Today we're going to touch back on our ECing journey. It's been a while since we've discussed it, I know, so if you need a refresher of where we've come from you can read the start, a bit along the way, and a six-months-old update.
Or rather than read all that, a quick re-introduction if you've completely forgotten what EC (elimination communication) is: It's basically communication with your little one about her elimination needs, so she doesn't lose touch with her body. You can do 100% diaper free or 100% of eliminations in the diaper, or like us, somewhere in between. The important part is the communication.
My previous unspoken, secret goal was that she'd be diaper free by the time she was 8 or 9 months old. I mean, that would have been super cool, no?
However, moving to the arctic threw a wrench in that wheel. There was so much to adjust to, like layers upon layers of clothes that needed to be taken off each time (not like Taiwan where we could pee in the parking-lot even), a new home- and sleeping- and everythingelse-environment, and more, not to mention all the developmental feats she was going through (sitting up, standing up, crawling, cruising, starting solids, etc) - developmental spurts are one thing that can cause ECing to take a 'step back' once in a while.
For a while she didn't even want to lay down to get her diaper changed, let alone be held over the sink or sit on her potty. So we gave it all a rest. No, we still changed her diaper of course, just didn't try to have her eliminate outside of it too often.
Two days ago, however, after having been back on the EC-train for a stable while already, where Judge, who is home with her during the days, will put her on the potty before he puts a new diaper on her and I am more proactive and try to let her not have to pee or poop in her diaper as much as possible, we had an ECing breakthrough. She signed to me/I caught the sign she had to go on the potty (we've made up our own). And so on the potty she went, and in the potty she peed!
Over the past two days she's been signing to me, it seems, every time she needs to go pee - but sometimes she is a bit too late and so we have a freshly warm diaper we take off rather than pee in the potty. But that's a-ok, doesn't diminish the excitement I'm feeling about this.
This is yet another example of how I think she's really got a sense of being more in charge of her environment. She signals (points) to my mom that she wants to be taken over to our post-card section and look at all her second-cousins pinned up there, she signals (leans forward) she wants to go to me to my mom to me to my mom to me to my mom (gets passed back and forth between us), she signals (raises her hand/swatts the spoon away) she's done eating, and she signs she wants milk (she's signed that for many a month already). I think she is feeling empowered. I love it!
In other Leona-news: Her first tooth broke through a week ago - 2 days before she turned 10 months (with the second tooth following 2 days later). And a few days ago she had her first frolic in the snow (not a super hit).
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