Elimination Communication - THE POTTY

So I wanted to blog about this so #1 others can share the experience and #2 so I actually have a record of what is currently happening with Tian and THE POTTY.

That's right THE POTTY.......Tian just turned 8 months and for about 2 months now he has been sitting on his potty. BUT not just sitting.......actually going to the bathroom.

For a month and a half now I have had to wash very few (probably 5 poopy diapers - I am cloth diapering) and the diapers are starting to get less wet now.

How did this happen you may ask?

Well it all started with a book "Diaper free before three" that I read. And then running into another mom at a sign language class who confirmed that she is using this same approach "And it works". And finally reading some blogs about other mothers trying the same thing.

So I figured why not what will it hurt. I just start by sitting him on his potty a couple times a day to get him used to sitting on something. (I waited until he was sitting up on his own which was around 6 months). I would just sit him on the potty and give him some toys to play with or read some books. He thought this was fun! We would sit there for maybe 10-15 minutes and just play. I would sit him on the potty first thing in the morning upon waking and then during diaper changes. Some moms leave the diaper on at first and just sit them on the pot. I don't know if I was just being risky or what but I just sat him on there without anything on. He seems to like being naked anyway:) I also started trying to communicate with him while he was on the potty by doing the sign language sign for potty and making bathroom noises such as grunting and "ssssssss". And before I knew what was happening I looked in the potty after the first couple of times and there it was.

So what has happened since.......Tian continues to go poo every morning upon waking......that's right.....every morning like clockwork. Then throughout the day I sometimes catch him stopping and starting to "grunt". We race to the potty and he once again poos on the potty. I also set him on during diaper changes and many times he will just pee. Diaper changes after lunch and dinner have been good timed opportunities for him to also poo/pee.

So while I wouldn't say Tian is potty trained I would say he is getting used to sitting on the potty and actually starting to get excited about it. Everytime he uses his potty I praise him highly and now he has started to show signs of excitement when he goes - waving his hands and clapping!

As I have read starting this early can be great for many reasons but one being giving the child a positive experience with the toilet early on so when they hit the "terrible twos" or time of rebelling it isn't so hard. I can definetly see the positive thing happening at this point.

And if nothing else it is making diaper changing and cleaning a lot easier!

Yeah Tian!!!!

7 months

Well initially I was going to just post every other month because it seems hard to find the time to sit down and write a post with a new found crawler. But since he is currently napping and I have some free time I decided I guess it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and break tradition and just post a 7 month post.

A lot has happened during Tian's 7 month too so I guess it would be nice to share it - and also nice for him to look back at someday and read.

During this month of April Tian had the chance to go to the ocean for the 1st time on a family vacation with the Hertlein family - Nana, Papa, Uncle Adam, Aunt Manny and Uncle Josh. We had a wonderful time in Hilton Head, SC and probably Tian's favorite thing was swimming in the pool for the first time. There were lots of laughs and giggles. He also got to enjoy some time on the beach and looking at the ocean.

Tian also learned how to change from an army crawl (which he started late 5 months) into the real thing. This happened around mid 7 months and since then he has been crawling everywhere and not getting so worn out! Besides the crawling another favorite thing is pulling himself up to stand on everything (which he started early 6 months). Now he is able to move from one thing to another while standing and walk along things while holding on. He also does a great job of getting down from standing and has learned to slowly fall on his bottom while still holding on. It amazes me each day how quickly he learns these things and remembers how to do them and just keeps getting better and better. He is growing into a little man:)

He is eating quite a variety of foods now too - bananas, mangos, apples, pears, carrots, green beans, peas, broccoli, sweet potatoes, squash, rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, tofu, avocados. And he seems to love everything but the peas. So I just decided to mix the peas in with some other veggies and voila - He loves his peas now too. Soon we will be trying meat.

Everyday is a new adventure for Tian and mommy. We have a lot of fun going out shopping, staying home exploring the house (the toys just sit there while Tian opens all the drawers in the house to see what is inside) and playing instruments to get ready for our baby music class we are going to teach in a couple weeks. And soon we are really looking forward to going to the pool!

This month has been a reall treat and a lot of fun and I look forward to the next:)

Happy Mother's Day to me!

So last year at this time I guess I could have been considered a mother since Tian Elliot was 5 months old inside my belly........however as another mom told me you really don't understand the whole Mother's Day thing until they are born.

And so Happy Mother's Day to me for the 1st time this year!

So I thought for my first Mother's Day post I would share some of the reasons why I love being a new mom.

#1 - Enjoying getting up at 6am.....I mean 5:45am..... because I get to see the smiling, wide awake face of my son.

#2 - Seeing the laughs and hearing the giggles when I am making a complete fool of myself.

#3 - Getting those first slobbering kisses.

#4 - Watching my baby grow up and learn new things everyday.

#5 - Getting to play with toys again.

All I can say is I can't imagine not having this joy in my life of being a mother and I look forward to many more Mother's Days to come.

Also Happy Mother's Day to 2 great Gran-moms' - Nana Hertlein and Nanny Mouer!

Thanks to 2 great mom's that did a great job raising their babies!