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Friday, August 24, 2007

The Best Day Ever!

Hip, Hip Hooray - it's a great day!!

My son went peep on the potty!!

Now listen, at 2 1/2 that may not be significant for most moms. For others it is short of a miracle. My son and I are on the miracle side - and not because he's only 2 1/2, but because he'd actually been almost potty-trained and then he stopped, refused to sit on the potty and was happy in a funky pull-up!

  • At 15 months he began announcing when he was about to make "leakies" or "stinkies" (his choice of words, not ours!)
  • At 16 months he was curious about my hubby and I sitting on the toilet. He wanted to know how to flush and what the toilet paper was. (I began tying the roll with a ribbon so he could no longer yank it all into the toilet and flush while it was still attached.)
  • At 17 months I bought a potty training book for me, one for him and his very own potty that looks like a real toilet. He played with it, sat on it (fully clothed) and let "Elephant" make stinkies in it.
  • At 18 months I moved the potty from the play room, into the bathroom and showed my son what it felt like to sit on it with no diaper on. Then we got up and learned how to wash our hands. (We only told him "one day" when you're ready you'll make leakies and stinkies in the potty.)
  • At 19 months his God-mother who has 3 nearly grown children reminded me that fully potty trained meant my son would be able to get up in the middle of the night, go potty and go back to bed - by himself - unless I wanted to be wiping his cute little tushy at all hours of the night. His tushy ain't that cute. We stopped all potty encouragements. (All the professional surveys indicated he was ready, but I was not!)
  • At 20 months I bought a FABULOUS book "Potty Train your Child in 1-day" (Free plug!) and decided that when my son turned 2 we would give him big-boy underpants and change his crib to a "big-boy" bed with all new "big-boy" sheets. And, since the book suggested not to train after a traumatic event, I decided to train him before our traumatic event (we were looking to buy a house), and then make the new bathroom a part of his "follow up training."
  • At 23 months, just when we'd entered escrow, I picked a day and we had our potty training day. It was about a 75% success. We even had a party and invited all the adult friends who would appreciate and support his new efforts (the even brought gifts!) We now only really had to work on timing in that month before the move - or so I thought - to minimize making leakies on the floor, or my leg... At the end of that month, (before his birthday), we moved into our new house.
  • At 24 months he got his big-boy underwear (and had accidents every time he wore them - still that timing thing), and his big-boy bed (never ever fell out once!), and he got settled into his new room with all his belongings which finally made him realize, this change was permanent and not a vacation. My son takes 2 months to adjust to any change!! He stopped asking to sit on the potty (but I still took him in a timely manner).
  • At 25 months (after Christmas), his toddler school moved him up to the next aged classroom. Another huge change in his little life. He refused to sit on the potty at all.
  • At 27 months we began again. We bought a second potty for the downstairs bathroom. I bought training pants and those training pull-ups that are supposed to get cold or something, I don't know. Once again, it was all about the timing, but at least he was trying again.
  • At 28 months, out of the blue one day, he again refused to sit on the potty. But this time he was adamant, scared almost - screaming and dragging his feet - tears welling in his eyes the closer he got to the potty.
  • At 30 months we finally got it out of him what was going on. He'd had a dream that monsters had come out of the potty and bitten him on his "bum-bum" (no, we are not English!) I'd asked him what the monsters looked like because this was his first ever mention of monsters. He told me they looked like giraffes. He told us he was not sitting on the potty. He liked his pull-ups. We assured him there was no such thing and nothing like that would happen. We even sat on the potties and the toilets to prove it. He wasn't convinced.
  • He is now 32 months old. We had tried bribing him with an out of reach gift (he found it and broke and showed it to me asking - "Is this my gift for going potty?"). We tried decorating the potties with all his favorite stickers. (He now has pulled them off to decorate the shower). We tried new videos (he memorized all the songs). We tried new books (he read them over and over). We tried new, can't wear yet Thomas the Tank Engine underpants. (He couldn't have cared less). Every suggestion anyone ever gave us, believe me, we tried it and he refused it. We even tried to spray the potties with Monster Spray. He informed us there was no such thing.

All of the grandparents have promised the boy surprises, treats and gifts - to buy him anything he wants when he uses the potty. He has picked out several things, including a lollipop, a plastic owl (like the ones at Mimi & Poppi's house - no we are not Latino), and a long list of Thomas trains; but he has, up until now, ignored the part about using the potty in order to get any of these things.

Today, after nap and a terribly leakie pull-up, I cleaned him up and left him naked to play in his room. Sure enough, I noticed him doing the pee-pee dance. "Let's sit on the potty," I suggested. No way. Finally he begged me for a pull-up. I told him he could have it after he sat on the potty. He danced, he ran, he tried to distract himself. He pinched, he crossed his legs and he demanded a pull-up. And when I saw that first trickle I snatched him up and sat him on the toilet (his choice, believe it or not). He tried to snatch back the trickle of "peep" (again, his word, not ours). He tried to get off the toilet. He tried to demand I take him off the toilet. I comforted him, soothed him, told him to just relax and let it come and assured him he would like it soooo much better if he'd just let the peep come out. Every little trickle he sucked back into his body and wrestled to get off that potty.

My husband shut us all in the bathroom and we waited it out - playing in the water in the sink (on purpose, of course!) And when he started the pee-pee dance pinch again, I put him right back on the toilet and he struggled and snatched his peep back in his body every time. 5 times we did this dance in the 1st session this evening, but pee-pee came out every time!!

Yeah!! We were ALL so happy! We danced, we made up big-boy now pee-pee songs. We called Gramps and Granma (no we aren't White either! Hahahah!), we celebrated and had a good time and he finally got to wear his celebratory Thomas underpants. We took pictures. Boy did he look good! Suddenly, he did not want to wet his underpants and started the pee-pee dance again.

This time the toilet struggle lasted only for 3 rounds - but he peeped every time! And I asked him, "doesn't it feel good?" Yup, he agreed it was better than a pull-up. "Why are you still scared?" He didn't know why. "Aren't you glad you're going in the toilet?" Yep, and he was glad to be wearing his underpants too. "So if you know there's nothing to be afraid of, aren't you going to want to sit on the potty with no struggle next time?" Yep, he thought he would be able to do that. Well, at least that's what he told us.

It was dinner time and my hubby went out to "run errands" (he actually went to buy the first of what will surely be many, congratulatory gifts). My big-boy was content to sit in his big-boy chair (a booster seat) in just his big-boy underpants. He drank 3 cups of water even though I warned him it would make the pee-pee come. At the end the meal he was shaking his feet and moaning. Finally he begged me for a pull-up and I snatched him out of the big-boy chair and took him to the potty.

The struggle was only 2 rounds this time, but he was much more adamant because we were on the downstairs toilet (new environment!) Because of his struggle he peeped all over me and the front of the toilet - but he didn't get off of it, and he let himself finish! Woo-hoo! (Never mind the fact that he still complained!)

Fast forward to bedtime, I'm putting on his pajamas and stalling before putting on a nighttime pull-up. Sure enough he's pee-pee dancing and begging for the pull up again. We run to the bathroom (he actually runs on his own this time and I am encouraged). But alas, he struggles and changes his mind trying to get off the toilet and still asking for a pull up just as the peep comes. Some gets on his leg and the front of the toilet, but he settles down, lets the rest of it come, smiles, and proceeds to let off a rapid succession of "rootie-toot-pooties" (Yup, that's what we call them!) He laughed, asked, "what's that sound?" And amazingly, let off some more.

Happily, he got off the toilet, we high-fived and I finally put him in a nighttime pull up and kissed him off to bed.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Saturday. When he wakes up, the first thing he will see will be the brand new "Cranky the Crane Set (from the Thomas trains) that my hubby bought him. And, we will start anew.

Miraculous, don't you think?