Ho Lee Crap

No time, no time!!  I really truly have been too busy to write lately.  Which is unfortunate since I've had some interesting stuff going on lately.  Even when I do have a few minutes of down time, the last thing I want to do is sit down with a computer in my lap.  Our laptop sucks.  It's four years old and we need an upgrade.  The battery is shot, which means it has to be plugged in all the time.  It overheats easily, which means we have to have a hard surface and a fan underneath at all times.  It's all just not worth using most of the time. 

ANYWAY.  Biggest news of the moment: Aiden's been using the potty!  Not exclusively, but he's finally giving it a little more thought.  He used to refuse to sit on it all the time.  The only way we could get his butt to touch that seat\ was to bribe him with entertainment, such as stickers or books.  But the second he got bored with that, he was off the pot.  He never sat on it long enough to accidentally go potty in it.

BUT THEN.  Last week I think it was, Travis was giving him a bath.  He kept saying he needed to change his diaper, which is his way of saying he needs a diaper on.  Travis told him not to poop or pee in the tub and to sit on the potty if he needed to go.  He finally panicked enough that he was willing to give it a go.  A few minutes later and we had a teeny tiny poo in his potty!! 

Sadly, we didn't get to make a big deal of it at the moment.  Travis and I were both on the phone.  Travis said yay, gave him a high five and told him to come tell me what he did.  Aiden came out and told me went potty, but I assumed he'd gone in the tub and Travis was in the middle of refilling it.  So I just said, "Oh ya?  Get back in that bathroom silly boy."  Ugh.  It really upsets me when I think about how I didn't make a bigger deal of his moment. 

We put Aiden to bed and then went to the bathroom to clean up.  Travis dumped the poop in the real toilet and I asked him if he had put the poop in that potty to to show him where it was supposed to go.  He said, "No, Aiden pooped in the potty."  I was like WHAT?!?!?!  I ran in the bedroom right then and made the biggest deal I could out of the moment.  He was so proud.  I wish I could have shared that with him at the right time, but there's nothing I can do about it now. 

That weekend, we made a big attempt at the potty training.  We realized that he didn't recognize the sensation of needing to use the bathroom, so I spent an entire afternoon with him outside without a diaper on.  He had three accidents (two #1's and one #2) before finally getting it.  He said he had to go potty and we ran inside.  He sat down for a few minutes before finally peeing.  Amazing moment.  One I honestly didn't think would come anytime soon.  I showed him how proud I was and called Travis into the bathroom to do the same.  I gave him some stickers I'd been saving for his first time.  It was enough that he was willing to try sitting on the potty several times that evening and the next day. 

I've lost count of how many times he's used the potty.  I'm sure it wouldn't take more than two hands to count, but I haven't kept track.  The sad part is he regressed a lot after spending a day at daycare.  They don't really work with the kids on potty training much. It's intensely aggravating, but I can't change that.  When he got home that Monday night, he refused to sit on the potty.  I finally found that using reverse psychology worked the best: 

"Do not sit on that potty, Aiden.  That potty is for big boys, so you can't sit on that potty."

"I wanna sit on the pooooottttttyyyyYYY!!"

"Okay fine."

It feels wrong to let him completely defy what I have asked him to do, but at this point I'm willing to try anything.  We try to get him on the potty as often as possible.  When we get home from daycare, I take off his diaper and make an attempt to keep him off the furniture.  He does okay.  Nothing serious just yet, but we're making progress.

This past weekend, he woke up and decided he would go sit on the potty all by himself.  He took off his own pants and diaper and peed first thing.  It was probably the most amazing moment of my life recently.  Its funny how things change when you become a parent.  I've never been so ecstatic to see excrement in a toilet.  That Monday after Aiden first pooped in the potty, I think I told everyone I knew at work - even the graduate students who I'm sure could care less about where my toddler puts his poop.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, but it would be freakin' fantastic if Aiden were potty trained soon after Mila is born.  One set of diapers in the house is enough.  I have read that regression is common in older siblings of newborns, so I am prepared for that possibility.

I do have to say that potty training is my least favorite task of parenting thus far.  I don't think it's an easy thing for any parent, but it doesn't help that I have the Most Stubborn Child in the World.  I used to be the Most Stubborn Child in the World.  But at some point in my teen years, I realized there was no point.  Why fight everything in life?  Things have gotten a lot easier since then.  Until I gave birth to the new title holder, that is.