defeat

I have been defeated. My buddy was doing so well on the potty in the beginning. I worked so hard to make every trip to the potty like a party. He was fooled for a while. We blew bubbles, read books, ate chocolate, got new cars and did many happy potty dances. As the days passed and he realized that he had to use the potty all day every day, he decided he was over it.

I pulled out the big guns and took Angry Birds off the iPad and put it on my phone. The only way he was going to get to play his most favorite game of all time was to use the potty. Still he refused. I could (sometimes) drag him to the bathroom and plop him on the potty, but I couldn't make him go. He even went a whole day without using the iPad at all (unheard of) because he just refused to go.

So I have waved the white flag. But I will think fondly of those 3 1/2 times he pooped on the potty and I was spared a few disgusting diapers. We'll still continue to use the potty a couple of times a day and encourage him, but I'm done with the battle.

I love the fake smile that completely erases his eyes.


We met some friends at the lake yesterday. It was fun and the kids had a blast but my buddy drank so much lake water. He only knows how to be wild. He has no other gear. I have to force him out of the water to dig in the dirt for a while just to give his body a break.



So last night, after a couple of hours of lake water ingestion, he woke up several times crying. Somewhere around midnight, I finally took his CPAP mask off and I was sitting on his bed rubbing his back while he tossed and turned and moaned. I grabbed my phone and did a little google search for "can you get sick from lake water". What a bad idea that was.

It's always hard with my buddy. He cannot say what hurts or why he is awake. It's all just a guessing game. But we survived the night and he seemed fine today (aside from being really tired and crabby).