Monday, April 7, 2008

Time to join the ranks!


Well, I am officially joining the ranks of the thousands of parents who have entered the "potty-training" phase of parenthood. Daxton is now sporting his Thomas the Train "big-boy" underpants and trying to get the hang of this whole "toilet" thing. The first hurdle I realized I would need to get through was to try and convince him that there was some incentive or reason why he should want to go to the bathroom in the toilet and wear "big-boy" underpants. Hence, the Elmo demonstration. Daxton has had these two Elmo dolls on his bed since we moved here, and the other day he was commenting on the fact that the baby doll wore a diaper. I jumped at this opportunity to make some headway with him, and I quickly started to point out that the baby Elmo wore a diaper, and the big-boy Elmo did not. To make the example complete, we outfitted the big-boy Elmo with a pair of Daxton's big-boy underpants. I guess it really clicked, because now every time that Dax uses the potty or tells me that he needs to use the potty (which is rare), he loves to point out that he's a "big-boy" now. I don't mean to boast, but I was quite satisfied with myself for getting through to his 2-year-old mind that it was cool to be a "big boy." Today, when he saw me go to the bathroom, he declared that "Mom's a big boy too!" and afterwards he let me know that I "did a good job," and that I could "choose a treat." What a fun time of life! Anyone with any good suggestions on how to potty train is more than welcome to comment!

5 comments:

LATIMER FAMILY said...

I like the demonstration with Elmo. The things we will do get the phase of potting training started, done, and on to the next phase. No real suggestions, every kid is so different. We were lucky with Allie, all she needed was a little competition with the cousins and she was good. Whatever you do good luck!

joslyn said...

good luck. my boys were hard, not fun, and lots of headaches to train.

Amy said...

Oh, love potty training! It is so nice when it just clicks and they realize they can go to the bathroom! Good luck with it!

Annie said...

Love the undies on Elmo and love that you're a "big boy" too! Best of luck with the potty training. And, I'm one of the Utahns jealous of your previous sunny post . . . we can't buy a day of warmth around here!

Heather Harper said...

That's cute! I think having Braden watch us go, and us telling him WE had to go, really helped. I have lots of advice, well, we tried a lot of techniques I should say. Seems that you're on to something, so when you get stuck, cry for help and I'll see what I can tell you worked for us. Have fun!