You Know What This Means:

Yep, after nearly 6 years I am no longer changing diapers!! I've been changing bums for a long time, when you think about it, and there were many years of having 2 in diapers and an entire year of having 3 in diapers. This now feels so weird and foreign.
I really was not planning on potty training Grant this soon, but with washing diapers, there isn't that much of a difference than washing underwear he would pee and let me know.
The first day that I tried teaching him, we put the diapers away then I introduced the potty to him. With my other boys, I would pour a cup of warm water on their tummies, not only would they see the water run off them, but the water would help them just naturally urinate (think of getting into a warm bath, same feeling). Grant refused this, so I wasn't sure if this whole potty training was going to work. But I kept at it all day, and at the end of the day, he hadn't gone in the potty - oh well.
The second day, Todd had the evening shift, so I asked if he would take the other boys to their swim class. He was very sweet and willingly took them and stayed after for almost two hours to give me and Grant some alone time. This one-on-one time was magic. We did nothing but focused on being together. We read stories together, we snuggled and just loved every minute of it. Soon enough he started to dance a little bit, point towards the bathroom and said, "Pee Pee". I rushed him in, and he went.
Grant has been so pleasant to potty train. I think it may be more my attitude more than anything. With my first two I was so much more stressed out about it. They had to be potty trained because they were old enough to be. Every time they had an accident I would be very upset because I saw it as a missed opportunity for me to teach them how to use the bathroom. With both William and Grant I saw it as an opportunity to celebrate and focus on them. I was much more relaxed and loving about the whole thing. Even when they had accidents, even in public, I really did not stress about it. William and Grant not only got trained at a younger age, but it was much much quicker. Amazing how helpful our approach can be.
I use to agree with what my SIL use to say, "I would rather go through labor and delivery than potty train a child" - and this coming from a woman who had all her baby's naturally. Now, besides having to clean up the messes and accidents, I really see potty training as a positive thing. Especially with children with many siblings, it allows me, as a parent, to focus more on that child. I knew where Grant was at every second of every hour or every day - not only knew, but was completely aware of him, his actions, his mood, and his body language. And Grant's response was very positive. What a blessing God gives us ... if only we can see it that way.