Potty Brain

Well, the time has come for the Tilly Family to enter into the new season of Personal Toilet Useage with an Emphasis on Bowel Control also known as Potty Training. Last weekend Bella and I together picked out her very first potty. I say that we both decided which purchase to make, however I did veto her vote for the $45 Tigger and Pooh Training Stool as I do not think it is necessary to have Tigger laugh and giggle randomly as Bella is perched on the pot. It would seem to me that the idea of this would only prolong the process since my child being the dreamer she is would be convinced that Tigger and Pooh do live in a plastic toilet in our guest bathroom and need constant attention and possily even snacks (she has the gift of hospitality).

So "together" we decided on the Comfort Seat Training Potty (in Pretty Pink). We get it home and of course within the first 2 minutes of sitting on her comfy removable potty seat, she had officialy christened the new purchase. I was so proud! We are working at it slowly but surely now. I am not into the pee-pee nazi stage yet. I am just letting her figure it out for now.

It has been so funny watching Andy find his way through this. If you know him, you know that Andy is not a big bodily functions guy. Infact, I can tell you that to this day, unless one of us was sleeping there has never been a passing of gas situation. I think that we both feel that it doesn't matter if you are married or not, certain things just never become ok. Farting for amusement falls into that category. We always get a kick out of our close friend Evan and how unashamedly he can burp as if there is a volcano erupting in his gut. Whats even better is when he keeps his mouth shut during the process and Bella thinks that Evan is growling like a bear. (Love you Evan you silly burping fool!)

Anyway, Andy and I are not big into the sharing of functions between the 2 of us. So all of this poo-poo and pee-pee talk has really been an new experience for my darling husband. I love watching him try to act so excited for Bella when she annouces that she needs to relieve herself or cheer her on when she has been successful. It is way out of his comfort zone but he is doing a fantastic job.

In closing I will add a funny story. I realized yesterday that there is no possible way that Potty and everything that goes along with it cannot be a huge deal at home and not have that follow us into public. Bella and I were sitting the waiting room at my Dr's office around 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon. It seemed that no matter where we sat, Bella had a perfect view of the bathrooms as well as everyone coming in and out of them. As the sound of a toilet flush echoed through the waiting area, I saw Bella's eyes get about as wide as I had ever seen them. She had made the connection that there was a potty in close proximity to us and that the people coming from behind the door in the corner were indeed using it. Soon, as I feared, Bella began to give the play by play as each person entered the bathroom, closed the door behind them, had a slight pause of time (Musta be poo-pooin she called it), flushed the toilet, washed their hands and exited the "potty room" as Bella named it. I tried to get her to whisper her comments as I was getting slightly embarrased. That would work for about 2 minutes until her excitement would take over and she would blurt out something like "Did dey poop Momma?" or "You hearin da pee-pee Mommy?" I heard the people around us slowly start to snicker and giggle. Eventually Bella had almot the entire room waiting to hear what she had to say next. It became humerous after I got over the initial humilaiton of having to look someone in the eye who had just been on the toilet for 15 minutes only to be greeted upon exiting the bathroom by my daughter who had quite correctly identified the fact poo-poo had indeed taken place and had maybe "just gotta stuck".

1 1/2 hrs. of this only to end up in the exam room, waiting to get blood taken when Bella then decides not to use the skill we have just obsessed over for the last 90 minutes but to fill her diaper leaving me to sit in the stink in a 6x9 room for another hour. Geez...