Pee Pee Happy Dance

We are doing the pee pee happy dance at our house this morning.  While Drew was daytime potty trained since Presidents weekend 2009 (he was just shy of 2 1/2) we haven't mastered the nighttime training.  He's worn a pull-up to bed for the past two years.

Of course he is starting to get to an age where he was commenting that pull-ups are for babies (Dave always called the pull-up a diaper).  So he wanted to start going to bed without the pull-up.  For months - like the past year - he was dry only 50-75% of the time, so I told him if he could stay dry for one week we would let him sleep in underwear.  That one week ended yesterday and last night he slept in his undies for the first time - and stayed dry! 

We're so proud of him!! (And he's rather proud of himself too)

"I'm Not Perfect"

This is the email Dave sent me yesterday...


He was such a good boy [Wednesday]. He had no accidents at Stephanie's. I decided to take him out for dinner. We went to Applebees. He had his favorite meal. After we ordered he asked to go to the bathroom.


He kept saying the toilets no scary, it won't flush. So thank God it was not an automatic flusher. He went and wanted to get out of the stall before I flushed. We washed our hands and went back to the table. I kept telling him, good boy and I was so proud of him etc.


Our food arrived about 15 minutes later, he started to eat and then looked up at me and said...........I went pee! I looked down to see the wet pants and thought.........well eat up because I had no change of undies or pull up's or anything with me.


So the poor kid ate his food in his pee pants. He was almost perfect for the day. No accidents at home last night either.


It was kind of funny because when I was changing him into P.J's and was telling him.......".We were almost perfect today with no accidents". His response cracked me up.


Are you ready for this?


He said......."I'm not perfect!"


I had to laugh and say..."You're right, nobodies perfect". I love our boy.


Enjoy the pics. Oh! I took these pics after he finished his lollypop and put on my slippers. We were looking at his blue teeth, and mouth and tongue in the mirror prior and he loved it. I just thought he was funny especially with the blue tongue and my slippers.

Don't worry we brushed our teeth before bed.

Potty Training - Regression?

Just when we take a three steps forward in the potty training department, it looks like we have taken two steps back.  And I'm stumped about what to do.

He's at his worst at Ms. Stephanie's house - I can't remember the last time I picked him up wearing the same outfit I've left him in.  Overnight and naps, I forgive.  Ms Stephanie has had to revert to putting him back into a diaper at nap time because he leaks through the pull-up and soaks her couch.  I'd get sick of cleaning up the couch too (especially when Drew seems to really soak it right before they have company - it's like he has some sick sixth sense).

But during the day, he soaks her kitchen chairs, her carpets and well anything he can when the urge hits him.  I'm not sure why he's such a stinker about it at her house and not so bad at home.  Although I admit he's regressed in the #2's at home - we're virtually #1 accident free.

It seems to me he got really bad after traveling to Kansas City.  I know the auto-flushing toilets scared the crap out of him (no pun intended).  I mean it would me too, if I was the same height as the toilet and it started to "whoosh" beneath my tiny butt.  And then the airplane toilets, forget about it.  They were so loud to flush that he screamed "no-flush" every time he had to go.

That, and then compounded with the fact he had diarrhea about a week later and we put him in a pull-up all day, everyday for about 4 days - until we saw the coast was clear.  That takes us to today and our dilemma. 

How long until he gets back on track?  Right now he just laughs when he goes in his pants.  Dave gets mad (and I mean screaming at Drew to the point he's hysterical with tears) while I am not so mean.  Everything I've read has said to keep your patience about it, and keep pointing out where it goes.

We've tried bribes rewards, talking to him, encouraging less accidents with the teasing of going to preschool - the works!  I'm at a loss.  I know regression is normal, but how long should I expect this "phase" to last?  I mean I'm thinking that more than 2 weeks of this is out of control - am I being unrealistic?

Video: Somebody's Watching Me

First the PT Update: Drew is doing fantastic on the potty training front.  Yesterday he had only 1 accident at Ms Stephanie's (a #2) and a perfect record at home!  And the other night Drew woke up in the middle of the night for the first time to tell us he had to go potty... he did it again last night.  And we have had a first... he woke up dry.  That hasn't happened here since - well - ever.  Did I mention we haven't even been potty training a week yet?  Wahoo!

Now onto the fun stuff... I have a video to share with you.  Our kid is obsessed with commercials.  First it was the Pepsi Throwback, then it was the Super Freak Visa Debit, and now - well now it's Geico.

Here's Drew's impersonation of the "money eyes" that are Always Watching you:



That's our future American Idol right there! OK maybe not...

Our Little Manipulator

Sure kids are cute, cuddly (well they were when they were babies) and a whole lot of fun.  But they have a dark side too.  They learn at a young age to be manipulators.

It can be simple things like they whine ask for you to get something for them say juice late at night, and you say no.  So they go to their other parent to whine ask the same question.  If parent #2 wasn't observing the initial discussion, then the child is likely to get whatever they were demanding in the first place.  See little manipulator.

Another example, when they look at you with those big brown, puppy dog eyes and ask to watch videos on your computer, but you say no.  And then those puppy dog eyes well up with tears, and they say in the sweetest of voices, "but I want to".  You cave because you're now done with whatever computer business you were doing, and you just want to stop the inevitable tantrum.

Well our little manipulator is back at it again.  The target this time, our day care provider Ms. Stephanie.  The agenda - refusing to go to the bathroom on the potty. 

We have a great track record at home now.  But it's a whole different story at Ms. Stephanie's.  Tuesday was the first day at her house in just undies.  He went 3-for-3.  I'd mentioned if she had to she should use the pull-ups we brought.  Well yesterday he was being a little stinker again - literally.  He went #2 in his pants before the "potty alarm" went off - and nailed a toy or two.

So Ms. Stephanie had to put him into a pull-up... pooping on the toys at a day care is a big faux pas.  And wouldn't you know it, Drew gets the pull-up on and starts to tell her when he has to go potty.  Thinking she was in the clear, Ms. Stephanie decides to put him back into his undies.  Only a short time later he stands up at the lunch table and proceeds to shoot a stream down his leg.

Little manipulator.

And it will only get worse as he gets older. *sigh*

Operation: Potty Training - Progress Report

Oh my - today we're starting Day 3 in what I've dubbed, Operation: Potty Training. I had very low expectations and - well - it's been a whirlwind of a weekend on this front. Every night ended up in a shared bottle of wine with Dave.

Day One:
From the moment Drew woke up, he was put into underwear. We told him what was in store for him, and I set the alarm on my cell phone for every 15 minutes, at which time we'd sit on the potty regardless of whether he said he had to go or not.

After the first hour or so, Drew announced on his own "I go make water". So off to the bathroom we ran, and sure enough, he made "water". His victory prize a lollipop! He was thrilled. And Dave and I just looked at each other saying "It can't be this easy".

Throughout the day, Drew would announce on his own that he had to "go make water". He had a 70% hit rate (10 hits, 3 misses). I was amazed and thought - wow, we're going to survive!

Day Two:
And then Day two hit. For bedtime overnight we opted to put him into a pull-up. (I was thinking of just putting rubber undies on over his underwear). But because of his "ookiepook" troubles and the fact we haven't had a dry night since birth, we decided to just do the pull-up. He woke up wet, but he didn't wet through - so that's great!

Well, we started out with an accident because I made the Mommy mistake of not forcing him to sit on the potty immediately after waking up. Instead I thought I'd let him overcome his morning grumpies. That resulted in a puddle in front of his DVD player not 2 minutes later.

Then while I was getting out of the shower, he flooded his little chair, and in the afternoon.... well you get the picture. Our record for Day two... 4-4. So much for the rockin' start. I guess this was more of what I expected.

Day Three:
Well let's see what day three brings - I'm not expecting miracles, but first thing this morning I put him on the potty.  I knew he was soaked, but surprise, there was a little.. um... surprise also in there.  Well while he was on the potty #2!!  We were doing the happy poo-poo dance while Drew just stared at the "pile" and well, he started to gag. About 30 seconds later it turned into the real thing (he puked).

What we're doing:
While we're in the house Drew's not wearing pants. We went outside for a bit yesterday (Drew played out front for about an hour) and he wore pants without any accidents. So that was something positive.

The good news, I think we're going to stay out of diapers - permanently! The real fun will be on Tuesday when Ms. Stephanie gets to share in my "joys".

Operation: Potty Training

You've read that right. This weekend we're starting a new chapter in our parenting skills, Operation: Potty Training.

Commencing tomorrow morning we will see if we can get the potty thing to "click" with Drew. Right now he enjoys wearing his underwear, but will come and tell us he has to go potty AFTER he's already gone.

I'm not expecting miracles, like going #2 or staying dry at naptime or bedtime. That I know will take time.

But my goal is to load Drew up with liquids, set the timer for 15 minutes and make him sit on the potty - regardless of whether he has to go. And see how long that works for us. From there I will stretch it out to 30 minutes etc.

I plan to have the mop and Resolve carpet cleaner ready to go. I expect a VERY long weekend and a lot of wine by the end of the night - for the parents of course.

Expect plenty of horror stories by Monday!

Wiggle Dance in Your Undies

So many momentous milestones in our little 2 year old's life in the past few weeks.

A) He gets a big boy bed
B) We turned in the paperwork for preschool (not sure if he's in yet)
C) Drew finally puts on underwear for the first time

So what does Drew do? He hops on top of his toy box and starts dancing and wiggling in his Wiggles undies! Of course that's the pair that we actually get him to wear. The past few weeks it's been massive screaming fits just suggesting he put on his underwear. Offer up his beloved "Johnny" and voila.

Drew was absolutely hamming it up watching himself in his new attire. What really had us rolling was when he was "shake, shake, shake... shake, shake, shake, shake your booty" in the mirror!


So we put him in his undies while we were getting him ready for bed - and he stayed in them until bedtime. No accidents.

Last night I put him in them shortly after we got home from day care, and we had our first accident about an hour later. Despite my asking him if he had to go "make water" every 15 minutes, I guess he was too distracted playing with his hot wheels. Our 2nd accident... at dinner.

It's a work in progress, but at least we're making progress! He put on his undies. No one told me how adorable the tushie would be once the bulky diapers were off. Now the big question will be - how to make the pants that barely fit around the waist fit with a diaper... fit without the diaper.

Keep the comments coming. You can help the local food bank simply by leaving a comment - that's it! How hard is that? Right now I'm up to 9 comments - so keep them coming. I have one person offering to match my donations as well, so please show some love. All the details are here - and you can comment on other blogs as well participating in the Cans for Comments Drive.

Every Man Needs Reading Material

We pause your regularly scheduled blogging with this brief announcement.... Drew is like every other man who sits on the pot...


Some people may read the Sports Section of the newspaper, others the Funnies. My son, Mickey and Minnie books. Unfortunately this time there were no "results" in the potty, but he's more interested in spending time in there - you know like his Daddy.

For the record we've had three instances of Drew "making water". And yes, that's what he still calls it.

"I Made Water"

"I made water" - those were Drew's words last night when he reached another major milestone. He went potty in his big boy potty for the first time! Here's how it all went down...

I was in the kitchen making dinner, so Daddy went to go change Drew's diaper and get him in his PJ's. Apparently during the diaper change, Drew started to squirt, so Daddy said "Why don't you hold it and we'll go on your big potty".

So he carried a naked Drew into the bathroom and sat him on the potty. Drew looked around and Daddy tried to sit on the big potty to "show him how to do it" when suddenly he was - peeing.

In the process, Drew looks between his legs and says "I make water"!

I of course hear all the excitement from the kitchen, but didn't want to come into the picture too soon, less I prevent the "water from flowing". Needless to say, Drew received a lot of kudos and a handful of M&Ms. Time will tell if this was a fluke or if we're finally on to something.

It's Potty Time!

It's a right of passage all toddler must make - and Drew is finally making progress on his passage.... of bodily functions that is.


OK well not so much is going into the potty, but he IS sitting on the potty by his own choosing! Of course it could be because he knows he can have some M&M's just for sitting there. This is a BIG deal since only 2 weeks ago the sight of the potty chair caused massive screaming fits. And forget about asking him to sit on it.

So hopefully before long you'll hear about him going #1 and #2 and he can put those big boy undies to good use! Just what you wanted... to hear Drew's bathroom tales.

Update on Drew's illness - yesterday afternoon when I got home from work (Dave was watching Drew after lunch), his fever reached 103.6. At this point it was too late to take him into the doctor. I decided to take him in today, but am now reconsidering. He did get sick around 6 this morning and it was to get rid of the phlegm I suspected was there. So now I'm reconsidering the trip to the doctor's and exposing him to even more of the gunk going around. We'll play it by ear today - I'm hoping he's now peaked the worst of the fever (only 101.2 this morning when he woke up).