Well, I guess it's happened ... Gavin is in big boy underwear. I have to admit, I'm a bit shocked -- mostly because I have to admit that I had pretty much nothing to do with it. I mean, sure, some signs were there -- he's been waking dry in the morning for awhile now, it's impossible to keep him dressed, we've put him on the potty some at home, mostly to satisfy his curiosity, and he's been really good at telling me if he needs to potty when taking a bath for a few months now -- but it didn't really go beyond that. I'll be honest, it's not been anything that I've pushed because I'm not a huge fan of those first few weeks after you're diaper-free and constantly on high alert asking them every 10 minutes if they need to go potty and always sure you're about to change some wet (or poopie) underwear.
So, despite my reluctance, how did it happen? Gavin's class at school encourages use of the potty, so he's definitely been trying it some the three days he attends; last Thursday, his teacher even said that they'll start doing the every 30-min routine since he was showing signs of readiness. Well, he decided to show us all by deciding after bathtime the exact same evening that he just didn't want to put on his diaper. After some tug-of-war (with him winning by stripping off the diaper and running away), I decided to just let him sleep in his PJ pants and wet the bed ("serves his right" was going through my head). To my surprise, he woke up dry, used the potty in the morning, and stayed diaper-free until we were getting ready to leave the house for the day, and I found poop in his shorts ... and the diaper went back on. Blech. 14 hours sans diaper, though. Pretty impressive!
That night, same routine of not wanting a diaper, me saying "fine!", and him waking dry. Go Gavin! Four nights later, I finally admitted that maybe this whole diaper-free thing was going to stick and took him to the store to get some big boy underwear (which, after Claire, I struggle not to call "panties"). The next day, he returned to school, and I went ahead and sent him in his undies with extra changes of clothing and let his teachers deal with it. End of the day? Dry!
Just like that, my baby is out of diapers. We'll still wait and see if it sticks, but either way, my baby is definitely growing up. *sniff!*
