Imogene, Potty Queen

Last week, I told Imogene that I needed to change Aidan's diaper because he peed. Imogene started yelling, "Go! Pee! Go pee! Gooo peee!!!" So, like a good Daddy, Adam took Imogene to the bathroom (she had already run to the bathroom door) and held her over the toilet so she could "go pee." She did not pee that night. It did make us start thinking about getting her a potty, though.
So, Monday we took Imogene (and Aidan) to Babies 'R' Us to get a potty. I knew what I did not want in a potty for her (no siging toilets or character toilets). I picked out three potties for Imogene to choose from. Goldilocks sat on each potty and jumped up and down a little. I guess she was testing out the traction on the bottom of the potty. She sat on the Boon potty bench. She didn't like it. She sat on the Summer 3 in 1 potty. She got up, closed the lid, and climbed on top of it to play with things on the shelves. She sat on the Baby Bjorn potty. Ahhh... just right. The Baby Bjorn it was. Then to choose a color. Luckily they only carry 2 colors at this particular Babies 'R' Us: hot pink or white. As you can see, the diva chose pink. I placed her potty in our buggy. She just had to sit in the back of the buggy with it. She sat on the potty in the back of the buggy through the store. We got to the register and she helped pay. She told the lady at the counter "pee!" She was very excited.
When we left the store, she and I had a very serious conversation. I said, "Imogene, your new potty is for you to pee in. You put pee and poo in your potty." Imogene said, "Pee? Poo?" I told her, "Yes. This potty is for pee and poo." She said, "Pee!"
The next morning (Tuesday) I sat the potty in her bathroom. I took her diaper off and let her sit on her potty. I told her she could pee in her potty. She didn't pee, but she had a really good time sitting there on her pink potty. I asked if she was done and she said "Done!" and got up. A couple hours later, I took her back to try again. She sat on her potty for a few minutes. I asked her if she was done, she said, "No!" She tried to get a magazine, I took it away from her. A couple minutes later, I asked again, "Imogene, are you done?" She said, "No!" I asked, "Are you going to pee in your potty?" She said, "No!" I waited a couple more minutes. I asked again, "Imogene, are you done?" She said, "No!" I asked, "Are you going to pee in your potty?" She said, "No!" I said, "Well, if you aren't going to pee on your potty, what are you doing?" She said, "Poo!" And she pooed. That will teach me to argue with a toddler. She was very proud of her poo. I clapped and cheered for her. Daddy came in and told her "Good job!" (I think he was grossed out about it.) She waved and yelled "bye!" as we flushed it down the toilet. After washing her hands and getting pants back on, she enjoyed her two jelly beans she got as a reward.
Today, I take her to the potty this morning. She just sits there and after a minute or so, says she is "done!" The potty was empty. A couple hours later, we return to the potty. She sits there for a few minutes and the announces she is "done!" Once again, empty potty. We eat lunch. She then says very suddenly, "Poo!" I rush her to the bathroom, but it is too late, she has already pooed. I sit her on the potty anyway. After a couple minutes I ask if she is done, she says, "No!" Then, she peed in her potty. She was very proud of that. She wished her pee goodbye and we flushed it. She then enjoyed her jelly bean reward. All in all, she has done very well these past couple days. I really didn't expect her to actually go in her potty. I thought, we'll get her a potty and let her get used to it for a while. I thought that maybe she'd be ready to actually go in the potty by this summer. I doubt that she will be fully potty trained for a while, but we are off to a very good (and interesting) start! - Lindsey