Deep down, I really believed this day would never come: Justin is regularly using the potty (although never on his own initiative) and Brayden is putting himself to sleep at night. I hope I haven’t just jinxed it.

For the past few months we’ve had to stay with Brayden until he falls asleep, which on a good day took 10 minutes but on most days took the better part of an hour. If you tried to leave while he was still awake, he’d scream and pound on his door. But last week we discovered that if you give him a book to look at while he’s in bed, you can leave the room and he will eventually conk out on his own without making a peep. It’s a beautiful thing.

As for Justin…he’s pretty good about staying dry while he’s at home, but only if someone forcibly instructs him to head for the potty when he looks like he has to go. We’re trying to get him to do this on his own, but this is a kid who’s mighty reluctant to do ANYTHING for himself, so I suspect we’ve got a long way to go. But at least we’re making progress.