"A" for Effort!

For the last two months Greg has shown an increasing awareness in the potty! He loves to be in there as we are going, as if it is some sort of social hotspot. In the last month, this interest has escalated into him telling me "pee" and going to the potty where he sits on the toilet thinking he is pretty much awesome. He has also been telling us more and more before he pees or poops in his diaper...potty training sign? I think so.

So what's a mom to do? JUMP ON IT! If he is interested, why not? I talked with my Aunt about some things to get (she works with 2 and 3 year olds every day!). So off I went to shop: potty chair (my mom had already gotten us one of these and Greg LOVED it), big boy underwear (Gerber training pants), flushable wipes, to go flushable wipes, to go potty seat covers for icky public potties, step stool for the sink (Linda bought us one!), and I think that was it! Whoever said potty training would save money was seriously wrong! HA! Just kidding, in the long run it totally will be! :-)

My Aunt also told me that Greg would be able to let me know if he was ready or not, but starting this early certainly wasn't going to hurt...so we went for it! She just kept reminding me that most boys weren't usually ready until 2 1/2, so not to worry or push it on him because then he would regress, lose interest, etc....and we don't want that!

Today was the day! Potty training...and it went something like this....

(Seriously? Who is this boy? And what did he do with my baby?)

Greg woke up and ate breakfast and then we got ready...as usual! But no diaper this time...BIG BOY underwear. He was super excited and we talked about telling mommy about peeing/pooping! He was excited and ran to the bathroom upon mentioning pee! He was also excited to see a special seat on the toilet just for him...no fears at all...great news! I was not afraid of him being scared of the big potty because he loves watching us go to the bathroom. So there we sat on the potty...and waited...read Dad's magazine...nothing! So we got down and washed hands! YAY for trying! :-)

We went to the potty every hour or when he told me he had to go! Good news of the morning: ZERO accidents while playing and hanging out downstairs! :-) Bad news (because with good news is always bad news): He would pee on the potty...but while washing his hands finish peeing on the step stool...lovely...but an easy clean up for mom! Now is was not as if he just peed a little and we were done...each time we went to the potty we were on the toilet for 10-15 minutes and until he told me he was done. There were several times he was on the potty and I would ask if he were done and he said no...and sure enough, he would pee some more. So when he said he was done...I thought we were okay! This happened three times...this finishing peeing on the stool craziness!

The educator in me said...hmmm?? Maybe his body is physically not ready. He knew the feeling of about to pee, but could not distinguish the feeling of being done. But still we persisted...next came nap time!! He was out for two hours and I checked on him a lot...no pee...I was amazed!! I heard him stirring to wake up and ran up stairs to catch him in time to go potty...I was too late! He had peed in his bed...this did not surprise me and I calmly picked him up and took him to the potty to finish any business! He was pretty upset about waking up to peeing, but that was also expected...I mean he is not even 2! So off we went to the potty. He peed a little more in the potty! HOORAY and silly potty dance from Mommy, and off we went to wash hands....when...he peed some more...again...for the 4th time that day.

I called Ronda, my Aunt, to see if this was normal or a sign he was not ready. She said what he was doing was not abnormal...but not something he should be doing every.single.time. She said he may not be ready physically to tell the feeling of being done once he starts to pee. HMMM...just as I thought...genius Mommy...perhaps!? ;)

We stuck with it though...and while at my mom's house he lost it! He refused to go to the potty and would run away when I would tell him to come with Mommy to pee pee. He then had three accidents and did not even tell me he had to pee or even after it happened, that he was wet. Regression = stop ASAP!

So we stopped! We want him to have a good experience and he was telling us "not ready!" And sure enough when we came home, before bed, Daddy was in the potty and Greg was right with him in his favorite hang out, helping with TP and magazines. Yay for an interest still, right?

Greg certainly did an awesome job today! "A" for effort, for sure! :-) Ronda said to try again in a few months if he is still showing interest and reassured me that stopping will not affect him when we try again, as he was not ready this time and that it was okay for him not to be ready and that we did all we could to help him start out! She reminded me that pushing him when he is not ready will hurt him and cause the experience to be hard and no fun for him...which is not what it should be. So I breathed a sigh of relief, put away the potty training materials, and decided take 2 will happen in Novemeber...if he is still showing interest, of course!!

Cutie!

Just playing the guitar like a big kid!

True story...the magazine!

Exciting stuff on the potty!

Mommy kuddos of the day: I have way more patience that I ever imagined I could have! It was so much fun to prep for potting training, to see his face when he saw his pee come out, and to watch his excitement as he stood on the stool to wash his hands...even if he did pee every time he washed his! ;-) The fact that I did not yell or become angry simply amazed me, as I knew this time needed to be happy and full or praise and love! I guess I can get an "A" too, even though the end result was not as I had hoped for!