Potty Training Update

As you can tell from all the daily reports from Eli's school, potty training is going VERY VERY WELL! We are so proud of Eli! He's waking up dry almost every morning, is always dry after naps, and is starting to just go to the potty on his own without even telling us. His teachers have told us several times that we can probably start sending him in big boy underwear, but we're not that brave yet. I'll probably attempt that this summer when we're home together all day. Right now we put big boy underwear on Eli every afternoon we get home until it's bedtime. He does so well!! I am so so proud of my BIG BOY!

Eli's New Incentive to Potty

Eli has been doing SO WELL with his potty training! We are all so very proud of him. He uses the potty all day long when he's at Mrs. G's house. When he gets home, I usually put him in big boy underwear until bedtime and he's been doing great at staying dry.

When he first expressed some interest in potty training, we rewarded him with jelly beans. When I finally came to my Mommy senses and realized that those were horrible for his teeth, we switched to M&M's-still candy, but at least they don't stick in his teeth. He eventually got tired of M&M's, so we switched to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey Kisses. I really wanted to move away from candy, so I found these stickers in his coloring book stash and pulled them out. I made this sticker chart (don't be jealous of my creativity-HA!) and we've been doing stickers ever since.

He's loving the stickers! Every time he goes in the potty and I pull out the stickers, he always points to the ones that are missing and says, "Dat one's gone. Dat one's gone. Dat one's gone." We have to point to every sticker that's missing before he can pick a new one.

Since I took this picture, we've added a few more to the bottom portion of the chart, which is a HUGE step in the right direction for Eli. I think he's going to be potty trained before we know it!

A Day in the Country

Saturday morning we all woke up a little late, well, if you call 7:30 late that is. This is yet another sign that I'm slowly turning into an old person; if I sleep past 6:30, I begin to think half my day has been wasted. It's not a perfect Saturday without Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so that was our first priority of the day.

Pop had to go to work for a conference call, and Eli gave him a huge hug before he left. Eli and Pop are pretty tight :) I love being able to watch a bond form between them. I'm so thankful that Eli has such wonderful grandparents on BOTH sides in his little life...all the more people to love and care for him!


Grammy and I had hair appointments, so we really didn't anything around the house until we left for our appointments. Eli did discover his favorite red boots though and promptly put those on. He stomped around the house in those boots until we left.


After our haircuts and lunch with Pop, we came home and Eli and Pop tried out the new bubble maker Pop bought Eli. Blowing bubbles with Pop is one of Eli's favorite activities. It really became fun though when we all discovered that Amos, one of Grammy and Pop's dogs, liked to run and try to eat all the bubbles. Talk about a show!



When you live out in the country like Grammy and Pop, it's always fun to go for walks in the woods. Eli especially loved being able to roam free and getting to explore anything he wanted.

The only thing that could make a walk in the woods even more fun is if that walk turns into a game of hide-and-go-seek. Eli had quite a knack for picking the absolute skinniest trees to hide behind. Luckily for him, Pop was a good sport and played along ;)

On our way back to the house, Eli discovered a mud puddle that warranted him stripping down to just his shirt so he could play in it. I love watching him get to be just a boy.


When we got back to the house, Eli surprised us all and decided to go on the potty and take care of some business, if you know what I mean. Until this day, he'd been only doing this particular function in his diaper and was scared to go on the big potty. I have no clue why either. Regardless, we were SO HAPPY and SO PROUD of him! Grammy gave him this CARS container as a treat to hold all his cars, and Eli thought that was just grand! I hope this is something he continues to do for us when he gets home!

Buzz Lightyear Wears Diapers?

Eli has been doing lots of imaginary play with Buzz Lightyear lately. This afternoon, Eli took it upon himself to check whether Buzz needed a new diaper. Hmmm, I didn't realize that Buzz Lightyear wore diapers, but apparently my sons seems to think so. Buzz must have been dirty, because Eli went and got a new diaper for Buzz.

Mommy had to help put the diaper on Buzz, but Eli was very happy when Buzz was all clean. Maybe Buzz will be able to help me figure out a way to get Eli interested in potty training, because he has ZERO interest right now.