I was trying to avoid the inevitable scatological entry that I�m about to write, but I find it�s impossible because in the world of potty training, the first poop on the potty is really big news. I can�t believe I�m even talking about this, but the truth is, we�ve had trouble NOT talking about it in our house since yesterday afternoon. Also, I find myself giddy at the prospect of no more diaper-changing. And yes, I do know that�s still a long way off. And yes, I do know that just because I�m not changing diapers, doesn�t mean that I�m no still spending a significant portion of my time cleaning up bodily fluids � I�m familiar with the problems to come of teaching my little guy to point and shoot � a friend recommended covering the bathroom walls with Saran Wrap. But still, this is a big milestone, so don�t harsh my toke.

The best part is that AJ is so excited and proud of himself. I caught him trying to potty train one of the cats this morning. He followed one of them into the laundry room, which is where we keep the litter box, and just started talking to her. �This is your potty. This is where you go poop. And after you go poop, you wipe your butt and then you flush and wash your hands. And then you get a treat.� Frankly, if I thought treats would work, the cats would get treats just for keeping it all in the box. But that�s REALLY not worth discussing here.

This morning AJ and I tried out his newfound continence and ran some errands without the diaper bag (I didn�t tell him there were emergency rations stashed in the car glove compartment). First stop was the library where AJ promptly started to read the spines of a number of books on the shelves. I was floored. A nearby librarian actually gasped and asked me how old he was. I can tell we�re going to have our work cut out for us keeping up with this kid. Right now he�s getting by on memorized words, but he�s starting to sound things out, which is really fun to listen to. Until witnessing this process, I never really thought about how hard it is to figure out what vowels sound like in the context of a word. And AJ can�t handle variations like the different pronunciations of the word �the� before consonants and vowels.

We also stopped by the bank to put some things in our safe deposit box. I have fond memories of going to the safe deposit vault with my father when I was a little girl. We went to a big old bank and the vault was so impressive, a large echoing room with the rows and rows of little drawers and the ritual of the two keys. Unfortunately, our branch bank is little more than a shack by the side of the road. The vault was a glorified broom closet, albeit with a really, really thick metal door. But AJ loved all the numbers and was fascinated with the safe door handle.

�What are you putting in there?�

�Just some things we want to keep safe, like in case there�s a fire or something.�

�I don�t like fire.�

�There�s not a fire. It�s just to keep things in a safe place.�

�I don�t want there to be a fire.�

�It�s okay. There�s no fire.�

I�m not sure where AJ�s recent terror of fire has come from. I suspect the visit of a local firefighter to his preschool classroom a few weeks ago. He always used to terrify me by walking up too close to the fireplace.

Last night, after his second successful trip to the potty, I told him �AJ, you�re on fire!� He looked horrified and yelled, �Get it off!� I had to explain to him that it was just an expression. I forget that metaphors are lost on two-year-olds.

But really, he is on fire these days. He�s changing so much each day that I can hardly keep up. I�m feeling a little sad about his third birthday at the end of the month. He�s getting so big so fast.

[This is my second entry today -- click back if you like Mr. Softee]

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