Not potty training

However long into this "not" potty training stage we are in and Jack has connected gummy bears with peeing on the toilet.

He's asking to sit on the potty. Demanding, really, while doing the pee pee dance and everything.

My child is weird.

Very weird.

When Jack wants to sit on the potty, he gets two gummy bears. I bribe him only for the first sitting of the day. After that, he only gets more gummy bears when he produces something. Last week, he discovered that he gets MORE when he pees.

This morning, I turned away to get his requisite gummy bears and turned around to have him pointing in the potty at his production. I couldn't believe it. He asked to sit on the potty, asked for gummy bears, and then asked for more after he peed. This "not" potty training is going a lot smoother than I imagined potty training could go. I'm not sure if I want to push it more, or just let him make further connections on his own. 

I am really apprehensive about having him potty train so close to when Nina is due to arrive. Honestly, having two kids in diapers doesn't bother me. Jack has a fairly predictable schedule and we know what triggers diarrhea and diaper rash. I don't want to get to the point where we're potty trained, have no diapers for Jack, and have him go through regression with a newborn at home. Yes, this is a fear. A legitimate one, according to statistics and anecdotal evidence. Especially if he potty trains right before Nina arrives. I love when people confidently tell me that he won't regress. I suppose, if he does decide he's done with diapers, that we'll just have to keep a few diapers around in case of regression. 

Has anyone ever said they hate the unknowns of parenting? Or is this an idea that only I've admitted? Jack is an easy kid, in just about every sense of the word. His tantrums are annoying, yes, but I think we'd be less annoyed if he tantrumed more. That sounds weird. Jack's tantrums are communication based. And probably resulting from his own stubbornness to just TALK ALREADY. 

This week, Jack began saying star and tree. He's slowly incorporating more words into his vocabulary. Right now we're hitting 2-3 words a week. I guess this is leading up to the mythical "word explosion" that everyone talks about. He isn't really putting two words together yet. He babbles a lot. A LOT. And attempts to hold conversations while he speaks Jackenese and we speak English. Usually there's a lot of "kid, just speak English already!"

I've gone off on two separate tangents here. It's probably best if I end this here with no actual conclusion. Sometimes writing just helps, ya know?