All of a sudden Tyler has begun saying a new word. It sounds like "pie" and I'm now wondering how long it took me to figure out what he was saying. The other night he said it, I repeated it, he said it again, I asked if he was saying "pie" and he said it a third time, this time grabbing his crotch. "OH! Are you saying POTTY?" Yes, he enthusiastically responded, probably very relieved I finally understood him.

While his affirmative response was enthusiastic, that was nothing compared to how enthusiastically I ran him to the toilet, ripped off his diaper and plopped him down. No time to get the decorative and encouraging Elmo training seat I bought him. But I had read somewhere to try putting boys on the seat backwards so they can see what happens to the potty when it goes in the toilet, so I put him down anxious to see what would happen. I could see his stomach flexing, working to push the pee out and when it came out, Tyler exclaimed "Bubbles" and tried putting his hand in the toilet. Lord this is going to be a long process I stood there thinking to myself. As much reading as I have been doing on the subject, I wasn't quite prepared to begin this process. I had yet to buy his rewards and was scrambling to come up with what today's reward would be for the first self-induced potty. The only thing I could think of was a Christmas present I had yet to wrap, a big Guess What Elmo talking doll! After the potty and the celebratory party in the bathroom (Dr. Phil recommended this), I presented Tyler with this big Elmo doll and Shawn, in true fashion, was right behind me telling Tyler not to expect such a big reward every time he goes.

Since then, Tyler has gone on the potty once a day for the past four days, usually in the evening. He still has to tell us a couple times before I realize what he's saying. Pie does not sound anything like Potty to me. So I'm wondering how long he had been saying this before we finally understood him. Just like he gave up the binky and the bottle on his own, by his own doing, looks like he's giving up diapers on his own too. This boy is going to be a leader.