Finally . . .

. . . I think that we've turned the corner. We started trying to potty train Ryan last year in September. He had been showing a lot of signs of being ready: interest, telling me when he was dirty, actually using the potty a few times. Once we started trying to teach him in earnest, however, he seemed to want nothing to do with it. We begged, pleaded, reasoned, cajoled . . . and nothing. We prayed, cried, tore our hair out . . . and still nothing. We took him out for ice cream to celebrate a dry diaper all day . . . and didn't see another one for days.

We promised him a trip to Disneyland when he could go to the potty when he needed to and kept underwear dry for three days. This was back when they had just put out the Halloween decorations. I started getting really excited and thought that he would be more motivated. He talked about Disneyland all the time, but it didn't move things along any faster. Last week, we made plans to go in March before our passports ran out for one last trip despite his potty habits.

But finally this week, with no fanfare and no warning, Ryan started keeping his diaper dry, asking to go to the potty, and going when asked. After three days of dry diapers, he started wearing underwear during the day and keeping them just as dry. So congratulations, Ryan, on taking that next step! I couldn't be more proud or relieved, and I'm fully aware that it had nothing to do with what Nate and I did and everything to do with Ryan's will to do it on his own schedule!