and the toilet shall unite us!

Haha, I don't even know where to begin this post. These past three days have been the most fun I've had in a long time and it's all because of a toilet.

On Tuesday the weather was crappy and I decided on a whim to give potty training a run for it's money because we were going to be stuck inside all day. To be honest, I had really low expectations, but knowing that potty training can be a beast, I decided to tackle it cold-turkey style. Evelyn got up that morning, we did away with the diaper, put the undies on and waited and waited. "Evelyn, if you have to go tinkles* tell mama and we'll go to the potty, ok?" I think I repeated that phrase every 2 minutes for the first part of the day. We had one accident. Then two. But the third time was the charm! By noon we were yippin' and hollarin' over that toilet seat, both peering into the bowl with excitement as Evelyn shouted "YAY!!" We clapped and jumped up and down and gave big hugs and kisses! Evelyn has always been an excited spirit, so to see her so energized was nothing surprising, but what was different was her sense of courage. This was probably the first time ever where I saw her exert sheer bravery, shedding her hesitancies behind and really trusting that she could do this. I could be there to help her through, but in the end it all came down to her. Yesterday was day #2. She had NO accidents. We even went to a friend's house and she didn't let her guard down. PRIDE, people! So proud of her!

Potty training has been the best thing for our relationship. We've been struggling lately to really mesh together, and this toilet thing united us! It has felt so incredibly rewarding to be her cheerleader, to share in something like this together. And it has been so fun. Last night right before bed, Evelyn said she had to use the potty. We quickly scurried to the toilet and sat her down. As soon as she started to tinkle, she cocked her head up at me; her eyes grew wide, and a smile stretched from ear to ear. Her lips parted to make way for words to utter... and with ebb and flow fluctuation she exclaimed "..oooOOOoo ccaaAANNNdddyyyy!" I burst into laughter immediately. She was reminding me of Rumpelstiltskin turning hair into gold, except the hair was urine and the gold was candy :) Much less fairytale-esque. She hopped off the toilet, and was rewarded with two jellybeans. This girl is spunky! You are rockin' it, Evy Rae! 

*i've never liked two words: pee and panties