One Proud Momma!

This is a picture of my little man pooping on the potty!  Thanks for sharing you might be thinking. Or, kind of a weird picture to post on your blog. Not for this proud momma!  Elijah peed and pooped in the toilet ALL day today! He woke up dry (which NEVER happens), in fact he is usually so wet his pjs are a little damp.  So we raced to the bathroom and after a minor battle, I won and he peed. He left his diaper on all day, but would run in there and take it off himself, pee, need help putting it back on and resume playing.  I was holding my breath all day, but I knew the real test would be #2.  

Before I finish, let me fill you in on a few details.  First, Elijah is EXTREMELY stubborn. (I am pretty sure he gets this from his dad!) Second, he has been EXTREMELY strong willed since he was a baby.  If he does not want to do something, he won't.  His older brother, Jonah was relatively "easy" to potty train, mostly because he hated to be dirty or wet.  He picked up on it quickly and has had very few accidents since. He even wore underwear to bed and naps within a few months of mastering this skill.  He was a little over 2 1/2 years old, which is a little early for a boy.  I am not including this to brag, but to contrast our second child who is totally different!

We have trialed underwear a few other times with Elijah and it has resulted in an obvious answer that he is not ready.  He has peed in them and not noticed, or come to me after the fact, when it is obvious he had been sitting in wet undies for some time. Elijah has been having these crying/temper tantrums when he pees in his diaper and wants a new one.  I have refused to play along with this game and have called his bluff.  It has been hard on my mother, who thinks I should be changing his diaper when he says this. I, however, did not agree. If I gave in I was afraid the child would never be potty trained. Plus, diapers are too expensive to throw after only peeing in them once!  I am sure glad I stood my ground. 

Countless times Elijah would follow me around in tears with a new diaper in hand begging me to change it.  I informed him that if he did not like to pee in his diaper than he should pee in the potty, but I would not change his diaper every time he peed in it. I have to admit that I was a little frightened that this child would be in diapers forever. Or that I would have scarred him for life. 

Potty training is one of the hardest things I have had to do as a parent. Possibly because it is something I can NOT make my child do.  He has to want to do it himself. It's that darn control issue again rearing its ugly head!

Back to my story.  So I laid the boys down for naps and was sure that Elijah would poop in his diaper as soon as I left the room and the streak would be over (no pun intended).  I tucked them in and as I walked out the door heard, "Uh oh. Mom I have to poop." This statement usually is followed by screaming and refusal to do this in the toilet when I ask. However, he hopped right out of bed and ran in there. My hopes were dampened when he sat there for a good 10 minutes grunting, groaning, reading my magazines, and playing with his magna doodle. Over time the grunting was only happening when I walked by and was encouraging him. I was about to give up, but he said he wasn't done. I left him for a few more minutes and then heard him squeal with delight as he was examining his hard work. "Look at my poops mom! Look, I did that all by myself" he screamed. 

Jonah came in to congratulate him, but quickly retreated back to his room gagging.  Not because it smelled, but because Elijah managed to smear a little poop all over the seat as he was turning around to check out the final result. I was laughing so hard I almost cried, and was almost crying because I was so proud!

Needless to say, he made it the rest of the day going in the toilet too!  The best part was, when I asked him what prize he wanted for being a "big boy" he said a bowl of ice cream. That's my boy!  I was worried because yesterday I let him have pick out a spiderman movie from my secret stash after he just pooped in the potty.  I set the bar a little high, but I was ready to do anything to get him to go!

I am still on cloud nine enjoying the success of day one.  I know tomorrow is a different day and I certainly am not going to get my hopes up. I am however one proud momma!