Potty Training Update

Movin' up to the big boy potty!

When you gotta go, ya gotta go!

First day in big boy undies!

Elmo helps time pass on the potty!

Confined to the living room covered in blankets!

On Saturday, August 13th we went to Mom's for Leah's birthday party. It was his first full day in big boy undies. He had done great at home in them all morning. We would consistently ask him about every half hour if he had to go and take him even if he said no. But I feared it would be different at Mom's since it would be a lot of excitement and people to distract him. He made it to her house without an accident. Step 1 accomplished! During the 5 hours that he played there, he made it with NO ACCIDENTS!! Hooray! He was very reluctant to go there because he did NOT want to leave the "party" to take time to potty. But once he finally got a couple under his belt, it was much easier. He was probably sick of EVERYONE asking him if he needed to go potty too!

On Sunday we took him to church with a diaper on. His classroom is always packed and I didn't want the workers to have to worry about him peeing his pants. I hope to send him next week with undies though! He had his first dry diaper after nap that day! Woohoo! That night we took him to the playground with his undies on. We took the potty with us and he went in the back of the van as soon as we got there. We played for about 45 minutes and he stayed dry!

Monday, August 15th, began the 4th week of PT. I decided to take him to run a couple errands with his undies. He peed before we left, then we went to the bank, then we went to the grocery. As soon as we got to the grocery, I took him potty in the back of the van. He wasn't too eager to sit still long enough to go, so we watched Elmo. He went! He made it all the way through the grocery dry. I told him every 5 minutes, "don't go pee pee in your undies, no potty". We tried to go again as I was unloading groceries; He was willing to sit, but didn't go. While he was trying, a grandma was walking by. She commented on him so I told her he was potty training. She wanted to cheer him on then, so I sang the "pee pee on the potty" song while she clapped and hoorayed in the background. She told me she had her kids PT by the time they were 2 and it just takes time, but it can be done. She told me she could tell I was a great mom. She was very sweet and definitely an encouragement!

Once we got home he played for a bit while I unloaded groceries and then I fed him lunch. After he was done eating lunch and I was cleaning him up in his chair, he said "poo poo", so I quickly got him out to go. Only to discover he had just peed in his undies. Bummer. It was his first accident in his undies. On a side note, he doesn't say pee pee, only poo poo, so I think that's his word for both. I learned that that day.

For 2 days, Friday and Saturday he didn't poop. Not in his diaper and not in the potty. Sunday morning he woke up with a poopy diaper. Sunday night we spent a long time on the potty with Elmo in hand to help him take time to relax for a poop since he was gassy, but no luck. On Monday we did the same thing several times, hoping to help him poop and not hold it in (if that's what's going on). Finally Monday night he started doing his little poopy dance. He gets all nervous and knows it's coming so he dances around, which is great for me because it gives me a signal! So we put him on the potty and he started to push, then all of the sudden he got scared and so I was kneeling down with him and hugged and comforted him. That only lasted for a second and then he continued bravely with the rest! He got lots of cheers for this one! So I'm not sure what the cry was for... if he was scared of going poop on the pot (he's done it many times before, but this was his first time on the big potty with the kid seat on it) or if it hurt because he had held it for almost 48 hours (but it didn't look like it would be painful, small and soft). Hopefully it was just a one time thing and he goes like a champ in the future!

Also Monday night, his potty was sitting in the living room and he kept going over to it, pretending to go pee. He would make the "pssssssss" sound and everything. Jamie and I just kept watching and a couple of times went over and took his undies off to see if he really wanted to go, but no, just pretending. Well the third time he did it we didn't go over to him, assuming he was still pretending. He continued to make the same pee sound and look at us and laugh. I kept telling him he was pretending and "don't pee pee with your undies on." Next thing I know he stops making the noise, gets a serious look, and stares at me. Sure enough he peed with his undies on. Jamie and I joked... so do we reward him?? We did.

As of today, Tuesday, he hasn't left the house yet, but doing great in his undies at home. We played outside for an hour in the sprinkler, pool, and water table. He said he had to go poo poo once so I sat him down, but he didn't go. About 10 minutes later he went over to the potty, sat down, and started pretending again, sound effects and all. Then he actually went! On his own, without undies on, without any prompting, and he could have gone anywhere in the yard with all the water that was spraying around him!!! I was super impressed.