bumps

Though Caleb has done remarkably well learning to use the potty like a big boy, there have been a few bumps we've needed to iron out before being able to label him officially potty trained. The majority of these issues revolved around poop in his underwear, poop on the floor, more poop in his underwear, and again on the floor, as well as the constant, hours-long, up-and-down attempts to sit on the potty when all cues pointed to a desperate need to go with no success just moments before he had an accident.

It all came to a head about a week ago when he started regressing in other ways (i.e. more wet pants, in addition to dirty ones, and his sudden "need" for me to hold his hand during the whole process when he'd previously proved he could mostly take care of things himself). I couldn't take it anymore, and was thisclose to going back to diapers. But Caleb wanted to keep going; he just seemed too terrified of his own poop to know how to move forward.

I realized that I was probably causing some of the problem with how upset I'd get every time he'd stand up after only sitting on the potty for half a second and then poop on the floor. So I made a concerted effort to cool down. We also upped the reward (bribe?) for pooping in the potty. He'd outgrown the need for an M&M for other positive potty training moments, so we did away with those and instead made a special trip to the Easter section of the drugstore. He was enamored with those plastic Easter eggs you can fill with candy, so I bought a package of those, along with a bag of jelly beans, and his reward for pooping in the potty became his pick of a plastic egg filled with jelly beans.

It worked like a charm. On the first day of our new plan, he had one accident and two successes. I stayed calm, he got eggs -- it was happy moments all around, which was just what he needed to turn things around. It's been uphill from there, and now that the eggs are gone, I think I might be able to safely label him truly Potty Trained. He's been completely accident-free (including overnight and on outings) since late last week, and he's now taking care of the whole toileting process without needing me to hold his hand. Hallelujah! (Just be warned that if he suddenly tells you that he's dry, you tell him to run -- run! -- to the potty.)

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But just because Caleb's potty training bumps have been smoothed out, it doesn't mean he's not inflicting bumps on others -- on Garrett, specifically.

Caleb, as some of you know, has a strong arm, surprisingly good aim, and perhaps a future on a baseball team. I'm not sure what it is, but lately Garrett's ears have been a magnet for whatever it is Caleb throws. Last week he angrily chucked a toy and gave his older brother a big, purple goose egg just behind his left ear. No sooner had that healed that he threw another toy, this one nicking the cartilage on his right ear before settling into a painful looking bruise on his head just behind.

For those of you who get to see my boys interact on a daily basis, you may have noticed than when it comes to brawn, Caleb stands out on top. Not that Garrett is a wimp, per say... well, okay, when it comes to sibling harassment, Garrett is almost always on the receiving end, and he rarely does much to defend himself. Sometimes I want to encourage Garrett to fight back, except that would only mean more fighting and more bumps and bruises, and we've got enough of that to deal with as it is.

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But the baby certainly doesn't let Caleb walk (or sit) all over him, and he isn't even born yet. A few days ago, as Caleb sat down on what is left of my lap and leaned back to carve out a space for himself, the baby kicked him (and me) good and hard, causing Caleb to squirm just a little. Apparently a third baby boy needs to know from the get-go how to hold his own, and if that's the case (as I'm sure it likely is), he's well on his way to surviving life in this family.

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Speaking of babies and bumps, here's a snapshot of mine at 32 weeks. And oh my, but we've both done a lot of growing in the last ten weeks.