EC and our 7 month old!

  Well it has been a little while since I have updated about how the natural infant hygiene is going. I have been busy planning Ceaghans 3rd Birthday party and coordinating our local Improving Birth Rally For Change. Cesilee is now 7 months old. She can sit up on her own and even propels herself up from sitting on the potty to standing. She is not crawling yet though, she hasn't mastered both the arm and leg movements and ends up doing this very cute inch worm thing. She has been doing so amazing with giving us signs that she needs to eliminate. She urgently babbles, pops on a off the breast while nursing and even cries if its urgent. She is still dry during naps and goes upon waking and then around 15-20 minutes after that sometimes. Something that shocked me was that I randomly put her in her Grovia  diapers going out for a few days in a row and she did better in them than she ever did in trainers! I dont understand why but she would hold it longer and be more persistent about expressing her need. I dont really love having her in diapers, they are bulky and more work to get on and off. I was almost about to just only use them though if she had more success in them. But we started putting her in her trainers again and she is now expressing the need just as much in them!
  Chris is having more success as well. He would often miss her signs and end up with a lap full of pee before. But now she is getting his attention. I think the introduction of the tiny potty has helped as well. I purchased a Baby Bjorn smart potty, a clear tiny potty, and a pottete plus travel potty. I first bought the bjorn and she really was loving being able to sit on it on her own (she could even before being able to actually sit unassisted) and I realized that we were having more success using it. Before the potties I was walking her to the bathroom and holding her over the sink or the toilet to go. This was successful until she started reaching and grabbing things and becoming very distracted. On the little potty she can have a teether or toy to keep her hands busy. I keep the baby bjorn potty in the living room and the tiny clear potty on  the end corner of my bed. The pottete plus travel potty is great for keeping in your bag/vehicle. It has disposable liners but you can just put it on top of prefolds and then throw the soiled ones in a wet bag. I bought it because she had gotten so comfortable with going on the tiny potty at home that she didn't want to go being held over and sink or toilet while we were out. Also it is very convenient when we are at an outdoor location like a park that doesn't have a restroom.  I continue to get surprised how well EC goes while we are out. She will sleep on the way somewhere, wake up going in the carrier, eat, sleep some more and then wake up and get back to the car before going. Its amazing how much control babies have. She really does want to wait until her potty opportunity to go. Just from that you can see that this isn't something parents/caregivers force onto babies, it is what babies prefer and the parents/caregivers learn to help facilitate.
    We are still trying to figure out nighttime. I make an effort but it isn't going amazing. She isn't a loud demanding baby, she fusses lightly and even finds her own way to nurse while I am sleeping if she needs it. I think the issue is that I am not waking up when she is fussing the tiny bit she does before peeing. She can hold it for a while and then when she gets to an uncomfortable point she will fuss and release it all at once. This happens half way through the night and in the morning. I have tried waking up at 1am and sitting her on the potty, but she screams and cries and protests against it. She will not go and I think mostly she just is not awake enough. I am not sure what to do about this. We could try investing in layers of wool for the bed and keeping her nude with prefolds under her. I think that will be our next attempt for night. We will have random nights where I can get her to pee while nursing/still asleep and when she wakes up dry in the morning she releases a large amount in the potty. I wish every night could be like that. I'm sure in time it will get easier.

The Crunchy Way to Dye Hair

My "virgin" haircolor

In high school I dyed my hair with the toxic chemical filled junk you buy at the drugstore. I loved having red/burgundy hair. I got a lot of compliments and it really brought out my green eyes. But it washed out really quickly and I couldn't keep up with the expense and found it annoying. I started growing it out during my pregnancy with Ceaghan. And during my pregnancy with Cesilee I chopped a bunch off and ended up with all virgin hair. My natural hair color is your average ashy medium brown. Lately I have been growing out that haircut and started craving change. But I am so crunchy that I use coconut oil as lotion, how could I slather chemicals all over my head?? I searched for an alternative. I discovered Henna. There is a lot of misinformation about henna floating around. It is definitely something you need to research before jumping into. There are a few reasons for this. The most important being that not all Henna is created equal. Henna is a powdered plant and ONLY creates red tones. Yeah those "Henna Hair dye" boxes at the drugstore that claim fabulous colors are NOT pure henna and most likely contain other herbs/dyes and things like metallic salts that you do not want on your hair. What you want to look for is pure "body art quality" henna. Known as BAQ henna. This will help  ensure your henna is just henna. Another reason you really need to research is that this is not something you do spontaneously with the thought of changing soon after. Henna is permanent and by permanent I mean so permanent that you will need to go to crazy damaging measures (think bleach, peroxide, stripping!) or grow it out if you dont like it anymore. It is something you commit to and you should be sure you want to go there. This is a plus for me as the chemical red dyes washed out insanely fast. Henna binds to the keratin inside your hair, this causes its permanence and also strengthens your hair. Another thing to research is which "type" of henna will help you achieve the red tone you want. Now all henna is red and it won't lighten hair, it simply puts the red on top of what you already have. But hennas from different regions give different intensity of red. This depends on the lawsome content, the higher the content the more red and the deeper red. Even the henna's with the highest lawsome content might not give you the result you want the first time. You usually need to do multiple full head henna's before achieving the color you want. This is completely safe to do as henna is good for you hair. I wanted a deep red wine color and wanted to avoid orange. After going back and forth on  which type to use, I decided on Yemeni Henna from Henna Sooq. The henna sooq website has a lot of helpful information. I discovered that adding hibiscus powder to your henna mix helps create redder tones. I bought some with the henna.

My results after two applications of Henna

I was so excited when my henna arrived. I couldn't wait to be a redhead again and cure my itchy scalp/shedding issues I have been having. When it was finally time to henna I mixed 100 grams Yemeni henna with warm water and 3 tablespoons of hibiscus powder. I waited for the dye to release and left it on my hair for around 5-6 hours. Its a bit messy to apply and it will get everywhere. I wrapped it with plastic wrap and put a cap over top. This will keep the henna moist. If the henna dries, it stops staining and will dry out your hair. I then used a bottle (yes the entire thing) of Suave Coconut conditioner to wash the henna out. You do NOT want to use shampoo and I recommend a silicone free conditioner to cleanse it all out. Rinse until the water runs clear. This will take a bit. My hair was firery and orang-ish! This was alright though as henna comes out this way right away but then oxidizes and settles down over a period of days. The color deepens and goes redder as opposed to orange toned. So wait a few days before evaluating the color. I waited a few and decided to henna again. This time I mixed the henna and hibiscus into conditioner instead of water. This conditioned my hair more and was easier to wash out. My hair has finished oxidizing and I LOVE the results! I will just be doing root touch ups from here on out now that I have reached the color I like. If I kept applying full head applications the henna would build up getting darker and more purple burgundy color which I do not want. My hair feels healthy and strong. It is the most manageable it has ever been in my life. Here is a video with clips and photos of the process:


Well there you go. I am a henna head now and loving it! I missed the red hair a lot. I am happy that I could achieve what I wanted in a natural and crunchy way. If I ever decide that I dont want to henna anymore I could grow it out again. Hair grows, so why not have fun with it?