The Potty

We are slowly moving towards potty training in the Z household. James is 2.5. I'm not terribly concerned. Yeah, I'm annoyed about changing toddler yucky diapers. But hey, at least it's only 3-4 times a day.

However, in the past month or so, James has shown some interest in peeing outside his diaper. I say this and not "in the potty" because James prefers to pee...in the shower. Yes. With or without the water running. I always applaud and yell loudly about how excited I am (usually I'm with him in the shower, a-hem).

Recently, we reached a breakthrough. I asked him if he wanted to potty on his potty while I went on mine (pre-shower, I thought I'd start asking him...yes, sometimes James just showers with me because dealing with bathtime can be a pain...it takes FOREVER these days). He stood up and peed in his potty. Well, at least, in the direction of his potty. For this, I took him to McDonald's.

After this occasion, he told Greg about his cheeseburger and I promised him this treat again. Greg says I need to start smaller, like with stickers. I agree, but just haven't gotten around to it. So. With our trip and everything, James hadn't peed anywhere but his diaper for about two weeks. No big deal. Things are out of whack. The other night, James peed in his bath. Okay, fine. Hey, Nate does it during every bath (granted, he's 5 months old, but still). Fine, I applauded the control James showed, etc.

Well, tonight, we went to see some friends for NYE pizza (thanks Melissa!) and toddler hang time. James, unfortunately, hit his friend Owen with a car, so we had to have some punishment for that. We told him he couldn't have any books before bed. This is VERY upsetting to James. Greg was changing him while I got Nate ready for bed, and James ran to me crying (about the no books decision). I picked up his diaper off the floor where he'd dropped it, and said to Greg, "It's dry.". So I immediately asked James if he'd like to pee on the potty (bear in mind, the past three days I've asked James if he'd like to pee on the potty and has said "no", even with the promise of McDonald's [another note to self, he calls it "McDonald's House"]). Tonight he said yes! Very excitedly, we went into the bathroom, I opened up the seat, and he climbed on. He sort of faces forward but sits on the seat. Totally nekkid. And lo and behold, the kid peed!

After he got off the toilet and we washed hands and did high fives, I said he could have stories. Of course, he said to me, "Go to McDonald's House?". No, not at 8 p.m. on New Year's Eve. But I am still very proud of him.

Not proud of him hitting his buddy though. Too much time away from playgroups and being spoiled!

And finally, my biggest question to Greg was, what do I do after he pees? Do we wipe the penis? Or what? He says just to let it go. Doesn't that just strike the women out there as weird?

I don't know how they walk around with those things. I'm a stranger in a strange land over here.