All aboard

All aboard the potty train! Chooo Choooo!

It was with much eagerness and excitement that I planned our recent "potty party" weekend, the event that officially kicked off our transition into big boy underpants. Andrew wasn't quite as excited, of course, but he gave it a shot (motivated mainly by the promise of two M&Ms for peeing in the potty, four if he pooped.) At the end of the day, Andrew had earned 12 stickers on  his potty chart, ate two dozen M&Ms and pooped in the bathtub and on the floor in our dining room, but not in his potty.
I have learned this is par for the course. Potty training is a process. Some have told me it's too early and that my son is too young and to those people I grumpily mutter under my breath -- who asked you?
I know my son. I know how smart and capable he is and I know he has excellent control in the peeing and pooping department. He has no fear of the potty, as he has been sitting on the potty at least once a day nearly everyday since he was about 11-months-old.
Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's going to take time. But I think that is true for every child. Those stories you hear about people potty training their children in one day. They are true. The parent dedicated one entire day to juicing up their kid, running them to the potty, rewarding them for trying and all that jazz. But the potty training didn't happen in one day -- oh no. The potty training happened over many days, weeks, maybe even months. As I said, it is a process.
So, we are just at the beginning of this process. I have to remind Greg of that because he wants instant results. I take pleasure in the small victories. The first day, we had success with Andrew using the big potty, something he has not wanted to do before. We've also had three consecutive days of dry naps. That is a big deal.
So, our potty train is chugging along. I'm not sure when we will be able to add the "ed" to the potty train (as in potty trainED) but that's OK. Everyday, Andrew is learning to potty and I am learning more about him.
And, I have to say, that little tushy looks darn cute in his big boy underpants.