Yet another rite of passage

I suppose it was only a matter of time. As we grew out of the "T", or toddler, section of the stores and had to quit shopping at BABY Gap, it really was only a matter of time before I have to face the fact that my daughter is growing up. And there are clothes out there that she will want to wear that I may not be comfortable with my baby wearing. You know, like knee length skirts and anything remotely "grown up". So, imagine my surprise when I saw my options for bathing suits for my daughter who has apparently been fertilized sometime this year since the bathing suits that were too big for her at the end of the summer last September are now way too small. It only took a simultaneous wedgie and straps digging into her shoulders for me to get the picture that she needed some new suits.

I met a friend at Old Navy and we started looking. It took me a minute to realize that she was no longer in the same toddler area and so I wheeled around to see the bathing suits in her size. Oh my. A WHOLE WALL of bikinis and tankinis. I had a somewhat carnal reaction, I must admit. I'm not sure why. She's never had a two piece bathing suit. As a baby and toddler, when it wouldn't have seemed quite as risque to me, I just didn't find it practical. Now she's older and the majority of the suits are two pieces. I nearly fell over, trying to picture my girl in a two piece. She's still a little girl! Can't I please just stuff her into something with a ruffle on the bottom?


Nevertheless, I overcame my fear and found the most child-like and homeliest tankini in the bunch. I bought it and here it is on my girl. And I have to admit, it's pretty cute. Too bad when she swims, the bottoms sort of fall off. Can't count the number of times she mooned me as her little bottom came bursting out of the water on this particular day. Guess we need to fertilize her a little more so they fit a little better. :)

And then he did the craziest thing

My son, notorious for shaking his head violently when you take him into the bathroom to sit on the potty, just did the craziest thing. You see, I was in the kitchen making quesadillas for lunch (it is Cinco de Mayo, after all) when he walks in and says "Momma, me go potty on the potty." I didn't believe for one minute that he would actually go on the potty, since he'd done all but scrape the skin off my arms with his fingernails on previous occasions. Sure that this was some sort of plot to get under my skin and keep me from finishing my task, I gave him a test.

"Bennett, do you need to go pee pee or poo poo?"
"Poo Poo"

What do I do? Here I am, skillet all hot and cheese all melty. Quickly, I wrangle Morgan into the equation and give her a crash course in flipping a tortilla over and checking for burning and then take Bennett into the bathroom. I remove his clothes and his diaper, scramble to locate the potty seat we've tucked far away. Okay, here goes nothing. This is the point where he normally looks at me with his baby blues and screams "NO!" at me. Except today? He did the craziest thing. He sat on the potty. Yeah.

So, then I see his little boy parts poking up and I explain to him that he needs to point it down. I show him how. His face lights up when he's been given permission to touch it. He grabs it. I try to explain to him that if he pees, he can't have his hand over it. To just take one finger and point it down. He does this and I give the appropriate level of praise and then I wait. Hmmm. Quesadillas are surely going to be burned in the kitchen. Thinking quickly, I grab a book and ask him to look through it while I go check on things in the kitchen. Quickly thinking of what I can bribe him with, I remember we have some cookies left over from the batch that Lance baked and I tell him that if he does go potty in the potty, he can have a cookie when he's done!

Back in the kitchen, Morgan is too afraid to flip the quesadilla, so I ask her to trade with me and to go oversee the potty situation. I give her two simple instructions. First, do NOT let him get up without me being in there. And second, but most important, is to be VERY supportive. Tell him how proud you are of him sitting there and if he does actually go, to let me know.

Minutes later, the unthinkable happens. That's right. HE POOPED ON THE POTTY. Word came from Morgan, "Mom!! He went!!" Flipping the quesadilla over for the last time, I throw the spatula down on the counter and race to the bathroom where he's sitting there with a big smile on his face and a big turd in the potty. Wow. Crazy. Yes, he did something crazy and now it was my turn. I immediately bust out the best potty dance you've ever seen. Morgan joins in.

"Poo poo on the potty! Poo poo on the potty! Bennett went....Poo poo on the potty! YAY!"

Big smiles, I wipe him up and get him off the potty. THANK GOD I have held onto the pull ups from back in the day. I have yet another thing to reward him with. "Bennett, I'm so proud of you! Because not only did you go potty in the potty, but you also told me that you had to go before you went! Great job! Because of that, you get to wear big boy diapers!!" I bust out the old pull ups and choose Woody and Buzz Lightyear over the Disney Princesses, we all get cleaned up and go into the kitchen to eat lunch.

Bennett got to eat his cookie BEFORE lunch. Ooooooohhhhh! Yep, there was crazy going on at our house today!