notes from the battlefield: PT days 1 & 2

okay, so it wasn't *that* bad.

bad, but not *that* bad.

we started day one of the three-day method with cb eating a high-fiber breakfast (the massive amount of fruit was gobbled prior to this snap):

unbeknownst to him, we are about to enter big boy territory...with no turning back.

choi boy chose a pair of big boy underwear (from a selection he chose last week at costco -- on sale for $9.99/8 pack!), threw away his last diaper and then went around the house collecting all the diapers to be "sent away" to the babies that need them.


while appa helped cb with the diaper haul, i set up cb's big boy presents downstairs and we made a big deal about how it was big! boy! day! :)



among his big boy presents were his former downstairs diaper basket filled with all his new underwear; a box filled with potty supplies (potty seats for upstairs and downstairs, a step stool, and big boy flushable wipes); and a new fun toy.


the toy was a cars2 shake n' go race track that was actually given to cb on his birthday in september by our friends. with the ridiculous amount of loot he got, we decided to set aside some gifts to give cb when he was a little bit older and better able to use and appreciate them. we had brought out this gift to give to choi boy on christmas morning, but once the train table made its appearance, there was no attention given to anything else, so we stashed this one away to give to him as his big boy present. and we're so glad we did because it was perfect!

while appa opened up the box (what is it with these crazy hard-to-open toy boxes?! sheesh!), cb spent some time decorating his big boy wipes with the stickers that came with them.


cb worked hard to "help" appa set up the race track,


all while alternating between munching on salty snacks,


and chugging juice!


the goal was to give him lots and lots to drink so cb would have to "go" lots and lots! and any time he did start to go, we would run him to the bathroom, sit him on the toilet and have him finish there.

this continued all day long, with the liquids being varied: smoothies, juice, water, and even popsicles.


so, yes, we were literally running to and from the bathroom all.day.long. the good thing was that cb didn't have any full-on accidents. anytime he would start, he'd yell, "uh oh!!" and we'd run to the bathroom and finish.

upon which, he'd receive a yummy little treat!

(sidenote: see those creepy m&ms? that's truitt cathy, the founder of chick-fil-a, on them. my parents ended up with a ton of little cartons of them after their annual chick-fil-a conference in february and then gave most of them to us for cb. since we had them on hand, we just used them for potty training rewards. cb couldn't care less that there is a man's face on his m's and calls them "hahbee face m&ms"!)

at one point, cb caught himself *before* starting to pee and yelled "mommy! i gotta peepee!!!" and ran to the bathroom. that also happened twice on day 2 and three times this morning (day 3).

i think he's starting to really get it and is loving being a big boy. in fact, up until now i refused to call him a big boy and called him my "little boy". i told him that he would be a big boy once he went pee and poop on the potty. wouldn't you know, any time i've called him my little boy over the last three days, he's stopped and corrected me, "no, mommy. big boy now." he is so proud of himself!

we tried to get rid of diapers/pull-ups altogether and try nighttime training, too, but the first night was disasterous, so we threw a pull-up on him last night. and of course, he woke up dry this morning and ready to do his business. :) we'll see how this continues, but i'm not going to push it with the nighttime training unless we see a long string of dry nights.

now, the number 2s? totally different story. not gonna say much except: yuck. not so successful. serious and literal nastypants.

and we're a little tired of being cooped up at home, especially when it is beautiful outside...but, we are trying to keep things fun and managed to do some egg-dying yesterday and some cooking this morning with plans to bake this afternoon.




we are half-way through day 3 of the 3-day method and choi boy is taking his nap. and we've got just a few more waking hours of this potty training bootcamp left. do i think he'll be full trained by the end of the day? i'm not sure. but if not, he'll be awfully close, especially with the pee. am i glad we took the plunge and did this? yes. though it hasn't been the most glamorous way to spend half of our spring break, it's been kind of a fun adventure. and the fact that we are spending every waking minute together (literally side-by-side or face-to-face) has been really special. even if many of those minutes were spent running to or sitting in the bathroom. :)


grown-up cb, if you read this one day, i'm sorry i shared so many details of this experience, but i gotta tell you, i am so super proud of you and didn't want to forget all that we did to celebrate your transition to being a diaper-less big boy. :) and if you want me to take it down, i will. promise! ;)