Candy + Toddler = Potty Training

Candy, Candy, Candy. It's ALL about the stinkin' candy. What is it with kids and sugar, huh? As you may remember, I've been having bouts of potty training success. Granted, the success seems to be totally related to the candy I serve up as a tasty treat in the wonderful world of reward programs. I started out with smarties. Alex didn't fare to well with those. They were great for a day or two, but he never quite enjoyed them enough to use the toilet. So we moved on. Keep in mind that it is not that easy to find a plethora of candy types to quench his desire for the sugary snacks. Due to the joy joy milk allergy he has been dealt, chocolate is out. So the all-time favorite potty treat of M&M's are out. So we moved on to Twizzlers. They worked. For about a week. Then it became old hat and his interest in using the potty dwindled. So I tried Dum-dums. They were an enormous hit. We even had our first poop on the pot with that little treat. But I couldn't stand giving him ten suckers a day so it had to stop. So it was on to Skittles. Another temporary hit. Jelly beans...hit...potty strike. Sweet-tarts...hit...potty strike. Turns out that the key must be variety. He can't stand to be bored with his treat jar so it's time to mix it up. We found Gummy Bears and Gummy worms. Party mints and past tried and true candies. They all will be plaguing my house until this kid is finally potty-trained. It's a darn good thing I have massive self control when it comes to candy, otherwise I'd be in big trouble (and by big, i mean fat).

And for good measure, here are a couple pics for your viewing pleasure:

It's official, Abby truly does have the monkey genes that Alex was blessed with. Looks like it's hereditary.

Alex loves being cheezy for the camera now.

And look what we have here! Are those little, tiny pony tails I see on miss Abby? Why yes they are! Her hair is finally growing.