Finally!

In July I wrote this in an email to my friend Natalie, who has a son Hayden's age, who also started potty training at the same time and has had their share of ups and downs too!

  "Have you started potty training Tyson again? Maybe the whole magic of 3 that people talk about is right cuz in the past few weeks Hayden has started to tell us when he needs to go potty. Or he just goes on his own. I don't even ask him to go anymore. Hallelujah!! After 10 months it's about time!! Maybe it will be much quicker and better for you this go around!"

 I started potty training Hayden just a few months after he turned 2. He did pretty good with peeing in the potty, but pooping was a whole other story! Maybe I started too early, or maybe it's a boy thing, or maybe it's just how it it, but it drove me crazy! I didn't want to stop or go backwards so I just kept trying. We tried everything; treats, sticker charts, rewards, etc. He would do a good job for a while, but then he would have periods of time when he would have accidents all the time! During the summer when he stayed with Grandma & Grandpa Ricks while I went to Josh's officer training graduation he just disappeared and they would find him sitting on the potty, self initiated he didn't ask for help or tell anyone what he was doing. I was SO proud! When we got to our new house he did the same thing for a few days and then he started to regress and have accidents sometimes. It was mostly laziness, I think. He would be playing and not stop, or watching a movie and not stop.Then he started being hit or miss, doing well sometimes and not so well other times. I was pretty tired of this routine.  He had his eye on a few toys at the store so I told him that if he could go in the potty all the time and not have any accidents from then until we got back from aunt Teri's house we would have a big boy party! He asked what a big boy party was and I told him it's when we have a party all about you and you going on the potty all the time! He asked what we will do at the party and I asked him what there usually is at a party? He said, "Cake, presents and balloons!" So I told him we would have those. He was pretty excited. I kept reminding him every few days to keep his excitement, and his eye on the goal! He did such a good job so when we got home from Arizona I went to the store and got a spider man on a four-wheeler that he had been wanting and wrapped it up. We went to the grocery store and he picked out cupcakes and kool-aid. That night we had a big boy party, and ever since he has very,very few accidents! Yeah!!

 {all the bites on his face are from some bugs that must have been biting him in the night}

Brinley enjoyed the party too!