Last night marked a momentous occasion in the Baby Squared household: it was the first time that one of the girls (Elsa, namely) asked to sit on the potty and actually produced something! We've had the potties (or "Bobby" as they used to be known) since the summer, and the girls have gone through little phases where they like sitting on them. Often, they'll say "sitty potty?" right as or after they are making a deposit in their diaper, and will go and sit down, diapers still on. We haven't tried to press the issue, because it hasn't seemed like they're quite ready yet.
Then, last night, as I was putting the girls to bed, Elsa started saying, "Elsa make a poopie! Sitty potty! Sitty potty!" At first I thought it was just a ploy to delay bed time; we had friends over, and both girls were totally hyper and wound-up. But she was quite insistent. So I brought her into the bathroom, unzipped her sleeper, unsnapped the onesie, took off the diaper (jeez! so many damned layers!) and sat her on the potty, where she stayed for a few minutes, alternately saying "Elsa makey poopie" and pointing out various items in the bathroom. I didn't hear, see, or smell any evidence of actual poopie-making going on, so after a few minutes, I decided it was time for her to get up, get dressed, and go back to the crib. But when she stood up -- lo and behold! -- there was pee in the potty!
I can't tell you how exciting this was. And how utterly embarrassed I am by the fact that I was so excited. Who ever thought that seeing a little yellow puddle in the bowl of a plastic potty could inspire such joy? I starting hugging Elsa and telling her how great it was that she'd done this, and what a big girl she was, etc. etc. She still seemed to think she'd made poo-poo, not pee-pee ("Elsa makey poo poo in the potty!") but whatever. A technicality. The point is, she asked to sit on the potty and then made good on her intentions.
Since then, she has asked to go a few times, and I have dutifully obliged, thinking maybe she means it. But none of today's seated sojourns yielded any results. Still, I feel like this is a step in a good direction. At least she seems to get what's supposed to happen on the potty, and recognizes the feeling of needing to go -- even if we can't actually get her there in time. And maybe sometimes she doesn't need to go at all, she just wants to sit there on the pot. But that's cool too, right?
There is definitely a reason for this new potty-philia: the girls have looking at a lot of pro-potty propaganda over the past few days. I went to to the library and got out a a book about using the potty, plus an "Elmo's Potty Time" DVD. What the hell is it with toddlers and Elmo? He's like some kind of demi-god to them. The Oprah of the preschool set. No puppet should have that much power. But, of course, I totally exploited it: "do you guys want to sit on the potty just like Elmo does?" And I actually just bought an Elmo potty seat for the toilet, because Elsa always asks to go on the "big potty." Tonight before bed, she asked to "Go poo-poo on Elmo." Hmm....
As for Clio, she has also shown an increased interest in the potty of late -- and of course, what Elsa does, she wants to do, too -- but so far her zeal does not match her sister's. Interesting, since she was actually the first one to start announcing when she was about to move her small bowels, several months back. I suspect, though, that if one of the girls starts getting the hang of things earnest, then the other one will follow suit fairly quickly.
So...I don't know if this means we're actively potty training the girls or what. My instinct is just to follow their lead, and not push it. Ask them if they want to sit on the potty, let them sit if they ask. But there may be a point where we need to take a more proactive approach. Obviously, I haven't done a whole lot of research on the subject of potty-training (hey, if generations of parents have managed to toilet train their kids sans parenting manuals and the internets, how hard can it be?). On the other hand, the information I have seen hasn't tended to be very detailed. (Should you have them sit on the potty at regular times of the day? When should you start using pull-ups? Are rewards a good idea?) If you've got killer potty training tips, bring 'em on!
Finally, my apologies for not including pictures with this post. It just doesn't seem appropriate. But I promise a plethora of photos next time.
