Potty liveblog

(Note: Of course Blogger crashed for the first day of this potty liveblog. So the first day-and-a-half is our best attempt at reconstructing the order of events after the fact.)

1:30 PM Thursday. No diapers! No potty either. It has been a messy and frustrating morning. (Partly because he's sick and sleep-deprived -- not the best combination for potty training.)

3:00 PM Thursday. Horrible, horrible wakeup. "WANT MAMA!" Daddy found internet images of butterflies (a current favorite for Luke) and printed them out to tape onto his new plain potty (the frog is a little small and uncomfortable for him). When he calms down we tape them onto the potty. He thinks the rainbow one is the prettiest.

4:00 PM Thursday. I ask Lucas: "How do you feel when you think about the potty?" He ignores the question for several minutes. I ask again and eventually he answers: "Nervous."

5:00 PM Thursday. We are lying on the bed in the guestroom looking at the butterflies on the pillows. I tell him I need to use the potty. No response. Several minutes later he asks me: "You need to use the potty?" "Yes, Lucas, I think I'm going right now", and so I go. After a minute he follows me into the bathroom. As nonchalantly as I can I say: "Sit down on the potty Luke. Do you want me to help you take your underwear off?" "No, I do it." He does. He sits down. He pees! The smile is priceless. And best of all, at the very moment he starts peeing mama comes home. She knocks on the bathroom just as he finishes. It's like a reward. "Mama, look!"

Friday. Home sick. No potty time all morning and multiple accidents, followed by another awful wakeup from nap. Around 3:00 dad gets him to sit on the potty again -- and he pees! He is very pleased and this time he wants to wash his potty himself. Later in the day he sits on the potty again but doesn't go. A half hour later he has an accident on the sidewalk. We have to walk indoors with wet undies, shorts, and socks, and he really doesn't like it. "Maybe next time you'll get to the potty in time. That must be uncomfortable." "I'm uncomfotartable!" At bedtime he asks mama to help him sit on the potty purely as a delay tactic. Tomorrow is another day.

Saturday 8:00. Lucas is brushing his teeth. "Daddy, I feel something.". "Let's get over to the potty!". He pees -- standing up -- in the potty!

Saturday 1:00. First major outing this morning and no accidents! Sat twice on the Kerrytown potty but no success. At naptime he wanted to delay so he sat on his potty -- and peed! Then wanted to delay again, and a successful #2! No accidents yet today.

Sunday 10:00. At Meijer's: Mom and Luke are as far away as you can be from the restroom and Lucas looks up and said "I need to pee." They run as fast as they can, mom pushing the shopping cart, and they ditch the cart near the restroom to put Luke down. Luke runs to the restroom door with mom right behind, and you know the drill from there.

Sunday 12:00. Playing at home, Luke announces, "pee emergency!" He runs to the bathroom, stopping in the other room to inform daddy about what he's about to do, pulls down his pants and undies (with a little help from mom in case it is an emergency), and -- another success! No accidents in two days! (Knock on wood.)

Sunday 3:00. #1 and #2 on the potty!

Sunday 5:00. #1!

Sunday 8:00. The only unfortunate side effect is that he has a new, temporarily fool-proof delay tactic at bedtime. Dad plans to buy a copy of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" ASAP.

Please note: A perfect weekend; not a single accident. Wow! If you'd asked me Thursday or mid-day Friday, I would have said we have 6 more months to go....The final challenge will be daycare tomorrow.

P.S. Daycare has gone great. There was an accident Monday but it was in the potty area -- he was on his way but didn't quite make it fast enough. Early this morning we did have an accident at home, but I think he hadn't quite woken up and wasn't thinking. Today at daycare he made it to the potty every time! (He's working on his aim, though....!)