Potty training= PARTAY!

Ha ha, just kidding. Believe me, I am not that sick.

YES I am potty-training Carter. This is not my first attempt at training him. I tried a few months ago, and made the decision not to blog about my failures. The good thing was that I didn’t put much effort into it. I remembered how things went with Jenna and couldn’t bring myself to really dedicate myself to the cause and then fail, so I just half-heartedly made my attempt. So every once in a while since then, I’ve asked him if he wants to wear underwear, and he has on occasion. He has even gone a couple times in the past. But mostly he would sit there forever and not go, and a few minutes after getting off the toilet he’d wet his pants. Then he’d be like, “Mom I want diapers. I don’t want to be a big boy.” And I would say, “Okay.”

WELL yesterday he wanted to wear underwear again. (The promise of a new train when he got potty-trained definitely helped.) And it was totally different. I tell ya, when they are ready they are ready, as I learned with Jenna. Nothing really changes, they just all of a sudden GET IT without me forcing it at all. (Okay, forcing it a little.) Anyway he did AWESOME yesterday!!!!! Pee, poo the WHOLE DEAL all in the potty, and only 1 minor accident when he couldn’t get his clothes off in time. I was amazed.

So one thing I learned about potty-training Carter: in the past I always sat with him, read him books, sang him songs, gave him candy, and he would sit and do nothing, then pee his pants later. THIS TIME he firmly told me, “Mom, don’t look at me.” So I’d leave the room, and as soon as I did he would go. Funny, huh! Couldn't do his business under my all-seeing eye? Yeah, I don’t know. Even when my visiting teacher came over and he was standing there in his underwear, she tells him, “Are you going on the potty today?!” He goes, “Don’t look at me!” and ran away. And when Nate got home he said, “Carter you are doing SO AWESOME!” He tells daddy grumpily, “Don’t look at me!” It cracks me up.

Another thing I learned about Carter that is different than Jenna: He doesn’t tell me when he has to go. Jenna would just tell me when she had to go and we’d run to the potty. With Carter, I have to just sit him on the potty every once in a while, and every time I sit him on it, he goes. Interesting. He also doesn't really care about candy and sticker charts. I mean, just when you think you know how to potty-train, after all I did it with Jenna, then comes a totally different kid and you have to adjust. It's kind of not fair. Why can't it be 1 potty-training method fits all, yaknow?

So after an awesome day, I put him to bed in his underwear. I didn’t want him to remember diapers so quickly, so I knew I’d just deal with the consequences. So when I woke up this morning and realized he didn’t wake me up AT ALL during the night, I was like, oh great he is sleeping in a wet bed. That’s how it was with Jenna anyway, she wet her bed pretty much every night until I said I can’t do this anymore and gave in to pull-ups at night until she learned to stay dry. So when he woke up at 8 COMPLETELY DRY, I ran to his bed to double-check, It WAS dry, I was floored. YEAHHHHHH CARTER!!!!!!!!!

I was on a high! I was like, this is easy! I was like, he gets it! He really gets it!!!!

Then he pooped his pants and did not say a WORD to me about it, until I said, “Carter it’s time to sit on the potty!” and he says, “I need help taking off my jammies cause the poo-poo will get on me.” ARGHHHHHH!!!!

Well, Jill, you said it best when you said, “You win some and you lose some.” Ain’t it the truth!

Things are looking good. Wish me luck... “Go Carter, go Carter, it’s your birthday, have a party...”