Potty Training: Day One

Before we tackle today, let's talk about yesterday...

I was upstairs changing Henry, and I came downstairs to find that Max had removed his diaper and peed and pooped all over the living room floor (the newly refinished living room floor?!#^#*&!!!). While I was cleaning this up, he then went in the kitchen and peed on the rug. I was out of my mind about it and decided on the spot that if he knew he was going to go and he was capable of taking off his pants, then it was time to pursue potty training in earnest. We've been doing it casually for weeks -- talking it up, letting him sit on the potty on occasion, etc, but we hadn't actually fully committed yet. Oh, it was time to step up! Without wasting a moment, we got in the car and headed for Target where we spent a small fortune stocking up on potty-training essentials like training pants, a potty seat for the toilet, children's books on potty training and more.

Today we really went for it. Max sat on the potty the moment he got up and he peed. A good start. After breakfast, he sat on the potty again and he peed and pooped. Hurrah! We went out and ran some errands and Max stayed dry. There was more peeing before lunch and then he reluctantly consented to wear his diaper for naptime. After the nap we went to a coffee house with a friend and Max wore his diaper. Of course he pooped in it, but how much can we really ask of him on day 1? We had a great afternoon full of several more potty visits and then one accident shortly before bed. Not too bad, all told. Now we just need to get Max to realize on his own when he needs to go instead of waiting for me to remind him. It helps that at least at the moment he is really, really excited about the whole process and he adores his "big boy underpants." I'm so proud of him!

One last story, this one unrelated to bathroom issues -- to top off the great day I had yesterday, I took the boys to the grocery store in the afternoon. Henry reached over the side of the cart and knocked a wine bottle to the ground. It shattered everywhere, making a god-awful noise and mess. I was mortified as everyone turned to stare at us and as a deli worker announced on the intercom, "Cleanup in the wine department." My one consolation was that Henry had the good taste to dive for a bottle of pinot noir instead of the chardonnay...