The Potty and Damon's master plan

I decided the last time I bought Damon diapers that I wouldn't buy another box, and I would potty train him when they ran out.  They ran out on me faster than I thought and I was caught a bit by surprise one day when I realized I only had about 10 diapers left.  I didn't feel ready to potty train, but I think after doing two kids, I will never really be "ready" to do it again.  And, I also wanted to give it a try before the baby comes and I am quickly running out of time to meet that deadline.

So, on Wednesday night, I used the very last diaper I had when I put Damon to bed.  Thursday morning, we started potty training.  I am using the "3 Day Method" where you never ask them if they need to go potty, or ask if they want to try, or even just put them on the potty.  Instead, you constantly tell them to tell you when they need to go potty.  I knew this might be a slower method with Damon, who is 2 years and 3 months old, but felt like it would be best in the long term with him (or really, any kid for that matter).  This way, they learn to use the potty when they feel the need to go and don't have to rely on a parent remembering to take them there.  (This way was super fast when I trained Kelton, but he was over three years old.)

Day one and day two were filled with nothing but accidents.  But I could tell something was starting to click.  On day three, at dinnertime, (at Denny's with Nate's parents) Damon had his first real success where he told me he needed to pee and then went to the bathroom and did it with his underwear still dry.

As for nighttime... the first time he woke up in a pull-up, it was wet.  But, I think he probably peed in it after he woke up before I could get to him.  The next two nights he woke up dry.  I have never had a child do this at such an early stage of potty training.  So tonight, I put him to bed in his underwear.  We will see what happens.  But I think it will be okay since Damon woke me up this morning (with a pull-up on) at 6:00 saying, "I need to go pee."  Which he then did, in the potty.  I was really happy about that.  Not so happy about the time of day, though.

Today when we went to church, I kept Damon in his underwear.  I kept him in his underwear as we went out and about this weekend with Nate's parents too.  Once I put underwear on my kids, I never put them in pull-ups during the day.  Even a two year old knows its just a diaper.  So, I was a little nervous about nursery, but was prepared to clean up any messes.  Damon actually did great!  He didn't even have any accidents until later this evening.  He ended up having two accidents tonight.  The last one happened while I was on my way home from choir practice.  I have to admit, I thought this whole thing was kind of funny.  Probably just because it didn't happen on my watch.  Damon peed on the carpet.  While daddy was occupied cleaning it up, Damon found a marker, which he knows he's not even supposed to have, and proceeded to make lovely drawings on the walls.

This one shows the wall a bit better.

There were two other walls that looked similar to this one.  When I got home, I caught him with the marker in his hand.  His diversion was good enough to keep daddy busy for a while, but he forgot to factor mom coming home into his scheme. And I am, once again, thankful to the Magic Eraser people for making it possible for me to find this whole thing funny.

As for potty training, it is still a work in progress.  But I feel like he's doing well and will continue to do better each day.  Then, by the end, I will never have to remember or remind when it comes to Damon going potty.  And hopefully our walls will remain mural free.