Potty Time!

Although Molly has been doing a great job on the potty over the last few weeks, Max was still showing zero interest in going on the potty himself (although he was more than happy to cheer Molly on). We haven't wanted to force the issue and have been waiting for him to show signs that he's ready for potty training, but we were starting to run out of time before the preschool potty training deadline. So, on Saturday morning, while Molly and Dad were napping, Max and I made a trip out to Target to pick out some cool, new "big boy" underwear.

Once we worked out way back to the baby section, Max immediately spotted the Curious George girls' underwear and declared that he wanted Curious George undies, but, unfortunately, they were out of the boys' version. So, he was given a choice between Thomas the Train, Elmo, and Mickey Mouse briefs. After much hemming and hawing, he declared that he wanted the "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" underwear, which I thought was funny because I don't think he's ever even watched that show (we might have flipped past it a couple of times). I picked out some Elmo undies for Molly and she was also lucky enough to get some Curious George panties. I let Max pick out some animal crackers for himself and Molly, I grabbed a couple other things that were on the list, and we headed on home (after swinging by the coffee shop to pick up a cappuccino treat for Mama).

Once we got home, the Weekend of No Diapers officially began. Molly woke up shortly after we got home and was THRILLED with her Elmo undies. She happily put on a pair and proudly showed them off about every five minutes. Max was also pleased with his "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" briefs and seemed to take the "you can't pee or poop in your Mickey Mouse underwear" lecture to heart. I put some protective covers on the couch and let the kids loose. Every hour or so I declared that it was "potty time" – I'd set the timer on the stove for 3-5 minutes and M&M both had to go sit on the potty. They had to sit there until they peed or until the timer went off. Molly would sit down, pee, and be on her way in about 30 seconds. Max, on the other hand, would sit out his allotted potty time and then go on his merry way. As the afternoon wore on, you could tell that he had to pee. He'd sit there and hold his crotch, but vehemently deny that he had to go potty. We played and went to the park and goofed around and ate dinner, but Max didn't pee. When it was just about bedtime and Max was literally hopping around, I took him into the downstairs bathroom with me, sat him on the potty, and waited. We sat and sat and sat and sat until, finally, he started peeing. He peed and peed and peed and peed ... and he was sooo pleased with himself. We ran out to show Molly and Daddy his accomplishment. We cheered and danced and sang and had a "potty party," complete with "birthday cake" (half a ding dong with a candle stuck in it). Max went to bed a very proud and happy little boy.

On Sunday, it was the same thing – no diapers except for naptime and bedtime. Molly did great – pooping and peeing in the potty like a champ. Once again, Max held it. He peed while he was napping, but other than that he kept his undies dry all day. Once again, we were getting ready for bed and trying a last-ditch round of "potty time" – and he actually peed. It was time for Dad to go to work, so we ran into the bedroom, woke him up, and Max showed him his "big pee"! We flushed it and cleaned up and when we got back to the potty in the bedroom, Max said he wanted to go potty again (he NEVER asks to sit on the potty). So he sat down, concentrated, strained, and finally peed. And peed some more. And then some more. For the first time ever he was peeing on demand – it was like a lightbulb finally went off for him. We had to have another potty party before bed and Max was over the moon. We were hoping that he'd finally had the breakthrough that we'd been waiting for for the last year.

It looks like we're on the right track – today he peed on the potty three times and he does it faster every time. Yay, Max! Maybe we won't need to buy stock in diapers after all!