Want to Hear a Story about Poopoo-in-the-Potty?

Sunday night, Lulu disappeared into the bathroom. She said she needed to go poopoo so I followed her in and asked if she meant she wanted to go on the potty and she said, "No. I'm just going in my Pull-Up," but since she hadn't actually gone yet, I suggested we try the potty. She was resistant but not so much that I had to really push her, and I managed to get her sitting where she needed to be. She picked the little potty (thunk) over the big potty (ploop) based on the noise we would hear. Then she proceeded to NOT go poopoo for the next 20 minutes. There were a few times when it appeared, based on her expression, that it was happening, but upon checking we found that she had not gone. I think she was actually resisting the urge the times when her face changed. Eventually she just stood up and said she was ready for her bath and refused to sit back down. Now I know I said I was going to give up on the whole potty thing and let her be in charge of it, but sometimes a mom can tell when her baby needs to go poo and it didn't seem like a good idea for her to sit in a warm, relaxing bath. I hate changing poopy Pull Ups, but I'd rather do that than fish floaters out of the tub (sorry). So I pushed the little potty over in front of the big potty and convinced her that it would be cool to use it like a stool (no pun intended) to clumb on to reach the big potty and had her sitting again in no time. This was as successful as the little potty had been. Eventually she stood up again and declared that she just wasn't going to do it. She was so emphatic about it that she walked away but came back a moment later to close the lid as if to say, "No way." So she was standing across the bathroom with a bare bottom and telling me she just wasn't going to go poopoo in the potty, but at the same time she was doing this little knees-bent-cheeks-clenched dance. I think even someone who's not a mom would have known what that meant. I said, "Honey, you clearly need to poop. Come over here and sit on the potty," and she came and sat and finally just let it happen. Finally! It was like... Well, it was a relief for everyone involved. I hate to say it, and I'm sorry for this, but it was kind of like the 11 o'clock news on 11/4 - just one great big WHEW! after an eternity of anxiety (except this eternity was only 30 minutes).

Then we did the poopoo-in-the-potty dance, which is apparently best done before the new Pull Up is on (or so I've heard - I didn't feel the need to be bare-bottomed) and we both had a jelly bean and then she had a bubble bath (which she got out of in the middle to go peepee, rather than pee in the tub - another little victory!).

It's still mostly up to her to get herself trained, but I did make a big deal out of this and am telling everyone we know when she's around to hear me talk about it, and I also told her that she'll need to learn to use the potty before she can take swimming lessons (which wouldn't be until next summer anyway so no pressure).