she pees and poops in the potty! (an extended post on early potty training)

**oh my! i have so neglected this blog - which i will probably continue to do. but, i was going to post this several months ago and failed to. (this post was written on 4/20/11 to be exact - when lillian was about 18 months old). because several people have asked me for our potty training "technique" or "story" i am going to go ahead and share this post - even though it is waaayyy late. enjoy*

all of a sudden, i feel like one of those braggy mcbraggerson mothers. you know the ones. "oh, little henry. he just loves to recite shakespeare, and he is so good at it." or "oh, little lisa, she just loves the blue book. she's had it memorized since she was two." and, "oh, little harrison, he just can't stop dividing everything by pi."

you get where i'm going.

but, at the risk of being one of those, i must say, "oh, my little lillian, she pees and poops on the potty. and, she looks so darn cute in her big girl panties! did i mention that she also does the laundry and the dishes now?"

(okay, so some of that is untrue).

i just can't help but be proud of lillian's latest accomplishment. i know that most people thought i was a little crazy introducing toilet training so young - 17 months!!!. i was doubted (even by bradford) (even by myself at times). but, victory is ours!

and, now, i will tell you all about how we got where we are. you may not care. and, that's okay. you can just scroll down and see lillian's potty pictures. or, if you don't want to see them (and, you might not - after all, it is just a girl and her potty), then leave already!

here goes nothing:

we introduced the potty several months ago after i read "the diaper free baby" by christine gross-loh. we are lucky to live in an area that houses many different viewpoints and philosophies on things like parenting. there is a rather large natural parenting and attachment parenting contingent, which i am happily plugged into. and, the idea of elimination communication (or "EC") has been discussed on more than one occasion in these groups. this is how the above book first came into my radar.

for those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of EC, here it is in short: it is a method by which the caregiver(s) of a baby (starting in early infancy in many cases) learns to read the babies cues about when it needs to eliminate (poop and pee people!) and helps the baby to eliminate in proper places (like a toilet). basically, this method emphasizes good communication and a closeness between caregiver and baby.

i am guessing that most readers of this blog find the idea of EC a little crazy. i did. i'll admit it. i didn't understand why people would do this or how they did it or what difference it made, etc. etc. And, I still don't entirely understand these things. in theory, the idea of EC made sense to me. after all, it is in line with almost all of the other parenting decisions i have made (or have tried to make) since before lillian was born - natural childbirth, extended breast-feeding, co-sleeping, homemade baby food, baby wearing, and on and on. (gosh, i feel crunchy!). and, EC is, in a sense, "international." you know how i love to feel international (especially canadian - boy, do i want to be canadian!).

but, i digress. anyway, after reading the book, i was not convinced that EC in total was for us. but, i was convinced of a few things. first, i became convinced that being allowed to work on "pottying skills" was an important step in a child's development and, that, unfortunately and for whatever reason (i have theories, but don't get me started!), parents in the united states unnecessarily delay this step. second, i became convinced that all of the "starting too early can cause severe emotional trauma" hype was - in a word - absurd. of course, potty-training at any age can cause severe emotional trauma. but, this is dependent on circumstances that have little to do with the child's age. third, after reading "diaper-free before three," by jill lekovic, i became completely convinced that almost all that you hear about the need to "wait until the child is ready (read, until the child is well over two)" is completely unfounded by medical literature.

in short, i decided to make this parenting decision like i have made most - study a bit. think a bit. and, then, go with what feels right.

it just didn't feel right to make lillian keep dumping in her pants. i don't want to dump in my pants. neither do you. and, i knew that if she knew any different and had any choice about it, she wouldn't either.

so, we bought her a potty. and, we sat her on it a few times a day. then, we started letting her run around without clothes on a few times a week for a few hours. this experiment resulted in the following:

at first, she would pee right on the floor and go about her business like she just hadn't wet my rug.

then, we noticed her start to notice. she would look down - clearly surprised that pee was running down her leg and puddling on the floor.

then, she would start to tell us. "oh no, pee pee on floor."

then, she would start to try and stop it mid-stream- saying all the while, "oh no, pee pee on floor! lillian pee peed on floor."

then, one day, she started sitting on her potty and peeing into it. you would hear her - "potty, where'd are you?"

of course, after every peeing on the floor incident, i would take her over to her potty and ask her to sit down. she would sit. then, i would say, "pee pee should go in here. try to pee pee in the potty" (or, something along those lines). i just wanted her to connect peeing with the potty.

that was pee. poop was easier. a light switch just turned on one day about poop and the rest was history.

so, that's the story. and, here are some pictures.

every little bit helps | raffle for alabama

most of you have heard through the grapevine (or Facebook, which is the modern grapevine i guess) that i am hosting a raffle to benefit the disaster relief effort in alabama. if you've heard. excellent. donate!

if you haven't heard, please visit my business website for more information (and, then, donate!).

i know many of you do not live in the dc metro area and/or are not interested in a session with me. that's okay. if you are in mobile, enterprise, or birmingham and you win the big prize, i can do your session when next i come to town. if you just aren't interested in a session with me, that's okay too. there are other great prizes. not interested in those? that's okay. i know all of you are generous people who don't care about prizes and such. doing good is good enough prize for you. and, i thank you for that and for your donation ;)

(really, go check it out. i have raised $500 already! and, a huge thanks to all of you who have already donated. it is appreciated!)

CLICK HERE for more information or go HERE to make a donation and skip the fine print

p.s. a post about lillian's potty adventures is coming your way shortly. stay tuned for that. happy saturday!

happy easter!

this morning, we visited the del ray farmer's market (and helped ourselves to a family favorite - homemade apple cider donuts) before stopping in at st. elmo's coffee shop for lattes.

then, lillian and i went to see the easter bunny and hunt easter eggs at eclectic nature, our neighborhood garden shop. lillian loves the easter bunny and is obsessed with easter eggs. this is her second easter egg hunt this season. as you can see from the photos, she prefers to open the eggs immediately to see "the prize" before chucking them into her basket.

i hope that everyone is having a happy easter! here are a few photos - enjoy!

let's make art people!

i tend to get out of whack without some sort of schedule. a calendar.

you see. i need structure.

when things have their place in the week, then i can be in the moment without worrying about what i should be doing or what might not be getting done.

i see the irony in the fact that i need a schedule to be "in the moment." don't judge.

because i had a difficult time last season managing my time between the business and home, I decided to really stay on top of it this spring/summer. to be proactive. to book only as much business as i could realistically handle on part-timeish hours. to not let it take over my life.

because, after all, the business was supposed to be a part-time deal. lillian is what i consider to be my full-time job. she, at this point in our lives, is my priority. bradford and i thought a good deal about what it meant for us as parents for me to stay home with her, and we made a decision that this was best. for her. for me. for our family.

so. the point. i made a schedule. a calendar. no hour to hour instructions, only general day to day notes about how to spend the week. for example, wednesday is craft day.

lillian loves to "play paint." she asks to play paint all the time. sometimes, we play paint outside on the sidewalk. sometimes, we play paint on the kitchen floor. (the magic eraser is a dream come true by the way). she hearts paint.

and, i heart my new schedule.

i leave you with some photos of our little family. littles mcgeezy is much loved.

happy tuesday.

[p.s. yes, i realize the photos in this post are different sizes. i have no idea why. it bothers me. it does. but, after spending too much time on trying to fix the problem, i decided to move on. to leave it be as they say. so, sorry.]

[p.p.s. this post is dedicated to ryan sanders who randomly messages me to ask when i am going to update the blog. thanks ryan for keeping me honest. ;) ]

these days

lillian is loving life.

she is learning so much.

she speaks in sentences regularly. she parrots everything you say. and, i do mean everything. (my road rage and foul mouth have been parroted back to me as of late. wonderful.)

she still loves stuffed animals and completely ignores baby dolls. right now, she is napping upstairs with no less than seven stuffed animals. she wants them all. her favorites: monkey doggie, doggie, other doggie, and monkey.

she loves loves playing hide. she hides herself under covers, in our closet, in the bathroom cupboard and then says "lillian where'd are'd you?". very cute. she will wait quietly wherever she is for a long period of time before revealing herself. patience is a virtue. she also hides her stuffed animals. at nap time, I have to go on a scouting mission to find them - checking all of the regular hiding spaces for them.

sometimes, when she is supposed to be napping, i hear her saying, "monkey, where'd are'd you?" or "doggie lie down. doggie sleep. doggie, where'd are'd you."

she still loves rolling around the block in her car. she does not prefer to be carried, strolled, or the like. she wants to walk. which, can be slow. and frustrating. but, she is independent, and I like that about her.

she still plays quietly by herself a lot. she will read a book while i am reading a book - lying on the floor with her legs crossed in the air. she does not need to be entertained in the least. i like that about her too.

she is learning to use a potty. although, i am not sure much progress has been made on that front. i will keep you posted. we still cloth diaper and all that jazz. my hope though is that she will soon be out of diapers all together.

she loves doggies - still. and monkeys. and ducks. she goes nuts over airplanes. we go to the air and space museum regularly to see all of the airplanes. we also live near enough to reagan national airport that she sees airplanes all of the time landing and taking off. she screams - "airplane!" and smiles a huge smile, which is cute. this is always helpful in the car - airplane spotting is our favorite in the car pastime.

she has a sense of humor. she is always saying that this or that is "funny" - and, most of the time, it is. if she hears bradford and me laughing about something she will fake laugh and say "funny." i love that about her.

she does not care to have her photo taken. it is rare that she actually looks at the camera when i whip it out. but, that's okay. i don't care to have my photo taken either.

what else?

just so you don't get to thinking that she is the most perfect child you know, here are a few things that drive me nuts.

first, she likes to walk on her own everywhere. i know i said this already, but, its important that you understand how annoying this can be. especially when you are in a crowded place. especially when you are in an airport.

second, she does sometimes throw fits. she will fling herself down on the floor crying, which can be funny. but, most of the time, it is frustrating. (but, then, sometimes frustrating things are actually funny if you have any perspective at all).

she has started running away from me when she knows that i am about to take something away from her. she knows that she isn't supposed to have whatever it is that she has. when i lock eyes with her she says "no no!" and runs.

but, really, that's it. otherwise she is perfection on a stick. and, i love that about her.

that is the obligatory summary of little's development at present.

as for us, we are busy. as usual. we hosted a play date at the house this morning, which was fun. last weekend, we went to the zoo, which was crowded. it was such a beautiful day that it didn't surprise me. but, it did remind me of how crazy it gets around here (mainly in the district) in the spring and summer months. tourists tourists everywhere. i absolutely loved the winter months at the museums. there is something wonderful about an almost completely empty (relatively speaking) museum. but, oh well. perhaps the tradeoff - warm weather - is worth it. we will see.

this weekend i begin outdoor portrait sessions again. time to get back on the horse. and, saturday is my birthday. i am old. its official. the big 29. yikes.

until next time, here are some photos I took of lillian at the zoo last weekend.

tonight littles

came over and gave me an unprompted and unexpected long hug. very sweet. i said, "thanks littles. i love you." and, she said, "love you mommy." oh. how sweet. my heart still hurts. as does my toe. because, after the hug she crawled over all stealthily* like a ninja and bit me on the toe. she found this incredibly funny. as did i. but, i tried not to laugh. i don't want to encourage toe biting. i am pretty sure that random toe biting isn't socially acceptable.

*stealthily may or may not be a word. i don't care either way.

nothing cures a busted face

like a vegan cupcake.

for all of those who've shown concern for little's little face, thanks so much! she is doing wonderfully. she does have a mark on her chin (exhibit A above) and the remnants of a fat lip, but other than that she doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear.

today was supposed to be julie's last day here,* so we headed down to the national harbor, which has a "cake love" bakery. they make vegan cupcakes. littles eats vegan cupcakes. it was a match made in heaven.

*did you catch the "supposed to be" above? we took julie to the airport tonight only to discover that her flight was delayed by an hour and a half - which would have caused her to miss her connection in atlanta. she is spending another night here with us. we are happy to have her!

goodbye for now.