November 27, 2008 Thankful for Pies and the Potty Chair on Thanksgiving

Many of you may or may not be aware that Thanksgiving is my all time favorite holiday.   I have loved it since I was a very small child. I love it for several reasons, getting together with family, eating, watching parades, and watching my mom cook in our kitchen Casatha Pies.  Mom has turned over the reins several years ago to me to make the Casatha Pies. So, I make them now.  The recipe has been passed down in our family for many years from my late Great Aunt J.  Mom would frantically scurry about the kitchen making these pies every Thanksgiving while we all watched the parades before we went to Grandma's house for the Big Turkey.  I cannot tell you how to make the pies, I can only make them for you since the recipe is done strictly on taste with no exact measurements, however, I think I may have figured out a starting point for the measurements. If I buy at least two or three honey bears, and somewhere between 8 to 12 eggs, and at least 3 lbs of Riccotta cheese along with several other ingredients, I might be able to make 4 pies.  Well, anyway, I will just have to teach Sophia how to make the pies as I have been taught so she can pass this one down to future generations.  It is mixed based upon taste, so Sophia plan on eating some pies. 

This Thanksgiving we have many thing to be thankful for our health, our family, our homes, our pets, etc.  But this one if especially going to stand out for me for many years to come because Sophia used the Potty Chair for the First Time ever.  

Over the past few weeks Sophia has taken a growing interest in this new potty chair that arrived in our bathroom. It is just her size and she has been tearing it apart and carrying the comfy seat all around the house.  It is funny to see her put it on her head, but I tell whiel trying very hard not to laugh, that it doesn't go on her head or her feet, she puts her bottom on it and sits just like a chair. So, we practiced for several weeks now just sitting on the potty in her diaper. Anytime, I went near the bathroom, I would tell her lets just take a break and go sit on the potty for a few minutes.  I rented a couple videos with kids sitting on the potty chairs, etc.  

I knew we were on the right track a couple months ago when Sophia learned the sign language sign for "potty".  You just shake your fist back and forth in the air.  She watched her "Baby Signing Time" video and learned the sign there.  The first time I realized she understood what that meant was when she and I took the doggy outsire.  I instructed the dog to go potty. Sophia watched and shook her hand signing potty as the dog did her business.  I almost fell over into the street when I saw her telling the dog in sign language "potty".  Once I knew she understood, I figured it was time to start teaching her about the potty chair, we went to the library and borrowed books and videos.  Apparently, she was really learning this even though I though it was falling on deaf ears.  They showed babies sitting on the potty chairs and even teddy bears and stuffed animals.  So we showed our stuffed animals how to use the potty chair.   "How does a baby learn so much in such a short time?  Can she possibly really understand what this is all about?  

So, on Thanksgiving morning, I had been introducing Sophia to all the familiar traditions of the parades, pies, etc.  Little did I know that as I showed her these family things, she was going to surprise more than I could have imagined.   Sophia walked into the bathroom for her morning bath. I took off her diaper and told her. " If you try to go potty on the potty, I will put some bubble bath in the bath water for you."  I never expected her to understand what I actually said.  So off went the diaper and down on the potty she sat. We talked and sang funny songs, some of our old favorites, "Itsy Bitsy Spider, Bingo, Old MacDonald.  I also played a quick game of peek-a-boo a longtime favorite of Sophia's.   We read a couple baby books and when we were done, she stood up and walked across the floor and peed some more on the lineoleum but just a drop or two.  So, I looked into the potty chair and she had used it. I was astounded and almost speechless. I clapped and made a big deal out of it that she was a big girl.  We called daddy in to see how good Sophia did.  He clapped and made a big fuss over it too to let her know we approved and were delighted to see this important event in a baby's life.   As soon as we finished, I told Sopha we had to call her grandparents and tell them what she did so they too could praise her for her accomplishment. She smiled and was excited over all the attention she was getting for making such a huge step into toddlerhood.    Oh, and I did make good on my promise by making the best bubble bath one has ever seen. Sophia loved the suds and bubbles while mommy sdmired her newly in training for potty chairs little one.