Baby Steps...

Well, we've had three poops on the potty this weekend. The first came out of the blue (as everyone said it would). Afterward JJ got a huge smile on his face and said "you happy mom?" and I gave him a big hug and told him I was so proud and that his dad would be proud too. We of course could not flush the toilet right away because we needed dad to see it, and then JJ said he wanted Aunt Cyndi to come over and see it too.
We had been tempting him with a new toy that we wrapped up and put on the back of the toilet [tank] waiting for him to earn the reward. When he finally was allowed to open the gift it was like Christmas for that boy.
Later that day I needed to go to WalMart and the whole family decided to go. Jerret suggested we buy another gift for JJ and try our strategy once again. So he picked out another toy (a big Tonka garbage truck that Jerret thought was on clearance for $10 but was actually on the wrong shelf) and we brought it home. JJ wanted this new truck so bad that he rushed into the bathroom and tried to force himself to go poop on the potty again. He did find it quite difficult since most people are not able to poop on demand, but low and behold, after a few minutes of grunting and squirming, our little guy raced out of the bathroom and made his announcement! We had a minor setback that night when dad and JJ went to rent a movie and JJ told dad he had to go, but dad thought the kid might be able to hold it until they found a toilet. Which is funny, because I do not think they looked for a toilet at the video store, but were going to try and make it back home and all of you parents out there know how this turned out...
The toys were getting too expensive so we are now bribing him with Oreo cookies. So far he is doing well. We even had an accident-free nap today. We're going to take it slow this time. I will not move him back into the preschool class until I am certain he is ready. We don't need another broken heart.

Parent-Teacher Conference Part 2

Well, he's out. They are sending him back to the 2/3 yr. old class and will have to wait until he is accident-free for 2 weeks before we can try again with the big kids. He is going to be so disappointed. He is very aware that he was moved up to the "big kid room" and that the 2/3 yr old class was for little kids who use diapers. But the teacher explained that it is more a health risk/consideration than anything and they are just not equipped to deal with children who are not potty trained. Oh well. In all fairness, he has been really lazy about going #2 and will hold it as long as possible before just going in his pants. What else can we do?

Uh-Oh...He's too young for this...

We have been informed that we need to have a little meeting with JJ's preschool teacher this week. We [they] are having a little problem with his potty habits and it seems he is having accidents daily at this point. I'm not sure if the regression has anything to do with his new baby sister, but he does want to play and pretend he is a baby once in a while. And I, being the new adoptive mommy that I am, am quick to oblige and cradle him in my arms giving lots of hugs and kisses and telling him that he is mommy's baby too. Jerret just looks at me like I am crazy until I remind him that JJ never had this affection that he sees Lynde getting. He needs to feel the same connection that we have with her.

Our nighttime routine still includes prayers for "all the kids in Kyrgyzstan, that they find mommies and daddies and are able to come home." But lately JJ has asked us to tell him the story about Kyrgyzstan, and he now can tell us how it all went down. I think this was all spurred by a book Aunt Jill found called "God Found Us You." It was a great way to start the conversation and he even fills in parts that we left out. His favorite part of the story is "I pooped on the plane" His dad must have told him that part - where I thought 9 diapers would be plenty for the 18-hour trek and sure enough...we needed 10.

Stay tuned for part 2 of the parent-teacher conference!