A Dirty Story

We've been working with Lincoln since Thanksgiving to get him potty trained. He had a hard time at first, then we got him a "froggy potty" and everything changed for the better! He did very well after that but still had a hard time learning how to go "No. 2" in the potty.

He's now since graduated from the "froggy potty" and won't go anywhere but a big-boy potty...not even on a tree. Isn't that a right of passage for boys?

We had months of wet pants and poo poo undies. Finally after having cleaned yet another pair of undies with poo, we decided to bribe him with a toy. He is SUPER into Toy Story, so our first thought was to get a "Sherriff Woody" doll. But there was a little Lotso figure with a truck Josh thought would work better. We bought it and showed it to him saying, "If you go poo poo in the potty, you get Lotso."

"Lotso!" he would say. "Not until you go poo poo in the potty."

I can't tell you how many times we said this. Finally, after about a month of trying to bribe him, I was about to give up, then I went to check on him during nap time. He was in the bathroom and had poo all over his hands and toilet paper in the pot, but no poo. He looked at me and said, "Poo poo in the potty! Yeah!" I asked him if he went in the potty and he said Yes. I was still skeptical but I wanted to reward him, so he got Lotso.

Two days later, the same thing happened. I didn't witness it, but again congratulated him and made a big deal of it. He has also taken to closing us out of the bathroom to do his business. So finally I made a point to sit down in the bathroom with him to witness the deed. And YES, he did it!

We've made huge strides in his potty training now. He lets us know when he has to go, or he'll just say, "I gotta go" and run to the potty himself. He washes he hands with soap, drys then off, and comes running out saying "I pee peed" or "I poo pooed". He still has accidents every now and then, but he's done wonderfully.

Now onto the next issue....His teachers sent home a note saying he told them he had to potty three times and then went, but they had to constantly tell him to take his hand out of his pants. That's a daddy conversation because I just don't get it.

Time Out

Lincoln, Age 3 1/2

Lincoln has been doing so well at school and learning to string his words together, especially in song, that he is using sentences all the time...including when he is in Time Out.

Yesterday he was put in Time Out for throwing a huge fit over who-knows-what and was made to sit on his TO cushion. Instead of sitting, he sprawls himself down on the tile floor, either on his stomach or back, and fake cries. But after a minute or so of Josh and I ignoring him, I heard a song coming from the TO corner.

**Now let me preface this by telling you that Lincoln picks up songs, phrases, and sayings from movies, t.v. and just about anywhere. But he has a particular fascination with the Backyardigans, a cartoon show on Nick Jr. that has singing animals using their imaginations in different scenarios. His favorite episodes include a Kangaroo (Austin) racing around the world, a Moose (Tyrone) making Samuari Pies, and a Penguin (Pablo), Kangaroo, Moose, and a whatever thing Uniqua is. Maybe she's a bug. **

So, back to Lincoln. I stop to listen to his song as he is lying on his back... He is singing a song from the Racing Day episode where one of the characters is in last place.

Again, as he is sitting in Time Out... "I'm not happy about this...no sir. I'm not happyyyyyyyyy about this." It was just classic! Josh and I had to stifle our laughs.

He really has gotten lots better with his sentences, but I have to drag them out of him alot of the time. He will begin by saying one word of something he wants and I have to say, "I..." then he says, "I want banana please." This is a constant battle. Now that he's getting more vocal, he's also getting more independent. "Lincoln's turn, Lincoln's turn!!!" is a frequent phrase now a days.

I guess that's the price we pay for our kiddo growing up and progressing. And we LOVE it! He's a stinker, but well worth it. He has also adopted the phrase, "I'm a hugger" from Toy Story 3. And he is!!!

"First thing you got to know about me is...I'm a hugger!" Lotso Huggin' Bear