Day 2.

Well day two went both better and worse than day one. Better because he had very few pee accidents (and one of those was first thing this morning when I think he was still sort of waking up and I'll talk about the other one later). Worse because we couldn't convince him to go poo in the potty. Instead he did it under the dining room table when Nick's back was turned. At least he did it on the linoleum instead of on the carpet...?

I was afraid we'd have problems getting him to poo on the potty. He's very odd about his poo - it's fairly obvious when he goes, and for months now I've been prompting him (attempting to get him ready for potty training) by asking "do you have to poo?" when I hear him starting and then asking if he's done when I know he is. Usually he responds by running away and lately he's been adding "no" to it as he runs away. Then he would fight me as I chased him down and got him up on the changing table to change him.

To be honest, we're not sure how to handle this part. Nothing I've read about the method we're using talks about problems with poo. All the similar situations I've read online have been from mommy's of three and four year olds (UGH). There's a book I've requested from the library (that I should hopefully have tomorrow) that I'm HOPING addresses this issue. I don't want to stress him out or make him feel bad by not going, but I need to find a way to encourage him to go on the potty. I've been considering buying a toilet seat insert dealie for the "big kid" toilet and seeing if he'd be more receptive to pooing there.

I can see why many parents delay potty training. It's a huge commitment on the parents part and you have to be just as much ready for it as your child is. Ben is extremely independent and is used to going about his own business during the day. I play with him as often as he'll let me, but for the most part he'd rather do his own thing. This has given me freedom to do my own thing as well - I can read, play on Pintrest, email Susan, work on dinner, tidy up (as long as I don't make too much of a fuss about tidying, otherwise he wants to crawl up my leg as I wipe down the counters). It's been a big commitment from me & Nick to pay attention to what he's doing, remember to prompt him to go, etc.

But anyway, back to today. According to the method we're using, today we were to go out of the house for an hour. The goal is to make it one hour without using the potty. We tried to go for a walk around our subdivision but even at 10:30 in the morning it was stinking hot. We stopped at the school by our house and let Ben play on the playground there and then came home to finish our hour in the backyard. About 45 minutes in, Ben peed his pants. Our fault for not paying more attention to what he was doing and getting him to the potty in time. Other than that accident, the one pee accident first thing this morning and the poo problem (ha ha), he's been really good at going. Most of the time when I ask him if he has to go, he'll tell me no. Within 5 or 10 minutes, he's often taken himself to the potty and gone himself.

As excited as I am to be getting him off of diapers, I have to admit I'm not really looking forward to 3 months of no pants. I'm not entirely sure we'll end up going that route. We'll see how he does over the next few weeks. If he continues to surprise me with how easily he's picking this up, I may just move him to big boy underpants rather than wait the full three months.

This has been surprisingly easy, despite the time commitment needed from me to be diligent about making sure he goes pee often. It hasn't been a battle or stressful at all. The method may sound hardcore and/or extreme, but it's really not. At least, not for us and not so far. A part of myself is ready for things to go to hell in a hand-basket at any moment.