little big boy

Today I realized that for some strange reason, it completely slipped my mind to mention that we are in full potty training mode over here. We've been at it for almost 3 weeks and I'm happy to say that things are going fairly well! I was a bit hesitant to start this process because I simply didn't have enough faith in myself to do it. Being a first time mommy, I've never potty trained before so I was doubting my ability.

I had actually took a stab at it a few months back but after the very first accident, I threw in the towel. Now that Evan will be turning 3 next month (I still don't believe that...) I knew that it was time. The first day we had three accidents but I kept trudging through and didn't give up. The next day was better with I think only one accident all day. Over the next few days we didn't have any accidents at all and Evan even finally went potty on the toilet. The way I've been going at it is this:

1. Whenever we're at home, Evan wears his big boy undies (Toy Story and Cars!)
2. Whenever we're away from home, Evan wears his pull ups. I'm not into the accidents away from home just yet!
3. Nap time and bedtime are in his regular diapers.

When we're home, I spend a lot of time asking to go potty and while most of the time it's a 'No', we do make several trips to the bathroom even if we just sit there. I'm noticing that Evan's been going very long stretches without going and then seems to let it all out while sleeping. That little stinker! So that makes it a bit hard to actually go on the potty but we have done it! He's even told us he needed to go at least three times and has actually gone. That's just so exciting for me and for Evan too because I make such a big deal about it! We high five, thumbs up, clap and say lots of 'Great job!' and 'Awesome dude!'. It's just really fun!

We've been rewarding him with jelly beans when he goes. He really likes that and often asks for 'beans' while sitting on the potty even before he's gone! haha! Last weekend we spent a lot of time away from the house so that put a little damper on it but I don't really get discouraged. I just think of it as a learning process and something that just takes time. That way I'm not stressing myself out and feeling like I'm a failure. It was exciting though when he actually went potty at his grandma's house. That was pretty cool!

Today we spent most of the day at home which makes it easier to focus on it. This morning was one of the days he told us he had to go and went. Then this evening, we went to McDonald's for dinner and I completely forgot that he was in his undies and he had an accident in the high chair. I felt so bad. I even knew that it had been a while since he had gone and just forgot when we left the house. We made it funny though and we held him up in the air by his hands as we walked. We got a good chuckle and had fun with it.

One thing we have yet to tackle is #2. We haven't done that yet and I'm kinda wondering how that'll go. Evan's always pretty much done that in the morning just after he wakes up and before I've gone in to get him so I've got to figure out how to do that. I'm thinking I'll just have to get up earlier than he does (ugh...) to get it done but we'll see.

So anywho, that's what's going on in potty world over here. Another thing that'll be a big change over here once he's all trained is his bed situation. We still have him in his crib since he's never climbed out so once he can go potty on his own, we'll be transitioning his bed from crib to toddler bed. I'm actually excited about that and looking forward to the next big boy step!

I'm actually getting a little sad thinking about it though. He's not a baby or really a toddler anymore and time just seems to be flying by. These past three years have gone by so fast, I wish there were a way to slow it down just a bit.

So what about you? If you've ever potty trained, how did it go for you? What were some of the successful things you did? How long did it take for your little one to catch on?