Potty Party

I had no idea this was all going to happen this week, it just sorta happened…..

….we have started the adventure of potty training.

On Wednesday I asked Dax if he wanted to sit on the potty and surprisingly he said yes. What’s even more surprising is he actually went when I put him on the potty. He was so proud of himself and so excited, so I decided I better just run with it. We’d been reading "Once Upon a Potty" for a few months now, and he knows all about “Joshua” and his “new potty”. I remember when I worked at Media Play (kinda like a Sam Goody) when I was in college seeing this book in the Book section and laughing at how funny it was. It’s all about how everyone has a “body” and this body “has many nice and useful parts” and unfortunately, I have it memorized, but Dax loves it and insists we read it all the time. Whenever we talk about anything related to the bathroom, he ends everything I say with “like Joshua”, the little boy in the story. It’s like they are friends; it’s so funny. All the “potty” phrases we use are from this book.

Other than "Once Upon a Potty", I have not done any reading or studying up on potty training. I only know what I know from friends and family experience, horrible and successful. Everyone has different solutions and techniques that have worked for them, but the one thing that was consistent with everyone I talked to is that Dax needs to be rewarded like crazy. So after he went potty on Wednesday we made a mad dash to Target to pick out his “special treat”. I couldn’t help myself when he went wee wee (that’s what we call it thanks to Once Upon a Potty)to do a little celebrating. So, I invented a little term every time we entered the bathroom and told him that we were going to have a little “Potty Party”. He thought that was fun. So when we were at Target I bought a few extra things to really make it a party.

We got some cool “undies” and some foamy soap that he was real excited about. We were looking for Diego or Mickey Mouse, but the only foamy soap character we found was Sponge Bob. He’s never seen the show but knew exactly who he was, and even though I am not a fan, I thought the foamy soap would be perfect for our Potty Party. Then we got some drinks and treats and he picked out a very cute 3D Fisher Price Memory Game with animals and hay stacks complete with a plastic egg carton carrying case. A very good choice if I do say so myself, and I may have had a little influence over it. Let's be honest, the boy does NOT need another truck for heaven’s sake!

After he went to bed Wednesday night I made his “Dax’s Potty Party” chart and hung it in the bathroom. Whenever he goes wee wee, poo poo, or sits and tries, he gets to put a star on the chart. I showed him it when he woke up on Thursday and asked if he wanted to put on his undies. He was so excited and couldn’t wait. For our “potty party” I bought cookies for when he goes wee wee and cupcakes for when he goes poo poo. We don’t stock a lot of treats in our house so these were especially special. His eyes lit up when I showed him the plate.

It’s been a few days now, and besides the very first accident on Thursday morning, he has successfully gone wee wee in the potty every time. I figured out that he wasn’t going to tell me he needed to use the potty, and after the first accident I discovered what the pee pee dance was, running in circles was, and crossing the legs was. Those all meant he had to go. It is a little hard to distinguish these moves when he kinda runs in circles and jumps around anyway because he is such a wild boy, but I think I got it, because every time I would run him on the potty, he would go. We even have a nice little routine down now---Run to the bathroom, drop undies to the ankles, fling undies off ankles and laugh extra hard when they land on your head, go wee wee in the potty, do our Potty Party song and dance (which baiscally consists of saying "potty party" lots of times real fast with a few "woo-hoos" thrown in), pull a little toilet paper from the roll and drop it in the toilet more like a salute or farewell because we all know boys don’t need to wipe, flush the potty, wash our hands with foamy soap, put a star on the chart, and get a treat from the plate.

So far so good! The poo poo part is going to be tricky, I can tell. He fooled me today and I won’t go into details, but let’s just say he was a little extra sneaky when I was distracted with Wyatt. Any suggestions? Overall, not too bad except the fact that I am going a little house crazy. The baseboards in the bathroom are spotless, the linens closet is clean and organized, and I have mentally redecorated the bathroom from paint color to accessories.

I think we’re headed down the right road, a diaper-less right road that is! Yea Dax!!

Disclaimer: Don't mind Dax's attire, he insisted on wearing his "muscle shirt" all day, even if it meant his Batman jammies. And, he needed to stand on a "tall tall tower" to wash his hands, hence the stool AND the gallon of paint. Nice, I know.