Jon and Amber

Sorry, it’s been a LONG time since we’ve updated here, but we have some big news!

We haven’t done a lot of work on potty learning with Jeremy, because it didn’t seem like he was totally ready yet, but we do have a potty chair that he likes to open, close, sit on and cheer. We’ve tried sitting him on it a few times, just for fun, no pressure, but he has never really understood what it’s for. Lately though, he’s started showing a little more awareness of bodily functions – I’ve noticed him tugging at his diaper and saying “toot” when he is going to pee or poop, and he has come to me with a poopy diaper and said, “toot” – so these are good signs. He’s also said, “Potty!” when he sees either of us using the toilet, so there’s some recognition starting to show there, too.

(“Toot” is Jeremy’s word for all bodily functions that happen in the diaper area, so he says it for pee, poop, tooting, and diarrhea like he had when he was sick a couple weeks ago. It was so sad, he was whimpering, “Toot? Toot?” and I’m sure he felt just awful, the poor little guy.)

Yesterday morning, when I was getting Jeremy’s diaper changed, he said “toot” and then peed right away, so I figured we might as well start trying the potty chair a little more in earnest. I know they say that the first pee of the morning is the easiest one to get in the potty, so I figured we’d give it a try today.

After we got up, I showed Jeremy the potty in the bathroom again, and we practiced getting on and off of it with the little-boy-shield in place (it’s a high one!) He didn’t seem interested in sitting for very long, but he was having a lot of fun sitting and standing, so I just figured he didn’t have to pee at that time. He didn’t want to come to the bedroom to get dressed, so I left him naked in the bathroom to keep playing sit-stand with the potty chair, while I went to get his diaper and clothes. When I came back, he was sitting on the potty, said “toot,” and then immediately stood up, and I could see that he had gone pee all by himself! We cheered long and loud for his big accomplishment, and then I let him dump the potty in the big toilet and flush it all by himself.

I couldn’t quite tell if he got exactly what was going on (it could have just been a lucky coincidence, and he seemed a little bewildered by the pee in the potty), but it’s a positive start so far! I know most boys don’t use the potty consistently until they’re closer to about 3 years old, so I figure anything before then is going to be cause for celebration