Happy New Year, Baby!

Rock-a-Baby

Cousin Elizabeth's brothers were teasing her about getting a mohawk last weekend, so I figured I'd give him one.

Old McSpadden...

When I was a kid we would sing "Old McSpadden." These pictures of Truman in my dad's hat, reminded me of that.

On the Trail with Grandpa

That hat belonged to my great-great grandpa.

He's likes to Pot-tay!

On the potty, of course. We've been practicing elimination communication with Truman for a few months now. The technique works on the premise that babies are born aware of when they urinate or poop and that over time diaper use trains them not to notice it. While babies don't gain the ability to start controlling when they go to the bathroom until around age one, their parents can help them go to the bathroom in the toilet by learning to recognize the cues they give off when they have to go.

I tried to learn Truman's poop faces when he was tiny, but never discovered a reliable pattern, so elimination communication went on the back burner until he was about five and half months old. I have been telling him "pee-pee" and making a "psssssss" sound whenever I notice that he is peeing or when he sees me pee his whole life.

So, when I noticed that he would wiggle excessively at night when he had to pee a few months ago I decided to start holding him over a small metal mixing bowl when he wiggled at night making a "psssssssss" sound. It worked.

I took the bowl along in San Diego without many expectations. I was surprised to find that we caught many pees and 5 poops in 5 days during our trip. The first time he pooped in the bowl he basically asked to do so, motioning toward it and smiling when we brought it over.

When we returned to the cold he wanted little to do with the chilly metal bowl, so we decided it was time to get him a potty of his own. He seems to like it.

All Dressed up in San Diego

We took portraits in Truman's new diggs for my mom's Christmas card the day we left San Diego.

Fun with Uncle Garrett

Truman met my brother, Garrett and helped him play the guitar. Then we all utilized his latest stacking toy to play a balance game involving picking up all of the stacking blocks with one hand, walking around the house, then getting them back on the peg without dropping any. Garrett, having gotten nearly all the blocks, bragged about his greatness, which inspired Joe to surpass him. Who knew how many things you can do with a stacking toy.











He also got to meet his great-grandma and great-grandpa Mac.

Down on the Ranch

More photos from the first trip to my dad's ranch.

Grandpa's Horses

We spent the last few days at my dad's house, Scenic Valley Ranch where Truman got to meet my dad, step-mom, brother and their horses for the first time. Though he was a little intimidated at first, he enjoyed the horses and had fun crawling around his grandpa's tile floor and playing with is coasters.