Sunday, January 18, 2009

Potty Chair Three-peat

Yesterday afternoon, I watched Evan maneuver his closed potty-chair over to the bathroom sink, then climb up on top of it so he could turn the faucet on and off to play in the water. I thought to myself, "If he can understand the sequencing of individual events needed to play in the sink, he should be able to understand the concept of what the potty-chair is really for"--it isn't rocket science!

So I pushed the potty to it's regular place, flipped up the lid, and stripped him from the waist down. His diaper was not dry, so I didn't have high hopes but we stood in front of the potty and I signed "potty" like crazy. He kept trying to put a foot up on the seat to climb and I kept putting it back down and signing "potty". After a minute or so of standing there, he managed to squeeze out a couple of drops and one landed in the potty. I signed "potty, yes" and the sign for clapping--Evan smiled. I went and put on a pair of his training underwear and we played in the bedroom for about 10 minutes. When I saw him start to go, I stripped him again and we ran to the potty. This time some more made it into the potty (although most of it did not :). More "potty-yeah!". I put him back in a diaper and pants and let him go about his business of playing.

Last night, I wanted to he if the afternoon sucess was just a fluke. So we took off his diaper and stood in front of the potty chair. More signing "potty", more Evan trying to climb up on top of it. After a minute or two, he went again in the potty! Three times in one day!

Granted, he is not initiating any of this. Evan gives no indication before, during, or after he has wet or dirtied a diaper. But this does give me some hope that we may be able to habit train him (for peeing at least) during the day time. Maybe if he got used to the feeling of dry, he might be more annoyed by the feeling of wet and would start to let us know. We are in for a LONG journey with this, I know. But as my father recently brought to our attention, diapers are expensive (guess we're just so used to it that we don't think twice about dropping $40 for a box at Costco).

8 comments:

Catherine L said...

hey... Reuben's is frizzy all the time too from the back scooting but like me, a bit of moisture sends his hair into a mass of curls... I hated his last haircut, they cut them all off.. never again! love Catherine x

Catherine L said...

I'm loving reading this. It's all great progress. Which potty would you suggest?

Crystal M. said...

Great job Evan!!! Keep up the great work!!
Hugs,
Crystal and Eva

Anonymous said...

One must never think that potty training is an easy task. It takes much patience and time. Let us hope that this task will be like Evan learning to turn on and off the light switches. Lid up, lid down and flush, flush, flush.
Love, Grandma & Grandpa Key

amy and mighty max said...

WOW! That is so awesome Sarah! Congratulations...seriously, WOW! I haven't made it a priority and perhaps I should...

Thanks for the "reminder."

Love you guys and am super happy for you all!

Sarah said...

Wow good boy Evan and gret patience mommy! That is so great! Keep up the good work! I have faith-he will do it!
God Bless,
Brian, Sarah, and Caleb Hlebiczki

Jujube said...

Hi Sarah,
Just wanted to say hi. We might have to get some pointers from you one day for Jubilee.
-Olivia from Bellevue

Leslie, Arlin and Katie Kauffman said...

Wow, this is wonderful! Way to go, Evan!! Katie just turned 7 and still is not potty-trained. She'll sit with no problem, and once in awhile she goes in the potty, but she still doesn't seem to have the concept of what the purpose really is. Long road, indeed!