Potty Training

Zac has become very interested in the potty.  He's asks to sit on the potty, and tells me when he needs a diaper change.  We've had multiple success with getting to the potty in time to urinate, no pooping yet.  In Zac's world, everything that happens in his diaper is poop. 

A few weeks ago, he asked me about underpants.

"Thackie got underpants, mama?" He asked.

"Do you want underpants, buddy?" I replied.

"YEAH! Underpants" He gave me his best big boy grin, so enthusiastic!

"What will you do with underpants?" I was honestly curious how much he knows about the whole potty thing.

"No pooping mama.  Underpants not for pooping.  Diapers for pooping."  He was really serious in his reply, like he's got it all figured out.

Santa brought Zac 14 pairs of underpants for Christmas - 7 cars themed, 7 Thomas themed. He immediately went from being a toddler to being a college student, and promptly put a pair on his head.

A week or so ago, I got a wake up in the middle of the night over the monitor.

"Mama! MAMA! I POOPED OUT MY PENIS! MAMA! MY JAMMIES WET! Maaaaaaaaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaaaa!" he called out.

When I got upstairs, he was standing in his crib, pulling his wet jammies away from his body.  I asked him what happened. 

"I POOPED.  OUT MY PENIS. Change diaper, Mama?"

While getting him changed, I talked about pooping and peeing, and how pee is just wet, while poop is smushy.  I didn't go into which body parts make what happen, but I did tell him we had much bigger problems if he'd actually pooped from his penis.
Over the weekend, he had over 2 hours of time in underpants with no accidents (no using the potty, but no accidents, either).  What I don't know about potty training would fill a book, but I'm pretty sure his awareness of what has happened and what is needed means a step in the right direction toward diaper freedom.

Pushing 2

It's been a while since I last checked in.  I could pretend that it's just that my son keeps me so busy, but there's been a free-floating spirit of ennui coursing through my life, which makes it hard to sit down and concentrate.

It's hard to believe there was a time where I worried that Zac didn't talk enough, or that I would beg him to say "Mommy" instead of "Daddy" all the time.  I think he broke a world record for the number of times one person can say "mommy" in a 60 second time frame.  After the 932 reiteration of "MOMMY?" I said "Jeez, Zac, WHAT?!?!" (I was on the phone while he was doing this, of course)

He smiled sweetly and said "HI!" Yep.  That's an almost 2 year old for ya.

He got to spend a fair amount of time with Papa & Granny (My dad & his wife) this summer, and the attraction between Zac and his Papa was almost palpable.  Upon first re-meeting, Zac walked up to his Papa, reached for his hand, and said "Hewwo Papa!" They spent some time reading stories, playing cars, and walking around, holding hands and talking about things.  Zac became very aware that they were a matched set - there is no Granny without Papa, and vice versa.  He also named their RV "Harvey" and likes to check random RV's to see if Papa is inside.  The old ones are back in Arizona for the winter, and they are already missed. 

 

Zac and I also spent a few nights on the Olympic Peninsula with Ahhhhh-neee (Auntie Jennifer) Nom (Uncle Tom).  They had rented a house on the water that was absolutely gorgeous.  Zac enjoyed the boats, seeing wa-wa everywhere, and at one point he exclaimed "Oh My GAWD.  The Tweeees!" (trees). Fwwwwwwy-innnnn kiiiiiiiii-yites! on the beach was a huge hit. 

Fwwwwwwwwwy-innnnnn kiiiiiii-yites! with Nom

He parrots everything I say.  EVERYTHING I SAY.  I've heard him admonishing other drivers from the back seat ("Beep beep, atttttth-hoooooo!") and he met me telling him he could not have Ma-Means (Jelly Beans) for breakfast with a scrunched up face and "Puck you, Mama" (yeah, I'm not gonna translate that one.)

He's sleeping in his own room 100% of the time - we had a sitter over a few months ago and rather jokingly suggested she feel free to get Zac to sleep in his crib.  He went right to sleep for her, and has been sleeping there ever since.  Naps and bedtime have one of three possible outcomes: Really easy, One check in, and fucking awful.  There is not a lot of middle ground with my little man.

Yay! Potty!

He's very interested in the potty.  He likes to tell us to poop, and he likes to undress his doll and sit her on the potty so she can poop.  Last night, he told me he had to go, so I got him undressed.  He peed on the floor NEXT to the potty, yelled "uh-oh!" covered it with a book, and ran away.  It's a start!  My previous experience with cats has not really prepared me for this, I know if a cat was peeing next to his litter box, it would be his way of saying "I'm not particularly happy with you."  For Z, I think he just didn't QUITE make it in time.  I'm pretty content to let this go on his own schedule, with no real pressure about potty training.

He has a fine fashion sense, which is to say he wears what I buy for him without too much of a fuss. He's figured out that he gets fawned over A LOT when he's wearing a hat, so he will keep a hat on.  And while he likes his own hats quite a bit, there's nothing quite like getting his hands on one of my hats, or Daddy's hats. If ever you see him wearing a baseball cap backwards, it's not because I put it on him that way, he has his own sense of style, and he will not be limited by what Mama and Daddy say is "right".  Backwards caps are COOL, you guys!

 

Wearing Mommy's Hat (and Tigger slippers), an Animal hoodie (complete with mohawk), and Mr. I-Do-It baseball cap.

 

It's been an amazing almost two years, a frustrating almost two years, a happy almost two years, the most exhausting experience I've ever had, and more joy than I thought my heart was capable of.

I showed this picture to my primary care doctor.  He said "kids can't fake that happy look."

To forward face, or not to forward face.

Zachary is almost 19 months old, and he's actively rejecting any and everything that might indicate we may be treating his like a baby and not like the big boy that he's fighting to become.  He idily pushes around food that we've cut too small, and aggressively devours food that is in it's original form.  He sighs, patiently, and indulges in our over-protective need to hold his hand while he's going up and down stairs, and his new favorite phrase is "NO MAMA!"

The latest multiple times a day struggle is the car seat.  He's still rear facing, based on newish findings that childrens should stay rear facing until 2 years old.  His legs do not straighten out when he's seated, and it gives him A LOT of leverage for squirming.  I sit him in the car seat, and he pistons his legs out, launching sideways, throwing himself out of the car seat and into the passenger back seat.  He sits there, like a big boy, and starts fumbling with the seat belt.  He KNOWS he needs to be belted in, just has no interest in doing it in a car seat, looking the wrong direction.  When I drag him back into his car seat, I'm pretty much physically restraining him while he screams and I strap him in.  This adds a lot of stress, guilt, and general anxiety to both of our mornings.

Buckle up, Mama!



So, here's my dilema.  He is 35 3/4" tall and 30.5 pounds.  He's off the growth charts in ever category.  Do I continue to fight him for the next 5 months, or do I go ahead and flip him around to forward facing - where the view is more interesting, and his legs won't be up against anything, giving him the momentum to get away faster.  His safety is top priority to me, but there's something to be said for my sanity in this whole deal, too.

P.S. - Look, Jennifer E! 324 words! :-)