You’ve been warned.
Despite a rather long break from ECing with Joseph because of preparing for the move, moving and traveling in Ireland, Joseph hasn’t forgotten how to use the potty. In fact, he quickly surpassed his previous skills and it still amazes me what he can do. I marvel at it, really. Our nine-month-old baby crawls to me saying “mamama” in a fussy tone when he needs to pee. Then he waits until Mommy gets it and puts him on the potty where he does his business. I might add that his favorite position is holding his hose, which I’m not sure is a good thing or not. Mostly he keeps it pointed downwards, only once he got a surprise . . .
He doesn’t go #2 as often as before, which means that I can tell when it’s about to come and usually it’s in the morning so we catch it right after he wakes up. But sometimes he can wait for me if I’m lazy getting out of bed. Amazing. It’s still amazing to me because sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes he happily poo on the floor smiling up at me or he’ll refuse to use the potty even though it’s been two hours. At those times no sooner do I take him off the potty than he goes on the floor! It’s times like those that I realize he’s just nine months and that would be considered normal, but I get frustrated because I know he has control at least sometimes. Now I’d say he has control and is willing to communicate most of the time. That’s incredible! I’ve gotten bold. The other day we only missed one pee from wake-up to 2pm. Yesterday I went shopping with Joseph in the sling on my back wearing no diaper. We were gone an hour and toward the end he got fussy and I felt something warm and wet at the small of my back. As soon as we got home I took him out and realized it was just my sweat. I put him on the potty and he went! I’m really enjoying that he can communicate rather clearly about his need to go. It’s no longer just a feeling (though that plays a part, too). If I’m not sure I show him the potty and ask if he wants to go and if he smiles and reaches for it then he goes but if he doesn’t putting him on it is futile! I’ve started signing more with him, but not as much as I should. If I’d be signing from the beginning I’m sure he’d be starting to sigh by now. But there’s no better time to start than now!
I think I’ve failed to mention elsewhere that he is very stable on his feet now. He shows no interested in standing without a hand grip, but he is very able to lower himself down to a comfortable position. He can catch himself when he falls and he knows where the edge of the bed is and how to slide off sideways. Being a Mom is an amazing job!
Go, Joseph! (Your little cousin is watching you...or at least her mom is.)
Go, Janet!
"Being a Mom is an amazing job!" It sure is. Good job, Janet and Joseph!
The night I wrote this we caught Joseph indicating he needed to pee on video. Check out the before and after videos on Stephan's blog.
http://www.morbidcornflakes.ch/thduggies_blog/?p=295
I realized I didn't say much about how it works on a daily basis, which might be interesting to those who are trying EC themselves or for my future reference. Nothing is as simple as it sounds. Joseph is in underwear most of the day (size 2T was the smallest we could get but it works). I don't hover. Especially in the morning Joseph is happy playing by himself even in another room. He crawls to me either breathing heavily or whining "mama" when he needs to go. Sometimes he gets distracted and doesn't inform me (or I miss the cue), but it's not so often. More frustrating is when I know he needs to go and then we won't. We've started reading books on the potty, and that keeps him entertained enough to stay on it long enough to go. (Even though he cues, he often isn't patient enough to sit doing nothing until the pee comes!) He goes 1/3 a cup about every hour, but as little as 20 minutes and as much as 2 hours.
