Newfangled Dad

Warning! Warning! Potty training story in the first section! TMI ahead. (But it's so darn cute!) If you're a parent, you know there is no such thing as bathroom time to yourself. The kids are either waiting for you outside the door. Or pounding on the door. Or in the bathroom with you. In this case, Leda was in the room and Cole was in the hall outside. He'd just thrown Cookie Monster at me and I gave him the usual speech: Daddy will be done in a second. YOU  could go sit on your potty, too. Usually, I get a dead stare or laughter. Today, however, Cole raced to his room and grabbed his plastic chair and dragged it to the living room. When I finished, I expected to see him putting his cars inside. To my surprise, he was actually sitting--fully clothed, sure, but I'll take it! "Oh wow, good job, buddy! That was exactly right! Thank you! Awesome! Would you like to sit on it a little longer?" "No." (Cole grabs potty and quickly takes it back to h...

We have a sneaking suspicion that it is time to start potty training. Our 16 month old son heads down the hallway into an empty room to do his business in his diaper, currently. At the very least, we know what's happening from the position, the look on his face, and the way he will stop what he's doing and want to be by himself for a few moments. Couple this with the fact that he will nod his head and walk to his bedroom if you ask if he needs clean pants. A potty may be in our future...perhaps as a Christmas present to go with the bath toys we got him today from the cool independent toy store in our village? Yay for small business Saturday. But what kind of potty? Musical? On the floor? In the grown-up toilet? Where should we put it given the lack of floor space in our tiny condo bathroom? It seems silly to teach him to use the toilet in his bedroom only to ask him months later to make the leap to the real bathroom. And oh the theories! Do we have a bootcamp with candy a...