Slow Progress

Last night, we heard, "I neetogo pee pee!" 

He's Mr. Independent, so we usually check on him 

after he's been in there for a few seconds, you know 

to get himself situated. 

("I do it myself! I do it! I try it!)

Then I walked in to see this, such a silly little stinker! 

Hey, I don't care how he goes, as long as he's going! ;)

So here's the update. 

This kid knows how to go on the potty. 

It's totally up to him now. 

If you have met the Rhetter man, 

you know he marches to the beat of his own drum. 

He'd rather be exploring the rock wall of escape, 

than playing with the 12 kids on the playground. 

He'd rather be running around full speed, 

hands in fists, and sprinting than sitting down. Ever. 

He'd rather climb the kitchen drawers...

or completely disassemble the childproof door covers...

or figure out how to unlock every single lock in the house...

or explore every corner of the ball park than watch Case play t-ball...

or wake up in the middle of the night, put on his baseball hat, 

put every toy he can fit into his Halloween bucket 

(don't ask, we don't know) and wake us up to say "Hi!" 

That's our Rhetter man. 

I'm going to have SO many stories for his future wife. 

So here's the thing, 

he goes when he wants to go. 

The first couple of days, he had lots of accidents, 

but slowly through the week started to have a few more 

successful trips.  

Just this past week, he has been telling me, 

even when we are out. 

I haven't changed a pull up, or cleaned up an accident 

in the mornings in a while now! 

Little man usually gives up after nap time,

but we are getting there. 

We have good days and bad days, 

some days he just doesn't ever tell me, all day long. Nothing. 

Then the next day, he uses it 5-7 times! 

 He's getting there though, 

it's funny how different our boys have learned how to use the potty. 

Rhett is muuuch more relaxed about this whole thing. ;) 

Proud of our cute little crazie. 

He's getting so big. 

Sometimes Parenthood is Really Really Hard

...like when you are potty training. 

After a few failing trial runs, 

and talking to my big sister, 

I decided to take the plunge.

I was going to start full on potty training Rhett,

right after Case was out of preschool. 

That way we would have minimal distractions, 

and we could get down to business. 

Day 1: 

We tried the naked route. 

(It worked really well with Case)

Equal parts of accidents and successes.

& several pull up mishaps, he's still very comfortable in them. 

Day 2: 

Rhett went successfully that morning, 

then played at a friends house for a few hours, 

and went in his pull up. 

That evening, he had a few accidents, 

then on to bed. 

Day 3: 

That morning, while washing dishes 

(our dishwasher is broken, ugggh) 

I heard a little voice say, "Uh oh! Mommy!!!" 

I searched for him, 

and found him in the bathroom, 

standing in a puddle of pee...

Hey he was in the right room right?? 

Then about 10 minutes later he went #2 in the potty! 

I was SUPER excited, except that the rest of the day went WAY DOWN HILL from there.

We went to the library and the park after that

(I should have known this was a bad idea, it took us off course)

Rhett took a teeny cat nap on the way to the park from the library, 

and apparently that was enough sleep to completely refuse his usual 2-3 hour nap.

So, a few pull up mishaps happened in that nap time window

while wearing a pull up. 

While Case was napping away, Rhett was getting into everything. 

(He has been super duper clingy, and whiny, 

and downright destructive lately)

Not to mention he has been waking up several times a night, 

I'm talking 5-10 times a night, it's exhausting, he hasn't done that since he was a month old)

SO...

add all of that together, 

then enter 4 accidents in the living room 

while I was sitting right next to him playing leggos, 

I was just down right mad. 

Frustrated. 

Exhausted. 

Matt came home, right after another accident happened, 

and I just felt like crying. 

I couldn't understand why he didn't even seem to care, 

he had been doing pretty well the days before...

then I remembered, 

"Oh yeah, he hasn't had a nap today, and we are both exhausted"

So, I calmed down, put a pull up and pajamas on him, 

popped in a movie and sat down on the couch with him. 

& 2 minutes later...

 Bless his heart. 

We kept pull ups on the rest of the night, tomorrow is a new day. 

Potty training ain't easy.

Rhett: 1, Potty Training: 0

Rhett definitely won the first battle of potty training.

Thankfully, I wasn't ready to full out train him, it was more of a little trial run. 

He asks every now and then to go "Pee pee on the potty." 

He'll strip all of his clothes off and point the bathroom door. 

He always sits for about 0.3 seconds (without accomplishing anything) and yelling, "ALL DONE!" 

At his recent 2 year old check up, our Doctor encouraged us to really use that at our advantage. 

So I decided I'd give it a try one weekend, when I knew we didn't have any plans. 

We brought out the potty chair we used for Case, and gave it a try. 

I stripped Rhett down, and explained what we were trying. 

(By the way, it never gets funnier seeing a little teeny tiny tush running around all day!) 

About 15 minutes after taking the diaper off he had a little accident, 

so I sat him on the potty and went over again, that we were going to pee pee in the potty.

"Okaaaaaay." 

Yeah, you aren't convincing me yet, kid. 

Let's just say, a couple days and a few EPIC accidents later. 

(One including a #2, leggos, and lots of bleach) 

we chalked it all up to an exhausting weekend of chasing Rhett around with anti bacterial cleaner, 

and one 2 year old who could give two...well, just could care less. ;) 

Mommy's new plan is to wait until the weather is a little warmer, 

and he's a few months older. 

Wish us luck!

Potty Training Day 1,402

We've definitely had our ups and downs but Case is really getting the hang of it. He has stopped panicking and just tells me and goes. No big deal.

We were outside a lot this week though, and he didn't tell me when playing at the park, or when he was playing in the two year old room at church...but we'll get there. :)

Had to share this...

How hilarious is that?!

Oh and the clingy whiny hot mess has stopped too! I even took pictures of him playing BY HIMSELF AGAIN because I was so excited! 

 I love having little boys :)

Potty Training Day 1,395

Well, really it's day 6 but it sure feels like we have been potty training for that long. 

However, little Case man is doing much better! We had one epic accident over the weekend, that caused Matt to say "So, how'd you spend your Saturday night?" Ha! 

Other than that though, he has been going #1 and #2 like a champ. He's still pretty panicky when he feels the need to use the potty, but afterward he is very excited and tells us that he went over and over again! But oh my word the whining. He has been super clingy and won't even let me leave the room. I'm not sure if it's just because this is a big change in his little life, or because he feels like he needs me in the room in case he needs to go or what. As soon as we have this potty training thing down though we will be working on our independence again. 

Besides, he is a big boy now! 

  I woke up at 2am this morning to...

"MOM! PEE PEE IN THE POTTY! MOM!!!!" 

...and to my surprise he actually peed. He has been "using" this potty thing a little to his advantage to get out of nap and bedtime lately, so I thought he was just crying wolf again. 

I can hardly believe it, but I haven't changed a diaper since last Tuesday. I have been cleaning up accidents here and there, and changing the occasional pull up but the last few days he has been dry after nap time and bed time. (Right now we are letting him run around naked so he can go as soon as he needs to. It's hilarious seeing his teeny tiny butt running around the house.) I know that after all the drama and exhaustion fades away it might sink in that I have a little boy who is old enough to be potty trained. Eek!!! I don't know if I like it...but I sure like the fact that we are only going to have one in diapers!

Day 4 of Potty Training

SO...

I retract my previous statement that I decided we weren't ready for potty training. 

Apparently, Case had other plans.

All day long he has been a crying, hysterical, whiny, clingy hot mess. With Matt not being here, and me having to care for a little baby and a humongous muddy dog all day long- let's just say my nerves were shot, I was exhausted and I didn't know what to do.

He would NOT go in his diaper or pull up, and going to potty seemed to be out of the question too. So like I said earlier, the kid had to go somewhere though right?!

He would say he needed to go, and then scream so loudly when he actually was going, we would go to the potty and he would be upset the entire time he was going. 

Thing is though, he was telling me he wanted to go, he was running to the potty, so why in the world was he so scared when he was where he wanted to be? All day long he didn't have any accidents, he peed and pooped in the potty. Should be exciting and rewarding right?! 

Not when I literally felt like I had a colicky two year old all day long. He would not let me leave the room, he was clawing and climbing on me, absolutely inconsolable.

Finally, I talked to my big sister Amy mid-day (about to lose my mind) and she asked around at work to see if anyone had any suggestions. A couple of ladies thought that maybe I should try the portable potty seat instead because he might be panicking that he wouldn't be able to make it in time. Sally, my Mother in law said the same thing later on my facebook status...and it worked! I was busy with Rhett and he sat on the potty and peed...no big deal just peed and then started playing with his blocks. He sort of muttered a "I pee pee in the potty" but I didn't even offer a sticker because I was afraid to break the magic pee time without a complete melt down.

It didn't last very long though, later he was still pretty upset all day, but at least now he will sit on the potty - he pees on it he knows exactly what to do I think it is just going to take some time to get used to. He is your typical first born. He puts a ton of pressure on himself to be perfect in everything he does, he has always been very particular about things. I mean the boy will say "Uh oh" and "Oh No!" about a teeny drop of sauce on his finger or a single piece of dirt on the floor. 

So, for now we are just working through this, because he is definitely over peeing or pooping in his diapers/pull ups. I just wish it was more exciting for him! Hopefully we will get there soon!

Day 2 & 3 of Potty Training

Potty training is exhausting. 

Yesterday was so exhausting, I'm not even sure I can remember what happened on potty training day two.

Day Two: We had a few accidents, and he was super upset about it. I assured him that it was okay! At nap time he peed in his pull up a little bit, but was dry for the rest of the day until bedtime. Then every time we put him in bed he kept saying he needed to go...then he did in the potty! Woo hoo!

Day Three: When we woke up this morning, he woke up earlier then normal around 7:30am so I let him snuggle in bed with me for a little while and watch cartoons. Then he said he needed to use the potty so we ran to the potty and sat down. He was screaming and crying, I couldn't figure out why! Then he started to use the potty and became even more upset. I tried to convince him that he was peeing and he gets a sticker and this is a happy moment not a scary one, but I don't think I was very convincing. He was so off his game, he seemed scared that it was happening instead of his usual happy high five-ing self. He was literally screaming bloody murder the whole time he was peeing! Yikes!

We had a play date with Kelli and the girls, they were coming to our house today. I thought that would be better since we had started potty training. He was so worried about going potty all day he didn't know what to do with himself. He would tell me he needed to use the potty, then we would run to the potty and he would say "No! No! All done all done!"  

During nap time, he went down okay, then I guess needed to potty and screamed. Like, I'm talking a blood curdling-I thought he cut a hand off or something kind of scream. I flew upstairs but didn't make it in time and somehow he had peed on the floor through his pull up (I had put a pull up on him for nap time). He was so sad, it broke my heart! I told him over and over that it was OKAY. We would just clean it up, no big deal! I kept the pull up on after his teeny tiny nap, he was just too stressed out about it. 

I don't want him to be worrying constantly. This was suppose to be fun, not traumatizing. 

So, after a few hours of this running back and forth and him not wanting to go in his pull up OR the potty I didn't know what to do. I know he needed to go soon, and he went a little in his pull up after nap, and came to me screaming "POTTY POTTY!" so we went to the bathroom and I asked him if he wanted to try on the potty and he started SCREAMING "NO!!!!!" I was at a loss. The kid has to "go" somewhere! 

So, then (oh by the way Matt had to spend the night in Pikeville for work, so I again was dealing with all the hard stuff solo. He misses out on all of the fun ha!) I decided to give the boys a bath, I was hoping Case would relax in a nice warm bubble bath and calm down a little bit- then maybe even go potty. Rhett was taking a nap when I started his bath, I put him in and it was an instant "Wait Mom! Poo Poo! Poo poo!" so I picked him up out of the bath and sat him on the potty...then it was "No! No! NO! Bath Bath Bath!" So I put him back in the bath...

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat.

(Cue Rhett waking up and crying)

Repeat.

"Okay, Case Mommy is done."

I made him get out of the bath and put a pull up on, so I could go feed Rhett his bottle. Case was clingy and crying, I know he needed to go potty but didn't want to. I just had to ignore him and feed Rhett a bottle. I felt so defeated, I didn't know how to help Case realize either way he went was okay, and it was one of those moments when you have two that you have to chose the one with the bigger need. So I fed Rhett a bottle, while Case screamed and cried and elbowed his little brother while trying to get into my lap too. These are the moments I just have to just close my eyes and breathe. :)

Oh and I have a cold, so just add that on top of all of the stress. BLAH! So bedtime finally rolls around, and after talking to my sister with tears in my eyes- trying to figure out what in the world to do we decided that it would be best to just put a comforting diaper back on, put warm jammies on and go to bed. So, I didn't make a big deal out of it I just put a diaper on him, put his warm Tractor PJs on him and told him it was bedtime. We had a little bedtime war, and then had to change a diaper after about the 3rd wake up. (I was just glad he finally relaxed and went!) Then he finally settled down and fell asleep. 

Wow, what a day.

Sweet Rhetter man just lounged and cooed while all of this pure chaos was going on. Have I mentioned that I am so thankful he is so mellow?? Both boys were in bed and asleep by 9pm and I went to bed myself. 

Day 4 of potty training has turned into Mommy making the executive decision that we are not ready to potty train. Like Amy said, he is smart and strong willed so that is why he is being so hard on himself, but emotionally he is just not ready. He has made it so stressful for himself, and I do not want him to be stressed and worried about using the potty. We will wait a few weeks, or months whatever it takes for him to be more relaxed and excited about going potty again. 

I decided that waiting is the best option after he "tooted" and said Sorry! Sorry! 

Bless his sweet heart.

Day 1 of Potty Training

Day 1 went pretty well!

We went out to Wal-Mart in the morning and bought some big boy underwear, pull ups and stickers. Between the familiar Thomas the train, Diego, Toy Story and Cars he picks the Spiderman, Hulk Superhero ones. So funny because he has never even seen a cartoon or anything with those guys on it. I let him pick whatever he wanted though, and I couldn't wait to see his teeny tiny little tush running around with Spiderman on it! 

We were still wandering around the store when I realized we could probably meet Daddy for lunch, so we called him and luckily he could make it.We got to show off his brand new big boy underwear!

So by the time we were on our way home, I figured I would just wait until tomorrow to start or at least until after nap time. However, when we got home I went to change his diaper before nap time and he was dry. So, I asked him if he wanted to try and... 

HE PEED ON THE POTTY!

I was SO excited and proud! He ended up peeing all over the place because I asked him to wait and try while I made Rhett his bottle, but it counts! 

(Poor guy if he ever reads this haha!)

So, after lots of praise and a big ol' sticker, we went down for a nap with a pull up on and I decided right then and there - no more diapers. 

We had two accidents in the evening, he was so upset and cried. The second time it happened I thought he had hurt himself he screamed and cried so loudly! Then we had two successful potty trips! He made it to the potty while screaming "Pee Pee! Pee Pee in the potty!" and running to the bathroom! 

Ha! I'm so proud! :)

Potty Training

Potty training has been on my mind lately.

Mamaw and Papaw got him a potty seat, and I have been anxiously waiting to feel like he was ready to start trying! With baby Rhett on his way, I kept postponing it, knowing that I just wasn't ready to handle all of it quite yet!

But...now that Rhett is almost 4 months old and on a wonderful schedule, and Case's vocabulary is expanding every day I really feel like he is ready to start telling me when he needs to use the potty and I am so excited!

Today was a BIG day! 

We went over to Kelli's for a play date today, and I knew Case needed to use the potty. (Number 2 to be exact) and I asked him if he wanted to go "Poo poo on the potty" and to my surprise he repeated me instead of his usual unenthusiastic "No". So...Kelli quickly told me they had a potty seat in the upstairs bathroom so I ran as fast as I could and plopped him down. 

and...

HE WENT POO POO ON THE POTTY!

I know that this post is so unglamorous, and if this blog is still around when he is sixteen years old that he will be utterly mortified...but it is so unbelievable exciting! This is a huge milestone for our little man! 

He is getting so big!

I made such a big deal out of it, clapping and screaming and making him give me high fives and fist pumps that I woke up a napping Rhetter man! Oops!

He got a Sponge Bob sticker that Kelli had laying around, and let me tell you - he was one proud two year old. :)

We will be going to get some big boy underwear tomorrow, and will be having potty training boot camp this week. I am fully preparing myself for tons of accidents, stickers, frustrations, but most of all smiles, claps and proud moments. :)