News from the Neelys: April 2011

It is with great enthusiasm that I sit down to write this blog post. We recently experienced a very monumental milestone in the Neely household.

It has been a long time coming, and I never really thought I'd see the day when it happened, but it's finally arrived. I know this is only the beginning and there's a lot of hard work still to come, but words fail to describe the sense of accomplishment and success one experiences at times like these.

That's right ... (drrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuummmmmmm rooooooooooolllllllll)

Eden went pee-pee in the potty!!!

Not once but over five times already!

Oh yeah, and I passed my dissertation defense.

Anyway, we learned a few weeks ago that they started introducing Eden to the potty at daycare, so Kendall and I decided it was time to purchase a little person's pot for the house, too.

We went to Target to pick one out, and I must say that for such a significant life decision as selecting the first throne of your first-born child, it was not nearly as nerve-racking as I expected.

They had a reasonable selection of three or four comparable waste receptacles, some with a few more bells and whistles than the others. So we opted for a midline model and, beaming with pride and trepidation from the checkout counter to the doorstep, brought it home.

When we got our caca-catcher inside, we thought the best thing to do initially was to just let her explore the new fixture. There will be plenty of time for formal lessons later, we thought, but for now let's just let her get used to it.

Well, get used to it she did. It only took one time of asking, "Eden, do you want to sit on the potty?" and she was right on it. Now with this only being our orientation evening, we just let her sit on it fully clothed. This, of course, was followed by a great deal of clapping, smiling and shouts of exuberant approval.

However, the next day when Kendall was changing Eden's diaper, she put the bare-butt baby on the floor and asked her again if she wanted to sit on the potty. Our little girl plopped herself right down on that tiny toilet and clapped and clapped (ahem ... that's clapped with a "cl"). When she stood up, Kendall looked inside the mini-thunder-mug and, sure enough, liquid gold.

The next two days in a row, Eden repeated her remarkable feat, but on the third day something changed. Our sweet little girl with what seemed like a natural potty propensity started to protest and go into fits when asked to sit on her new seat.

We've since let up a little on trying to persuade her to go. Kendall recently started reading Eden a book during potty time, and she seems to be making some progress. Like I say, we know there's still a long ways to go yet, but we are very excited by such encouraging signs.

In non-potty-related news, Eden is really starting to develop in both speaking and comprehending language. It's remarkable how many things she knows. She's got Mommy, Daddy, and Henry down pat. Her favorite word seems to be "baby." Every time she sees a baby on TV, in a book, at daycare, or anywhere, she quickly points and says "baby," clear as day. Her second favorite word may be "doggy," which is basically the same as "daddy," simply pronounced "da-da."

She's also fond of "uh-oh" and says it every time she drops anything, such as food from her high-chair. Kendall has tried telling her that it's not really an "uh-oh" when you do it on purpose, but we're working on that. She's also fond of waving and saying "bye-bye."

When it comes to understanding what you're saying to her, her mental catalog seems to grow exponentially by the day. Eden can correctly point to a number of body parts - head, hair, mouth, teeth, ears, nose, eyes, hand, elbow, toes, belly. Many times, particularly if you ask her where her nose is, she not only wants to point to hers, but she'll also run over to Mommy and Daddy to give them both a good schnoz squeeze.

Perhaps one of the funniest things she started doing is the chicken dance. I need to get some video up, but it's absolutely hilarious.