Craziness!

That pretty much sums up our lives over the past couple of days. It's been nothing short of pure chaos around here, and as crazy as it is, I've been loving every second.

The biggest news around here is potty training. Up until now, Caleb has refused to wear underwear. Literally. Refused. As in, when I'd try to put it on him, he'd scream and cry, throw a fit unlike anything you'd ever seen and beg for his "diapers with tabs". I've tried it all -- begging, bribing (yea, I'm not above bribing my children, but sadly it didn't work), throwing away diapers, but he just wasn't ready. One of the main problems was that he outsmarted me. It's sad I know, but quite honestly true. I told him that he couldn't go to preschool until he was potty trained. Well since he didn't want to go in the first place it only worked to his advantage and totally backfired on me.

I had planned on starting the potty training process on Monday, but Andrew was sick and very uncomfortable on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday we went to the Science Center and Thursday we played with a friend and had gymnastics that night. Friday I had Katherine's Christmas party at school and then took Andrew to get his three month pictures taken. Later that night we went over to Danyel's house for dinner and a play date and Saturday ... the excuses just kept piling up. I must admit, I'm not a homebody. I like to be out, playing with the kids, taking them places and the thought of being holed up in the house for 2 straight weeks made me ill.

With all that being said, Sunday morning I realized that I either needed to buy more diapers for him or just go straight to underwear. So we decided to skip church and hit it hard. It took a while for him to even agree to put on underwear, but he did. And he used the potty chair. And Matt decided to make a Casey's beverage and paper run and bring Caleb with him. So far so good. Until he got home and Caleb pee'd all over the floor. Fun times.

About an hour later, Caleb had to poop. He was holding his little bum and doing the unmistakable dance. Matt put him on the potty and he froze. He just couldn't go. Matt had to run upstairs for 30 seconds and when left to his own devices, Caleb pooped down his leg, all over the floor and made a total mess of the bathroom. It was only 10 am. UUUUUGH!

Thankfully, Matt was home and really took the lead potty training. He bore the brunt of the mess and frustration. Katherine and I made a Target run to get "bedtime underwear" AKA pull ups. Caleb didn't want to put them on at nap time, but finally agreed. The remainder of the day, he didn't have an accident.

This morning he woke up virtually dry and after about 10 minutes of sitting on the potty, he went. I put underwear on him and packed the kids in the car and drove Katherine to school.

Before I go any further, I must confess... Matt and I agreed that we'd sacrifice "nutrition" for a potty trained child, so we dangled candy in front of his face. We told him that every time he went potty in the potty chair, we'd give him a treat out of his "treat bag" which was his Halloween candy. The only thing he couldn't pick were the full size candy bars that some of our crazy neighbors hand out. Those were reserved for poop. Anything else was fair game.

Oh, he was a machine. He didn't have one accident all day. He ate more candy that I thought humanly possible. He couldn't even eat all he "earned". He pooped on the potty chair. I can't believe how easy it was. Literally in less than a day, he was potty trained.

We baked cookies today and right as two sheets were coming out of the oven, my phone rang and I had to take it. It was an important call... At the same time, Caleb had to potty. So, I tell him to start going upstairs and I'd be right behind him. I quickly answer the phone, take the cookies out of the oven, and run upstairs. I find him sitting on the potty waiting for me. He'd already gone! Woo-hoo!

Later today, Caleb told me he had to go, so I got up to take him upstairs, but he told me that he didn't need me. What?!?!? He went. Tonight, while I went to bunco with the neighbor girls, one of the guys and his kids came over to play. At one point, Matt realized Caleb wasn't in the room and finally found him walking out of the bathroom with his pants down. He'd gone potty, all by himself. No coaxing, no asking, nothing. Woo-hoo!! Oh, happy day!

However .... I'm pretty certain that he didn't eat ONE BITE of non-candy food before bedtime. He literally ate candy all day long. But if that's what it takes!

So in one day, my little boy who flat out refused to be potty trained, is just that. He did it on his own, and I couldn't be happier! I'm shocked at how easy it was and am just hoping that when it's time to go to gymnastics tomorrow night we don't have an accident. I'm actually thinking of just taking him in his underwear. The only problem is that we'll be gone for about 2 hours.....