The One About Poo(h)

At almost 2 1/2, my daughter is showing her first signs of interest in the potty. I think this has mostly something to do with her new-found joy in emulating me -- evidenced by her insistence that I paint her toenails crimson red "just like maman," and her persistence in following me everywhere, copying my every action. Recently she has taken to accompanying me into the bathroom and settling herself on her own potty anytime I do. She has yet to understand the concept of pulling down her pants and pull-ups first, but I imagine this will come in time. As soon as she sees me finishing up, she asks for "two-water paper." To my amusement, when I hand it to her, she balls it up and shoves it down the back of her diaper, refusing to give it up once she has finished "wiping" her bottom.



Because we live in Paris, where dogs are left to do their thing on the sidewalks and their owners nonchalantly walk away afterwards without removing the offending "package," I often hear myself warning my kids to side-step the poo as we walk down the street. My daughter now loves to point out every mound we pass: "Is poo!" she says pointing at it and pausing to take a closer look. To my dismay she has even once or twice, crouched down next to one and come dangerously close to landing in it while pointing it out. I warned, "Yuck, it's poo! Don't touch!" And thinking of several friends who have recounted stories of their own kids actually picking up some poo out of curiosity and putting it in their mouths (sorry if this is to graphic for you all!), I know I have even warned on occasion, "It's poo. Don't touch it and we never, ever eat it."



Becuase poo has become such a hot topic in our house as of late, when I brought this Pooh cake and cupcakes out to box them, I showed them to my daughter and said, "Look, it's Pooh!" She has never seen Winnie the Pooh and so didn't have a clue as to what I was talking about. "Is poo?" she asked me quizzically. "Yes, Pooh. And look there is even an extra one for you," I said as I handed her a cupcake. "Go on, it's for you. You can eat the Pooh." "Eat poo?" she said again with the scrunched up look she gets on her face whenever she hears something she doesn't quite understand. "Yes Sweetpea," I said, "you can eat Pooh....but just this one time!"