I decided to start potty training Liam this past Monday. The whole week prior, you might remember that Liam had been sick with an ear infection, throwing up, irritable bowls, and having to get multiple shots. The doctor had told me that Liam was not contagious...but then Ruy started struggling with irritable bowls and then last Sunday night he woke me up saying he had thrown up. It was terrible. He threw up over the side of the bunk bed. It went all over Liam's quilt, all over the floor, and the train table. I had to turn on the light, mop, wash the table, and change Liam's quilt. I could not believe that Liam SLEPT through the whole thing!!! I was extremely thankful for that. I put Ruy to sleep in my room the rest of the night and went back to sleep wondering if I really wanted to attempt to start potty training Liam in the morning....
I woke up already exhausted from the night's adventures. But I really wanted to get Liam potty trained and as much as I wasn't looking forward to cleaning up pee the entire day... I pressed on.
The first two days were kind of hard. Liam DID NOT want to wear underwear. He kept crying asking me for his diaper. He cried every time I put him on the potty. It took me 15-20 minutes to get him to actually relax and go. He had several wet accidents those first two days. He loved getting M&Ms though.
On the evening of the second night, Nathan came home from work and took him potty. I was trying to take care of Alanna and asked Nathan to help out with him. I heard laughing coming from the bathroom and went to see what was going on. Nathan was sitting on the side of the tub, giving high-fives to Liam and Liam was just laughing and laughing. After only a few minutes, (and no crying) Liam went potty.
The next morning started out with me trying to get Liam to go potty and him just crying and not wanting to go. Then I decided to sit on the side of the tub like Nathan had. I started talking to him about how Nathan had made him laugh by giving him high-fives. He stopped crying and starting talking about Daddy. We talked about how Daddy was at the fire station and then he wanted me to sing to him. I started singing a song I learned in "Junior Church." For those of you who grew up in a Baptist Church, you know what I'm talking about. It was the one that goes "one two three Jesus loves me, one two Jesus loves you." I didn't even get through the whole song and he had finally gone. It was the least stressful moment I had experienced in his potty training. After that, I had to "sit on the tub" and sing to him, per his request, every time he went potty.
By the end of the week, he had significantly less wet accidents and was even telling me when he had to go potty most times without me having to ask him. He hasn't figured out when to tell me he has to go #2 and has pretty much only gone in his pants this past week (including when we were at Chick-fil-a). I'm hoping he will do better with that this week.
Potty training is not something that I love to do. But I have been trying to stay positive and find the joy in the sweet moments it has brought. For example, the other night, I was making dinner when Liam said he had to go potty. I quick grabbed him up and took him to the bathroom. He was taking forever to relax and go, so I started singing to him. He finally went and then quick pulled up his cute little Thomas underwear and his pants, and jumped into my lap saying "yay, I did it! Go get M&Ms!" I sat there hugging him looking at his sweet face...he had his hat and crocks on (he hardly goes a minute without wearing them) and had the biggest smile on his face. He was so proud of himself! And in that moment, even though I didn't feel like stopping what I was doing to take him potty, I found such joy. Yes, it's a small thing but that's what makes life worth while....
finding joy in the little things!
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