Benji has repeatedly told me he prefers riding in the car to riding on the bike. When asked why, he usually tells me that (a) he can see more in the car (probably not true when we use the Xtracycle); (b) I tell more stories in the car (definitely true, since I spend more time breathing hard on the bike); (c) he didn’t have to wear a helmet in the car (true).

But another reason may be that he can do more things without worrying about dropping and losing them. For example, I don’t give him books on the bike because if he drops them, they’re gone forever. In the car, not such a problem.

In other news, we’ve been doing very low-key potty training. We started with just sitting in the potty with clothes on, followed by sitting on the potty with no diaper or pants. These sessions only occurred at times when we regularly change his diaper – after getting up out before going to sleep. He quickly understood that pee or poo in the potty got him M&Ms, and started squeezing out pee to get treats, and demanding to stay on the potty longer so as to get more treats.

We took a break on our trip to California, but getting back, we’ve jumped in with both feet (not literally!), going without pants or diaper the whole time we’re home, and keeping a potty nearby at all times. Yesterday he had one time of stopping play and peeing without prompting; the rest of the day, he sat at my request but didn’t do anything. Today he had one accident on the floor, but a lot more instances of pee in the potty, too.

I’m pretty sure he knows exactly what the deal is, and how to control himself, except when he’s distracted by playing. I don’t really know how the rest will go – going out in the world, for example – but so far, he’s very cooperative (amazing what M&M bribery can buy) and shown a good understanding of where pee comes from and how to control it.

I’m so ready to have diapers out of my life and budget!