Nobody thought it could be done. A few of my closest loved ones thought it decidedly uncouth. But because I am super-mama, Iris (14 months) pood in her travel potty, on the plane on the way to Vegas.

 Okay, I should give some credit to my daughter, the pooer herself, and her sphincter. Secure, safe, trusting, able to relax in new environments, wickedly smart and not fond of smashed poo in a diaper- that’s my girl.

Vegas was fun and lucky. Auntie Amelia actually won the title of Queen of Burlesque which was why were were there. I had my intense discussion with God about it before hand, just in case God didn’t remember all of the reasons Miss Indigo Blue should be the winner. Then just before they announced her name, I already started crying because I truly felt the stars in the universe align and I knew it was going to be her.  A creepy and special moment.

Lynn won our family some money betting conservatively. The pool was fun and we had our Family/Miss Indigo Blue cabana. (the photo is Iris in the cabana). Iris pood and peed in her potty like a champ.

We have been doing extremelly well with the early potty training and I will post a how-to when we are all done with it. Generally, Iris does great in the early part of the day and makes all of her poops in the potty (not just on the airplane). She usually wees two or three times in the potty on a given day, though she is usually extremely hydrated and needs to pee every hour and this is impossible for me to make happen and still have a life. That is why we didn’t do “Elimination Communication” when she was younger. The kid peed every half hour and I was sure that would drive me insane. I was cool with being attatched to my kid, but not attached to the bathroom.

Iris and I flew from vegas to my parents in the Valley where Iris’s fabulous pooped turned liquid due to a bug.  Also, I have never been vomited on so much in my life and I hope never to be again. It lasted three days and now she is better. Through some miracle, she managed to have almost every single diarrhea in her potty. I am the luckiest mom in the world.

We play around with giving Iris burlesque names: Iris Blue, Intensity Screams, The Bod. So maybe it should really be “The Sphincter”.

We’re obviously not your average parents, we’re on the extremely progressive side. And if you were too, you would know that contemporary Burlesque is about women celebrating thier bodies, usually in front of a room full of other women. Iris was able to catch some of the burlesque acts over the weekend and truly loved it. Especially an older ladie’s piece about pants which were too long (she had a hat and rainbow clothes) and our friend Iva Handfull’s flaming hot fan-dance piece to the british rock song “Firestarter”. Iris was standing on my lap for that one, dancing, shaking clenched fists and screaming with glee. She loves birds and there was something like 10 bird-themed feathery acts over the weekend.

Before we left for Vegas, Iris had started doing jazzercize floor moves, so naturaly she learned some moves at the burly shows and came up with our own when we went back to the room. We have a video of her doing her famous downwarddog-then stand weight on head and throw arms through legs- move which culminates on rolling to her side, raising her leg and grabbing it and then attempting to take her sweater off. Obviously it is highly innapropriate for eyes but our own but trust me this child will be a dancer. Of course, I’d rather she do something more like modern or tap. If only because we always want our children to fulfill our unfulfilled goals  and stripping, I’ve been there and done that.

What I hated about Vegas was only one thing. The smoke we had to walk through in the casino to get most places. Not a supermama moment. Maybe next time I’ll bring Iris an oxygen tank, not that we will ever be at that hotel again. Came to find out though that the Mandalay Bay resort is navigable without any smoke and has tons of activities meant for kids. Now I know.