Learning about the potty

Today Clara woke up at six.  Usually she doesn't stir until at least 7:30, most often eight.  She was hungry, and wanted pita with almond butter and jelly and a scrambled egg with cheese.  And ketchup.  Lots of ketchup.

After breakfast she wanted to sit on her potty.  Clara is very interested in her potty these days.  Last week she dragged me into the closet by my hand and pointed up to where it was stored.  I brought it down and set it up in the bathroom.  We started reading books about it, and talking about it a good deal.

The very first time I asked Clara if she wanted to sit on her potty, she put her feet inside the bowl and stood up.  Then she slowly lowered herself into a squatting position.  Then she felt like she was stuck and asked for help.

The next time, she tried to back into it, but she missed and fell on her bottom next to it.  Finally she squatted beside it and tinkled on the bathroom rug.  Now she's gotten the hang of sitting on it, and sometimes she'll ask for a book to read while she's there.  Once she held the book upside-down while she pretended to read on her potty.

This morning she took her potty apart, and then put it back together.  She stuffed her shirt into it and shut the lid.  She took the shirt out and put her play fishing pole in.  She took the fishing pole out and put the tub of Aquaphor we use for diaper rashes in.

"Clara," I said, "Usually the only things we put in the potty are our poop and pee."

She looked at me, nodded, and took the Aquaphor out.  She sat on the potty for a minute, then hopped off and looked inside.  Nothing there.

She sat her doll on the potty and said, "oidle, oidle, oidle," which is her version of "tinkle, tinkle, tinkle."

So far, Clara has only actually gone in the potty once, and I'm pretty sure it was accidental.  Simon happened to catch her making in her diaper.  Her took the diaper off and sat her on the potty just in time.  When she finished, she climbed off and looked inside the bowl.  Wow, how did that happen? she seemed to say.

Simon and I went apeshit.  We danced around the bathroom yelling, "Yay! Yay! You went poop in the potty!  You went poop in the potty!" We ran in place and did jazz hands.

Clara looked at us like we were nuts.