Number 2s

My toddler did a poo on the potty this evening - a momentous occasion that we thought might never happen. He is only 2 years and 7 months old, but I have lost count of the number of times that people have asked me if he is potty trained or in the process of being trained. The girls at his nursery keep telling me that they have asked him if he wants to use the toilet 'like daddy'...my mum keeps talking to me about different approaches and even phoned me last week to tell me that This Morning had a feature on toilet training showing at 12.15 that day...and my partner regularly asks me what my plans are in relation to this subject and has dropped subtle hints like putting pants on our son at the weekends!
My approach is somewhat unorthodox. Our little boy is very headstrong and my view is that he will do it when he is ready. I really don't want to instigate even more reasons to fight.
I did try putting pants on him about 2 weeks ago, but it only lasted 20 minutes, the first 10 spent looking at himself (in his pants) in the full-length mirror, the next 5 sat on the potty with them around his ankles and the final 5 screaming to take them off and put a nappy on (which I dutifully did).
The next attempt was instigated by his dad last Sunday. The pants stayed on this time...even when they shouldn't have done so...after the third pair of wee-stained pants in under an hour, we gave up again.
Despite my failure to persevere and my complete lackadaisical attitude, we have had a number of successful wees in the potty (instigated by the little boy himself of course) and when we came out of the swimming pool today, he said he wanted a wee and went in the toilet. Then came the piece de resistance...whilst having his bath he had excessive bottom wind (nothing new in our house!), but I asked him if he needed a poo...he said yes...I put him on the potty...he pushed...and there it was...lots and lots of cheers and claps...call daddy...more cheers and claps...then some crying and saying his bottom hurt...not sure what this means, so we gave him a treat (chocolate of course) and got him ready for bed.
We'll see what tomorrow has in store...