Warning: This is another potty training episode, and hopefully the last one before I say he's finally, completely trained.

Ok. So Lew has got used to going to the potty every morning and before bath time in the evening. This morning though was a different story. He wanted me to cuddle him while he sat on the potty. I wanted him to do it himself. So he stood there like a defiant puppy and wet the carpet! I found it so frustrating but I didn't tell him off. I ignored him to let him feel that I wasn't happy at all. I went back to bed and closed my eyes.

He hovered next to me trying to get my attention which he knew he wouldn't get so soon. 'Mummy?' Silence. 'Mummy? Family cuddle?' It was his way of saying sorry. Of course, it broke my heart but I was also interested in what he was going to say next. After a few seconds of silence, he tried again. 'Mummy, house on fire!' Hmm, nice try Lewis, but I wanted him to realise what he has done, that he should wee on the potty; not on the floor.

So I went down to his level and told him to wee on the potty, Lewis, not on the floor, ok? He nodded. To gauge if he really really understood, I asked, 'So what do you need to do next?' He replied, 'Eat breakfast?'

Side-step

We have upgraded from nappies to pull-ups to 'big boy pants' in three days. And then a major set-back: Lewis became poorly. So the potty is now ignored, hopefully until he's a lot better. The problem with pull-ups is that they are not as absorbent as nappies, so that the skin is always wet. They are designed to be 'feel & learn' so that the child would become 'uncomfortable' and learn to ask to go to the toilet. Or, in the case of Lewis at the moment, learn to ask to be changed every hour!

He still has enough time to learn to use the toilet before he goes to nursery school (in about 9 months) but with the recession and the spiders dying and all that, I'm quite in a hurry for him to wear ordinary cotton pants.

Some of the things parents have to go through aside from cleaning toilets

It's the second day of Lewis' potty training. So far, he just says 'NO!' to every encouragement to sit on the potty. He was completely dry last night and I'm hoping that he would be like his older brother who was dry in the night before he decided to get rid of day nappies. I'm a bit relaxed now as well, compared to my attempt to potty train Zak in ONE WEEK. That was completely ridiculous and needless to say, it didn't work at all.

This evening, after a lot of chitchat about how spiders would disappear on earth if he continues to wee in his nappy, he decided to ask.for.his.potty! He did a good 'number two' as well, which was very impressive. We all gave him lots of praise and hugs and told him to pull his pants up. He asked, 'like Nana does?' We said yes, although we don't really know how his grandmother pulls her knickers up. And I must say, it's difficult to imagine as well!