Fun With Eli

We have a celebration in our house!  Eli is POTTY-TRAINED!!  Yahooooo!!  It was actually incredibly easy when I think about it. (At least the couple weeks of training were easy.  Goodness knows I let myself do plenty of worrying and dreading before the actual training began.)  He was showing me signs that he was ready (taking off his diaper and bringing it to me, and fiddling with his diaper a lot even when dry).  I was also ready too, which plays a big role in the timing factor.  I bought a couple books on Amazon, one for me about potty-training boys the easy way, and one for Eli called The Potty Train.  I planned to make him some sort of sticker chart that would lead to a reward.  Well, before the books arrived and the chart was made,  we woke up one Monday morning and it was evident that "today was the day", and we were gonna just hit the ground running with potty-training.  I really hadn't read much up to that point, but figured we'd just learn as we went.  Luckily I had already bought some underwear, and we already had a potty chair and toilet topper.

So I put Eli in his underwear and he went and played cars on my bed.  A little while later he came running out without his underwear on, shouting "I need to go potty!"  I thought maybe he'd had an accident, and sure enough he had!  It was just a small amount on the carpet.  I explained to him the difference when wearing underwear, and I think it sunk in fast.  We headed off to a dr. appointment that morning.  As soon as we arrived at the hospital Eli declared he had to go potty.  I thought we were doomed, but we made it inside and were successful!  That was the only accident for the day.

Day Two training he did great!  We went to the park in the morning.  I tried taking him to the bathroom a couple times, but nothing happened.  A short while later he had an accident while being caught up in a game of tag.

The following few days were similar.  Generally about one accident/day for the first several days.  The hard part came in teaching Eli he couldn't just go the bathroom in the yard.  The first two weeks Eli went outside a few times a day when he had to pee.  I thought it was a little strange, but figured it was okay because he was learning.  But we had a few encounters where I caught him with his underwear pulled down in the front yard.  (He even had his one and only poop "accident" in the front yard.)  So I had a clear conversation with him to fix that misunderstanding.

Eli caught on fast to learning when he actually had to go.  He was also able to hold his pee for quite a while not long after starting training.  (We had an incident at Walmart where he ended up having to hold it a long time because he was terrified of the flushing toilets...)  Having the child-size potty was a huge help.  I kept it in the living room with us for the first couple weeks so he could sit on it whenever/as soon as he needed to.  (Now, on the third week, he's exclusively using the toilet.)

What also worked (and what the book suggests), was doing the training in sessions.  There were many gradual steps that we took to get potty-trained.  We never rushed it, and tried giving lots of practice and introductions along the way.

Pooping was never an issue.  He uses the toilet every morning to poop.  For a while he fought putting underwear on again in the mornings, but was usually more willing once he'd eaten something.  Just started using pull-ups at night.  I could tell he didn't like the feel of them, and asked for a diaper instead.  And just yesterday he started going to the bathroom standing up.  He has good control and feels proud to be like Dad!  The Potty Train book was a HUGE help in getting him excited/keeping him motivated.  I am SO glad I didn't push it, and the timing worked out for the both of us so perfectly.  It really was a breeze, and boy are we proud of our big-kid Eli!

These photos were taken on a walk with Dad.  Eli wore this blanket as a superhero cape for a few days.  Guess he could use one a little more manly. : )

I love the picture on the left.  Clara and Eli wrestling with Daddy.  They look like siblings, huh?  On the right, Eli was feeding and doctoring a baby doll.  : )

But don't let that cute picture of the kids playing together fool you.  90% of the time Eli is freaking out that Clara is in the vicinity of where he's playing.  Sibling struggles has got to be one of THE most frustrating things as a parent!  It drives me CRAZY!

Here's a video of them playing together--

And another sweet video of Eli "putting Daddy to bed" and reading him the book Sammy the Seal--

 

I'm always trying to have little activities that Eli can do.  On the left, we made cloud dough.  Below it we're playing with shaving cream.  Eli's also great at collecting handfuls of dandelions.  When they first started to pop up he'd shout, "Mom!  Can I go outside?  I see some of those white flowers!"  : )

 

Video of Eli playing experimenting with baking soda and colored vinegar.  Stinky but fun!

We love swinging together!

Eli also went through a couple days where he wanted to wear his apron everywhere, even on a family trip to the park.  Love how carefree he is!

A nearby park (that is right next to the fire station and the post office, so it's a big hit) has had some large construction vehicles parked next to it for weeks.  So it's become habit that whenever we visit that park, we first climb aboard the machines.  (Actually, that's mostly all we do, as the playground equipment pales in comparison to diggers and dozers.)  The first time we hopped on I thought a policeman would stop by and tell us we couldn't play on them.  But they never did, so we just keep coming!  I never had my camera on me the first couple visits, but David brought him one Saturday and snapped some photos.  Eli always wishes the machines would move, but he still thinks it's pretty darn cool to sit up on them.  : )

The latest popular phrase from Eli is "Hey, you know what I see??"  Anytime we're driving, or outside, or he looks out the window, he always says this and likes to tell me something fun he spotted (usually transportation-related).  I think this new phrase may have stemmed from playing the game "Riddly riddly ree..." : )

Lastly, if you are never one to watch the videos I post, you MUST watch this one.  It's hilarious!  David and I watched it over and over and were laughing so hard we made tears.  (It might even require several viewings just to understand what he's saying.)