Possible poop breakthrough?

I read an important-sounding article about how to get kids to poop on the pot. It said that lots of kids don't like to see their poop go bye-bye, like they are losing a part of themselves. It said to tell them that their poop goes in the toilet, into the pipes under the house, and to the poop party.

I told Evan this, and his eyes got huge. It was a look that said, "I believe you 100 percent." He then ran to the bathroom and said, "my poop go to poop party," then started to pull down his pants, then said, "No, I can't." It was a poop breakthrough nonetheless.

The next day I overheard him telling his daycare friend, "My poop go to poop party under house in pipes." They then ran to the bathroom together, Evan sat on the pot, and sat there for 5 minutes. There was no poop success, but I gave him a chocolate chip for trying. It was one of the first times he didn't absolutely freak out when I suggested pooping on the pot.

This morning he brought it up again. He said, "Evan go in there, to poop party." Oh no, I thought. Think fast. "Um, the poop party is only for poop." "No," he said, "Poop party only for poop and for Evan." I thought quick again, "Um, you can't fit in there." He put his head far into the toilet, so far his nose was almost in the water, "See, Evan can fit there."

I might have to get one of those toilet locks on the toilet so he doesn't try to jump in.


More Evanisms
His words are forming sentences. Like this one.
Daycare kid: Me play race car
Evan: Idea! You play race car first, Then, when clock say 8, no... 9, then Evan play race car.
This one really cracked me up because he appears to know none of his numbers. Every time I ask him "What number is this?" He just says 1 or 2 without really looking at the number. When the sitter was over the other day, she asked him a few of his numbers, and he knew them. Little stinker.

Later...
Evan: I'm very hungry. Go make food Evan.
Me: What would you like to eat?
Evan: Juice and food named grapes. [thinking...] Juice drink and food named grapes, eat.
Later...
Evan: No, they're hot. Let it coooool down, and then Evan eat it later.

Isaac 4.5 months

What am I, silly putty?

Every time I put my face close to his, he grabs my hair and brings it to his mouth, squeezes my nose and tries to remove my cheeks. He will try to bring any part of my face to his mouth.

Isaac has been rolling over for a few weeks now. This morning I put him down on a blanket, and a few minutes later he was on the carpet on the other side of the room. We've reached that age. He's very cute and happy. Even when he's unhappy, he still sneaks in smiles.

Evan and Isaac will stare at each other for 5 minutes, cackling. Everything Evan does is hilarious to him, and vice versa. Evan has discovered he can get Isaac to crack up by jumping up and down.

Is this how discipline is supposed to work?
Evan would not clean his room. I used a tip recommended from The Book, and this is how it went.

Earlier: Evan dumps out a huge box of toys.
Me: You can leave your room after you clean those up.
One hour later, it still is not clean.
Me: Ok, you have three minutes to clean up the toys you want to keep. Whatever is left on the floor, mommy will clean up and put into the garbage can. Here is the garbage can.
Evan: Okay.
I hear the sound of banging a minute later and peek into his room. He is quickly and eagerly putting his toys into the trash bag.
Me: Ok, three minutes are up.
Evan: Here you go mommy. For the trash.
I pick up the remaining toys off his floor and put them into the trash bag. He starts to help me, saying:
Evan: Bye bye red monkey. Bye bye, blue book. Bye bye car. Bye bye other red monkey. Bye bye ocean thing.
We walk the two trash bags out to the big trash can in the garage, and he happily helps put the bags in there, saying, "There!"

Evan's 3-year pictures

Happy 3rd Birthday Evan!

Evan celebrated his Birthday early at My Gym with ten of his closest friends (not pictured in case parents have privacy concerns).

Day 2!

Evan stayed clean and dry again all day! Now we just need to get him to poop on the pot.

Poop-free all day!

Evan's pants were poop-free and dry all day! In some cases, he went 3-4 hours between potty visits, and I was sure he would have his accident any minute. But have it he did not.

He even stayed dry through his marathon nap.

Ooops

Evan only had one accident yesterday, and it was during naptime, which everyone knows doesn't really count. When he had the accident he was very distraught and seemed disappointed in himself... which serves its own purpose. He gets it.

Then today I suggested we have a "car wash" at the table (the kids dunk their Hot Wheels into containers of soapy water). I guess all the water made it impossible for him to not have an oops at the table.

Then he was playing in the bathroom sink and had another oops.

Both by 10:00 this morning.

I still think he'll be potty trained soon. After all, if I really want it, it will happen, right?

Raspberries
Isaac has discovered how to do raspberries. Yesterday he entertained himself for over an hour, making wonderful gurgling noises with the spit bubbles that dripped down his chin. He looked very concentrated as he did it.

When he puts himself to sleep, he lies on his tummy and scratches his blanket, turning his head to the side and looking at the source of all that noise.

When he wakes up, he lifts his head high to stare at the airplanes on his crib bumper.

Sittin on the pot

I have no idea what I am doing.

Who knew potty training could be so hard? I didn't really know if he was "ready." I mean, he shows some of the readiness signs (can go a couple hours with a dry diaper, shows some interest in using the potty but only if candy rewards are involved) but not the other readiness signs (is rarely bothered by the feeling of poop against his skin). But I was ready to train, so I just went for it.

We moved him into big boy pants last week. The first few days he had 2 or 3 accidents. Not bad, I thought. By that rate he'd be potty trained by the end of the week. But then one day he had 5 accidents, and then 4. I considered giving up, but I just kept putting him back in his Thomas undies and offering gummy worm rewards.

This weekend he has had 1-3 accidents per day. I have no idea if this is normal or good or damaging. But I'm gonna keep doing it until he gets it.

One thing that is funny... the experts all say not to "force" the issue. They say to let the toddler tell you when they are ready, and to keep the experience positive. Well, one day I was in a lousy mood, and I was not thinking, and I accidentally commanded, "come sit on this potty now! I am going to count to 3!" And he said, "oh, oh, okay mommy! I coming!" He ran to the potty, sat down, and peed.

Often, on his way to the potty, he narrates what is to happen: "Evan sit on big potty, go pee pee, wash hands, use soap, put on pants, put on shirt, get a gummy worm!!!" It's funny because he doesn't usually remove his shirt when going potty.



Scroll down to June 1. I squeezed an entry in that had been left out earlier (Quiet Time).