Potty Training in 1 week????

Just Maybe!!!

Here are some pics from the first day we started last weekend. Alex hasn't been sleeping well since Vinnie left on his deployment so we didn't make it to church. This left the morning wide open and me with a, "what the heck since we're not doing anything else today" attitude.

Alex's attempt at putting on his underwear. Good in the front.
Missing something in the back.

Running around.

Not letting me catch him to fix his underwear.

Distracted by the TV.

So the first few days were hit or miss and he's had his fair share of accidents, but he just seemed to have finally GOTTEN IT a few days ago. He hasn't been accident-free since then, but he's not doing bad at all!!!

I'm in shock over how quickly he's understanding this process. I started potty training Brennan slowly around the time he was 2 and he liked going potty on the froggy potty before or after his baths but that was it. And when we REALLY started potty training Brennan, OY VEY! But he finally got it and on April 15th, 2010, he woke up and BAM! He was done with pull-ups and the whole dealio. Even slept through the night and woke up dry. Not sure if we'll be that lucky with Alex, but the rest of this is just going GANGBUSTERS!!!

The past 2 days, I've found myself entirely distracted by Brennan over various issues and it's been at those times that Mr. Alex has chosen to do his most concentrated efforts of potty training. When I've gotten done with my tasks with Brennan, I've come out to find Alex doing a "Pee Pee/Poo Poo" dance where he's running in circles next to his potty chanting, "dump it! Dump it! DUMP IT!" And sure enough, there's been #1 or #2...and LOTS of it!

Well, today we had a playdate and so I wrestled him into a pull-up before we left (he's not a fan of them b/c he's D-O-N-E with diapers...per his sweet little self...and I think they remind him of diapers too much), grabbed a change of clothes, a diaper, a pull-up and off we went.

It was a giant kid-sized hampster tunnel system and they LOVED it. I thought for sure that it would mean he'd pee in the pull-up because he'd be too distracted to remember to go.

At one point however, he came up to me and said, "poo poo." So off to the bathroom we went and this place has a couple of those very small toilets that are just the right size for Little Man's bum. I tried showing him that it was the right size for him and he was NOT interested and said, "Mommy Potty." I chuckled and told him it was a bit small for Mommy.

I pulled down his pants and figured he would have wet himself but lo and behold, he was dry! I tried to coax him onto the tiny toilet but he wasn't having any of it and started to pull up the pull-up so I helped him with that and we left the bathroom.

I thought for sure he would wet himself between then and by the time we got home but nope. Dry.

Ok. Then he's CERTAINLY going to wet himself during his nap because he didn't "go" since this morning before we left for the play place.

Nope. Woke up from his nap dry but having to go! And boy did he go! WOW!

He went again before we left for the Deployed Spouses' dinner at the Commander's house and still had the same pull-up on b/c it was still dry and I figured he'd be distracted enough at the dinner with all the other kids that he'd DEFINITELY wet himself if not #2 himself as well. At one point, I asked Bren if he had to go potty and he told me no and I half-heartedly asked Alex if he had to go and he of course told me no too.

Then while I was chatting with a couple other spouses, Alex comes up to me saying, "Poo Poo!" I thought, "aww...poor Alex. He just couldn't hold it. I'll grab the bag and I'm so glad I have the wipes with me because he's surely done both by now."

Into the bathroom we went and I helped him with his pants and there again was a DRY pull-up.

WHAT???

HUH???

Oooookay. Um. I do NOT know what to do now. Oh wait. He maybe has to GO? Huh. Right.

"Alex? Do you want to go potty."

"Mmmhmm!"

I helped him get onto the seat and he hopped down right away. Now I'm worried because if he doesn't go after all the water he just had, he's going to explode!

This is SERIOUS business now and I have to remain calm and try to get him to use the potty since he's REFUSING to wet himself and he needs to lest his bladder LITERALLY bursts!!! AAAACK!!!!

He then closed the lid to the potty and I thought, "That's it! My son is going to die of a burst bladder right in front of me because he won't go in his pull-up and he won't go on a strange toilet. Oh the humanity!"

Then he lifted the lid to the toilet and I heard Angels singing on High!!! HALLELUJAH!!! The toilet lid is RISEN! It is RISEN indeed!!!" (sorry but I was under a LOT of stress!)

And he shut and opened it a few more times and must have determined it was worth trying out so then asked, "Stool?" More stress as I had to inform him that there wasn't any stool but mommy could help him. Expecting his normal obstinance and a hearty, "Unh" which means, "NO WAY!" I was shocked further when he said, "Mhm" instead of, "Unh." So I lifted him onto the toilet and he trickled just a little...on his hand so Eww...and then hopped down.

MAYBE that was enough to relieve the pressure so he wouldn't die IMMEDIATELY from the bladder bursting. Maybe it wouldn't BURST per se, but rather just pop a little.

I asked him if he wanted to try that again while wiping his hand off with the toilet paper and he smiled and said, "Mhm" again. Yay!

Well, this happened 5 more times and I'm still not convinced that he fully emptied his bladder, but I was no longer afeared for his life. WHEW!

We washed our hands and went out and had cake! And while he was eating his cake I kept patting him on the back and telling him what a big boy he was and he kept grinning and eating it up...the attention, not just the cake. ;)

About an hour later, we left the party and got home and I changed into my PJ's and started to pick up the mess from the day's activities earlier...all the tools from when Bren "tore our house down" to rebuild it, the trucks and cars that suffered in a mass-casualty pile up, the slinky (our ONLY form of communication during the catastrophe), the socks, clothes and shoes strewn about because they are BOYS and couldn't make the hamper with their dirty clothes if they were undressing IN it, etc.

Alex was wandering about half undressed and at one point started coming to me randomly and saying, "Pee Pee" so I figured (hoped) he'd meant that he'd been using his Froggy Potty. He did this like 4 or 5 times and I told him each time, "Good job. Now go try again," and he said, "OKAY!" each time. When I finally made it out to the living room and looked in the Froggy Potty, there was a HEALTHY dose of #2! WOW!

I'm still going to put him in a pull-up when we go places for the next week or so, but I'm just completely SHOCKED that he might actually BE potty trained!

And it's *slightly* sad since 1. I JUST bought a brand new pack of diapers and opened it and 2. He's my BABY and that's it...no more "baby" to my BABY. WAAAAHHHH!!!! Well, except for temper-tantrums, refusing to eat certain foods all while still eating rocks, dirt, stuff found on the floor, not wanting to sleep in his own bed all through the night, not being able to put on his own shoes, and little things like that.

So a BIG YAY for Alex!!!! Well, *almost* but really it is because apparently he's just READY. And I'm sure it helped him TREMENDOUSLY to have seen his Big Bro go through all this not even a year ago. Oh and that's another thing...Bren is SUCH a big help with his Alex. Every time Alex goes, Bren hugs the snot out of him and says, "YAY! I so proud of you!" How sweet it THAT? Alex is doing this so quickly, I don't know if I'll get that on tape or not but it's just COMPLETELY adorable!

I just LOVE these boys!!!!