Potty Tales and Potty Trails, etc.

The last week and a half before Brian went back to work we started potty training in earnest. Also at that time and directly related to potty training time, we purchased a carpet cleaner. We took off the boys’ pants and diapers and let them run around in their bare buns. There were many frustrating accidents on the carpet, but it was so nice to have two of us to deal with the accidents. I would clean up the perpetrator, throw all contaminated clothes in the washer, put on new clothes, apply the proper amount of (or possibly too much) scolding, while Brian poured in the hot water and fired up the carpet cleaner to take out the nasty potty spot and/or potty trail.

Two days before Brian went back to work Clark had four incidents of peeing on the carpet. We took them to the playground with the potty chair in the van and they still both wet all over the mulch, their cIothes, shoes, and playground equipment. I was absolutely dreading being the only one to deal with two constantly moving pee and poo fountains.

BUT. During the past two Brian-less days there hasn’t been a single carpet accident, only a couple outside accidents of which I do not wish to elaborate on. I’m so proud! They also have started wanting to go, and actually going at the same time—we have a potty chair as well as our potty seat that goes on the toilet so they can do it in the same bathroom. I’ve spent a lot of time coaching from the bathroom footstool, and more intimate time in close quarters with the toilet, spraying urine, and warm feces than I hope to ever have again. I know you’re gagging. I just feel like I need to share my pain with someone.

Gettin' it done, teamwork style

Today we ventured to the park with no diapers and Clark wet himself after running around for awhile, but Cal got to experience for the first time the awesomeness that is being male in the outdoors when nature calls. Lucky.

 
The boys are doing well in the potty department and I’m proud. Next step is getting them to use public toilets so we can be real people and leave the house occasionally. They have some classes at the community center they will start in a few weeks so hopefully they will be easier to take places at that point. Is hoping to not experience anymore warm shit dropping into my hand too much to ask?

The sticker chart was bursting so I had to lengthen it!

Since this is not only a blog but also my scrapbook, here are some other pictures from recent happenings.

Went to Totally Trucks. Yes, Cal has bacon and eggs band-aids on his knees.

Clark ran the little excavator.



Worked a construction job with Baby Alex

Were in Aunt Julie's wedding



Got the rings down the aisle

Drank smoothies

Brian made pickles.

Put fins to the left, fins to the right...

Fading graffiti

Even less graffiti

Guitar wall

Made a Cheerio bird feeder

Built a tower all by himself

Drank more smoothies

Poop

I’m good with poop. The other day I was reminded in a funny way of just how talented, both physically and emotionally, I have become at handling poop.
I was changing one boy while Brian was changing the other(Brian had a snow day on account of the dusting we had the night before). This was in the morning after the boys had already pooped, so we don’t usually get another dirty diaper until later in the day if we do at all. Brian made a pained sound, and said something along the lines of:

“Oh gross. Ew. I think a fleck of poop might have fallen out of the diaper onto my hand. Disgusting. Excuse me while I go scrub my hands and boil myself.”

I laughed a lot about it, to the point where I was actually wondering why I found it so funny. (On a side note, Brian changes his fair share of dirty diapers when he’s around, but I’m the one usually home when they poop so it is usually me.) This prompted me to think about my poop-handling journey and how my attitude and behavior toward this smelly bodily function has changed over time.

The bare minimum poop-handling I do is two diapers a day and it’s usually more like three, four, or even five diapers, all of which vary in intensity, consistency, and sheer volume. With watching Alex, I’ve had to acclimate back to the intricacies of newborn poop while still maintaining the dexterity and quick-thinking involved in handling toddlers’ full diapers while they struggle to put blocks together or read a story or compete in a soccer match.

I remember my gag reflex creeping up when the boys were first born and we were changing their diapers. I wanted to disinfect the entire room and take a shower after the diapers were safely disposed of. These days if I get poop on my hands I am unaffected. Not that I don’t clean myself afterwards, but if I had gotten my hands in that situation in those early months I would have been grossed out, possibly vomited, and probably told a bunch of people about it, possibly causing them to vomit also. It’s amazing how I’ve changed.

I’ve come up with a chart but I see that it is too small to read...sorry. I'll try to interpret below the image because I can't figure out a better way to fix this.

On left: Intensity/Frequency of poop-handling incidents per day 10-1
The colors represent the level of grossed-out-ness/shock over time
Bars represent (from left) first 6 months, 8 months, 12, 18, 22

KEY
PURPLE: BEYOND COMPREHENSION
RED: Danger! Gag, choke, possible, vomit, boil hands, wash changing pad and all possibly-contaminated clothing, don't inhale, try to focus on happy place
ORANGE: Quite nasty, sanitize most things after, change at least pants/onesie
BLUE: Annoying, a little gross, change diaper only, wash hands, move on
GREEN: Don't even notice--rely on instinct, little fleck on the sock? no biggie just wipe off with wipe, think about dinner, dishes, or flower bed plans

Disregard the awkwardness of that...I've already spent WAY too much time on the chart to try to figure out how to edit it. I'm sure you get the general idea.