Nana and Papa come visit!

One of the best thing about having out-of-town grandparents is that you get to play tourist when they visit. Katie took full advantage of their midtown location this trip and we did lots of fun NYC things (though too cold for the Central Park Z00 - next time). One highlight for Katie was her very first trip to FAO Schwarz. Well, at least her very first trip she can remember, taking her there at 3 months doesn't really count.

Let me explain why we had the trip to the "special store." Katie wears panties now!

I prefer the non-gendered term "undies" but panties seems to have won out. As Danielle put it "it's just such a fun word to say." Katie has been using the potty for months, but only when she felt like it, which meant mostly before her bath and when visiting Oma. I felt like it was time for her to use it all the time, clearly she was ready. She was so ready, in fact, that "potty learning" has been pretty painless ("training" makes me think of dogs - but then again Oma said last year that "If Grandma Vicki were alive, Katie would be housebroken by now.").

Two weeks ago I told Katie that Nana and Papa were coming to New York and if she wore panties all the time by then that Nana would bring her a very special present. I thought that having a goal and a deadline were a good things (speaking from experience of course, deadlines help). Katie decided that she wanted another baby, specifically a baby without hair. And then once she saw her friend Sorin's baby, she only wanted a "baby with a pacifier." Instead of having Nana lug a doll in a big box from Dallas, we thought it would be more special to have a trip to FAO Schwarz and have Katie pick out the doll herself.

So I have to say that after a few days of reminders that Nana and Papa are coming soon, Katie took right to using the potty. She actually goes by herself on the "big potty" and will say "I don't need help Mama." In fact, at Jamie's house last week she did this twice and inaugurated Jamie's new little potty for her. She's very proud of picking out her panties in the morning and seems to like the Cinderellas best. She hasn't bragged to her friends or to strangers on the street, but will happily call various family members to tell them what kind of panties she's wearing. This morning she and Robin had a whole conversation on the phone about what kind of panties they are wearing. Accidents only seem to happen when she's very tired at the end of the day and so far (knocking on wood), we've survived quite a few bus and subway journeys. We'll tackle our first "road trip" tomorrow.

It's really wonderful to see my little girl become so independent. She tends to be an independent kid anyway, the kind of child who helps herself to food in the frige as she did yesterday when she was eating pineapple out of the container. The difference with something like pottying, I think, is that it's an accomplishment she can be proud of. Katie tells me now "I'm a big girl Mama, I'm wearing panties."