One day my little boy will be potty trained....

Eli has been working on potty training for a few months now. He decided on his own back in September that he really liked using the toilet. But I wasn't ready for full on training until November. It hasn't been as hard or as frustrating to get him to go as I remember it being with Parker, but for some reason this boy has lots of mishaps while using the toilet.
If he doesn't take his pants all the way of and sit down and spread his legs, the pee squirts right out from under the lid and all over the floor. He is tall enough to stand up but he prefers to sit down. I found out why.....

 A couple of days ago while Parker was at school, I went with Eli to subway with some friends. When we got done we had about 25 minutes until it was time to pick up Parker. It is a big job to get Eli in and out of the truck and so it seemed pointless to drive home and get out of the truck for 5 minutes just to use the bathroom. But it had been a few hours since Eli went, and he had several drinks and I didn't want to push it.

Subway is in the building next to the store that we own, so I decided it would be less work for me if we would just walked over to our store and used the bathroom and then went to the school. I figured we would probably have to sit in the car for a few minutes but it wouldn't be too bad.


Normally Brian is at work and Eli likes to go say hi to him, but on this particular day he was snow machining. So we said hi to the one employee that was working that day and headed down to the bathroom. The bathroom is in the basement corner and it's not public- although customers use it from time to time. Its not the cleanest bathroom, and they use it for a lot of storage. It creeps me out a little so I was trying to hurry and not let Eli touch anything.

The last time we came to use the bathroom in a similar situation Eli sat down and peed right out under the seat and the back of his pants we all wet. We ended up having to go home to change anyway so it was pointless that we stopped to use the toilet. I didn't want this happening again, and at home I would undress in and give him plenty of room to get in the right position. But since it is winter, he was wearing big heavy snow boots that go up to his knees and a big puffy coat. I couldn't get his pants down far enough to sit right and I wasn't about to undress him. I had this brilliant idea to help him stand up and pee. Normally he doesn't like standing and wont let me help, but for some reason today he thought it seemed OK.

So I got him all aimed and ready and said, "K, now go potty." I was waiting and I could see his little belly flexing so I knew it had to be coming soon. Suddenly it hit me. He was pushing alright. I think Eli must have gotten really used to sitting down and using all his force to let things go. I should have seen it coming, but it was already too late. He just stood there and pushed and instead of a nice steady stream of pee we got a nice steady stream of diarrhea!!!!!! It shot all down the back of his pants and inside his underwear and all over my legs and the floor!!! Then of course he backed up and stepped in it. He didn't know what was going on and I screamed and he just kept going!

So there I was in the bottom corner of a dark basement with no help and poo everywhere. I had my phone thank goodness and I called up stairs to the employee to bring me down a couple paper bags to put stuff in. There were plenty of paper towels and soap to clean up with but the main problem I had was that my truck, with his change of clothes, was parked across the parking lot!

I ended up getting him cleaned up the best I could and then cleaned up the floor. Packed up all the paper bags and then wrapped him on his coat and carried him out. How embarrassing!!! I could have died. The best part is he stood there oblivious to the problem and said, "This is ridiculous!" Really Eli? Is it ridiculous? Sorry to inconvenience you!

The part I don't understand is how unusual this poo was for Eli. I know this is gross, but I am with the kid every day and he has very solid stools EVERY TIME. Earlier that morning they were normal and later that evening they were too. So why of all days and times was this diarrhea? I'll probably never know, but lesson learned. I will not be standing behind Eli in the bathroom.  

All I could do was laugh. I've been laughing since. It's times like these I have to brain wash myself and keep repeating how much I love being a mom!

We made it to the school to get Parker just in time, Eli in a clean change and me in my wiped off poopy legged pants. I'm sure we smelled lovely, but at least we were on time!

When we got home he went straight into the shower he got cleaned up. Before I got him dressed I asked if he needed to go potty. After all this he still had not peed. So he climbed up with no pants on and still managed to pee out of the toilet all down his legs and on to the floor. I just can't win with this child!

I guess one good thing is that we didn't decide to use the Subway public restroom. :)



And just so I don't forget since I need to write it down anyway....

Eli potty trained for marshmallows. That kid will do anything for a marshmallow. Especially pink ones. He stays dry almost every night, but he still wears a pull up just in case.
I potty trained Eli at the same time as the puppy so there were some days I just wanted to rip my hair out, but I think we have finally (knock on wood) got things down.
It was a lot less stressful this time potty training and I think it might be because he is such a laid back kid. He doesn't get upset very easy and he likes to do what I ask him most of the time.
Eli picked out his very own Sponge Bob underwear. It is hard to keep the boys clothes separated since they are in the same size now. Parker is very particular about sharing certain things so I decided if they each had their own character underwear Eli would have an easier time finding the right ones. So far it has worked out well. 

Can't believe I only posted a couple times last year and it has been 10 months since my last update. I am horrible at this, and I really don't see it getting any better. Oh well.