Finally!

This picture probably needs some interpretation. On Jack's head is a fire chief hat that my dad picked up at a garage sale. On the bottom, printed in black permanent marker, is the name "Jessie" (my only assumption is that this was the original owner). Jack wears it proudly, but he always wears it backwards, hence the necessary explanation because you can't see the fire chief symbol on the front. The "shoes" on his feet are actually my dad's enormous (well, enormous for a 2-year-old) slippers that Jack calls his "fire shoes." Apparently he can only put out fires while wearing these shoes (at least that was the story this particular day).

So now that you fully understand the picture, I'll get to the real subject of the post. I will go out on a limb (hopefully I don't have to eat my words) and say that Jack is finally potty trained...whew! WARNING: For readers that do not have children and/or are not comfortable openly discussing the bodily functions of children, stop reading now. Everyone else...read on. He mastered peeing on the potty long ago, but would only poop in his underwear or on the off chance that the stars aligned, Jupiter was 100 light years to the west of Saturn while the sun was shining here on Earth and we caught him almost in the act and forced him to sit on the potty, crying the whole time (Jack, I mean. ...although there were times I could have joined in). We tried everything. Toys, candy, bribes, threats, you name it. Then one day Sean came home and told me that his coworker, who happens to be a volunteer fire fighter, said we could bring Jack to the fire station sometime and he could climb up in to a real fire engine. Of course I couldn't just let this be a fun privilege for Jack. Nope, he had to earn it. And how would he earn it? By pooping on the potty all the time, just like real fire men do. So over the course of several weeks we talked frequently about how real fire men only poop on the potty, never in their underpants and didn't Jack want to be just like a real fire man. I'm not sure if it was the incentive or just that it was the right time, but he finally has it mastered. In fact, he went from pooping every two or three days to pooping almost every time he goes to the bathroom. By the way, if Jack was older I'm sure he would be incredibly embarrassed that I'm sharing this, however, because he's two he is VERY proud every time he poops or pees on the potty and will announce it to anyone who will listen so, "share on," I say. And by the time he's old enough to be embarrassed, this post will be long gone.

So back to the picture, which doesn't really have anything to do with the post, but is a great representation of Jack's accomplishment. The smile on his face, which mirrors the smile on my face, is there every time he is successful on the potty. Jack has finally earned his reward and we can make our trip to the fire station. He sure can bring the hat along, but I think he'll need to leave the shoes at home.