a crush on Tyler. Ok. Maybe a small one.) The wet rub I made for the meat was SO tasty that I was licking the spoon, like it was a salt lick, while making it.

YUM! Brown sugar, salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, cayenne, garlic, red wine vinegar, & olive oil = heaven. I'm so happy I saved the remnants (at least 1/2 Cup) and stuck it in the freezer to rub on some chicken this week. Nothing goes to waste! Yeah!

Half way through rubbing my rump roasts.

The super cute Paula Deen cupcake wrappers I found at Michaels for $1. I made chocolate cupcakes with Nutella cream cheese frosting. mmmmmm....

Just call me Lani. I forgot to take any after pics of the food... Sorry!

My dad also picked up some tasty wings, and I think I ate more than my fair share of them because they were so tasty and easy to grab and munch on while I chased psycho-child around.

It was a trying day, to say the least. I forget that there's so much more going on at someone else's house where there are more people, different toys to play with, and two dogs chase, so I wasn't asking Will if he needed to pee every five seconds, like I should've. And he's just too busy to stop and say "Momma, Poop!". Hence the 4 accidents he had. On top of that mess, he had about a 20 minute nap on the drive there. If my child doesn't sleep, he might as well turn green and wear purple shorts because he is The Hulk. So we had that going for us, too. Way to set up the day for failure...

Add to the fact that I already have a complex about potty training this "early", even though he told us on more than one occasion, before I was ready to begin this process, "Momma, Poop!". If he can verbalize what he needs to do, he is ready. In fact, this passed week was the best week we've had in the potty training department, so I was eager to show off the fruits of my (our) labor at my parents' house. We crashed & burned. Miserably.

It sucks royally when he fails, because to me, that also means I failed. I should've asked him if he needed to go more often. I should've just taken him to the bathroom, instead of asking him and not getting an answer, or hearing him say "No", only to have an accident 5 minutes later. I failed at my job, which leads to his failure. He was too busy to sit down and eat, how can I expect him to tell me when he needs to pee? I'm the brains of this operation, and yet it's not until I'm in tears on the drive home that I realize what I should've been doing.

The best part of the evening was the 20 minute back rub and head scratch I got from my mom in the 3rd quarter of the game. And it makes me sad that we are at my parents' house and I barely get to hold a single conversation with a single member the entire day. I think I said 2 things to my Grandma all night. That bites the big one. I'm already starved of adult conversation, and the chance I get when I'm surrounded by opportunity, I can't take it. That's the life of a mom, especially when I'm too busy putting my child on Time Out, or cleaning up his pee on the floor. My favorite stunt of the evening was him standing on top of the ice chest, or opening it and trying to take the beer out (glass bottles and all), or eating/throwing the ice. Apparently I'm raising Tarzan. Me. Mom. You. Listen. And thanks to the No Nap situation, the 32 No's and me removing him from the chest was not making any progress.

But seriously...at least I didn't mess up the National Anthem, like Christina Aguilera did. This article on the Yahoo homepage cracked me up.

And I did manage to see the best commercial:

Volkswagen: The Force @ Yahoo! Video

That will be Will in a year or two... He can already growl like Chewbacca and wield a lightsaber like a pro.

And the Packers won. Booyah!

How was your Super Bowl? Did you make anything new or different? I'm all about finding new munchie recipes to try! Please share!

Potty Training - Part Deux - It's the WORST!

So far, there hasn't been a child rearing stage I've hated more than I hate potty training right now. The process has managed to roll all of my most hated things into one massive pain in my butt. Add a sprinkle of spiders and a dash of slimy reptiles and the mix is complete! And literally, my ass hurts from sitting on that stupid step-stool while Will decides whether or not he's going to pee a teaspoon or a tablespoon worth in the toilet. I put a towel on the stool to help cushion it, but it's already too late...poor little (haha!) toosh is broken.

Potty training got put on hiatus in our house for about a month and a half since Will had to recover from a peener infection complete with antibiotics, then we all got really sick - as in, I don't think I've ever been that sick. I cooked Christmas Eve dinner with a fever, Hubby's was at 104 that morning, and Will decided to join the fever club that day too. Good times. Then it was Christmas and New Year's and Will got diarrhea. Not exactly prime time to pick it back up again. So here we are. New year and a new round of potty training.

Things I hate:
- Cleaning floors, especially ones covered in pee
- Laundry, especially when it's soaked in pee
- Messy/dirty/wet clothes
- Extra (somewhat preventable) mess
- Tantrums & Extra Tantrums
- Ignoring me when I ask a question, like "Do you need to go potty?"
- Repeating myself 32 times...because someone is ignoring my question.
- Sitting in the bathroom any longer than I have to
- The toilet - it's not exactly the prettiest fixture...
- Sitting on the potty stool until my butt is numb
- Touching poop

Oh yeah, you read that right...yesterday I had a poop incident. Will was crouching and hiding all weird-like with his alien toy. I just thought he was playing until I got a big whiff... OH MY GOD! GO TO THE POTTY! HURRY!! HURRY! I pull down his Iron Man (his latest obsession) undies and there is a turd stuck to his butt. I held my hand near, but not on the turd, hoping I could transfer his tush to the toilet & the turd would fall off his butt and plop right in the toilet. No harm, no foul. Right? Wrong! It fell in my hand and then I had to plop it in the toilet. Ugh. SO gross. I had poop in my hand. HUMAN POOP! And then I had to rinse the skid marks off of his undies so it wouldn't stain. Livin' the glamorous life, I tell ya.

Whatta Happy Camper!

I'm pretty sure potty training a dog is easier than potty training a kid. No joke. Maybe it's because he's a boy? "They" say boys are tougher... Maybe it's because he's stubborn like his dad and independent like me? There's definitely less tantrums and laundry involved when you potty train a dog. Although, the look of the carpet is about the same. After my whiny text to Lani this morning about how awful this is, because I started the morning spending literally THIRTY minutes with Will in the bathroom while he screamed & cried & fought me 90% of the time while sitting on the toilet and then cried some more because I had to wipe the snot running down his face...I got the "Just keep on truckin'" push from her, which is exactly what I told her when she was on Day 3 with Hunter.

All things aside...he's doing well. He's battin' about .500. (Is that right Dad?) The first two days we were dead even with 7 successes and 7 accidents. Yes, that's a LOT of underwear and sweats to be going through. Thank goodness Lani sent us a bunch of Hunter's old stuff because Will would be cold and pants-less otherwise. He has been wearing underwear during his nap, but not overnight. I'm hoping he can get used to trying to stay dry during nap time and maybe that will transfer to dryness overnight. So far, he just wakes up at the end of his nap in a puddle, which means I wait and do a load of pee soaked sweats, underwear, towels, and sheets after his nap. Today I'm going to try and get him up 10 min before the 2 hour nap mark and see if he'll get up to go potty. Maybe I can catch him before he wakes up in a puddle. Wish me luck!

Right now, I will watch Iron Man (and Iron Man 2 because it's more action packed & keeps his attention better) as many times as he asks so he stays in a good mood. I'm going to keep my coffee cup full so I can hopefully remain energy-filled and optimistic as the day wears on and my patience wears thin. And I'm going to tell you a few things I've learned this time around:

- If you're potty training a boy - WIPE DOWN EVERYTHING, EVERY TIME. The little pee shield on the potty seat, the potty seat itself, his little peener, everything you both touch in the bathroom, and everything pee touches. This will prevent the dreaded red peen.

- Bring a toy, a book, or both to the bathroom each time. This will help them stay on the toilet longer, creating a higher probability of a success. I cannot tell you how many times Will tells me he's "Done" and so am I after sitting there for 20 minutes and as soon as I put his pants back on, he pees. And then steam wafts out of my ears.

- Be ridiculous. When Will has a success, I scream, I WOOT!, I stomp my feet (much to my downstairs neighbors dismay, I'm sure), jump around, and dance like a fool while singing some crazy song I've made up. My latest addition is a "Pweeew Pweew!" hand gesture a la Iron Man. Will thinks its hilarious. He also sees how happy I am when he is successful. Which can only encourage more success.

- Don't kill yourself when you've had the following conversation 5,000 times in before noon:
Mom: Will, do you need to go potty?
Will: (silence)
Mom: William? Do you need to go potty?
Will: (half glance)
Mom: WILL! Do you need to go potty?!
Will: Mo, Mo, Mo.

- Keep on truckin'. Eventually, it will to click. It HAS to. Right?

Until then, we'll all just fall asleep where we sit because we are so exhausted...

Tinkle Tinkle Little SUPER Star!

As if the graduation to the big boy bed wasn't enough (yes, I just said "As If"... Maybe I want to be Cher Horowitz for the day and pretend that it's 1995...what?), we have begun potty training. Will is only 19 months old. I know what you're thinking (cough)overachiever(cough), but seriously, he's been telling us he needs to potty or poop randomly for a little over a month now.

The first was when I was out running an errand and Hubby was giving him a bath. He stood up mid-bath, and held his peepee. Hubby asked "Do you need to go potty?". Will nodded yes, so Hubby put him on the toilet, which is 6" from the tub, and Will proceeded to empty his bladder. When Hubby asked if he was done, Will proceeded to grunt and make his face turn red as he dropped a deuce too. When I got home, the conversation went something like this:
Hubby: You might need to sit down for this.
Me: What? What happened. Oh my god. What?
Hubby: Your son was in the bath and told me he needed to go pee. So I put him on the toilet and he peed.
Me: WHAT?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! OH MY GOD!!
Hubby: There's more.

Of course the word spread fast after I made a phone call to my mom and posted on Facebook... because who doesn't want to hear about my kid peeing and pooping in the toilet?!

Since that first miraculous incident, he has told my mom that he needed to pee, and has told me once or twice, and Hubby another time or two while in the bath. Might as well roll with it and start the process. Being diaper free (at least during the day) sounds glorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrious! So why not?

Day 1 was a tad tough because Hubby wasn't quite on board with my method. Will ran around pant-less. Hubby is not a fan of messes, especially when it is preventable by, say... wearing pants, but I convinced him to roll with it. After talking to Lani (you can read about her adventures in potty training here and here) and a couple of other parents who's kids are potty training, the sans pants method seems to make sense. Kids pee in a diaper. They might know the sensation, but they've never seen what happens when they have that sensation to pee. After 3 fairly minor accidents (one on Hubby's favorite sweats, and 2 on the floor), and 3 HUGE successes, Hubby was glad he rolled with it.

Day 2 was similar and Day 3 was amazing! ZERO accidents on Day 3. Yep. I said ZERO.

Day 1 and 2 he was on the potty every 20 minutes. I asked, but regardless of his answer, he was on the toilet. He likes the seat that attaches to the real potty because he's my kid and if he's gonna learn, he's gonna learn on the real potty. Plus, it's less mess for mom and dad since we don't have to dump out and clean the little bucket thing. Ew.

Day 3 I started just asking him if he needed to go. Most of the time, the answer was "Mo....Mo.... Mo Mo" as he shook his head vigorously. When it was a yes, he would either nod his head yes, say "Ya", or start sauntering his naked toosh to the bathroom. If he didn't tell me "Mo" right away, we were off to the potty and it was a game. "OH! You need to potty?! Hurry! Hurry! Let's run and go real fast!"

Today is Day 4. I think this is what Lani was warning me about. After yesterday, I know Will knows what to do. But today, he is just...I don't know....lazy? We started off with a big pee accident in his underwear that I put him in while he eats breakfast. He peed in them after I got him out of his chair. Soaked. And since then, it's been catching him mid-stream while he's in the kitchen (Yay for easy clean up and boo that I thoroughly mopped the floor yesterday) or sitting on his designated blanket on the floor in the living room. It's frustrating because I know he knows what he's doing, he just won't do it.... but we will keep on keepin' on!

I think today I'm going to test my/our luck and have our first outing...It will be interesting, I'm sure.

Wish me luck!

Any potty training advice? What worked for you? I'd love the help and of course, encouragement! Sometimes it's amazing to think that we all were potty trained...kudos to our parents and our parents' parents for sticking with it!

P.S. How cute is Will in his little undies?! I love it!

Pee Pee part two

I just wanted to give you guys an update and take back what I said about potty training here.  We've been at it for 3 1/2 weeks now (seems like longer)....and I take back fully what I said about not doing it.  It's glooooorrriiiioouuusss!  No more diapers (except at naps and bed), less garbage, saving the environment!  I know it's not easy for everyone...and that 1st week was definitely not easy for me....but he learned quick, and actually loves doing it!  He even tells me that he has to go and the other day he randomly just decided to poop on the potty (which I wasn't going to even worry about right now since he consistently does it first thing in the morning in the diaper.....what.....too much info? Sorry).

The first week was awful, horrible, and I totally stocked up on carpet cleaner.  But with lots of positive praise, sighs of disappointment when he had an accident (not punishment....just disappointed sighs), a few naked days, and Heather telling me to keep it up....I consider him potty trained!  I'll give you the run down of how we did it.

1) Let's Get Naked!!  Even though my sister called it "the crazy way," I totally endorse the run around naked method.  I let him go naked for a full weekend (and a Monday, I think).  This worked for 2 reasons....he was able to connect the sensation of peeing with the act, since he had never actually seen himself go before...he just went in the diaper.  It also was good for me to just get him on the potty without having to worry about pulling down pants.  Just sit.  This was the time when a ton of accidents occurred...but he was making connections about what was going on.  However...because he's a boy....he didn't care too much when he did it cuz it sprayed away from him and he was never wet.  So after he realized what peeing was....we moved to step two.

2) Under Where?  Under There!!  I bought a couple packs in his favorite characters (Disney's "Cars" and some Marvel super heroes).  I told him that Lightning McQueen (or whoever) likes to stay dry so it's important to keep him dry!  I had him feel his underpants and say "dry" and when he had an accident I made him feel again and say "wet."  This next step worked for us for 2 reasons again.  The first being now that he knew what peeing was....he was realizing that when he had clothes on...he would get wet if he just went.  The second...again...easy on and off for mom and dad.

3) Get Right Out Of Town!!  We stayed trapped indoors for about a week...but by Sunday we had to get out.  Saturday night we had Hunter go pee pee on the pot, then Sonny and I took him on a walk to the playground.  We were there an hour and said "ok...we have to go pee pee" and came home.  We came home, peed, then went back to the park.  It was good for him to realize that he had to sometimes stop what he was doing, do his business, and everything would be waiting for him when he got back.  Then on Sunday we went out to Babies R Us to get a portable seat, and to Panera for an oh-so-fancy dinner.  Every hour we were taking (not asking cuz he would just say no) him to the potty.  We would just say "ok...potty time" and whisk him away.  I was doing this same method at home...so it worked when we were out.  He went twice at Panera and we had an awesome dinner.

4) Positive Reinforcement.  Not really a "step" as it is a method all throughout the process.  Now, I know a lot of parents do the treat thing...but since we don't do that on a regular basis in our everyday life....I didn't want to do it now.  I always tell Sonny "I'm not going to give you a medal for things you're supposed to do." Don't get me wrong.  He got some good cookie treats after a whole weekend without accidents, and a fun Rita's water ice outing after a whole week of no accidents....just not something every time he went in the pot.  We really gave lots of cheers and praise and especially high fives.  He loves it.  When he goes he yells "High five!!!!!" and if we're out at grandparents he want to give everyone a high five.  It's hilarious.  You can see how proud of himself he is.  And when he had an accident....I didn't punish, but I made it clear that I was disappointed and said "Hunter...pee pee goes in the potty....not on the floor."  I never said that it was ok...because it was not ok.  He got the message.  I guess it may be "harsh" to some 'rents to show how disappointed you are....but it works for my fam. 

5) Just Go Man.  Seriously, the kid will always say no if you ask.  So we just are diligent about taking him every hour.  After that first week I kinda saw a pattern in the peeing, where he wouldn't go until about 2 hours after he woke up...then about hourly after that.  So I wouldn't bug him too much until about 1 1/2 hrs after he woke...then he'd pee...then I'd just whisk him off every hour.  I am still doing that...just to make sure that he is going.  It seems to work, even if he just goes a squirt....but we go to the potty so much during the day that he knows what he's supposed to do and tries to go every time now.  And for the past couple days he has been telling us when he has to go....which is amazing to me!!  He's really getting it!

These tips and tricks don't work for everyone....but they certainly have worked for me.  Every kid is different...and I have to say that after reading and researching and experiencing....there is no magic trick to potty training.  You just have to really tune into your kid and what his body is doing/saying.  You actually know better then them right now.  And my most valuable tip....just stick with it.  Don't give up.   You will know when your kid is ready and don't give up on them.  They want to make you proud...and before you know it....they will realize how proud they are of themselves!  I now have a living, breathing, peeing and pooping little dude!

**PS: I totally have pics of him on the potty...but decided to be a bit prudent on the matter and not post them.  Going to the bathroom is a private matter....and I'd like to respect Hunter's privacy!  :)

So it begins....

Just when you think you've got this parenting thing down...you get smacked in the face with the reality that you will NEVER get the "hang of it."  My smack in the face has come in the form of potty training.

Oh yes...that's right....I'm potty training my Hunter.  My baby...my little peanut that can't grow up....I just won't let him.  But he is gosh darnit.  I decided to start for a number of reasons.  The first being that he can talk and has the motor skills to pull his pants up and down (mostly down.)  The second being that he is very interested when Sonny or I go to the bathroom.  He likes to follow us in and he yells "Potty!  Pee Pee! (as he points to his wang)."  He also like to call attention to his bodily functions such as farting and burping and pooping.  It's obviously a nature thing with men...not nurture.  And the last being that his older cousin Mia is pretty much fully potty trained and he likes to imitate her.  So...diapers be gone....I just figured lets give it a go.

I hate it.

I loathe it.

Don't do it.

No seriously.  Stop thinking about doing it with you;re child and just keep him in diapers forever.  Invent a size 7. 

Ugh. Of course I searched all of the interweb to find out the best ways of going about this...and the one that seems to work for most moms was either ditching diapers cold turkey and just going to underwear...or going stark naked around the house. That's what I decided to do.  Why, you ask?  Because I'm a masochist and highly enjoy carpet cleaner.  That's why.  The real reason?  Because I didn't think Hunter knows what he's doing when he's doing it.  He feels that he is doing SOMETHING....but I didn't think he knew what was actually coming out.  So I figured if he saw it/ felt it...something would click.

PPPLLLEEEEHHH!!!!!

The first day (Friday) was...ok.  To be expected.  Lots of accidents...one minor success (which included a great spinning touchdown-style dance that Hunter made up himself).  There were a couple things happening: I would put him on the potty every 20 minutes, but he soon became irritated with that.  He humored me the first 3 or 4 times...but then just started getting irritated and running away.  So I brought the potty out to the living room so he could play and I could sit him on it without really removing him from the action.  I know...potty should be in the potty.....but I just wanted him to get the point of pee goes in potty.  So we had that minor success.  YAY!! We high-fived, spun, danced, and cheered! Literally one minute later he peed on the floor.  I didn't get mad...but as I was cleaning that one he peed again. Uhhhh....then 2 minutes after that he peed again. What the? I'm guessing it kinda freaked him out a little and he kept stopping the flow...but still needed to go more.  Makes sense right?  He never told me he had to go, though. And I never caught him at the right time the rest of the day.  Bless you Resolve!  Bless you!

Saturday was a tad better.  One success, still mostly mistakes, but he graduated into saying "uh oh" either as he was going or right before he went (like seconds before he went).  But it didn't make it any easier.  One time I knew he had to go...put him on the pot...he refused...and you know they say that you're not supposed to force them to sit even if you know he has to go.  Well he was fighting so I let him go and started making his lunch and wouldn't you know it.....he peed in his chair.  And played in the puddles.  I was just so grossed out that I started crying and called Heather and Sonny in despair.  Being the good friends and hubby they are...they said stick with it, it'll get better.

Well Sunday was glorious.  We had 4 successful trips to the pot (all with Sonny....none with me) and only 2 half accidents/  Wahoo!  He's learning!!! He's getting it!  Glorious!!!!!

Not so...Monday was pee everywhere but the potty.  Fabu.  It was also get-out-of-my-face-bite-my-lip-so-hard-it-bleeds-cuz-i'm-too-busy-to-sit-on-the-potty day.  Hooray!  I need a beer....

It's tough, and it's going to be a hard road.  I'm giving myself 3 solid weeks before I put the diaper back on and officially say he's not ready.  I'm hoping the accidents get fewer, the successes get more frequent (whether or not he "asks" to go), and that I don't have to revert back to diapers.  Until that time, I will be investing in carpet cleaner....