Independence Day!

Freedom! What a wonderful blessing it is.

What's that you say? July 4th was yesterday? Yes, I suppose it was. And it is a very important and lovely holiday to celebrate. But here at Chez High Heeled Mama, we are celebrating a very different kind of independence this weekend.

We are currently free from the tyranny of Pampers! Oh yeah, baby! Potty training has entered day three and it is nothing short of a runaway success (compared to what I was prepared for).

Of course now that I've typed this, I'm sure peanut is busy peeing in his Thomas undies at the playground, but I'm willing to risk it. Plus, he's with the hubby, which means it's not currently my problem.

Since some of you have asked me what our approach has been, here is a quick rundown of our potty training weekend:

The hubby and I entered peanut's room on Day 1 as if it were Christmas. We were very excited to announce that this was the day he would not need diapers anymore. I think we might have freaked him out a little bit with our over eagerness and his initial reaction was not what we expected. After he took a moment to wake up and we toned down our shtick, he joined in our excitement and picked out his first pair of big boy underwear for the day.

We then gave him a tour of the bathroom that I had set up the night before. The potty was prominently displayed, special (ie, flushable) wipes nearby, his favorite pump soap at the ready, sticker chart hanging on the wall, stool at the sink and a big, decorated sign hanging on the door with his name on it so that he could take ownership of this bathroom as his. We told him what everything was for and then set about making breakfast.

The theme to our potty training has been to remind him that he just needs to tell us when he has to go pee or poop. We wanted him to be in control. His response was to announce he wanted to eat breakfast, watch Lightning McQueen then go pee pee.

Sounded good to us, so we gave him lots of liquids throughout the movie, paused two times at his request so he could go run down the hall to see his sign hanging on the door and as soon as the movie was over he announced he had to go pee. First attempt - total hit! Wahoo!

The rest of the day, we continued to ply him with liquids while reminding him ad nauseum that he needed to tell us when he had to go. We had three accidents throughout the day, but many more hits than misses including a sacred you know what (don't make me say it!). We were thrilled.

Day 2 continued much in the same way in terms of our tactics and he only had one accident. We were getting keen on his signs and were able to strategically ask a few times if he had to try to pee and he'd agree - thereby avoiding any potential accidents. I think that also helped him clue into what it felt like BEFORE any action happened.

Today has been awesome. It's currently just before dinner. He's finally out at the playground across the street because the poor kid is going stir crazy from being with the two us of all weekend and our incessant: "Tell mommy or daddy if you have to pee pee, okay?" But so far, no accidents! And he's been very proactive telling us when he has to go, including for another you know what.

I know we're not totally out of the woods yet - we haven't gone on errands or engaged in our normal, active routine, but we're going to ramp into that this week and see what happens. I've been sick all weekend (still with this cough and overall blechs - doc says it's a virus and I have to wait it out, which could take another week, great!), which has actually been a blessing in disguise. I've had an excuse to lay on the couch all weekend and haven't felt bad about resting or skipping any usual activities. I'm not up to working out yet, so we'll simply stay home another day tomorrow and maybe do some grocery shopping or other errands to test the waters, so to speak.

The best sign of all came this afternoon when I pointed out to peanut that he hasn't worn a diaper in three days and he responded: "I don't need diapers anymore."

Score one for the parents!

And thank you for all the kind words of support and suggestions. They all came in handy and were much appreciated!