Aha … and so it begins. Mum was visiting earlier this month and heard Nicholas say “poopy” as he was sitting in his high chair. Without hesitation, she swooped him up, ran down the hall, removed his diaper with one fell swoop and deposited him on the potty. Much to everyone’s surprise, he finally used it!!! I don’t know whether it was the excitement of the whole process or what, but he was really pleased with himself, even though it was the tiniest of tinkles! We made a huge deal out of it, and he’s been using the potty rather steadily ever since.
We’re being careful not to overdo it, though. We offer the potty with every diaper change (not in between yet, unless he asks for it, specifically) and respect his wishes if he says “not” (remember this comes out as “no-te”). The introduction of the “royal potty” has been fun – it rewards him when he sits down or actually uses the potty, with a little royal entrance “ta-da-da-da-da-da” sound. He’s still a bit chubby, so when he squirms around, it also sounds off, because he’s triggered the sensor! Oh well, he’s getting the point, little by little. I have training pants on hand in case he’s ready for them, but I don’t think we’re quite there yet. Pity, because our cloth diapers have finally started to fall apart (not bad, after 5 years of use) and we’re having to replenish our stock (thank goodness for craigslist!).
At the swimming pool the other day, he stopped still, stared at me with such a look of concentration on his face, signed “potty”, and said ever-so-quietly, “bum burp”. I was laughing too hard to do much about it as he headed back into the pool. Thank goodness he just meant that he had passed gas, and nothing more!
