What you are going to see may shock you

It's a baby playing while NOT wearing a diaper. It's crazy. I know.

And, yes, he is laying on top of a puppy piddle pad (they are Gert's left over ones).

At our last La Leche League meeting one of the other moms mentioned how she practiced EC with her daughter.

Me: Huh? What is eecey?

Her: Elimination Communication.

Me: Huh? Like when you let a baby cry it out?

Her: Elimination as in poop and pee.

Me: Hmmmm...

I was curious what the hell she was talking about, so I looked into it and downloaded The Diaper Free Baby onto my kindle.

It was a quick and easy read (okay, I didn't real alllll of it. I skipped the chapters that pertained to older babies). EC is sometimes called infant potty training, although the hard-core ECers refrain from the word training, because it is not about training it is about increasing communication with your baby. Whatever.

The idea is full on hippie shit- so you know I am down with that. The basic idea is all babies are born with the innate desire not to to soil themselves and some control of their bladder/bowels. That's why newborns ALWAYS pee as soon as you take of their diaper. However, we train them to soil themselves and go in their diapers.

Then two years later we pull the rug out from under them and tell them to reverse everything they have been taught and now to not go in their diaper. Understandably, they have a hard time with that. Why deal with that business when they are two and are on principle super a-holes? At 2 they are all about asserting themselves and the word NO. So instead of dealing with that shiz then, you just kind of work on in from the beginning (or whenever you get around to starting it).

We started about two weeks ago with Judah. We put him on his tiny pot at times when he is most likely to need to go, like after a nap or nursing. Eventually we should start picking up on his cues that he needs to go (hence the communication aspect). Sometimes he starts getting fussy and we know he is not hungry or sleepy so on the pot he goes. And it works (not always). He goes pee. It is pretty neat.

We don't do it all the time. He still wears a diaper quite a bit. We are doing EC part time (as opposed to full time or occasional). We are going through less diapers and it is really is less work to dump his pee in the toilet and swipe the pot with a disinfecting wipe than it is to go through the whole diaper change and wipe thing. Plus, it is pretty novel to watch a baby pee on command (we make a Psssst noise to cue him to go).

5 months

Judah had his 5 month birthday this last Monday while down in Oregon. This is his second in a row month birthday where he was in a state other than his own. This photo session took place at my parents' house. We were down there for Thanksgiving. Judah and I went down early to spend extra time with friends and family.

He is sitting up so much better these days. He is even able to sit without both hands on the ground for short periods of time. He looooves grabbing stuff. He is constantly reaching for things. His little hands are always feeling and touching. He clasps and unclasps those pudgy little fingers all day long.

He continues to get bigger and bigger. I think his chunk-a-dunk growth is outpacing my arm muscle growth. That kid is heavy! My arms get tired after lugging him around for an extended period. He weighs about 20 and half pounds.

He giggles and laughs more and more. Bonus, I can finally make him laugh, which used to be a daddy only domain. He giggles and squeals when I hold him up and blow raspberries on his belly. He is also learning how to blow raspberries himself. Sometimes he will copy us when we do them to him. Bill can still make him laugh in about a million different ways (basically because his face is so stupid full of expression).

Love him!

Can't believe he is going to be half-a-freaking-year next month.

*Noticed that the photos look a little different this month? That's because I'm using the trial version of photoshop and trying to get a handle on it. Luckily, I have discovered the magic that is free online ps actions.*

Sneak Peak: Elizabeth

Today we took more holiday photos.

But they weren't of Judah. He was just helping by being my test subject while I adjusted my camera settings.

He was also shoving lights in his mouth. Stupid baby. Lights don't go in mouths. Duh.

I took pictures of my friend's baby, Elizabeth. She is almost 4 months, while Judah is almost 5 months. They are on total opposite ends of the size spectrum. Judah is a giant and Elizabeth is quite dainty. It was like lifting a sack of cotton balls when I picked her up.

Here is a little sneak peak at some of her photos. These are still SOOC. I will do the edits on them later. Enjoy!

The results are in

Me: "Hey, Judah."

"What?"

Me: "What do you think of your amber teething necklace? Does it work? Is it helping?"

"Gooo! Grrrabbble! Bbbbarrr! Goo!"

Me: "I'll take that as a yes."

Happy Holidays!

Guess what I did today?
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I got out our Christmas decorations! What is that you say? It's not even Thanksgiving? Bah humbug, I say to you.

Okay, I only go them out because, while it might not be the holiday season quite yet, it is time to get a move on with our holiday cards. Last year I didn't get a photo taken in time (what with all the puking) so our cards were pretty lack luster and late getting out. This year that was not going to happen. After all, I'm not puking, so no excuses (suck on that, morning-noon-&night sickness, you can't stop me this year!).

We hauled out our decorations, so we could create festive poses for Judah. And I figure there is now really no point in  putting the tree away again, just to haul it back out in two weeks. So it is up. But, I'm not turning on the lights on it, dagnabbit! That can wait for two weeks.

I was thinking taking the picture would be a walk in the park. After all, I take photos of the kid on a near daily basis. Ahh, but notsomuch. Trying to get the lighting right was tricky and getting him to sit and getting him to maybe look not pissed and getting the dogs out of my face and and and. It was a pain. I think it was mostly because I was putting pressure on myself. Most days I could care less about the photos and they are breeze, but today I wanted them to be perrrrfect, so of course they weren't. Same goes for the other day when we took family photos in the park.

In the end it is all fine and dandy. I get all pissed because there are so many that didn't turn out, but that doesn't really matter since you only really need one, you know? And we have one. We have more than one, but we decided on THE ONE together (Bill and I, that is. Judah got no say in the matter).

Here are some that are not THE ONE:

Funny thing- he totally IS wearing his necklace in this picture, you just can't tell because it is hidden in his neck folds

Now I just need to finalize my edits on THE ONE and figure out how many I need to order...

Amber waves of... Necklace

Judah is modelling the latest in teething fashion.

We went to Best Loved Baby today and picked up this necklace. I can't say yet if it is working its hippie magic or not. I heard about the necklaces from other moms. Here's hoping the fussing will return to pre-teething levels.

Bill and I were looking through the teething necklace photos of Judah together. We each picked our favorite shot of him sitting.

1. mine

2. bill's

The necklaces are also sold on Etsy, by Spiral Mama. There are lots of other people who make them as well, but this just happens to be whose they carry at Best Loved Baby.

While shopping, something else caught my eye.

Me thinks I just might have to pick one up next time I go there (which will be in a few weeks, I'm almost out of diaper detergent). The necklace is by Chewbeads- it's made out of silicone and designed to be chewed on by babies. The real question is what color to get. They come in a rainbow of options, but, of course, I'm trying to decide between the boring colors: black, gray, white, or ivory.

images come from the Chewbeads site

Judah Bear

Today, he lived up to his nickname.

And, yes, I do realize Halloween was LAST week. However, last night our furnace went on the fritz and the warmness that was our house said, "Adios, sucka-face!" So it was coooold today. Bill was able to restart the thing and get the pressure and water temperature back up (we have radiators). But radiators are not super fast about heating the house, so the temperature has been creeping up at minuscule increments throughout the day. By tomorrow it should all be back to normal.

You also might notice his chin looks a little wet. No, that isn't photoshopped. That is real life, baby. He is teething. And it is not fun. Not even a little bit. Not at all.

He has been cranky the last couple of days.

And crying. Way more than usual.

And sleeping. Way less than usual.

Tomorrow, I am going out and buying some hippie magic.

It's an amber teething necklace- and I know some moms who swear by them.  Hopefully, I soon will too.

On a note unrelated to cold houses or teething, I am drinking (by weee tiny sips) the kool-aide (which, according to wikipedia was actually flavor-aid). I am taking up running. Or at least I am trying to. I have never liked to run just to run. I did it for sports growing up, but that was it.

I'm really hoping that I will learn to like it (or, at least, tolerate it). I wanna get the rest of the baby weight (plus some) off. I've lost about half of my pregnancy poundage, but would like it all to go. Now. I have boxes of pre-pregnancy clothes up in the attic that I can't wear yet. I miss them. I want them back in my life.

Usually, when Bill or I feel the kick to start exercising we joining the Y, but on one salary that is not as feasible. We are trying to cut down on monthly expenses, not add more. Plus, it would just be tough to make happen with Judah. I know they have a child care option, but it is a couple of extra bucks each time you go, plus, he is just soo little. But running is free and he gets to go too (all adorably bundled up in the jogging stroller).

My plan is that I'm starting slow to build up endurance and strength (and to not burn-out). I'm alternating walking and jogging by blocks. Then I plan on stepping it up to jogging two, walking one, and so forth. Fingers crossed that one day I will feel that addiction that runners 'claim' they have. Although, I'm pretty sure they are all liars.

This meme has been popping up all over my FB feed and on pinterest. I don't agree. I definitely don't feel like the top image, hell, I don't even feel like the bottom image. That kid looks like she is having a ton of fun. She even has bubbles. Bubbles! Now those are fun. Running is not fun. More of a necessary evil.

At long last- It's Judah's Nursery!

Before I show you what baby Judah's nursery looks like today, let's take a trip down memory lane.

Here was the room when we bought the place:

Isn't that color hideous? So we changed it to a creamy yellow.

And is was used as my 'office,' or more accurately- where I dump all my school things in giant piles and leave them. That, and it was my where I kept my clothes- since the master only has one closet. The room was a bit ridiculous, as you can see.

Then you may remember we ripped up that nasty gray carpet and found this underneath. Clearly, we had our work cut out for us.

But after lots of time (really far more than it should have taken), we now have a gray and aqua nursery:

Definitely an improvement. Of course, there is still things that need to be done (isn't there always?). I still need to touch up the molding where Bill got floor stain on it. We also are (someday) going to add quarter rounds to where the molding (does NOT) meet the floor (there is a gap from where the carpet pad was). Also, the floor in the closet still needs to be finished. And I need to paint the door to the hall. And the inner part of said door frame.

This was the first nursing chair we got. I found it on Craigslist. I would love to one day make a slip cover for it (step one: take sewing machine out of box).

And this is the second nursing chair we got. I decided I wanted a glider (the other is a rocker) and we ended up getting quite a lot of Target giftcards, so we put them all together and bought this guy (and matching ottoman). Turns out I actually like the Craigslist rocker better. I usually nurse in the rocker (the arm rests are at just the right height for the baby on the boppy). We generally use the glider as the reading chair. It is pretty handy having two chairs in the nursery. That way Bill and I can both be in there at the same time and be comfy.

There are two windows in the room- one southern exposure and one western. Therefore, the room gets a good amount of light. We have roller black out shades, but the freaking things are already broken. They only roll up on their own about half way and then we have to manually spin/wrap them the rest of the way. Once that good old sewing machine makes its way out of the box I would like to make black out roman shades. Until then we will use (and curse) the roller shades.

I realized while taking these pictures that a regular lens just doesn't cut it for shooting a room. I need a wide angle lens to be able to capture the room so that you can really get a sense of where things are in relation to one another and to get an idea of scale.

Judah was very patient with me while I took pictures of his room.

We interrupt this program...

Judah and I were hanging in his room taking some photos.

Sadly, with my point and shoot, because I still can't get my SLR to work. Sigh. It looks like I am gonna have to take it in (step one: find a place to take it in to...).

I was actually taking photos of the nursery so I can (finally) show the 'after' to all those 'before' posts I was doing as we were working on the nursery last winter and spring.

But there are only so many picts I can take of the room, while there are seemingly endless picts I can take of Judah. But, then....

We were interrupted by Gert. Who decided Judah needed his his feet licked. Then his calves. Then his knees.

Judah didn't mind.

When Gert finished licking his legs she decided to sit on the blanket next to him.

Which soon turned into laying next to him. Gazing adoringly into his eyes.

Then came laying on her back next to him.

Again, Judah didn't mind. He's cool with this development.

But then she starts squirming around.

Judah is not so sure about the squirming. When all of sudden...

BLAM-O! Face punch! And that was the end of that. Not our first photo session to end in tears. Probably not our last.

P.S. I will post the nursery photos any day now. I just need to track down the photos of the room when we moved in and what not.

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