Potty Animals

We are now in the thick of it. It is round number two for potty training for Parks and Wyatt. We have been gearing up for this for some time now and really wanted both of them to be diaper-free when Ridley gets here. Parks always seemed to be a little more ready for this than Wyatt, but we hoped that Parks would drag Wyatt along with him as his motivator. Even now, we have little battle of competition between the two (for toys, where to sit at the table, who closes the front door, which color sippy cup to use, etc., etc., etc.).

Our first attempt was met with little success. We couldn't get through the constant accidents they both were having, although Parks always wanted to finish up in the potty. Wyatt was not so eager. We were on ever-vigilant puddle patrols. We tried all the videos for a happy, fun, fantastic potty time. There were some interesting things on those videos. We tried some interactive books about the topic. Nothing really seemed to click with them.

Another month passed, and Parks was really starting to get uncomfortable with diapers. He began very aware of their presence, especially when full. On the other hand, Wyatt was not so much. He could sit for hours in a poopy diaper and not care. We tried M&M's and small Tootsie Roll pops as motivators (M&Ms for number 1 an Tootsie Roll pops for number 2). Parks really started to get it. Wyatt was still showing little interest, but we made every effort to include him in the process. Parks was doing well with the pee-pees in the potty but was still having problems (or apprehensions) with number 2. He is already prone to getting backed-up and holding out to go on the potty complicated the matter. We finally tried incorporating a chart that had been helpful for a friend of ours where for every fifth successful "big job" was rewarded with a special toy just for him. Not to be left out, we also made a chart for Wyatt where he could get a special toy on every fifth pee-pee in the potty.

This last weekend we took Parks to the "Blue Store" (Wal-mart) to pick out his third special toy. Wyatt still has an empty chart, and when we ask him if he would like to try to pee-pee on the potty, his answer is a matter-of-fact "no." We still keep asking.