It's Potty Time

I am the one who reads all the books. What to Expect When You're Expecting, What to Expect the First Year, and soon, What to Expect the Toddler Years. Chris reads none of these, although he will listen intently if I share something with him I learned within their wise pages.

But his natural parenting talents came shining through tonight. And I will also say that this is a blog entry Athena will not be excited to read when she is older... Fair warning, Dear Reader, we are going to venture into toilets tonight...

When I came home from work on Friday, Chris had purchased a little training potty. Now, this is strange on several levels... as Chris is never the one to spend money on baby equipment. Toys and DVDs, yes... potties, no.

So I see it there and I think to myself, well, we would need one eventually... I suppose we might as well buy it now. Perhaps it was on sale...

Now, according to BabyCenter, children will normally show some signs of readiness for potty training between 18 and 24 months. So as the weary, pregnant mother of a 16-month-old (albeit an extra tall one) I haven't even really been looking at the articles about potty training in order to start preparing. After all, even though Athena has begun to show she understands pretty much everything we say, I have seen no indication that she is aware of the functions of the bathroom or of the physical signs indicating a need to go.

That said, Chris believes the time is now. And as he changes WAY more dirty diapers than I do, I can hardly blame him for trying. So when he took the training potty upstairs with him at bathtime, I cheered him on... secretly sure that this just was too early to work.

He tried to put her on the thing before her bath, but it was actually too late, if you know what I mean. So there was really no success to be had. Then this morning, he brought the thing in again before her shower and sat her down on it. She seemed to like it, but she climbed down off it and then peed on the floor. I'm telling you, the child just isn't ready, as far as I can see.

Then tonight, we went into the bathroom together, Athena and I, to get ready for bathtime. The training potty was in there on the floor, and she pulled it out. She lifted the little lid, and started to sit down. She then noticed she still had her diaper on, so she stood up, looked at me, and pulled on the diaper. I had to take the thing off anyway since I was about to plop her into the tub, so I did so immediately at her request. She then turned and went back to sit on the potty.

I continued to fill the tub and check the water temperature. When the bath was ready, I went to get her off her potty. When I lifted her from the seat... holy monkey! There was pee in the toilet! I couldn't believe it! I almost dropped her. I called Chris into the room and we both marvelled at the gift she left. (Parenting is the saddest, strangest business, I'm telling you.) Grandma Kervill is here too, so she came in to celebrate with us. It was quite a joyous moment.

Now, there's still a long way to go here, and that may be the only time she does it for the next three months, but wouldn't it be cool if she actually were potty trained before Baby Caran the Younger arrives? I am suddenly optimistic... and I suddenly feel the need to get a book on potty training.