Mason Has Potty Power!!!

Just had to share the exciting news that probably only the mom of a 2 year old can appreciate, but Mason peed on the potty for the first time today.....YEAH! I have been talking A LOT about potty training, underwear, big boys, and everything slightly related to this topic for a little while now, but I have definitely ramped it up in the past month. I have quietly suggested they try underwear on, but I always hear a loud and adament NO UNDAWAH MOMMY! in response. If I specifically ask Ryland if he wants underwear, he says "No! Mason wannn undawah!" If I ask Mason, he defers to Cole....and on and on!!!

With Cameron successfully potty training at 3.5+ years old, the bar for potty training is pretty low in this house! Nonetheless, the small fortune we have spent in the last 2.5 years on diapers and wipes for the triplets is enough to make a mom dare to dream. Each of the boys has sat on the potty chair on many varied occasions, but not one has left behind a token of their efforts. I was beginning to have visions of my one day 16 year old boys driving around the neighborhood with a trusty pair of Depends strapped on their hind ends!

Within the last week, we purchased a new Baby Bjorn potty chair (to add to our plethora of other potty chairs & seats) as well as a new dvd titled "Potty Power." We watched the dvd for the second time today (although 3 times in a row!). I bought M&Ms two days ago for potty training incentives and have been talking a lot about them. So is it the new chair?....the new dvd?....the M&Ms?....to what do I attribute this monumental occassion?!?!

The day started quite unusually. For probably the fourth time this month, I brought down 3 pairs of "Cars" underwear along with 3 diapers and their clothes for the day. I asked who wanted to wear underwear, fully expecting to get shot down once again. To my surprise, Cole and Mason actually said yes, they wanted to wear underwear today. (Ryland continued to demonstrate his underwear-phobia.) Both boys wore underwear for about 6 hours. Cole wet his twice during that time, but only slightly as he seemed to catch himself and started crying each time and told me "I pooped! I pooped!" (why this kid continues to call pee poop is beyond me.) Mason, on the other hand, remained completely dry in his underwear the entire time. Throughout this time frame, I kept putting them on the potty chair and continuously asked them if they needed to go.

After 6 plus hours of Mason holding his pee, I started to feel like I was torturing him so I suggested we put a diaper on (so he could FINALLY relieve himself!) and then go to nap. I put him on the potty chair one last time, continuing my motivational pep talk. Within a minute, Mason jumped up with an alarmed look on his face and yelled "I peed!" I cautiously peered into the bowl and alas, there were a few drops of pee in there! I clapped, started singing, dancing, you name it.....then I encouraged him to sit back down since I knew he had to have more than that after six hours. He immediately produced an abundant supply.....and the celebration was on!! M&Ms o'plenty (which he kindly shared with Ryland and Cole), lots of potty praising, a house meeting for all the boys to come over and check out the masterpiece in the potty, a phone call to daddy at work to tell him about the big event.......I have certainly set the celebration bar high!

The only person who was disappointed was Cameron. Earlier today, I had asked him if he would pee on the potty chair so his brothers could make the visual connection of what they were supposed to do with it. (I told him I would give him a few M&Ms for this!) Cameron agreed and sat down on the chair, only to tell me he had to poop instead, was that okay?! "No way!" I told him....go to the big potty to do that business as there is nothing worse than cleaning poop out of a potty chair. He was upset and continued to argue with me that he wanted to poop in the chair. Needless to say, I won that argument and our little simulation plan backfired. Consequently, when Mason later peed on the potty chair, Cameron was quite upset that his services were no longer needed and there would be no M&Ms in his near future!

I realize that today's events may not be any indication of potty training success in the near future, but the dream is alive now! There IS hope!!!

Our July 4th Festivities

While most people are out whooping it up and fighting the crowds on the 4th of July, we prefer a low key day of relaxation......after all, we have the crowd built in! Grandma Elaine and Grandpa Frank came over to enjoy the feast of BBQ ribs that Anthony prepared along with plenty of sides and dessert. With Grandpa's birthday being on the 5th, we kept up our annual tradition of celebrating his day of birth a day early too. Since making Grandpa's cake the day before (Me...not the triplets that is!), the triplets could not stop talking about eating happy birthday cake. It was the first thing they blurted out when they opened the door for Grandma and Grandpa...."Eat cake! Eat cake! Eat Happy Birthday cake Gwappa Frank!!"

While we intended to let the boys swim in their baby pool that afternoon, the scorching 100 degree heat prevented the parental units from supervising this activity outdoors. The boys didn't mind...instead they tackled and jumped on Grandpa like he was turning 8 rather than 68. (Better him than me!) The evening commenced with the grandparents taking Cameron to see the local fireworks display. Anthony and I are waiting until the boys are old enough to be ASK to be taken to this activity before we embark on that adventure.....until then there's always the Macy's televised display that works for me!