The hardest part of parenting so far...

is potty training!

OK, so it wasn't/isn't that bad,but I did have a few anxiety filled days in the last week.

The first day was chaos--constantly changing Landon's wet undies, wiping up pee on the floor, and running back and forth to the bathroom.

The second day was much better--half as many accidents, and many of the accidents he stopped before they actually made a puddle on the floor.

From then on , it has just gotten better.

The hardest part was him just letting himself go. I'd never heard of a kid afraid of peeing, just normally #2. Well, he was of both really! It took about 6 days before he was just OK to sit, let it 'flow', and scream YAY!

We are now officially past a week of training. He hasn't worn diapers in a week, just his big boy undies. And he hasn't had an accident since Sunday ( when we tried to leave him in the nursery), but last Friday was the last one at home. OK, so he jumped over Luke and me on the couch and hit his forehead on the CORNER of the end table yesterday. And he peed on himself a little bit, but I won't consider that an accident. If I had the massive hemotobin, blood spot, and bruise on my head, I'm sure I'd do the same =) He held most of it in, and went straight to the potty to finish.

We've had 3 days in a row now where we have left the house to run errands, and he has stayed dry in the car, used the potty at the store, and came home dry.

We aren't doing pull -ups at nap time and he has been dry the past 2 days--even with 3+ hour naps! Let's hope this streak continues today.

At night time, we are doing pull-ups. He sleeps for 12ish hours at night, and he DOESN'T wake himself up to go. We go 2-3 times before we go to bed, and don't drink about 2+ hours before bed time.He was dry the night before last,and this morning he was just a little wet.So maybe he will have a great bladder sooner than later =) We got a package of pull-ups yesterday that had 58 in them, and with a coupon were about $16. So $8 a month is OK for now =)

All of this wouldn't have been as stressful, I'm sure, if I wasn't 5 1/2 months pregnant, trying to get the house ready for new carpet in the bedrooms, finish some big tutus, WHILE following his EVERY move for 3-4 days, asking him 1,000,000 a day " Tell Mommy and Daddy when you need to go Potty, OK?" Of course, I love to hear him say " OOOOTTTTAYYY MOMMMY".

 (My name has changed in the last week from Momma--to Em-- to Mommy. )

Luke has been very helpful with this all. He knows when I've reached my limit mentally & emotionally, and need to leave the house. He's also been great about taking him into public restrooms for Landon to go. I also think Landon needed a break from me, and maybe a different approach a few times a day from Luke.

Landon seems to have grown up so much this past week, even with saying more words.He says "I lub you" on a regular basis now =) He can say " I did it", " big boy", "undies", "pee pee potty", and of course many other things that are non-potty related. Our whole life has revolved about the potty for a week now, and I love it. Even workers at Home Deopt were asking him today if he had on his big boy undies & going pee pee.He has also turned into a SNUGGLE BUG! With mommy and daddy's eyes on him basically 24/7, he has enjoyed more time in our laps, in our bed ( on his towel), and laying on the couch with us watching TV.

It's been so much fun looking back at all the things he has learned in the past 22 months, and we're so ready to enjoy all the  big boy things with him as he continues to grow!
 I feel like potty training is the first thing that a parent HAS to teach a child. The other milestones so far can mostly be picked up by watching and playing, but potty training is just that--training. It takes time, effort, and hard work. And mostly, it takes A LOT OF LOVE!
 Oh--and patience =)