So Very Proud

I couldn't be more proud of Monkey. He has met potty training head on and has pretty much kicked it's ass. But if you would have asked me if I thought we would be where we are today on Tuesday, I would have laughed and said 'in your dreams'. So lets hit rewind and look back over the last few days of this Mommy's STAYcation. 

Late Monday night my nephew and I ran to Walmart and we loaded up on HotWheels, bubbles, bouncy balls, coloring books--really anything that was inexpensive that we could put in a "surprise" box and let Kaden choose from when he actually peed in the potty. We stepped up the prize for pooping, we bought walking Transformers, three of them-red, blue and yellow! We made a potty chart and got stickers. We got a few pull-ups for nap time. We crossed our fingers it would be enough. 

We finally arrived back in Kansas City around 11:30 on Tuesday and as soon as we had the car unpacked  I sat Kaden down on the potty, we tried, nothing happened and on the big boy underwear went. (I have been informed that the word panties is not appropriate for little boys and trust me, harder than one would think to stop from using that word!)

By 5 o'clock on Tuesday evening I was in tears. I was on the phone with my mom in tears. I was frustrated. I felt defeated. Kaden had peed through 8 pairs of underwear. I would sit him on the potty and he wouldn't go. Five minutes later he would be crying as pee dripped down his legs. I would sit him on the potty, try to calm him down and tell him that is was okay that we would get it next time. We put on the new underwear and no more than five minutes later he would pee again. And we repeated that for at least 30 minutes. The only thing that made it worse, I was holding him twice when he did it. So not only did he get to change his underwear, I got a new change of clothes too. And we had a large pile of laundry that had to be done for the following day. The positive from Tuesday, he did poop in the potty twice-we might have sat there for a little while but he did it and for that he got two of his BIG surprises…

But Wednesday was a new day right? RIGHT! And thankfully too. Yesterday, Kaden only had one accident and it was on the way to the potty, he just wasn't able to tell me quick enough. By the end of the day we were no longer having to go "sit" on the potty, he was telling me when he needed to go and he pooped twice but both during the morning hours. We went through a lot of suckers, too many for his poor little teeth but they were doing the job and he was getting excited each and every time he did it. As he sat there on the potty, his eyes would get all big and he would whisper to me, "peeing, I did it" as though it was some sort of secret and then he would clap and we would high five. Things were looking better! We went to bed not having to do any additional laundry!

And then there is today. He was a ROCKSTAR. We didn't have a single accident. He told me every time he had to go potty and he was able to hold it for a little longer while we made our way to the bathroom. We ventured to the mall to pick up a few pants I was having altered--he had a pull-up on but it came home dry and he said he had to potty as soon as we walked in. We also took an evening stroll around the lake and he went in his Big Boy Underwear and came home dry. I know we will still have accidents and I know there could be regression but I am just so proud of how my little guy has taken to this, especially after the first day. 

A few of the cute things he does…

He always insists on looking at "it" afterwards. Pee or Poop, he wants to see what he just did. 

He tries to poop every time. He gives it a quick grunt and then lowers his head and says "I can't do it."

He immediately runs to tell Blake and Leah that he just peed. He can't wait to share his news. 

He reads to me, asks me what colors are what and what the truck names are. And when I give him the wrong answer he makes sure to correct me. But when I get them all right, he congratulates me with a "good job."

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I also need to give a great big thanks to Leah and Blake, my niece and nephew. They have been here since Tuesday with us and have been such a huge help. I am not sure I could have done this without them because each time I had to jump up and run to the potty with Kaden, they were there with Logan. They were able to play and entertain him and I was able to focus on Kaden and the task at hand. Actually, I lie, I could have done this without them, Logan just would have spent the last 3 days in his highchair or crib! :0) Thanks Leah and Blake, you guys helped out so much and I am so thankful you were able to be here with us and spend some QT with Logan and Kaden, even if it meant not stepping foot outside until today! Love you both.