Okay, so it's been a while. I've been busy and distracted... and kind of lazy. But really, why make excuses?

Levi has been doing great with EC! I am totally amazed at times that he has chosen to hold his elimination (moreso poops than pees) for the toilet. We EC both into his little potty but then I also hold him over the big toilet. Mainly because I am lazy and I just want to be able to flush it instead of dump out his potty and then rinse it. See, I'm lazy :) I think the next step is when he is able to sit up on his own I will purchase a toilet insert so he can sit on the big toilet without me having to strattle it and hold him there.

I have decided he's going to start getting solids on a regular basis. Every morning and every afternoon/evening-ish I am going to start giving him a little bit of oatmeal. I have heard so many viewpoints about what to introduce first to Levi that I have decided to go with what my doctor recommends (especially since we are about to go to his 6 month appointment!) Cereal. It's easy and I think it will be safe. I gave him a few egg yolks but I wasn't sure about the iron content of them, and I keep reading all this stuff about iron, so I am giving him the baby iron-fortified cereal. Maybe this introduction to solids will help him sleep through the night a little better. We will see.

It's been sporadic as far as sleeping through the night goes. Last night we woke up at 11. I had been asleep for probably about an hour so I was so disoriented that all I could do was stumble in and nurse him, no clear thoughts, no nothing. Then he woke up again at 4, so I fed him again and he went back to sleep until about 7:30. I have decided that I am going to stop EC-ing him in the middle of the night. This might get him used to pooping in the middle of the night and I am tired of EC-ing at this time. It wakes me up too much. If it is just nursing I fall asleep a lot easier than if I'm up and have to think etc...

As far as his naps go, it's hard to keep him awake for more than 2 hours, unless there is a lot of stimulation. He gets so fussy after about an hour and a half that I just have to lay him down again. He sleeps for another hour to two hours and then we go through the same cycle. I've been reading this book called "The Sleep Lady's Good Night Sleep Tight" thanks to my friend Alicia and I think that I need to get him on a little more of a schedule. I so often throw out any kind of schedule that I go the other way and I think we are starting to need a little more consistency.

I am also trying to introduce or get him attached to a "Lovey" a little giraffe blanket stuffed-animal toy that he can take to bed with him. I put it in his free arm while we nurse and then lay him down with it for naps and bedtime. I have to sit and watch him though or else he will totally cover his face with it and then be frustrated because he can't breathe! Oh my, all the things to think about with a little one.

There's my update! Hope you enjoy!

Okay, so all day I have been wanting to post about this morning's craziness! I was nursing Levi and he just felt like he was really super full, but he wasn't pooping and his nursing was slowing down, I wasn't near empty. So I took his diaper off, he didn't complain and I put him on his toilet and immediately he pooped and peed, it was like he was waiting for it! My husband came in and I told him about it. Levi had stopped for a bit so I assumed he was done. His diapers were in the wash so I took the diaper out from under him to actually put on him (a cloth one) and had a fleeting thought of putting him on his potty again. I sort of was looking at how much he had pooped, got distracted and like 5 seconds later he pooped everywhere! I mean, more like directly at my poor husband who was sitting there and playing with Levi. It shot out like 6 inches ... it was ridiculous! So we had to get the carpet cleaner and wipe it all up.

Lesson: I should have gone with my guts again that he might need to poop again. Now I won't be so quick to take him off and be quicker to put him on his toilet :)

So today has been a success and an unsuccess. I don't take myself too seriously if you can't tell already. :) I'm just excited about this process of teaching him to go on the toilet, this process of communicating and learning about what his little body needs and doesn't need.

He has been so fun and interesting to get to know. It's all just a process that feels like forever sometimes, and sometimes feels like passes by so quickly.

I am disappointed to miss the La Leche League Friday morning... I was hoping to talk to some of the other EC moms some more, oh well, it will come around again next month.

I need to get a wool blanket so I won't have to worry so much about my carpet during diaper free time.

I also want to get some infant training pants. I was thinking about making them but then my mom suggested getting the smallest I could find and altering them... that might be easiest, I'm not sure. Is $7 expensive for infant potty training pants? I'm not sure. I'll look online I guess.

Levi's going through a growth spurt. He's 4 months as of last Tuesday. Bout time for that. I feel like I'm nursing all the time. I think he might be kind of teething too :(