Julian has been having a bit of a potty strike lately, as I mentioned in my previous post. He likes eating, but it makes him a little constipated. I made some oatmeal and apple puree for him, and he LOVES it, but it really threw him off digestion-wise. Maybe I'm just giving him too much at once?

I went back to breastmilk-only for the past few days and he has been getting much more regular AND much happier on his potty. He pooped and peed on the potty this morning when he woke up with no fussing. I always hold him over the toilet at daycare when I visit him at lunchtime, and today he was fussing and squirming like crazy, I could barely hold onto him! Finally, just as I was about to give up and take him off he took two GIANT poops and a few long pees. Then he was all smiles afterwards. So now I need to figure out whether he's fussing on the potty because he has to go and it's a little more difficult than it used to be, or is he fussing because he *doesn't* have to go? Hard to tell.

But I'm really, really glad we're doing Elimination Communication, it has really been enlightening and informative and downright fun! I can't imagine just leaving him in his diapers all the time to poop and pee anymore, it seems so strange, so unnatural, and really downright disgusting. Especially once you start and you realize that babies are totally capable and totally *aware* of peeing and pooping on the potty...then to ignore that fact and make them go in their pants...ick. Once they get used to that, you tell them two or three years later that NOW they need to stop going in their diapers and use the potty instead? It's really messed up.

I was thinking the other day about how we Americans try to train our babies in so many ways from birth. We assume that they are entirely capable of learning the alphabet with a little encouragement, and of course, there's the non-stop refrain that babies "need to learn to be independent", so you get sleep training and all kinds of things that are really kind of neurotic. Contrarily, when it comes down to a very basic function like elimination, we assume that they have absolutely no preferences, no capabilities, no muscle control, etc. We ignore them completely in this regard. My baby is smart enough to look at flashcards, watch Baby Einstein videos, read books with me, but no way is he capable of knowing whether he is crapping in his pants or on a potty until he is 3 or 4 years old, right? Puppies are smart enough to be potty-trained, but human babies are just too stupid and incapable. Aargh. Really, babies are so much smarter than people give them credit for.

If you mention that your baby uses a potty, many people look at you like you are some kind of crazed rigid disciplinarian. You do...what? Even when most parents *know* a baby is about to poop, they watch them do it in their diapers, wait until they're done and then change the diaper! It's really ridiculous when you think about it. So much extra work. But that's the norm now. Anyways, I could rant a lot more about this, but that's enough for now.

I figured out yesterday that after I pay for all my monthly household bills and daycare costs, I have only about $200 left over from my paycheck. Yikes! I mean, I knew that was the general case, but I didn't know I was so close to just breaking even. I'm really working for the stock options and the 401K and the wonderful health insurance, of course (which adds up to quite a lot!), but it would be nice to have a little bit more cash in hand each month. Dan is going to chip in to give me a little allowance so that I have some spending money, like the loving husband that he is, but I am going to have to be very careful about my expenditures.

I was watching the news the other day and there was a heartbreaking report on the Sudanese refugees who are fleeing the Arab militias in Dharfour. A MILLION displaced people starving in the desert. Skeletal babies with distended stomachs...ugh, it was horrible. But I just read that even if a mother is on a starvation diet, her breastmilk remains relatively stable nutritionally. So I'm wondering *why* there are so many starving babies. I know that when a mother's calorie intake drops, she usually produces less breastmilk, just to save her own resources. Is that what's going on? Or are these moms weaning early? What's the deal?

I also just read an article about a mom in Pakistan with 5-month-old twins. One was breastfed, healthy and thriving, the other was formula-fed...scrawny, yellow, distended stomach...he looked to be in pain. After the photo was taken he died shortly thereafter. Apparently formula is all the rage in the Third World because it's "modern" and "advanced", it's the fashionable thing to do. But there are tons of problems because it's also very expensive, so mothers cut it with extra water and non-nutritive fillers like cornstarch. Also, their water supplies are often contaminated, so the babies get diarrhea and have tremendous digestive problems. Of course, the formula-fed babies don't get any of the wonderful immune-system benefits of breastmilk, so they suffer even more. It's just so sad.

Another common thing in Pakistan is the "breast-milk test". Before a mother starts nursing her milk needs to be tested to be sure that it isn't poisonous. This is done by local doctors, who do "scientific testing" like, they drop an insect in the milk and if it drowns, they declare the milk no good and recommend formula. Just absurd, and not just absurd, but dangerous.