Potty training 101

Siobhan is in the midst of potty training. Not necessarily by my choice, mind you. Mostly this is due to peer pressure from her older sister (who I will be hiring out as a babysitter in mere days) and a certain desire to appear as mature as the other two kids. This is the baby who has sleeping in a toddler bed since just after her first birthday.

We, of course, bought her a potty. Given that she is (God-willing) our last to potty train, we went with the Cadillac version. It's a pink princess potty that plays music when you, erm, fill it. The first time I showed it to her, I put water in the pot to let her hear the sounds. Then she ran around crying "water? juice? water?" and wanting to put that in the potty. Great.

The first time she actually used it she jumped up in shock when it played music. (As would I. Random music coming from my derriere might freak me out too).

She has since had a bowel movement on the potty a few times. This is always quite the occasion in our house, involving dancing, singing, and a small gift. (Why can't I have that when I use the toilet?) However, she doesn't seem to get the concept of actually urinating on the toilet. We've been letting her walk around naked (I know, it's a risk). She uses the opportunity to pee in random places throughout the house. Luckily, she brings us to where she went to show us what she did and encourage us to clean it up. How helpful. Tonight, she successfully pooped in the potty. Moments later, she ran into the pantry, peed in the pantry, and then called Al over to clean it up.

Does she think the potty is only for poop?
Do we need to create a "peed in the potty" song and dance?
Does she feel the need to christen each corner of the house?
Is she marking her territory?
Is she merely an almost two year old baby with a mind of her own?

Yeah, I guess we'll go with that one.