The Potty Project: Bathroom Humor

It's been a long time since I posted anything about how Lincoln's potty training is going. Mostly because not much is happening. Oh, we are still doing it, don't worry, it just feels like making any progress is taking forever. Maybe slow and steady will eventually win the race...in our case I don't care if we win or even place, I'd just like to finish all in one piece. :) I think my sister-in-law Sydni said it best when she said, "Potty training is good birth control." Yup. So is being pregnant. But that's a story for another day.

I guess I should note what progress we have made with it.

-We are (FINALLY!) past the point where Lincoln would scream for up to an hour at the top of his lungs while sitting on the potty because he didn't want to poop because it hurt. I think our little bout with Hand Foot and Mouth can be given credit for that, diarrhea. Super. But at least he got used to going while the going wasn't tough, and can now do it without as much drama.

-Lincoln can, about 75% of the time, put his underwear on facing forward. Big improvement.

-We have successfully transitioned from having to give him a treat every time (aka ruining his meals) to having him move a magnet along a potty chart to get a bigger reward at the end (we will be taking him swimming sometime if we ever get all of us feeling well at once), and from that to just going because that's what you're supposed to do (this is mostly the result of my laziness because I never got around to making another potty chart once he filled the last one).

-He hasn't peed while sitting in time out for a long time, whew!

-Linc can keep his underwear dry all day IF I make sure to have him use the potty every so often.

-IF I can get him to use the potty before we go out in public, he can wear underwear without me being scared to death he'll have an accident.

-Lincoln mostly always wakes up dry after naps and in the morning. He gets credit for this all on his own. I have done nothing to attempt to potty train him in his sleep. :)

-We have also transitioned from the little potty to the big potty. This came about because now that he can hold it for longer periods of time, he has a lot more pressure built up, and even though he was pointing down in the little potty, he was too close to the bottom and the pressure would cause lots of splashing and mess everywhere, and I got tired of cleaning it up. So now Linc uses the big potty with a stool. Much easier to handle, for me at least, and he doesn't seem to mind, so we're good.

-And lastly, but this is the biggest, most important step so far, sometimes he tells me he needs to go BEFORE I suggest that he might want to go. This is a very big step in the right direction.

-Oh, and I should probably mention our "special case". This has only happened one time so far, but it gives me great hope. Once when the boys were taking their naps, I went out to get the mail. When I came back, Lincoln had gotten up and was sitting on the potty. AWESOME! That proves he can do it all by himself.

So those are our improvements from last time. Here are some things we are currently working on.

-How to wipe. He has the motions down, but the effectiveness is still pretty shaky.

-How to wash our hands. He'll do it if I remind him, but he does a lot more playing than actual washing, so I always have to supervise.

-How to pull his pants down far enough that they don't get in the way while peeing. Self explanatory.

And lastly, I'm not generally one for bathroom humor, but with potty training you either have to laugh or you'll cry. Here are some of the funnier moments.

- I took the kids with me to one of my Dr appointments, and I had to sit up on the exam table. While I was up there Lincoln kept saying, "Mommy on the potty? Mommy need to pee? Mommy go potty?"

- The other day during dinner Lincoln mentioned that he needed to poop, so he got down and sat on his little potty, and proceeded to do so. When he was done he said, "Look Mom a C!" My first thought was that Ivan had put one of our magnet letters in the potty and Lincoln had gone on top of it. Lincoln kept persisting that I come and see the C, so finally I went to look. To my relief there was not a magnet letter in the potty. What I did see was a perfectly shaped C poop. Linc was so proud of himself and kept saying over and over, "I pooped a C! I pooped a C!" I don't know whether to be grossed out, or just glad he's recognizing his letters.

-A little while ago Lincoln told me, "Mom, pooping is still hard."

- When Lincoln was having trouble pooping, we'd sit by him and hold his hand and try to help him relax. So the other day I was using the bathroom and Linc came in (do mothers ever get to use the bathroom alone?) and said "Here Mom, I squeeze your hand. Now do this (and he proceeded to take a big exaggerated deep breath), good." Thanks for the moral support Linc. :)

-Ivan is now a pro at the potty dance, even though he has no idea what is going on, whenever Lincoln and I start singing, Ivan waves his hands around and dances right along with us.

-We manage our apartment complex, so that means we have to show the vacant apartments. Anyways, a guy (single, probably 21 or so) came to look at one. When we let him in, Lincoln quickly informed him, "I peed in the potty. And pooped." I think Linc was a little disappointed that the guy didn't show the same enthusiasm about it as Mom/Dad/Grandma etc. usually do.