And the Potty Training Begins

I will spare you the poop photos.  Yes, we have several.  And, I warn you that this is a long post.

It all started when Emma made poop in the toilet last Thursday.  The kids were taking their bath and she passed gas.  It seemed she needed to poop so I took her out and put her on the toilet and she did her thing.  She seemed happy, T applauded and even said, "Yay, Emma.  I'm proud of you!"  I then asked him if he wanted to poop and he gave me a straight answer, "No," and said he was still 2.  I confirmed that he would poop and pee in the potty when he turned 3 and he said yes.

So, 2 days ago, he turned 3.  After opening his birthday presents I asked him if he was ready and he said,  "yes."  He picked out underwear and put them on.  And so it began.

The rules are - 3 M&Ms for pooping in the potty (I initially said 2, but he negotiated and I conceded to 3 as he is 3 years old and there are no rewards for peeing in the potty because he is good at peeing on command and would get a lot of M&Ms); pulls ups when we go out and pull ups for naps and night time.

Day 1 (yesterday) was good.  He wore pull ups for about an hour while I went out to pick up lunch.  He did make pee in them but that's OK.  His friends were over and it's hard to not be distracted.  Also, he made lots of pees in the potty and tried to poop (he sat on the potty for awhile when his friends were over and kept telling Ben that he was trying to poop because he'd get 3 M&Ms).  The day ended with no poop and no M&Ms but plenty of birthday ice cream cake.

Day 2 (today) started great.  He woke up really early so I crawled into bed with him and we went back to sleep for a little bit.  He then woke me up around 640am to tell me he had to pee.  In all honestly, I was tempted to tell him to go ahead and pee in his pull ups but I knew I couldn't.  So, we got out of bed and went to the master bathroom potty (we have one there and another in the kid's bathroom).  He sat down did his thing and said he was going to try and poop.  I thought, "ugh, he just wants M&Ms," but I didn't want to discourage him so I told him to try while I went to get Moo Moo so we could go back to sleep in my bed when he was done.  As I was returning I heard him say, "Mommy!  I made poo poo!"  I ran in and sure enough, he had a big smile on his face and really did make poop.  He then informed me that he wanted 1 yellow M&M and 2 chocolate M&Ms.  That's right - the kid's a math whiz.  Had can add to 3. =)  We cleaned up, he got his treats, and then he went to wake up Daddy proudly with his news.

I hadn't thought much about the rest of the day, but just before 9am I realized that T had his 3 year appointment at 9am.  Yikes!  I rushed to get ready, got T into his pull ups, and we ran out the door.  I had no idea how this whole potty training thing would go.  But, surprisingly, it was smooth.  He peed after his appointment and had not wet his pull up.  I decided then that we would go to Whole Foods since it was on my list of things to do.  When we got there he peed again in the toilet.  He was still dry.  I was impressed.  We shopped, paid, loaded the car and got it.  I turned on the engine and he said, "I have to pee!" Oh no.  I knew he had on pull ups so I was again tempted to say, "That's ok, you have pull ups on."  But, I knew I couldn't so I turned off the engine, told him to hold it, grabbed him, ran back into Whole Foods, into the bathroom, and got him to the toilet.  He made it.  He was still dry.  Again, totally impressed.  When we got back in the car he told me he had to pee again, but that was for a reaction.  I knew he didn't so I told him to wait till we got home.  Once home, we took off the pull ups and he ate lunch and played.  Unfortunately, that was when he had his "accident."  He started to say, "poo poo, " and I said, "Let's go!" but he had already started and ran with me to the bathroom with his legs apart.  I tried to be encouraging but he was really upset with himself and said he was sad.  It made me sad to see his disappointment.  I almost wanted to give him M&Ms (I didn't).  He did get over it though and, just before his bath, he made his 3rd poop of the day, but this time in the potty.

I have to admit that I am really proud of him.  I had doubts that he would follow through with going potty once he turned 3. But, he's kept his word and I think he is really trying.  I think he is trying so hard that he has actually even gotten to the point already where he doesn't want to wear pull ups.  The 3 times I tried to put pull ups on him (before going out today, before his nap and before bedtime) he resisted.  He just wanted to be in his underwear.  I think this is going to be the toughest part of potty training.  I know he's determined, but I am not confident enough to let him go those 3 times without pull ups just yet.  Maybe it's a good sign that he will train quickly.

And, Emma?  She pooped in the potty today after her bath.  I am not going to actively train her at this time, I don't have the patience, but I will let her go whenever she is interested and maybe, without any effort on my part, she'll be trained?  That would be amazing.

P.S.  T is going to hate me when he is older that I have written this post. =)