Before & After

Don't you just love a good Before & After?  I do.  Here's one for today.  Here is Eli's sock drawer before...

And here is Eli's sock drawer after.

Did you see the difference?  Yes!  It now contains big boy underwear, or as boys say, "skibbies."  And aren't they the cutest!

Ian wears Pull-Ups at night, but I have a feeling not for much longer.  He is consistently waking up to use the restroom during the night or waking up dry in the morning.  Yahoo!  Eli wants to be just like his big brother and always wants to wear a Pull-Up too.  Saturday Eli wanted to wear a Pull-Up, and I told him that if he used the potty, he could wear a Pull-Up.  Lo and behold, the kid hopped right up on the potty and earned his Pull-Up privileges.

I told Cole, "I bet I could potty train, Eli."

To which Cole responded, "Then why don't you?"

Huh.  Good point.

I had just bought a brand new box of diapers last week, and still have a full box in the closet, so I decided I would return the new box and buy some skibbies for Li-Li.  I asked Eli if he wanted to buy skibbies and he got the most hysterical look on his face and yelled, "Holy cow!"  I took that as a 'yes', and Sunday we went to Target to make the transaction.  Eli was allowed to choose his own undies, and he picked a very manly Thomas set.

Monday was considered the first official day of potty training.  He wore a Pull-Up under his skibbies for the first couple of hours of the day, and after the third successful trip to the bathroom, he refused to put the Pull-Up back on.  (You haven't lived until you've tried to make Eli do something he doesn't want to do.)  So, I gave him the old "You have to use the potty or you'll get your skivvies all wet, so you have to tell me when you need to go."  And you know what?  He did!  Totally not kidding or exaggerating; we did not have a single accident yesterday and he never went in the Pull-Up either!  We had a few false alarms, which I absolutely prefer to accidents, and at the end of the day, his skivvies were totally unscathed.  Yipee-ky-yie-yay!!!

I am in absolute shock at how easy this was.  I mean, Eli is frighteningly smart, but he is a bit of a firecracker, so I expected more of a fight.  But he is Ian's self-appointed Bathroom Aide so he was much, much, much more familiar with the process than Ian was when I started his potty training.  He asks to use the restroom, he uses it when we go in, and I am already basking in the glow of a diaper free life!  It is slightly bittersweet, as this was the last phase of "babyhood" remaining in our house.  Bottles and pacifiers have been gone for long over a year, two naps a day disappeared about 9 months ago, and I can't remember the last time the boys needed to be fed a meal.

This is so surreal to me.  We have two potty trained children, and the second one was an absolute BREEZE!!!!  I no longer need to buy diapers, and I must say that Eli's little hieney in a pair of skibbies?  Probably the cutest little thing I've seen in a while.  :-)