Diapers Be Gone.

Day 1

Monday, 11 August= P-Day [Potty Training Day.] I scoured the Internet for information, consulted with the extended family on their methods, and called all my friends for support. And then we began. Timer? Check. Celebration Stickers? Check. Bribery Candy? Check, along with one massive tower of tiny Elmo-decorated underwear.

On Day 3, I was ready to throw in the towel. For awhile, the entire house was his personal urinal. As we went about our daily activities, we'd often find ourselves wading through suspicious puddles. We didn't yell; we just grimaced, wiped it up, and Lysol'd the spot until it glowed with sanitation. At one point, he figured he could get out of this whole non-diaper business by holding it ALL DAY LONG. This transformed him into quite the jumpy, cranky toddler and -you guessed it- also resulted in a plethora of accidents. In spite of it all, we had some occasional successes. But Day 3... not a single one.

Ben has been the rock, as usual, throughout this experience. And our comic relief:

Ben: Gabriel, do you have to go pee-pee?
Gabriel: No.
Ben: Do you have to go poo-poo?
Gabriel: No!
Ben: Do you have to go pee-poo?
Gabriel: Confused silence...

Today was Day 7, and not only have we gone 3 days without accidents, but the little guy also made it through 3 hours of church, even alerting his teachers when he needed to go. Ben and I are about as proud as we've ever been (along with the fact that we discovered this week that he knows HALF the alphabet!) We've got an underweared- letter knower in the house, people. Clear the way.

Day 7