Moooooore potty woes, yes indeed!

With any great success comes great setbacks, right?! This is what I have been telling myself for the past two days. Elijah has basically reverted right back to where we were at two weeks ago with his potty business. It is sad. When this ordeal is all said and done, I will be writing a book that will be titled, How to Potty Train Your Strong-Willed Child. I'm already taking mental notes for it. I'm not joking.

(Quick intermission...look at this beautiful boy!)

Whatever his reason for regression is, we are holding strong with our rules and rewards. Eventually (we hope) he will learn that we will not back down. Pooping in pants? Loss of privileges. Pooping in toilet? Fun things! Wooo! He obviously knows this, as he lived "the dream" for eight consecutive, glorious days.

(Could our boys be any more handsome??)

Today we had really fun plans to visit a nature center north of the cities (thanks for the recommendation, Lacey!), and Elijah was really excited about it. Thirty minutes before we were going to leave, Elijah pooped on the chair he was sitting on! Ugh! It is so so so so so very hard to keep my emotions in check when things like this happen (after sooo much time and work). This will be one of the chapters in my book. KEEP YOUR EMOTIONS IN CHECK (and yes, it will be in caps). I immediately directed him to the chart and showed him that because of his decision not to go in the toilet, we now couldn't go on our fun trip. I was just as bummed as he was, but I tried not to let that show (another chapter).

That was at 8:30 this morning, so all day he had basically no privileges aside from playing here at home. He had two more accidents today, one of which was a big ordeal.

Painting on the driveway with sidewalk paint was permitted. This was our fun activity for the day!

At this point we are just going to stick to our plan because I believe it is a good one. Elijah LOVES his "prizes," and he hates not having privileges. Consistency will show him that life is better when we poop in toilets. Maybe that should be the title of my book. Life is Better When We Poop in Toilets!

Tomorrow is the heart walk, which we are all excited about! I'm praying that E does not poop in his pants in the morning. Another book chapter will be, How To Make It Seem Like a Fun Trip Is Not a Fun Trip (when canceling a fun trip is not possible). We have a few friends and family members joining us for the walk and we are so thrilled about that! What a great opportunity to raise money and awareness for congenital heart disease while honoring our brave monkey and seeing friends all at the same time.

With the days being so long, Dan is away from home a lot, and working hard. We miss him. We are hoping to get out to the dropzone to see him this weekend at some point.

By the way, the "recipe" for fun sidewalk paint = 1 cup water + 1 cup corn starch (keeps the final product visible) + food coloring, as desired. Hours of endless fun!

Sammy loved the experience way more than Elijah, who was more concerned about the driveway being "tooooo hottttt!" Hence, the towel you see under his bum in the photos. :)

Thank you for checking in!

If you have an open spot on your prayer list, would you mind adding a prayer for this potty thing to fall into place for good? Thank you!