Wee One has a BFF

So, it's Monday.  Normal, typical Monday.  We are at daycare for dropoff.  In the parking garage, Wee One sees one of the little boys in her class and says "Eli!".  So we say good morning to Eli and his family.  In the hallway she says "Parker?".  In the classroom she asks again.  Then through the classroom window she sees a girl in her mother's arms coming in.  "Parker!" with a huge smile.

She was about to melt down and cry, and wanted me to hold her 20 seconds ago.  Now she wriggles to the ground and runs to Parker's mom, barely letting them in the door and pulling Parker from her mother's arms.  Parker looks only slightly interested in being accosted by my daughter, but I take the opportunity to slip out of the congested doorway by planting a kiss on my daughter's head and leaving for work.

At my mom's Monday evening, my daughter starts pulling off her pants.  When we ask her what she is doing, she says "big girl potty?".  So I help her undress and put her on the big potty.  I have to hold her in place (man, she's tiny compared to the toilet).  While I am bent over holding her in place and she is clutching the seat with all her might, she turns a hopeful face to me and says:

"Parker?"

"Does Parker go to the potty?"  I ask.  "Uh-huh" she nods.  "Does Wee One go to the potty?" I ask.  She nods again, contemplating lifting a hand to point to herself as she normally does when I say her name, but then she thinks better of letting go.

Finally she indicates that's she done with the balancing act.  As I lift her to the floor she says "Parker big girl potty".  I say "Wee One big girl potty too", but she is uninterested.  "Nakey!" is her reply.

Tuesday afternoon at Nan's was more of the same.  We moved her little potty chair out in front of the tv (which at daycare this morning they said might not be a great idea - for routine you should keep the potty in the same place.)  The challenge is that she doesn't want to sit long enough for anything to happen, which is why we thought the in-front-of-Dora thing might work.  It didn't lengthen the time she remained seated at all, though.

The whole time, she's talking about Parker.  Parker big girl potty.

So this morning while getting dressed, she asked about Parker.  I told her she might see Parker today, and that she could show Parker the pretty skirt we were putting on.  The rest of the morning she walked around pointing to her skirt and chanting Parker's name.

So my kid has a bff.  I'm kindof proud, and kindof worried.  I need to read that book about helping your daughter navigate friendships. 

Right after I read one about potty training.

Seriously, this seems to have snuck up on me.  I'm not at all ready for potty training.  I have no cloth trainers.  I have no idea what I'm doing.  This morning I asked the director for the cliff's notes version of what I should be doing and the answer was "every family approaches potty training differently."  She did say that my daughter is very bright (I almost cried!), she did say she thinks that Wee One will catch on quick.  She did say that it's sometimes easier to potty train in the daycare setting because they see other kids doing it.  She said routine is helpful.  She said give it a week and talk to the caregiver to see what she thinks about training pants (a week?  It will take that long to get some cloth ones ordered and prepped.  I forget that other people just go to the store and buy a box of Pull-ups.)

I figured that on vacation, Wee One would see JR using the potty and be inspired.  I also figured that at some point over a frosty beverage I'd ask Jellybean Mama for her insight into potty training (I remember blog posts that spoke of frustration and barricading themselves in the kitchen.  I'm not sure I'm ready for this.)  I figured after I got tax money I'd try to sell some diapers and buy some trainers, and by then it would be almost time for my summer vacation, which is when I'd planned on starting the potty.

This accelerates my timetable somewhat.

But, if she wants to use the potty, I'm not stopping her.  Even if it is because she wants to impress Parker.