Potty Training!!

Jen has gotten off to fast start with this family blog, but I finally made it to a break in my schedule (for a day or two anyway), so I thought I would give it a go. So, fasten your seat belts for a bumpy ride!!!

We have been really struggling trying to convince Noah to go potty on the toilet. For whatever reason (I would argue he is afraid of trying some thing new), he refuses to try.

When he is ready to go potty, he usually runs off into another room and isolates himself. Jen and I are usually occupied with something else and by the time we notice the eery quietness it is too late. Every time we ask him we get the same response..."No!" We have waited for almost a year for him to take interest in it, and this has not paid off. He has become more defiant as time has gone on!

Below is a typical response we get from him when we encourage him to go on the potty. He likes to be left alone and to have the door closed.

Note: You may have to turn up your volume to hear what he says, but it is "I don't want to!"


Fast forward to this morning...

For some reason when I woke up I had this incredible urge to make this happen. We told him, "No more diapers!" Now, keep in mind we had done this a couple of other times before, and after many accidents (including an unfortunate incident when he both pooped and peed on the floor when his potty chair was 3 feet away), we had given up each time. So, this proposition was no sure thing.

At first, he wouldn't even put on the undies we had for him. So, we let that go and he went in his birthday suit for a while. Finally, we convinced him to wear the undies...not more than a half hour later we had our first accident. No harm, no foul..but we did lose one of his favorite books in the process. We cleaned him up and put on a new pair of undies and went for round two. He was advised that he needed to tell us when he had to go. He made it about another hour and he was wet again...accident #2! At this point he had not made any effort to tell us he was going to go, so we were a little frustrated. It was time to put the baby diapers back on, we told him. Then something interesting happened. He didn't want them! We had told him before that if he couldn't wear underwear like a big boy then he couldn't do other big boy things like watch Scooby Doo or ride his bike. We had also bribed him with ice cream if he went. So, looking at this refusal of the diaper as a good thing, we continued on.

After one more accident while we were out for a picnic (outside, so not that big of a deal), we came back home and this is when the magic happened. I laid him down and asked him if he had to go...he said no. I told him if he decided he had to that he should yell, "I have to go potty!" and we we would come help. I shut the door and started head away when I heard, "I have to go potty!" Thinking he was just messing with me I went back to scold him, only he confirmed this time he really did have to go! So, we raced to the bathroom and sat him down and our son went potty in the toilet for the very first time!

Over the course of the day, he only has had one more accident and has gone in the potty 5 more times. One time he even did a little number 2! Needless to say, we are pretty pumped! Of course, we got him his ice cream and he got to ride his bike and watch his movies, so all was well in his world!

Here is a photo of the champ in his new big boy undies! Be sure to notice the "Buckle up for Safety!" sticker Noah got from the checkout lady at Target after he told her all about how he went poop and pee in the toilet! Nice!

And to close it out and not make this post totally about my child's bodily functions, here are some pictures from out rather eventful weekend. Jen, Grandma Marianne, and the boys went out to Essex Park on Saturday morning to play while I was at class, and then today we went out to Mayowood for a picnic lunch.

Hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a comment about your favorite potty training story and any tips or best practices you have for us going forward!