5 Little Monkeys, 2 Bananas, & 1 Sucker

This summer we have been working on potty training with Eve. Though we have dropped back to only using diapers at bedtime, the process has been slow-going at best. Eve "pee-pees" in the potty every time we take her, but we have to remember to take her... she rarely tells us when she has to go herself. So, you can imagine our surprise the last two nights when she let us know she needed to go "poo-poo." After no success last night (and a mess in the training panties) I was determined tonight would be better. When Eve came to me and said, "My tummy hurts, Mommy," I told her that means she needs to go potty and strain. Jay talked to her about it a minute or two and then I asked, "Do you want to go sit on the potty and strain?" She nodded and said, "Mommy's potty." So, I took off after the cushy Dora potty seat and a stack of books to settle in for the long-haul. Eve sat on the potty, but only faked some strains while we sang a few rousing verses of "Baby Beluga." Then, as she began to read 5 Little Monkeys Bake a Birthday Cake, she stopped suddenly to strain... this time for real!! I never knew what a sense of pride I would feel when my girl pooped in the potty, but I tell you, I was almost brought to tears! Daddy came in to congratulate Eve and to take her order for any kind of sucker she wanted. Eve picked orange. While Daddy was gone to get the sucker we finished up the process and Eve got down to look in the potty. I said, "Eve, what is that?" She sucked in a breath and said, "Banana... 2 bananas!" Choking back my laughter I said, "No, that's poo-poo!" After she started to have her sucker I asked if there was anyone she wanted to call and tell about her good news. She chose to call Aunt Emily. The conversation went something like this...
Em: Hello.
Eve: Hi, Emily.
Em: Hi, Eve! What are you doing?
Eve: I habin' a suckor.
Em: What did you do to get your sucker?
Eve: I go pee-pee poo-poo... wike nanas!
What a girl! You gotta love her!! We certainly do... beyond words!!!