Potty Training

Well, I have not had a post in several days. There are a few reasons for this. One, Matt has only been working 3 days a week since we moved here, and this week he has worked every day. I realized that I have gotten used to having two weekends. One to relax and one to "get things done." I never hesitated to get Micah out and about running errands back in Memphis, but finding a time when I know both boys will be up for it, and then actually getting them both out of the car and in and out of places is much more difficult than it was back when there was just one baby. It is just a longer process, and I only have about an hour window when both boys are awake and fed. I know I will get used to it, it just takes time. I don't mind staying home, but the winter months can be so gloomy, and until we can play outside again, we just get a little stir crazy. All that to say, this week I have been running errands during the afternoon nap (when I usually post on the blog, and other "fun" activities) because Matt is usually home by then. Also, we are in the process of potty training Micah, and what a process it has been. Micah is very resistant to change. We know this, and put a lot of thought into the potty training process. We knew the hard part would be to get him to actually wear the big boy pants instead of diapers. Diapers is all he has known, and they are a comfort to him: predictable. He wets the diaper, we change it, and he gets a clean new one. We had a few tears, but soon he was into the new routine: wake up, change clothes, and put on "spider man." Next, we had to get him to actually go potty on the potty. We spent a couple of days on the potty (which I swore wouldn't leave the bathroom) for hours. Nothing would come. I started brainstorming. By the way, as a side note, don't ever say "we won't do that with our children" because in desperate times, you probably will! First, I thought "he has to feel a great urge if this is going to work," so I gave him the biggest sippy cup we own filled with full strength sweet tea. Yep, you guessed it, he downed it and asked for more. So I filled it up again. Then I thought, maybe we should put his potty in the play room and put on a movie, so he won't get so bored and psyched out just sitting and thinking about going potty. This was hard for me because originally I said no baby potties; that seems so gross. I just thought we would use the kind that sit on the real toilet, but like I said, desperate times call for desperate measures. So here we are with our deluxe baby potty with all the bells and whistles (it even sings when you go) sitting in the middle of our den! Can you get any more gross? So after all the tea, poor Micah couldn't hold it any more and, being the rule lover that he is, wasn't about to pee pee in spider man. I put him on the potty, and he lost it. He began crying alligator tears saying "Micah is so sad." Talk about break a Mama's heart. I tied to get him to tell me why he was so scared/sad about using the potty. Another side note: I think it is so beneficial as parents to really study your child. Know what makes them tick. I am really into personalities because I feel like if you love somebody, you will really try to "know" them and understand where they are coming from, so you can love them better. This by the way, is a part of my personality! Anyway, I know Micah has a hard time telling us what is wrong, but that doesn't stop him from wanting us to fix it. So I began prodding trying to discover why my poor baby was "so sad." After what seemed like forever, I finally got out of him that he thought it was dirty and didn't want to make a "big mess." Poor guy, what have I done to him? I promise I never said the potty was gross in front of him, but I guess he just liked the fact of folding his mess neatly in the diaper and throwing it in the trash. I guess some traits are inherited! Oh, it was a rough couple of days convincing him how clean it is to go in the potty instead of a diaper, but I feel like we have reached some success. Yesterday, he told me every time he felt the urge to go get the potty, and he actually went in record time (five times!) He was so proud of himself, and we went to get a special treat: a United States of America puzzle. He is in the process of learning the capitals and where all the states are located. I am so proud of our little guy. Potty training is very hard for him, and he is learning so quickly. Now, if we can just convince him that making a poo poo in the potty is not gross. Ugghh, maybe we can switch to the one that fits over the big toilet for that?!