Pee pee in the potty!

I am in the throes of potty training my almost 3 and a half year old. I've literally tried everything except the white training pants because I haven't remembered to pick them up at Wal-Mart when I've been. Those trips are few and far between with 2 kids in tow these days. I have grilled anyone I know that has recently potty-trained their child for tips or tricks that worked for them. We've tried everything from cheerios in the potty to bribes and rewards to taking away treats. One day, I put underwear on him just to see what would happen and we went through 3 pairs in 45 minutes. After that I decided that it was not going to happen that day.

Today, I decided we would try again, with a different approach. We got up, had breakfast, and put underwear on. After about 30 minutes, I sat him down on the potty and told him to not get up until he pee peed. I put the potty in front of his tv in his room, turned on Cars, and started doing things around the house. Every few minutes, I went to check on his progress, and those every few minutes turned into an hour. At that point, I decided there was no turning back. I was in it for the long haul. He was going to pee pee in that potty, or else. I didn't know what "else" would be, but dang it I'm tired of changing what seems like a grown man's diapers!

Finally, after an hour and a half of checking and hoping, waiting and nail-biting, I heard those 6 miraculous words, "Mommy, I peed in the potty!" I went running in there, so excited! I couldn't believe it when I saw that precious tablespoon of yellow liquid in the training potty! He really did it! I scooped him up with those little Elmo underoos around his ankles and we danced and shouted and celebrated! Then the tears came, because I realized that this was the last little bit of baby left of him starting to leave. It was very bittersweet. But I was so proud of my boy!

His reward was a package of Colored Goldfish crackers he had had his eye on for a couple of days that I had been using as a bargaining chip. We called his daddy and grandmother to share the happy news. We did have one accident, and he is back on the potty (for about 45 min at this point I think) to try for it again before nap time. I don't think I'll tell him I'm waiting on him to pee pee before nap time or he won't go for sure this time!