The best dirty diaper ever

Ladybug’s vocabulary has been growing by leaps and bounds lately. She’s been able to say our cats’ names and ask for her bottle – her “didi” as we call it – for several months now. But in the last few days, she’s picked up our French slang word for sleep. She’ll lay down on the floor, put her hands behind her head, close her eyes and say “dodo.” She’ll also walk to the TV and say “baby,” meaning she wants to watch a Baby Einstein DVD.

She’s even started repeating a phrase I made up when she first began taking baths in the tub instead of the kitchen sink. When I pull the drain plug, I wave at the disappearing water and say, “Bye-bye dirty water.” Now when she’s tired of being in the bath, she pulls the plug, waves and says “Ba-ba da.”

OK, that last one may not count, but she’s getting there.

I’m always amazed each time she says a new word or indicates in her own way what she wants. I can pretty much figure out now when she’s hungry, tired, bored or wants something out of her reach. But there was still one area we were having trouble with – her diaper.

It used to be if she had a poppy diaper, you knew it even if she was 10 feet away. But for some reason, her poop doesn’t smell anymore. I’ll only discover it when I change her diaper. By then she’ll have an awful case of diaper rash. The last time that happened, I told her she needs to let me know when she poops.

“Say caca, poopy, yucky, Mommy change my diaper, anything. But if you don’t let me know, your hiney will keep getting sore,” I explained, as if she would understand.

I figured it just went in one ear and out the other – I mean, how much do they really understand at this age? – until the other night when she was playing in her nursery. All of a sudden she started crying.

“What’s the matter, honey?” I asked.

“Poopy,” she said.

Did she just say poopy????

I picked her up. I didn’t smell anything. I carried her to the changing table anyway, hoping that she had a full diaper.

And there it was. Fresh doo-doo.

I have never enjoyed changing a dirty diaper so much. I called my husband into the room to tell him what just happened.

“Good job!” he exclaimed, clapping.

Applauding over a bowel movement and Ladybug’s use of the word “poopy.” Who would have thought?

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