Joyful Learning in November

This is a bit late but I couldn't find any of the pictures and this isn't the type of post that is really worthwhile without pictures...but I found the folder stuck in another folder and now, here we are!

The first two weeks of November we learned about the 5 senses. This was so much fun and I finally got around to doing several Montessori activities that I had wanted to do for a while.

We started with touch. I'd seen the balloon matching game on several montessori blogs and it was a bit hit (I used salt, flour, popcorn, lentils and something else I can't remember :-). She could tell the difference just by looking so she liked to hide them under a diaper to make it trickier.

We also made a touch and feel city

 and did a "paint in a bag" activity. I wanted her to just play around but she wasn't feeling inspired so I got out her sandpaper letters and asked her to copy some. She knows most of her letters by sound and a few by name but this was our first try making them herself and she did really well.

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I stuck to the easy ones like o, t, i and c (c turned out to be hard since she kept completely the circle and then getting frustrated it wasn't right so I would suggest leaving that out at the beginning) but I was impressed by how attentive she was to getting them right. We also made lots of shapes.

For sound we went on a sound hunt. We went to several rooms of the house and found all the sounds we could I had originally planned for her to draw a picture for each sound but she ended up wanting me to. I had a few in mind for each room but she surprised me and found more than I did - my favorite part was when she wanted me to draw Jonah in every room because apparently, he is noisy wherever we go!

We also played stop and go dancing. When the music was on, she would dance,



when it was off, she would stop.



This is one activity that Jonah was allowed to participate in, although she told me that it was okay if he kept moving when the music was off because he didn't understand the rules. She's so understanding :-)

For sight, I made a tray with household items.



Then she would cover her eyes while I'd hide one and then she'd have to remember what I took away. She did pretty well and insisted on playing later with Craig. She also liked to play with being the guesser but she'd always blurt out the answer before I had a chance to guess. Its similar to our attempts to play hide and go seek. She's great at seeking, not so good at hiding. That's probably a good thing at this age though.

I combined taste and smell for our last day. We did some smelly painting (adding a few drops of essential oil to her tempera paint) and then made popcorn.

The popcorn was a good chance to review all the senses since she felt it before we added it to the pan, she had to listen and tell me when it was done popping, she saw the difference between the popped and unpopped corn then we smelled it and ate it.

I love this picture because she is sorting out the pieces she can't eat because they look like animals and are therefore her friends!

The next two weeks was Thanksgiving. We didn't do that much since we were all sick but I did print out some Thanksgiving themed tangram sheets. I told her the basic Thanksgiving story while she worked on these. She had done tangram printables before but this was the first time without the colors to help her but she still did fine. Now that I know she can handle that, the options for tangrams sheet freebies are much wider so I'm excited. And once we do one or two, she normally starts making her own patterns and will end up playing with the "copy pieces" all morning. I love them! (And so does she, despite the grumpy face she insisted on putting up for the camera)

Later one, when we were feeling a bit better, she made a handprint turkey out of beans and corn. I think you can tell she did this one all by herself (for a picture of what it is "supposed" to look like, see here)

We also made thankful turkeys to decorate our table.

I would not recommend this activity with younger kids. Maybe it was our glue but even I had trouble getting my feathers in place. Okay, that sounds sad so lets go with the glue theory but it was a good chance to go over things for which we were thankful.  At first, she just named whatever she could see - the lightbulbs, chairs, bananas - but eventually we got to some good ones like friends, family, snuggles and toys.

One day she asked to do school but I didn't feel good,so I made her a "turkey" sandwich.  But this led to a big of a communication issue the next day when I was really sick and Craig made her lunch. She kept asking for a turkey sandwich and he kept saying they didn't have any turkey. Her attempts to tell him to make a turkey sandwich out of peanut butter and honey didn't make sense to him until a few days later when I made her another. If only he had downloaded the pictures!

One things I've learned is to not always make everything so theme-y. One of the activity suggestions was to make fall placemats. I loved the idea of placemats but instead of doing a seasonal one, we made these to help Lucy learn to set the table correctly. It doesn't really have anything to do with Thanksgiving but it was fun and useful.

 I've also lessened the amount of themed books we read since I seemed to be settling for lesser quality because it worked with the theme and that was not my goal. I did get a couple books on the 5 senses and Thanksgiving but just a few which left us time to read The Little House and Tattercoats over and over and over again.

Joyful Learning in October

Back in September Lucy and I started doing the Hubbard's Cupboard curriculum - Joyful Learning. I hesitate to even call it a "curriculum" because for us it consists of a monthly playdough, a bible verse, songs and fingerplays, books and a few art projects.  (We skip a lot of the projects and the sensory bin and I add in other theme things I find). I also add in more bible stories/songs that relate to the theme. 

I've been thinking a lot about preschool type stuff lately and have a whole lot of thoughts on topics that I would love to talk about someday but right now I'm not only still processing how of things will actually work (as opposed to theories and concepts) and because I don't have the brain power to do that. Craig thinks "Mommy brain" is just an excuse but I am positive I lose at least 10 IQ points with each kid. Actual, my lack of brain power is why we are doing Joyful Learning. I don't have to think up anything unless I want to. And sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't.

My goal is not to even have her learn any of this stuff, although I'm assuming she will because she's not a rock, but to spend some one-on-one time with her. We do this during Jonah's naps - and yes, he naps like a champ in his co-sleeper which still amazes me every single day. Maybe someday I will get used to it and it won't seem like a big deal but I kinda like experiencing mini-miracles one to two times a day. We are really enjoying.the time together (I started calling it school because I didn't know what else to call it but as soon as I start getting Jonah ready for his nap Lucy will come up to me and telling me "I want to do fun stuff with you." Unlike a lot of the other "preschool curriculums" (FIAR, rock star, tot school)  I've heard about, I can't really find much documented about this program online so I thought I would put up summary posts every month. I also have a Joyful Learning Pinterest board that I'm using to hold all the theme-y things I find. 

There are one or two themes per month. September's were home and family which worked nicely as we were about increase ours (family, not house :-) I didn't get around to posting the pictures of those activities because of said increase in family size but here is what we did for October with its fall/pumpkins themes.

Pumpkin pie playdough!

Make a nature tote (decorate the bottom of a cereal box with fall colored construction paper)

Trying out our nature tote

Counting trees

For the first eight, I put the glue where she told me to then she stuck on the correct number of leaves but for number 9 and 10 she did it all herself so her trees look more like bushes.

I already documented our trip to the pumpkin patch but when I told Lucy she might find some non-orange pumpkins there, she got really excited about having a blue pumpkin. I tried to warn her that green and white might be the only other colors she would but she insisted there would be blue. Obviously, there were not really any blue pumpkins but not one to settle for a second best color, she asked if we could paint it blue.

I love her expression in this picture. She was very meticulous in her painting. 

We watched a video about how pumpkins grow as well as read a story about a hamster that grows a pumpkin then had fun with this Montessori pumpkin life cycle activity free from Montessori for Everyone.

Demonstrating how little the seeds are.

I hung up our art work as we went. Clockwise from top we have:

• Leaf rubbing banner.
• Pumpkin patch painting. Fists in orange paint where pumpkins, thumbs in green paint were leaves
• Orange pumpkin "book" This was one pinterest find that I wanted to do but we didn't have time for but then the next week we did it at storytime anyway. Kismet!
• An "acorn surprise" painting. Paint an acorn then put it in a plastic container lined with paper. Shake then reveal the surprise!
• Painting with fall colors 
• Counting tree shown above

I don't have any pictures but she really loved the songs this month and was often heard singing "The leaves fall from the trees!" Our library is hit and miss when it comes to their book selection so we didn't get to read all of the listed books but it was easy enough to find fall and pumpkin books. I also took some good ones from this list.

Also not shown was the fall tree snack Craig made for her. A lot of the theme snack options, both in JL and on pinterest, are not healthy so I was really excited to find a real food treat that was fun. She was also my helper in many of my pumpkin cooking endeavours  At first she didn't believe me when I told her the stuff in the can was pumpkin but eventually she came around. I just don't think you can do preschool without snacks, am I right?

So that was October.  I can't wait to share with you all the fun stuff we have planned for next month and from the look on her face, neither can Lucy!

Adventures in Early Potty Training: I'm a big kid now!

FYI: Lucy is 20 months old now but I began this post over a month ago, it's just taken me a while to get around to posting it. Its been a crazy month :-)

I'm calling it. Lucy is potty trained. And I must say, it feels pretty awesome.

We took a break from the whole thing while we were at my parents' for my mom's last few weeks and the funeral and all that. But when we got home and tried to find a rhythm again, we picked it back up and she did pretty well. We were even able to add underwear to the mix. Before then she did better naked, but at that point, she did better with underwear. Without it, she would sometimes just pee, clean it up and move on without batting an eye but she doesn't like to wet her undies.

We were at 2 accidents a day (with 5-7 successes, so still pretty good odds) for about a month. Then one day we went down to about an accident a day. It didn't matter what I did, it was once a day (but different times). Then a few weeks ago, she started making it almost all the time. Part of what helped is that she goes much longer between pees. From what I've read that happens not just from aging but because of the potty training process and it is good thing. It means that instead of just letting urine out whenever, she is holding it in and intentionally releasing it and emptying the bladder more fully. This is healthier and decreases her risk of getting a UTI.

That isn't the only change that prompted the "Potty Trained" label. Other include:

• She can wear pants now, which is helpful, although she still prefers to be sans clothing general (not potty related, she just a naked-time loving kid)

• Non-home potties are not evil and will use them if she has too although, like me, she would much rather not have to. This means we don't wear diapers out (I make exceptions for long car trip or plane rides but only until our trainer issue is resolved, a post for another day). We had taken small trips without diapers but yesterday (as in, 3 weeks ago:-) was our first big day out in underwear. We went to a church carnival, out for lunch, then the post office and Wal-mart. I really didn't think it was going to go that well especially after she didn't need to go at church with their toddler-sized potty, the one potty I was counting on her using (she loves that potty!). Luckily she told me at Chick-fil-a and we made it in time (it was kinda busy) so she actually made it through the whole trip dry! Of course, this meant I had to sing "the potty sitting song" in front of a larger audience than I prefer but we met the grandma who overheard us and she gave us a "good job" and a smile. I was so proud of Lucy though, it could have been a 15 year old rolling her eyes and I wouldn't have cared. My dignity is worth nothing compared to dry undies. 

• She's also been dry at nap times for well several months now so I finally stopped making her wear a diaper then. My main concern there is that our mantra has been "We only wear diapers when we sleep" and I didn't want her fighting me at bedtime just because she didn't have to wear them for naps. She still nurses at night and what goes in must come out so I think night training is going to be a while yet. 

We still have accidents every once in a while and I expect we will for a while. Mostly they occur because she is doing something really fun and doesn't want to stop. I've seen her stop playing Duplos, stand up and walk toward the bathroom, then stop and look back and forth between the potty and the toys. If I'm there, I just walk over, take her hand and say "potty break time." She looks relieved then, as if she wanted to go but couldn't. At 19 months, her self-control is still pretty limited.

I still go with her although she's doing more and more of the dressing/undressing and grooming aspects herself.  And I ask her if she hasn't gone in a couple hours but I'm trying to let her be more independent. I used to tell her it was time, and sometimes I do (like the situation above) but most of the time, I ask now. Although now that she has hit that "no" phase, I've had to change the way I ask. I realized that if she says she needs to go, she needs to go. If she says she doesn't, and she isn't doing anything fun or we are between activities, she probably doesn't. If she says she doesn't but is engaged with something neat, she might very well have to go so now I'll ask if she is dry. She'll pat her pants and say "Yes" and then go back to playing or run off to the bathroom because she wants to stay that way.

Overall, I think this method worked great for us and I'll probably be doing it again whenever baby #2 comes around. It took a while but it wasn't a lot of work, honestly the hardest part was thinking it through enough to write the blog posts :-), and she could either be 19 months old and still in diapers now or free and clean.

Toddler Tuesday: Potty Fun

I have a big post about potty progress coming up but as I was writing it, I kept thinking of fun potty moments that I wanted to share. Yes, potty training can be fun, if you don't mind a little bathroom humor (and if you do mind bathroom humor, you should stop reading at this point)

Now, when it comes to certain aspects of parenting, I'm pretty laid back. Stop laughing Craig, I said certain aspects. Yes, when it comes to if I'm doing a good job teaching, disciplining, meeting her needs, etc, I probably need to give myself more grace, but when it comes to other stuff, I'm way less type-A than I thought I would be. Here are two conversations that occurred in the last 72 hours:

Scene: Lucy is running around naked while I'm sitting on the couch covered in a blanket.
Grandpa: Isn't she cold?
Me: Probably not. She took her clothes off herself and if she wanted them back on, she'd ask for help.

Craig: Where did she get that granola bar?
Me: It was on the nightstand, I thought you gave it to her.
Craig: I found that under the bed.
Me: Oh, she dropped it down their yesterday while we were reading.
Craig: Is it okay for her to be eating it?
Me: Sure, it's organic.

See. You wouldn't even think she was our first, would you? And potty stuff is just another area I'm totally laid back about.  Craig has been known to call me from another room, slightly frantic, "She's peeing, she's peeing on the floor" as if I should come running. I would if it were blood or vomit but I just don't freak out about a little pee or poop. Maybe that is why I have had so much fun with Lucy. Toddlers are hilarious and they have no social inhibitions which only increases the laugh factor. So if you are finding yourself without a potty training toddler to bring amusement to your days, enjoy these:

• One phrase I use with Lucy is "listen to your body," especially when I can see that she needs to go but she doesn't want to. One time I took her to go and afterwards I said "doesn't it feel nice when you listen to your body." At this point she did her sign for listen/hear (finger in the ear), tooted really loudly, then started laughing so hard she almost fell off the potty. 

• For quite a while, anytime she saw a clear liquid on the floor, she thought she had peed. Even if we are standing at the sink washing dishes and she spills a cup, as soon as she looks down, she starts saying/signing potty and runs to the bathroom to get a prefold to clean it up. I tried explaining but she didn't get it so I just let it be one of those amusing things, especially since I'd rather her use a prefold to clean up water than a kitchen towel to clean up an accident. But when she started wearing undies (instead of being naked) this led to some confusion. I spilled some water and she saw it and started to say potty but then stopped, looked down and patted her undies. She was obviously bewildered because in her mind she must have somehow peed on the floor but not in her undies. At that point, I could see the wheels spinning so I took a little cup and poured a bit more water on the floor. Then she got it! She did her signature face slap (think Home Alone but on the forehead) and started laughing at her own silliness and signing water. She still has moments when she panics if I ask her to wipe up water on the floor with a paper towel but once I clearly explain it is water, she calms down. 

• One day Lucy was being particularly clingy and I was having a hard time being patient. I got up to go to the potty myself but she started clinging to my leg and crying for me to play with her. I turned and jokingly said "But I have to go, do you want mommy to pee in her pants?" She smiled a little, shook her head "No" and let go of me. Thinking I had her now, I tried to increase the laugh factor by saying "Do you want mommy to poop in her pants?" Her mouth dropped open and she got the biggest look of horror on her face. Apparently pooping in your pants in not something you should even joke about. She let me go to the bathroom and it was a good thing. I try really hard not to laugh at her but it was all I could do to keep a straight face until I got those few steps away and as soon as the door was shut, I burst out laughing. 

Even Craig has one: 

• I took Lucy to potty one day. She pooped, stood up, looked at it, signed "kitty" and laughed. Who needs clouds?

Potty Learning – Lessons and Lifestyle Changes

This was actually written a few weeks ago so things have changed a bit with our crazy goings on. I'm not sure why I felt the need to add this disclaimer but I didn't want people who know what's going on to think I'm lying.

Lessons

When I say “Lessons,” I don’t mean to imply I have this figured out, I don’t at all! But do want to record what has worked for us so far in this journey….before the next kid comes around and I’ve forgotten it all!

Lesson #1) Naked is better
We’ve dropped the trainers for now. I know we will go back to them eventually as she can’t be naked her entire life but for now, it was confusing her. She knows that when she is wearing a diaper, she doesn’t have to worry about the potty. When we are out and about she still wears diapers, and sometimes in the evenings when I am trying to make dinner or she is going back and forth between Craig and I. Those times, she still tells me when she has to go #2 but she doesn’t even seem to care about being wet. Even though the trainers were cloth, she always seemed surprised to be in a puddle when she had them on, like they weren’t doing their job, but she knows she needs to potty if she is naked. So naked it is, for now at least. Plus it cuts down on laundry :-)

Lesson #2) Ride the waves
If you go back and read over my potty posts, you will probably notice that Lucy does better, than slows down, does better, then slows down. We normally end up ahead of where we were at after the last “slow down” stage so there is progress but when you are in a low period, it can be hard to remember. Just keep going. I remind myself that we aren’t doing this to prove that she is the best and smartest baby in the world, (we already know that :-) nor are we doing this to save on diapers or laundry costs. We are doing this to help her understand her body and take care of herself and because we want to enable her to do what we know she is capable of. Even if she totally reverts tomorrow and doesn’t complete the potty training process until she is 3, I will still think the time and effort we put in so far has helped her and was worth it.

Lesson #3) Have Fun
I’m not sure if this is being conveyed well by these posts, but potty training a baby is a lot of fun. Really! I hear mom’s fretting over potty training their older tots, worried that they won’t be done in time for VBS/Pre-school/Kindergarten and I feel bad because they are missing out on the fun. It is a lot like watching a baby learn to feed herself. The mess and the clean-up are there but if that is all you focus on, you’re missing the best part. In both cases, it is amazing to watch her learn and develop, to see the pride in her face when she knows she did it right, the independence she is developing in her ability to know her body and how it works. Just like seeing her face when the spoon makes it to her mouth is worth dealing with some peas on the floor, watching her face when she make it to the potty is worth dealing with some pee on the floor.

Lifestyle changes

Change #1) Pull up the rug
I mean that literally, if at all possible, pack that rug away. This is directly related to Lesson #1. We have hardwood floors so a lot of our flooring is potty safe but the area rug in the living room kinda drove me nuts. I would be all tense anytime she was there until finally, we just rolled it up. Yes, it makes the living room seem a bit more bacheloresque but we’ll survive, and so will my nerves. Make the changes that need to be made to make your life easier. It won’t be forever.

Change #2) Got to keep ‘em separated
The one bad thing about potty training early than the majority of people is that clothing manufacturers assume they are still in diapers. Why does it seem like 90% of size 18 mon clothing snaps between the legs or is complicated to put on or take off? At home, we do a shirt-sleeved shirt if it is warm or a long-sleeve shirt and baby legs if it is a bit cooler - hopefully adding trainers/undies into the mix in a few months. If Lucy is wearing pants or shorts she wants them completely off while she is sitting but she doesn’t mind keeping baby legs on. I don’t have many t-shirts since my favorite brands seems to make mostly onesies.

And when we are out of the house, it would still be nice if I could easily get her clothes off. She told me she needed to go at our church picnic last weekend and the church even has a little toddler sized toilet in the nursery that we could use but it took so long to take off her pants that we only made it for the second half.
But now that I am aware of the issue, I’ll be on the lookout for potty safe clothing. I needed to do that anyway since according to Montessori she is nearing the sensitive period for learning how to dress herself – easy on/off separates.

Update: I've wrote this post last week and am even more frustrated after a week of looking. I've found a few Children's place tees at once upon a child but still have not found any good pants options! And I thought dresses with baby legs would work but the dress part keeps getting caught under her when she sits on the potty and ends up wet. If you have any clothing (style or company) recommendations, please let me know!

Change #3) Slow down
Potty training hasn’t been hard, but it has taken a commitment on my part to be slow, stay home and keep to our routine. Of course, we have to prioritize sometimes too. We always go back a bit when we visit my parents each month but that is fine. I am 100% sure that I will not be looking back on these months and wishing I had spent less time with my mom and more time on potty training. But potty training does take precedence over quick trips to target because I’m bored or going out to lunch at chic-fil-a just to get out of the house. But I think of that as a blessing. I want to be a home centered family, I want our family rhythm to be a priority. This is just one way I can easily tell if I am being successful in those efforts or if I need to step back and evaluate my schedule again.

Potty Progress

During my sabbatical, I knew I would be writing a potty update when I started writing again but I thought it would be all about our “potty strike.” Luckily that is not the case but I do want to talk about it.

Potty strikes are apparently pretty common for EC/early pottiers, especially during the 12-15 month range. They can last a week or two, or a month or two. Lucy’s lasted a few weeks, during which she only went on the potty one time.

At first, I mistakenly let myself get frustrated. It wasn’t that she wasn’t going, it was that she knew she needed to but refused to sit down. She would sit any other time I asked her or sometimes just because she felt like it but if she started to go and I took her to the potty, she would become a stick and refuse to sit down. This was unlike previous “down” times because I knew she knew what to do which is I why I call this a true “potty strike.”

But after I reminded myself that 1) I wasn’t going to do this unless it was fun for us both, and 2) based on all my readings, this was really a good sign that she was close to making the independence leap,  I let my frustrations go and we plunged ahead with lots of naked time. It also helped when I realize that wiping up an accident on hardwood is actually easier than changing a toddlers’ diaper (I can’t believe I just admitted that but it is true!).

So I was all prepared to write about the strike and how I was dealing with it but Lucy had a better idea. Last week, the strike ended, something clicked and she really got it. Now we are on a potty roll.  She happily sits and goes whenever I remind her it is time, and she will tell me when she needs to go as well. She sometimes starts but then realizes and signs potty and runs (well, the best she can – it is really more of a walk with fast arms) to the potty. The last few days she has stayed clean and dry until early afternoon and even then only had 2 accidents each day (including through naptimes!). And when we do have “accidents,” she comes and shows me then will go get a diaper and help me mop up. I’m so proud of her!

A Potty Update

FYI - Lucy is 13 months old at the time this is being written.


I’ve been meaning to do an update on potty training for a while now. The last 6 weeks has had its ups and downs. The very same day she “become a toddler” in her attitude, we started having trouble. She still loved to sit on the potty most of the time, but she wouldn’t go. And then as soon as she stood up, she would go on the floor. Or I knew she would have to go but they she wouldn’t want to sit on the potty. So I wouldn’t make her but then would change her 5 minutes later.

I really didn’t want potty training to become a battle (and still don’t!) so I was thinking about dropping the whole thing for a while but after talking to a few ec moms and reading some online, I realized that it was tied to her new found independence. No, she wasn’t doing it just to spite me, but she wanted to do more herself and wasn’t able. Just like she wanted to do more in every other area of her life but was frustrated with her inabilities.

So instead of stopping, we stepped it up a notch. I gave her lots of naked time in the mornings (when she normally goes a lot, maybe every 20-30 minutes or so). When it wasn’t so hot out we spent a lot of time outdoors but we did some inside too. It got a little messy but I used a baby gate to keep her in the kitchen with its easy to clean floors and wiping up an “accident” off linoleum is actually less work than fighting her through a diaper change. At first, when I saw her go, I would just inform her and then have her help me clean up (well, watch as I did). Now, I pick her up and move her to the potty saying something like “Oh dear, pee goes in the potty.”

I also started involving her more in the whole potty process. I got her some trainers and she gets to pick whether she wants to wear diapers or “undies” sometimes. It cracks me up because it takes her a few minutes and  if you look at her face, is really does appear like she is studying her options and thinking hard but she always picks undies. She doesn’t always get to pick, if we are going out, or if I know I’m going to be distracted I’ll put her in a diaper. And to keep my sanity, after three wet trainers, I stop giving her the option and she wears diapers the rest of the day. Or somedays I’m just not in the mood so its diapers all the way. I probably should be more consistent, but well, I’m not! She doesn’t seem to expect the option but she likes it when it is given.

I’m making our bathroom more Lucy friendly (with help from some Montessori resources) and part of that involved building a stool. So know she loves to climb up and wash her hands. And she likes to wave bye-bye and watch me flush it away.

The result? Progress! Not necessarily in number of successes but in awareness and communication. She is definitely taking more initiative. The last week she has learned how to pull up her undies mostly by herself (she needs a bit of help at the end) and she now signs potty. I’ve realized that she doesn’t like to be rushed and will let me know if she is done or if she wants to keep sitting. Sometimes we end up sitting for quite a while but I’ve learned to be okay with that.

One time during my last trip to my parents, she went three times in a row and was in the same diaper from (I stick with diapers all the time when I’m there)  11 to 4. At four, she successfully went #1 (for the third time in a row!) but then just sat there. I tried to pick her up but she pushed my hands back but I knew she had gone so picked her up anyway and put her back in a diaper. We didn’t even make it down the stairs before she had filled it up. But I had no one but myself to blame and she gave me this, “Well, I tried to tell you” look. Bad mommy!

Also, the week earlier, we were running around with Craig’s parents. She had gone on the potty right before we left but it had been a couple hours so I took her to the Target bathroom to change her diaper. It was still dry but I didn’t have a potty with me so I put it back on her. She didn’t seem to like that but I told her it was okay because there was no potty. 20 minutes later we were home and she was soaking.

Of course, we have our fair share of “bad” days too. Times when she ends up peeing on the floor then seems surprised to find a puddle there. Times when we’ve used three trainers by 10am. Times when she is standing in the living room, signs potty but I mistake it for bug and starting asking her where the bug is, then watch as she pees on the carpet (to be fair to myself, that was the first time she had signed potty and it does look remarkable similar to her sign for bug)

At this point, I’m not sure how I feel about “stage 2.” Stage 1, which I guess is what I am calling my last post method ( I just made up the stages right now so go with me :-) was pretty much no risk, all reward. I just don’t see a reason not to let a baby/young toddler try the potty at diaper changes. This stage has a bit of risk to it. Things get wet, so far not too much has gotten pooped on but I’m sure it is just a matter of time. But she seems to be doing well an is back to enjoying the process so we are sticking with it. I’ll let you know if that changes.

A Potty Update

Now that Lucy is 11 months old, I thought I would share how potty training is going. Great! No, really! I've been pretty irregular because we’ve been sick so I’m really pleased at how well Lucy has picked up on. I’m sure she would be doing even better if I had been more consistent but such is life.

She currently goes almost every morning right after she wakes up (~90%) and pretty consistently after naps as well (~60%). Not surprisingly, those are the three times that I am always consistent about having her sit. I also let her sit between old and new diapers if she wants to (and she normally does, she loves to sit on that thing :-) but they don’t normally  “produce.”

Nap time pottying is actually my favorite because I have her sit before her naps and put her in a new diaper and even if she has taken a two hour nap she is typically dry afterwards so I get to put the same diaper back on!  The only reason we are still only at 60% is that she if she doesn’t sleep quite long enough she wakes up cranky and clingy so I don’t push it even though I know if I had her sit down on the potty she would go. I would  change a extra diaper than have her associate the potty with crankiness and crying. My mantra is “the process not the product.”

But even more than the numbers show, we have made progress with the concept. When we first started, I wasn’t sure if it was just coincidence or not but I am 100% certain that she gets the concept now. Even if it takes me 5 minutes or so after she wakes up to get her to the potty, she will hold it and she normally goes as soon as we sit her down, then she smiles when I say “Good job.” And once when I didn’t feel so good, I just went to the bathroom to change her and wasn’t going to bother about the potty but she pointed to it so I let her try and she went!

As for #2, she’s gone twice on her own but I haven’t done much else to speed that along. I’ve read two books, one said to try and catch them in the middle of pooping and get them to the potty to finish in order to help them make the connection while the other said to just talk to them and tell them what they are doing then change them right away. I think the first approach is probably a better one but I’m still taking the latter for now. Lucy is very inconsistent about how much she eats so, let me put this delicately, the output is sometimes “big kid like” and other times its not - and I am not willing to deal with that mess that happens if she is having a “I’ll just take two cheerios and be on my way” type of day. Once she eats more consistently, we’ll try to work on #2s.

So what is next? Well, I think she is ready to take it up a notch. I’ve heard different approaches ranging from take them every 30 minutes to just picking more standard times to go. I’ve tried to find times to consistently take her but they don’t seem to work with her body’s timing and she nurses little but often so I can’t really follow the “20 minutes after milk” concept. My plan is to do the every 30 minutes for a day or two to get an idea of her routine then cut back to the times I think she needs to go or that she seems to be indicating a need.

BUT – the next 3-5 weeks are going to be a bit crazy for us so even though I think she would do fine with that plan if we were going to be doing our normal thing, I’ll be holding off. If we can keep what we’ve got going until June, I’ll be extremely happy. And by then she should be a good little walker and maybe even signing change so that might help make my decipher her signals easier. I’m keep you abreast of the situation.

Adventures in Early Potty Training - It begins

We started about two weeks ago, when she was about 9.5 months old. Diaper Free Before Three says to start the intro between 6-9 months, or whenever they can sit independently well but I didn't start researching until 9 months.

The intro phase is pretty easy. We introduce the potty and start changing our routine to reflect the new addition to our lives. So we went out and bought a teeny tiny potty. Then we started sitting her on it before her bath (if she had one) or pajamas (if she didn't). I'm not going to post any pictures of her one it (she will thank me later for that) but suffice it to say that she looks pretty adorable sitting there.

The first time, she didn't like it. She wasn't upset about being there, just kept standing up and looking at us like "what is this and why is it underneath me?" I let her get up as soon as she wanted. Same thing the next night. The third night I grabbed a toy and as soon as she sat down I started distracting her. (Actually, I grabbed a bath toy whale and started mimicking Dory's whale talk as I described the wonderfulness of the potty) It worked. She sat there entertained for several minutes. Then I helped her stand up and get her diaper on and went through a "this is how we wash our hands" time with her.

Now she likes it. She can sit as short of a time as she wants. Sometimes she wants to get up after 30 seconds and that is fine. Other times she will happily sit for 3-4 minutes and I have to declare potty time over. She doesn't need a toy anymore but I sit with her and talk to her. I think she likes the face time with me. In fact, she used to fuss and fight me during diaper changes but she doesn't after she sits. The little break between having to be still while I take off her diaper and having to be still again while I put it on is just what she needs apparently.

After a few days of happy evening potty sitting, I added a morning time before she gets dressed. Now I also try after her naps because I know that is a prime time for her. The point of the intro phase isn't to get her to actually go in the potty, its just to incorporate the potty into her routine. It's pretty similar to baby led weaning in that regard. I started with one meal and let her eat or not eat as she desired and slowly worked up to her eating and enjoying 3 meals and a snack daily. Its just what we do. We eat breakfast after we wake up and have a snack at 3:30. We potty before we get dressed in the morning and after we have a nap. I praise her for sitting, whether or not she "goes" - not a song and dance or stickers, just a simply "you sat on the potty, good job!" The first week, she just sat there but she has actually gone at least once a day for the last six days.  When she does, I add another praise of "You're peeing in the potty!"

The other changes in our routine are pretty simple as well. We moved all diapering into the bathroom. Its supposed to help her mentally make the connection but its actually easier that way anyway since the sprayer is there. Montessori also recommends starting to change their (wet not poopy) diapers while they are standing up but I can only do that when she wears a pocket so basically only before bed.

And that is all there is to Phase 1. No mess, no stress. We will keep going with this, adding in "sits" one at a time, for a little while and see how it goes. Until next time, wish us lots of potty luck!

UHF: Adventures in Early Potty Training

I haven't done any undercover hippy file posts in a while. It's not really intentional. After our homebirth, I kinda feel like my "undercover" part should be stripped from me but I'm still chugging away with my hippiness, it's just old news hippyness and not new fun to talk about stuff - until now.

We've started potty training!

I know, I know, Lucy is only 10 months old. That's the crazy part. Unlike my normal UHP, I'm not going to wait until we've done it to write a how post about how great this is or how that worked for us. I'm not sure how this is all going to work but in the research I've done I've found books about it and been reading about success stories on the mothering forum but not a lot of step by step stories or blog posts so I thought I would share our story as it happens.

First off, the why -

I had heard about elimination communication (e.c.) and even attended an information about it and know several moms who love it. It sounded neat but honestly, it just didn't really appeal to me. I definitely think it is one of those things you have to really want to do if you have any hope of making it work. But several things happened a few weeks ago that got me started thinking about starting potty training.

First, Lucy started upping her solids and all of a sudden, I could really tell when she went. In fact, I would see her and know, then wait ~30 seconds before taking her off to be changed. I had to change her right away because she absolutely hates being poopy. But it seemed so ridiculous to wait there when I knew what was happening.

Then I was reading some Montessori resources where she recommends starting at 12-18 months. That seemed really early compared to what I normally hear so I tried to find other information and the more I read, the more it just seemed to make sense and fit with our philosophy of giving Lucy opportunities to learn skills and become independent gradually (baby led weaning, shot glass not sippy, etc).

Lucy already dislikes being dirty and since I use cotton diapers most of the time, she knows when she is wet. I want to build off that. And since we are starting so early, there is no pressure, we are just slowly going to introduce the idea and incorporate it into our routine just like most of the other skills she will be learning in the next year. So I stopped asking why, and starting wondering why not? If we are both having fun with it, even if the progress is slow, why not just give it a try. So we are!

A number of people recommended Diaper Free Before 3 which I got and read and between that and late starting e.c. protocols, I've come up with a plan to get started. Stay tuned to hear more about the fun times we are going to be having!