ec update at 14 months old

after the heavy rains, flowers and grasses and dewy clover have carpeted the walks and parks and playgrounds. which means dylan has been exploring, and this is a beautiful thing. dylan plucks dandelions, daisies, and takes us toward shady trees, for him to straddle and climb. he points upwards with his hand, toward leaves, branches, or toward a swatch of dandelions, and watches them blow in the breeze. he makes me get down on the ground next to him, and makes me look, for a moment, at the wonder he's experiencing, and for that, i thank him. 'thank you,' i say. for making me notice. 

and speaking of heavy rains, dylan has been having quite a few great weeks, the past month or so, in the ec realm--not only has he been signing 'toilet,' 'milk' and 'diaper change'--just this morning, he stopped and paused next to the potty when he needed to go. i de-pantsed him, he sat on the potty, and he went. just like that. well, this didn't happen overnight. to get here, i had to take another deep breath, and just trust that he will want to sit on the potty--by himself, that is. this month, we've had the wet accident here and there--on the floor, on the bed, on the couch. but i had to trust that if i put him in underwear, and diapers when we go out, that he would have 'body awareness' and not want to sit around in a wet pants. so according to the 'ec' method, there is reward for just observing your baby, and that is all one needs to really parent. trusting this is not as simple--you sort of have to have blind faith about this method--but millions of women around the world have been doing this for millenia, and they haven't been wrong. 

and it's never as simple as just putting dylan in underwear, of course, sometimes i miss the signs and urges and cries completely. sometimes i forget to sign to dylan, sometimes i forget to explain what i'm doing, sometimes i forget that he needs me to communicate to him, that there's an actual person--a brain--behind the baby smiles and spittle. 

but when i get quiet, and let dylan do his thing, he lets me know with a wave of his hand if needs to pee or poo. as easy as picking dandelions on a grassy knoll. just amazing.