Okay, so today has officially been and "unsuccessful day" I categorize a success as anything in the potty. Actually, now that I put it that way, I can't count today as unsuccessful. Today Levi pooped all over his pee pad (so thankful it didn't get on the carpet) and then I put him on his potty and he pooped about the size of a dime. So I guess that was sort of a success. Not really.

My standards are low so that on days like today I won't feel so bad and on good days like yesterday and the day before I will be soaring. And because I am working with a baby. :)
I'm working with a baby and he is only 16 weeks out of the womb, therefore, my standards need to be low. This is what I need to remind myself of in these moments when he is tired and I am tired and I just want to break down and cry in the midst of his screams. I need to step back and re-focus.

Re-focus on what is my goal? What are my intentions? Am I putting too much pressure on him? Am I offering the potty too often, not often enough? Am I keeping a loose eye on the clock? Is he well-rested? Does he have a rash? Stepping back seems like a healthy thing right now. Not quitting, I won't quit or throw in the towel all together, but I will just lay all these troubles down at the Father's feet and remember that His mercies are new every morning. Or just that His mercies are new after every nap time :)

Lord, give me strength for today. Your grace is sufficient for this impatient, overtired mommy. Teach me to love him as You have loved me. Let him grow into a strong man of faith and love. Let him be full of compassion and mercy for those around him. May he stand in fear of the Lord and lead others from sin into the beauty of knowing You and Your death on the cross. Thank you for perspective Lord. Thank you.

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.