Pottytrained! {from June}

What a bittersweet moment, this is. Sad, because there are no more babies at our house. No more squishy, chunky, giggly babies.... But, more so - it's a SUPER happy moment, because we don't have to buy any more diapers! Mostly, no more stinky diaper changes, no more poop squirting out everywhere, no more inconvenient stops to change a diaper in freezing temperatures or in the bed of the truck; no more packing a diaper bag, or worse - forgetting to. IT'S KIND OF GLORIOUS, I tell you!

Potty training is a funny thing. In the beginning, your kid shows a slight bit of interest, and you get all excited and have THE best plans for making it all work. Then, a few days into it, you realize it's a complete bust. Ah, the disappointments in life!

So, I'm just kidding, but really, get used to disappointments with two year olds, because there are plenty. With Reese, our second, potty training never really went as planned. We had expected him to be like his older brother, who potty trained a month after turning 2, all within a week, AND wiped his own butt, ever since. But, why would we be so silly in our thinking?

Reese took his sweet time, almost a year, in fact. His 3rd birthday was in July, and he fully potty trained in June, despite our best AND glorious efforts for him to do it sooner. For us, it was more of a convenience thing and something we wanted to accomplish before preschool in the fall, because I am a firm believer in sending your child out into the world for social interaction, in other words - I'm not a  "home body", so I raise my kids the same. There are worse things, right?

Long story short, Reese didn't fall for any of the tricks or gimmicks. He had his own timeline. We went back and forth between underwear, pull ups and diapers. We employed baby steps and we've gone full speed. We spent money on toys and treats. We bribed, hard. Nothing. And then, one fine day, he just decided it was fun to poop and pee in the potty, so that's what he did! Ta-Da!

So if that's your experience, you will be one of millions! Congratulations!