(might want to skip this one if the subject of toddler and their bodily functions makes you squeamish)
Hayley and I were playing upstairs, and she started to pee on the floor. I caught her, and said “If you have to pee, go to your potty.” She ran into the potty and did her business.
Then, for the first time, she pooped in her potty! What a big girl! We’re very proud of her!
Now if she could just get the handle on figuring out when she has to go before she actually starts….
(Look, Wade–I’ve written something :-P)
Well, today was the first day that we really pushed Hayley to use the potty. She didn’t really seem to be making that leap on her own; every time I would ask her if she wanted to be a big girl and stop wearing diapers, she’d say, “No, want to wear diapers.”
Yesterday, we tried training pants (the ones that have vinyl on the outside), but after one pee they were pretty useless. She thought she was still wearing a diaper, so she made no moves to use the potty. I ended up washing three pairs out in just a few hours, so I gave up and put a diaper back on her.
Today, we tried a different strategy–naked butt. Hayley spent most of the day running around bottomless, and it seemed to help her become more aware of when she needed to go. Of course, I kept pestering her every half hour or so with “Hayley do you have to pee-pee?” She’d usually say no, but I figured, at least I was keeping her aware. A few times, she actually grabbed at her bottom and raced off toward the bathroom, which was actually kind of funny to watch. She did not poop in her potty today, but she did poop on the living room floor. She came running into the kitchen after the fact, saying, “I went poo-poo on the floor!” Oh, well. She also peed on the alphabet mat in her bedroom, but other than those two incidents, she did great for her first day.
I’m not sure if the naked way is the best way to potty train, but I’m of the opinion that whatever works, well, works. We have a long road ahead of us, but we’re on our way.
I also wanted to mention that Hayley really makes leaps and bounds in her language development daily. Wade and I are constantly baffled by how “grown-up” she sounds when she talks now. She almost always speaks in complete sentences, and they usually consist of at least five words. Yesterday, she said, “Mama, Dada, what you doing, guys?” That made us laugh.
Hayley’s had a busy week. Since it doesn’t look like Holly’s going to cover it, I’ll try to recap.
We took her to her first baseball game this past Sunday - Indianapolis at Durham. I played softball with CWX in the afternoon, then headed out to the DBAP to meet Holly and Hayley for some Bulls fun. We got seats in their outfield lawn section, since I thought that would turn out better for Hayley. She didn’t really care about the game, but got something to take home out of it. A Bulls player hit a home run off the stadium wall, and the ball bounced back onto the field. I stopped paying attention at that point, but the Indy outfielder tossed the ball up into our lawn area. Another guy got the ball, and offered it to a different family sitting near us. They declined, so as he was going back to his blanket, I was pointing to Hayley. He made a move to give her the ball, then was like “Nah,” and went back to his seat.
The people who were with him, though, were saying “Give the kid the ball,” so he came back over and gave Hayley the ball. I got her to say “Thank you very much” to him. She kept a close eye on the ball the rest of the game. It’s on her mantle in her room now, a reminder of her first baseball game.
Hayley had a playdate with the kids of one of Holly’s former Nobex coworkers. She has twin boys about a couple of weeks younger than Hayley. The kids apparently had a good time, and Hayley was doing as well as can be expected at sharing her toys.
She also went strawberry-picking with the Mom’s Club this week, and gathered up a basket of very tasty strawberries. Not that she’d know, of course, as any attempt to bring one near her face results in an impassioned plea of “I don’t like that!” Suit yourself, kid, more strawberry shortcake for Mommy and Daddy. Speaking of that, she’s about 50% on calling me “Daddy” vs. “Da-Da” at this point. She’s even taken the idea, unbidden, to call Holly “Mommy.”
Most nights this week, after we put her to bed, we’ll hear her talking loudly and playing in her bed. If I go up and open the door, she’ll drop back to a sleeping position with lightning speed, as if to say “I wasn’t sitting up - I’m being a good girl and going to sleep.” Oh, how we underestimate the daddy. Usually it takes a couple of trips in and a promise that there are “no monsters” before she goes down for the night.
She’s in a Scooby-Doo frame of mind. She has a few Scooby-Doo DVDs that she likes, and Holly got her a couple of Scooby-Doo books. She can even sing the theme song, something that I have trouble remembering the words to. One of the toys I always wanted as a kid but never got was a Scooby-Doo doll, so maybe I’ll get her one to make us both happy.
Okay, Erika–here’s the story, but you’ll have to wait for pics because I have to get them developed 
Anna Parris, Mommy’s friend and sorority sister from college, got married this weekend to Robert Walker in the Lee Chapel on the campus of Washington and Lee. It was a nice wedding and reception, despite the sudden thunderstorm (the bride made it to the chapel before the rain started) and the extremely zealous Greek Orthodox priest. Hayley was well-behaved during the hour-long service; Wade took her out during the last ten minutes or so, but even WE were a little antsy at that point. Mommy enjoyed showing off her beautiful little girl to all the people she knew at the wedding–former professors and staff, sorority sisters and parents of friends. Aunt Erika had not seen Hayley since she was a month old, so we were glad to have the chance to spend a little time with her. Hayley amused her by lining up a bunch of stuffed bears in the campus bookstore. Hayley loves to put things in a line. We spent Friday and Saturday night with Aunt Cassie and Uncle Greg in Fincastle, so we got to spend a little time with them as well. Hayley really enjoyed playing with their dog Molly. It was a busy weekend in Lexington between weddings and horse shows and art shows and VMI’s graduation.
Daddy and Mommy dropped Hayley off at Grandma and Granddaddy Estes’ house Sunday afternoon so they could drive back to Raleigh to see Bill Cosby at the BTI Center (see Daddy’s blog). She had a good time with them, fishing and playing and shopping. Grandma Estes said this was the first time Hayley didn’t really ask for Mommy or Daddy during her stay with them. I don’t know if that’s good or bad…Mommy picked Hayley up early on Tuesday to bring her back home.
I got a glimpse of things to come last night. I took Hayley walking around the new housing development under construction behind our house. I wanted to get a look at what was going on, and it seemed like something Hayley would like, too.
She enjoyed it, walking along the bare earth that will become roads. There’s a small pond on the property that I’d never visited, so we walked down by that. Hayley wanted to go right up to the water, but I told her “No, you can’t go in the water.” She turned and looked at me, then said “Why not?”
Inquiring minds want to know, I suppose.
Hayley broke out a new phrase on us today. We were walking up the street with Hayley pulling her wagon, when we saw some neighbors out. We stopped to say hi. They have a two-year-old and a six-year-old, and it was the older child’s birthday yesterday. While we were there, someone stopped by to give the girl a present. She opened it, and her mom said “Oh, it’s a My Little Pony!”
Hayley saw it and said “That’s my favorite!”
She’s not big enough to have favorites.
Holly was busy at the “all-day crop” for National Scrapbooking Day, so Hayley and I had the house to ourselves for a fun daddy/daughter day.
We started off with her new Dora The Explorer DVDs, which she got yesterday and was so attached to that she slept with them. Literally. She was clutching them in her arms when I went and got her out of bed this morning.
After four episodes of Dora, I’d had enough, so we spent the next couple hours just playing. Jumping around, listening to music, dollhouse, the whole nine yards. Then lunch, a little more play, and naptime. Daddy took a nap, too. Score.
We slept for a little over two hours, then went outside to play. After a little while of that, Holly was home.
We had a good time together. I don’t get to spend that much one-on-one time with my little girl, so it’s nice to get those opportunities. And she’s not that little any more - she can go back-and-forth with conversation nowadays, so it’s even more apparent that she’s a real person.
Much like the raptors in “Jurassic Park,” Hayley has learned to open doors. It was one of the more frightening moments in the movie, and it’s pretty scary in real life, too. I went to use the bathroom, but since I was only going to be a moment, I didn’t take Hayley with me. However, in pure Hayley fashion, she came looking for me right away. “Mama, where are you?” I told her I was in the bathroom, and a moment later, I saw the doorknob turn and the door swing open. That was the first time she opened a door by herself. After peeing in her potty, she wanted to leave, so she opened the door again. It’s funny how she surprises me every day.
Also today, Hayley was playing in the kitchen sink (a favorite pastime of hers) when she said something new. She dipped a cup into the sudsy water and was about to drink it when I told her no. She looked at me and said, “Why not?” She has never really asked “why?” before. I tried to explain to her that it’s not good to drink dish detergent water, much like she shouldn’t drink the bathtub water or the water in her sand table outside…but I’m sure she still snuck a sip of the water when I wasn’t looking.