The Ceremonial First Poop!

Forgive me for the graphic nature of this post. I never understood all the proud parent talk about bowel movements and other bodily functions of their children until I became a Mommy myself. Now when I pick Zoe up from my Mom's after she's spent the day there, it is natural for me utter such questions as "Did she take a good nap?" "Did she eat good?" "Did she have some poopy diapers?" "Is she constipated?" Yes, much as I hate to admit, there has been much analyzing of poop since Zoe's birth.

Today was yet another milestone within the framework of the poop topic around our house. I've been wondering if Zoe might be ready to start potty training. The experts say that when your child uses "bathroom words" that he/she may be ready. Zoe has begun to say "stinky" when we acknowledge the likelihood that our sniffers are detecting a poopy diaper. Then she will sometimes follow up by exclaiming "Poopy!" and heading for the stairs so we can take her up to change her. She also says "Potty." So, I figured it was worth a try. After all, Mom claims I was potty trained at 18 months. Today, after Zoe's nap, I tried to put her on the chair every couple hours. The typical order of events included putting her on the chair while she wiggled and squirmed and stood up several times, her bare buns hanging out, then giving up after several minutes and putting her britches back on. Somewhere between the hour and half after putting the britches back on and trying again to sit her on the potty chair, she would manage to empty the contents of bladder or bowels in her diaper. On the third try, however, she was quite content to sit and play while perched upon her "throne." We sat about eight minutes before the gleeful event occured. There was much excitement from proud parents and child alike as we peered into the pan of the potty chair and admired the ceremonial turd.

Oh, the interesting direction our lives have gone since Zoe joined the family. We used to get excited over a relaxing weekend that included time in front of the tube, a trip to the movies, or a tasty dinner in a public restaurant. Now we get excited over our toddler's first "event" in her potty chair. How does the old song go..."To everything, there is a season...." Ah well...there's just nothing else in the world like being a parent of a toddler.