I get asked all the time if my boys are twins.  Like, all. the. time.  And people are always amazed when I say no and explain that they’re more than two years apart.  They spend the next several moments blathering on about how they look so much alike, and that they just can’t believe it.  We’ve been asked so often that even Ryder gets annoyed.

But I never cease to be amazed at how different two children of the same gender, from the same parents (who look so much alike!) can be.  It’s hard not to compare them… but it does make for an interesting science experiment of sorts.

When we potty trained Ryder, I was about 36 weeks pregnant with Evan.  We had three weeks to get the job done or else we’d have two in diapers (UGH!).  We had just returned from a trip to California, and decided to do the Three Day Potty Training Method which was recommended to us by a few good friends.  If you’re unfamiliar with this method, it means we went cold-turkey — no more diapers, no pull-ups or rubber pants.  Period.  All things considered, he took to it like a champ.  He learned very quickly that pooping in his big-boy undies was super gross (praise the Lord!), and he was very flexible about going potty in different places (upstairs, downstairs, potty seats, regular toilets, public toilets… none of that phased him.  Praise the Lord!)  But when it came to nighttime, I was up three or four times changing sheets… every night.  For months and months and months.  Looking back, I think it had something to do with the fact that when me moved him from a crib to a twin bed, it took him for-eh-ver to realize he could get out of it on his own.  He knew how, but didn’t connect the dots that he had the freedom to get up and go potty if need be.  Nighttime potty trips are also complicated by his desperate fear of the dark (still).

We’re halfway through our second day of potty training bootcamp with Evan.  He’s doing such a great job!  We’ve had our share of accidents, and I’m definitely glad we have our own steam cleaner, but overall it’s been <dare I say> relatively easy.  One of my biggest struggles has been getting him to put his undies back on after he visits the bathroom.  He’d much rather run around naked (which Ryder would never even think of doing), and it makes sense because he’d hated diaper changes since the moment he took his first breath.  Being naked wouldn’t be such a huge issue, except it helps me to see if he’s had an accident I didn’t catch, and also to catch poop.  <gross, I know… but that’s life>  The other biggest difference is nap and nighttime.  Evan’s never been dry a night in his life (one thing both boys had in common).  In fact, they’ve been known to wet completely through overnight diapers on many occasions.  And last night, Evan was completely DRY!

People… this is nothing short of a miracle.

I hate to share all this and jinx myself, but it’s big news for us.  We’re now a completely diaper-free household!  Yay for my big boys!

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t give special thanks to my mom.  She stayed with us all day yesterday to help entertain Ryder, and picked him up this morning for an all-day playdate with his cousins at her house.

Tonight or tomorrow we’ll venture out and see how he does on short trips… wish us luck!

If you’re interested in learning about my potty-training must-haves, let me know!