It's Potty Time

First of all, thank you to everyone who shared recipes- both here and on FB (Giselle!)...
I feel bad- like I may have insulted someone by implying that no one cooks anymore--it was meant only in good humor! Obviously, I'm no Betty Crocker since I was asking for help to begin with...

On to the topic at hand: As of Friday, we are totally on the potty training bandwagon with Michael. He spent Friday in underwear--with no accidents-- while at school. He proceeded to have 3 accidents at our friend's house on Friday late afternoon/evening. I think he was just too distracted/excited & we weren't tuned in. Luckily, I did not let this change our course.

We started again this morning and the day went VERY well overall. He peed and pooped on the potty. He did go once in a pull-up that we put on while coming home from another friend's house. I only put it on him because he hadn't peed the entire time we were there & the thought of pee in car seat is just EW!. Other than that, he stayed dry in his big boy underwear.

I don't have a great structure (as usual) but some things that seem to be helping are:
1. Reminding/prompting but not being overly forceful- letting Michael feel some sense of control
2. Mini marshmallows as the reward- 2 for pee, 4 for poop
3. Underwear NOT pull-ups except for nap/bed
4. Keeping up the praise, high-5's, etc. & reassuring him that he can control his pee.

Note about #3: After he got up from his nap today, he did not initially want to sit on the potty. In about 5 minutes, he actually told me he had to pee, was able to hold it until we got to the potty and so his pullup was completely dry. I was both surprised and proud about this!

Something clicked with him this week where he was starting to tell me when he peed in his diaper...he has also been holding himself so even I know when he is peeing-even if he doesn't say anything. The pull-ups we have supposedly get cold when you pee, so that might have had something to do with increasing his awareness-or it could just be him. So we were talking more about the idea of the potty and how you need to get there before you pee. I take no credit- the lightbulb just went on in his head. I took underwear, pull ups and extra pants to school and they put them to use.

I am relieved to be off to a good start--even though this may be a bit of a process-- the more positive experiences we have, the better (for me!)...and like other kids, he will get there. Now, I just need to adjust my brain to be alert to all bathrooms wherever we are and be ready to get him there ASAP.