Friday, August 27, 2010

On Board the Potty Train

IMG_3015

Day One:IMG_3009

Definitely picked the wrong day to start.  Henry was in Phase 3 of the stomach bug (1-Vomiting, 2-Diarrhea, 3-Return of POOP) and spent the entire afternoon/evening pooping.  Pretty much everywhere BUT on the potty.  And it was a chore every time because his bottom was sore.  Poor kid.  We went through every pair of underwear he owns (plus a pair or two of shorts) before I gave up on making him wear them.  It had gotten to the point where he was putting them on just so that he could  pee/poop in them. 

Highlight: Henry went to sleep totally naked at nap time; upon waking up, he immediately ran into the bathroom and peed in the potty.  Hooray for a dry bed! 

Low Point: chasing Henry around the backyard looking for his poop (he had taken off his underwear while playing and I could see the remnants of a bowel movement on his bottom).  What must the neighbors have thought?  “Henry!  Where did you put your poop?”  (Note… I didn’t find it, so watch your step!)

Day Two:

Didn’t even attempt the underwear.  Henry had figured out by now that if he peed on the floor, he could wipe it up.  Unfortunately, this was more convenient than running to the potty.  Only one poop for the day… it would have been great if it hadn’t landed on the living room floor.  And now Henry’s potty has been moved to the living room (we don’t have a bathroom on the main level). 

Highlight: We went to the grocery store and made it all the way there and back without an accident.  Yay! 

Low Point: Chasing Henry up the stairs trying to catch the pieces of poop as they fell from his bottom (the aftermath of the aforementioned poop on the living room floor). 

IMG_3013Day Three:

Henry has figured out that he can pee in anything that holds liquid.  Cups, pans, measuring spoons, plastic star (surprise… it has holes in it, like a colander, so it does NOT hold liquid)… Maybe if I can get him to put these objects IN the potty first, then he can have fun trying to pee in them? 

Highlight: We were up before 5am this morning, so I’m not hoping for much.  However, Henry did ask to pee on the potty when he got out of bed.  I ignored him because I was too tired to deal with that and I was hoping he’d go back to bed.  Not long after that he informed me that he had peed in his diaper (he never did go back to bed). 

Low Point: Henry ran in into the living room and threw something in the potty.  “What was that, Henry?”  “I put poop in the potty.” Oh.  I guess it’s not exactly how I intended for that process to go, but at least the poop ended up the right place.

Update:  I thought we were doing well for a little while.  Henry several times used the potty all by himself and was making less of a fuss.  Until he came to me with a diaper in his hand, begging tearfully for me to put it on him.  I agreed, but just for naptime.  Ten minutes into said “naptime,” his diaper was off, there were at least three puddles of pee on the floor in his room, and poop on his rug.  And he didn’t ever go to sleep.  Why did I even bother? 

4 comments:

Michael Fleming said...

Oh, Henry. As your uncle, this made my day, as a new dad, it scares the crap out of me (horrible pun intended).

Jessica E. Fleming said...

Dear Henry, please DO NOT teach your cousin these tricks. Thanks.

Reenie said...

They actually make these floating targets for boys to shoot in the toilet. LOVE the stories Betsy! You are going straight to heaven :) Thanks for sharing the joy!

Sarah said...

I cried with laughter. Must say those three days make potty training sound like something out of a bad, bad dream :(