Heard any good stories lately?

Well, I just did.

Ellie was in the bathtub when she said she wanted to tell me a story. Here's how it goes:

"Once upon a time, there was a daddy bunny and a baby bunny. And they went to the garden to get some carrots and some raisins. The end."

She's two years and three weeks old! I'm simply amazed.

-ED

In other news...

...Ellie experienced another first that was lost in all the potty-training commotion - her first 4th of July celebration! We went with Nanny and Pa to Rich Park to take in the show. She had fun in the moments leading up to the display; she especially enjoyed rolling down the hill. Once the fireworks began, she flinched some and never quite relaxed as EM held her tight. However, her reaction when it was over is all you need to know about how she enjoyed the experience: "Let's see fireworks again."

-ED

Asleep at the potty

Nans just called me at work to tell me that Ellie is so driven to pee on the potty and get an M and M that she has sat on it for 4 hours this morning (with two pees) and is now asleep on the potty. Every time Nans tries to move her off the potty to the crib Ellie cries "I don't want to wear a diapie (diaper)" in her sleep.

Another training update

Today was successful:
4 pee pees on the potty

I think she is starting to get it.

The hardest part:
Sitting and waiting for the pee pee to come out.

Training update

We woke up today with the intent to make this day, and all holiday weekend if need be, all about potty training. We had our chocolate ready, as well as Ellie's big girl underwear with plastic underwear to go over it. We figured, given what's transpired recently on this front, that we also had the most important part - a ready, willing and able participant in Ellie. We figured wrong. By lunch she managed to wet at least four sets of underwear, and we were no closer to achieving success than when we began.

As we prepared for nap time, and in spite of there being no measurable success, we resolved to continue our efforts in the afternoon. I think Ellie woke up around 2:30pm and, suffice it to say, by 4pm we were utterly and frustratingly resigned to defeat. We had pumped so many liquids into that girl her bladder was swollen. Yet she absolutely refused to sit on any potty whatsoever. Making things worse, she also refused to wear her underwear:

Us: Do you want to be a big girl and wear big girl underwear? Or, do you want to be a baby and wear diapers?

Ellie: I'm a baby! I want diapers!

All this took place between her crying and/or fussing and/or doing a pee-pee dance. It was a miserable experience for all involved. So, as I said, we admitted defeat and apologized to the little one for pushing her so hard.

The next couple of hours were still pretty miserable as all this fussing and fighting left our little one in a foul mood. By dinner things, mood-wise, had improved and we decided to run some errands with a diapered baby. Right before we walked out the door, Ellie said she had to sit on the potty! So we figured what the heck? Low and behold, she pooped on the potty! We cheered, we smiled, we laughed, we whooped it up! We had chocolate, too. And the rest of the night went amazingly well.

Don't get me wrong. She hasn't visited the potty since that time. But the return of her good spirits, and the brief success we experienced, were enough to help us get over the sore feelings from earlier in the day. And it all goes to show that no matter what we do, or want, as parents, what the children do is ultimately up to them.

Anyhow, I think the rest of this weekend will be much more relaxing.

-ED

Sweetness

Last night at bedtime rocking in the chair together:

Me: "Ellie it is time to go to bed. You need to get in your crib."

Ellie: "Pat my back?"

Me: "Of course I will."

Ellie smiles a great big smile. She reaches up and strokes my face and says,
"You are a good Mommy."

Daddy walks in to say goodnight. She looks at him and says, "You are a good Daddy."

In training

Back in February, I wrote about how we made our first foray into potty-training. It was a short-lived and, needless to say, unsuccessful venture. Fast forward four-plus months and we have a much more "focused" and intelligent toddler to deal with, so we are on to round two of potty-training.

EM has said privately for a while now that this second round would begin in earnest after the vacation; and, true to her word, it has. In fact, last night Ellie pooped in the potty. It was completely by accident, of course, but I can clearly see where we have an opportunity to succeed this time around whereas our first experiment in potty-training was just that - an experiment.

So why am I more confident? One word: chocolate. Take tonight for example when EM informed me she was able to cut Ellie's fingernails without one bit of protest by offering our chocoholic-in-training a single M&M. Mind you, we aren't advocating bribery but sometimes you have to doo what you have to doo (doo).

-ED