YOU SAY RAIN, I SAY POTTY TRAINING!!!!

I've been pondering back and forth now for a while about when to really get down to business with Potty Training Taylor. Around two he seemed pretty interested in going pee-pee in the potty, but as of late NO interest at all. Well, with the weather report calling for our first rainy weekend in MONTHS, I decided to seize the moment and bunker down inside armed with: new toddler underpants, the Potty, Clorox Wipes, more underwear, and paper towels!

I decided to go with a gut feeling of just sliding on real underwear (no pull-ups) and seeing what would happen. Of course, I was hoping for a few initial accidents, but once he figured out he didn't like being wet we would be on our way. Believe me, I was very skeptical because I've heard all the stories about boys being harder to train and that they usually don't take to it until closer to 3 years old. Also, I have our pediatrician voice in my head saying, "you'll know when he's ready...he'll tell you he doesn't want diapers anymore. Since that really didn't seem to be happening anytime soon, I decided to give something new a try.

We've had the new underpants in the house for a while now and Taylor has heard us talk about them and show them to him. On Saturday morning, I told Taylor that he was going to wear underpants today. He was excited and was anxiously trying to figure out which color he wanted to wear first. He eagerly put them on and started playing around the house. We made several early pit stops to the restroom to reinforce what we were doing... nothing at first but then he finally went just a little. I made a big deal out of it (anything is something) and he was super excited and proud of himself. Right after that trip to the restroom, Taylor was standing at the fridge and had his first accident. Taylor was a little shocked and not knowing exactly what just happened. I explained what happened and then we cleaned up the mess together (something I read you should do-have them clean up their own accidents). With pair #2 on we were ready to play some more and eat a snack (what was I getting myself into)! A few more trips to "try" in the potty and a lot of books read sitting there but nothing more than a "little bit". Same scenario, right after a pit-stop we were playing and whoops... another accident this time on the hardwood floors. After the clean up was finished I took him back to the potty to try again and get him all changed up. Before he even got pair #3 on he was out of the bathroom running to the front door to see the rain pouring down. And well wouldn't you know it... our 3rd accident of the morning. The thing that kept me going that this was going to work was the fact that he was trying and was super excited about all of it. After that 3rd accident, he told me the rest of the morning when he needed to go and he went every single time in the Potty!

Now my biggest fear was that he would be able to figure out the peeing in the potty pretty quickly but what about pooping?? I kept waiting for those signals and finally after lunch it happened. I saw the familiar face, I heard the familiar groans, I saw the familiar crouch. He said to me, "I need a diaper so that I can go potty". I scooped him up and ran to the bathroom, pulled his little underpants down, and plopped him on the potty. He made the funniest face I've ever seen and scrunched up his fists and told me to go in his room (he's a very private pooper). I stood just on the other side of the door and listened to him talk to himself, and proudly announce "I'm done Mommy"! I heard a flush before I was actually able to get a visual confirmation that he did go. But Taylor insisted that it was a "big one" and his little rear-end did need some cleaning up. This was so huge!! He has never gone poop in the potty and to actually do it all by himself, I was completely amazed!

After his nap came a new set of circumstances...playing outside. I figured we would probably have a least one accident outside because he was being distracted with other things. We tried to remind him to come in and "try" but with no luck he said he didn't have to go and threw a fit. Dinner came and went and still no "trying" so I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. About five minutes outside after dinner, Andrew and I heard crys. Taylor was just standing there with his golf club in one hand trying to figure out what to do next. I took him inside to try to finish and got him all cleaned up again.

Day #1 of potty training was a huge success and very rewarding for everyone. I prepared myself for Day #2, thinking that he would want nothing to do with it or something like that, but to my amazement that's the first thing he wanted to do when he woke up... "where are my underwear", "which ones am I going to wear today"? This morning we've had zero accidents and we even ventured out for a walk and played outside a lot. The same scenario unfolded after lunch, and Taylor successfully went poop in the potty again! For now it seems that we are on our way into full potty training mode and are only using diapers for naps and bedtime! Boy what a weekend:)