Potty Training Dylan: Magical Day 7

Day 7 - Thursday April 9, 2020

One week in and we were considering calling it quits or at least letting him wear a pull-up since wet pants didn’t seem to bother him anyway so it seemed pointless to let him wet his pants and make a mess for us.  But I kept going back to this sentence in the book, “When going through Hell...keep going…”  The author talks about how we have no idea how our child is processing all of the information we are giving him and each new day he is taking everything in and you never know when it’s going to click.  Well this happened for us on Day 7!

Day 7 started out like the past 4 days.  He woke up wet, didn’t want to sit on the potty, didn’t even want to wear pants.  He had an accident a few hours after he woke up and then we let him go pants-less after that. We were beginning to think maybe our earlier success on Day 3 had been a fluke and he was really still in Block 1.  During his nap, I started reading more of the book for answers and re-read this part about over-prompting and backing off, where she talks about how striking this balance will solve most problems you are having.  I could tell we were obviously over-prompting and also hovering but it was hard to believe if we backed off, he would actually self-initiate.  She talks about how you need to give control over to your child, even though they haven’t proven they can handle it yet.  I am definitely a bit of a control freak and I knew we were over-prompting, making it too big of a deal and also sitting there, watching him and waiting for him to pee!  We finally tried what she suggests: prompt and then walk away.  It’s so hard to do especially when you know they have to go and leaving them could mean an accident.  But after nap, we tried it and an amazing thing happened!!  He ran to the potty, pulled down his pants and PEED!!!!  We were in shock!!  Then he did it again later and pooped!!  It was just a small one but we were so excited!!  He was so proud of himself and we did our potty song and dance and made a big deal of it.

So turns out, he just wanted to have the chance to do it himself, haha!  Of course, that’s Dylan!  So we kind of took the backing off thing too far though because we knew a big poop was coming (he hadn’t pooped in a day & a half) but we got too comfortable that he would just go on his own so during dinner he ran to the pantry and Mark went to find him and saw him squatting in there but instead of putting him on the potty, he asked him if he had to go poop and when he didn’t, we just left him alone. Well he proceeded to hide under the table later and pooped a huge log while we were eating dinner!  We smelled it immediately and he was able to get a little in the potty but it was kind of hilarious.  We still are feeling SO proud of him though and today, the backing off has really worked like a charm.  I am really going to try and remember to take notes at the end of each day.  It’s taking longer than with Clark who started to “get it” on Day 2 (Clark HATES being wet and dirty!) but I’m confident Dylan is progressing and is well on his way to being potty trained!

Potty Training Dylan: Days 4-6

So once we added pants, Dylan's progress came to an immediate halt.  We started keeping the pants off but even naked, he was just refusing to sit on the potty, especially when we saw signs that he really needed to go!  If he sat down at all, it was only for 5-10 seconds and he wouldn’t pee but then would have an accident moments later.  Or if we gave him a phone or put on a favorite show of his, he would sit forever but still wouldn’t pee.  Except one time I let him sit and watch a show for over an hour while I was working and when I finally let him get off he had peed but neither of us had even noticed.  He just was really resisting the potty and wasn’t going even if we tricked him into sitting on it.

We learned Dylan is really good at holding his pee!  He would have a few dribbles sometimes but mostly he would hold his pee (and poop) until the second we put a pull-up on him for nap and night.  The book says this is a great sign and shows that your child is well on his way to being potty trained.  We were still feeling really discouraged though.  Day 6 was super rough for me.  I let the boys go outside and so I put pants on Dylan and almost as soon as we went outside, he was riding his bike and I saw him look down and knew he had peed.  I tried to get him to sit on the potty to finish but he just refused.  He didn’t even want me to take his wet pants off!  I can be stubborn too so I let Clark go inside but wouldn’t let Dylan go in until he peed in the potty.  Then he started playing in the mud so now he was covered in mud and pee.  I was disgusted by him and didn’t even care anymore.  I told Mark we should just let him live outside and bring him food & water like a dog, haha!  After an hour of staying outside and still refusing to sit on the potty I finally hosed him down outside and the water was freezing, which I felt bad about later but he was so gross!  Then we came inside, had lunch, and he got a pull-up for nap.

So at this point we were starting to feel really unsure about the whole thing, thinking maybe Dylan wasn't ready.  Waiting until 30 months was starting to sound really tempting but I was just determined to do it now while we were stuck at home.  With this method, you can't really leave the house for very long for the first month and with my parties and Clark's activities (SPARK, Music class, playgroup) there really wasn't going to be another time we could do it, at least not as convenient as this.  So we decided to stick it out a little longer and we are so glad we did!!  Day 7 was amazing!!!  Stay tuned.

Sorry no pictures, we've been too busy watching Dylan like a hawk to take any!  But here's a cute video of the boys sharing a popsicle!

Potty Training Dylan: Days 1-3

I have known Dylan has been ready to use the potty for awhile now.  He has shown all the readiness signs...telling me when he's wet, going to the bathroom or a private place to poop, being able to communicate his needs to us even if it's just a word or two, and one of the signs from this book we follow is being able to sing the ABC song and I'm not sure if he knows that one but he knows every song in Frozen!!  So I knew he was ready!!  And with the stay-at-home order in place, I really couldn't think of a better time!

With Clark we followed the book, "Oh Crap: Potty Training" and it worked extremely well! He was potty-trained in about 3 days, with some accidents those first few weeks but after about a month he was pretty much accident free and then proceeded to train himself for night!  We trained Clark at 30 months, which is on the end of the "readiness timeline" according to the book.  Dylan is 26 months, so a little younger than Clark was, but I knew he was ready and I was very excited to start!  Well, we are one week in and it's been a whirlwind.  I took notes the first 3 days so I will go from there and share our experience since when I asked my mom how she potty trained us she had completely no idea.  Then if Clark or Dylan need advice potty-training their kids someday, voila!

DAY ONE: Thursday April 2, 2020

A week before our start date we began telling Dylan we were going to throw away all the diapers and he was going to use the potty like Clark.  So after breakfast we told him today was the day we were getting rid of the diapers and he and Clark put all the diapers in a big trash bag and Dylan put them in the trash can.  Then we took his diaper off and told him we were going to teach him to use the potty and it was going to be fun!  He looked at us very skeptically.

We found out very quickly Dylan is a camel like Clark.  Several hours went by and no pee.  I had been watching him carefully, looking for any sign the pee might be coming.  Mark had gone upstairs with Clark and when they came down, I looked up for a second and was talking to Mark.  Suddenly I heard what sounded like water hitting the floor, looked at Dylan and he was peeing.  I raced to put him on the potty but he either had already finished or just stopped when he got to the potty.  I was so mad at myself for missing it but looking back I have a feeling he was waiting for the second I looked away (wanting privacy that his diaper offered).  After that first pee he had two small pees and both times, Mark or I were looking away for “just a second."  One time we were fighting about who wasn’t watching him enough and then he peed.  I remember that happening with Clark too.

We tried to put him down for his nap in the afternoon but since he learned to climb out of his crib (literally a few days before we started), he has been climbing out at nap time and wouldn't stay in his crib.  We knew he was exhausted though so we put a pull-up on him and put on a movie and he was out.  After his nap he was dry so we set him on the potty but he wouldn't pee.  He dribbled a few times afterwards but both times when we put him on the potty he wouldn’t pee.  We went outside in the afternoon and brought the potty.  He peed several more times but again, when we put him on the potty he stopped.  Finally, at the end of the night, around 7, he started to pee and the potty was close enough that Mark got him on the potty to finish.  Does that count for something?  It felt like a miracle!  So he’s definitely holding his pee when we put him on the potty.  And no poops today.  I have a feeling he will poop tonight.

DAY TWO: Friday, April 3, 2020

Dylan woke up around 8 am and right away I took his diaper off but it was already soaked.  I had him sit on the potty but, surprise, he didn’t pee.  His first pee, again, was when I left him for 5 seconds.  He ran into our bathroom and peed on the rug.  Then it happened.  The poop.  I had been watching him all morning but the messy house was driving me crazy.  I noticed my cereal bowl still on the table and decided to quickly move it to the sink.  But once I got to the sink I just had to rinse it!  While I was rinsing the dish, I suddenly had this feeling he was pooping.  Sure enough, I ran to check on him and he was sitting down but then he stood up and there was a blob of poop under him, which he then proceeded to step in.  I immediately ran to put him on the potty but he didn’t go any more.  To make it worse, I was cleaning his foot and didn’t notice there was a little bit of poop on his hand and he sucked it and started making faces!  Poor thing!!!

He didn’t poop or pee anymore after that and then it was time for nap.  He wouldn’t nap (again) and while he was supposed to be napping, I was frantically looking for my Alice book I needed to drop off to a performer.  Mark started helping me and at some point, Dylan pooped in his pull-up.  Ugh.  He was just waiting for the pull-up to poop.

He woke up dry from his nap and didn’t pee for a few hours.  Then at dinner we let him watch shows on my phone and while he was doing that I put him on the potty.  After about 20 minutes he finally peed.  He filled the potty but had no idea.  He was totally clueless and just absorbed in the phone.

Feelings?  He’s not getting it yet.  We are definitely still doing Block One tomorow ugh.  I have 5 princess calls and it’s General Conference.  Mark is going to have to be watching most of the day.  Hope it goes well!

DAY THREE:

I am proud to report we experienced the magical Day 3 that everyone talks about!!!  NO ACCIDENTS TODAY!!  Of course, he did wake up soaked so didn’t pee all morning.  But after nap, he woke up and said “potty” to Mark (I was making princess calls) and when Mark put him on the potty, he peed a ton!!  And he would even stop himself, and go again, stop and go again, showing he is really good at controlling it.  Then he went again later, around 4 pm, and now he just went again before bath at 6:15 pm!  WE ARE SO PROUD OF HIM!!!  Time to move on to Block Two tomorrow, we will be adding pants (no underwear since it feels too much like a diaper.)

I do want to note, last night no one got any sleep!!  The boys were really hyper before bed but finally they both fell asleep around 9 pm.  Then at midnight, Dylan woke up and climbed out of his crib (just as I was getting ready to go to sleep).  I put him back but when I went to sleep, he got up again.  I was so tired after a long day of princess calls and not getting much sleep the night before, I just pretended to be asleep and ignored him and finally when Mark got home from work around 1 am (he had gone in to fix something), he tried to put him down but I heard it was a nightmare.  He was waking up every half hour until 3.  The potty training has definitely been affecting his sleep, combined with his new ability to quickly climb out of the crib before we can even get out of the room.  Well, here's hoping he will continue to have success in Block 2 tomorrow!

**Spoiler Alert** It does not go well

Potty Training: Day Three & Beyond!

Day Three is when everything is just supposed to click and overnight it seems, your child is potty trained!  This didn't happen for us.  BUT it did happen on Day Four!!  More on that later.

Here's a re-cap of Day Three:

 Once again, Clark had two accidents before lunch.  In the morning he couldn't pee on the potty but had an accident soon after and then another one.  It's like every day when he wakes up, he forgets how to do it and we have to start all over again.  But then by the afternoon, he remembers and does great!

On this day, I left the house for a few hours to get a pedicure and when I got back, Clark proudly told me he had peed in the potty!  We did our song, dance, sticker and Skittle.  Yes, we started giving Clark a skittle every time he pees.  You do what you gotta do!!

The rest of the day went with no accidents and after his nap, Clark woke up dry!  Mark took him on a walk after he went pee in the potty and no accidents there!  I can't really remember what else happened...all the days are running together in my mind.  We are currently on Day Six and have had 1 1/2 accidents between days 4 and 6.  One time was when he was watching a movie (he was really distracted and not paying attention so he started to pee but then finished on the potty).  The second time happened an hour ago.  I asked him if he had to go right before the accident too!  He was going to wash his hands because he had helped throw away Dylan's poopy diaper and I asked him if he needed to go potty first (since he normally hates washing his hands!) and he said no.  I was in the laundry room with Dylan when I heard him yell, "I need to go potty!"  I dropped everything and ran and he was already on the potty!  I was so impressed but then when I got closer I saw his pants were wet.  I asked him where he had his accident and re-traced his steps and found it on the makeshift step stool (our filing cabinet) where he had been washing his hands.  I guess the sound of the water and getting his hands wet was too much for him.  He had just drank a glass of orange juice the hour before.  Honestly, I should have forced him to go instead of asking him.  BUT, I am still so impressed that after he peed he ran to the potty and sat on it!!!  That is SO much progress!  He knew he was supposed to pee on the potty.

We have come SO far in the past week.  I mean, a week ago he didn't give peeing a second thought and now he runs to the potty!  I'm not sure what "potty trained" really means, but in my book, he's about 75% of the way there.  He is potty trained in the sense that he doesn't wear diapers and knows how to go in the potty.  He is even somehow night/nap trained because he has woken up dry after every nap and every morning!!

So, we are still technically on Block Three because we haven't added underwear yet.  The author strongly advises waiting about a month, give or take a week, to put underwear on because it feels so much like a diaper and usually, that's when the accidents start, especially if you put them on too early.  For now, we're fine with him going commando and quite frankly, I don't really see the point of the underwear if it's just going to make him more likely to have an accident, HA!

Clark isn't completely potty trained in the sense that he up and goes by himself when he feels the urge to go, but honestly, he's 2!!  I've baby-sat kids in elementary school who still have to be prompted to go or they just don't go on their own!  I'm not sure I really expect him to be mature enough to do that for a little while.  Besides, I don't mind prompting him.  It's become a part of our routine.  The author was right in that, your child really does have their own pee schedule!  It's all about making it fit into your day.  I'm pretty lucky that Clark doesn't pee all the time!  He pretty much goes every few hours...upon waking, around 10 am (before Dylan's nap), after lunch, after nap, and a few times in the evening.  He poops like every 3 days and trust me, we always know when it's coming!  Ever since he was a newborn, Clark's poops are just a big deal.  He used to poop once a week for the first six or so months of his life and now that he's two it's like twice a week!  And he has a hard time going so it's not like he will just poop without realizing it.  So that makes it nice for us!

Honestly, I'm amazed at what a breeze the whole thing has been!  All that worrying for nothing.  One week later and the potty is just another part of our routine.  Basically, when I used to chase him around the house 4-5 times a day to change his diaper, now I find creative ways to get him to sit on the potty!  It doesn't necessarily take less time and it is more effort but we aren't even a week in.  It takes 21 days to make a habit and we're off to a great start!!  So proud of my big boy!!!

Potty Training: Day Two

Day Two started out a little rough but ended with a bang!  Here's how the day went...

When Clark woke up, Mark took his diaper off and tried to get him to sit on the potty.  He was not having it!  The author warned this would happen.  Day One is all fun and games but Day Two they realize you're serious about this and the fun is over!

After he finally got Clark to sit on the potty, he waited and waited but Clark never peed.  Finally, he let Clark get up and minutes later Clark peed on the floor on top of his police car!  He was not happy about that.  I was in bed while all of this was going on and heard Mark say, "Clark!  You were just on the potty, why didn't you pee in the potty??"  But this scenarios is so common for this early in the game.  They are still learning to relax on the potty and often they won't be able to go and will go almost immediately upon getting up.

So then, I got up and got ready for church.  Mark got Clark dressed and told him he still wouldn't have a diaper because he needed to pee and poop in the potty but he would have pants on.  They ate breakfast and I fed Dylan and then left for church to teach my lesson.  Upon returning from church, Mark informed me Clark still hadn't peed!  It was noon and that first pee was around 7:30 am.  We really have a camel on our hands.

So when I got home, Mark was feeding Dylan lunch.  I took over and started to tell him people had asked for him at church.  We got into a conversation and completely forgot about Clark.  Well, you guessed it.  Accident.  Suddenly Mark said, "Clark, you peed!"  Clark was standing in the kitchen in a puddle of pee.  I was so upset!  Not at Clark but at us.  We totally could have prevented that accident!  Day Two and we're already forgetting to watch him for signs...especially since we knew he hadn't gone in almost 5 hours!!  Of course, he was going to go any minute and we should have been watching for signs.

I blamed Mark and said, "I was feeding Dylan lunch, you were supposed to be watching him!"  to which Mark said, "No, I was feeding him lunch!  I thought you were watching him!"  Honestly, I had completely forgotten about watching him.  Going to church had taken me out of my potty training mindset and poor Mark had been watching him for hours so of course, he thought I could give him a break.  I completely overreacted about the whole thing, mostly because I was mad at myself.

But then, we did it again!  An hour or less later, we got distracted and Clark was riding Dylan's car in circles around the house.  Suddenly, we heard him call from the living room, "I wet!" and I came running to find him standing in another puddle.  Again, I got so mad at myself!  I don't even know what we were doing.  I guess I didn't think he would go again so soon.  Clearly, we weren't making him the sole focus of Day Two, where he had been in Day One.

Then we started to think maybe we had put pants on too soon and now he felt comfortable going in them, like a diaper.  Mark gave him a shower and then it was time for his nap.  We decided to try taking the pants back off the rest of the day.  The author calls this "handing your child success" (going back and forth between blocks) and recommends trying it if they seem to be having issues with the next block but you don't want to completely backtrack.  This is when things started to turn around.

Clark's sticker chart!

After his nap,  Clark woke up dry and peed in the potty!  Then we put pants on him so he could get out for a walk around the block.  No accidents!  The rest of the day we kept the pants off and he didn't have a single accident.  We were so proud of him!!  Then, after Clark was all ready for bed, he climbed up onto the top bunk bed in his room and Mark noticed him trying to push to go poop.  He immediately went and put him on the potty and he POOPED!!!  YAY!!!!

This isn't the first time Clark has pooped in the potty but he hasn't done it in a long time.  Mark said he did it so quick and it was a BIG one.  Thank goodness Mark was watching his signs and got him there in time.  It was an awesome end to Day Two!!!

Potty Training: Day One

We've been talking about potty training Clark since May and this weekend, to bring in the New Year with a bang, we finally did it!!  Day One went AMAZING!!!  I can't believe this boy is done with diapers!!

I read a book in May called "Oh Crap! Potty Training" by Jamie Glowacki, just thinking I would get a peek into the potty training process and found out in the introduction that by picking up that book I knew deep down that my child was ready to be potty-trained!  It actually made sense and I wanted to potty train him shortly after his 2nd birthday but we had vacation plans soon after and I worried it would undo all our hard work.  We decided to wait until Mark had more vacation days and do it over Christmas break, barely making the cut-off because the author states the prime time for potty training is between 20 and 30 months.  Clark will be 31 months on January 10!

So this method is essentially the 3 Day Potty Training Method that has become really popular.  It's one of the most popular and highest rated potty-training books and after reading it with Mark, we both agreed it made sense and we wanted to try it.  We feel Clark has been ready capable (not supposed to say ready!) for months now and he took to Day One SO well!!  I'm so excited / nervous for Day Two, supposedly the hardest day!

I want to document the entire process so here is a re-cap of what happened on Day One:

Clark woke up around 7:30 am and Mark brought him downstairs for breakfast, like he does every Saturday.  After breakfast, I got up (normally Saturday is my sleep-in day but I was not about to miss this!) and we got ready to start!  For several weeks now, we've been talking to Clark about throwing away all his diapers and that he's going to "go pee pee and poo poo in the potty like mama and daddy".  The point was to get him used to the idea but not to overwhelm / intimidate him.  He seemed interested, especially since he hates diaper changes these days, but didn't really give it much thought.  Oh, except he was interested if we would be throwing away Dilly's diapers too!  Haha, we told him no, Dylan would still have diapers.

So this morning after breakfast, I told him, "Clark, today we're going to throw away all your diapers!  You're going to go poo poo and pee pee in the potty like mommy and daddy!  We are going to teach you this and it's going to be really fun!"  Then we marched him over to the diaper basket (which was full of Dylan's diapers only because we actually really did run out of his diapers just in time for this!) and let him dump them all in the trash.  He thought that was pretty fun!  Then it was time to take off his diaper.  Not so fun.

He normally really resists diaper and clothing changes these days and even though we told him he wouldn't have to put a new diaper on, he still wasn't interested.  So finally I stood up. pulled down my shorts and kicked them off!  Mark followed suit.  Then Clark stood up and did the same!  Then I kicked off my underwear and Mark followed suit, hahaha.  And sure enough, Clark took his diaper off!  [I'll be happy to inform you that Mark and I both subtly got dressed again shortly after!]

So one big problem we were anticipating, being the middle of winter, was that Clark would be cold!  Day One of our potty training method was a naked day!  We let him wear a long sleeve shirt and socks but for the rest of the day, Clark would be bottomless.  We thought he would love this more than he actually did (he went through a phase a few months ago where he LOVED being diaper-less before bath and would run around and shriek with laughter!)  Shortly after his diaper came off, he tried to pull his shirt down over his legs and said, "I need pants."

We told him that today he would be learning to use the potty so he couldn't wear pants today and soon he pretty much forgot that he wasn't wearing them.  We had set up camp in our bathroom with his potty, a bunch of new Christmas toys and books and his new sleeping bag to sit on.  We weren't sure what to expect and nothing really happened for the first hour or so.  Day One, in a nutshell, is supposed to be a naked day and a day where we do nothing all day but watch Clark!  No chores, phone, outings, or anything but giving him our complete, undivided attention.  Since I'm one of the world's best multitaskers and my mind is always thinking of at least 3 different things at a time, I was very nervous about this day!

So we played with him in the bathroom for awhile, a little on edge and not sure what to expect.  Finally, Clark got up and walked out of the bathroom with one of his new toys.  I quickly followed him and that's when I heard him say, "Ow!" and wipe his leg.  I noticed some drops on the floor and called to Mark, "He dribbled!"  Mark wasn't sure he had really peed but I knew as soon as I saw him wipe his leg (he hates being wet / dirty) that he had.  I was very calm and composed and told him (just like the book said), "You peed on the floor.  Pee goes in the potty.  Next time you'll go on the potty."  Then we sat him on the potty to see if he still had to go but he insisted he didn't.  I cleaned up the pee (it was just a few drops) and we re-grouped and got ready to watch closer.

On Day One, you're supposed to spend all day watching your child and trying to learn their pee signals and pee schedule.  For example, some kids do a potty dance, get a look in their eye, stop what they're doing, raise their foot, etc. right before they pee.  We needed to figure out Clark's pee signals so we could help him make it to the potty.  We also needed to see how often and when Clark was peeing.  Did he pee 5-6 times an hour after drinking a sippy cup of juice?  Or could he hold his pee for 3 hours after drinking a cup of juice?  We quickly learned, Clark is a camel!

We weren't sure if he was holding his pee because he didn't have a diaper on or because we were watching or if he always pees that way.  We never noticed when he wore diapers because we just changed them when they were wet.  After another couple hours with no pee, Mark began to get discouraged.  The problem was also that Clark wasn't drinking much.  We hadn't been able to make a trip to the grocery store before starting to get his favorite "dada juice" (Capri Sun's and when he was little he thought the surfer was dada!) and popsicles as well as grapes, oranges, etc.  So he wasn't that interested in drinking.

Finally, when my back was turned (I was actually running to get the book to read the chapter on Block One Dilemmas, because Clark was resisting sitting on the potty) I heard Mark yell, "Clark, stop!"  I ran back and asked, "What happened?"  Mark was freaking out and Clark was sobbing hysterically!  "He peed, he peed!" Mark said and then I quickly told him, "You're not supposed to scold him!  You scared him!"  and Mark said, "It's okay," to Clark to which I said, "NO, you're not supposed to say that either!  It's not okay!"  Haha, seriously though, in the book she says not to scold but not to tell them it's okay either.  You just state, "You peed on the floor.  Pee goes in the potty.  Next time you'll go on the potty."  I told Clark this and then had him help me clean up the pee.  And we began again!

Another hour or so later (lunch time), it happened again.  I was nursing Dylan after his nap when I heard Clark sobbing.  I came down and asked what had happened but I already knew the answer.  "Clark peed on the chair," Mark said, as he was cleaning it up.  Clark was sitting on the potty wailing because he had been sitting with his legs folded and the pee puddled up in his lap.  As I mentioned before, Clark hates being wet, dirty, sticky, you name it!  This is GOLD for potty training!!

By this third accident Mark and I were both pretty skeptical about how things were looking.  Every time Clark peed I wasn't around and Mark didn't seem to be seeing much of any signals.  He also wasn't peeing often enough for us to get much practice.  But just like the author said, you never know when things are going to click and by the next pee, things started to turn around.

We were all playing by the stairs, with the potty inches away from Clark.  Clark was doing stamps and Dylan was trying to eat them (typical). Oh, I forgot to mention that we were setting 30 minute timers in between pees and every 30 minutes were prompting him to go.  The hardest part we were having was getting him to sit on the potty.  We had to keep coming up with new, exciting things to show him when he sat (my craft bag, party supplies, a calm jar we made with water, confetti & olive oil) and were running out of ideas.

While we were doing stamps, the timer went off and we got Clark to sit on the potty.  Then it happened.  HE PEED!!!  He was as excited as us!!!  "I peed!!" he said and we high-fived him and I made up a potty song/dance on the spot (to the tune of Blues Clues): "You went on the potty, you went on the potty, you went on the potty, because you're really BIG!!"  Then we asked Alexa to play some applause for him but instead she played Lady Gaga's, "Applause" hahahah!!  So that became our official potty dance song!!  We sang and danced to that song every time he went pee on the potty (9 more times by the end of the day!)  I will never forget that song!

After Clark's first pee I started a sticker chart with him.  If he went 7 times in the potty by the end of the day, he could have a special treat (aka CANDY!)  Now, this is where we strayed from the author's advice.  She doesn't recommend bribery but she does recommend making the method work for the child you have and making adjustments as needed.  Rewards really work well for Clark (and the praise works wonders!) so I thought a treat at the end of each successful potty day was fair enough.

It worked like a charm!  Clark didn't have a single accident the rest of the day!!  Well, if you don't count that time he peed on the potty in his spaceship tent with a crown on his head and we made him wait so I could take a picture and then he was so excited when he got off he tipped the potty over and all the pee went all over him and the tent!!!

There are six blocks in this potty training method and they can each take varying amounts of time.  Block One, peeing and pooping (Clark doesn't poop every day, more like every 3 days, so we did not tackle poop on Day One), in the potty, while naked, with or without prompting, should take anywhere from 1-3 days.  Block Two is the same thing but with pants (no underwear) and Block Three includes outings.  Block Four adds underwear and Block Five is consistent self-initiation.  Block Six is NightTime and Nap Training!  The idea is to get your child to go from clueless to I peed to I'm peeing to I have to go pee!

Well by the end of the day, Clark was running to the potty saying, "Wait I have to pee!"  Uhh...does this mean we skipped Blocks 2-4??  Haha, I'm not getting TOO excited though because supposedly Block Two feels like starting over.  Adding pants is hard because it adds privacy (what a diaper gives) and it's much harder to see their signals or to tell when they're about to go or have already started going so you may miss getting them to the potty in time.  We are definitely confident though that Clark has successfully phased out of Block One and is ready for pants tomorrow!  His little nakey bum will be happy!

Mark is passed out next to me and I don't even know how I'm still awake.  Tomorrow I have to teach in YW so Mark will be on his own for about 90 minutes with both boys.  Clark isn't able to go to church during this block so Mark will be staying home with the boys.  Dylan will likely be napping the whole time I'm gone though so it should go okay.  Wish us luck!!