My advice on potty training...

...avoid it at all cost!  Or wait until you HAVE to do it.

Say, before they leave for college.

 Luke's new underwear on our head!

We will do anything to get him potty trained.

Ok, not realistic?  Well, in my opinion, then you SHOULDN'T do it if:

 - you have a infant that likes to be held all the time 

(holding = happy; set him down = screaming!)

- you are the infants main source of milk 

(never fails - Luke always starts to pee when I am feeding Liam)

- your infant can roll over + fall off places if not placed "properly" 

(you never know when you are going to have to 

make a mad dash to the bathroom)

- your 2 year old is not the best communicator for his age

(by the time you know what he said, he has already gone to the bathroom)

 - your 2 year old is a 2 year old 

(hello terrible twos!)

 - you have responsibilities other than potty training 

(laundry, cooking, cleaning, ... the list goes on) 

 - you don't like the sound of your own voice or that of your husband's

(we are a broken record from the moment we wake up - "tell us if you have to go potty"; 

"potty Luke?"; "let's all go to the potty!")

... you get my point.

So it's been a month since we did the 3 DAY POTTY TRAINING PROGRAM.

We were expecting the worst for those 3 days.  We anticipated very

little sleep for the weekend, lots of "messes" and cabin fever from staying 

home for 3 days straight.

 Big Boy in Big Boy Underpants.

Surprisingly, Luke did really well; he did better than we anticipated.  

He immediately went into big boy underwear that Friday morning 

and hasn't been in a diaper since.  He made it through

the nights with no accidents.  He made it through his naps with no

accidents.  Yes, he had accidents in those 3 days, but that was expected.

Was he potty trained at the end of Sunday?  No.

Is he potty trained now a month later?  No.

Will he ever be?  I am beginning to wonder.

Is it too late to go back to diapers?  Believe me I have asked!

He has great teachers at his MDO who work with him as well.

They tell us he is really young to be potty training already and doing so well 

(not according to the PROGRAM).  His teacher also tell us to be 

patient with him (easy for them to say; he doesn't scream every time

they take him to the bathroom or scream NO! like he does with us).

This milestone is a great example of how you think life will turn out

and how life REALLY turns out.

Casey and I have learned a lot from this experience.  There has been 

more praying than usual at this house.  In our Young Families Class at 

church last week, we learned to count our trials as joy as we

work out our faith.  Maybe God is preventing it from "clicking" 

in Lucas until WE learn patience. 

We have heard people have kids who learn to master potty

training in 3 days.  Our son is not one of them.

That's ok.  We are happy to be only buying one size of diapers.

We just didn't anticipate the amount of laundry we would be doing

or the amount of trips we would be making to the bathroom.

I thought Lucas was ready to be potty trained.

I forgot to ask myself if I was ready.

Live and learn.

Too early to say, but I don't forsee Liam being potty 

trained until he moves out!