Every parent has a story about something their toddler did that was absolutely embarrassing. My kid peed on the floor of a store. It's fun to watch these kids grow up. I swear, my kid is an absolute genius and a moron. He amazes me by the things he knows and he annoys me by the things with which he struggles or pretends to be ignorant about. You never can predict their accomplishments and their downfalls. And they, all toddlers, are different.
My son has friends that are very close in age. To generalize a few of these children, one kid is kind of a bully. He'll stand on furniture and hold up toys another kid wants like he is going to hit them with the toy. He'll hide toys that other kids want under pillows or just plain steal them away. But, this kid is also an amazing athlete. He could jump off of the couch at the age of 1 and at 2 I saw him jump off a ladder that was taller than I am. He is also very smart. I can see that he notices details in his environment that many children are not yet able to absorb. Another friend of my son's is a cry baby. He can't share and when he has to or when his toy is stolen, he bursts into tears. He didn't walk until he was almost 18 months old. But, this kid has a great aptitude for language, can speak in complete sentences at the age of 2, is very kind, and also incredibly patient.
My kid is the one who pees and poops--anywhere. Since pretty much the age of 2 he's been potty trained. These days he is nearly two and a half and we give him a lot of leeway. He poops when he wants and sometimes has to be reminded to go pee, but usually he is in control of this too. He can even hold it through naps and through the night now. The problem is that we have been possibly a little too flamboyant about his peeing habits.
His 5 grandparents cheer when he "pees rocks," "pees grass," "pees trees." The babysitter was thrilled when I said it is okay that he pees outside on these things because I guess most parents do not allow their children to do this. "They must use a toilet," they say. Our child gets fun stickers for peeing outside at the babysitters house. He is rewarded with a cookie every time he poops in his potty; he hasn't had an accident for months. My cousin who is a daycare provider warned me that he may try to pee in strange places, like house plants and drains, if we allow him to pee anywhere but the toilet. Yet, daddy taught him to spell his name, to pee on car tires. We and the grandparents have videos and photos of him peeing off of the front steps, of pinching his nose closed and grunting as he poops. Honestly, it is adorable and humorous to us. But, we have confused him somewhere.
Before we walked into the store, I asked my son, "Do you have to go potty?" "No, no, no potty," he replied several times. Once we were in the used toy/clothing store, he found what (I think) was a giant plastic twin bed. It looked like a playground. It had a door that opened and closed, was taller than he is, and there were two chairs inside. I'm not sure if he thought he was in a plastic portable potty or if he thought he was at the playground or if he just thought it was okay to pee on the carpet. But, I turned away for about 20 seconds and he had peed on the floor inside of this thing and was pulling his pants back up.
As we drove home, I told him that he was a very bad boy for peeing in the store on the carpet. He knew this and made the cutest thoughtful face all of the way home in the quiet car. Anyway, I just thought I would tell this story because typically he only amazes me by what he knows and by what he can do. He is growing up in leaps and bounds. And he is the sweetest and most beautiful little boy and big brother for which we could ask.
