This is potty-training weekend. It's been on the calendar since mid-November and I have been looking forward to it just about as much as you would with a tooth canal.
On Thursday, I took Owen and Colin to Kohl's while Jordan and Rylan were in their karate class and we picked out new underwear. Cars, Toy Story and Spider Man were just up Owen's alley - 24 pairs in all. We, of course, (THANK YOU F***ING KOHL'S) had to navigate our way around a HUGE display of Thomas toys to get to the underwear, so Owen grabbed up a box because he was certain we would be purchasing that too. We weren't. Meltdown ensues... To make matters worse, the next day, Friday, we were in Target and I made the huge mistake of walking by the toy section on our way out. Thomas was on the endcap. Meltdown #2. So yesterday morning I showed Owen his potty sticker chart - with 30 spots to fill in - and told him that when he filled it, he would go to the store with me and we would pick out what Thomas toy he wanted. That little bugger earned 16 stars yesterday! Looks like I am shopping way earlier than I planned - which is a very, very good thing.
We are using the 3Day Potty Training method. I am pretty pleased so far. I am finding it rather difficult to be exactly by Owen's side every second, and that means that there have been plenty of accidents, but Owen is doing a terrific job of starting to pee, telling me that he's peed, and then getting to potty and finishing the job. By last evening, he was announcing that he needed to go, which is a huge step. He stayed dry during his nap yesterday afternoon, and we'll see about this morning. I am about to go wake him up and get him on the potty.
I've found that keeping all of the tools right next to the potty has lessen the frustration. I have a bucket to deposit the dirty underwear into, and the bin of clean underwear ready to go. (Which Colin likes to dump into the dirty bucket. Nice. Nothing like doing the sniff test or the wet test to sort out the clean from the dirty again. I think we went through about 20 pairs yesterday, between Colin and Owen. Oh yes, Colin was a recruit too, for about three hours. Then I just gave up and concentrated on Owen. It felt like I was dealing with a puppy. I also keep the carpet spray and disinfectant spray and a roll of paper towels handy as well. See? Puppy.
Today's goal is to get a #2 accomplished. That has never happened yet, in all of the months that we have been trying to get Owen interested in the potty. Tomorrow's goal is to get him on an actual potty, and to stand. Now that will be interesting....
