It's the start of something exciting in the Stopher household. Caleb has reached an age where he seems to be ready to potty train, and he just might do it all by himself! We had just finished cleaning up from dinner this evening when Jason and I realized Caleb was no longer riding around the house on his trike. We recently purchased a stool from Ikea for Caleb to use in the bathroom to wash his hands. He has been so excited about being able to reach, however, that he will go into the bathroom and turn on the water any chance he gets. Most often I will find him playing with his bath toys in the sink. When I looked down the hallway, I found the bathroom door ajar and the light on, telltale signs Caleb was in the bathroom. From down the hall, I asked him to please come out and not play in the sink. He exclaimed back to me "poop!" I went into the bathroom to find that he had taken off his diaper, placed it in the trash next to the toilet, and was sitting on his training potty in the middle of going pee! I was so excited I started clapping and cheering and Jason came running in. What fun it is to be a parent...we get excited over things that most rational, childless people would find really silly! Caleb proudly picked the bowl out of his training potty and dumped its contents into the big potty. He LOVES to flush! I feel that just as I am settling in to a stage of parenthood, a new challenge comes along. I am not sure what the next step in this potty training thing is, but I know that as with all of the stages before, I will learn.

