Potty training and Metro mashing

Interesting title, huh? Today I took my spunky little daughter on a trip to London while Eric stayed home to embark on day 1 of Potty Training Boot Camp (PTBC). Kate and her 6 week old daughter came along for our "girls only" day to the big city. Even though Thanksgiving is not celebrated here (for obvious reasons) the spirit of Black Friday has drifted across the pond to descend on us here in the UK. In other words, it was BUSY and CROWDED as all get out! We decided to visit Harrods dept store to get a piece of chocolate (the only thing we could afford!) and check out the window display. From the time we hit the door, the four of us were "herded" through the store by clerks and other shoppers. One guy actually stepped completely over my stroller in his hurry to get to the perfume section. It was commercialism at it's finest! I thought we were going to have to low crawl out of that zoo. We made our way back to the metro to find that one third of the UK's population was also trying to board the Picadilly line to the theatre district as well. We finally caught the third train after I hauled the stroller over my head, threw a couple of elbows, and prayed that Ava and Kate were right behind me. I have never in my life been forced to take up such a small amount of space. Kate was on her tiptoes trying to shield her infant, I was gripping my stroller and what I hoped was Ava's hand, my face planted into Kate's purse and my knees bent to keep me from toppling over from the 600+ pounds of people pressed against my backside. I hear Ava's little voice piping up, "Mama, what's that smell like? It smells tooty!" About the time that the conductor announced, "This is the direct line to Cockfosters!" I completely lost it. My face was pushed completely into Kate's purse by this time and I was sweating in places I have never sweat before. I couldn't stop laughing. By the time "Cockfosters" was announced for the third time, Kate and I were howling. A couple of teenagers caught the giggles with us when the "elephant" that was behind me toppled over my rear end and knocked my head into the side of the train. Needless to say, we were more than happy to exit that train!
Eric had excellent luck with the PTBC venture with Eli. Unfortunately, Eli feels it necessary to pee standing up. Eli is short. Anyone visiting in the near future might want to use the upstairs bathroom...anyway- more updates later on the little guy's progress! He will be all mine tomorrow for PTBC day 2 while Eric and Ava visit the Dino park.