Welcome to the POTTY PARTY!

After dabbling in the interest of "potty time" off and on for awhile now, we bookmarked this week as "Potty Party" week for Brecken and Mommy :) We decided to see if his random poops and potties on the toilet could truly become a part of his every day life so cancelled all play dates, outings, meetings, shopping sprees, visits, daycare trips, etc. This week is ENTIRELY devoted in full attention to the bodily processes that one must be made aware of at some point in life.

What does it take to prepare for "Potty Party" week, you ask?? See below for just a few of the essentials :)

We have been talking about our POTTY PARTY for weeks! We've built lots of excitement around the date and been pumped as a family to begin the journey. When I say "pumped," I of course mean that I was exhausted just considering the option and I think Eric was thankful he would be at work to hear the war stories from afar. Nonetheless, we put maximum effort into building anticipation and excitement for our little one :) The week before our POTTY PARTY officially got underway, Brecken and I went on a shopping spree all for him in which he got to pick things out and put them in the cart all by himself!

The sticker aisle was super fun and I was prepared to say yes to EVERYTHING he wanted. Thankfully, he has his daddy's self-control in the store and didn't go too crazy. It was also cute that each time he found a pack he liked, he looked at me with curious eyes and questioned, "My buy this one too??"

What a big decision it was in the underwear aisle. We had actually considered purchasing underwear two other times but each time Brecken said, "No. My like diapers. No big boy underwear." and set them back on the shelf. I was a little worried he would repeat the pattern this time, but he was all about it! He even told a lady standing in the same aisle, "My wear big boy unnerwears nex Man-day!"

As of day two, we've literally read 5 billion books in the past 48 hours.... Luckily, B is a book lover!

Yay! I LOVE my new little toilet!

After shopping for stickers and underwear and talking up our "potty party" for weeks, Brecken was ecstatic to see himself for the first time in "big boy underwear!" I won't lie- The sheer joy he displayed at this moment brought a tear to my eye :)

The bathroom started out as our potty party hub... Unfortunately, our bathroom smaller than most people's pantries so we've since had to relocate....

We've turned everything into a makeshift table right at the little toilet level :)

After relocating to the kitchen, the challenge was now less on space and how to entice my little peeing machine to want to stay IN the confines of the easy-to-clean tile :)

The easel has been a great distraction to our week!

Again, we've turned anything/ everything into the appropriate level for Brecken to be entertained while doing his business :)

Brecken gets a sticker each time he has success IN THE TOILET and with each sticker added, he screams, "My show daddy affer wuk my sickers!"

Brecken's Potty Poster at the end of day one... 8 stickers = 8 successes :)

We worked our way through our entire game closet this afternoon :)

Look at this happy "I just went potty and got to eat candy" face :)

We've finally learned not to be scared of the spray and "push it down" so everything stays in the toilet. It is the little successes that keep us going :)

"MY GO POTTY INSIDE TOILET, NOT ON FLOOR MOMMY!"

After a successful potty, we dump the goods in the big toilet and Brecken gets to flush (very exciting for him!)

Then we ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wash hands!

Next step: Pick out a sticker to put on the potty poster.

Add the new sticker to the potty poster and then we ALWAYS count our stickers and talk about how proud and happy we are!

Arguably the best part: Picking out two candies!!!!!!

Brecken's Potty Poster at the end of day two... 15 stickers = 15 successes :)

Unfortunately, day two of our potty party included a trip to the doctor to confirm that our potty participant has strep throat :( BOOOOOOOOO!!!! As history has proven itself many times, Brecken is quite the trooper and truly is a "good" sick kid. He was more tired today and of course we had to put on "diaper underwear" (pull-ups) for our doctor trip and I couldn't endulge his "Mommy, my need go potty" that he spoke up about AS the doctor walked in :( Apparently, LIFE continues to happen even during the week we have designated as the potty party week. We'll see what medication, continued fevers, and a sick-boy-learning-how-to-use-the-potty translate.....

As a side note, I highly recommend the book "Everyone Poops" to all toddlers. It is a very matter-of-fact book and hearing Brecken read it is just about THE funniest thing EVER! HYSTERICAL!