First Blog...Potty Training

So, this is my first post on my new blog.  After being inspired by a friend who regularly blogs about her sweet little family and their adventures, I have decided to try blogging. Not only does my friend keep a blog, but she also prints off her blog once a year, so her daughters will be able to read and see their stories later in life. I'm hoping I can keep up with this, not only for my boys, but so that I don't forget all of the little things that happen! Anyway, here goes...

Potty training.  Ian really had no motivation to potty train. We, especially Devon, worked very hard with Ian for a long time, but he was definitely on his own schedule. Because we both work, Ian attended daycare/preschool.  One of the requirements to move out of the 3 year old room and into the next room up, was you had to be potty trained.  As hard as we worked at it, his 3rd birthday came along, and he still didn't want to give up the pull-ups!! Fortunately, once his friends moved up at school into the next room, it only took about a month and then magically he was ready to be done with pull-ups and hello undies! There was no challenge at this point. Once he decided to use the potty, it was a success (literally in one day!), and it's been smooth sailing ever since.

After the potty training experience with Ian, we decided that there was no point in trying to rush Matthew. When he was ready, he would let us know. Before his second birthday, he started expressing interest in undies and the potty, so we started working on it, and it seemed like he would be fully potty-trained before turning 2. I'm not sure what really happened, but he stopped telling us he needed to go, and we were having many more accidents than successes, so it was back to pull-ups which is where we are today.  His preschool teachers are convinced he's ready for prime time because they say he doesn't have accidents at school, but at home he doesn't tell us when he needs to go.  Devon decided to try to motivate Matthew with a "potty puzzle." Every time Matthew tells us he needs to go potty without having an accident in his pull-up, he gets a potty puzzle piece. Once he completes the puzzle, we have an ice cream party. Matthew loves this, and it has created a little bit of peer pressure because Ian highly encourages Matty to earn potty puzzle pieces too (Ian shares in the ice cream party!).  Anyway, today, Matthew put up his last potty puzzle piece to finish off this puzzle, so of course that meant ice cream, and everyone was all smiles around this place tonight. :)