I am beginning to think that EC is like long distance running. You will hit a wall and it will hurt, but you just have to push on through it. You kind of back off your stride for a little while, but don't give up, just keep going and then you will get a burst of energy. At least, that's the way it is for me. Some days I just want to throw in the towel. But for some strange reason I don't. I just think to myself, "Well, I will put him on the potty just for now, just one last time..." and then he goes. It's like I reach the point of exhaustion and then my second wind comes sailing in.

Levi has been really good today. I love good days. He had a poopy diaper this morning, but that was really it. This afternoon after a feeding I tried him and he peed, twice. then I put his diaper on him, waited about an hour and half, he got fussy so I laid him down and I could tell that wouldn't work... I just could tell, mother's intuition? I don't know. So I nursed him. He likes to feed twice before going down. But he was pretty well awake after I fed him and so I just put him on the potty and he pooped and peed! Then I put him down, putting the same diaper back on him because it was completely dry. He slept, woke up, fed, and then I put him on the potty again and he pooped again. Before I put him to bed around 8 I pottied him again and he peed. It has been a really really good day.

So, no complaints, but I'm not getting too comfortable. I'm just thankful that we were able to save a few more diapers since we weren't doing cloth today. And I think he was just happier in general.

Thank you! Hope you are having good experiences as well.

Ah the joys of EC! Who would have thought? Only in the life of a proud mommy! A cloth-diapering mommy who has one less diaper to wash... yeah!

I'm crazy.

Been taking pictures of Levi on his potty. It's pretty fun. It has been fun to tell others about this adventure and have them join me. I would like to thank Lindsay though, because I think without her influence I would not have even thought about it. Thank you sister in Africa, you are an inspiration to us all.

I pray that this passion for teaching my son continues as I teach him about the Lord and how God created him fearfully and wonderfully. That my passion for his knowledge of the Father would far surpass any kind of potty training. Until then, I will continue to pray for him and love him in the best way that I can.

I woke Levi up again this morning. He had a couple of toots, but I still decided to nurse him or else he would scream while on the potty. Potty-ing before food does not work for Levi, he will have none of it. But he held it until we were finished. I put him on his potty, made the noise and he started pushing.

Can I just say that I'm amazed by him? He's so little and young and already has this natural instinct? God is amazing. He created us fearfully and wonderfully. Levi and his little personality already starting to show, the growth that has taken place in his life thus far, his little smiles, his movements... God is amazing and I am in awe.

I was just thinking about this yesterday, I want to literally tell everyone about this potty training thing. It's like the best kept secret. I heard a statistic that the average family spends 2500 dollars in diapers in a child's life. Much more I'm sure as the child gets older and continues not to be potty trained. Now, cloth diapers help, but you still have to wash and dry them, so that's money in water and electricity... I think about this EC thing and it's the best idea! It's much cleaner than having to clean poop off your child's bottom. When Levi poops on the potty, I hardly have to wipe him at all, when he poops in his diaper it is all over his bottom. It's economical and it's logical. If you're a stay at home mom, you have to deal with poop all day long, why not just get it directly in a potty where you won't have to touch it? You can just dump it out and rinse out the potty.

Even working moms I think could do it. They can just put their child on the toilet in the morning and in the evening, make the noise and if they go they go. At least they become used to sitting on the toilet. They will get it sooner or later. I think it's more psychologically damaging to train them to be completely unaware of their bowel movements and need to pee until they are two or even three... I am sorry if I have offended anyone, but I just had to go on another rant today. Just thinking about it gets me kind of excited and all. :) I'm totally weird... I KNOW! :)

My new favorite thing? Update the blog. You may think I am writing this to inform others of Levi's progress, but it is really just for me. :) This thing is like therapy for me. I have someone to tell about all of Levi's potties, because Ben doesn't always want to know. I can review what went wrong and what went right, I love it. :)

We have been keeping our windows open the past two nights because the weather is awesome! The only problem is that Levi gets cold. So I closed his door and his window and left the space heater on in there and he slept 10 hours last night! Yes, 10 hours. We woke up at six and I ran in his room, I guess I thought the space heater had overheated him and that he was suffocating and I had accidentally killed my child. Side note here: There are so many times when my mind thinks completely irrational thoughts of how Levi might have died in the night or during his nap with a blanket or a space heater or... who knows! Then I have to step back and think, "was that even logical?" Most of the time it's not. Maybe those fears are just part of being a new mommy.
Anyways, I woke Levi up at six, he opened his eyes and we fed and everything was great. I expected him to have overflowed his diaper cause usually he overflows the Fuzzi Bunz. But he hadn't. So I took it off and it was kind of light, very strange. I put him on his potty and he went seconds later. Poop then pee... Maybe I should wake him up each time... I didn't wake him out of a dead sleep or anything, but at least this time I didn't wait until he was crying before I went and got him.

Very interesting.

Well, I caught two out of four poops today... that's about 50 percent. And one of them I totally could have caught. After nursing him I just put him in his little chair so I could eat instead of changing him and sticking him on the potty. Oh well, my life doesn't revolve around EC.

I put him to bed around 7:30 tonight, this probably means that he will be up at 2 again. I sort of don't mind though. It means that I will wake up and not be in pain in the morning, it means I will have more time with just Ben and me tonight and that we will have more time in the morning because yesterday Levi didn't wake up til 8. What?! How awesome is that? For that, I will wake up in the middle of the night for a thirty minute feeding :)

Well, the timing thing worked again today! I noticed that he had a poopy diaper around 9:30 or 10 today so I had him just naked on the floor while I painted on his wall, waiting for the time. Then he started to cry like he was hungry. I have noticed his hungry cries have a little cough that goes with him. Sleepy cries are whiny sounding... I'm learning! So I fed him while just holding a cloth diaper under him. I hadn't showered so I didn't care if he would pee on me or not, but he didn't. While he was eating he kept looking up at me as though he had to poop, but I think he was holding it for me. So he had finished eating and I put him on his potty and made his noise and he immediately began to concentrate and push. I get tired so after a while I think about taking him off, but then I thought, "no, he is at least pushing, the only way I am taking him off this thing is if he stops." I let him kind of lean forward to push, I think that helps. In a few minutes he pooped! I was amazed! (I always am) :) So then we sat for another few seconds and cheered and I took him off and he was smiling and happy and we cooed and smiled that he had gone on the potty.

Crazy huh?

I am thankful I persevered through last week's depression. I am praising God for the revelation he gave me.

I hope this helps you all if you are thinking about EC-ing or whatever.

Thanks!

Well, this whole potty training experience is a mommy training experience too. I was getting frustrated because Levi wasn't pooping in his potty as much as before and I was quickly becoming disappointed in myself. Then tonight I realized that he just isn't pooping as much in general! I think before he was pooping about 6 times a day and now we are down to about 3... very interesting. I wanted so badly to catch a poop today I must have stuck him on his toilet like 30 times, no joke. Poor kid. Then I thought, what about the rhythms? Hasn't he pooped around 6:30 or 7 the past few nights? So I decided to try it. And it worked! My first poop in the potty since like Thursday!

I need to get a life... seriously.

I guess this is what being a mom is all about, the simple things, the little things that make our day. Little smiles and laughs, a good long nap, a sleeping baby through the busy grocery store. It's the littlest things that I never would have thought of before. How life changes when a child comes into the picture. I want to treasure these moments that I just get to sit on the floor and we just smile and laugh at each other. I love it how Levi smiles with his whole body, his eyes get big and his mouth comes open and his legs rock him back and forth as he gives a little squeal. Those are the best times. I am so fortunate, so blessed to be a mommy.

God continues to show me that I have no control over my life. I was reading in Matthew 23:12 today the scripture that says, "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." I was convicted anew of my own pride and my own desire for my self-exaltation. I want to learn to humble myself.

Thank you all for sharing in my thoughts today. I love you!