Potty Time!

Since Nate turned 2, we've been dreading potty training. He is the most stubborn kid ever born, a cruel punishment for super-stubborn me and painfully stubborn Chuck. So when it comes to being patient, trying and failing but trying again (a theme song from the DVD "Elmo's Potty Time"), and delayed gratification ("if you pee on the potty, you get an M&M!"), Nate's stubbornness just results in a loud, weepy ball of frustration.

We casually tried potty training last year, and our pediatrician said that maybe he just wasn't ready and to hold off until closer to his 3rd birthday. Then my aunt Sue, who's taught a class of 2- and 3-year-olds for 10 years (God help her), said that my pediatrician was a wuss and that I needed to just stop putting diapers on him. We did a little bit of both. On the weekends, I would let him go without a diaper or pants around the house. He usually ended up peeing on the floor. It got so bad that Chuck demanded, "HE'S NOT GOING WITHOUT DIAPERS UNTIL HE'S POTTY TRAINED!" I would put him on the potty and sit there with him. We would go through these alphabet flashcards (his favorite thing ever), and a few times, he got relaxed enough that he started to go. But he never told us he had to go, which actually meant that we (me and Chuck) were potty trained, not him.

But a couple weekends ago, something clicked. "Mommy, I haffa go potty!" I put him on the potty, he pointed his wiener down, and he went! We let him wear his undies (he has a variety of Diego, Sesame Street and Super Why undies) during the day. Sometimes he would start to go in them, but for the most part he would tell us he had to go, we'd put him on the potty AND HE WOULD GO AGAIN! Then, during the week, he would go. And he would even go at school. Now he never wears a diaper during the day -- just Pull-Ups if we're going somewhere and of course at night because he still SOAKS it.

Sounds great, right? Well, I said Nate was potty trained, but he's not poopy trained. Meaning, the first thing the kids get is the sensation of having to pee, but pooping is a different story. So where is he pooping? In those cute Diego/Sesame Street/Super Why undies that are otherwise completely dry. And I can tell you, cleaning poop out of undies is about a bzillion times worse than cleaning Nate's adult-sized poop out of his diaper. I'm hoping he catches on soon ...

Theo's 1-year stats

 Theo had his 12-month pediatrician appointment last week. He weighed in at 22 lb. 2 oz. and measured 30.5 inches long. That's 45th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. Not that I ever compare my boys, but Nate was exactly the same length at 1 year, but weighed 24 lb. 9 oz. (both were in 75th percentile). Theo never had Nate's full face and chunky legs -- and he certainly doesn't have his brother's appetite, preferring to play with his food rather than eat it. You can imagine how after raising the "human garbage disposal," this completely blows my mind.

"No, Mommy, you eat it!"