"I stinky"

 

A about 2 weeks ago, i was cleaning up, and Emma toddled over to me and tugged on my pant leg. Looking down at her, she looked up at me and uttered these words:

"I stinky"

I had to smile as this is what i ask her when she has a stinky diaper and the words "Are you stinky?" makes my husband roll his eyes towards the heavens. He would rather i use 'adult' language...other than something like "are you stinky" (something along the lines of "did you have a bowel movement?", i'm sure) but for me, well, it works. I know, i know, it's amazing how my adult language skills land in the toilet while communicating with my daughter. ;)

Imagine my surprise three weeks ago when i understood exactly what Emma meant--she WAS stinky!

The best part was this morning when Emma went into the bathroom to where Robert was brushing his teeth this morning and she announces to him "i stinky". I was making the bed and i hear her and i had to giggle because she kept telling him over and over (and over....) again "i stinky". My new rule was quickly born to "who ever she goes to with the i-stinky-speech gets the fun job of changing Stinky". Brilliant, eh? I'm quick like that sometimes....

And this pattern has continued....sometimes (and most of the time) she'll come up to me with these magic words. Of course, i can usually smell her from the next room (who am i kidding, i can smell her two rooms away), but how amazing is it that she gets it??

So, i'm dragging out our new potty seat and reading up on potty training. I thought that 21 months was a little early, but heck, what do i know? If she's ready, then, by golly, i'm ready, too....i think. It's nothing fancy, this new potty seat. It doesn't sing when you do anything on it, it doesn't clap and cheer nor does it dispense M&Ms. It's just one of those ones that you place on top of a regular toilet. I also found a cute stool for her to climb on so she is able to get to the toilet all by myself. See? I'm getting ready for the "i do it" stage!

I do know that Emma continues to grow and learn quickly....i know that this is how it works, but i just want this process to slow down a little bit. I want to remember all of this growing up in great detail so i can tell her what kind of wonderful child she was when she grows up. I know that this growing up is the way that it is suppose to happen and as a Mommy, my job is to help her be independent and learn to take care of herself along with so many other things. I am sometimes overwhelmed with all of the things Robert and i need to teach her: how to have a caring heart, how to respect other's, how to follow her dreams and dare to try new things, how to be a member of a community and a church, how to serve her fellow man, and how to love others. It's quite a list, isn't it?

It's quite a list, indeed.