A big milestone in our EC journey - 13 and 3/4 months update

Logan has been very good at using his fingers to point and communicate to me about what he wants, while he says some random sounds ... ^@$%#!$. Mostly, he wants an household item to play with, like jars, boxes, cooking utensils, etc. The only problem is I don't always understand or the item is too dangerous I can't give it to him to play, and as a result I end up with one frustrated toddler.

Today near end of dinner, Logan had stopped eating, pointing away again. This was the Nth time during dinner, after he had gotten his spoon, the contain lid, and a chicken bone. But this time, he was pointing out of the kitchen. "What do you want this time, Logan?" Still pointing. "Mommy can't give you that, because mommy doesn't understand what you want." Still pointing. I stood in the straight line in the extension of his finger and looked away, that's the direction to the washroom, but I can't seem to figure out what object along the line that could be interesting. "Do you want to go to washroom?" "Umm..." In disbelief of what I heard, I asked again, "Do you want to go to washroom, Logan?" Because Logan have not really said any understandable words to us so far, so I don't know if he means anything. The answer is still "Umm..." And then I asked the third time. Logan lost interest in my question this time, a little irritated but finally "Umm...". Well, we have been very diligent in practicing EC (elimination communication) since Logan was 3 months old. It's very possible that he is finally using his gesture to communicate back to us now. "Husband, take Logan to washroom right now!" Yes, it's husband's shift after dinner while I handle the kitchen side of things. Next thing I heard back from hubby was "Logan had a big poo!"

Both hubby and I got so excited! All of a sudden, it felt all the hard work of EC was all worthwhile. Of course, Logan had rarely pooed into his diaper ever since 3 months old, but we were always relying on his body language, timing, and occasionally some vocal signals around the time when he was 7-9 months old, but mostly we were just guessing. The whole journey of EC so far was full of ups and downs. Using the number of pees and poos we could catch as measurement, some month was great and some month was bad. Today was the first time Logan pointed to the washroom with his figures to let us know he wants to go to washroom and answered my question. It's a big milestone in our EC journey. It is also a good reminder for us as parents that we should pay more attention in reading his gestures from now on. He is fully aware of his body and this is the way he can communicate to us before the words can come out.

I am also surprised because Logan has not been very happy about being taken to toilet lately. He wasn't willing to go there as much as he used to as a little baby. Sometimes, Logan threw a big fit about it and pees in the diaper anyway. But what just happened today was a great boost for us to continue working on elimination communication, hopefully very soon we can correctly understand all of his elimination needs, and when he wants and does not want to go to washroom.

For the record, today Logan is 13 and 3/4 months old, almost exactly 1 year after we started EC.

-Yang