Shame on me, again. But all I can do now is try to be better, and to help her work through the discomfort until it is gone again.
We had another long night tonight, and I found myself in a similar predicament afterwards, loathe to move from the spot on my bed where I'd finally nursed her to sleep. However, Abby had a bit of success today that I couldn't let go unrecorded.
She finally pooed on the potty.
She's been having her new potty training-themed books read to her at bedtime for a week, and as a result has once again begun talking quite a bit about the process. She has even taken to reciting pages from her books at random. Therefore, I've made an effort to respond to her interest by letting her take some time to sit on the potty at various times over the last few days. It's never amounted to anything, but it's been my hope that she'll get the message that I'm eager to help her try her hand at it if she feels ready.
When I decided to offer her the opportunity one last time tonight, just after dinner, I had a little hope at success, but not too much. I had noticed she hadn't yet gone today, (and she hardly ever misses a day) so I figured that if I gave her enough time, we had a pretty good chance. However, I have a track record of not being patient enough. To avoid hitting barriers with my own impatience, I brought her froggy potty into the playroom, where she could sit on it to her heart's content while business otherwise went on as usual around her.
Tom wrestled on the floor with Michael, and I nursed Mia on the loveseat across the room. Abby contentedly played with her Leapfrog Laptop. After some time, after not hearing or smelling anything, I started to think things would end like they usually do- with an empty potty. However, it was at that point that Abby started getting a little too curious about what was going on beneath her, so Tom had her stand for a moment to check things out.
Score!
I'm not sure whether she really realized what had happened- she didn't make any kind of announcement or even say anything until Tom and I began to shower her with praise. Even then, she seemed unsure, as though she wasn't certain of how to feel about the whole thing. She covered up her legs with her shirt, and looked around warily as Tom rushed to collect the things he'd need for clean-up and bounced ideas off of me as to how best to proceed.
Whatever she was feeling, however, I wanted part of it to entail excitement, so I promised her a treat for her good work.
"A candy treat?" she asked, eyes widening.
"Yes!" I said, madly trying to think of what I would offer her.
As Tom cleaned up, I rushed upstairs to throw a few semi-sweet chocolate morsels into a cup for her.
Thankfully, they were a hit.
"More candy treats?" she asked, when they were gone.
"Not tonight," I said. "But you can have more tomorrow, if you go on the potty again." She seemed rather satisfied with that answer.
Perhaps potty training has finally begun?
Nah, I won't jump to that conclusion just yet. Not with such an adorably stubborn toddler as this one. But it was a step in the right direction, that's for sure.
