seriously

i remember when i was potty training tate that the whole experience seemed to consume my very life. i asked older moms advice and was shocked when some told me they couldn't really remember potty training their kids. i was so wrapped up in it, i couldn't understand how the memory wouldn't be embedded in my mind and heart for always. i even asked our college students to pray for us, despite the fact they looked at me with dear in the headlights kind of eyes (update: read first two comments to enjoy the common genes my sister and i have). perhaps because they expected their bible study leader might ask them to pray for things like the world rather than her potty training woes.

but with the fourth child, it's different. i still do not enjoy this phase. but i know it is precisely that, a phase. i really miss patting her diaper-padded bootie, which gave me proof she was still a baby. my baby. you realize, by the fourth child how very fast it all goes. but i also can relax a bit, enjoy it, and laugh about it.

like how lulu likes to declare when we are somewhere really inconvenient, "I HAVE TO GO POTTY RIGHT NOW!" so i rush, rush, rush like a mad woman to get her to the potty RIGHT NOW, only to find out that it was really more just for her amusement.

or how when i was getting her a "kittle" after a successful trip to the potty she asked, "can i have two kittles?" when i answered, "no baby, just one." she replied softly, but clearly in a disgusted tone, "gosh. seriously." (she may or may not have heard such a phrase, with just such a tone from a sibling or two...and maybe even a mom...around here) despite the fact that i don't want any of my kids (or myself) displaying such attitude, i had to (secretly) laugh.

folks, what we have on our hands is a two year old teenager. the energy, "i do it myself", and mischief of a two year old mixed with the overheard vocabulary and attitude of a teenager. lethal combination. it may be a two headed monster, but it is a super cute monster...

seriously.