Potty Trainers R Us

My DD has expressed some interest in potty training in recent days. By "expressed some interest", I mean she has stated a few times that she doesn't want to wear a diaper any more, and then expressed a preference for real panties as opposed to Pull Ups. I had never realized how time consuming potty training is. She went through ten pairs of panties the other day! My policy is as long as she tries to make it to the potty, she deserves to keep wearing her "big girl" panties, as long as she wants to. Obviously she wanted to, and I have the laundry pile to prove it, haha. I wonder how long this process will take. It is proceeding in fits and starts, and we are not pushing things with her. Today she has shown zero interest in panties and is quite content to wear a diaper and have it changed. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? We are encouraging interest but we aren't being negative about not using the potty. I know when she is ready, she will train. Of course, her spates of readiness seem to occur at precisely the most inopportune times, such as when I am feeding her brother or dealing with him, or cleaning, etc. So I wonder if it's an opportunity for attention that she's grabbing, not the potty training. I guess she wouldn't be as enthusiastic about it, though, if that were the case; and I don't really see that kind of behavior from her so much now that her brother has been here for 3 months and has sort of become a fixture to her. At the same time I am dealing with DS's continued gassiness and fussiness. He is a more emotional baby than she was. He just seems to take it so personally when I have to put him down and get something else done. It's like I've personally affronted him in his time of need if I have to put him down to handle a crisis with DD or eat some lunch. I think this kid is going to be difficult to sleep train. He is just not a self-soother like his sister was. She would fuss for a few minutes, figure out, "Hey, I'm on my own here for a bit, best make the best of it" and just get on with entertaining herself. He will scream bloody murder and escalate the decibels until he's hiccuping. He even spit up on himself in the swing yesterday when we were dealing with something else. I just don't know when that will get better. Do you outgrow being "needy" for Mom & Dad? I just picture this clingy kindergartner refusing to go inside for big school. Hmmmm. I think I need to reign in my overactive imagination! :) Anyway, it just goes to show how different our two kids are. My DH says, "And you want to add ANOTHER one to this?" Yes, yes I do. Just not right now. *LOL*