To pee or not to pee...

Zoey is nearly potty trained! Hurrah! The reason I say "nearly" is because she still wears a nappy when she goes to bed at night.

Of course, this is nothing to shout about because if she were growing up in Malaysia she should have been free from nappies by the time she turned one! Apparently, I was potty trained at that age. However, the majority of non-Asians will disagree with that - they reckon it is the parents that are being "potty-trained" not the child - because the parents will have to put the child on the potty at regular intervals with the hope that he/ she will get the idea and make it a routine for the child to relieve himself/ herself whenever on the potty.

Anyway, the decision to potty train now Zoey wasn't an easy one. Many experienced mothers have been sharing their tips with me and some advised that Zoey is still too young to express herself when it comes to nature's call. However, I felt that she was ready as she did show interest in the whole idea when we did a few trial runs. Furthermore, with the imminent trip back to Malaysia in August, Mommy just had to make sure that Zoey is nappy free or else.....she will be in trouble (she = Mommy not Zoey).

We took advantage of the whole week at New Wine (Christian summer camp/conference) to potty train her. This made things much easier as she could run around half naked and one of us could be with her at all times. The first few days were a complete failure (we were about to give up) but then we persevered and by the end of the week, Zoey made her first wees on the potty with a little help (Philip made her play with some warm water in a basin whilst washing up, which helped to trigger the right response!). She soon got the idea that whenever she did a wee on the potty she became the star attraction - Mommy and Daddy jumping up into the air excitedly, cheering her name and clapping ... and lots of praising as well.

So you can imagine when Zoey now says: "Mommy, potty please!", I jump up at the speed of lightning; fetch the potty and let her majesty sit on her throne.