Poo Poo for You

We have been meaning to try toilet training Eleanor for a while now, but with family visiting and holidays planned we just haven't had an appropriately long uninterrupted stretch to try. With the birthday events complete and the house to ourselves again we pressed the advantage and encouraged Nelly to try her potty whenever possible.

Though we weren't particularly disciplined about enforcing potty use over the last month, we've certainly been talking to Eleanor as much as possible to get her used to the idea. A few of her friends at day care use the "koilet" so it's not a foreign concept to her. Even so we were taken by surprise when she proclaimed in the car last week that she'd like a big girl bed, and would do so when she learned to do a poo in the "koilet". 

As an aside she also decided that she'd voluntarily give up her "do dos" (pacifiers) that she uses to go to sleep once she has a big girl bed. We're optimistic but a little skeptical that she'll follow through as she currently requires three dummys and a coterie of trusted stuffed animals to complete her nightly ritual.

Anyway, back to the point of this entry. We had just returned home from lunch with Sheenie and Grand Dad when Eleanor decided that she needed to do a poo. Nothing too exciting as we'd had many false alarms before but we obliged and let her sit in the corridor opposite Daddy who also had business to attend to. Perhaps it was the joy of company or maybe she was just old enough and it was time, but she stayed still long enough to produce a magnificent turd in her white plastic receptacle. Whoops of elation all around and I think more than a little relief.

I'll spare everyone a photo of the actual deed, though rest assured that one was taken for posterity. We celebrated by changing Eleanor into some toddler training nappies and pants... which she promptly wet about half an hour later while watching TV on the carpet. I guess it's a start.

Now we have plans to go shopping for a bed to replace the cot in her room. I wonder if we can still put bars on them to prevent her from coming into our room to wake us up at five in the morning.