Oooo-ba--maaa

Aoife woke up Sunday morning chanting :ooo-ba-ma. Yes, she's calling for change we can believe in. Aoife herself is changing fast and learning a lot of new sounds. Sunday morning she practiced her que, ba, bo, and ma sounds. Tim said she sounded like a little African baby. Our week was pretty busy. I started a new session at school, and Tim stayed up late working on his experiments for his paper. We are so glad that the Olympics are over as the late nights were catching up with us. Wednesday was a nice break for Tim; Dorrie suggested taking the both of them to Tilden Park since Tim didn't have to go to work on Wednesday morning. They took Aoife to the petting farm and Aoife stroked a cow. After a couple ounces of milk, Aoife fell asleep in the carrier while Tim and Dorrie took a walk around the park and talked. Tim had a great time even though the late nights at work left him with little energy. Aoife got a little too hot in the carrier, but Dorrie said she loved looking around at the trees and up at the great big blue sky.
One major development that we have been going through this week is learning how to use the potty. Yes, you read correctly. Many cultures around the world actually "potty train" their babies; it's also known as Elimination Communication (EC), diaper free baby, or potty whispering. Grandma Rachel once asked me what mothers used to do before we had diapers. I just assumed that they used any old material to catch the waste, but they didn't and still don't. Mothers around the world besides most western civilized countries listen to the cues of their babies and squat them over a bowl. Apparently babies are from birth attuned to their need to eliminate and send signals. As a newborn, Aoife would often pee whenever I took her diaper off, and I would purposely let her lie naked for a while so that she could pee. I could mostly tell when she was about to poop, but I just let her use the diaper as a toilet. When we used to use cloth diapers, Aoife would immediately get fussy whenever she felt the slightest wetness. Training in this method is possible up to the age of 6 months but is more difficult after this age. I have to admit at first I scoffed at the idea when I encountered it as a class listing in a pamphlet taught by a Berkeley woman named Willow Lune, but I decided to give it a go after doing some research. One of the things that attracted me to it is being more in tune with Aoife's needs. Also, think of all the money we could save on diapers! First of all I figured out when Aoife is most likely to pee. This meant that I kept her naked with a towel under her butt so that I could tell when she peed. She pees two times soon after she feeds, and after she wakes up from a nap. So, I take her and hold her over a bowl with her back against my chest while lifting her legs. Then I make a "hsssss" sound. The first time I did this, she smiled really big and peed in the bowl. I was so amazed! After that we had many accidents and I misread her cues, but now I'm pretty in tune with when she needs to go. She gives me a look before she needs to go and makes a little grunting noise. This ability to communicate is similar to when she tells me she's hungry. She does a high pitch "hehehe" sound when she wants milk. A few times, I've intuitively felt when she has needed to go. I managed to catch her poop once too. We've been doing it on and off for about a week, and Aoife seems to appreciate not having to be wrapped up in a diaper all the time. I feel like she knows what I am trying to do with her, and she gives me a look that says, "thanks for listening to me mom!" It makes me sad to know that our society has drifted away from natural child raising to c-section births, fear of birth, bottle feeding, sleeping alone, not being carried or held as much, and being trained to use diapers as a toilet. I'm glad to have been exposed to alternatives which is why Berkeley is starting to feel a little more like home to me. Tim thinks I may have turned a little Willow Luney myself.
On Saturday, we took another trip to San Francisco. The weather here has been so beautiful all summer, and our real summer hasn't even come yet. San Francisco was crazy since it is high tourist season there. The streets are covered with people from all walks of life. Aoife stayed pretty chilled in her stroller and seemed to enjoy being out again. I'm so glad she is enjoying our trips.

Here is Tim in front of our house with a new carrier that we got. This is a Baby Bjorn carrier with extra support for the back. Aoife has grown out of her sling, and so we needed another quick carrier to put her in.