Big boy underwear!

Posted by hippiehousewife on February 13, 2009 · 6 Comments 

We had a big potty learning milestone today – our first poo in the toilet! (And by “our” I mean “his”. I’ve been quite proficient at pooing on the toilet for a couple decades now.)

I remember reading a quote somewhere, long ago, about how God made poo stink because otherwise mothers would be so proud of their children’s first poos that they’d try to save it. Too true, too true.

Anyway.

He’s been doing amazing on the toilet ever since hubby went back to work. His one week temporary job was extended for another week, so the little guy and I have had two weeks now to get back into a really good routine. I really struggle with that when my husband’s home 24/7. But suddenly the little guy is almost completely potty trained (telling me when he needs to go, staying dry all day except naps, and able to stop himself right away if he does start to have an accident), we’re eating much healthier and more regularly, he’s picking up all sorts of new concepts, we’re getting out a lot more, and I’m just really enjoying him in a new way. It’s hard to explain. I’ve always enjoyed him – I think he’s pretty much the most amazing boy ever – but these past couple weeks have been even more fun. It’s been really good for us, and he’s clearly flourishing. It’s neat to see.

So to celebrate his amazing job on the potty (and his first poo there!), we went out this evening and bought big boy underwear! We got a package of Cars undies, a package of trucks undies, and a couple of the old school waffle weaves. He was giddy with excitement. He had to put them on the minute we got home. And then take them off and try another pair. And then take those ones off and try another pair. Then he was satisfied for the rest of the evening.

I’m really proud of him. And not just for this – for everything. It’s just amazing to watch him grow. He’s such a sweet kid, so great when we go out, always complimented on how good he is, SO SO funny (I laugh SO MUCH because of him), just great. It’s been fascinating to watch him grow into toddlerhood, and I can’t wait to see the boy and man he becomes.

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Potty Learning

Posted by hippiehousewife on November 23, 2008 · 5 Comments 

We’ve had a few more dry diapers and pees on the toilet over the past couple days. I need to get out and buy a smaller seat to put on the toilet, as he (understandably) doesn’t always seem comfortable being held on the big toilet seat, and then we’ll start giving him access on a regular basis. So, I guess we’re starting potty learning!

Annie at PhD in Parenting shared her opinions and experiences with potty learning. Here’s a snippet:

Just like with infant and toddler sleep, there are a lot of misconceptions out there about what is normal. The generation before us prided themselves on getting their babies toilet trained before the age of two (I’m guessing the fashionable question at the time was “Is she toilet trained yet?” instead of the “Is she sleeping through the night?” question that we hear so often these days). Elizabeth Pantley has a great quiz to help you assess your child’s readiness for potty training: Potty Training Readiness Quiz.

So we’ll see how it goes. I don’t intend to make a huge pressure-filled deal out of it and turn him off of the idea altogether; we’ll just take him to the bathroom every hour and give him the opportunity to pee if he needs to.

As an amusing little side note, I turn on the tap every time I set him on the toilet so that the sound of running water sort of helps him along (Is that cheating? I don’t know.). So far, every single time, my husband has said, “Great…now I need to go!”

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First steps

Posted by hippiehousewife on November 19, 2008 · 6 Comments 

Yesterday – out of the blue! – we had three dry diapers and two pees on the big toilet.

Shock and amazement!

I don’t know whether this will continue, and I admit I’m not holding my breath in case it was merely a fluke, not to be repeated for many more months, but perhaps it really was his first steps towards potty learning.

I admit it – I sniffled a little bit. They grow up so fast, it catches you by surprise sometimes. My husband said yesterday that while it’s always been neat to watch him learn new things, it’s like a switch has flicked recently and he’s kicked things into a higher gear. It’s true, and is it ever fascinating to watch.

I wasn’t planning on starting potty learning for, goodness, another year-ish. It wasn’t something I wanted to push him towards before he was ready, so I planned to take a slow and casual pace. Maybe he has different plans – they do say, after all, that kids in cloth diapers learn to use the potty earlier than kids in disposables, since you can feel the wetness in cloth diapers while disposables whisk it all away.

And besides, isn’t that the core of attachment parenting – working with your child, recognizing their cues, adjusting your approach to fit an individual child…knowing them, building a relationship with them, walking along beside them? And parenting just wouldn’t be parenting if it weren’t always evolving, plans revised, nothing ever quite the way you expected – and so often, much much better than you could even have imagined.

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