Pictures Do Not Reflect the Story

So, every night before his bath, I have been putting Reeves on the potty, just to see if he will go. Of course, he prefers to reserve that for standing just outside the tub so that I can then clean it up. We have tried everything to get him to go - running water, flushing the toilet, even pouring warm water on him. Nothing has worked, which, honestly, is no big deal, I mean, he's 16 months old. But it would be fun to get him started early.

Well, Monday night, as I was undressing him on his changing table, encouraging the already fever-pitch excitement about the ba-ba-ba-bath, in all of his delicious nakedness, he started to go. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" I scooped him up and ran to the potty. Fearing I had scared the urge right out of him, I went about all the old tricks of trying to bring on the waterworks. At first, nothing, but then, the magic happened. He started to go. He was fascinated. It hit the porcelain, then it hit the water, porcelain, water. How amazing! He was so pleased with himself. Not wanting to scare him, I didn't get all over the top with cheering (of course, my insides were bursting to scream), but I did praise him ("Yay, Reeves! What a big boy! You peepeed in the potty!") and hugged him and let him flush the toilet himself, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

I know it's a baby step and most likely completely coincidental, but what a milestone. He has recently been indicating when his diaper is filled, and he wants to be changed, not that that makes him enjoy the diaper changes any more just because he asked for it. He is quite the gymnast/contortionist when it comes to wrangling him to get a new diaper on. Maybe this diaper discomfort will encourage him to potty train early. Who knows? For now, we'll just relish each little step forward and simultaneously mourn the infant he will never be again.