Aidan's Potty Training Saga Continued.....

So, last time I mentioned that we are trying the whole potty training thing again with Aidan. We started last weekend and, although I really wanted this to work, I didn't have high hopes. But, I was determined to keep him in underwear and not cave and put him back into diapers like last time. Since we're going to be home anyway, seemed pretty easy. So, he had his new potty chair that he chose. And he had his new dino undies from Nana. We talked up the benefits of going potty. And the first couple of days, we didn't do so well. We had accidents and he didn't seem to get it. So, I read tips and advice on the internet and formed a new plan. This time, I bought John Deere fruit snacks (Which we don't usually have.) and he got those every time he sat on the potty. This worked much better than I thought it would. In fact, I started giving him half of the snacks at a time to make them last longer. Eventually he picked out Spiderman fruit snacks and we've moved on to them. Then, I stole an idea from a friend and told him not to pee on his dinosaurs (or whatever was on his undies). I had him try often and he seemed to like trying. Then, following a tip I read, I bought a bunch of little dollar toys and told him if he went pee in the potty he would get a "potty present." This was pretty motivating. He was pretty excited about his first success. Then he thought he got a present for just trying and we had to reexplain the rules. :) But, he was still peeing and pooping in his Pullup when we'd go out or at nap time and bedtime. Then Thursday came a break through. At breakfast, he kept complaining that something hurt him. I didn't get what he was trying to say and next thing I know, he's peeing at the table. It dawned on me, he had to pee and that's what was hurting him. So I explained it to him and cleaned him up. Soon after, he tells me that he wants to sit on the potty and, low and behold, he peed. Since then we have done much better. He tells me he wants to pee in the potty and he also pees when I ask him to sit. (We've started phasing out the fruit snacks and he doesn't get a potty present for every success.) He's played outside for a little while in undies and come back dry. He's stayed dry in Pull-ups when we've needed them too. Today was a big day. He didn't have any accidents today, including the two hour nap he had in undies. (Although I don't think he slept today.) He even played outside and stayed dry. So, riding this wave of success we've been encouraging him to poop in the potty as he hadn't done the deed yet today. He fought the idea all day today. He told me at one point that "it wouldn't fit in the potty." Too funny! I told him no matter how big it was I would clean it up. We kept asking him though. Finally, right before bedtime he told me that he wanted to go poop in the potty. Daddy scooped him up and got him on the potty quick. A few minutes later he popped up with a big smile and announced him had gone poop and pee. We were so proud of him! And I think he was proud too. Daddy told him he would get more fish for his tank this weekend as his potty present. I hope we've turned the corner and he keeps up all the success. The real test will be when we are away from home. Especially when we take trips in the car. But, it's nice to feel successful instead of completely desperate and hopeless. Hopefully I will have more success to report soon.