Potty time!

So it's finally that time...time for our Dman to give up the diapers and take care of business like a big boy! We've tried over the past year to get this ball rolling, but he always thwarts our attempts. Basically, he just wasn't ready. Physically, yes; mentally, um, not at all! We thought we had tried everything, but he just didn't care at all and would shut down after about a half-day of trying potty practice. We know when to stop pushing, and he was giving that signal left and right! If we even mentioned trying to potty he'd pout and the bottom lip would quiver, and we could hear the fright and hesitation in his pathetic little, "No."

So we've waited and waited for our son to decide he was ready. A few weeks ago we started talking it up again, being positive and not pushy. We hung out with a friend a couple of times whose son is potty trained (he's 2), and I think that was the motivation our guy needed to get started. Instead of hesitant "no"s we started to get positive "yes"es when asking him if he wanted to use the big potty. We held off a few days and didn't have him try, just kept talking it up.

Finally the day came...well, actually I ran that morning and ended up in tremendous pain from tendonitis so we put it off another day. I knew I couldn't do the running around required to rush to the bathroom, lol. We had a sticker chart prepared from a few months earlier when we tried the big "change" last. Here are the potty rules: you go peepee on the potty, you earn a Skittle and a star on the chart; you go poopoo on the potty, you earn 2 Skittles and a star on the chart. After so many stars, as designated by the all-powerful yellow square Mommy colored in, a certain Thomas the Tank Engine prize awaits! Voila! We have a motivated kid!

Dman had one accident right away in his undies, which was totally expected and needed. After that one accident he started to make the connection between what he was feeling and needing to do. We only had one more accident that day, and that was with him standing at the potty waiting for the potty seat to go on. No biggie. He even pooped on the potty! Totally UNexpected and celebrated! Within about 3-4 days, our son was accident-free and also dry at night and naps. WOW!!

So we've been at this a couple of weeks now, and we've had a bit of a regression. He's had a few poopy accidents we can't explain, but then today he's right back on track. I figure it will be 2 steps forward and 1 back for a while, but we are definitely on the right track. We are so proud of our little guy! He's not so little anymore...sniff!