Potty Time

***WARNING... This post contains WAY too much information about pottying and pooping so proceed at your own risk!  But since this is my very first time to potty train a child I want to remember everything about this stage when it comes time for Pierce to learn!**

I wish that I was one of those people who could sit down (or even have the time to sit down) and try to  calculate approximately how many diapers Jake has worn in his almost 3 years of life.  You know try to figure out how many days he has been alive times roughly 8-10 diapers a day yada yada yada and then take it a step further and try to figure out how many boxes of diapers we have gone through at whatever cost... but then again, I don't really want to be that person and I REALLY don't care to know how much I have spent on diapers in Jake's 2 years, 9 months, 1 week, and 2 days of life.  (And the only way I know THAT is because of the little ticker I have on facebook!) :)

Have I totally lost you?  I feel like I'm lost myself after re-reading all that... sorry!

Anyways... Jake starts preschool on Tuesday, September 7 and he HAS to be potty trained.  I just kept looking at my calendar going "I've really got to start thinking about this" as we got further and further into summer.  We have on several occasions during the last months put him in underwear and on the potty and he will actually go but I've never gone "full throttle" until a week ago.

So Jake woke up last Wednesday to a party for him.  But it wasn't just any party.  It was a POTTY PARTY!  Complete with presents, balloons, enough candy to make a dentist call CPS on me, all sorts of different and fun drinks, a fun chart with stickers and stamps and LOTS of new big boy underwear.  Whew!  Let's do this thing!

We followed the "3 Day Potty Training" method fairly closely with a few slight modifications :)

OK, let's see if I can remember... again, sorry this is so detailed!

DAY ONE (Wednesday)- we started after breakfast and unfortunately (yeah right) he had already pooped for the day.  Mark took Pierce for the morning so I could be by myself with Jake.  Only one potty accident by lunch.  Afternoon was accident free.  Not so bad actually!  I've never played so much with Jake before :)  With this method you have to catch your child in the act of pottying and scoop them up and let them finish on the potty.  So I had to be with Jake every second of the day.  I realized that day just how much Jake actually plays by himself.  Our house is so little that I always know where he is and he is old enough that he enjoys playing in his room without me.  Anyways, we did EVERYTHING that day together- painted, play dough, made zucchini bread, lined up cars a thousand times, made forts and tents with sheets and comforters, made obstacle courses with pillows and cushions for Pierce, made ramps for his cars, played drums with Pierce with ALL my Tupperware,  bowled down the hallway... do you get it yet... everything :)  nap time, Jake wore a pull up, which is a NO with this particular method.  Remember I said we made a few modifications???  :)  Actually woke up dry though.  By the afternoon, he was telling me he had to go potty.  And by the end of the day, he had only had that ONE accident.  This may not be as hard as I thought... hmmmmm..... Pull-up went on at night!
*Jake responded really well to "Jake, you let mommy know when you have to go potty, k?" instead of "Jake, do you have to go potty?"  I didn't ever set a timer and then just go put him on the potty.  I let him tell me when he needed to go.*

DAY TWO (Thursday)- woke up wet but immediately called out for us saying he had to go potty.  Man, my child can pee!  No accidents by lunch.  Decided to try letting him wear his underwear for a nap.  Sweet guy slept 3.5 hours.  He had a little accident in his bed.  I think that was what woke him up.  He must have immediately stopped because he finished in the potty.  Only one accident in the afternoon.  I was changing Pierce and realized that Jake wasn't with me anymore.  Pooping was an issue today.  Jake was really afraid to sit on the potty for that.  Finally after some advice, I let him start in his underwear and then he finished in the potty.  We shouted for joy because he "did it!!!"  Yeah for Jake.  So got his poop present.  Whew!  Pull-up on at night.  I'm EXHAUSTED!!!

DAY THREE (Friday)- made it through the whole day with no accidents and him telling me every
time he needed to go potty.  Woke up dry in underwear.  No poop.  We even ventured out of the house for a quick trip to Arista.  No accidents.

DAY FOUR (Saturday)- no accidents, woke up dry again from nap but again no poop.  he would tell me every once in awhile that he needed to go "poops" but never would on the potty and i would never leave him alone to go in his underwear.  would try and distract him because he would get pretty upset because he needed to go so badly.  I almost gave into letting him go in his pull-up but I didn't and I'm so glad.

DAY FIVE (Sunday)- woke up dry from the night.  no poop.  starting to complain about his tummy hurting :(  started giving him prune juice to see if it would speed things up some :)  I put him in a pull-up for his nap "just in case."  Called me in his room after his nap with a, "mommy, i poops."  Rats.  Sure enough, he had.  Oh well.

 DAY SIX (Monday)- *breakthrough*  Poops in the potty!!!  Hallelujah!!!  No accidents.  Dry in morning and after nap.

 ... and here we are... officially on day #9 post diapers... and I feel like I can say out loud that we are READY FOR PRESCHOOL!!!  I could have said it 2 days ago but I didn't want to jinx it!  I'm still putting him in pull-ups for nighttime.  The last thing I want to do in the middle of the night is change sheets.  It's not hurting anyone so we will stick with pull-ups for a few more weeks maybe... :)

But Jake did it!  His mommy did it!  We both survived!  :) :) :)

The only thing we have left to do is try and get him to keep his underwear and shorts on while going to the potty.  I'll wait and tackle that the week before school :)

 Potty Party

 The goodies

All set up and ready to go!  The present is his poop present.  Yes, I said poop present!

This was just little "extras"- like the first several times he actually said, "mommy, i have to go potty."

Yummy treats.  And I did pick up a new toothbrush for him as well :)

Potty chart complete with stickers and stamps.

Now of course I didn't actually throw them away.  No one in their smart head would actually throw perfectly good diapers in the trash.

Locked and ready to go!

Poop present... number 1! :)

He has a whole weeks worth of stickers on top of one another :)  Not as cute and neatly done as I would have preferred but then again, we are talking about a two year old BOY!  :)

We gave Jake this awesome firetruck last night as just a "way to go/you did it/you're awesome/big boy."

Please don't think we just give and give and give Jake presents.  We really rarely give him things but we thought that this week was definitely an exception :)

Whew!  If you are still with me, you deserve a reward yourself!  :)

Thanks to EVERYONE who offered advice and words of encouragement and prayers this past week.  We did it.  We survived.  And I'm so glad we are over this mountain!

Jake, mommy and daddy are SO PROUD of you and love you SO MUCH!!!