I really don’t want to start potty training Micah yet. Being 37 weeks pregnant, coming off two months of bedrest this week, preparing for a new baby (anytime now!!! or. . . mid-March???) and planning to go to my sister’s wedding in Florida the first week of May (I’m the maid of honor, Mara is a flower girl)–well, I just have plenty of other things to deal with right now!
But part of me feels guilty.
Micah is now 20-months old and showing a great deal of interest in going potty and major awareness of needing to be changed. In fact, when he’s wet or dirty, you better be paying attention! or he’ll take matters into his own hands.
Mara had already started at this age, because she absolutely hated having a dirty diaper, and would run around like crazy as if trying to escape it. . . In hindsight, I feel like I let Mara start potty training too early, and that caused the whole process to be a lot worse than it needed to be. Her constipation issues also complicated things, but probably if we’d waited she would have done better. And I don’t want to make the same mistakes with Micah.
Besides, he still seems so much younger! Today, for the first time, I heard him say the colors “pur-pur [purple],” “lah-lah [yellow],” and “reh [red].” He just seems so much younger than Mara did as this age–I’m sure it’s just a boy/girl, verbal/nonverbal thing. . . but back to signs of “potty readiness”. . .
I laugh when he pulls his pants down (or off) and lays on the floor to be changed. If that’s not trying to communicate, I don’t know what is! He will stand in the bathroom, while Mara’s on the potty, unrolling toilet paper for her and handing it to her (and yes, I know that’s not a sign, but it makes me laugh too!). Before he goes in his diaper, he will walk around pulling on the front of his pants–he knows it’s coming–then afterwards, he will say ‘diaper, diaper’ and try to go up the stairs to his room to be changed.
This morning, he was walking around, saying, “Poop! Poop! Poop!” and pulling down his pants and his diaper.
For awhile (over the last couple of months), I ignored this kind of behavior, because I figured he was just mimicking things he heard Mara say or do.
But I’m starting to realize: he knows what he’s doing. And he’s trying to tell me something!
I did bring the little potty back up from the basement again–just for these occasions. I figure it doesn’t hurt to at least familiarize him with the little potty concept, if he’s going to be sooo insistent that he needs to go!
So I sat him on the potty for about five minutes, while he beckoned for me to bring him various toys. (Ha ha!) But nothing happened, so I just decided that he didn’t really need to go, and I put his diaper back on and sent him back to play.
About ten minutes later, Daniel walked in the house, pointed at the kids in the living room and said, “One of them reeks!”
Sure enough, it was Micah with a major MAJOR poopy diaper! (Thanks to my dear husband for changing that one!!!!)
Micah really is beginning to understand, but Mom is not ready.
So I can plan to add potty training to this summer’s activities, after my sister’s wedding in May. . .
woo-HOO!