Here are some pictures of the Tinklepaugh adventures in potty training!
This has been such a long process with my sweet firstborn boy….and I’m told it can be like that for many boys…perhaps especially the firstborn. I did not put much pressure on him during the whole process…I didn’t want it to be like that for us…but two years later, I was running out of patience…and so so tired of all the poopie explosions all over pools, cars, me, him, our home, playgrounds, etc (Lewis has never had quite normal stools and I have many friends who can testify to that and to helping me clean up! Yuk! He’s never been bothered by being covered in poopie…I’ll never understand it). I had encouragement to put away the pull ups from his teacher (who said he was the last one in his class to be potty trained and we needed to get a move on it!) and to not go back..as an incentive…and I had tried that before…but with no success and terrible, endless messes, I brought them back out again. But, this time, with Lewis a few months older, I tried again….we had a goodbye diaper party with hugs and goodbyes to the diapers, a candle, prayers, and blueberries (to help that poopie come!) and it is finally working! He still has to be reminded all the time…but gets lemon drops when he remembers to go on his own…and we are almost there I think. I pray to be patient with him, but I do everything I can to help him get there and enable progress….I am meeting both of them where they are at different levels in potty training…and it is actually a bit fun sometimes 🙂
One thing that has also helped is that Hannah is potty taining with him…! The other night they both went on the potty by themselves…after telling me for the first time (both of them!) that they had to go poopie. I was squealing with joy and surprise! God was encouraging me…there will be an end to this. It will not dominate my time and life forever. “Wookin” (the name Lewis came up with out of nowhere for his next sibling that he’s telling us we are going to have…which he says is going to be a “big, scary, hairy bear”…) is not going to come until Lewis is fully potty trained! And maybe even Hannah too? This is what we have decided and I think it’s going to make for a much more peaceful pregnancy…if God so blesses us with a third little delight to add to our family 🙂
Walking in Faith 