Lil' Pooper

Ladies and gentlemen, it's a day for the history books. My proud mama heart couldn't be fuller. Caleb went poo poo in the potty.

I don't have any pictures, you will be sad to know.

Here are the events of the day:
Jon was pulling morning duty when I heard a familiar refrain from Caleb, "Poo poo...." We've been trying to be more diligent about responding to Caleb's efforts, and I was thankful that it was Jon's turn. I went to fetch a clean diaper, and Jon had Caleb stripped down and on the big boy potty by the time I got there. Jon and Caleb talked a little, Jon reminding Caleb of the job he was to do, the job that Caleb himself let us know he needed to do. But Caleb wasn't worried about his intestinal obligations, and blithely stated that he was all done and ready to get down. So goes the general potty saga.

I was recruited for morning duty while Jon got ready for the day. Caleb and I were sitting at the table for breakfast when Caleb announced, "Poo poo...." This time the announcement was accompanied by a few grunts and a reddening face.

I considered my options. The most obvious was to leave things as they were and wait until Daddy was on duty again. The second scenario was that I would peel off Caleb's diaper just in time for something stinky to happen. The third was that Caleb would actually be successful at using his potty (and not just for reading and singing, as it has been so far), thus cementing in his mind what the potty is actually for.

Sighing, and hoping for the third scenario, I confirmed with Caleb his need to poop. Then I asked if he needed to go to the potty, to which he responded with his sing-song, "No..." that lilts up and sounds like he's laughing. I love that no, and ask him funny questions just to get him to say it. But that's off topic.

I was in a hurry by this time, realizing Scenario Two would be coming sooner than I wanted. I undid his booster clasps and swooped him into the bathroom. Off came the diaper (no poop so far, whew!) and on Caleb went to the big boy potty. I handed him a book in case things got boring, and reminded Caleb why we were there.

But he didn't need much reminder. Within the first minute, his job was done! I was a little incredulous and waited a bit longer. Then I yelled to Jon for help, because I wasn't sure what to do next! I forgot to bring wipes with me...Jon reminded me that I could use toilet paper. Oh, yeah.... Caleb popped up from his seat and I cleaned the cleanest heiney I've ever cleaned for having just pooped. Amazing how much nicer it is without a diaper to squish it all up!

On with the new diaper, flush the toilet and wave bye bye to the poop (a tradition we started when we started flushing the poop from his diapers), and then a triumphant hand-washing. All the while Jon and I are congratulating Caleb on his accomplishment.

Later in the day, I hear Caleb give a little toot. I ask, "Caleb, do you need to go potty? Do you need to poo poo?" Immediately, Caleb stands up from his play and heads to the potty. He lays down on the floor for me to pull his pants and diaper off. For a kid who hates getting his diaper changed, it was a little surprising! I plopped him onto the toilet seat and....nothing. Within seconds Caleb was done, in his opinion. We waited a little longer, but sometimes a toot is just a toot and nothing more. I thanked Caleb for his willingness and let him flush the toilet, anyway, for his efforts.

And that was that! Three tries today, and our first success. I have no idea if it will progress, or if we'll still be stuck potty-training a year from now (when I had expected to start potty-training). Maybe he'll catch on. I gotta admit it would be really nice to not have two in diapers, but on the other hand I don't want to pressure Caleb at all, and I'm sure a newly-trained toddler would be as much hassle as one still in diapers! But there's the story for the record-books nonetheless. If it doesn't happen again for awhile, we'll know when it happened first. Because this day and age is all about information. There is no such thing as Too Much Information.

Am I right?

Hello?