Exciting news from the bathroom!

We try not to ever push anything on Elijah unless it is a matter of life or death, or unless it is necessary for disciplinary purposes. Crawling, talking, eating, almost anything, really...we have mostly allowed him to take the lead (while sneakily helping out when he's not noticing). We learned quickly that pushing him, or even strongly encouraging him, to do something rarely motivates him to make progress. We have learned to sit back and be patient and let him tell us when he is ready to go forward with something. This same principle applies to potty training. We have not pushed the issue because up until recently Elijah has shown ZERO interest in it, which we know typically means that we will get nowhere.

Before putting Elijah in the bath I always ask him first if he would like to sit on the potty. He always adamantly says, "NO!" I try to consistently ask, though, in hopes that one time he will say yes. Well, last night before his bath I asked the standard potty question and he said no. Again. A second after I put him in the bath, he said, "Potty in potty chair!" So I scooped him out of the tub and set him on his cute little potty chair (he could not possibly look any cuter sitting on that thing..would it be wrong to take a picture?). He sat there for a good five minutes, reading books and singing and talking. After I put him back in the tub, I noticed a little bit of PEE-PEE IN THE POTTY!!!!!

I freaked out, screaming and hollering like a crazy woman, making sure that Elijah knew I was overjoyed about this huge step. I called Dan upstairs and we both did the potty cheer/dance and I'm pretty sure Elijah felt like king of the world. I'm so proud of him! I realize we have a long way to go, but the first step is deciding that he is ready for it, and that step is done! This morning he was excited to sit on the potty chair again while reading his Moses book. No pee this time, but it's good to make a routine out of something that he is willing to do.

It is always so exciting when he decides that he is ready to do something!

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I'm posting this photo again because I love it.



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Here are some more of my favorite Elijah words/sayings:

"Boggle boggle!" is his version of "Gobble gobble!"

"Pee-pop" is his word for "lollipop."

He has started saying, "Hiya, Mom!" and "See ya!" [pause] "Later!"

This morning he said, "Dah-shaur book. Upshairs. Mama. Ok!" Translated: "Mother, go get me my dinosaur book. It's upstairs."

Last night I was wiping up a huge glop of yogurt from his lap after dinner. He watched me wipe it up and said, "Sorry, Mama."

He loves to look at one particular photo of himself that was taken just after he was born. He studies it long and hard every time, and then says in his cute little sad voice, "Baby cwying. Baby saaad."

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Last year at this time we were preparing for Elijah's fifth heart cath. We spent the day before Thanksgiving and part of Thanksgiving Day in the hospital with him and we spent the rest of the weekend helping him recover at home. I am SO THANKFUL that we have a hospital-free long weekend ahead of us. We have had an AMAZING year. 2009 has treated us well and I feel so thankful and blessed. More to come on that thought.

I hope you all are having a great week. Thank you for checking in on our little boy (and for enduring so much potty talk)!