1) Cleo and EC 2) Chris the SAHD 3) The wedding cake flavored Little Cow icee I am eating. :)
I am so happy that we discovered Elimination Communication for Cleo. She has been doing fabulous with it. She goes in her little potty most times. When we're out and about we put her in a diaper and sometimes it is amazing how long she will go without soiling it. (Trying to use nice words while talking about this type of thing is kind of difficult.) She most often naps without a diaper on. I love the idea of her being clean, airy, and comfortable while she sleeps. She has started to make the cue noise when she needs to go to the bathroom - which will be a HUGE step up when she can verbally communicate her needs. I have also gotten very comfortable taking her in her carseat without a diaper on. The first few times I thought for sure we would get home and have pee in the liner, but it has never happened! It isn't always convenient and definitely hard for me when other people seem uncomfortable because she isn't wearing a diaper, but I am so thankful to know that we can be pretty confident because of our own experiences with EC and Cleo.
I work as a dental hygienist and Chris stays home with the kids. It is great great. Now that I've gotten over the unrealistic expectation that I'll walk through the door at 5:15 with a spotless house and dinner on the table it is anyway. Heck, I'm a clean freak and I certainly didn't have the house that way when Chris was working. Anyway, while I am working and I talk with patients oftentimes it comes up that I have kids and some people will ask who watches them while I'm at work. Something like this follows -
"So, who watches your kids while you're at work?"
"My husband is home with them."
"Oh, what does he do?"
"He's a stay at home Dad - full time."
"Oh . . . " (silence).
I get this feeling that they think it is better (at least more socially acceptable) if both parents work and kids are in daycare, than if the wife works and the husband stays home. I always want to respond, "Don't you think that one parent being home is better than none??" I'm sure I'm reading into the reactions of others based on my own insecurities but DANG it bothers me. Me working and Chris staying home has been wonderful for our family. Chris is a very loving and attentive father. He is always out riding bikes and doing activities with Cam and Cleo, feeding them spinach and broccoli all day. We feel good about me working, it results in more time that we can spend together as a family. Chris was working 40 hours a week at a job he hated for us to still be scrimping by with finances. I am able to work half the time as him doing something that I truly enjoy and we can be together as a family more often. Ain't nothing wrong with that.
There you go Kels. A blog update. As rant-y as it may be.
