something had to be easy {our big news!}

In the midst of all our chaos, something had to be easy... yes?
BRICE is only wearing BIG BOY UNDERWEAR!

This happened suddenly and all on his own doing... and we welcomed this BIG change with open arms!

I have to say this whole potty training thing has been a lovely little piece of cake.

We bought him underwear months ago and I was going to try the 3 Day Potty Training Boot Camp --- I made charts, bought stickers, skittles, etc --- we talked for days leading up to The Big Day about how he would no longer wear diapers --- The Big Day came and he was not having it. I decided he wasn't ready and that I was not forcing anything on to him. I would much rather it be a simple process. My fear was forcing him to potty train and dealing with accident after accident for months upon months. So we just left his big boy underwear in his closet for him to access at his leisure... and that's just what he did. Every once in awhile he would would put a pair on but that was about it. Occasionally we would ask if he wanted to use the potty and he would politely decline and everyone went about their business... until Tuesday.

We got home from his testing and he asked to put on a pair of underwear. About 5 minutes later I reminded him that he had underwear on and that if he needed to pee, to let me know. He looked at me and said "mommy, I need to pee." We went to the bathroom, he stepped onto his stepstool, sat on the toilet and proceeded to pee! A little while later he had a very small accident and demanded to wear a diaper. Around a half hour later, George and I were in the kitchen prepping dinner and Brice came up to me and said he needed to pee. We took him to the bathroom, took his dry diaper off and he peed in the toilet again! We were SO excited!!

Wednesday was... well it was Wednesday. When we got home, George and Pierce were in the backyard and Brice and I went to get the mail. He asked me to take his pants off and I assumed he was going to put on a pair of underwear.  I went back outside with all of my boys... I looked to my left and saw Brice's diaper on the ground and my child... PEEING IN THE GRASS! I know I shouldn't have laughed but I could.not.help.it.at.all. George took a picture, we laughed a little more and then I told Brice that even though what he did was funny it wasn't appropriate. He went inside to the bathroom and finished peeing in the toilet.

Yesterday, he wore underwear ALL DAY LONG! He also took it upon himself to start standing and peeing into the toilet. He took a 2 hour nap in underwear - no accident. We left the house for 2 hours once George got home... in underwear... no accidents! He used two public restrooms. His only accident in the last 24 hours was at 2:15am. He woke up crying. I went into his room, changed his underwear, pj's and sheets and we talked about how next time hopefully he can make it to the potty in time.

I think one accident in 24 hours without any "formal" potty training is FANTASTIC! We're not using Pullups for naptime or nighttime because they are just modified diapers. We also feel that it will only hinder how quickly he could learn to gain control during sleep. While it wasn't fun to be in his room changing his sheets, underwear and pj's at 2:15am, it's just another small sacrifice for such a huge milestone!

We are accident free this morning as well! We don't have to remind him to go - he tells us "Oh mom, I need to go pee." --- and off he goes. He turns on the light, opens the toilet lid, pees and wait for it {get excited ladies because I know I was}... he grabs 1 square of toilet paper and WIPES THE SEAT OFF!!! He did this all on his own and I have TOTALLY ENCOURAGED it since the first time!!! I told him he is going to make his wife one happy lady one day!

I can't believe (and I am so relieved) that potty training has been so simple. I would have never thought that in his first day wearing underwear we would be accident free during all waking hours and naptime AND that we would be able to leave the house for 2 HOURS accident free as well! I am so ridiculously proud of Brice! We took him to Target last night and bought 2 more packs of underwear as his surprise for staying accident free all day. He picked out Toy Story and Mickey Mouse ClubHouse - kids underwear is pricey... $12/pack!

My babe that made me a mommy is growing up so quickly!