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

Happy 2nd Birthday Dylan!!!

Well, it took a national pandemic and stay-at-home order but I'm BACK to blogging!!!  Haha, the social distancing guidelines have forced me to slow down with my princess company, although we are still doing virtual princess visits and videos.  I've actually had time to catch up on things in my life!  I re-organized all our junk drawers, put away Dylan's baby clothes, updated my website, and we are potty training Dylan!!!  More on that in another post.

We celebrated Dylan's 2nd birthday a few months ago and it was so much fun!  We had an Oh TWOdles party and transformed our house into Dylan's Clubhouse!!!

I traded services with a company called Toddler Towns and they did the whole set-up!  We will be doing a Frozen party for them when the social distancing order is lifted.  Everyone had so much fun!!!

I had a lot of fun with the food for this one!  My friend Stefanie made the yummy S'mores cake and my mom made the hot diggity dogs and Mickey Mouse cupcakes!

Friends we invited included the Hansen family (Sam, Ben, & Jo), Elms family (Hanley, Nolan & Holly), Andrade's (Annie, Oliver & Mila), Kosmicki's (Rachel, Hazel & Melanie), Lancaster's (Henry & Hannah), Evie Johnson, Britney Lopez, and of course Grandma, Grandad, YaYa & Kara & Baby Kent!  Dylan loved opening his presents and he got so many PJ Masks things - his latest obsession!

I still haven't done Dylan's 2 year update because we have yet to do his 2 year well check.  Our appointment was right after the social distancing order so we will have to re-schedule when everything in the world goes back to normal.  I'm so glad we got to have Dylan's party a month before all of this happened!  I have had to cancel or postpone all my upcoming princess parties and it's so sad for the kids!  I have been making FaceTime calls or recording videos for all the kids whose parties we missed (and lots more kids) so that's been fun!  And we've been able to do them for kids all over the country.  We're making calls for kids in Poland next week!!  It's nice to know for at least a few minutes I can help them to forget the chaos going on in the world and bring a little magic into their day :)

We have been so lucky to pretty much be unaffected by this whole thing.  Mark still has his job, I'm still able to do virtual parties, we are all healthy, and our kids weren't in school anyway so they haven't noticed much of a difference, other than seeing less of their friends and public places.  We really don't leave the house, especially now that we're potty training.  It's been pretty stressful but as of today we're one week in and I think it's finally starting to click.  Dylan is so smart so I think he understood the whole concept right away but he is very stubborn and wanted to use the potty on his own terms.  This afternoon he started running to the potty to pee and even pooped a little in the potty, although he pooped under the table shortly after, but it's all about progress!!  I'm so proud of my big boy and can't believe he's not a baby anymore.  There have been lots of extra cuddle sessions this week, kisses (Dylan loooves kissing, especially me!), and asking me to hold him and I don't mind one bit.  I'm sad he's growing up but he will always be my baby.  We love you Dylan!!!

dylan masters : eighteen months

e i g h t e e n   m o n t h s

Even though my blog has been long forgotten, I couldn't miss writing about my sweet Dylan at eighteen months old.  I'm in disbelief that he's no longer a baby.  We still give him a bottle (he never took one while nursing but we started giving him one when I weaned him a few months ago), rock him to sleep, call him the baby, I even found an old binky of Clark's and gave it to him the other day!  It took him awhile but he got the hang of it and he looked so adorable sucking it!  I just can't bear the thought of him growing up.  I really haven't been making much of an effort to get him to talk, learn letters/colors/numbers, etc. because I honestly haven't felt like he's old enough for those things!  I still think of him as a baby.  He's started saying more words the past few weeks and it's SO weird to hear him talking!  He has the sweetest little voice!

Even though we like to think Dylan's still a baby, he surely does not think so.  Always trying to keep up with his big brother, Dylan picks up on things so quickly.  Since he turned one, Dylan has learned to walk, run, feed himself, climb onto just about anything, use my phone  (he's obsessed with coloring games and the PBS kids app), can match shapes with the shape sorter bucket, understands pretty much everything we say, and loves copying everything Clark does!

Clark and Dylan may be brothers but they are different in so many ways!  I never have and still do not think they look a thing alike.  I think Dylan looks like a combination of my mom and Mark and Clark looks like my dad and me.  Dylan is fearless, wild, messy and carefree.  Clark is safe, careful, clean and likes things to be just so.  One thing they have in common: their love for cars!

eighteen month stats:

weight: 23 lbs. (43rd percentile)

length: 34.5 in. (98th percentile)

head circ: 19.25 in. (48th percentile)

He's just like Clark at this age, tall and skinny!

♥                ♥                ♥

f i r s t s

♥ 3.19.19 Cotton candy

♥ 3.20.19 Dentist appt. - Dyl was so brave!  He let them clean his teeth, floss, and was so cooperative.  Can't say the same about Clark's last appt.....

♥ 4.4.19 Surgery - Dylan had a small tear duct procedure done on his left eye, which has been dripping since the day he was born.  When he was born, he breathed in lots of amniotic fluid and those first few months he had lots of trouble breathing.  Normally, the tear duct clears on its own by the baby's 1st birthday but Dylan's eye showed no signs of improvement so we had the surgery done and I'm sad to say his eye still drips, though maybe not as much?  Not sure if we are going to try again because now he's too old to do it in the office so we'd have to take him to the hospital and put him under.

♥ 4.23.19 Started walking - Dylan has been taking steps since he turned one but didn't officially start walking as his main method of getting around until one random day when he just suddenly stopped crawling!  We had gone outside to eat lunch and I set up the playpen for him and he was practicing walking from one side to the other and later that day he started walking more.  The next day he was done crawling!

♥ 5.1.19 - Started giving kisses!  Dyl is the most loving boy, he will give kisses to anyone who asks for one and I get kisses all day long!  Whenever I'm working or distracted, he will randomly come sit in my lap, grab my cheeks and move my face to his and kiss me on the lips for 5-10 seconds!!  He is going to make some girl very happy someday but right now that girl is me ;)

♥ 5.24.19 Tricycle ride - He absolutely loved it!!

♥ 5.24.19 Meeting Poppy

♥ 5.31.19 Playing @ Urban Air - Technically, we took him when he was about 10 months old but he couldn't do very much.  He had so much fun but was also a little overwhelmed!

♥ 6.26.19 Zoo trip!

♥ 7.4.19 4th of July Parade

♥ 7.9.19 Meeting the cow at Chick-Fil-A

f a v o r i t e s

At eighteen months, here are a few of Dylan's favorite things:

eating, GoGo Squeeze pouches, fruit snacks, sleeping in, playing outside, pretending to drive, climbing, water play, my phone, Word Party, Elmo, dancing, being loud, Let it Go, Ariel, making messes, being chased, being read to, his bunny, cars, Clark, ME!

e a t

He's still our wonderful eater but the hard thing is getting him to sit still to eat.  This child has SO much energy!  The only time we really put him in his high-chair is for breakfast and he only lasts 5-10 minutes before begging to get out.  The rest of the day I don't even bother.  I either try to get him to eat at the little kids' table (he usually ends up climbing all over it while I feed him) or he will just eat in between running in circles around the house.  It's honestly just easier for me that way, except for the trail of crumbs he leaves behind.  He also has this obsession with carrying a piece of food in his hand (as if to save it) while running around the house.  He never actually eats it and finally I have to just take it from him, resulting in a meltdown.

This boy loves his juice like no other!  He really loves drinks in general.  He always has his sippy cup in hand and is sneaking Clark's whenever he can.  We still give him a bottle of milk at morning and night (even though he never took one as a baby) but we are trying to quit that, especially since Clark always wants one too.

Both of these boys LOVE sugar.  Wonder who they got that from???  They can spot candy a mile away and all of their favorite foods are full of sugar (cereal, oatmeal, granola bars, yogurt, fruit, juice).  Dylan will eat a variety of foods though and likes pretty much everything!

Dylan's palate at 18 months:

♥ fruits - apples (loves carrying them around with him), bananas, grapes, cuties, peaches, pineapple, pears...I don't know a fruit he doesn't like!

♥ veggies - loves salad and carrots! He will even eat raw veggies and likes them!

♥ breakfast - cereal and milk, yogurt, smoothies, oatmeal, waffles

♥ lunch - turkey/ham sandwiches, PBJ's, Lunchables, Pizza, Mac 'n Cheese, Chicken nuggets, anything!

♥ dinner - whatever we're eating!

♥ snacks - GoGo Squeezes (he's obsessed!), teddy grahams, vanilla yogurt raisins, goldfish, granola bars, crackers, ritz pb sandwiches, Fruit pouches

s l e e p

Our angel sleeper!!  Dylan takes the best naps (2-3 hours) and sleeps from about 8/8:30 pm until 8:30/9 am every morning.  Sometimes he sleeps later (if he goes to bed later).  He did have a minor sleep regression a few weeks ago that lasted about 10 days where he would cry minutes after being put down and want me to come back and rock him.  So I would and after 5 minutes or so, I'd put him back down and half the time he would go to sleep.  The other half he would get up and cry again.  It was pretty bad for a few nights (he would wake up around 11 and cry until 2 am if we left) so Mark slept in there one night and the other night we let him cry himself to sleep.  But now he's back to normal!

p l a y / d e v e l o p m e n t

Dylan's really lucky because Clark didn't have anyone to play with when he was his age but Dylan has a built-in best friend.  Sometimes it's easier with the two of them because they play together but they also fight like crazy!  Dylan is a little instigator, he loves pushing Clark's buttons and it's like he gets a thrill from upsetting him.  He will storm in and knock over Clark's carefully built lego tower, climb up on his Cars table and throw all the tracks off, mess up his perfectly lined up cars, and crash down his magna tile buildings in an instant!  This of course sends Clark into tears and Dylan will come running out with a wicked grin!  The little devil!

Most of the time Dylan drives me and Clark absolutely crazy!  He is just nonstop, a walking disaster and is always getting into trouble!  Clark has always been really good about playing by himself.  He loves doing puzzles, playing with his cars, doing lego's, playing grocery store, etc.  But Dylan is always finding a way to make Clark miserable.  I joke with Clark that we're going to sell him to the circus and so then sometimes when Clark gets mad at him after he's messed something up he cries, "I want to sell Dylan to the circus!" in between tears!  But just when I think I can't possibly take it anymore, Dylan will come up to me, crawl in my lap and give me a couple of long kisses.  Then he'll grin at me with that sparkly smile and those scrunchy, twinkling eyes and I fall in love with him all over again!

Even though they bring so much chaos into my life and some days I feel like locking myself in the bathroom and eating cookies all day, these two boys bring me SO much joy and happiness.  They give my life purpose and meaning, they are the sweetest little souls and they love me with all their heart.  I am the luckiest mama to have them and while I'm not sure we'll be having any more (at least not anytime soon), I wish I could keep them this way forever.