We may or may not ever be able to make an announcement that "we're pregnant"...but we have come to understand that the blessing is the fact that however parenthood happens, it is a miracle! ....... Now we have been home with our precious blessing from Russia since August 2007. Join us on our fun and crazy ride that we call "life with this child of mine."
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Potty Training
Well...it's that time.

Iliya has known for a while what to do in the potty.  You probably remember the diapers vs. pull-up debate I held with myself several months ago, and the pull-ups ended up winning.  We figured it was best to give Iliya the independence to be able to go when he needed to (if he took the opportunity to go) and it really was a good thing for us.  Probably would've been better, if we'd really been a bit more consistent about encouraging him to "go" in the potty.  But with the holidays and all, we weren't really in the position of being very consistent.

And it was hit & miss...sometimes he would wake up completely dry and use the bathroom first thing...sometimes he would wake up with a sopping wet diaper.  But I guess the main thing is that he could understand what goes in the potty.

We, not wanting to be the pushy parents, decided he would be potty trained at some point or another, and that we just weren't going to push it.

But we are now at a place where we feel like Iliya is capable of being potty trained, but - both HE and WE are being lazy about it (afterall, who wants to deal with the extra laundry and emergency restroom trips when on the road between 2 big cities?).  As I said...enough with the flimsy excuses & being lazy...it is time.

So today was the official Day 1 of wearing big boy underwear.  And the kiddo was so excited about it.  I think he'll probably wear underwear on the days that we are home with him...and through the week, he'll wear pull-ups so I don't have to worry with making sure that he has 5 changes of clothes every day when he goes to school (even though his teachers are really good about having the children sit on the potty).

He had 2 accidents today, which wasn't too bad, considering.

The first - he had already #1'ed in the potty a couple of times (I'm using a "timer" and having him sit on the potty every 30 minutes).  My sister and I were sitting in the livingroom when Iliya brought a basket of cars in the room with us.  He was happily playing when Sarah and I both realized that he had become very quiet.  On further observation, I noticed that he had assumed the "poop stoop" and I asked him if he needed to poo poo.  He immediately replied that he did not need to poop in the potty, but I escorted him into the bathroom and set him on the potty anyway.  He was about a quarter of the way done in his pants...I fixed him up with a book - and amazingly! - he actually finished in the potty.  

Of course, changing a diaper is one thing.  Cleaning out messy underwear is another.  (and yes, I realize that there are many of you who hail to the cloth diaper days; I salute you).

I only gagged 3 times; pretty good!

And the next accident involved #1.  Not really all that exciting, except that I was busy when the timer went off and right about the time we were commenting on the fact that he needed to get to the bathroom, he was in the process of having an accident.  He managed to make it to the potty in time to pull down his pants...but he had already gone most of the way.

As he sat down, he looked down at his underwear...looked up at me and said, "LEMONADE!!"

Potty training...never a dull moment.  And we've only just concluded Day One.


Written at Saturday, January 10, 2009 by Melissa.
6 comments
6 Comments:
Blogger Dede said...
We are still doing the pull-ups with Liam and have explored every bathroom in town. It never fails that as soon as we go into a store, he tells us he has to potty and 90% of the time it is a false alarm; he just wants to explore the new bathrooms. I'm dreading the switch from pull-up to training underwear. Good luck!
8:30 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...
Patrick and I had a good laugh together over this post!! Lemonade...oh, that's awesome! Takes me back to the days when the food hit the table and Natalie automatically went "I need to go potty" EVERY single time, without fail.

Love you a lot! Kristy
2:50 PM  
Blogger Jane said...
I think this is the most difficult of all motherly task.

the "lemonade" made me laugh!

i understand the concept of pull ups, but I personally hate those buggers! esp when a child is not actively potty training and in the church nursery. what a pain to remove shoes, pants, pull-up, then re-dress the child. not bad for 2 or 3, but a room full of 20 is a bit of a task!
2:52 PM  
Blogger Barb said...
I've been "stalking" for quite a while, but felt compelled to let you know that having potty-trained 3 boys, I have thrown away several pairs of poopy undies in the process (did I actually just admit that) that I simply couldn't face trying to clean:)
7:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Keep your toilet clean & "dunk" them a few times to get out any debris & tranfer them to a bucket or old cool whip container with some liquid laundry detergent & a little clorox to soak before laundering & they're ready for the next round. Now when he gets old enough that he removes them himself & you find them hidden in the closet after a few months, just consider them goners...that's the time to toss 'em.

Just wait until he's 15 and he's begging you to let him drive after he first gets his permit. Now that's when you'll realize that potty-training was really practice for the really wanting-to-be-independent years. And then when he turns 16 and is goes out on his own for the first time, you'll miss those potty-training days...so enjoy!
9:47 AM  
This is too cool that we are doing this 'together'. I gather great inspiration from knowing I am not alone on this potty train! (Too funny. My word verification for this comment is 'puketh'. That is exactly what I feel like doing when I have to wash poo out of big boy shorts. Not glamorous at all!)
10:46 AM  
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