A Potty Time for Me!

Any conversation about "parental honeymoons" and "little efficiencies" is not complete without mention of potty training. We're quite excited and proud of Helios because for the last three weeks or so, he's been wearing his "big boy underpants" all day long with nary an accident! At 2-and-a-half, we think that's pretty good since we've been told the target is to have the kids potty trained by 3 years.

(Sure, Helios looks a little angry in this picture, but, I'm willing to admit that we just might be infringing a bit on his private time by photographing him reading while on the potty. So I suppose a bit of irritability is expected.)

He now wears only diapers when he sleeps at night and sometimes during nap, although we're trying to figure out how to manage that. We know we need to manage the amount of liquid Helios has before bedtime, but it seems like there's a fine line between supporting wet-free nights and dehydration.

A little surprising to us was the importance books played in helping Helios potty train. He has an Elmo book about potty-training, which has been helpful, but his favorite one seems to be "A Potty Time for Me" which was an impulse buy at Pottery Barn. There are a few grammatical errors in it, which Mama in her persnickitness corrects every time she reads it, but other than that, it's a pretty good book. The best part is the end where it says, "No more diapers now, I'm as happy as can be. I get to wear big kid underpants. I'm so proud of me!" We always finish the book by saying "I'm so proud of Helios." So, now, whenever Helios sees one of us use the restroom, he comes over, gives a hug and says, "I'm so proud of you, too, Mama/Dada."