Our First Saved Diaper

Earlier this week I was starting to doubt whether Ava was ready to be potty-trained. I would sit her on the toilet several times a day with nothing to show for it except for clean toilet paper going down the drain. Two days ago she woke up from her nap and her diaper was dry. As she hadn't had any bodily releases in the 2-3 hours she had been sleeping, it seemed like I might have a chance to have her urine and our toilet collide. Having just woke up, she wanted nothing to do with sitting on the toilet. About the only time Ava wants to cuddle is when she first wakes up. I cuddled her as best I could while she sat on the toilet, but she was not impressed. Admitting defeat, I lifted her off the toilet and we went to the living room to watch some Backyardigans. Within 30 seconds of sitting on the couch I heard her make the slightest grunt. A quick squeeze of the diaper revealed that I had missed my opportunity by mere moments.

When Ava woke up from her nap today she was obviously in the mood for cuddling. I took her out of her crib and we rocked in her rocking chair while she got her brain rebooted. When this finished she was done cuddling and started to try to get off my lap. I took her in the bathroom for another try at putting the porcelain bowl to use. To my surprise, her diaper was still dry! Whoa! My chance for redemption! Earlier, I had thought of letting Ava play with something while sitting on the toilet to get some more butt-to-seat time. Unfortunately, I hadn't been thinking that far ahead when I put her on the toilet.

I tried to keep her busy any way I could. First, she shoved square after square of toilet paper between her legs with my encouragement instead of my restraining her. Then I pulled the ol' "Stick the pacifier in Dad's mouth" trick. That bought me about 20 seconds of distraction. She reached for the shower curtain so I pulled it back and gave her one of her bath toys. It was a small ship that you wind the smokestack to make it propel itself through the water. Outside of water it just makes a lot of noise.

I was looking into the bathtub for something else to keep her busy when I heard what shall be referred to as "drips of joy". I quickly checked.... no, the faucet wasn't leaking. I clapped my hands and cheered to encourage her. If I'd have had Ava's pom-poms I'd have been shaking those too, but they just weren't handy. Apparently I got a little too excited because she stopped going just as quickly as she had started. However, after I simmered down a little she started right back up.

When she finished up I kept throwing on the encouragement, taking time to enunciate "Pee-pee" and "Potty" so that the significance of this event would be burned in her brain forevermore. I diapered her up and we went to the cookie jar for some oral feedback on her behavior. Right after that I cued up the most recent episode of The Backyardigans on our DVR. Why? Because she deserved it!

What'll she take on next? Saying her ABC's? Riding a bike? Writing a thesis for her doctorate? Time will only tell.