"pee and peep"

Potty training. It's honestly what I have dreaded for quite some time especially hearing how long it takes boys to grasp the idea.

Here's how the story goes...about 3 weeks ago Finn was taking a bath and pooped in his bath water. It was the first time he saw his poop and realized that it came from him. It occurred to me that I take care of all of the gross stuff and he never has to deal with it. To make the long and drawn-out ordeal short, it freaked him out! Anytime it moved in the water he would get really scared. Several days later he started telling me that he either had to pee or he had just peed. That was in the video of him standing on his wagon, pointing down there and saying "pee". I decided that it was probably time to start some sort of training with him.

Monday, the 20th, I put the potty chair in the bathroom and started explaining where his pee and poop were supposed to go. It was a fight to get him to sit on the potty, but I was determined and he ended up relenting most of the time. I told our families what I was doing and the advice started pouring in (which I was very grateful for--I was totally blind as to where to start). My sister, Sarah (Aunt Deah) bought a book as a joke called "Toilet training in less than a day". Little did she know! I got the book on Tuesday, read it Tuesday night and went shopping for the supplies I would need on Wednesday when I was in town. Thursday was the day to start. I turned the phones off, kept the TV off and eliminated any other distractions as best as possible. He willingly peed in the potty 5 times in the morning and a little more reluctantly 5 times in the evening. He had 3 accidents throughout the day...1 of them was my fault for not putting a pull-up on him for his nap.

The training included making sure that Finn had on loose clothing on the bottom and no shirt on top so that he could see what was going on down there. Next I re-taught him where his pee and poop go. The book takes it a few steps further though and says to teach Finn what to do with the pee after he goes. So, after that first willing time, he removed his seat cushion and put it on the floor. He then pulled out the pot and dumped it in the toilet. He replaced the pot in his potty, put the cushion back on and flushed the toilet. After each step he got a special treat and tons of praise.

Fast forward 1 more day. This morning he peed in the potty willingly 3 times and took care of the pee himself. We had an ultrasound appointment this afternoon so he had another pull-up on for part of the afternoon, but after we got home the pull-up came off and he peed willingly 5 more times and actually pooped for the first time right before bed. I'm so proud of him for picking this up so fast. There will probably be setbacks, but I now know that he can do it. Yay Finley! More updates to come!