The Best for Last

(the end, at least temporarily, of our milestones series)

Do any of you believe that everything (or at least some things) happens for a reason? Well... maybe I don't agree with that idea all the time, but sometimes it is interesting to see something good come out of a bad thing, and, in retrospect, wonder whether something happened because of something else.

I'm positive that this is not why K had an appendectomy, but it is true that his surgery led to a VERY BIG milestone in our family! Do you remember what I said in the past about our family having a specific and very annoying problem? So... unbelievably this problem was solved, but it took a surgery and having daddy home for several days to get Linton to finally succeed in pooping in the potty.

I don't know how K did it, and neither does he, I guess, because he said that he didn't have any more patience left. With his abdomen still painful and healing, he sat at the toilet for almost an hour while Linton was in his little potty and... nothing. They read many books, they talked, and nothing... So K, tired and achy, got up to get him a chocolate (this bombom [site with sound] from Brazil) as a reward if he did it, and... lo and behold! Linton had gone on the potty while K went to the kitchen and came back!!! Then the next day he did it again, this time on the toilet...

I could hardly believe it!!! He dutifully asked for his present, and we got him a Hot Wheels ramp (the boys' first Hot Wheels paraphernalia). It was harder to get him to go potty at school, or even with me at home, but in the end it did work. Slowly but surely he began to be more and more comfortable. In the meantime, we had a small problem at school -- he used the little kids' toilet and it got clogged (!! -- tiny boy, but adult sized production ;-), so now he only uses the normal sized one. And we still have to give him MiraLax once in a while because he only goes a few times a week, but things are incredibly better! I cannot believe that we don't need more diapers in this house!!!! YAY!!!

Too bad it took us over 6.5 years to be finally able to say this... roughly 4.5 years for each boy. And to think that earlier this year, months before he turned TWO, my second nephew (at the time the youngest) was FULLY potty trained :-(
[to say that I was envious is an understatement, obviously]
I wish lots of luck to my SIL and my dear, adorable third nephew...

And... ahhh... the things we talk about when we become parents! Potty training as blog fodder... OK, as "mommy blogger" fodder ;-)