Yesterday was kind of rough for me and Val. She was cranky from the
minute she got up and I was cranky myself. It's not a good
combination.

Add to that a toddler who refuses to nap and the precious time I needed
to myself just didn't happen. This all came together when Val and I
headed up to Thunder's birthday dinner. No sooner did we get in the car
did she say she had to go potty.

Usually this means we pull over, find a bathroom and she goes.

Not yesterday. That's when I started to get an idea that letting Val
eat 4 yam cakes in 1 day was a Very Bad Idea. Poor her, she couldn't
poop but she knew she needed to. So we sat there in a nasty bathroom
with me holding her up over the toilet.

After a time, this gets a little hard on your arms. Even a
small-for-her-age kid gets a bit heavy. Finally I ask her if we can try
later and she says yes.

Strap her back in the carseat and attempt to head out again. At this
point we're 1/2 hour late. Before I'm even out of the parking lot she
says she has to go. I head back home and there we try again. Except
that she fell asleep between nasty bathroom and home so when I sit her
on the toilet, she's falling asleep. But she won't get off, she knows
she needs to go.

It was so damn sad, my little girl falling asleep, whining while she was
awake but trying so hard to do well with her potty training. After a
phone call where I totally lose it and wind up crying myself, Andrea
wisely suggests that I get her some apple juice. So I leave my
struggling-to-stay-awake child on her elmo potty seat and get some
juice.

At this point we're 30 minutes into the Val needs to poop saga and my
patience, which was wearing thin, starts to return. Thank God because I
had some moments that I'm just not proud of.

Finally, 35+ minutes after we first attempted to leave the house, Val
toots a little toot and a minute later, there is poop!

I have never been so happy to see toddler poop. I can only imagine how
much better Val felt.

While the whole thing was hard for both of us, later I realized how
amazing it was that my little girl didn't give up. Even when, in
desperation, I offered her a diaper for the car, she flatly refused.
She's committed to potty training.

And on that front, I have the following to report:
2 weeks of preschool has meant only 1 potty accident for her, not even a
full one, just a didn't quite make it in time moment.
1 week of cloth diapers at night has meant only one night where she woke
up wet.

We are going to give away the rest of her disposable diapers and the
diaper trash can goes to the basement. I'm hanging onto a few pullups
for our upcoming plane trips since you never quite know how long it will
be before you can get up. And yes, we're stocking up on portable potty
seats.

But I'm so proud.