Adventures in Potty Training, And so on

I'm happy to say that Oliver is doing really well with potty training.  After such a hit and miss beginning, then regression, I'm excited to say that he's getting close to the point of spending his waking hours in underwear.  We've been doing pull-ups during the day so that he can use the bathroom easily, and most days we go through one or two, so I don't feel as bad that he's not in the cloth.  He still wears a cloth diaper to bed and sometimes for his nap if he hasn't peed recently before going down.  He didn't do as well at daycare on Thursday and Friday, I heard, but I figured the transition back after being gone for a week would be a little challenging, especially since my parents had just left on Thursday, and he loves being with them so much.

Ollie has a pretty good process.  He can go into the bathroom, get his pants and pull-ups down, sit and pee, and get all the way to the point of needing the basin rinsed without requiring any help.  Granted, he normally gets supervised anyway.  He rarely initiates the potty himself, but he goes very quickly after being told to sit down if he needs to, so as long as I watch the clock and his fluid intake, he stays dry all day.  Very often for two hours or so, and even sometimes through naps.

Pooping has been the biggest challenge.  He almost always tells me right after he's gone.  And the last few days he's been constipated, with really small, hard stools.  But then tonight, about ten minutes after he'd peed in the potty, he said he needed to potty again.  So I took him in, set him down, and went back to the kitchen and told him to yell for me when he needed.  Five minutes later, he was still sitting there, pretty red cheeked.  Mom went in and confirmed that she thought he was trying to poop.  And a few more minutes later, the smell in the bathroom indicated our suspicions were correct.  He's clearly started to loosen up, and he'd finally -- FINALLY -- pooped in the toilet, not to mention having initiated the visit.  Lots, lots of excitement, I tell you.

So we're not "there" yet.  I want a few more days like this before I risk my couch and rugs to underwear.  And his daycare teacher has said she's willing to try them at school with him when we're ready to do it both places.  It's going to have to stay prominently on my radar if we don't want to lose ground when the baby comes, but I think he could be close to being daytime trained.

Yay, Oliver!