Adventures in potty training

A year ago, I thought I had potty training in the bag. Noah, at just 18 months, decided on his own to try out his shiny new pint-sized potty, fresh out of the Christmas wrapping paper.

I remember thinking at the time something like, "Hey, that's great! Once summer rolls around we'll take a more active approach to potty training since he'll have on fewer clothes."

And then summer came, and away it went.

Fall showed up a few months later, and it, too went, leaving winter in its wake.

Finally, I said that my nearly-three-week holiday break was THE time for potty training. Since then, the experience has gone something like this:

Me: Look, Noah, pull-up diapers! Aren't they cool?
Noah: I don't wike dem. I wike my diapers.

Me: Do you want to pee in the potty for some treats?
Noah: No, I don't.

Me: Noah, don't forget that you don't have on a diaper. If you need to pee, you have to tell mommy.
Noah: Mommy, I'm peeing!

In the last 7 or 8 weeks, we've slowly chipped away at that terrifying potty persona, and we have a partially trained toddler.

We're not ready for the public, we're not ready for No. 2, and we're certainly not ready for overnight. But for the moment, we're celebrating our limited success of liquids filling toilets instead of diapers.

We know Noah is working hard. Just look at this concentration! Fresh off a chocolate cake treat for his first—and only—super poo in the potty, here he is again fulfilling our potty dreams.


He did it! Now for hand AND face washing.


Stay tuned for further announcements when we ditch diapers altogether!