Potty Training: Preparation

We're taking the plunge. This week is the week to make a good effort at potty-training Caleb. We'll see how it goes!

Since Caleb is so young, we'll be approaching potty-training a little differently than I had originally thought. He doesn't understand the concept of "big boy," so "big boy undies" and "big boy potty" really have no meaning. Also, the demands and rewards idea doesn't really make sense to him yet, either, so no, "You get a sticker if you...." Nope, it's going to be a simple, this is what we do and how we do it, like we taught him about how to drink from a sippy or where his books go at the end of reading time.

To prepare, we've had to take the plunge and buy a potty that sits on the floors. While I abhor the idea of cleaning out that thing, the simple fact of the matter is that Caleb can't reach the regular toilet on his own. That seems kind of important, so now we have a happy green frog that's perfectly Caleb-sized. Caleb loves it. He understands it's both a frog and a potty, which is pretty cool, I guess. He can get on and off of it on his own. He can also take out the pot part...which I can foresee causing some problems if he decides to pull it off right after peeing in it.

On that note, Jon and I just pulled up all the rugs in the house. We're thankful for an all-wood floor that will be easy to clean! We're back to an echo-y house, but it'll just be for a week (hopefully!)

We're basically going cold-turkey: putting Caleb in underwear in the morning and letting him figure it out! Today he was giving some signs--kind of messing with his diaper and getting that contemplative look in his eye--so I plopped him on the froggy potty and we had our first poop/pee success! Reminds me of the first time I put him in a cloth diaper. Both instances, he pooped on the first run. Doesn't want to make it easy on his mama!

I'm not sure these "successes" so far are Caleb knowing what to do, or me knowing what to do. We'll find out this week! I'll keep you posted!