Potty Training Chronicles

So I thought I would chronicle my first week of trying to potty train Jack this week, hitting the highs and lows each day. I realize I'm writing on a Thursday about what happened on a Monday (and before), but I've just been so tired each evening I haven't wanted to sit down and think enough to blog!! So, without further adieu...

Pre-potty training: Bob and I had been trying Jack on the "big boy" potty every once in a while over the last few weeks to see how he did and whether he was really ready to try. I think that question was the hardest for me to answer...How do you know when your child is ready? Jack certainly wasn't resistive to sitting on the potty, and had begun to tell me when he needed a diaper change, but still didn't really seem to recognize the feeling of needing to "go". I guess that realization develops sooner for some kids than others. Jack doesn't miss a beat in the world around him, but when it comes to his own body, he's not super interested in it just yet!

The first time we had success on the potty was about a week ago at my parents house. He managed to go, and we made a HUGE deal out of it. He was beaming from ear to ear, and I think that REALLY got him excited about this "big boy" potty. Of course, his Grammie and Paw-Paw giving him high fives went a long way...oh, and the sprinkles he got for a treat. Yes, he loves sprinkles, just like his mom :)

So that made me think that maybe I had a fighting chance to get this show on the road and really start making an effort to get him consistently on the potty. We've got 6 weeks before mother's day out starts up again and I had a week free of major commitments this week, so I figured it was as good a time as any to at least start trying and really see if he was interested.

In preparation, my mom and I ran to Target to grab some essentials...M&M's and stickers for rewards, a little potty for him to sit on, pull-ups, and of course the big boy underwear!! At this point I had decided to just take the plunge and put him in underwear since my sister mentioned she thought pull-ups prolonged the process (more on whether this was a good idea in the next installment). Anyway, I figured if I could find him some Lightning McQueen underwear that it would seal the deal for him since he just loves Cars.

Sure enough, I found Cars, Sesame Street, and Mickey Mouse, and boy was he excited when I got home. I also pulled out the little potty I bought for him, which he proceeded to drag all over the house with a smile on his face. So far, so good...he was excited!!

I, on the other hand, was positively dreading this week. In fact I don't recall dreading something so much in a long time. I think it was because I knew I would be pretty confined to the house for a week, which is tough for me because I try to find something each day to do to get us OUT of the house! Plus sitting in the bathroom multiple times a day trying to keep him, ummm, aimed in the potty while Anna is crawling all over me just didn't sound like fun.

We put him in a pull-up Sunday night and I mentally prepared myself for this upcoming week....stay tuned for Day #1 coming soon!