A Big Deal?

Sweet Lily is now four years old!!  I never thought we'd make it to this day, but here we are.  We celebrated her birthday on Saturday with a small party.  Mommy was just too exhausted to put much effort into anything big.  I'm glad it was small, though, because Lily wasn't feeling too well.  She slept most of the time, and when she was awake, she was grumpy.  You know Lily doesn't feel well when she's grumpy because she's such a happy little girl.  But it was a good day with a few friends and family.

OK.  So you are not going to believe me when I say this, and really, in a way, it's not a big deal.  But in a different way, it is a big deal.  Lily pee-peed on the potty this morning!  When I went to change her diaper, it was dry from overnight.  My first thought was that I should sit her on the potty and see what she does, but I was getting her ready to go to school and felt a little rushed.  It kept eating at me, though, that I should give it a try and if she was a few minutes late, no big deal, so I sat her on Soleil's little potty.  She sat there all happy for about 30 seconds, and whoosh!  She pee-peed!  It was a lot, too!  Of course, I praised her!  

Like I said, it's a big deal!  But then again, it isn't.  Had I not taken her, she would have gone in her diaper.  Would she have gone at the same exact time?  Who knows.  Do I think she made a connection between using the bathroom and sitting on the potty?  No.  Probably not.  

What is the big deal is this:  Yes, it's impressive that she did do it, but to me, what's bigger is that "push" that kept telling me to try it.  Call it instinct.  Really, I just "knew" that I needed to put Lily on the potty.  I'm not trying to brag here.  What I'm saying is that I believe in this instinct, and I also believe that this instinct has helped Lily in so many ways--when she's been sick, in doing certain exercises that I had no clue what I was doing, in understanding Lily and her needs, and today, in going potty.  I rely heavily on this instinct, and I believe as a mother of a special needs, nonverbal child, it is essential.  When that "voice" speaks, I definitely listen.

Will I put Lily on the potty again?  Sure!  Why not!  We saved a diaper this morning.  But I'm not talking 30 minutes at a time here.  Just a quick few, especially in the morning if there's a dry diaper.  Who knows.  This may turn into something.  Maybe not.  Either way, it doesn't change who she is.