A Dozen Dogs and a Toilet

Celeste got a potty today. Back before Christmas, Evelin picked up a copy of A Potty for Me!, and Celeste has really enjoyed reading it — sometimes five or twelve times a day. Around the same time, Evelin took her to Babies ‘Я’ Us to look at various potties and while Celeste really liked the pictures of the kids on the Safety 1st Potty 'n Step Stool, she didn't want Evelin to buy one that day.

Flash forward a few weeks and we decided to make a run back to Babies ‘Я’ Us to see what she was thinking today. It turns out the BabyBjörn Potty Chair was the clear winner. She still liked the pictures on the Safety 1st box, but the BabyBjörn chair was available for testing and she kept backing up and sitting on it.

The dogs were before and after the potty purchase. The closest Babies ‘Я’ Us to us is also next door to a PetSmart, and there's where Celeste wanted to go first. There was an obedience class beginning soon, so she got to meet a few dogs fairly quickly, including a little puppy who was blowing over another toddler and a much bigger dog who was on the skittish side — he kept backing away from Celeste and was a bit scared of her bark. She also loved just wandering around, pointing at the big dog, cat, macaw, fish, etc., that marked the various sections of the store, as well as chasing dogs and pointing at the chinchilla and guinea pigs.

After the shopping excursion, we headed off to Lake Artemesia to feed the ducks, geese, and seagulls some stale pretzels and some crackers I picked up thinking they were digestive biscuits but they turned out to be just plain gross. Celeste was into the idea because it meant a ride in the backpack.

After feeding the birds and making our way most of the way around the lake, Celeste got out to walk and splash in a puddle (another new trick she discovered last week) and she ended up meeting a succession of dogs — between the PetSmart and Lake Artemesia, I counted at least 12 dogs ... it might have been more. She also walked out onto a floating fishing pier, which she loved, but it made Evelin very nervous, and into a gazebo. The Metro/CSX tracks run right next to the lake, so we also got to see several Metro Green Line trains on their way to/from Greenbelt, as well as a few planes heading in to College Park Airport.

One story that relates back to the potty purchase: Celeste has been doing the sign TOILET since a week or two before Thanksgiving. If she appears to be having a contemplative moment, for example, and you ask her if she's going toilet, she'll make the sign. She's also been know to rat out someone who farts by pointing at them and signing TOILET. On Friday, Evelin was talking with Celeste during breakfast and Celeste said, "Dada" and then signed CAR/DRIVE, so Evelin said, "Yes Daddy drives a car. What does Mumma do?" Celeste thought for a moment and then signed TOILET.

Technoarti tags: dogs toilet training Baby Sign