I shit you not...

I forgot to mention it earlier...

This afternoon, JB gave us the sign for diaper and we changed him - all wet- good call, son!
Then, a few minutes later, he gave us the sign again.
Katy and I looked at one another and shrugged. Then we did a little undressing in fast-forward speed, got his clothes off and sat him on the toilet.

The kid has some very obvious cues. At home when we see him straining, we ask him "Are you going potty?" We try to take that opportunity to use the word "potty" and the word and sign for "diaper". Then we're all like, "good job". Or if the expression on his face indicates excessive "straining" we might say, "It's okay, bug, you're doing great... you're going potty... hang in there, dude... good work." etc.

Look, don't judge us... this is an important part of parenting!

So, while he was on the pot, we were trying to get him to see the connection: "potty," "great job," "no diaper" etc.

There are moments in your life where you want to stop time, look at the camera and go, "Is this really happening?" I think that mostly happens when the stuff gets a little too real: at a birth, at a death, during an accident, if your spouse faints at the alter, etc. It's maybe a splash of denial when you are reconciling competing emotions like fear wrapped in eager excitement or angry stress accompanied by gratitude.

This sort of happened to me today.

He shit in the toilet.
I mean it was a completely gross moment and I was at the same time really proud and excited...

The recognition of the nastiness of the event and the silliness of our frenzied preparations as we ran him naked to the pot did not surprise me. The "excitement" and "pride" however, did catch me off guard.

There was a split second, between the excited shouting when we were trying to provide an appropriate level of positive reinforcement, when I turned toward an imaginary camera crew (a la Jim from the office) to register my moppy haired grimace and vaguely furrowed brow: "Really? Seriously? This is happening?"

Parenthood: Oh, it's getting real.