The DeMarco Diaries: PT

No, no...not physical therapy, the real PT: potty training. It's serious stuff, guys. And hard.

All along I figured at some point during the summer, I would venture down this road. We've been reading potty books with Frankie and I've been talking to him a lot about using the potty and big boy undies. And then last week I asked Frankie when he thought he would be ready to start using the potty, thinking he would respond with something along the lines of "when we move into our house" or "when I get my big boy bed". But, no. Instead I heard, "Hmmm...I think Wednesday." Well, push me over with a feather. So, I went with it. Except we started on "pretend Wednesday", which was really Thursday since on Wednesday we drove to Arlington for our weekly house status meeting.

On Tuesday, we went to Target and Frankie picked out his big boy undies: Thomas the Train and Cars. (What else, right?)

On Wednesday, I enjoyed my last trip worry-free of potty accidents.

Thursday was go-time.

I read and heard a lot about naked time, which honestly scared me. I mean, with a boy, that stuff could spray anywhere! Opting for the next best thing, Frankie hung out in his undies for three straight days. The first day I questioned if he was really ready. The boy peed every 15 minutes. Seriously. Little drops here and there. Every 15 minutes. We went through about 15 zillion pairs of underwear. Ok, more like 12, but still. I would sit him on the potty every 15 minutes and he would get M&M's and stickers for trying and for successes. On day 2, I felt like he was getting the hang of it a bit - at least he was able to hold it so it wasn't spurting out every 15 minutes. We spread the potty increments to every 30 minutes with still pretty good success. Day 3 we only had a few accidents. And then on Day 4, we decided to travel 3 hours to visit family. Good idea, right? It was a total last minute trip so I didn't have time to order a travel potty so we were winging it. No drinks in the car and pull-ups. Oh - and cross our fingers that he didn't pee too much all over our family's house. Well, we only had 2 accidents and on the way home, Frankie even peed and pooped in a McDonald's bathroom! I cried victory.

Since then, we've changed to pull-ups at nap time. Frankie decided that he liked his undies so much that he didn't want a diaper at nap time. (Which I learned by finding him naked...laying in sheets wet with pee after two naps.) He even pulled his "special nap time undies (pull-ups) off once. I heard him calling me after being in his crib for about 30 minutes and when I went in he told me "my sheets are vet". Well, yes; yes they are, Mr. Naked. He had peed while standing up so it was dripping off his crib slats. Honestly, I was thankful for a #1 accident and not a #2 disaster! (We have had one minor poop accident where he just forgot to tell that he had to go, but at least that was contained!)

Yesterday we ventured to the Shenandoah Discovery Museum and I just nagged him the whole time. "Frankie, do you have to go potty?" "How about now?" After trying twice, he went the third time right before we left to come home. No accidents! And with a little bribery (hello Oreos and M&Ms), he is getting better about telling me that he has to go. He's still in night time diapers and I imagine he will be for quite a while - but for now I think I can say Frankie is almost potty trained! Nice work, buddy - Mommy and Daddy are SO proud of you!