Ready for Potty Training?

One other explanation for my vacation from blogging that I forgot to mention yesterday (how could I forget this?!) is that we have been potty training for about 2 weeks now. Caedmon is doing really well (most days) and having relatively few accidents. Still not too sure about public restrooms or how to forewarn me when he has to poop, but all in all, it's not been nearly as difficult as I was expecting.
In fact, I was quite UNMOTIVATED to begin potty training. I just kept having nightmares of endless loads of laundry and cleaning the carpet like I just got new puppy. But I rapidly found my motivation thanks for a certain "Sign of Readiness" that Caedmon was giving me...
For several weeks before we took the potty-training-plunge, Caedmon began taking off his diapers whenever they were messy...which, of course, made the mess all the worse! One time, Caedmon was playing in his room when I started smelling poop. As I walked down the hallway, the smell became more and more intense and I started hearing him say, "I cleaned it, Mommy. I helping." I walked in to find his poopy diaper on the floor, wipes (some clean/some dirty) strung all over his room, and poop smeared into the carpet! Nice.
Another time (at South Bay Church's Christmas party of all times), Caedmon momentarily went missing. Andy and I found him in the bathroom with his poopy diaper in the toilet and, yes, once again poop and toilet paper all over the place. I made Andy go bobbing for diapers while I cleaned up "Pooperman".
With each instance I was becoming more and more motivated to teach my son what is the appropriate thing to do with poop.
This happened several more times in the course of a couple of weeks...I'll spare you all the details. But one instance was so classic that I couldn't pass it up. One morning as I was getting ready, I put Caedmon is his pack-n-play as was our usual routine. Only on this particular morning, when I came back to get him, I was greeted by a child with no pants and no diaper and poop flung all across our living room! And let me tell you, this kid's got an arm. He chucked this poop with such force that pieces of it were actually stuck to the glass on our entertainment system. I'm not lying. I knew you might think I was exaggerating, so as evidence, I took pictures which I am entrusting to you this day! Don't worry, I will hang on to copies of these in order to thoroughly embarrass Caedmon with in front of future girl friends and, hopefully, at his Rehearsal Dinner as well!

The Culprit, guilty as charged.

Notice the diaper on the floor by the blue block. That's poop to the bottom right.

A close up of the poop. Please don't miss the chunk right by the elephant's tusk or down in the corner by the CD rack. I lovingly and joyfully cleaned all of this up, and then reported directly to Walmart to purchase all of my "Potty Training Supplies." I was officially "MOTIVATED" and thus we joined the ranks of millions of others in potty-training-world!

This blog is officially posted in honor of my brother, who will get more of a kick out of it than anyone, and who can relate in ways that I will not reveal in such a public forum!