Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
First Catch!
While searching for infant underwear (but that's another story) I ran across this website, http://www.diaperfreebaby.org/, for Elimination Communication (EC) and have decided to do some part time dabbling. I've been observing Torin's potty habits over the last few days and this morning we caught pee pee in the sink for the first time. Perhaps mostly caught would be more accurate, but what we missed was due to my poor aim. Needless to say we were both very excited. So far he thinks pottying is a game and often laughs or smiles when I make the potty que sound (tst tst tst) and I hope to maintain that positive attitude.
EC is not potty training or a consequence/reward system. It's about communication - learning to understand your babies urge related mannerisms and/or timing to help them go in a potty or other designated container when possible. Torin's urge related mannerisms aren't obvious to me yet so we're starting with timing, but I hope with enough effort I'll figure out when/if he's trying to communicate that he needs to go.
In case you're wondering about the infant underwear "other story." Torin, Scott, and I took an infant massage class. Babies are generally massaged naked to allow for easy access to hips, bums, and bellies. I was looking for something to partially contain the pee pee fountain during massage. Other than expensive specialty baby underwear sold by EC specialists, I couldn't find anything smaller than 2T. Instead I purchased waterproof fabric (rubberized flannel) to protect the carpet when I give Torin a massage or let him play naked. This also allows me to observe his potty habits and gives me more opportunities to say tst tst tst when I see him peeing to help him associate the sound with the urge.
EC is not potty training or a consequence/reward system. It's about communication - learning to understand your babies urge related mannerisms and/or timing to help them go in a potty or other designated container when possible. Torin's urge related mannerisms aren't obvious to me yet so we're starting with timing, but I hope with enough effort I'll figure out when/if he's trying to communicate that he needs to go.
In case you're wondering about the infant underwear "other story." Torin, Scott, and I took an infant massage class. Babies are generally massaged naked to allow for easy access to hips, bums, and bellies. I was looking for something to partially contain the pee pee fountain during massage. Other than expensive specialty baby underwear sold by EC specialists, I couldn't find anything smaller than 2T. Instead I purchased waterproof fabric (rubberized flannel) to protect the carpet when I give Torin a massage or let him play naked. This also allows me to observe his potty habits and gives me more opportunities to say tst tst tst when I see him peeing to help him associate the sound with the urge.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
For the Record
I have an iTunes playlist entitled "sleep" that I play during they day when Torin is napping or when I feel he could benefit from napping. It includes the following albums selected for what I feel are relaxing qualities.
- "A Child's Gift of Lullabies" by various artists
- "Lullaby" by Jewel
- "Violin Adagios" by Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Bruch, Massenet, etc.
- "The Most Relaxing Chamber Music Album in the World ... Ever!" by Hayden, Chopin, Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi, etc.
Was it really that bad?
Today was Torin's first experience with a live violin. I picked two very nice pieces from our "sleep" play list, Massenet's "Meditation" and Brahms "Ave Maria," and downloaded the sheet music online. For some reason I thought Torin might find live music interesting.
Have I mentioned my G peg is seriously tight? Well it is and it's really hard to tune the G string. Torin seemed uncertain, but curious for a moment but in the wahwahwah moment of G string tunage he emitted a piercing WAHHHHH of his own several octaves higher than mine. Having never heard this particular cry before I'm still not sure what it meant ... fear? auditory pain? mortal offense? I immediately put down the violin and picked up the baby. He was quickly calmed and placed back in his spectators seat. Four bars into "Ave Maria" his little face screwed up in a wail preceding grimace. Once more I quickly abandoned the violin in favor of the baby.
C'mon! I'm rusty, but I'm not THAT bad
All right, I thought, lets change tactics. "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" plucked banjo style with backup vocals (mine, ugh) and constant eye contact? Acceptable. "Row Row Row Your Boat" played with the bow was acceptable until I missed a note at which point it became an offense. "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" played with the bow, constant eye contact and a ridiculous smile elicited tentative smiles. I put the instrument at away at this point to end the 5 minute introduction to live music on a happy note.
I suppose I'll just have to skip the tuning and start off with the circus clown method of violin playing for our next session.
Have I mentioned my G peg is seriously tight? Well it is and it's really hard to tune the G string. Torin seemed uncertain, but curious for a moment but in the wahwahwah moment of G string tunage he emitted a piercing WAHHHHH of his own several octaves higher than mine. Having never heard this particular cry before I'm still not sure what it meant ... fear? auditory pain? mortal offense? I immediately put down the violin and picked up the baby. He was quickly calmed and placed back in his spectators seat. Four bars into "Ave Maria" his little face screwed up in a wail preceding grimace. Once more I quickly abandoned the violin in favor of the baby.
C'mon! I'm rusty, but I'm not THAT bad
All right, I thought, lets change tactics. "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" plucked banjo style with backup vocals (mine, ugh) and constant eye contact? Acceptable. "Row Row Row Your Boat" played with the bow was acceptable until I missed a note at which point it became an offense. "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" played with the bow, constant eye contact and a ridiculous smile elicited tentative smiles. I put the instrument at away at this point to end the 5 minute introduction to live music on a happy note.
I suppose I'll just have to skip the tuning and start off with the circus clown method of violin playing for our next session.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Sickies
Torin came down with a nasty wet cough on Monday. I thought he was just aspirating milk and spit up, but when it was still around Tuesday I took him to the doc to make sure he didn't have fluid in his lungs. He didn't. Yesterday he woke up with a runny nose and last night I got a mild soar/scratchy throat and some minor congestion, so I'm pretty sure we picked up a virus. I was surprised that he beat me to it and hope this doesn't mean he got the Swenson tendency towards respiratory infections. This is Torin's first illness and so far he is handling it as gracefully as a snotty nose and cough can be handled. He's mostly himself, playing and smiling but he isn't sleeping very well (I don't sleep well when I'm coughing and congested either). I've let him nap in the sling on and off all day to keep him upright and it seems to be helping. I was up with him 5 times last night and hope that he will be able to sleep better tonight, but I'm not counting on it.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
A Conversation with Chatter Mouse and Purple Hippo
Torin is telling Chatter Mouse that Mommy didn't bake him a cake for his three month "brithday" yesterday. If I can figure out how to edit the AVI I'll cut off the part at the end where he shows us what a pro he is at spitting up.
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