I did it...well, he did!

"i did it" he exclaims...every time he goes on the potty

we bit the bullet and went cold turkey the weekend before last after reading the boys potty book for 2-3 weeks every night, to the point that he knows almost all of the words.

we prepared his underpants stash...

he has all kinds of his favorite character big boy underpants...

nemo

buzz light year

cars

diego

dinosaurs

cute GAP ones

he loves them all. big boy underpants are special. and

so are the m&ms that he gets after going on the potty. at first he really didnt care about them at all and the m&ms werent working. but stickers didnt work either. they just seemed to annoy him. so we stuck to m&ms and although he doesnt always ask for them the praise he gets after going seems to be enough for him to keep coming back for more...."i did it" he exclaims every time, melts our hearts. he has such pride for his potty activities.

im trying to figure out what we did or why this was easier than i anticipated. but for now im going to keep my mouth shut. and live in the moment. in less than one week he got it.

here is what we did do....we have had potty seats (both floor pottys and the kind that go on top of the toilet) in the house since before he was 2. they are both prince lionheart brand. one is the weePOD toliet trainer (which we got on amazon) and the other is the PottyPOD.

we always gave him a chance to go on the potty before and after naps and before bath time (casually offered it up and if he declined, no big deal), never forced it and always celebrated the successes. we previously tried potty training back in december during the holiday break but realized he wasnt ready and dropped it, but let him go when he wanted to on his terms. we also encouraged him to go anywhere, not just at home on his special seats.

the weekend before last we stayed home (we had lots to do anyway) and went cold turkey into underpants. yes we had one or two poo accidents which seemed to be the biggest battle for him (he always used to hide to poo or run in a corner and always denied it when confronted), but as of last thurs/fri he is now telling us he has to go before he has his accident. he also doesnt care where we are and if it is his special potty seat. i was really worried about public bathrooms, the big intimidating seat etc. so many friends kids are not fans. thankfully asher doesn't discriminate. he just goes. we didnt flood him with juice or water like some people do. we didnt put him on the seat every 15 minutes....because, well he is almost 3. and he has an opinion. he was not having that. we also let him roam the house, but kept an eye on him to make sure he didnt sneak off. and since i am constantly in the bathroom being pregnant i would always just take him with him and make it a team activity... i can only hope school is able to be as diligent as we are about encouraging him and keeping him focused on his needs to use the potty. so far he is pretty vocal about his needs at school and we are having great success. its still definitely more challenging at school. regardless, he gets it. he likes it and he feels like a big boy. and boy is he ever.

and because i get this question a lot. we taught him to sit to pee. everything i read said you teach them to sit first, then stand. i figure he is too short to stand in regular height, public pottys right now anyway...

potty training or not, he is our big boy. we are so proud.

so far ive saved you the potty pics, but if i catch one like one my mom has of me sitting on the pot reading a mag...i will post definitely be posting....