Our Independence Weekend -- Freedom From Diapers!

This past 4th of July weekend was a quiet one around here. No out-of-town guests, no local parties or barbecues. Just us six, the unrelenting heat, the lukewarm pool, and watching the local fireworks from Sonic, where I savored my Reese's Blast and where it was unbearable to sit outside for even 20 minutes.

But the real celebration in our household is that the last of our four children is FINALLY toilet-trained. Allie mastered the whole potty thing months ago (although she still pees in her pants when she's mad at me, but that's a whole separate story), but our cautious little Zach has been reluctant to go #2. A couple weeks ago we just stuck him in his underwear to see what would happen. And he went in his pants.

I wanted to try it again. Brett reluctantly agreed.

For months we've been telling Zach that if he poops three times in the toilet he'll get this cool basketball hoop we showed him at Walmart. We even printed out a picture of it and stuck it on the refrigerator alongside a Google search image of a toddler sitting on the potty as an incentive.

But on Thursday it all happened just like a fireworks show. Zach announced matter-of-factly that he "feels poo-poo coming." Oooh. He scurried into the bathroom and just like that, did what he needed to do -- in the toilet. Ahhhh. Then, just like the big boy my baby now is, did it again and again and again over the weekend. Just like that -- it happened. Brett and I would look at each other and see huge "I can't believe it finally happened" fireworks in each other's eyes.

So now all kinds of exciting things piggyback from this -- like he gets to move up to the "big kids" room at preschool. Mom and Dad don't have to change diapers anymore. And, perhaps best of all, Mom and Dad don't have to BUY diapers or the diaper-in-disguise Pull-Ups anymore.

It feels like our kids have been in diapers forever. Blake was trained when he was 3 yrs, 3 months. Nick was born 5 months later, so we had a short break then. When the twins were born, Nick wasn't quite trained (what a nightmare that was), so really, we've been doing this diaper thing for more than 11 years. I thought about researching the number of diapers we likely used and how much we spent, but, really, that's just too depressing.

And while it is bittersweet to see so many milestones already come and gone with the last two of our children -- the first smile, the first step, the first words, the first time they call their older brother stupid, this is one milestone we're fully embracing.

Free at last, free at last ...