And, I am excited to announce that he is FINALLY potty trained! When the summer began I was taking him every twenty minutes or so and he had no ability to figure out he was going to go before he went. There were a TON of accidents and some pretty frustrating days.
I read the three day potty training method which I thought had some good tips about being loving, consistent, and patient but also had some lines of thinking I knew I couldn't commit myself too. For example, she tells you to throw out all diapers and pull ups and even encourages you to have your child do the task for you. Maybe it's just semantics...but how about suggesting giving them to a needy friend (i.e. any woman with a baby...those things aren't cheap!) Her bedtime routine for waking up dry calls for you to wake your child up one hour after he's fallen asleep to use the potty and then one hour earlier than his normal routine to potty. This might have been my biggest reason disagreement. Since about eight weeks old Gabe has been an excellent sleeper and generally goes down no fuss. I believe this results in part to a night time routine built around the theory that once he's laid down in bed he is not allowed to get up and we do not go into his room.
So, all of that being said...we kind of forged our own path with it. I kept him in underwear while he was awake. He used diapers at nap time and night time and for the first five or six weeks a pull up when we went out in public. We rewarded him with successful trips to the potty with jelly beans left over from Easter and when those ran out switched to Reese's Pieces. It was a few weeks of just enough success to keep me keepin' on before I felt like he "got it". He can tell us now when he has to go and his accidents have been quite rare these last two weeks. About the time he began telling us when he needed to go we stopped offering a reward and he's been fine without it. Sometimes when I know we're going to be running errands all day and may or may not have time to run to a potty I'll put a pull-up on him. This is mainly for my own sanity because peeing in the carseat is SO NOT COOL! Anymore it doesn't matter if he's wearing a pull up or underwear because he has the capability of waiting until we can get to a bathroom.
Last week we were driving around Topeka and he happened to be wearing underwear and approximately ten minutes from our destination he says from the backseat, "I gotta potty Mommy." I told him it was going to be a few minutes before we got there and he insisted, "I gotta pee! I'll pee in the grass Mommy." He has never requested to pee on the grass before and hasn't ever actually peed in the grass! I knew he meant business, but I wasn't about to pull over on a commercial business lined street to have him pee on the curb. I was really starting to worry as we were in Uncle Charlie's brand new, used blazer and I didn't really want Gabe to be the one to christen it so to speak. Thankfully, there was a Walgreen's nearby and we were able to make it to the bathroom before he went.
Having this summer to train him has been great. I only wish that summer would last a little longer!
A couple of weeks ago my family came to visit and my nephew Bryson came with them. Bryson and my brother slept on a blow up mattress in Gabe's room. When my brother went to bed one of the nights he walked in to find this...
Can you see Gabe?
He's the one under the bear.
While they were here both of the boys pined over Gabe's furreal baby monkey too. Gabe had a strand of hair in his mouth so that's why he has the weird faces and his tongue sticking out.
Gabe and Bryson are finally getting to an age where they can entertain one another quite well. Last week I spent some time at mom and dad's helping my brother Charlie's fiancee with wedding invitations. The night that Bryson was there playing was the easiest we had with Gabe while working.
I'm thinking that couch needs a slipcover...
Two days, two posts...so far so good this week! Hope you're having a great week too!
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