Potty training - a very belated update

I had a few people ask me how our potty-training went and I realized I never shared.  We potty-trained Eli way back in August, but it went so well I forgot to talk about it. :)

Potty-training Eli was one of the easiest things in my experience as a mother.  (Now, before you get mad at me, remember that Connor has never slept more than 3-4 hours at a time!  And he's almost 9 months old!  I have trials too!  I digress...)  Anyway, so potty-training was God's gift to me. :)  Eli was so ready and great, it really only took about a week.  I gathered all the helpful hints from family members and friends before I started and that made it a really great experience.  Here's what worked for us:

• Rewards: Eli got a few M&Ms if he went pee in the potty chair and then he got to pick a "big candy" (I got an assortment out of the bulk section at the store) if he went poop.
• My cousin told me about pouring a little warm water over the boy parts to help him go - this worked like a charm!  He would almost always start to pee when that warm water got on him.  This helped him to learn what it felt like to go and eventually he could do it on his own.
• Underwear from the beginning and never going back to diapers!  Several people told me this and although I was afraid, it was a really good idea.  There was no confusion and we were consistent.  Of course we just stayed home for a few days, but that worked.
• Taking him to go very often in the beginning.  I took him about every 30-45 minutes to prevent accidents  until he started to be able to tell me when he had to go.  We had a few accidents the first few days, but usually he would stop once he realized he was starting to pee, then tell me, and then finish in the potty chair.
• Fun underwear: We got one set with cars/trucks on it and one with Thomas the Train.  Definitely a hit!

That's all I can remember right now.  My brain is mushy from lack of sleep. :)  The first week I still put him in a diaper at night, but one night he got up at 4am and said he needed to go potty, so Jeremy took him and then went to put his diaper back on and he said "No!  I wear underwear now!" and so he put him in underwear and he only had 1 accident after that.  Seriously incredible.  I know I lucked out.

So there you go!  That was our crash course potty-train in a week experience.  It took awhile longer until Eli would tell me every time he needed to go (I would just take him pretty often), but for the last couple months he's always told me when he needs to go.  After the first couple weeks we got rid of the potty chair (hated cleaning that -yuck!) and now he just goes on the toilet.  What a big boy!