pottyventurous

i'm still not quite sure how this happened, but apparently i am potty training my 16-and-a-half month old. never thought i'd be saying that...

it all began once upon a time, in a magical time called "last week" when mama came home with a potty just to see what eva would think about it. she became instantly obsessed with it, insisting on sitting on it whenever she noticed its existance.

then, over a couple days here in college station, i put her on the potty at diaper changes and she peed in it roughly half the time and subsequently stayed dry. so i spent two days doing a "mock" potty training (using the potty, but wearing diapers) which resulted in just three wet diapers in two days (not counting at night). so, despite my preconceived notions, despite my asking my mama friends (essentially) if i was possibly making this all up and/or if i could pretty please just ignore it for a few more months, it was determined by the world that eva is to be potty trained ("the world", because clearly i didn't come up with this plan).

i have to say, as i type this at the end of Day One, it's not so bad. i don't mean that in a "she'll have this down in two days" false sense of optimism, but more a "what's the big deal about peeing one's pants" way. really, so she had three accidents today (not bad, right?) and one was even in public (i know, it's not generally advised to leave the house on Day One of potty training, but we felt like going to lunch with everyone). and sure, i have to remember to take her to the potty at regular intervals -- actually, i think i'm taking her *too* often -- but all of this just isn't as stressful as i'd anticipated. now, when she starts that inevitable backslide and starts pooing on the floor five minutes after sitting on the potty, ask me how i feel then, but mostly my point is i'm proud of myself for basically going with the flow -- oh no, a seriously bad unintentional pun!

i'll try not to fill my blog with *only* potty training for the next several weeks, but one more thing for now: it seems like all of the sudden everyone i know is potty training their kids, so i'm hearing lots of people's experiences. most of them mention their kid informing them when they need to go (this predating the potty-training attempts, usually) and eventually heading off to the potty on their own. i guess because eva's 6-8 mo younger than most of these kids (again, seriously, i'm really doing this *now*?!), our experience, so far anyway, is different. she doesn't yet identify when she needs to pee (she says "no" every time i ask), and i take her to the potty and she goes along with minimal or generally no protest. i guess in some ways it's easier (she's not full out refusing to go, for example) and in some ways it's harder (has it been an hour already? oops.). anyway, we'll see where this goes...

two cute potty training sights: little tiny eva with her little tiny jeans pooled around her ankles with her shoes sticking out as she sits on the potty -- it makes her look like such a kid -- and the new addition of very cute, very small underwear. too cute.