Potty Training = Success!

 I can officially say that Baker is potty trained! Sound the alarms--Woohoo!  We still put him in a pull up at night to avoid late night sheet changes but that will soon be changing because recently he's been waking up with a dry pull up!  Not to mention, I think the pull ups might be irritating him down there.  He says they're "heavy"& "itchy"so I think he's ready to kick them to the curb which I guess is a good thing since we need to start stocking up on diapers!

The whole potty training process was probably harder on us than it was on him.  It is a total and full commitment on all levels and I don't think I knew how tough it would be.  I'm not sure if it was because I'm pregnant and feeling more vulnerable and my patience level is shorter or what but at times I felt as though he'd never get to this point but he did and we are so proud of him.  It feels like we have been "trying" to potty train him forever yet we really didn't start hard core until May so in reality I suppose 5 months isn't really that bad, right?  We've sure had our roller coaster of emotions involving excitement, frustration, irritation, and I can't forget anxiety but overall we just know that this is just another step in our baby boy becoming a big boy.


Don't get me wrong, he still has accidents here and there and seems to love to "punk" me on the car rides to school and pee in his shorts or request a potty break when we have no time to stop along the way.  I have realized that making a pit stop or having to deal with these little setbacks are just a part of being a mom. As you all know, I am very OCD and like everything just so.  Well, things haven't calmed down much since I became a mom but I'm slowly realizing that life with a toddler means setbacks do happen and I have to be MUCH more flexible than I ever was before and I do believe I am doing much better at not letting the little things upset me as I am now looking back at these incidents more and laughing.  However, the morning he had diarrhea on the way to school before one of my OB appts takes the cake for the worst car travel potty experience yet.  2 diarrhea incidents (one in the potty and one in his shorts in his carseat).  Mind you the first time I had to use napkins (I only had 2 in my car) to clean him up since my toddler wipes disappeared.  I thought we were in the clear until he somehow manages to go again during our route to my dr. appt and doesn't tell me until we get to the parking lot and I'm left to try to figure out how to clean him up with no wipes, tissues, or towels.  I had to use a blanket....yes a blanket of his to wipe him up and thankfully it didn't seep onto his shorts too bad because I didn't have any spares that morning.  Thank goodness his underwear were thick and kept most of it "contained".  It was a complete and utter disaster but we averted a semi crisis and I went into my dr. appt only a few minutes late.  At least he had clothes on.  I would have gotten worst mother of the year award if he went into my dr. appt with just a shirt and underwear on! How humiliating that would have been!  Now I try to keep an extra spare set of clothes in his book bag regardless and the toddler wipes have been replenished in my car so because I am now prepared I am betting we won't have an incident like that again for a while.  These are the moments that I will look back on years from now and probably laugh even harder but I know I'll miss them as he gets older.

It is hard to believe we are just 2 months shy of his 3rd birthday and bringing our 2nd baby boy into the world! Is that really possible?  Time just goes by too fast so we are hugging each other a little tighter, making sure we say i love you every chance possible, and enjoying all the moments we spend together as our little family and with our families as our lives are changing everyday.  I just love to sit back and take it all in especially at night when the house is quiet and we sneak in to look at Baker fast asleep.  We've noticed lately just how much his face has changed this year and how tall he is.  He seriously grew a few inches while I was away in Savannah for 4 days for work.

Snapshot of Baker in one of his first pairs of big boy underpants

Using the potty

When he first started potty training with his seat on top of the big potty he always liked to aim  

Just one of the incidents we had with toilet paper during our potty training trials and tribulations.  Thankfully it hadn't been in there too long and it was easily removed with the toilet brush.  He loves his "paper towels" as he calls it.

This is a picture I took as he watched Gordie give Freida a bath.  PURE joy.

Doing one of his favorite things, coloring.

Flashback to his 2nd Birthday Party (Nov 2011)

He's changed so much from

then (Nov 2011)

 

to now... (Sept 2012)

He's such a big boy and while he might still struggle at pulling up his underwear and shorts over his cute little tush...we'll indulge in all the little things that make him our sweet boy.  I think I have finally realized what my parents have been telling me all along growing up.  You just don't ever understand it until you have your own children.  I now know how they felt and still feel about me and that's a very special feeling because I now share that feeling towards Baker.  We will slowly take in these next 2 months and plan Baker's birthday party and get loose ends tied up before our baby boy's arrival but in between this busy thing we call life we will make sure to enjoy each other as much as possible because through the tough times and struggles when it seems like even potty training is tough, all that matters and will ever matter is family.