Potty Training

Last month we decided to start potty training Austin. I read the book, "Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day." The book suggests throwing a "Potty Party." While I really liked the idea of the book, it did take us more than just one day. :) We thought it would be easier to potty train while we were still in a small apartment, so we started training about a week and a half before we moved into our new house. Looking back, the timing was terrible! lol. I underestimated how time consuming it would be at first. We were constantly making mad dashes to the potty which made packing up & moving pretty difficult. When Austin woke up on May 10, 2011, we told him that there was a surprise waiting for him in the bathroom.

 I decorated the bathroom with crepe paper & tried to make it look like a party room. We bought him a new step stool & big boy potty seat. We also put a few potty books on the back of the toilet.

 Opening his surprise.

He got a brand new Mickey Mouse that was wearing big boy underwear.

We spent the entire first half of our day teaching Mickey how to use the potty. I filled a baby bottle with yellow water & hid it behind the shower curtain. Every time Mickey had to potty, I would sneak the bottle behind Mickey & tip it upside down. I thought I was being really sly until a couple days later when Austin asked me where Mickey's bottle went. Lol!

 Reading Mickey some potty books on the couch.

 Picking out a sticker to put on Mickey's potty chart for using the potty.

 I made a treat tray by filling mini cupcake wrappers with some of Austin's favorite candy. He & Mickey got to choose a treat every time they used the potty.

Feeding Mickey his treat.

 When Austin woke up from his nap he got another present. It was big boy underwear! Now it was Austin's turn to put on underwear & start using the potty.

 Putting a sticker on his potty chart for using the potty.

Washing his hands all by himself! He looks so big in his undies!

Austin did really well with potty training until the weekend we moved. We were super busy & on the go a lot, which meant he wore pull ups a lot. I don't think he could tell the difference between a pull up & a diaper, so we had a lot of accidents. We decided to just give it up until we were all settled in. When we started training again a week later, it was so much easier than the first time! This past weekend was the first time we left the house in underwear instead of a pull up & he did awesome! We ran errands for a couple of hours & didn't have any accidents. He even wore underwear to church on Sunday. It has been a while since he has had an accident. He uses the potty all by himself at home & it's so nice to finally be at the stage where I'm not constantly on edge because I'm confident that he will go when he needs to.

 Austin LOVES the park, so we took him to a park near our house this weekend because he's been such a good boy using the potty. He knows that if he keeps using the potty then we'll go to that "cool park."

He loves to drive the wheel.

 I just love this picture! He's showing Luke what slide he wants to slide down next.

I asked him the other day if he needed to use the potty & he said, "No. I'm good. Thank you though." Lol!