big boy

Over Christmas break, we decided it would be a good time to potty train Oliver. We had been trying different methods for months but none of them were sticking until my friend Kris sent me the booklet she had recently (and successfully) used for her son, G. I read the 40 pages outloud to b and we realized there were some things that we were doing right and something we were not doing correctly. So the next day, we changed the methods. We already had a potty chair but felt we needed a second one since we have two floors. I told O that we would be going to get a second potty chair and he stated he would like a frog potty. Luckily, we found one at the first store we went to. I think this and the new "tips" were what helped seal the deal, not to mention the big boy undies (with "Planes" characters) he received in his stocking.

 The first day, he had one accident and did not like it one bit. The second and third day were accident free! It just all clicked! Oliver has surprised us by telling us when he has to go #1 AND #2!! On the third or fourth day, I was getting ready and yelled up to Oliver to let us know when he needed to go potty, which he responded with "Ok!". Minutes later, I heard him say "I went potty!!". I thought oh no, he had an accident! As I ran up the stairs, I noticed he was in the bathroom and he yelled as I got closer, "I went poopy!". He had walked himself into his bathroom, pulled down his undies and went potty on the chair without us! To say I was proud was an understatement! There was a lot of high pitch "Way to go buddy!" and "Momma is so proud of you!!" and "Oh my goodness, that is a big poopy!" ha! 

Of course, b came running up the stairs to join the potty party! ;)

silly pictures we took during carpool before O went into school.
he's really getting into a whole new silliness and wants to make funny faces
 and throws his head back and laughs at them. love it!

He even went back to school yesterday and made it through with NO accidents!! I thought for sure this potty training process was going to drag on even longer but those tips that my friend gave me are what sealed the deal! Now I will say, he still wears a pullup at night. We call them his big boy night time undies. We tried the undies at night for a couple nights but he would just wet the bed and not wake up until the next morning. So we decided to continue the use of night time pullups until he starts waking up dry. We have taken him to quite a few public places and even spent 2 1/2 hours rearranging b's office and yet he has had no accidents. Each and every time, he has let us know when he needed to use the restroom. 

It's as if he grew up over night! 

Something else I decided to try over break was giving Oliver a small drinking glass to drink from rather then a sippy cup. Now that he is in school, he is using a small cup to drink water from at snack time.

 I wanted to continue that at home. So I picked up a small cup from Target and started giving it to him with a little amount of water each time. He has done so well that I have started giving him close to a half a cup of water each time. 

These little and big steps have made me realize just how fast time is going and how quick my little boy is growing up! It's exciting and of course, there is a bit of sadness. 

I just try to soak up as much as possible.

Like the other night...

We all went out for dinner and Oliver out of the blue, grabbed my hand at the table.

gosh, I love my sweet boy.