We’re officially in potty training with Thing 3. To say it’s been tough is an understatement, but there has been some progress lately. This potty scene should hardly be surprising given his history.

Yes, that’s a potty in the middle of the family room.  And of course he’s wearing a football helmet.  Doesn’t everyone?

We have been trying to get him to give up his diapers in favor of pull-ups for months. But he goes into a tantrum at the slightest mention of a pull-up.  So this weekend I asked him if he wanted to wear underwear.  To my surprise, he liked the idea.

He didn’t just like the idea of wearing underwear (which we let him do around the house).  He just really loves the underwear and it has now become another one of his odd comfort objects like the flashlights, my ratty old t-shirts, and his broken Buzz Lightyear toy.

He carries the underwear around.  He takes it to pre-school with him, keeps it in his cubby, then takes it back home.  Tonight, he wanted to sleep with the underwear.  Not wear them, mind you, but just next to him in his bed.  That is, until he decided he does want to wear them.  But I won’t let him do that because he’ll end up soaking wet during the night.

So he is now wearing the underwear on the outside of his pajamas with a diaper underneath.  As I said, it just keeps getting weirder.

But he is VERY particular about what he eats. So much, in fact, that he prefers to do his own grocery shopping. Lucky for us, the local supermarket caters to just his demographic: three year olds who watch a lot of movies.

With a pint sized shopping cart, Thing 3 makes his way through the aisles, until he finds all his favorites. First up, the mac and cheese section. The store is very smart to put the Toy Story themed boxes within his reach.

Unlike SuburbanDaddy, who zig-zags across the store looking for items on his list, Thing 3 knows his way around like a pro.

Of course, his favorite spot is the dairy aisle. With the amount of milk he drinks, it’s like the opening scene from Leaving Las Vegas when Nicholas Cage dances with a shopping cart down the aisle at the liquor store.

No trip to the store would be complete without a tantrum.  In this case, it happens when we need to take all the items out of his cart and pay for them.   Here he is sitting on the floor and crying in protest.

Not to worry, they have free balloons on the way out.  Balloons are a sure fire tantrum stopper.  Just make sure not to let go of the balloon in the parking lot.  That would be the nuclear bomb of tantrums.  Trust me.

But it also represents another special event worth celebrating. The end of the Terrible Two’s! Starting today, no more tantrums, right?

Thing 3 was more interested in the dirt on the ground than the animals.

There are the Buzz and Woody dolls. A book. Not just any book. It must be the Backyardigans Jungle Colors book that is falling apart in three places. And Legos. You don’t sleep with Legos? You are missing out. And finally, three of SuburbanDaddy’s shirts which are used in place of a pillow and blanket.