Poopie

We were already running late for our church's morning service today,
so even though Jada wasn't resisting as much as she can as I tried to
bend her into her stroller, I was losing my patience. So fixated was
I on getting us out the door as soon as possible that I didn't hear
the word she had been repeating to me throughout this whole process.

"Poopie." I finally heard it after about the tenth time, and I
realized she was telling me she had had a poopie. So I ripped off her
jacket and threw her onto the changing table and, sure enough, she had
had a poopie. And thus, a potty-training break-through: connecting
her bowel movement to a word, and saying that word to me.

The next step, of course, is to say "poopie" before she does it and
not after. Which requires another step in communications as well as a
step in being able to hold it until after we get to the place where
you're supposed to do your "poopie."

Still, we'll take the progress. Our approach here has been to
introduce the topic, and see if she naturally moves towards being
potty-trained. All the books I've read have said to be mellow about
the whole thing, so we're being mellow. No pressure from us, at least
until she turns three; although hopefully she'll have figured it all
out by then. Until then, we'll celebrate her tiny steps with her,
like this morning's.