One Week Down (the Drain)

*Please be warned…this is a post about pee, poop, and all sorts of bodily functions. If you could care less about that kind of stuff, this post is not for you…The pictures are just more from our trip to the pumpkin patch last weekend...unfortunately we've been a little too busy around here to take new ones..

This week marks a HUGE milestone for our little family…Landon started his potty training on Monday, which means that he went to school sans-diapers. We got him some different types of fun underwear (Pixar movies, trucks, that sort of thing) and we loaded up a bag with about 37 spare outfits (in case of accidents) and off he went.

I think I should mention that I was not sure that Landon was ready for this big step, as he has always been very content to just sit in a soiled diaper and really wouldn’t tell us when he needed to go. We have a nightly routine where he sits on the potty before he gets in the bath tub, but that’s really the extent of our potty training up until Monday.

I guess peer pressure can be quite the motivational factor though, because Landon’s buddy Anthony recently went through potty training and ever since then Landon has seemed much more interested in the porcelain throne. He had his teacher Mrs. Eileen convinced at any rate, as she told us that she thought it was time, so Monday was circled on the calendar as “D-day”…in this case the “D” stands for “De-diapering”…which is not a word, but whatever.

Just about the time Michaela was leaving work to go pick him up she sent me a message asking for my estimate on the number of accidents he had that day…her guess was 3….I was positive that the first day would be rough, so I went with 6….I just figured we’d be doing a ton of laundry for the next few weeks. Landon proved us both wrong, and only had 2 accidents at school…we were stoked!

Now that we knew this was a manageable feat, we were pumped to hop on board the “potty train” and help along in the evenings. The teachers definitely get the harder job here, as they put him on the pot every 30 minutes without fail. We set our timers at home and kept the same routine…while Landon sometimes gets a little perturbed when he doesn’t have to go and we make him sit there, he’s always glad to get bribed with gummy bears after each flush and hand wash.

Another hurdle that we had to clear as we went through this was for Landon to “drop a deuce” in there…up to this point, he has never wanted to do that…he typically will go off on his own in some remote corner of the house and squat with his diaper on…we know what he’s doing though as we can hear him grunting from down the hall and when we go check on him he tries to hide or tells us to go away…it’s sort of uncomfortably adorable.

Anyhow…we didn’t know if he was going to get the idea behind unloading in the pot versus a diaper, and the first day one of his two accidents happened to be of the solid variety….which didn’t bode well for his teachers or our laundry machine. But Day 2 came along and he did it…Day 3, more of the same….so that’s reassuring for us…he can be taught!
The funniest part of this is after Landon is done with his business, he gets off the pot and stares at his “achievement” for a minute or so from all different angles…then he flushes and says “BYE BYE POO!” at the top of his voice…then he giggles and I have to grab him and wash his hands….

Sure we may have to go through a few gummy bears and a little laundry detergent…but all things considered, we think Landon has really taken to the potty training pretty well. We recently purchased some pull-up diapers that we’re going to try at night (as of now he’s still in diapers when he sleeps), and we’re on the lookout for a liner for his bed…I must say, that’ll be a nice cost savings when we don’t have to buy diapers and wipes any more…those suckers are expensive!

As for the other stuff going on this week…my back has been bothering me since the move, but I haven’t let it slow me down too much…Michaela and I managed to log 18 miles on Sunday morning…It’s amazing to me that we have less than two months until our marathon…where in the heck has the year gone?...seriously…she’s got her Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco this weekend so the three of us are going to be in the big city on Saturday and Sunday.

The new house is feeling more and more like home all the time. We still have boxes everywhere and the garage is a disaster area, but things are coming along…we seem to put up a few pictures and get a little more organized every day. We’re still ironing out our routes for walks and runs, and still meeting the neighbors a little at a time…

I think that about covers it for us. We’re planning to get Landon his Halloween costume this week as well…he wants to be Buzz Lightyear, wants Michaela to be Jessie, and wants me to be either Woody or Spiderman (sort of random, right?)…I haven’t dressed up for Halloween since college, so this could be interesting.

Hope all is well with you and your families….keep on trucking and think happy thoughts about Landon and his potty quest.