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The portrait of potty training

I know from the title people are just stoked to dig in. Eli is 20 months old today! Because he loves being naked and has shown a lot of signs of readiness (taking his diaper off, telling us when he goes, throwing his diaper away, wanting to sit on the potty, throwing toilet paper in the toilet, going at the same time every day, waking up from naps dry), we started the potty training process. We actually started the process months ago. In June I bought him a potty and have let him sit on it whenever he liked. I also read him the Potty Time book and watched Daniel Tiger’s potty episode.

He started out doing so great. Day one was a mess, as one might expect, but after that he was really going strong. We had 2 full days at home of just nakedness and timed potty breaks (15 minutes day one, 20 minutes day two). I sang him a potty song while he sat on the potty and used the signs for potty and poop. When he was successful we cheered and danced and had an M&M. *Side note- don’t give your babe too much juice day one no matter how hydrated you want them. They will get the Capital D.* Day three he would run to the potty by himself! But- we had a lot of time out of the house that day and I let him wear a diaper out. I just don’t feel like his caregivers should be responsible for potty training him in the 1 year old room. Also he can’t communicate that he needs to go yet- he just runs to the potty because he’s naked- not something you can pull off in a daycare room.

This process worked for a while, but then he decided it was more fun to clean up than go in the potty. One thing about Eli- he really really loves to clean. I’m not kidding. He quickly got bored of the entire process, so I started letting him watch 3 minutes of Choo-choo videos on my iPhone when it was potty time. This worked much better- probably because he lives in a low media house. Then again- we had a major regression not long after.
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*I used the Perfect Potty app to keep track*

Days 5-8 his dad was home all day and I think he was just so excited to see him that sitting on the potty really wasn’t all that appealing any longer. Regardless of Choo-choo videos and M&M’s he was over it. He decided that he would rather hold it than go in the potty. Today he was just crying and crying because I told him he could have a cookie if he went potty in his froggy potty. He went and was happy to eat the cookie- but then he was done. I’m not sure we’ll continue at this point. I’m afraid there might be health issues if he keeps holding it? I might choose to wait 6-8 weeks before trying again. I don’t want him to have negative emotions regarding the whole process. He brought me a diaper today (and yesterday…and the day before) and asked me to put it on. He’s obviously a very smart kid- but he does NOT want to be fully trained right now. Thoughts are welcome.

Toddlerhood is the real deal. If you ever wanted to test your patience you can borrow our son for an hour or two. I find myself wondering “How many times will I have to tell Eli not to eat deodorant today?” and “How did he figure out how to open nail polish??” This week Eli stood on our iPad and broke it. He also bit my phone cover until it was broken- then bit my phone until a small crack appeared in the screen. Of course then I dropped my phone and it broke. Winning.

Eli is definitely a blessing and a blast but I could see myself going back to work PRN if it works out financially. I really want to be able to be there for him- but being with him 24/5 and 22/2 (I have a 2 hour mom’s group once a week and a 2 hour group I co-lead once a week) can be challenging in it’s own way. You want to be your best self for your child and your spouse and apparently for me that doesn’t look like working full time and it doesn’t look like staying at home full time. Photography definitely gives me something creative and fun to do but marketing is not my strength and there is always so much to learn. I was on as a PRN staff at Centennial- but childcare cost literally took everything I made and let’s be honest- Eli still gets sick frequently and that means I would inevitably have to call in. Hopefully either opportunities will present themselves, or I can learn to be content and nonstriving which is equally, if not more desirable when considering what would be good for my spirit. I so want to just enjoy every moment of my life because I know that I am blessed. I don’t  think I should be unrealistically happy and smiling when life knocks me down- but I do want to have joy and peace that surpasses circumstance.

I’m short on one of his monthly pictures (his favorite)- but I’ll make it up before next time!
Eli: 20 Months
Maddox images-2Maddox images-3Maddox images-4Maddox images-8haMaddox-images-7b
I say new words like… ribbit, amen, gramma, turtle, love you, see [you] soon, one, two, raccoon, book, outside, up, rock, down, walk, all right, please, thank you, cookie
I have 17 teeth
My favorite food is cookies!
My favorite toy is my Happy Birthday to You book. Mom read it 9 times in 2 hours one day.
Some other things I do include… playing with stickers, knocking on doors and figuring out ALL the baby locks. I sigh like mom when I don’t get my way.
A Memorable Moment for Mom was: when I opened the door to the garage and proceeded to push the lawn mower around while pulling on the starter. She also thought it was hilarious when she read a story about an elephant and I proceeded to go pull out all my stuffed elephants so they could enjoy the story too.
It’s almost fall! Hang in there
-Shantel

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