More big milestones

No, I am not talking about Taylor. We are STILL waiting for him to cut his first tooth! But it's gonna happen any day now, he is showing signs. Thank goodness for homeopathic Chamomille and that after several years I remembered and recognized the traits to treat with it (fussy and wants to be carried).

Anyhow we are talking about Elisabeth's milestones! Two big ones we have been waiting for, that she has been refusing to do. The first is playing the piano. Haha now I realize how funny that sounds. But I am serious! She has been going to piano lessons for years, doing bows and finger exercises but was too shy to touch the piano by herself. She had a deal with her teacher that when she turns four, she will do it. But this past week she just wanted to learn Mary Had a Little Lamb, and now she memorized it and is doing it all on her own...with proper fingering, I might add!

Aaaaaand....drumroll.......She is FINALLY going #2 in the toilet!! We thought this day would never come! But it has now been 5 days since she went other than in the toilet (I won't even mention the previous method...which was WORSE than diapers!) woohoo! So I had been trying to bribe her for the past several months to no avail, and making a big loud deal if she even got close, etc... Until finally it dawned on me that Elisabeth is a private, shy person. She didn't want me screaming from the rooftops when she used the toilet! So I began to whisper quietly, "how about going in the potty instead? I won't tell anyone!" she never took me up on it when I offered but it did the trick, because she started to go without telling me and coming to me afterward saying "I have a secret!" and when I figured out what she was talking about I said "What does the secret start with?" and she said "P" so we did a quiet happy dance and I went to check it out. Now she says that every time. "mom I have a secret!" and I say "does it start with a P? Cool! I will go flush your secret!"

The other thing I did, if anyone reading this is n the same boat (she was potty trained for #1 a year ago, or more, and has been getting a daily diaper to do her business in) is talking about control and coming to a compromise. After reading the Internet about control issues, I decided to talk openly about it with her. I asked if she gets told what to do too much and if she wanted to be in charge more (about various, unrelated things). She definitely wanted that. So we made some deals about what she could be in charge of...brushing her hair, picking out clothes, etc. I stopped forcing her to have her hair brushed. Instead I would just let it curl up after her bath. That had been a battle also, so I was willing to let her win that one. Another time we talked I told her i needed her to poop on the potty but she could choose lots of options, like should mom be in the bathroom too? Do you want the light on? Do you want to flush? Do you want to sing while you go? And other silly things like that, just so she could make a choice. But she didn't go that day. I just think the conversation planted some seeds and showed her I respected her, etc.... She gradually made the choice herself, with some successes and back to accidents a few times, etc. until she finally just did it.