Emma turned 23 months yesterday and in one short month she will be 2 years old. It’s quite amazing how quickly time flies. Developmentally Emma continues to amaze us with her ability to communicate and comprehend our conversations and instructions. She can also chain single words together to convey concepts to us like “drive”, “balloon”, “bye bye”, “Abuela”, “string”. This sequence tells the story of what happened to her balloon while Mommy was driving the car. Mommy opened the sun roof, the balloon got sucked-out of the car, and Abuela was left holding the string.”.

Elena purchased a toddler toilet seat for Emma a few months back but there was way too much going on in our lives at the time with our move and sale of our home for us to devote the energy required to provide consistency in the training. So we intentionally postponed that effort until a later date. During the second week of September (this month) Elena decided to start the training process. Her strategy has been to place Emma on the toilet two to three times a day (morning, night, and afternoon) and to encourage Emma to poop. If she completes her “mission” Emma is rewarded with a sticker, which she promptly places on her calendar to mark her progress (One for each poop and pee she does in the toilet). That and the festive praise and fanfare her mother and father provide as we excitedly gather around the toilet singing praises of encouragement for a job well done. I believe Elena’s system is working because in the last three weeks, Emma has only pooped in her diaper once. On several occasions Emma has even requested to go to the toilet to poop which is a really good indication that she gets it. I don’t know how long it will take to get her to use the toilet exclusively but I think we are headed in the right direction. We’ll keep you posted. 🙂

Don’t let those pouting brown eyes fool you. Or that inquisitive stare make you believe for one second that this pint-sized cutie is all sugar and spice. Emma packs quite a personality into that little frame of hers. And when she doesn’t get her way it’s tantrum city. Elena and I continue to work on softening her sometimes rough edges but she is determined to have her way. In some cases it’s a good thing, like with potty training. We (or I should say more accurately, Elena) has started asking Emma if she needs to “poop” and then sits with her for 20 minutes at a time while Emma reads books on the commode. Elena has been doing this for about two weeks now and Emma is starting to request it on her own. With every sitting Emma is determined to “complete the task”, which earns her a sticker on the calendar.

Emma also insists on feeding herself which can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on how careful and tidy she is.

Emma will push your hand away from her if she is trying to do something and you dare lend her a helping hand without being asked. And when meal-time approaches, Emma refuses to be placed in her high chair. Instead she prefers to climb it on her own, seat herself, and then lock herself into her five-point harness. She’s a tough little cookie that Emmalicious.