Not So Fast After All

My darling little one is not growing up so fast after all. He still needs me to help him get to sleep at night, and he still ends up in our bed most nights. :D In fact I am glad he is not quite gone yet. I miss him and I worry about him all by himself in his own bed. Sometimes I even go into his room in the middle of the night to make sure he is not too cold and to cover him up if he feels cold to me. Captain Obvious has also admitted that he's been missing our little one, and lately (because chemo has made me more tired), he's been the parent going to get our son in the middle of the night, so we are still one happy co-sleeping family. :) Sometimes I have to put Captain Adorable on the crib mattress on the floor because I can't handle the little feet in my back anymore, but most nights he is only in our bed for the last few hours before morning anyhow.

At the same time, his potty usage is just getting better. Peeing in the potty every time is so much the norm that I do not even reward for it any longer. He initiates on his own, but I do remind him at times like when we leave the house or when we come home from being away. (In fact, he is not shy about whipping it out where ever he happens to be, as long as he's outside--something I am going to have to teach him not to do...) He's very interested in no longer wearing a diaper to bed, so I told him that if he could keep his diaper dry for 3 nights in a row we could switch to cloth diapers and then to undies. The very next morning his diaper was dry and he did his morning pee in the toilet. :) I've been putting him in a cloth diaper for naps and so far it has been dry for 3 naps in a row!

He is also doing all his poops in the potty, which I am still rewarding him for. (He gets to watch 3 episodes of Little Bear for every poop in the potty, which is about 24-25 minutes total.) I was quite, quite impressed on Saturday because he remembered to ask me for the potty seat so he could poop in the toilet while we were out!

Here's the story. My parent, Captain Adorable, and I went to the Baltimore Zoo. It was rather empty for a Saturday because it was a rather cool day with some rain/sprinkles in the air. After about an hour and a half of walking and enjoying various animal exhibits, we stopped to eat lunch at the picnic area. Captain Adorable was of course too excited to eat and soon hopped down from his seat to have a closer look at the squirrels (I think!). He seemed a little contemplative and then said, "Mama, I pooping!" I said, "Oh no you're not!" as I swooped in to scoop him up. He ran from me a little (maybe because I ran at him so fast?) but I snagged him and checked his undies, which I was surprised to see, were still clean!!! It finally clicked for me that he was asking for the potty seat (as I have told him and told him to do). I slapped him on my back (did not want him to walk to the bathroom because walking does help poop to come out), grabbed the diaper bag, and ran, panting, to the bathroom. Once installed on the potty seat on the toilet, he happily did the deed right there in the proper spot! I was beyond excited and proud, but tried to be calm. I felt that it was some kind of pivotal moment. I hope this success means I will never have to throw out another pair of undies again. (Fingers crossed!)