The Perry Family: Holy Crap!

This post may contain a little too much information for some. Be forewarned, it's about potty training and all that goes along with it. But I'm just so excited, I have to (over)share.

This is your chance to stop here, if you don't care to read about poop.

Maxx is potty trained!

I'm still in shock. He's wearing a diaper for nap and at night, but during the day, it's all underpants!

I've been dreading this process and was half-convinced that he would never be potty trained. I introduced it twice before and it was received with so much disinterest and such apathy, that I really thought it might be another whole year until he was ready. Thankfully, he was ready sooner.

Exactly one week ago, we went to Costco and saw the Cars Encyclopedia book, that he told me previously, he wanted for Christmas. I told him I would buy it, but he couldn't get it until he was potty trained. He agreed.

So when we got home, on a whim, I decided that we should start that day. I sat him on the toilet, we looked through some of his new book and he peed! We decided that he can look at his book while he is sitting on the toilet.

Here's a breakdown of the week.

Monday afternoon, Day 1: Successful 1st attempt! Then an accident. Nap with a diaper. Then another success. Great start!

Tuesday, Day 2:
Rocky start with 2 accidents to start off the day. Frustrated Mama.
But then 3 successes, even one while we had company over! Kurt, Sarah, and Elise were more than adequately excited for Maxx's accomplishment.

Wednesday, Day 3:
Success first thing in the morning. Went into Kyla’s room mid-morning where the kids were playing and told Maxx it was time to try again. To which he replied, “Noooo! I pooping.” What?!?! Rushed to the bathroom, no poop. Phew. He tried, but no dice.
Continued taking him to the bathroom every 20-30 minutes. At 1:30 pm, he did it again. Is it me, or does this kid not pee a whole lot?
Afternoon accident.
Dinner out for Ally & Papa’s b-day.
Home at 9:30pm. I put Maxx on the toilet and HE POOPED!

Thursday, Day 4:
No accidents all day long! And he actually peed every time I took him to the bathroom. I figured out that he really only needs to go every hour or two and won’t have any accidents in between. We had two outings today and he wore his underpants both times with no problem. Granted, one outing was to pick up fast food, so it was very quick. But the other was a dentist appointment for Kyla and we were out for close to 2 hours.

I’m beginning to think there really is something to waiting until the child is ready (hmm, imagine that!)… Kyla was potty training at 2, but it was a long process with a lot more hiccups along the way. Not sure if it was because we were newbies at it or because she really wasn’t fully ready. Although, it was nice to be mostly done with diapers a full year and a half sooner than we were with Maxx. Guess there are upsides and downsides to everything.

Friday, Day 5:
Hoping I’m not jinxing our progress, but Maxx is doing awesome! However, he has yet to tell me that he needs to go to the bathroom. Not sure if I haven’t given him enough of a chance or if he is still not recognizing it. He does tell me once he’s on the toilet whether or not he is going to pee.

Just before noon, I asked him if he needed to go potty.
Maxx: Uh, noooo.
Me: Can you tell me if you feel like you need to go?
Maxx: No. I not pee in mine pants.
Me: I know. But if you feel the pee coming, can you tell me?
Maxx: Nuh uh.
Me: Okay, then in a little bit, I’m going to tell you it’s time to go.
Maxx: Um. Okay.

That night we left for Chelan. Twice while driving over (in his pull-up) he told us, "I gonn' pee!" This was the first (and second) time ever telling us he needed to pee. So Jedd pulled over to the side of the road and Maxx got to pee standing up, outside for his first time ever. He was pretty darn amused to see how far he could pee. Boys.

Saturday, Day 6:
I didn't bring the small seat for the toilet, but he continued to do great on a regular sized seat. He even told us he needed to go potty while we were swimming. I thought about just telling him to go, since he was wearing a swim diaper, but I decided I shouldn't encourage that behavior. On the way back up to the condo he asked if he could pee on the grass and then on the sidewalk. When I said no, he replied, "But Carter does." Yeah, thanks, Carter... ;)

Sunday, Day 7:
Trucking right along and he even told us when he needed to poop, too. Woo hoo!

Monday, Day 8:
I'm declaring "Mission, accomplished." Even though Maxx did have an accident today, it was really our fault. We didn't put him back in his underwear after naptime and he somehow peed out of his pull-up. But aside from this little hiccup, Maxx has been a Superstar Potty Trainee!