C-Bear and Day 1 of Potty Training

Since I had given an update on the other two boys, I had been meaning to get on and do an update on Christian and what he's been up to. Since I haven't had the chance, I am combining my post on him and his first day of potty training.

This kid is awesome! He makes all of us laugh a lot and keeps the mood light around here.
This kid can do the most awesome cross-eyes I have ever seen.

And he looks pretty handsome doing his "thinking" pose. One day I saw him doing this and I asked, "What are you doing?" To which he replied, "I thinking."

Today was his last size 5 diaper; He is in 3t shirts and 2t-3t shorts; Size 8 shoe; Lovesloveslovesloves Joseph; Isn't very serious, which can be a problem when he is being disciplined; Really enjoys movies now (his favorite right now is Gnomeo and Juliet); Just this week, he has started talking a lot more clear (I think strangers could understand him now); Loves anything that is big and loud (cars, trucks, tractors, trains, construction trucks, etc); Loves to play the guitar; Loves to dance to music; Loves pretty much any vegetable, broccoli is his absolute favorite; Loves "blue" chips (cool ranch Doritos); Loves all fruits; Has become very dramatic when he doesn't get his way (throws his self down and flails all around. I laugh at it, but I am pretty sure with Joseph at that age, I did not.);If I can't understand something he is saying, he will keep saying it over and over and over and over and over. It's frustrating sometimes because I just have to start guessing what his saying; Not too thrilled by cats or dogs (he was attacked by a wiener dog at the park once and ever since then, he isn't a fan); Loves to play baseball; Loves to play catch; Loves fruit chews and tic-tacs; Goes by Christian, C or C-bear.

Some of my favorite phrases he says:

Baby Soup: Bathing Suit

DitDat: Tic Tac

Baby: Nathan (he has always called him baby, except when we first brought him home from the hospital, to which he called him "neighneigh".)

Beetar: Guitar

Conversation that I have had more than once with him:

C: "jibberish, jibberish"

M: "Hon, I don't understand what you are saying."

C: "Why?"

M: "Because you are two and you don't speak very clear."

C: "Oh."

Potty Training: Day 1 (Following talks about Poop and Pee)

Here is our sticker chart that we use for potty training. After 20 stickers, he gets something special like an ice cream cone, snow cone, trip to Jeff's work, trip to the zoo and then at the end, when the chart is completely full, he gets to go to the store and pick out a toy.

This first day of potty training was a whole lot better than the first day that I potty trained Joe. We knew Christian was interested during our family trip to Florida in July, when he told us he wanted to use the potty. So we took him to the bathroom and he went. I didn't have the energy to train as soon as we got back from a trip, so we just asked before each bath time if he wanted to use the potty and we talked a lot about using it just to encourage his interest.

With Joseph, I just started because I thought he was mentally ready, but the first day was horrible. But with Christian, having already used the potty on several occasions and seeing Joseph go all the time, he took to it like a champ. He, like every new trainee, had several accidents. But, he got, I believe, a total of 13 or so stickers on his chart today! Pooping wasn't a success at all. All three times he went today were in his underwear. The thing with Christian is that he is super stealth when it comes to going #2, so it's hard to catch him in the act. I distinctly remember training Joe and catching him in the act and rushing him to the bathroom. Christian, however, 2 out of the 3 times today, I was sitting there playing with him as he went and had no idea. No grunts, no funny faces, nothing. So this is going to be a little tricky. The bright side to this, by the third time he went, you could tell he started and stopped himself from going. That's a good sign.

When I was thinking about starting this week, I was hesitant because it means my little guy is growing up. With Joseph, it was exciting and new, but with C, it means he is becoming a big boy and it makes me sad.

We don't have any special method to potty training. I have never even opened or read a book on potty training. The only thing I have looked up on training was when I was training Joseph and by his nap time his first day hadn't even gone in the toilet, I looked up ways to have a successful potty training experience via the internet.

What we do is: sticker charts with big rewards after 20 stickers (1 sticker for peeing and 2 stickers for pooing), treats after each successful use, stay home for a week (or really limit our errands for the week), Pull-ups only at nap time and bed time (and if we HAVE to run an errand the first week).

Today, I was planning on just taking him every 30 min or so, but he was having accidents before the 30 minute mark. So it ended up being more like every 20 minutes. I confident that the duration will get longer as the week goes on.

I was very please with his first day of training. I am hoping each day this week, we will have less and less accidents.

And here's my little C-bear in his last diaper.

....Until tomorrow........