Peanut butter is much better than a different p word

Well- since after Dan and I returned from CA, Natalie has been acting out a bit--to say the least. From the moment we returned home she has decided that she is no longer potty trained. She had been potty trained for quite some time-- no accidents, no problems--I didn't even think about it anymore. Right after we got back she just started going in her pants, on the floor, etc. So I restarted with diapers...ugh- I thought I was done with diapers. So I thought, I won't make a big deal about it, put on the diapers and just see what happens. Well, it turns out, she doesn't really like diapers either. As soon as she pees or poops, it has to come off immediately. With this has come a new problem. If I am not right there, she will take it off and try to deal with it on her own. This then has led to a discovery for her--a disgusting discovery... I guess poo is good for painting--kind of like finger paints??? Unfortunately, she has "painted" numerous times, in numerous places around the house--which the first time I dealt with ok, the times after have almost put me over the edge!!!

Well- I have been pretty distraught over the whole thing- wondering what is wrong with my child. Well, we discovered it may be a consistency thing. I was talking to a friend of mine, who said her daughter went through a phase like this and her Dr. said that she might just be really fascinated with the consistency of poo---ugh! My thought was that she was just being naughty and knew how to push mommy's buttons.

Well, the other night, I was running errands and Dan was home with the kids. At some point, Natalie had gotten into the pantry and found one of her favorite things--Peanut Butter! And it wasn't your normal jar of PB, but was an extra large Sam's Club gallon size of PB. This is how we figured it went down. She was being sneaky, so went in the pantry and shut the door. After eating some of the PB, she was then stuck. Her hands were full of PB and she couldn't open the door to get out. So she sat down and proceeded to paint the inside of the pantry with peanut butter--the door, the shelves, the floor, herself... Very similar to her past incidents with poo. The kids eventually discovered her upon looking for something to eat.
Soooo... maybe it is a fascination with the consistency. Maybe someday she will be a famous artist or potter, and I will have quite a story of how it all started.