i've waited my whole life for this...

ok, so maybe not my whole life. but a really, really long time.

every time i envisioned having a boy, i envisioned this:

the super hero covered tush. i know, you can't resist, you just want to pinch those tiny cheeks of his :)!

girls have lots of cute clothes, but boy's underwear is FAR superior.

so, logic probably tells you if AJ is in big boy pants we are attempting to potty training. well, this a true and a false assumption.  "we" is more like LUCY, is attempting to potty train anderson.  i learned after the nightmere that i walked through with katie, when i tried to potty train her at 21 months, (forgive me katie dear. i threw more money in the counseling fund for the awful year i put you through. poor, poor first borns) to relax and let the child tell ME when they were ready. with this new, relaxed, method in hand julia potty trained at 26 months in one week, and lucy the exact same: 26 months, one week.  i had NO intention of potty training anderson right now. i hope to be packing boxes and moving across the country this summer. there is NO time for potty training. but lucy has been consistent and persistent with anderson, and he is coming along nicely. although, when i feel lazy, i put him back in the diaper and call it a day.  lucy takes him to the potty parties, dumps the potty, sanitizes the floor, and repeats the routine a lot. it helps that they spend 60% of their day outside, where anderson typically runs in the nude and lets loose whenever possible :)!

a word of encouragement for all your first time potty trainers... HANG IN THERE! don't stress, kids sense stress. don't ruin your relationship with your child. someone told me the first time your child uses the potty on the pot, you have about 3-6 months to go before their body is actually ready to potty train. this has proven SO true in all 4 of our children. potty training is WAY more about the parent then is it the child. set your expectations low, and let go of your agenda and time table. this might be the first "challenge" you and your child have faced together. lay the foundation for good team work, encouragement, and success. read, "toilet training in less than a day" by nathan azrin. no, you aren't going to do it in a day, but there are GREAT ideas and resources in this book.

hope everyone has a great weekend...
i am off the find those spider man cheeks!
~s