You Say You Want a Potty Training Update?

Or maybe you don't. No problem. No one says you have to read this. . . but I've been asked by several people to let them know how Nick has been doing with The Great Potty Challenge of 2011. After two weeks, I guess I would call him partly trained, or well on his way.

The picture below is of Nick showing off his latest potty prize--a foam sword from the $1 bin at Target. (Incidentally, he's also holding a cake pop from Starbucks. Yummy!)

First of all, Greg did not potty train him in a weekend, not that any of us actually thought that would happen. But he got a good head start. There were a lot of incidents of backsliding and arguing, along with too many accidents to count. We never gave in, though, and Nick has been completely out of diapers for more than two weeks. (The only exception is overnight--we do still use a diaper then. We'll work on that another time.)

I do think we're making very significant progress, though. That first week or so, Nick averaged one successful potty trip per day. On Friday, he earned three prizes, on Saturday, he earned four, and today he earned three prizes. His accidents have gone from 5+ per day to only one or two. He's started "going" immediately when he sits on the potty. Even more impressive was last Tuesday, when Grandma Toni was trying to get him dressed, he started to go on the couch. She told him to hold it and he did! He stopped, ran to the bathroom, and made it to the potty.

I've spent more money on prizes, man panties, and plastic cover up pants than I ever thought possible. My home is filled with very cheap, annoying toys that Nick has won for going on the potty instead of in his man panties. We've also learned some lessons:

1. Double or triple bag the boy when you leave the house. Today, for example, when we went out, Nick wore cheap Elmo underwear with thick Potty Scotty waterproof pants over them, and plastic pants over that. The cheap underwear is in case of a #2 accident--it's extremely hard to clean up, so we usually just throw out the underwear. Potty Scotty man panties cost nearly $9 a pair, so the extra layer is worth it.

2. Have plenty to do while in the potty. Some of Nick's prizes have been things to do in the potty, like a portable dry erase board, coloring books, books to read, and markers.

3. Have a comfortable place for an adult to sit. I feel like I've spent most of the last week sitting either on the bathroom floor or precariously on a stepstool, waiting for the magic moment.

4. Do laundry every day. Trust me, you do not want to run out of training pants! The good news is, I've never in my life been more caught up on laundry.

5. Let the kid pick his own prizes. This method seemed to work best for Nick after I took him to Target on Friday and let him fill the cart with prizes. He knew what he had to do to get those toys, and man, is he excited! My stepsister in law was telling me M and Ms worked for her kids. Not Nick. He wants the good stuff. I wish I could get him excited about an M and M. (My wallet would be grateful.)

Here he is in Target, helping pick his own prizes.

I'm nervous to see how potty training will go this week when Nick returns to daycare. He hasn't had as much success at the babysitter's house, and he's still afraid of public bathrooms (aren't we all), even though I bought him a portable seat to use while we're out.

Today, though, we left the house at 11 a.m. to run errands and didn't return until 2:30. Nick stayed dry the entire time, and went immediately as soon as we got home and put him on the potty. I find that amazing since I had to use the bathroom twice during that time period, and Greg went four times while we were out. After he went, he took a two hour nap, woke up DRY, and then immediately went on the potty successfully again. I would call that a very good day.  :)

Nick had a spectacular day today. He took two good naps, ate well, and wasn't really bothered by the teething. He also got to see his Grandma Toni today. She's been in Hawaii the last few weeks, and as you can see, he was just thrilled to see her again. He is pushing up to a stand at every opportunity, and getting braver and less cautious about falling. I guess that is a good sign, but I foresee some bumps in his future.

We took him out to the pet store, because our kitties are eating us out of house and home. I don't think that the special diet food does any good, either. They eat Science Diet for old, overweight kitties, but they're not getting any peppier or any less chunky. But we shall persist and continue buying giant bags of the exhorbitantly expensive special food that our vet recommends. Although, I'm sure the cats wouldn't mind if we just switched them to a much cheaper diet of tuna and fancy feast. . .

Nick loved going to the pet store, because he was able to see all of the animals. This PetSmart had little finches, which I haven't seen before. They were cute and little. I love finches.

If I didn't have cats, I would love to have a few birds. But I think it would be torturous for both cats and birds if they had to live together. Even if I could prevent outright slaughter, I believe it would be traumatic for the birds to constantly see predators circling their cage. As for the cats, it would be like baking homemade gingerbread cookies in my kitchen everyday and not letting me eat even one. Cruel and unusual temptation.

Nick knows what to do with kitties. He tried to reach out and pet the kitty immediately. Thank goodness for the glass, though. Otherwise he would've reached out and grabbed a wad of this poor kitty's fur. Then he would laugh uproariously and try to put the fur into his mouth. That's what he does to our cats, and to my hair as well. This cat looked curious and eager, but after one minute with my son, she would run and hide. Smart kitty.

Nick also loved looking at the fish. We've been thinking of taking him to the acquarium sometime. I bet he would like it; he sure seemed enthralled by the fish at the PetSmart.

Switching gears, I have been acquiring prizes for my students all summer. One of the great things about being a teacher is that I get to buy prizes all the time. I give them to my students every time they do their homework for ten days. In order for this to work, I have to make sure that I have really cool prizes. I found this cool site called http://www.raymondgeddes.com/, where I was able to buy a ton of prizes for my kids. My favorite one is the skateboard eraser. It has wheels that really roll. I'm secretly looking forward to playing with them myself. I guess it's a good thing I'm a teacher, or that would be a little weird.

They also had bracelets that were also pens, scented pencils and pens, and little rolling car erasers. I am hoping my students will go crazy for them. Bribery? Yes. But if it makes my students do their homework and read with their parents, it is worth every penny.