Micah you are two years, 4 months old. Today we were eating lunch and you insisted that you had to get down from eating at the table to poop. Daddy said, "Then you should go sit on the toilet" in which my reply was, "Then you should put him on the toilet!" and, guess what? He put you on the toilet and you peed! So, he went upstairs and got you a pull up. Unfortunately, you did end up pooping shortly thereafter in the pull up (just like you said you needed to do at the lunch table), but point is: you peed without fuss or hesitation.
Fast forward a few hours. I went to a church luncheon and was gone from 12:45 until 3:00. When I came home, Daddy was working on the grass and I noticed you had a pull up on again so I said, "You have a pull up on? Well, that means you have to go practice the toilet. Let's go pee!" And, sure enough, you peed again...and a LOT! And every.single.time we put you on the toilet the rest of the day; which was about every 30 minutes, you would pee.
Holy moly, Micah, this is incredible. We are so impressed with your willingness and openness to doing this today and I sure hope you are as impressed and proud of yourself as we are today. I also hope that we keep moving forward with this process, that it clicks, and that you are fully toilet trained by the end of this week. How incredibly amazing would that be? Good effort, little buddy. We love you so much!
1 week update September 2, 2018:
Micah it is safe to say that you are well on your way to being officially toilet trained. Monday and Tuesday I continued putting you in a pull up to see how you were taking to it. Your pull up stayed dry for two days in a row, with the exception of poops. I thought to myself, I'm going for it and put you in underwear on Wednesday. It's Sunday and I haven't looked back. You've been in underwear for the past four days with 2 pee accidents. Your hiccup has been pooping the toilet. You would keep running up to us to tell us you had to use the bathroom, but would clench it in...until this morning when Daddy helped me have a lightbulb moment. Your feet were dangling on the big toilet and it wasn't giving you any leverage so I got the little toilet out and, sure enough, you pooped on it! (You saw it and proclaimed, "It's a PINE CONE!"😆😜💩) I'm so very proud of you for achieving this final milestone in the toilet training process. You are definitely well on your way to being officially toilet trained and I am so impressed with your ability to do this. You prove, once again, you are a very determined, full-of-will child and I do love that about you in such circumstances as this. {ask me if I like your strong will when I've asked you to do something for the 5th time and I may be cursing this same trait I'm applauding in your toilet training endeavors...hahahaha😅😬) blessing and a curse, let me tell you...
2 weeks update:
You are amazing at controlling your bladder, but you are being retentive with your sphincter. 💩😜😅. You tell us that you have to poop...WHILE you are pooping or after you've pooped your underwear. So, you have half of it out and you push out the other half into the toilet. Oh, the joys, but seriously, I'm okay with this because I know you are on your way. Now, if this doesn't stop then I'm going to get annoyed, but I keep telling myself you aren't even 2 1/2 years old and this is temporary. You just need confidence. It's been two weeks out of diapers and we aren't looking back. We will push through this hump and you will become a champion of that sphincter soon enough!
Now for the fun personality details of you at 2 years 5 months old...
You are really a lover, a sweetie, a hugger, a cuddly, sensitive boy but you also have a feisty ornery side; especially with Gianna or kids your size. You will push, hit, shove, and get very 'hands on' with them. You are equally sweet and will immediately hug and kiss friends, family, sisters.
Just the other night I took you off the toilet in your bathroom and you started to walk away, but you stopped, turned around, squeezed my legs so tight in a hug while saying, "You're the best Mommy!" Oh my word, my heart was melted and tears were in my eyes. Your sister Briella gave me a similar moment telling me she loved me for the first time in our kitchen in TN so I will definitely always remember this moment with you!
You are really articulating your thoughts and feelings. Just the other day you were playing with a bar of soap from my bathroom drawer and I told you I had to put it away and took it out of your hands and you gave me sentences upon sentences about how that hurt your feelings and you wanted to hold the soap. A week later I was telling Daddy the story in front of you and you remembered the moment and completely took over the details for me. You have a great memory!
You are such a Daddy's boy. You certainly love me and hug all over me, but when Daddy is around, he is your preference. You even told me the other day "Daddy is my favorite." Awwww.
Anything he says that starts with the letter S, he doesn't pronounce so he'll say "Picey" instead of "Spicy".
He's been taking probiotic pills and/or medicines since he was 2. Seriously, think about that. He is swallowing pills at 2. That's incredible. He has been drinking out of a normal cup without issue for two months now, but does that mean I offer him such a cup on a daily basis? Um, no. But he sure does love when he's given the opportunity to drink out of one so, instead, I made a compromise and bought him a 360 cup; which he LOVES. He just wants to drink from a cup like me and Jim drink out of cup. It's adorable watching him drink out of his 360 cup.
He's showing a sensitive, sentimental side with a dash of aggressive, loud boy spirit. He'll stop what he is doing just to walk over to me to caress my earring and say, "I like your earrings, Mommy" or give me an unsolicited squeeze and tell me he loves me and 30 seconds later, he's squabbling with Gianna or cracking her over the head with a block while screaming like he's being murdered. I like to think he's telling himself it's all in manly balance. 😇😂
The past few weeks he is completely resistant to being in the cart at the grocery store. As in, he's done with it forever. He only wants to walk and will pitch a crying fit if I put him in the cart. I can sometimes lure him with a delicious snack, but I've pretty much resigned to the fact that he's holding the cart, holding my hand, or I'm constantly saying, 'Micah, you need to stay next to me." as he's wandering off to whatever interests him while walking alongside me. I can't believe after all these years I am retiring the original cart cover from Jill. That cart cover has been used for almost 7 years for 3 kids in 3 different states. Wow, that's bittersweet.
You are really, REALLY, into your anatomy and you enjoy putting your hands in your pants a lot. Sorry, I know this will embarrass you someday, but it's true. You talk about your "Peter Popper" (Daddy named it that, not me!) all.of.the.time. Last night you crawled up on the couch to sit next to me and I took a picture of the moment and you said something about your Peter Popper. It's becoming 'typical' for you. Likewise, you touch my chest and exclaim, "BOOBIES!" Today you were rubbing my back when I was snuggling you at nap time {such a sweet moment, actually} and you felt my bra strap and stopped and said, "There's something in there. What is that?" When I told you it's a bra your reply was, "Where did you get it from?"
Oftentimes you will approach something you want with an attitudinal tone: "Give me my car!" and I will remind you to ask nicely without yelling so you put your hand over your mouth as though to jester a whisper while you make the request. It's super cute.
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The day we had set to celebrate Gianna's 5th birthday with Papa and Nonna was the day Micah decided he didn't want to poop in a pull up anymore. While that was somewhat exciting, it was quite frustrating and exhausting as he also didn't want to poop in the toilet. He just figured he wasn't going to poop anymore whatsoever. So, he began cowboy walking. Then, lots and lots of crying that he had to poop. I would put him on the toilet and he would cry his eyes out. This went on for 3 hours leading up to them coming over. They came over and he continued with the theatrics. The following day he was doing the same thing. He had to poop, but he was refusing. We ended up giving him an enema and, sure enough, he exploded on the toilet. He was terrified through it, but proud of himself after the fact. The following day the enema after effects were in full swing and he was having explosive diarrhea. At first, he was resistant and upset to use the toilet but after the 3rd, 4th, and 5th explosion on the toilet, he was realizing he had to do it on the toilet. It was good progress. The following day he had cleaned himself out so much that he didn't have to use the toilet for poops though he said he did and actually tried sitting down and pushing. The day after that (which was the day after Gianna's birthday, May 8th) was truth telling day. He started showing the signs that he had to poop. I'd ask and he'd say no. Then he did it. He told me, "I have to poop!" so he excitedly ran to the toilet. I knew we were going to be hanging out with Braxton and Mahayla for a playground date so I said, "If you poop, you can have Braxton play with you." and no kidding, he immediately pushed, plopped, and stood up. Just like that! And, exactly a week later, he hasn't looked back or had an accident. It's been amazing. He's officially trained and I'm so glad that poop anxiety is totally behind him and us.
