Potty Training, take 32

Or so it seems. It's been about 10 months since I first introduced Ben Ben to the potty. There have been several stops and starts, with plenty of progress and backsliding. He was doing pretty well until we moved, when I couldn't handle any more and just pulled out the ol' diapers. However, over the last 2 months he often told me when he needed a diaper change. Yesterday I thought, why not?

First, I asked him if he wanted to wear his underwear. Yes. Good start.
Next, I made him a deal: try to stay dry until lunch, then he's back in his diaper. He agreed.
Finally, his incentives are 1) keep Spiderman dry (thanks for the superhero underwear, Llama!) and 2) we started using 2000 Flushes, and he likes to make the blue water turn green when he pees (thank you, chemistry!).

Results so far: yesterday he kept his underwear dry until well past lunch. But we put him back in a diaper to go to the store; my crutch, not his. Today he wore his underwear for several hours until the accident - he was too busy playing to stop. He was so upset that he cried. This is really important to him. Even though he wore a diaper from then on, he successfully used the potty the rest of the day.

It boils down to extrinsic versus intrinsic motivations. At first I wanted him to learn, but although he enjoyed the candy and stickers, he never really cared. Now he wants to do it to be a big boy like his brother. (Let's hear it for peer pressure!) The only physical rewards are dry pants and hugs.