Elimination Communication (Part 1) . . . What's the Beeswax?

I'm celebrating the recent arrival of our infant potty (pictured above) with a special Beeswax post about Elimination Communication (EC)! Ever heard of it? EC (also called Natural Infant Hygiene) is a way of communicating with your baby/infant about his or her elimination needs, and it goes right along with the philosophies of attachment parenting, babywearing, co-sleeping, breastfeeding on demand, etc.

I learned about EC from the book Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene, by Ingrid Bauer. If you're at all interested in learning more, I would highly recommend this book!

This is how the author describes EC: "Fundamentally, Natural Infant Hygiene is about responding to the needs of your baby. Everything else about it - avoiding diapers, saving money, environmental benefits, a dry bed, less work - is secondary . . . Communicating with an infant about elimination is not a linear process focused on teaching a baby toilet independence. Just as the focus of breastfeeding is to nourish rather than to wean, Natural Infant Hygiene is a way of responding to a baby's needs today, not merely preparation for future toilet use."

I love the gentle, caring, and communicative nature of EC, and the fact that your baby can be toilet independent by one year of age! But how does it work? Basically, just as mothers learn their babies' cues when they're hungry, need comfort, etc., the EC mother learns her baby's signals for elimination needs as well. When your baby needs to go, you hold her over a potty, make the cueing sound you've established, and she goes right into the potty! But don't take my word for it - our little peanut is still cooking, so I haven't gotten to put it into practice yet. But my dear friend Maggy has! She has agreed to an interview to share with us about her experience with EC with her three month old baby Fern. Stay tuned for Elimination Communication (Part 2) for her expert advice!

Anticipation

Time is ticking away! Baby ________ is almost here and my anticipation is mounting daily, if not hourly! I've been frantically reading last-minute books, packing hospital bags, resting some each day, discussing middle names, spending time with Clint (he's off till spring semester!), and all in all just tying up loose ends. These are some of the results of all the activity.

This adorable cloud and raindrop mobile came straight from Maggy. She made one just like it and gave me all her leftover supplies. Now that it's up, I see that I need to add one or two more raindrops, but how cute is it?

I made that changing pad cover with leftover material from the curtains and a scrap of fabric Maggy gave me. Those little fabric baskets toward the corner hold all her diapers, and Clint installed the picture frame shelf my parents brought from my old bedroom which I can't wait to fill with photos of our baby girl.

I made this bunting out of a wool blanket I had and scrap fabric. I think it's so fun and celebratory!

There are a few more things I've made, but that's all I have photos of now. More coming soon!

Dig In

I added a new feature to the blog today! There's a new tab at the top called "Dig In, Learn More." It's a list of my favorite books, articles, documentaries, and other resources I've learned from and would recommend to others. Most of them are related to subjects we frequently discuss here on Ear to the Earth. Browse through it sometime and let me know what you think! I hope you find something that interests you!

Soap Nuts

Ever heard of soap nuts? You can see what they look like there, in the picture. I just got some in the mail today, from my favorite website ever, YumUniverse. Soap nuts are actually a fruit with a shell that contains saponins. Saponins are plant glucosides that create a soapy substance when mixed with water. They make suds! All you have to do is put 5 or 6 soap nuts inside one of those little muslin bags shown in the photo and toss it in with your laundry  - that's it! They'll last for 5 or 6 loads, then you can compost them! No packaging, no chemicals, no mystery ingredients, no waste. Just soap nuts. (You can read more about them here.) I purchased a large kit, which contains enough soap nuts for 185 loads of laundry, and it cost about $30 with shipping and everything. Now that's my kind of cleaning product. I'll be adding a couple drops of lavender and lemon essential oils to the muslin bags to give my laundry a fresh scent, but you can use any combination you like or leave it scent-free. I ordered these back in November or something, but Heather (founder of YU) was out of stock, so as a thank you for my patience she threw in two dryer pillows for free! Just another reason I absolutely adore YumUniverse. It smells like there's lavender and calendula in there - two of my favorite herbs! Now off to a test load of laundry . . .

36 Weeks

We're almost there!

Grandma Susan's Birthday Dinner

Well, yesterday was Grandma Susan's birthday, so we had her over for dinner to celebrate! (Grandpa Jake had to work, so he couldn't join in the festivities.) I was super excited about the menu, and the scents emanating from my kitchen were nothing short of glorious. I've been trying not to make so many soups lately, but I just couldn't resist this Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup. "Vegan and creamy," you ask? Well yes, the creaminess comes from cashew cream, not scary processed vegan dairy substitutes, which means this soup is so packed with nutrition it's not even funny.

Now a good soup is certainly nothing to scoff at, but let's admit, you're not going to win any beauty awards with  plain bowl of blended mush. But these Curried Lentil, Spinach, and Brown Rice Balls are another story. Impressive, eh? They're actually not difficult to make at all and are full of nutritional goodness as well! The only suggestion I would add to the original recipe is to pop them into a warm oven for a few minutes before serving. By the time you finish forming them they're almost to room temperature, and a lukewarm dinner isn't very appetizing.

And finally, the birthday dessert was Lemon Cheesecake Cups. I rarely post recipes that have no nutritionally redeeming value because I want to spread health and spur others on in making better choices, not spread sickness and disease, but I'm also not against a completely superfluous treat now and again! And birthdays are perfect times for these treats! So, let me share with you this completely delectable dessert. If you love lemon and you love cheesecake, you're in for a real treat!

These are actually better the next day, so it's a great dessert to make ahead! This made 11 muffin cups for me. It would have made 12, but I had to test for quality control along the way :)

Lemon Cheesecake Cups
Crust:
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
1/8 cup sugar
1/6 cup butter, melted

Filling:
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
1 cup sour cream
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

• In bowl, combine crumbs, nuts, and sugar. Stir in butter. Press into muffin tin and set aside.
• Beat together cream cheese and sugar till smooth. Add eggs, beating on low speed just till combined. Add lemon juice and vanilla; beat just till blended. Pour into crust.
• Bake at 335 degrees for 30 min or till center is almost set. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes. Combine topping ingredients; spread over filling. Return to oven for 5 minutes. Cool an hour and refrigerate overnight.
• (Next time I would probably line my muffin cups with parchment paper or something. These didn't come out very cleanly. I'm not one to turn down cheesecake just because it's a little rough around the edges, but it would have been more presentable with a cleaner release from the muffin tin.)

Preparations

Well, our baby is due next month. "Hooray!" and "Ahh!" at the same time! It suddenly seems like there isn't enough time left to get everything done, so in between frequent resting breaks I've been chipping away at the ever-growing, never-diminishing, Baby To-Do list.

Make blackout curtains: check. Paint wall behind curtains: check. (I mixed the green color myself from the guacamole we used in the dining room and didn't get it quite as light as I wanted. I meant to make it the same green color as in the third picture, so it may eventually get repainted. For now though, I have to move on to other things.) You can also see the adorable rug Grandma Darla (my mom) got us while she was here and the quilt that was made for my sister when she was a baby. We don't have a mattress for the crib yet, but we probably won't use it for the first six months or so since our baby will be sleeping in a co-sleeper attached to our bed. More on that later.

Grandma Darla also brought down this antique buffet with the idea to turn it into a dresser/changing table. Here's the "before."

Re-paint buffet: check. Here it is now. Do you love it as much as I do? It's easily my favorite piece of furniture in the house. I keep trying to find excuses to go into the room just so I can look at it.

There's so much more on the list! Fun things like "finish mobile" and not so fun things like "find pediatrician." Fun or not though, they all must be accomplished SOON!