Ethan's First Potty Success!

Late this afternoon Grace came running out of the bathroom exclaiming "Mommy! Mommy! Ethan peed in the potty!" which got me into the kids' bathroom in a hurry to see if she was telling the truth. Grace often lets Ethan in the bathroom with her while she uses the potty and every now and again he practices on the little potty with her. I found him completely naked and sure enough, he had used the potty. Actually he mostly used the floor but he's a two year old boy so I'm not exactly expecting perfection. The intent was obviously there and he was pretty proud of himself! Naturally today was the first day in over two weeks that David was actually working in Corvallis so we called him up on the phone immediately to share the joyous news. Ethan scored a chocolate chip cookie and we grabbed McDonalds hamburgers for dinner to celebrate. Grace was really great about the whole deal. She clapped for him and told me that she was so happy for Ethan that it made her smile. Having such a sweet daughter who is willing to help her little brother potty train makes this Mommy smile!

So now it begins. I won't kid myself into thinking he'll be potty trained overnight because I've been down this road before. Oh boy have I. (See Potty Training 101, Another Round of Potty Training Commences, and Advanced Potty Training) Of course this time I have a helper and Ethan seems much more willing to go potty for Grace then for me and I will take advantage of that with wild abandon. Grace knows that as soon as Ethan is completely potty trained we are going to have a No More Diapers Party complete with cake and presents. It's been in the planning ever since the long, drawn out potty training process we embarked upon when Grace was a toddler. It was David's idea and I have to say I'm fully on board. In fact I already decided that I'm going to gift myself with a new purse when Ethan potty trains because I will no longer need a diaper bag. As much as I love my diaper bag (remember my Ode to my Diaper Bag?) I've been using it ever since 2005 and I'm ready for a change. Something not made of vinyl would be nice.