potty training.

After two very unsuccessful attempts at potty training Bennet, I was in no hurry to rush into the third. Once, when I was pregnant with Kennedy, I tried the "Potty Party" method outlined in Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day. Bennet was not feelin' the concept of potty training his anatomically correct, peeing doll and even acted jealous of the doll when I'd hold it. My day-long Potty Party lasted about an hour before I called it, only to have another miserable failure a few weeks after Kennedy was born. This time, I put Bennet into underwear and tried all morning to get him to pee on the potty. Instead, he peed all over the house and cried when he didn't get a treat for doing so. Total. Nightmare. Discouraged, and sure that he wasn't ready, we shelved potty training and planned to try it again over Andrew's Christmas vacation from work. I figured by winter, he'd be older and much more open to the concept, especially after seeing his friends at school use the potty. Plus, I knew having Andrew there to help every day would be a huge help - since getting a two-year-old to the potty on time when you have a baby who wants a bottle or a diaper change is a challenge! And so, the day after Christmas, we put Bennet in underwear, told him diapers were a thing of the past, and hoped for the best!

Toasting the start of potty-training with Daddy!

We had a few "accidents" here and there over the first two days, but Bennet definitely got it this time. He understood when he would get prizes and he absolutely understood the difference between peeing on the potty and peeing in his underwear. He fought the idea a little, mostly because he's stubborn like his mommy, but he is definitely growing more and more willing to use the potty, and is very proud of his newly earned big kid status! We have gone two full days without a single accident - and have even been brave enough to leave the house to run errands yesterday and today (with several changes of clothes packed, of course!) We've taken the prize-getting down from little, wrapped presents every time he uses the potty to one bigger present at the end of every day for staying dry all day. My mom and grandma got him a Toy Story gum ball machine for Christmas, which we filled with Pretzel M&Ms, so we have also been giving him a coin to put in it to "buy" an M&M each time he uses the potty. All-in-all, it's going 100% better than the other two times. Although I'm sure we'll have plenty of accidents and learning experiences along the way, he is so receptive to the idea this time and is doing so well - a night and day difference from all of my previous attempts!

He often drums while he's ON the potty.

I'm so proud of him and I'm so relived that it has been this much easier this time around. Lots of people told me that once he was really ready, he'd get it - but I would never have imagined it could be this simple. If you're stressing out over potty training in your house - I'd tell you to give it some time, keep reading books and watching potty shows, talk about the potty a lot and wait until they really seem to show interest and have a good grasp of what the potty is all about. I'd have saved myself a lot of frustration had I just waited! Then again, had I not started talking potty with him back in the spring, maybe he wouldn't have thought the whole thing over enough to understand it!

A little "I used the potty" celebration dance!