Thankful [Day 7]

I'm callin' it,
11-7-12
my darling 3-year-old 
is
POTTY-TRAINED.

Today I am thankful have just one bottom to diaper.

Either something clicked, or he was finally ready.  It's possible he had exactly the right amount of encouragement from people away from home to realize that going in the toilet was a real thing, and not just one of Mom's strange ideas.  

But then, we may owe all of the credit to this DIY game board!

The Objective:  [for our Halloween-themed board]
Get to "the safe place" from the spooky graveyard. 
[each pee and poop earns 1 space]

Big Brother's awesome aunt J spray-painted a magnet board for the game board, and decorated magnets for the player pieces---we kept the board upright and they never slid.

These little scenes are too cute, I must share:

Big Brother could see and count the number of spaces to the next labeled space, and they were an incentive to wait on the toilet a few extra minutes.  Every time he went he knew how many spaces he'd earned and he never let me delay or forget his turn.

The number of things we've used to track the pees/poops is impressive...and the rewards...from pebbles [to drop into a plastic cup, worth a toy of his choice once filled] to Disneyland [if he pooped 8 times in a row, without an accident].  I've plucked my baby from his crib to take him and Big Brother to Toys "R" Us [in their pajamas] 30 minutes before the doors closed to make good on a [desperate] promise.  

I am THANKFUL for sisters who support my efforts as a mom and who will bring my son an Elmo coloring book/potty chart, or make him a fantastic game board, to encourage him.  And I am thankful to Hubby for initiating this great effort. 

Big Brother has reached the end of his game board!

...an accurate portrayal of how I'm feeling :)