No more diapers!

Now Henni is completely potty trained except when she is sleeping! She peed for the first time in her red potty in October, but getting her to do her business in the potty, for the most part, was a rare treat for mommy for at least three months. Especially in December she got sick with pneumonia and we didn’t try to push her with the potty training at all during this time. Since she is exceptionally big (she is about 40 inches tall and weighs 34 lbs now, that would be above average for a 3 ½ year old on the growth chart—and she is not even 2 ½ yet!!!) many Korean people used to give me the dirtiest looks when they saw her in diapers. One random old lady even slapped me on my arms three times, telling me I need to get her off diapers “right now”. It is true, Koreans are very quick about training their children in this department. I don’t know how they do it, but as soon as they reach about 18 months, Korean children seem to get it. (But really, what good is having a diaper-trained 2-year old who is screaming and running around in public place, like restaurants or subway? I’d much rather take a pleasant and well-mannered Henni, even with her sagging diaper, over these repressed Korean kids any day!) All my American friends told me not to worry about it and that Henni would “get” it and do it on her own once she is ready. Well, just about a month ago, she started asking regularly if she can be taken to the potty. We did have to bribe her with 2 coins (for her piggy bank) and 2 M&Ms every time she peed in the potty in the past couple of months. Now her pink polka-dotted piggy bank is almost full, and she is not wetting her clothes anymore!