the blackmons in chicago

The Dreadful Potty!

The time has come and we have officially started the potty training process. We have dreaded this for some time but Baker seemed like he was ready so we thought we'd try it out. So, I went shopping for all of our supplies - training pants, Pull-Ups for nap/nighttime, flushable wipes, tons of juice and chocolate milk, chocolates for rewards, ice cream, M&Ms, salty snacks, video, books, you name it. We talked it up for days but we've been talking about it occasionally for a year now. After reading Potty Training 123, we planned to train for 4 days, going nowhere. So, we did just that and hunkered down in Fort Blackmon for what we thought could be potty war. We chose to do training underwear instead of Pull-Ups during the day and Pull-Ups for sleeping.

To our surprise, Saturday turned out pretty well. He peed several times that morning but then had what would be the beginning of poop drama from here on out. So, he had a poop accident in his underwear. He did well on the potty the rest of the day, minus a couple of accidents. Sunday did not go so well and I thought we were both going to give up. Baker had like 5 or 6 accidents in a matter of 1.5 hours - 2 poops and 3 or 4 pees. It was ridiculous. Just when we were ready to throw in the towel, he had a great afternoon after his nap so we were encouraged again! Then Monday came and I was home alone. Once again Baker peed in the potty but refused to poop. So what does he do, crawls underneath the coffee table and does both in his underwear and pee all over the floor, despite me being on like Donkey Kong! But that was the only accident of the day so I viewed it as a success! Tuesday came and not one accident happened. I was even more happy when he waited to poop in his Pull-Up during nap. I am totally okay with that and could only hope that he'll make that a habit instead of in his underwear! :)

So, maybe we're not totally trained yet but I think it's going pretty well. I have threatened to stop many times, still do, especially when he refuses to use the potty when I ask him to, which is the usual. But I guess as long as there are no accidents, it's okay. And I get so drained with the constant bribes and rewards..."Don't you want a penny? Oh, look at that yummy cookie. Mmm, peanut butter cups." It never ends. Even more annoying when could care less about the reward! Ha! But we're on our way and I feel like I would be stupid to stop now and go back to diapers when he's done so well but I make no promises!!

Saturday morning - Baker was so excited to start training!

Last time in a diaper

Sigh...I love him in just a diaper so this is a sad picture to me.

I'm a big kid now! Wearing his underpants. Teddy Bear wore underpants too because he was training as well.

Let the snacks begin.

Teddy went pee pee on the potty too! Baker did this on his own. He was so excited to take Teddy to the potty. This worked really well for the first few hours and then the novelty wore off and he could care less about Teddy training anymore!

Later that day, there was something fascinating outside and both boys were at the window...too cute!

Baker was helping me make his plate for dinner - chicken tostadas!

This is a crazy video of us being silly. Baker got so cracked up when Brad and I were singing a song in his little microphone. He wanted in on the fun and was just a laughing mess. I think it was all of the sugar he had been consuming!