Levi is hardcore teething right now. We couldn't figure out why he was so fussy, we tried just putting him in his room for a little bit, he'd had a good nap, he wasn't hungry... Then we were in the living room and he started chewing on the fireplace. Yes, like the brick fireplace, we could hear his little teeth scratching on it as he chewed. So we were like, oooooh, so that's it. He's teething. Now it's Baby Tylenol, some juice, part of a muffin (which I would have never let him eat earlier, but now it's comfort food for him... I'm totally starting that mess early:)) and we'll see what else we can do to make him more comfortable.

He's been pooping more often and hasn't had one in his potty in a few days. This means I get to clean up his cloth diapers... which means I've been spending a lot of time with the commode. It makes me think of when I have just thrown up and I'm looking at all this nasty debree in the toilet. Anyone who does cloth diapers ever feel that way? How do you keep from wanting to puke? I don't know.

The area around his high chair is a constant minefield of cheerios, green beans, whatever he can accidentally push onto the floor... I think it's an accident.

We are working on having him sleep through the night. This means that we let him cry it out when he decides to wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning. It's difficult right now because it would be easier to just nurse him for 15 mins instead of listening to him cry for 30 or 45 mins. Well, we don't necessarily listen to him cry, we just look at the monitor and see if the lights are flashing or not. I think he'll adjust though in just a few nights, that's my prediction because that's about how long it took last time we had to go through this. We'll see.

I'm learning to discipline him for his own good. It's strange because it feels not quite right, to let him cry or to spank him when he's grabbing an electrical cord. It doesn't FEEL right to have to do these things. But I don't think that discipline will always be a feel good thing, in fact, I'm pretty sure it will never feel good to discipline him. But I'm praying that God will give me a heart to do what is best for my children, whatever that may be.

... a poop story :)

Okay, so I'm sitting here and reading my Diaper Free Baby book (which I haven't picked up in months I might add) and I thought, I need to post. I need to post because I have a poop story from this morning. From this morning before I left for church, everything was going to be perfect... and then it wasn't.

Well, I was going to play on the worship team this morning so I would have to leave our house at about 7:15. Levi needed to nap from 8:30 to 10:30 or something like that. He had woken up to nurse at 3 (not cool) and then I got up at 6, determined that he would be up by 6:30 so he would go down for a nap. So, I woke him up, nursed him and then decided to try and potty him. I made up a song to sing about tee teeing on the potty and good morning and all that, I try to take him to his potty in the morning just so see if he will get a poopy out or something. About half the time he goes. Well, this morning he went! I was so excited! Now Ben wouldn't have to change a poopy diaper and everything would be perfect! (I wanted this morning's "guy time" without mom to be enjoyable for both of them) I thought to myself "hm, I wonder if Levi's really done pooping, it didn't take that long and he didn't go yesterday, so what if he's not finished." Of course I didn't follow my thought, I just looked at how much he went and assumed he was done. So I gave him is hard-earned diaper free time while I washed out his potty, then after cleaning it and wiping it dry I pranced into our room to announce to Ben that Levi went poo poo on the potty. When I came out into the living room ... let's just say it was mortifying. Levi had finished his poop and was now playing in it. Oh my goodness! So I grabbed him, stuck him in the bathtub and Ben went for the carpet cleaner. Poor Ben! He rolled out of bed and the FIRST thing he had to do was clean up poop out of the carpet. Let's just say I have a wonderful husband.

So that's my poop EC story. Needless to say, Levi has pooped two more times today (apparently he had a lot in there) I'm hoping he doesn't have what his cousin had and start pooping five times a day... not cool. We'll see.

Have a great day with your potties!

Levi went pee pee on the potty this morning. :) Just thought I would share that. I try to put him on it at least once a day, preferably when he first wakes up from a nap, that's usually when he needs to empty his bladder. I have caught a few poops in the past few weeks, it's usually about one or two a week.

So EC has become something that we just do. It's not like I tell everyone I know that I'm potty training my 8-month-old, not everyone wants to hear it, and I guess a lot of people already kind of know. My goal with EC is not necessarily to have Levi "potty trained" by a certain age, I think more than anything my goal is just to learn to be in tune with what is going on in his little body. To really be aware of his needs whether it's a need to be fed, snuggled, put to bed, changed or put on the potty. Needless to say I am nowhere perfect in these areas. I feel as though I have been challenged in this aspect of my relationship with him... It's like it's another guess. I'm wanting him to be aware of his needs as well, that he would know that tee tee goes in the toilet, "poop does not feel good in your diaper, so signal to mommy that you need to go." I talk to him about these things and I figure one day he will understand, hopefully sooner than I think. :)

Days are full of interruptions, this post was interrupted as well, but I'm okay with that. Kids are kids and it's time for me to die to myself. It's not easy FOR SURE, but it's good. I'm trying to ready myself for interruptions for the rest of my life now, Lord, make me and mold me.

trusting God

Life is still in crazy-mode as we came back from vacation. This past weekend we had all of my immediate family in town. It was so good to see them and they were all really excited to see Levi. As the first grandchild on my side he gets most of the attention (when he's awake and with us). Watching my younger brother, he's 23, play with Levi was a highlight. He is so good with Levi, even holding him and keeping him entertained when Levi was fussy and we were all playing a game. I know that he will make an awesome dad someday.

Today I was reminded about how much children are a blessing. The Lord is the One who opens and closes the womb. He is our provider in that way. I don't know, just in general that sense came over me and I need to count myself fortunate to be able to bear children. Yes, children are a hassle and they make things a little more complicated, but they are huge blessings and should not be taken for granted.

Another personal note: I have lost a total of 45 pounds since Levi was born. I am now officially below my pre-pregnancy weight. It only took 8 months, many midnight hours, a few skipped desserts, some semi-regular walking, a lot of patience, a lot of feedings, postponing solids, some pumping, some oatmeal, in general trying to stay active, a couple of health-streaks and then just normal living in between. It's funny because I thought I would have to reach this weight or something below it in order to be "acceptable" but it turns out that I was acceptable as I was and the weight just came off in other ways instead.

Anyways, what I am trying to say is that I wish I knew all along that I was accepted and I needed to trust God before I got into all this other stuff.

I think Levi's finally dropping his third nap! Eight months old and down to just two naps... am I getting my life back? I don't know. He's also starting to sleep through the night WAY better. When we were on vaca he thought it was a great idea to wake up about every two or three hours, no fun buddy! But the night we got home he slept for 11 hours straight! I was worried that he was okay when I got up. He must've gotten worn out from all those midnight arousals :) My little man is a home-body. He was so excited when we got home he was just crawling around and laughing and waving his arms, ecstatic that we were back in our own house! Haha!

The funny thing is that he almost seems to do better on the road. We have more poops in the potty at least, so I don't know. He pooped on my mom's adult toilet the other day when we stopped by and then pooped on the potty other times on vacation. But he's gone in his diaper at least once since we've been home. He's had some pees on his little potty, that's usually best because of the splash guard. It's so nice now that he can sit up on it on his own. I usually just hold his hands so he doesn't stick them down there while he's tee-tee-ing. TMI? I know, but that's why you read this blog, so that you can know all there is to know about my infant potty training experience.

I've been keeping a log of my daily activities. This is part of a homemaking Bible study I'm doing. It's really interesting to see what all I do all day. I think something about being accountable to a notebook has kept me up in my household duties. I'm looking at incorporating a daily planning system into my life with a good old-fashioned paper planner. :) Computers and I don't always see eye to eye and my phone isn't that tech savvy ... we'll see. I'll let you know how that all works out for me!

So we are ECing on the road this week. We are in sunny Florida visiting a good, long-time friend of mine. She is on the road to having a baby around Levi's birthday, so they will be a year apart :) I'm totally excited about this and as I hear her different aches/pains and joys/excitement, I can totally relate. She talks about being hungry and I am reminded that I had this phrase: the beast within is growling! Ben said I shouldn't call our sweet little baby a beast and I told him that he could call it whatever he wanted I just needed some food! Especially Cheez-Its. :)

So we have been playing in the sand and the ocean. I've been trying to be careful about him not getting saltwater splashed in his face so he wouldn't hate it. He seems to absolutely LOVE the sand. When I sat him down in it he looked at it for a minute and then put his hands right in it and held it up to examine it. After doing this a few times he decided it was time for a taste-test. Um, no. I took his hand away from his mouth and said no. A few minutes later he tried it again so I thought, well, maybe if he tastes it he will see how bad it tastes and then not put it in again. Wrong! He loved the way it tasted and the way it chewed. Another mom was there and told me it wouldn't hurt him as long as he only ate a little bit.

After a while he got tired so I was able to just hold him in the shade of the umbrella in a towel and he slept amazingly. It was so peaceful with the breeze and the sound of the waves and in the shade it was the perfect temperature. Best of all, Levi was fast asleep in my arms. Yes, he was covered with sand, but he was sleeping perfectly. It was so peaceful and beautiful. I wish I had a picture I could post of it but I forgot my camera. Sad day.

Well, since we got here Levi has both pooped and peed in Leah's toilet 3 times. He only pooped in his diaper once or twice I think. I was truly amazed at this. He hasn't pooped at home on a toilet in a while and here he decides that he wants to do it. I would think that being on the road would have thrown him off, but it seems he is doing just the opposite.

He has also just been a really good baby in general. He is so good-natured with other people and just loves the social interaction. He was amazing on the plane. He nursed or sucked on a bottle all the way up, slept in the air and then nursed all the way down on both our flights. He pooped in his diaper during our layover. Right before we were supposed to board actually so I just threw all politeness out the window and changed him in the corner of the terminal area. I didn't want to waste my time with going to the bathroom. Glad I didn't have to change him on the plane :) That would have been rough!

Okay, so that's my EC experience. Levi is 8 months as of a few days ago. I'm so thankful for such a sweet little baby.

New post here! You all thought I had quit hadn't you? I decided I would do this blog so that I would have some good accountability and motivation to keep going even through the rough times of EC.

I seriously did think that Levi had no idea what was going on for a while there but then Sunday proved me wrong. We were traveling in the car all day long and in the middle stopped at my brother and sister-in-law's house in Fayetteville. I was nursing him in the back room and knew I needed to change him. I thought, why not? Why not just try to potty him? All I've got to lose is a few moments of walking over there and holding him over the potty. Well, his first full solid poop was on their toilet. I told them they should be proud! Haha! I don't even know what my family really thinks! They smile and laugh so I guess it's okay. For sure it kept him from pooping in his diaper in the car when it would really stink and be so uncomfortable for him. What's more is that when we finally got home that night he pooped on the potty again! I was amazed. So my EC energy is back and I'm working hard on him.

My newest problem is his strength. He likes to stiffen up like a board and refuse to bend his knees when I am trying to put him on the potty. This morning he absolutely refused to I gave in, thinking that he didn't need to go. A few seconds after I did so a little fountain came right out on my leg! I was so mad! What a little goober... I didn't get too mad at him I just told him that was inappropriate and went ahead and made his little sound, but I think he could tell I wasn't happy about WHERE he had peed. I try to be clear in my body language toward him in these times. When talking to kids I always try to communicate like they can understand but then give them the benefit of the doubt if they didn't fully seem to grasp something. I will often talk to children like they are adults using the same vocabulary and articulation. I do talk baby talk with Levi and babies just to be sweet though. But if I am going to communicate about something I want to always be clear, I want to challenge them in their understanding.

Okay, so that's my communication philosophy :) And this concludes this post of my EC experience. Hope you all enjoyed sharing my adventures.