Potty Chronicles, Pt. III

Sigh.  We are at it again...and this time, I am determined we are not looking back!  At the beginning of Spring Break, I told Brent it was time to wear big boy underwear.  He immediately argued with me and backing away as if I were a dinosaur about to eat him. 

I asked if Mommy wore diapers, "no!" he replied.  "Does Daddy wear diapers?"  "No!"  came his response.  "Brent is now a big boy and it's time for him to wear underwear like Mommy and Daddy."  He lost. his. mind.  Screaming, crying, flailing.  I was weak.  I walked away and decided to try a different tactic next time.  I have come to the conclusion that if you are going to start a war, you need to be prepared.

So yesterday, Brent was in a good mood and I realized Spring Break was almost over.  On the spur of a moment thought, I grabbed his stuffed dog, Clifford, and acted as though he were telling me he had to pee.  I ran through the house and to the bathroom as quickly as possible, with Brent on my heels.  Once in the bathroom, I set Clifford on the potty.  "Owf no pee pee, noooo" he said while making appropriate hand gestures.  So I made a pee sound out of the side of my mouth, "pssssss."  Brent laughed, clapping, "Yay, owf go pee pee!" and he flushed the potty.

I told him to pick out a pair of underwear for Clifford since he was using the potty.  We put them on Clifford and Brent wanted some too.  I told him he needed to use the potty to wear underwear and held my breath....YES!  He took the bait!  1 point for Mommy.

I left the TV off all. day. long.  We played Candy Land, Uno Choo Choo, Chutes and Ladders, Cars, Trains, etc.  At first I used a timer to have him go sit on the potty after 15 minutes, and he got mad...sooo, miraculously, Clifford needed to potty every 15 minutes and so Brent had to go, too - after all, he needed to support Clifford in his potty training efforts!  Occasionally, Clifford would randomly let me know he needed to go pee, too.  A few times he sat on the potty and didn't need to pee, and once he even didn't make it to the potty.  Brent was eating it up.  I was ecstatic.  After a few hours, we then lengthened our potty trips to 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and 1 hour.  Every time he or Clifford peed in the potty, they got to do the Potty Dance- which Brent LOVES!  2 points for Mommy.

Brent stayed dry all day long.  Hallelujah.  3 points for Mommy.

At bedtime, I was torn whether to put him in pull-ups or take the chance with the underwear.  I decided on the pull-ups.  Minus a point...

This morning I regretted that decision.  Brent fought me to go back into underwear, then he fought me to sit on the potty....every single time. 

At 7:59am, 1 minute before his "scheduled" potty time, he peed his pants...and did not care.  He helped me clean it up and sat on the potty anyway.

At 9:21am, he peed his pants again...20 minutes after peeing on the potty.  This time, he announced, "Mamaaaaaa, I pee peeeeee" and laughed.  He helped me clean it up, sat on the potty, then I took the advice of a blogger and had him run back and forth from the "scene of the accident" to the potty 10 times yelling "No pee pee in pants, pee pee in potty!"  By the fourth time, he was chanting the words and leading the charade.  He found it so utterly amusing that I feared he would pee in his pants just so we could play "that game" again...

At 11:35am, he did it again, 5 minutes after sitting on the potty but not doing anything.  I went against all of my "teacher instincts" and took away the truck he was playing with at the time he peed in his pants.  Saying he was not happy is an understatement.

At 1:30pm, he went down for a nap.  He peed prior to laying down and woke up 2 hours later dry!  I was SO ecstatic that I immediately told him how proud I was and gave him a new Hot Wheels car...a random surprise.  For some unknown reason, he didn't like this attention and got so mad he threw the biggest fit I have ever seen.  I knew he had to go pee - he had eaten lunch prior to nap then slept for two hours!  Who wouldn't need to pee?!  He absolutely refused.  I sat on the floor of the bathroom and told him to sit on the potty.  He screamed, kicked, fought, cried.  It was horrible.  I felt like the worst mom ever...but I had that little voice inside of me telling me this was a power struggle.  So I stayed calm and told him to pee on the potty.

After ten minutes, he finally calmed down.  As I looked up, he peed on the floor, next to the potty, on purpose.  I am not sure how I didn't lose my mind at that moment.  I calmly sat him on the potty and told him we were not leaving the bathroom until he chose to pee on the potty.  He just stared at me for about two minutes - it was odd.  I am not sure what he was thinking.  Finally, he peed in the potty.  I had him help me clean up the puddle, then we sat in his room for a talk.

I explained that I was going to let him keep the car despite his tantrum because despite his behavior, I was very proud that he got through nap dry.  I told him we had a new plan: every time he peed his pants, I get a car; but every time he tells me he needs to potty, he gets a car.  I swear a light bulb went off over his head.

We went out for dinner with friends and he did tinkle just a little tonight in his pants during dinner, but not enough to notice from the outside.  I did take the car back though, just to make my point.  He used the potty at the restaurant and earned it back.

Tonight he is sleeping in underwear.  I told him I wouldn't take a car if he wets the bed tonight, but that he is expected to use the potty when he wakes up.  We'll see what happens...

Face Paint & a Movie

Yesterday we went to a restaurant that was having kids' night.  They had free face painting and we thought we could give it a shot - Brent has never had it done and it was free, so if he started squirming, no harm done, right?

I start pointing to all of the "boy stuff" - footballs, baseballs, paw print, soccer, etc.  Brent points to the princess tiara...without hesitation, and states matter-of-factly, "this!"  Now, let me add that we had gone with our neighbors, and their 4-year old girl had just chosen that for herself.  So whether Brent was doing it out of camaraderie or his true love of tiara's, I am not sure.  Did I mention we went out last week and he picked a pink balloon?  Nothing wrong with it, Matt and I just find it amusing.  We don't really guide him towards anything in particular, and I have even tried to encourage him to play with dolls (with no luck)...but he now suddenly seems to have this strong opinion.  "I 'ike 'ink" (I like pink) he'll say.  Lately, he chooses the green man when we play CandyLand, but I am almost certain he is disappointed there is not a pink one.

I am totally okay with my child toting a pink balloon, but I must admit, getting a pink tiara on his cheek bothers me just a tad... NOT because he wants it, but because of what other people would think of me as a mother.  Don't judge.  So, we sat down and looked at all of the other things offered - first he decided a dog, then monster, a dinosaur, then finally, an alligator.  His MawMaw would be so proud - Go Gators!  Chomp, chomp!

So tonight it was time to wash the gator off.  Matt stuck him in the shower and Brent was fine...until a googly-eye (yes, the gator had googly eyes) hit the floor of the shower.  A blood-curdling, heart wrenching, absolutely devastated cry erupted from Brent.  He sobbed for at least 10 minutes, and Matt says he went to bed mad.  We'll see what happens tomorrow.  The kid tends to hold a grudge.

Today, Brent also saw his first "big" movie!  We went to go see Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.  He was SO well behaved I was amazed!  He really enjoyed it and ate 3/4 of a bag of popcorn by himself!  He made me smile - sitting there like a big boy, his eyes gleaming as he laughed at the humor.  Oh, how I wish I could hold on to these moments.

" 'et out my house!"

So my Mom came to visit Friday.  Brent is always excited when someone comes to play with him!  He was excited when Grammy arrived and we had a nice lunch and played together before he needed to take a nap.  After nap, we played some more!  My Mom told him that she would have to head home soon and he said, "aaaaaawww!" with true disappointment.

Then while Mom was getting her things together, Brent asked me to play cars with him again.  I explained that we were going to tell Grammy good-bye and then we would play again as soon as she left.  I was surprised when he didn't argue with me and actually left my side without throwing a fit! 

I then hear from the other room, "i-i, 'et out my house, 'me!"  (Bye, bye, get out my house, Grammy!)...and a little stomp....

A conversation of manners followed, and he did give his Grammy a proper good-bye and hug.  Oye, this child.

"Go 'ight, NO! 'IGHT!!"

This blogging thing is hard.  I am not sure how other people do it every day...and some multiple times a day!  My life just isn't that interesting.  Even when Brent keeps me laughing, I have usually forgotten by the end of the day what it was he did that was so funny....or I decide it really isn't that funny if you didn't experience it first hand.  So sometimes I am really digging.  Work with me here.

Brent has been telling me how to drive now for several months.  " 'een! Go 'ast, Mama!" (Green! Go fast, Mama!) or " 'een! GOOO!" (Green! GOOO!)...never mind the cars sitting still in front of me.  Then he moved on to telling me which direction things were...  " 'ounce house 'at way!" (Bounce house that way!) However, last week, he started giving me literal directions.  "Go 'ight, Mama!" (Go right, Mama), or my favorite, when I don't actually go the direction he declares, "Go 'ight, Mama...NOOOOO!!  'IGHT!!!"  Thank you, Brent!  I realize I do not have the best sense of direction, but I am pretty sure I know how to get to Wal-mart.  He had never told me to go left- he always said, "that way" and pointed left.  However, he was always pointing right when he said 'ight.  I was telling Matt about it and how I didn't know the kid had figured it out.

Last night Matt tells me to watch our son.  He asked him where his right hand was...he held it up.  Left knee...he pointed.  He went through both ears, feet, elbows, and hands.  Seriously!??!  When did the kid learn left and right?  He still screams and throws a tantrum (WHILE still refusing to use the potty, did I mention that?!?) but he knows the difference between left and right?

Speaking of potty training, the excitement over the potty dance has died...along with my hope that my child will not go to Kindergarten pooping on himself.  I am still convinced God is laughing at me because of all the poor parents I probably made feel horrible because I had no idea what being a mom was like when I was teaching.

"Ok" and " 'ats 'asty!"

So I took an entire week off from blogging - without meaning to.  Matt had shoulder surgery and I was/am exhausted.  I got quite a few naps in this weekend, but am still dragging.  Brent has been a total pain in the rear - I think it's because Dad is in a sling and hasn't been able to play + I really think Brent is worried about him and doesn't understand.

On Friday, Matt's Mom was here and we left to go get pizza.  Brent was told to let Daddy rest so his owie could get better.  When we walked in the door, Matt was standing there waiting for us and Brent dissolved into tears of frustration.  I had no idea what his issue was, but Matt's Mom figured out it was because he expected that if we let Daddy rest, his owie would be gone.  Oops.

Sunday, we were sitting at a Mexican restaurant and Brent tried the salsa, "Blech, 'asty!"  What?  He repeated it.  For your info, " 'asty" = "Nasty".... NICE.  There is suspicion he picked up the word while a diaper change was being done.  Today, he added, " 'ats 'asty" (That's nasty)...and other than "ok" it is his favorite new phrase!  It is rather amusing though...

He has also decided that kisses are meant to be made on the lips...and I don't mean a peck, I mean I feel like the kid is trying to make out with me.  Some of you may disagree, but I feel kisses should be done on the cheeks/forehead/nose/etc...just not the lips unless it is your significant other.  He started this after seeing Matt and I kiss upon his returning home from work last week.  It is very hard to explain to your three year old that only Mommy and Daddy kiss on the lips.  He keeps acting/getting his feelings hurt and I am not quite sure where to go from here...definitely not something you learn as a teacher!  Any advice would be appreciated.

After being so close (or so I thought) to being potty trained several weeks ago, Brent decided to go on a hiatus.  Part of it (or all?) was due to the fact he was sick and taking an antibiotic that had him using the bathroom quite often.  So, today, I had a DVD in the car we had received from a friend by Pull-ups called "The Potty Dance."  I kept forgetting to bring it in and really didn't think he would care about it.  This afternoon, he demanded that we watch it and I am pretty sure I have done the potty dance 15 times since 1pm.  It took me ten times before I finally got smart enough to say, "we aren't doing the potty dance anymore unless you actually use the potty!"  So, he's back to using the potty...but then we have to do this dance.  I found it pretty annoying at first, but I have to admit, it has grown on me.  Especially when he sings, " 'oo 'da 'otty 'ance!" (Do the Potty Dance!)....Toes, Waist, CELEBRATE!  Potty Dance video