You're Always On Her Mind

Chloe eats, sleeps, and breathes potty these days. Well, not literally. That would be pretty gross, but she is obsessed nonetheless. She puts pull-ups on all of her Dollys, babies, and Blue. She then sets them on their potties, diapers still on. She changes their diapers all through the day, and changes her own pull-up multiple times. She sits on the potty and reads her Bible (no other book will do) for long stretches, and when she is done gets some "paper" and flushes and washes her hands. No byproduct has actually made its way into the potty as of yet, but I suppose this is still progress in one way or another.

Last week she put Dolly on the big potty and Gouly-Gah (dirty Dolly) on the little potty, when the unthinkable happened! Dolly fell in! Chloe fished her out and brought her dripping to me, tears trickling down her little cheeks. I told her Dolly had to take a bath, then showed her how to turn on the washing machine and to pour the soap in. She bravely helped me get Dolly ready, gave her one more kiss, put her in, and shut the lid. By then it had become too much, the tears could no longer stay in their places, they had to be set free. She cried and cried and cried, with a brave heart the whole time. She sat by the washer and every few minutes I would hear "Mommy, Dolly clean. Bath over. Get her out." To which I would have to reply, "Almost! Not Yet!", a favorite household phrase. I finally distracted her with a video that captivated her thoughts and emotions through the wash cycle and halfway through the dry. It had been over an hour when she couldn't handle anymore. She ran back to the dryer, "Mommy, Dolly clean. Please get Dolly." So, we got her out, still a little damp, but bright and sanitary. What a joyous reunion took place in our hallway. I don't think I will ever forget the look in her eyes when she beheld Dolly for the first time since giving her over to the washer. For the rest of the day she clung tightly to both Dollys, never letting them out of her sight for even a moment. Even now, a week later, she keeps them close by and often says at random, "Dolly's a brave girl, Dolly took a good bath!"