Potty Training V. 2.0

Wow. I have an almost-potty-trained little boy on my hands y'all! This time around, things have been going much better than they did with V. 1.0.

Grasshopper has been making noises about wanting to wear underwear and go on the potty for a few weeks, and when I judged that he really meant it this time [or was faking me out really well this time], JR and I started reading up on potty training again.

We knew that we would have to take a somewhat different approach than we did last time, because every family member found the One Day Potty Party approach absolutely exhausting and overwhelming. The best decision that we made,BY FAR, was to start after Grasshopper's nap on Day 1, which happened to be Friday. Obviously, I wanted to start this process on a weekend so that I would have JR home to help, and so that Grasshopper would have the maximum number of days in a row at home to gain confidence and experience before I sent him off to try out his new skills at school. The most important part though, was the fact that Day 1 was really actually a half day. None of us got so exhausted, and we were able to end the day on a high note, and with Grasshopper still feeling really good about saying "bye-bye" to diapers.

That first day, JR and I were amazed at how much Grasshopper had retained from our previous try. The first time we had him sit on the potty, he peed! The second time he pooped! He only had 3 accidents that day, and 5 successes. We were all really proud and excited, and his Potty Chart was becoming covered with stickers. The best part of the day was when Grasshopper told me, "I proud of yourself for go on the potty!"

After Grasshopper was in bed (wearing a pull-up) my parents arrived for the weekend. My mom turned 60 (!) on Saturday, so they came to visit since what she really wanted for her birthday was to see her grandson. Grasshopper was thrilled to see them when he got up, and as I had expected, having more cheerleaders for the potty-training was helpful. That day was kind of a blur for me, and I spent a ton of it in the kitchen cooking a birthday feast for my mom, so I need to give lots of credit to JR for keeping the potty ball rolling. I do recall that there were a LOT of accidents, and that I was questioning my sanity for a bit.

On Easter Sunday, we started the day out strong with only a couple of accidents in the morning. We had Grasshopper's best friend, The Monkey Boy and his family over for brunch, so from about 10:00 until after nap time, we had Grasshopper in a pull-up. A pull-up that stayed remarkably dry. I got pretty worried when just before nap time he started telling me that he was done with the potty and wanted to be a diaper-wearing baby instead of a big kid. That's the point where we lost him last time we tried potty training, and I did NOT want the potty train to derail again.

JR and I stayed really positive and told him that he was doing great (pointing to his sticker-covered potty chart as evidence) and reminded him that The Monkey Boy's 9 month-old sister (who had just been crawling around the backyard), is a baby, not him! Showing him the empty diaper drawer and reminding him that we all told the diapers bye-bye also proved helpful.

Ultimately, I think that he was just worn out from the day, and resented having to stop playing with The Monkey Boy (who still wears diapers) to go sit on the potty. After his nap he did really well again, but we were getting concerned because he hadn't pooped since Friday evening, and he's typically more regular than that. Pee in the potty wasn't too hard to achieve, but poop was proving elusive.

This morning marks Day 4, and I am amazed by the progress we've made. Grasshopper not only pooped on the potty, but he only had ONE accident this morning! I am so proud of my little guy that I could just burst. Before you become a parent, you really have to idea how much things like this will absolutely consume you. How you will live and die by something like poop in a potty. The ridiculousness of it is astonishing.

Before his nap today, Grasshopper was saying that he was getting sick of going to the potty, and I don't blame him. I'm sick of being in that room too! So I made a deal with him that after his nap, I wouldn't make him go the potty unless he told me that he needed to, but that if he has an accident, it means that he needs more practice and I'll have to force him in there some more.

So please send some positive potty vibes our way this afternoon, because Grasshopper and I are both ready to have a life outside of the bathroom again!