feed me, cloth me

Birth Stories, Part II

2011-12-23T05:08:00.000-08:00

Once again, my water broke at 2:20 in the morning, this time on Thanksgiving day. I had been having strong contractions for about a week, starting late in the afternoon and increasing in intensity until they were as close as 4 minutes apart and 60 seconds long, when they would peter out in the wee hours of the morning. I would finally pass out, discouraged and even angry. I wasn't scared. I wanted the pain! I wanted my daughter so badly. So when I fell asleep Wednesday night, for the first time in a week, I was surprised to wake up in the peak of an intense contraction, followed immediately by the subtle pop that I remembered without knowing I remembered it. I managed to get to the bathroom before the gush of waters.

My first reaction was nearly crying. Not again, not again, not again. Suddenly, the reality of repeating my previous labor experience seemed intensely real. Then, as quickly as the sadness of that had descended over me came, it left as I realized that this time I was in labor. I was having strong contractions. This time would be different.

I woke my husband. The second time in his life to be roused from sleep with the words, "my water broke!". The poor man! He asked what to do, and I told him to call our doula. This time, I saw no reason to get our midwives involved before it was absolutely necessary. I think a part of me wanted to be sure that labor was progressing before starting that stop watch. Even the midwives have limits when safety is a concern.

Our doula, after a week of worrying about me and knowing that I was frustrated and ready to go, was happy to hear that this was finally happening. She instructed us to time them and call her back.

While my husband timed them, I was in and out of the shower, bath, and back upstairs to our bedroom with the birthing ball. Eventually, he called the midwives. They said we didn't have to come in until we wanted to and I wasn't ready so we stayed home. The pains got stronger and I knew I wanted our doula with us soon so she showered and came over at around 5 in the morning. I had no conept of time - I know the timeline only because she kept track and wrote us a lovely birth story and noted in it the timeline.

By the time she got here, I had been having a lot of bloody show and mucus and the like and I somehow believed that this was indicative of being around 3cm. I was somewhat scared that if this was 3cm, I might not be able to handle 8 or 9. But after an hour, we were all in agreement that it was time to head to the midwifery. I was not fearful, but I was concerned that I was not as far along as we thought. I think this stems from being told repeatedly during Jack's labor that I was not in labor, was not progressing, that my contractions were not real.

The midwifery is a special place. When you arrive there, the walls are covered floor to ceiling in the tiny blue and pink footprints of every baby born there in the last 12 years. They are running out of room on the walls. They have three labor rooms - each with a queen size bed and a jacuzzi tub, and the feeling is homelike. One of my biggest fears throughout my pregnancy was that the rooms would be full and I would not be able to labor there. When I realized that it was Thanksgiving day, I was convinced this would be so. But we arrived and were ushered into a room with pink walls.

The downside of laboring at home for so long is that a 20 minute car ride to the hospital at 6 in the morning is the longest 20 minutes of your life. And possibly the most painful. Every time my husband stopped at a light, it took all of my willpower not to open the door and get out. Once we arrived at the midwifery, I had to be lying on the bed with the monitors for 20 minutes. This was almost as painful as the car ride, made worse by the monitor dropping off of my daughter during contractions, which meant more like 45 minutes of monitoring to be sure she was healthy enough to labor there. She was!

When we finally got unstrapped, I got into the shower. The tub was not warm enough and they were working hard to get it ready for me, but I needed something to help with the pains. At that point, I had already begun to feel the urge to push but was convinced that it wasn't time because when they checked me, I was only 6cm. I say "only" but in reality, I was thrilled to hear that. I had been terrified that I would only be 2 or 3cm. My husband got into the shower with me and during my contractions, he supported all of my weight while I dangled from his arms and tried to relax my muscles. Our doula coached from outside the shower, applying counter pressure to my lower back during surges.

When I finally couldn't ignore the urges, I told my husband I wanted to push. The next thing I knew, I had to get out of the shower because they wouldn't allow me to deliver in there (no room) but the tub wasn't quite ready. I remember asking over and over why I couldn't get in the tub and never hearing anyone answer, although I'm sure they did. I know now that they needed the temperature higher first. When it was ready, I was in there as fast as I could get in and my husband climbed right in there after me, a first for our doula after attending hundreds of births. I started out sitting but when I said I wanted to push, someone suggested I turn over onto all fours, with my arms on the built in seat. This gave me the leverage I needed and kept my head mostly above water (I do remember breathing out several times and discovering that my mouth was in the water). It took about 15 minutes of pushing. I remember feeling her descending. I'm certain that I could feel her head go through my cervix and travel down the birth canal. Despite the pain, it was an amazing thing to witness!

And then...and then she was here. My husband caught her, which means so very much to me. During my first pregnancy, I read about a couple who had a homebirth in a tub, and the father caught his baby. It struck a cord with me and became a part of the ideal birth in my head. Within moments, everyone was helping me turn over and she was in my arms. I felt instantly that I recognized her as my daughter and felt that she was the most amazing thing in the world. I felt that all of my work had been shared with her, that we were a team and she had wanted me as badly as I wanted her.

I am amazed with my body and even more amazed that moments after delivering her, I stood up while holding her to my chest, climbed out of the tub, and walked to the bed. Obviously, I was assisted but I had no idea that I could do that. The midwives prefer to deliver the placenta on the bed, and with her still connected to me, we looked into each others eyes. I was thrilled that there was no rush to cut her cord, but when offered, my husband declined (again - but Jack's was wrapped around his neck and had to be cut before the rest of his body could come out) and the next thing I knew, the midwife was handing me the scissors and telling me where to cut. I think it speaks volumes that the midwives would offer such an option. I've never heard of a mother cutting the cord (but then, most fathers are more into doing it themselves).

I should mention here that last night, my husband informed me that the scariest part of labor was when I stood up from the tub because blood was gushing out of me. I never noticed, possibly because I was totally enamoured of my new little baby girl.

No one tried to take her from me. She lay on my chest for a long time. She peed on me, and when I encouraged her toward my nipple, she refused it, preferring to find it on her own and nurse contendedly for a while. She was loud, screaming for much of her first hour of life outside my womb. At first, we were worried that something was wrong. Then we realized that it was good, healthy, normal for her to scream. It just seemed abnormal after our son was born medicated and quiet.

Somewhere in there, our doula asked eagerly for her name. We had kept it a secret and were pleased to introduce Paisley Evelyn to her and her midwives, who had been caring so lovingly for both her and her mother for so long. We made phone calls, took pictures, and she had her footprints taken. My husband had one put on his arm, and later had it tattooed on there.

Eventually, she was weighed and measured and my little chunky butterball baby was 8lb 9oz (a whole pound bigger than Jack was as birth!) and 20 inches (and an inch and a half shorter!). We have had no real issues with nursing and she is for the most part a happy baby. She sleeps well and is growing fast!

I cannot imagine a better birth story. Labor isn't easy and for the most part, it isn't fun. I learned the hard way that no matter how badly you want to, it isn't wise to push through the ring of fire and somewhere where I can't easily see, I'll have a scar to show for it. But that aside, everything went exactly as I had hoped it would. The most wonderful thing was not having to worry about my needs as a woman being met. I needed to be present, participating in my labor and dictating how I labored with support from women who knew what to expect. In fact, the midwife and the nurse were barely there in my memories of her birth. They were in the room, quiet and in the background, ready for her arrival but not intervening or invading my space. When I believed I could not possibly survive another second, my doula and my husband both reassured me that I was 100% capable. I felt safe there.

In a couple of weeks, Paisley's footprints will be added to the walls of the midwifery. For some reason, this means the world to me. It represents a journey that for me, was so essential. I once read that for as long as a woman lives, she will remember how she was made to feel while in labor. Since Paisley's birth, the pain of Jack's labor has dulled. I don't dwell on it anymore. It doesn't make me quite so sad. I'll never forget, but stronger now is the memory of how empowered, respected, and safe I was made to feel in my second labor and delivery.

I wish every woman could labor and deliver at such a magical place.

Birth Stories, part I

2011-12-22T07:02:00.000-08:00

I know in the mom blog world it is fairly customary to blog about one's childbirth experiences and I never shared anything about Jack's birth because by the time I started this blog, he was already close to a year old. Besides that, his birth was not a happy experience with the only exception being his arrival into the world.

Basically, Jack was the only good thing that happened the day he was born.

I hate to even say that, but the fact is that the 24 hours leading up to his birth were awful for me. I was treated like a bystander...worse, a bystander who knew nothing about anything. I was treated with little or no respect and nurses were rude and impatient with me for wanting a natural childbirth. They made it clear that this was, in their estimation, not going to happen. The OB we were working with was subtly threatning me every time he came in the room. He looked at his watch constantly, counted down the hours until we would have no choices (as though we ever really had any). He flat-out lied to us several times.

You see, my water had broken before my labor really started. For that hospital and that doctor, that meant I had exactly 12 hours to produce my son before they would be hooking me up to everything they could and getting him out as fast as possible.

They knew from my birth plan that c-section was the last option for me, and they used that to threaten me into pitocin. When the pitocin kicked in and hit me like a ton of bricks, I had an epidural before I knew what was happening (and, incidentally, I believe I had started to handle the contractions pretty well by the time the anestesiologist showed up so I wish I had put my foot down and said no).

Once the epidural was in place, magically the nurses stopped coming in every 20 minutes. Suddenly, I didn't need so many cervical checks (or, as it turns out, any). Did I mention that when the pitocin kicked in good, one nurse forcably checked my cervix in the middle of my contraction? She solicited consent from my husband by scaring him. She told him if I was in that much pain, I must be ready to push. Then she told us that no, I was not dilated at all and informed my husband that I couldn't handle natural birth. Nice, huh?

I spent the next few hours crying quietly in my hospital bed. Sleep? Forget it. The numb feeling from the epidural drove me crazy. I wanted to cut my legs off. And someone came in every so often and turned me over, increased the medications, and took my blood pressure. Not sure who could sleep through that. I was also freezing cold. When I started feeling contractions again, they informed me that I was almost ready to push. My husband woke up and before I knew it, I was pushing with my husband on one side, a nurse on the other, and the absolute terror that the OB wouldn't get there in time.

The nurse informed me that all the nurses had delivered babies, so I shouldn't worry. That just made me wonder why I needed an OB at all. But he did show up, just in time to catch Jack, deliver the placenta, and stitch me up.

And Jack was beautiful. He was quiet - didn't even cry for his bath. I recall holding him on my belly, and then having him taken away for apgar, bath, etc. So important to get his weight and length as soon as possible...then, suddenly, my husband had him. He was all swaddled and pink and they looked so beautiful together that it took me a while to realize that I was supposed to want to hold him.

I was supposed to. It isn't that I didn't want to hold him. I just felt no connection to what was going on around me. When I asked for him back, my husband handed him over and I remember being so amazed that he was really here. There really had been a baby boy inside me all those months and now I was finally holding him in my arms and yet...something was missing. I felt no rush of love. I knew, intellectually, that I loved my son. I had loved him from the moment I saw two blue lines and through all the morning sickness that had me dry heaving at night and left me almost 15 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight before I could eat again and began to gain. I loved feeling him kick and tumble around, a little acrobat in my belly constantly reminding me of his presence. But I felt like an outsider in that delivery room.

Then they took him away, claimed his heartrate was too high and he needed monitoring. Well, no wonder. He was drugged up on pitocin and the epidural. It was hours before I saw him again. And the next two weeks were a blur of pumping milk for my newborn, who wouldn't latch, crying, nipple shields, more crying, and feeling completely inept at this whole parenting thing. I thought it must have been a mistake. That we shouldn't have been given this lovely little being if we couldn't decode his cries and what kind of mother can't find a way to get her son to latch on and drink her milk?

We did get the whole nursing thing sorted out and it didn't take me long after that to feel so completely head over heels in love with my son that I could barely remember that detachment I felt the moment of his bith. But not a day has gone by in his 2.5 years that I didn't think about his birth with sadness. Yes, my son was healthy and I should be greatful. But I kind of find that line of thought demeaning to women. Yes, I am eternally greatful to have a healthy baby, especially when I hear stories of less fortunate parents and children. But that doesn't take away my need to have a safe, healthy birth and be treated with respect.

So when I found out last spring that I was pregnant, I knew I needed something different. We had just moved and I was pleased to learn about a group of midwives and a speacial place inside the labor and delivery unit of a nearby hospital where these midwives assisted with natural, normal childbirth. I knew I wanted to welcome this child into the world at the midwifery, in the peaceful and loving atmosphere where women's bodies are respected for all that they can do, and labor is considered something a woman does, not something that happens to her.

I made an appointment that day, before I even told my husband I was pregnant. I also started looking for doulas. I was leaving nothing to chance. I knew that my husband, scared and overwhelmed at our first labor and birth, would be more confident. But I also knew I wanted someone who had a lot of experience with natural birth to be there for us, help guide us on a journey that would be very different from our previous experience. We found and hired an amazing doula, took a real childbirth class, and eagerly awaited the arrival of our little girl.

Things to do with the little jar of apple pie spice you bought for Thanksgiving and won't use the rest of the year...

2011-12-20T09:52:00.000-08:00

I have a tiny jar of apple pie spice in my cabinet. I actually didn't buy it - the company I buy my spices from (http://www.penzeys.com/) sent it to me as a free sample with an order. I tend to prefer to blend my own spices for that kind of thing so I had never used it when I came across a recipe for "apple pie play dough". I wish I could remember where the recipe came from, but I'll share it below anyway and hope I don't get slammed for not crediting it.

That said, I have since been looking for other uses for this little jar of tastiness and have come up with a few uses that my toddler loves. He even came up with a recipe on his own!
So here is my list of ways to use up apple pie spice. Because you know it won't be fresh enough next year, right? RIGHT?

Apple Pie Scented Playdough (recipe below)

Mix with a little bit of sugar instead of cinnamon to sprinkle on toast

Jack's recipe for Apple Spiced Granola and Peanut Butter sandwich (recipe below!)

Add to applesauce or pearsauce instead of cinnamon (basically, use instead of cinnamon anytime you want!)

Keep cooking that applesauce until it turns into apple butter

Dust over vanilla ice cream

Chop up an apple (peeled, if desired), and saute in a pan with a little butter, apple juice, and apple pie spice until soft

Add to oatmeal along with some chopped, cooked apples or apple sauce

Add to pancake or waffle batter (add diced pieces of apple as well for bonus points); top with apple butter instead of maple syrup

I have found that frequently, Jack will happily try something if I let him add spices to it himself. So when I am cooking, I will let him add pinches of whatever herbs and spices I am using to the dish. The tiny amounts he adds don't make much difference and they let him feel like part of the process. Since he was very young, he has loved to taste spices - even dry mustard or crushed red pepper MUST be tasted! He is more interested in trying foods when he has tasted everything that goes into them (usually, he wants to try all the other ingredients, too).

Apple Spice Scented Playdough
1 c flour

1/2 c salt
2 t cream of tartar
2 t apple pie spice
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T vegetable oil
1 c water
red food coloring
In med. nonstick saucepan blend dry ingredients. Mix in wet ingredients until smooth. Add food coloring. Put pan on medium heat and stir until it makes a large ball. Remove from heat and place on parchment. Allow to cool. Knead until consistancy is right. Store in ziplock baggies up to 2 weeks.

Jack's Apple Pie Spiced Granola and Peanut Butter Sandwich

1 Nature Valley Granola bar, crushed into small pieces
2 slices whole wheat sandwich bread
2-3 T natural peanut butter
sprinkle of apple pie spice

Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread. Sprinkle granola bar and apple pie spice over peanut butter and top with second slice of bread. Cut into fun shapes and serve :)

“Every Little Bottom” is getting a little annoying.

2011-07-09T06:19:00.001-07:00

So here's the math, according to the Huggies website:

1 in 3 American families struggle to provide enough diapers for their child.

Again, according to their own website, as many as 1 in 20 mothers have been forced to clean out soiled diapers and reuse them. I have heard of mothers letting wet diapers dry and reusing them, but this is the first I have heard of a parent removing feces from a disposable diaper, presumably wiping it out or maybe rinsing it (?) and reusing it.

Basically, we have people who are using disposable diapers the same way they could be using cloth diapers. Only, inexpensive prefolds can be washed thoroughly and reused safely.

So, what's the solution?

Apparently, YOU should buy more Huggies!

I noticed that on many, if not all, packs of Huggies have a banner on them for the Every Little Bottom program, stating that your purchase = a donation. But I searched the pack (we use Huggies at night, mostly because coupons are usually readily available so they are cheaper and work a lot better than the eco-friendly options we would ideally prefer) and couldn't find any details. So what kind of donation is made? According to their website…wait, I can't find it there, either.

If you can find it, please let me know. But I read a blog that is affiliated with the program and according to that blog (which I won't name because they are sponsored by this program), if you purchase a pack of the demin print diapers, Huggies will donate ONE diaper to the cause.

I have only ever see the Huggies denim print diapers in cases, never in jumbo packs, so that means that for something like 50-60 diapers purchased, ONE is donated. SO generous, Huggies. You are making such a difference for those 1 in 3 families.

They are also peddling donations on their website, and one way to add to their donations for FREE is to upload a picture of your child…in a Huggies denim diaper. Every facebook like also adds to the count. So far, they claim to have donated 7,670 diapers through this aspect of their program. Not too shabby, but when you see that they have a banner on their website that says they have donated 22.5 MILLION diapers so far, you have to wonder. Digging deeper, their website says they will donate 22.5 million diapers in 2010. Uhm. That was last year? We are more than halfway through 2011, so I can't help but wonder why they haven't updated that.

Another way to donate? Buy a pack and donate it to a local diaper bank. They'll even help you find one…if you register on the website.

I'm not fundamentally opposed to donating disposable diapers to those in need. Not even a little. I'm not naïve enough to believe that cloth diaper education can make enough of a difference for people who are struggling, although in an ideal world, it would be a lot easier for anyone to walk into a store and buy good quality cloth diapering supplies. I'd be happy to see Indian or Chinese prefolds and some decent covers are Babies R Us, but that's not likely to happen any time real soon. I get asked all the time whether I use the "gerber kind" of cloth diapers, so I know most people have no idea that there are so many better options out there. And, honestly, if I didn't own my own washer and dryer, I would likely not be able to use cloth diapers. So I have to assume that cloth isn't a viable option for at least some of those who are having trouble buying enough diapers.

I am fundamentally opposed to telling mothers a sob story in order to sell a product. This is exactly what Huggies is doing. They know that women who have children in diapers will instantly feel for an imaginary mom out there, scooping poo out of a diaper and reusing it. They know that most moms out there would be heartbroken to feel they are unable to change their child's wet diaper as often as they would like and will feel a great deal of compassion for the 1 in 3 women who have no choice.

I wonder if Huggies is also making donations of Pull-ups. That's probably a good way to keep children whose families can't afford enough diapers in diapers for as long as possible.

The saddest thing to me is that is was not Huggies' idea. They didn't come up with it. Diaper drives have been going on for several years and Huggies was donating a ton of diapers to many drives around the country. I liked that about Huggies. Then they decided to not only embrace this concept, but claim it as their own and in all likelihood they aren't donating any more than they were before. But I bet business is boomin'.

Cloth diapers do not make me a better person than you

2011-06-14T06:28:00.001-07:00

I recently saw an episode of "19 Kids and Counting" where Anna (the oldest Duggar son's newish wife) waxes poetic about how it's okay that she is currently driving a Hummer H2 because her baby is wearing a cloth diaper in the backseat.

Uh, sorry. No.

I could care less what she is driving, but since when do the good Christian family the Duggars brag and boast that their parenting decisions are better than everyone else's? Frankly, the momma driving the Prius next to her in traffic is probably using cloth diapers, too and she is getting like 60 miles per gallon, not 3.

Jack is past diapers mostly, so I get fewer inquisitions in public than I used to. But I was always fond of telling people that I don't care about the environment. I'm just frugal.

Okay, cheap.

No, frugal. Let's go with frugal. I bought cloth diapers for our son before we knew he was a son because I have known for many years that for me, they are just the better choice. They are less expensive (unless you want to spend more, in which case there are still a lot of options for cloth that breaks the bank). End of story.

Okay, almost.

I also read some compelling research about how disposable diapers affect male fertility and that made a difference. But the decision was already made, and as an intellectual human I cannot believe there is enough evidence since disposables have only been the "norm" for most of my life, and many of my peers are not even attempting to procreate just yet. Are they also great for the environment? Well, sure, maybe. Depends on who you ask. But frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. I also happen to think they are cuter and in some ways easier.

Cloth is cheaper. For me. But maybe not for you, if you have the time and energy to chase the deals. A dear friend of mine just gave birth to a lovely little boy (he is a week old today!) and she has about 3 or 4 months' worth of diapers in her son's closet that she has been stockpiling throughout her pregnancy. Friends also gave her their leftover diapers when they switched sizes mid-pack and I found an amazing deal last fall on a case of Pampers that made them all but free and had them shipped her way. She has probably not come close to the cost of cloth diapering and she probably won't ever hit what I have spent, and will continue to spend, on cloth diapers.

The thing of it is, I bought an entire set of diapers before I knew all that much about them, and they turned out to not be what I thought they would be. We had to invest in more, and had to buy new covers along the way when Jack outgrew them because the ones we bought before he was born didn't fit him well. And many of those covers can be re-used with our new little bean when s/he arrives come November, but many are worn out and will have to be replaced. I intend to invest in nicer covers when I need to, but the cost is still up there. And since many of the diapers we used for my son are not re-usable anymore, we'll probably invest in more prefolds (which, shocklingly, I turned out to like better anyway) If I have a 3^rd, I'm pretty confident that I'll spend less in the long run. But I couldn't say we won't spend more than my friend will over her diapering years.

And, guess what? We also used disposables, and now that we are down to 2 diapers a day (nap and night), we use no cloth diapers. I cannot justify washing 2 or 3 diapers at a time. We have yeast rash issues if we use cloth at night, so we have been buying disposables since Jack was 6 months old. Thirty disposables a month isn't the end of the world, but it does add to the cost. Now we use about twice that many.

At the end of the day, we all do what we believe is best for our families. It is true that many parents have no idea that cloth is a viable option and therefor don't make a "decision" concerning diapering. But you will never catch me telling someone that I can waste other natural resources because my child wore cloth diapers. You will never hear me claim that not only is cloth better, but that I'm better for using it. I'm a stay at home mom, like Anna Duggar, and I have time to wash diapers. I'm sure there are many other moms out there who make other decisions that will turn out to be better in the long run, whether they diaper with Pampers or Thirsties.

Where oh where can my baby be??

2011-05-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

Jack is 2.

Its hard to believe that two years ago today, I held him for the first time. I nursed him for the first time. My husband and his best friend danced around our hospital room with him, seranading him with Bohemian Rhapsody, and as exhausted as I was, I hadn't seen anything yet.

Jack is still the most amazing creature I have ever laid eyes on, just as he was that first day.

He blew through milestones that first year, crawling, standing, taking steps. He now has all 20 of his baby teeth and can and does eat just about anything. He no longer walks, but runs, and talks to us in full sentences.

Having a conversation with someone you literally created is fantastic, mind blowing, every time.

Every month it seems he is doing more. Every day, his vocabulary gets bigger. Each "age" is my favorite. Right now, I want him to never change and yet I also can't wait for what's next.

I love that if you have to wake him from his nap, he is guaranteed to be extraordinarily cranky. I love that he now says, "no," to almost everything, smiling becuase he knows its the wrong answer. I love that he insists on standing up to pee, even though his aim is terrible at best. I especially love that he asks for what he wants, including asking us to tickle him, specifying which foot or arm he would prefer.

In about 7 months, Jack will become a big brother, so when we went today for his 2nd birthday pictures, it struck me that this could be one of the last times he is the only one in those pictures, the sole focus of the camera. It makes me sad, and while I know, intellectually, that I will love the new baby just as much as I love him, and maybe love them both even more (is that possible?), it is unfathomable that anything could compare to my little Jackaroni and cheese.

For the record, Jack says he wants a sister. But he also insists alternately that the baby is in either HIS belly, or Daddy's.

Happy birthday, little man. I hope this year will be just as full of discoveries and happiness as your first two have been.

Confession - my toddler only likes chicken nuggets, despite my best intentions

2011-03-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

My son eats lots of veggies. Sometimes, there are things I have to do when preparing them to make them "edible" (string beans need to be very soft or they get the boot), but mostly I just cook them and he eats them. Every now and then the broccoli he loved two days ago is unaaceptable for some unknown reason but generally the next time I serve it, he is happy.

My son LOVES fruit. There is nothing I can do to make him eat less fruit, short of not buying it. He sees bananas, pears, apples, on the counter and asks for them. Grapes or pineapple in the fridge = demands when he sees the door open. The mrere existance of kiwi sents in himto a tailspin.

Dairy is also not a problem. He loves cheese (so he is definitly mine), and ate yogurt daily for the first 6 months or so of his foray into solids. Now he eats it often, usually in fruit smoothies. We like greek yogurt for the protien content. He is even now thankfully drinking milk, mostly without complaint. I give him 2% because...well...it's what I always buy. Whole milk grosses me out, is more expensive, and would end up getting throw away since he is unlikely to drink the entire bottle before it goes bad.

Meat, however, is another issue entirely. I gave him beans and rice, tofu, eggs, but no meat until about 10 months. I think in general we eat too much meat so I thought I was doing him a favor by not making it normal early on. Then we could all enjoy meatless meals without complaint or feeling like something is missing. I wanted him to like inexpensive protiens as well.

What meat does he like? Chicken nuggets. Yes, my son is one of those toddlers who only wants chicken nuggets. This was the entire basis for my "make-all-the-baby-food-lots-of-veggies-nothing-processed" mentality. I didn't want the kid that only eats food that is breaded/battered and fried. Especially since high-quality chicken nuggets are not only hard to find (impossible, in our new town) but also rather pricey. I have tried making my own with no sucess.

He also loves meatballs. But meat as nature made it is hard for him to chew. Why? He has almost all this teeth (last time he let me look, only 4 were missing).

So the answer simply must be my delayed introduction.

So I guess this post is mostly a confession that I didn't do everything right, like I thought I did. At the time it made sense, but next baby will get a more well-rounded diet. For now, I'm going to get bean cakes back into our meal plans and keep on serving up those little cut up pieces of chicken off the grill and not the Tyson bag and hope for the best.

Meanwhile, I have decided that in reality, it isn't the end of the world if my son eats chicken nuggets every now and then. It didn't kill me, and it won't kill him.

Quick Potty Training Update

2011-03-11T06:03:00.000-08:00

Thought I would take a minute to give an update on Jack's potty training progress. With the move, we expected regression but really never noticed any. Some days are better than others and with my husband gone on business this week, I can attest that Jack does better with this when Daddy is around, even if he is at work for part of the day. After he was gone for about two days, Jack started having more accidents.

I suspect this may be due to my lack of male parts.

This seems pretty normal, though. He is, overall, doing pretty well. It seems to be, of course, dependant on my memory. Sometimes when we are running around doing things or even at home if I get involved in unpacking/organizing something and lose track of time a bit, I forget to prompt him frequently. He does usually tell me he needs to go, but not always.

I am pleased to report that his fear of public potties had passed, at least temporarily. We have had no trouble using the fold up potty seat or even being held up over the toilet. I have been employing the potty-in-the-car less frequently, but I think I will bring it with us today for a trip to the zoo, as the drive is a bit long and we may have to wait a bit before getting inside.

Speaking of today's outting, this is more or less the first recreational (for both of us - Lowe's doesn't count for him, even if I do enjoy a good trip to the hardware store) event I have planned for us. We are meeting a new playgroup there - one that focuses on learning as its primary goal. I hope we will find some new friends and have a good time!

Moved, bought a Twilight Turtle. Now you are all caught up.

2011-03-07T11:41:00.001-08:00

We closed on our new house at the end of February, so we are still unpacking some. We blew through a large percentage of boxes as fast as we could and now everything for the kitchen, dining room, living room, and Jack's room is unpacked/assembled. Our room is lovely with its new bedroom furniture after a really big trip to Ikea. I'll work on some before and after posts as we get things finished up, or at least more progress. I'd like to get my sewing machine set up, but I've pledged to wait until everything else is done, to motivate myself.

But today I wanted to share a product review. It seems my son is quite fond of green animals, namely turtles and alligators. He has two rather long stuffed alligators that he sleeps with every night, and now he is the proud owner of a Cloud B Twilight Turtle. I have had my eye on this toy for a long time, but I wasn't sure if it would help him sleep, or keep him awake. Then a representative from CSNstores.com contacted me a couple of months ago, asking me if I would like to do a product review for their site. I had heard of CSN stores, but had never shopped there. When they offered me $25 off any item I would like to review, I knew I would pick something for Jack because, well, I'm a mom. It's what we do, right? So I took my time, browsing the site for a couple of weeks before realizing that time and time again, I went back to the Cloud B Twilight Turtle.

Some things I love about this toy:

It speaks to my toddler's need to make choices. He can pick the color of his starry sky every night and the buttons are easy to use, so it is very child-friendly. He knows which one turns it on (took about three seconds to figure that out once the batteries were in), and while most nights he wants green, sometimes he goes with blue.
There are 8 actual constellations hidden in the sky. While Jack is a bit young to "get" the concept, I look forward to teaching him some basic constellations by pointing them out at bedtime.
Auto shut-off! I love that after 45 minutes, the Turtle turns off. Jack is still in his crib (although he did climb out not long ago….) but when we take the side off for full-on toddler freedom, he can easily turn it back on if he needs to in the middle of the night. But unlike many nightlights, this one doesn't stay on all night. Battery-operated, it is also safe for him to play with, unlike a light that plugs in.
The light is subtle, as opposed to a blaring plug-in nightlight. The room is just light enough to see that there is nothing to be afraid of, while not suppressing melatonin.
It isn't ugly. So many nightlights for kids are appealing to kids, and not so much to their parents, who can't stand the light-up sesame street faces and the like. This turtle is soft and plush, with a soft plastic shell, and looks adorable and innocent sitting on Jack's new LACK bedside table. The zoo print material I made his duvet from has turtles and I plan to include turtles in his room décor, so it's the perfect addition.
Not into turtles? This little guy can be had in the form of a ladybug as well!

There is literally nothing I don't like about this toy. I love that it's safe for him to play with. I love that it arrived in time for his first night in his new home, and I believe that it helped distract him from being in a strange room. It has become a lovely addition to our bedtime routine. There's nothing like telling your 21 month old that its bedtime and have him run in his room to turn on his nightlight.

I would happily recommend the Cloud B Twilight Turtle to friends looking for a safe, fun, and even a little bit educational nightlight for their child. I this this toy would make an excellent addition to a new baby's nursery, helping to create a good sleep atmosphere and fun bedtime routine. The retail price of $30 is not too bad, either, when you consider that this nightlight will fit nicely into a child's bedtime routine for many, many years. You might find yourself switching from Bob the Builder sheets to Batman, but the nightlight can stay.

If you shop at CSNstores.com, you'll find a huge selection of quality products, in addition to Cloud B toys and gifts. While I was perusing the stores, I didn't see a single item I wouldn't buy or consider buying. Brands like Boon, OXO tot, Chicco, Plan Toys, and more. All the brands I know and trust, with competitive prices and many ship free! We are currently looking for a deal on a playhouse for Jack's birthday, and this site has an incredible selection.

CSNstores.com also carries products for your home, kitchen, bathroom, furniture, and more. Check them out next time you are comparison shopping!

Just say no to pull-ups?

2011-02-17T11:35:00.001-08:00

If you have read any of my potty training posts, you know that we neglected to buy any pull-up disposable training pants for our son. Oops. It wasn't an accident, of course. I started my potty training plans with big intentions toward cloth training pants, since we used cloth diapers, and spent a fair bit of time poking around my favorite cloth diaper shops online and looking at the training pants offerings. I wasn't surprised at how many options there are, nor that many are pretty expensive. With all the cloth diapering options out there, it stands to reason that there would be a lot in training pants as well.

Months ago I bought a three pack of Gerber training pants, thinking we would try them out and see if we really needed to unload so much cash to get our son potty trained in a eco- friendly way. However, by the time we really embarked on our first full-on potty training week, I had determined that the best course of action was to stick him in big boy underpants and skip any kind of training pant. We bought 10 pairs of character undies and used a few Gerber pants when we ran low. As an aside, I don't recommend the character undies. They were falling apart after a few washes. I have since purchased some from Carters and they are much higher quality. Cuter, too.

Yes, I did a lot of laundry that week, and for another week or so the loads were still more frequent that I would like. Now, we do maybe an extra load but the loads are a bit smaller. He does have accidents and I don't like to leave pee-soaked clothes sitting, but really he doesn't go through enough extra clothing that it's a burden.

But our trash? The same.

When I wander around one of those big club stores and see the giant cases of training pants, I can't help but wonder why people would spend that kind of money on something they are going to HOPE their child won't pee or poo in and so they can throw it away, essentially unused. Best case scenario, you are wasting your money. Worst case, you may as wekk just stay in diapers.

Then I see that they go up to a size 5T.

Now, come on, people! Okay, I get it. I do! I know that when both parents work, potty training the way we did it is not easy. Probably pretty difficult, in fact. Disposable trainers do make it easier by avoiding the mess. But they may just drag it out over months or even years, costing you time, money, and more than a little frustration.

Consider this:

Huggies offers the following training pants features:

"easy open sides", which basically means you can continue to lie your child down to change him, which only confirms his suspicions that he is wearing a diaper. Call it whatever you want, it's still a diaper.
Nighttime absorbancy. DIAPER. The goal is not for you child to sleep comfortably through nighttime urination.
"cool alert". In what universe does it make sense for a child to feel coldness as a result of peeing? This seems confusing and ultimately, since they have already begun to urinate, probably not terribly effective.
Character designs that fade away when wet. Presumably, your child is also wearing pants so I'm not sure what the point is, except that they'll be excited to get their diaper changed…

Pampers offers:

Claim they hold 25% more than Huggies training pants. Do I need to say it?
Claim to help make potty training "make sense". There is no further explanation. I have no idea what this means.
"feel and learn" liner. They say that children feel wetness, helping them learn to stay dry. BUT I would argue that this is likely temporary, and not terribly uncomfortable, as the diaper itself absorbs most if not all of the liquid, so the discomfort does not compare to being naked or in just underpants, which leads to pee running down the leg, which leads to self-awareness and an understanding of where the pee comes from. But of course I have never peed in one so I wouldn't know.
When you click on "Helpful Hints" under the product description, it explains the basics of…changing diapers.
Pampers trainers also have designs that fade when wet. They are located below the cool Diego design that kids like so much. Diego doesn't fade. I think girls get Dora.

The first review that came up when I clicked on the tab at the Pampers site stated that the writer loves the product, thinks it is awesome, and wishes they came in a size 7. The second reviewer only bought them because a coupon made them cheaper than diapers and she recommends skipping them and going right into underpants because her child would rather use the training pant than the potty. She also says they look and feel and work just like a diaper, only with tear apart sides instead of tabs.

At the Huggies website, a rather annoying song plays that repeats itself in my head while I try to go to sleep at night. You know the one.

Yes, potty training is messy and messier if you skip these products. But it's cheaper and faster if you just grin and bear it, and the earth will thank you. Kimberly-Clark and Proctor & Gamble probably prefer if you keep your child in diapers until they outgrow the biggest size. Can you blame them? The price per diaper for training pants is much higher.

Both sites have long lists of things to look for for potty training "readiness". Ignore these. Your child does not have to be able to do the entire potty process without any assistance before he can be potty trained. You will be wiping bums for a while, so you may as well help pull clothes up and down, too. It isn't as gross as changing diapers, I promise. Especially when the tradeoff is getting rid of a stinky diaper pail.

Not a stay at home parent? Consider taking a week of vacation, and if you have a partner, have him or her take a second week following yours, and potty train with just underpants. Use whatever method makes sense to you, but be consistent. Then stick with undies as much as possible, using disposable pants only if your daycare requires it. Make sure to ask. It's possible that yours expects it, but understands that they prolong the process and they may be happy to skip them, too. If not, consider a greener option. Seventh Generation makes training pants, or your daycare may be willing to work with waterproof cloth trainers. Cloth trainers have excellent resale value!

I LOVE automatic flush toilets and so does my toddler!! Yeah, right.

2011-02-08T11:31:00.001-08:00

I thought it might be interesting to share how our potty training has been going. It only took Jack about a week to really catch on and he was even starting to tell us when he needed to go by the middle of the second week.

Being cautious, I was skeptical that this would really stick so quickly, so…well…easily. But he has really been doing great. Yes, we do have accidents but he is at about 85-90% accuracy and almost always lets someone know when he needs to go. We have to closely monitor Yo Gabba Gabba time because frankly, he would rather pee himself than pause it for two minutes to use the potty. But can you blame him?

So things were going great after the first two weeks. He was even using public toilets like a champ!

And then we went into a bathroom at the mall, armed with a cushy fold up potty seat, and dared my happily-peeing-in-public-potties toddler to get through two rather harrowing experiences. The first was incidental. The second was entirely my fault.

See, there was a young mother in there changing her tiny daughter's diaper. On the counter, obviously, because there was no changing table. She had, of course, every possibly piece of baby gear with her and since the bathroom was small, it took up most of the room and blocked us in. I watched in horror as she not only changed the baby without a changing pad under her, but also piled up used wipes on the counter. All the while, she apologized and told us indignantly that, "there's no changing table! So I had no choice," and not moving a muscle. I admire her commitment to changing that diaper in a timely fashion, but that's about it.

Now, new mommas out there, I GET IT. I have been there. I have needed to change a poopie diaper and been unable to locate a bathroom with a changing table. In such cases, I have:

Gone back out to our car and changed him on the seat.
Continued to look for a family restroom (which, by the way, was only about a two minute walk away from this one).
Used the stroller, though this is awkward.

So I implore, please consider these options first. Now, I digress. Back to my story.

So while we tentatively waited for New Mommy to make some kind of attempt to move something out of the way, Jack backed up and stood under the automatic hand dryer.

Yes, the automatic hand dryer.

Those of you with toddlers know what happened next, but I'll indulge those without. The dryer turned itself on and scared the bejeezus out of my son, who all but leapt out of his pants. After seemingly soothing my little guy, I quickly told New Mommy that my son needs the potty, can I move her things? She suddenly seemed to realize that we had come into the bathroom in order to use it's facilities, rather than in search of an adorable little 10 week old baby girl to oogle. Though, admittedly, she was pretty cute. But what baby isn't? She said something along the lines of, "omg, of course!"

So I shoved her stroller, topped with an infant seat and with at least one shopping bag from every store in the mall strapped, tied, and piled on top of it out of our way. Immediately upon entering the stall, I noticed (as any over-read mother would) that the toilet had an automatic flush. I deftly placed the fold up seat on the potty, pulled down my son's now-too-big pants and undies, scooped him up, and threw one hand over the sensor while placing him delicately on his throne, where he kicked his feet around contentedly and wondered why I had responded to his repeatedly saying, "potty? Momma, potty?" by taking him to a potty. Silly Momma.

Before I continue (and, again, at least the novice moms out there know where this is going), I should mention that only the day before I had purchased, for this very occasion, a roll of black electric tape. I, over-read that I clearly am on relevant parenting topics and most recently on potty training, knew that savvy mommas carry a roll in their diaper bag to cover the sensor so the automatic toilet does not flush and scare the living poopie out of their skeptical-about-public-potties-already toddlers. But you see, my toddler was already using public toilets like a pro, #1, #2, whatever. He was golden. So I figured, since my own mom was there wielding the somehow heavier diaper bag, that I should go ahead and have her dig out the tape for me so I can tempt fate a little and free my numb finger from its rather uncomfortable and weird angle. Because, you see, that's what I was supposed to do.

While reciting, by heart, "Hippos go berserk!" to keep my son entertained, I used my teeth and free left (aka useless) hand to rip off a piece of electrical tape, which I then slipped in place, sliding my finger out of the way.

Oops. Turns out I'm not so deft. It flushed, Jack cried out and flew off the potty. And he has not used a public toilet since.

Okay, so it's only been a few weeks. But I should mention that, again, being waay over-read, I knew that some savvy moms also keep a spare potty in their car and just let their kids use the potty before going in the store or before getting buckled back in. I have no idea where I read this, but some clever mom out there paved the way and now I barely even look around to see if anyone is watching before I dump pee on the parking lot and sing our new favourite song, "Pee Pee in the Potty," which literally goes:

Pee Pee in the Potty!

So I didn't exactly invent the wheel there, but since I'm not a fan of pre-sliced bread, I will go ahead and pat myself on the back for my potty training prowess and pretend that whole ugly mall incident wasn't my fault.

Looking forward to playground weather!

2011-01-31T11:53:00.000-08:00

This year, spring is going to mean a lot to me and my family. Spring is meant to be a rebirth, and for us it really will be. We will be closing on our first house and moving in. I'm planning to start my garden, and hopefully my son will be finding his way into a new playgroup. I think every parent kind of dreams that her house will be the one all the kids want to come play at.

With having our own yard looming in the near future, I cannot help but dream of filling it with amazing kid attractions. I always wanted a swing set in my yard when I was a kid and I kind of want Jack to have one. But with the garden, adding a fence, and planing some fruit trees, I'm not sure we will have room. If we are to get one (probably as a bithday gift), I want to be sure it will last for many years, and be something we can move with us again when we relocate. I want quality, but I don't want to spend a ton of money. Another option we have been considering is a nice playhouse. I can't decide which ill get more love and use over the years.

I was looking for wooden playhouses and swing sets online just now and discovered that there are about three million options out there. Wooden? Plastic? Metal? Small and understated, or massive enough to make your yard cooler than the playground? I was actually kind of surprised that you can even buy really nice swing sets and playhouses online, let alone get free shipping, but CSN Stores offer a huge selection of both, plus bikes, trikes, trampolines, and even play kitchen sets. Suddenly, my son's birthday wish list is growing and growing... And I don't think he even really knows what his birthday is yet, let alone that it's in about 3 months and that he can ask for something he wants.

Of course, if I ask him what he want's he will probably just ask to watch an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba.

I'd love to go bundle my little guy up and take him to the park, but it's just flat out too cold. So for now, I'm going to have to settle for some online day dream shopping... If I start now, maybe I can narrow it all down by the time we are ready to plan his birthday!

Unfortunate side effects of potty training a young toddler...

2011-01-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

Turns out, when you let a 20 month old boy run around in nothing but underpants for over a week, he is not going to be real keen on putting on pants again.

I think it is a combination of the newfound freedom that is not wearing a diaper and the fact that, let's face it, he is a boy. He wants access to his favourite body parts all the time and I actually think being able to play with himself has been a bit of a motivating factor in this whole potty training business. Sit on the potty? You mean like NAKED? I can touch my pee pee?!?! OKAY!!!!

He has said goodbye to the days of trying in vain to shove his little fingers down into a snug cloth diaper and cover and hello to the world of sitting around with his hands in his pants. I don't get it, but I think it may be instinctive.

I'm not even joking about that, though. I mean, think about it. If you are, say, a caveman competing in the original Survivor - not to out wit, or out play, but just to out last - you probably need to reassure yourself that you'll be man enough to reproduce. I'm sure there is some science about this but I don't care enough to look it up. But I do think men do this unconsciously most of the time, and I'm not sure he realizes he is walking around the kitchen in socks, long sleeves, and Thomas the Tank Engine underpants in the smallest size they make with his little hand just hanging out in there, keeping tabs on the boys.

Suvival of the fittest, toddler style.

Bra Shopping is a Total Nightmare…Or, it Was…

2011-01-26T11:31:00.001-08:00

I don't know about anyone else, but I hate bra shopping. I despise it. I remember fondly the days when I found it enjoyable and wish I still felt that way. But the day I got the unlucky news that, at about 16 weeks pregnant, I would be requiring a 32H already, I was disheartened. I soon found out that I had been buying the wrong size for years, foolishly believing that I was a mere DDD cup. After I had Jack, I was a 30H and for 18 months of nursing, I had exactly 2 bras that fit well and a third that I wore only when I had nothing else clean. I lived in Glamour Mom tanks – the first and only built-in-bra tank that has ever fit me – at night. I love those tanks so much, I still wear them at night (and day).

Now that Jack is all grown up and doesn't need Momma's milk anymore, I have been trucking along in one regular non-nursing bra. I have gone down a whopping one cup size to a 30G. Have you ever tried to find a 30G in a store?
I had to drive to Nordstrom, which is in another city (although only about 45 minutes away) to buy the one and only bra they carry in that size. I love it, but it was $65. I had to give it a few weeks at least to be sure I loved it before buying more at that price. And since it comes in only one color – "nude" – I really wanted to find at least one or two other options.

Enter Barenecessities.com. This is, incidentally, where I finally found a strapless bra that fit for my wedding. Little did I know then how ill-fitting it actually was! I ordered 4 new bras, expecting to exchange at least half of them for duplicates of the ones that did fit. Three different brands seemed to be tempting fate. I LOVE that Bare Necessities has a really liberal return policy. I think it is actually about 90 days. Obviously, you cannot have worn anything for longer than it takes to try it on, but if you order something for a special occasion, and then end up not needing it a month down the line, you can get your money or store credit back. But guess what! ALL of them fit and perfectly at that.

Make no mistake. They have not contacted me in the least and I am writing this out of the goodness of my heart…or breasts…whichever. Both are happier now that I have not 1, but 5 pretty, functional bras that fit fantastically. My back is happier, too. And since they had emailed me a coupon code for 25% off, they averaged to about $40 a pop. Much more reasonable than $65.

Operation Big Boy

2011-01-25T10:42:00.000-08:00

After trying EC last summer and finding that my son makes absolutely NO indication before peeing, I had to abandon ship. But we did have a potty chair and we kept it out and about for him, reinforcing the sign and word (he now uses only the word), and talking about it from time to time.

I had inteded to go full speed ahead at 18 months, but right around then we found out my husband had his new position secured and we would be moving. So I put it off a bit, hoping to do it as soon as we got settled.

But then I started thinking, about 2 weeks or so ago, that if we wait much longer, he may decide he isn't interested so we decided that Operation Big Boy should go ahead, full steam, and see where it goes. I figure if I can get him pretty well trained to at least not have too many accidents and be used to sitting on the potty regularly, then at least that is something I can maintain through the craziness of a move...I think.

I decided to do the following:

1) Regular potty sits. We started with about every 30 minutes, but that was not working so we now do them every 20 and will grdually increase to 30 or more. Sometimes he sits for a few seconds, pees, and we have a little party. Sometimes he sits for 30 minutes. Once, he sat for an hour and a half, of his own accord, and refused to get up until he had peed. I do not force him to sit for any length of time, and most of the time he happily sits for a few stories at least.

2) We read, play with toys, etc. to make it fun.

3) We have "Big Boy Wipes" (Pampers Kandoo, for example) that can ONLY be used when he uses his potty. Somehow, having this limitation seems to make them more exciting, as does getting to get his own wipe out instead of getting one handed to him. We decorated the container with fun stickers, too. They are more or less the same as baby wipes, just flushable, so I intend to replace them with whatever flushable is cheapest at the store.

4) We DO have rewards, but they are not for every sucessful potty visit and they are things he normally gets anyway. For example, might tell him a few times between one potty sit and the next that if he puts pee pee it the potty, he can watch an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba in Papa's chair. Because we have been confined to the non-carpeted floors for a week now, this is super exciting since he gets to go in the living room. I put a big, triple layer of his comforted under him to be safe! He also once in a while gets a temporary tattoo (yeah I know...but its super cute and he loves it) or similar. And at each opportuniy for a reward, he gets only one shot to get it. This keeps him from insisting on Yo Gabba Gabba every time he pees int he potty.

5) When he is sucessful, it is a BIG deal! The best rewards for him have been getting to use a big boy wipe, carry his potty insert to the big potty, dump it, flush it, and WASH HIS HANDS. He loves to wash his hands, so this is a big motivator.

6) I keep track of how many times he uses the potty and how many times he has an accident, for my own record so I can see clearly how we are going.

7) It's big boy undies or bust. We are still in a cloth diaper for nap and a disposable at night, but otherwise there are no diapers. We have not left the house yet, but when we do, it will be with several extra sets of clothes and I may make a small "cover" out of PUL for him to wear to keep from having to clean up pee in the middle of Target.

8) "Pee pee goes in the potty." I read once that kids do not understand, "Tell momma when you need to go," or, "it's okay, accidents happen." The only thing that matters is that you reinforce what you want. So I repeat this mantra, as well as the #2 variation, many times a day, between potty trips and durring, and he is now repeating it himself.

It has been one week and Sunday was his best day so far - 4 hits and only 2 misses. But Monday he literally peed twice as many times and only had about half in the potty. Today, he is doing well with the same stats as Sunday, and it is only naptime. I have been regulating his beverage intake and encouraging more fluids, but I didn't find that getting him to drink almost constantly was working. There was no predictability to when he would need to pee and he had far more accidents than anything else. On the first day, we went though 10 pairs of undies. But since then, we have gone down to as few as 2 or as many as 4.

Since my husband will have been out of town with business trips and work for over 2 weeks when we see him again Saturday, I think he will be pleased to see that his little boy is in big boy pants! And having him gone has actually, while making it a bit more stressful, encouraged me to keep going, trucking along, cleaning up pee pee day after day, because it gives me something to focus on.

I know it sounds like a lot of work, and it isn't for everyone. If I were working outside the home, I would have to take a month of vacation to do this. But I strongly believe that pull-ups are just diapers in bigger sizes and that they delay full training sucess. Diaper companies want nothing more than for your child to wear diapers until a month before kindergarten. I also believe that the sooner you start, the better your sucess will be. Many children will do fine and train quickly at any age, but I know my headstrong boy is going to do better now than if I waited even 6 months.

And one final note...I wish I could post this...I got a nice picture of him sitting in Papa's chair, watching Yo Gabba Gabba this morning...with his hand in his pants. He is such. a. boy.

Handmade Baby Girl Gifts

2011-01-06T11:33:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine's SO is expecting a little girl in April, so this week I have been working on some baby gifts for them. I started with practical and ended up with something very frivolous. Because little girls should have something frivolous, no?

So first, I whipped up a few of the standard crafty baby gift – burp cloths. I used prefolds and cotton flannel. I made three, and bundled them up with some pretty ribbon that was leftover from my wedding years ago:

Next, I wanted to make an oversized changing pad, because the ones that come with diaper bags are small when your baby gets to about 6 months and sometimes those public restroom changing tables are just not all that clean. I realized, however, that it would also work as a small stroller/car seat blanket, or impromptu burp rag. With a pair of blanket clips, it can even work as a nursing cover. So I made two of those, too. By the way, all the material is from JoAnn, with no specific designers attached to the patterns. Unless otherwise noted, the designs are of my own devising, although I recognize that a great many crafters have put together similar items. So here's the blanket/changing pad/whatever with a little soft block with a jingle bell inside:

And blanket clips:

Then I pulled out a little Gerber snap front shirt and, remembering a tute on Handmade by Jill, I made a little "take me home shirt" with some bows and a little "S" patch (the baby's name will be Sophie…how sweet!) and then I put together a little clip that may or may not hold hair. I have never made one before, so we shall see:

Then…oh…I got really kind of silly. I had bought this little patch with a heart and skull and crossbones because it just seemed like something my friend would appreciate on his little girl. But I wanted to counter-balance it. So I ironed it on a onesie and put together a really fluffy tutu to go with it:

I'm hoping the tutu and onesie will fit at the same time and not be so fluffy as to be a suffocation hazard, but I can't imagine anyone would leave their infant in something like that unattended. Right?

I hope they enjoy these gifts and enjoy their little girl when she arrives!

Mandatory New Year’s Resolution Post

2011-01-03T11:24:00.001-08:00

I am actually a fan of the New Year's Resolution blog post. However, I am not a fan of New Year's Resolutions in general. They tend to be far-reaching. Where I thought I would be now at this time last year is very different from where I actually am. So, in observance of the general tradition and in the spirit of not making things terribly difficult for myself, I offer the following 2011 Resolutions:

Buy our first house. This shouldn't be terribly difficult as we put an offer in on Jan. 1^st and may close as early as Jan. 31^st. But the endeavor is not a small one, and we are looking forward to the excitement and stress and I am in particular looking forward to sewing curtains and buying our son his big boy bed.
Keep the kid in his crib as long as possible. No, seriously.
More handmade. Not all handmade, not mostly handmade. Just more. I can do that.
Buy more organic, natural, and healthy food and household products for my family. This is an on-going goal that never really changes.
Bake most of our bread. This was something I intended to perfect this year, but our current circumstances have made that difficult to say the least. I look forward to having my own space, my own kitchen, and a more adequately baby-proofed house in order to make this feasible.

I would add something like, "Be a better blogger," but let's face it. I have time when I have time and if I'm going to do all that, I may not have a lot of time. Or I may. We'll see.
Happy 2011!

Christmas is for Kids; Christmas Eve is for Us.

2010-12-23T18:15:00.001-08:00

I don't know about everyone else, but having a toddler this time of year is exciting. Last year, he really couldn't open presents and wasn't all that interested in their contents anyway. We set up his set of alphabet peek-a-blocks and a blow up bobbing penguin thing and he spent maybe ten minutes playing with them. And almost never touched the blocks again. He is terrified of the penguin even when you turn off the sounds. But at 6 months old, we had no real idea of what he would like.
This year, I expect playing Santa to be much more fun.
We are going to help him put out a cookie for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer, explaining to him again how the whole thing works. I assume he will promptly forget, sleep like a baby for the last time on Christmas Eve until he outgrows Santa, and wake up in the morning to see his brand new Little People Farm set and a stocking full of fun little toys and goodies. But, sadly, because of some recent over indulgences and the resulting refusal to eat anything and demands for cookies and candies, he won't be getting any candy. A clementine and goldfish crackers will have to do. We have some great little stocking stuffers I know he will love.
But the fun part for me isn't necessarily the Christmas morning.
Christmas morning is for the kids.
But Christmas Eve is for the adults. For the next however many years until our last little one ceases to be impressed by the fanfare of a nocturnal visit from a fat man in red with a hankering for cookies, Kenny and I get to play the best role any parents can ever play. We get to be Santa. Santa is purely fun. You don't have to give timeout or say no to another cookie. You just do something fun with no strings.
We can sip something cheery, munch on gourmet gift basket fare, and yell at the kids to get back in bed or Santa won't come. We'll stay up late, even though we are guaranteed to be roused early by footy-pajama-clad children. We'll stuff stockings with small, thoughtful gifts and a couple of fun snacks, maybe a little candy. We'll do silly things like use reindeer-hoof shaped kitchen sponges to make muddy paw prints all over the kitchen floor. We'll argue about who gets to eat the cookie and who has to eat the carrot. We'll drink Santa's hot cocoa and giggle like children on Christmas. Because for parents, the best part isn't being a kid on Christmas anymore. It's watching your own kids be kids. We'll be sure to take our time Christmas morning so that everyone takes time to appreciate their gifts, play with their new toys, and have a good time together as a family. But Christmas Eve, we get to be a couple. We're in it together, for better or worse, and Christmas Eve is one of those betters that make the worse not quite so bad.
There may be years when Christmas has to be really creative. There will be times when one child or another will throw a tantrum or get overwhelmed and the whole day will be trying. But no matter what, my husband is the person I want beside me while we navigate the difficult times, and the person I want beside me for the happiest times. And I just can't imagine playing Santa without him beside me for that, too.
I love you, SMcC-B.

Being Green v. Saving Green (A Christmas Story)

2010-12-22T15:50:00.001-08:00

I struggle a bit as a first time mom with the idea of used baby gear. Most of the used items I have purchased I have loved, and what has held me back from buying almost everything used is safety combined with the wear and tear I see on items at consignment sales. But I was confident that I could buy Jack's Christmas presents (or at least some of them) used this year.

One thing I knew I wanted for him, but was willing to be flexible about, was a Little People set. I wanted to farm, but would have gone with a good quality used set with another theme if it had the pieces and wasn't too banged up. The price had to be right, too, of course.

I was hoping to save both money and a tiny little bit of space in a landfill, eventually.

However, I was unable to find such a set. In fact, I found tons of Little People sets at consignment shops and sales but not one came with the pieces. What is the point of a Little People play set with no Little People? I had to assume the sellers had bagged them and tagged them separately, hoping to make an extra dollar or two on the sale. But it appears that buyers are happily buying the pieces but not the sets.

So when the Little People farm set with extra bonus pieces went on sale for $29 at Target, I snagged it. The best deal I had seen used was half that for just the farm.

His other major gift is toy pots and pans and dishes and felt food I made, along with some wooden food toys we bought and a set of mama-made spices, salt and pepper, and a bottle of hot sauce (he loves hot sauce). I did look for used kitchen toys but the only ones I found were the cheap plastic kind that come with a bunch of cheaply made cardboard food boxes, usually in a really poorly made plastic shopping cart with wheels that don't work… Although I did find a few pieces that go with a kitchen that makes sounds when you put the pans on the stove or something along those lines (the seller wrote this on the tag). I was not thrilled with these options. I had been sure there would be hordes of eco-minded parents out there selling their much loved wooden play food that had made it through 4 kids and still looked just fine. But I was evidently setting myself up for disappointment.

So once again, I kept my eyes open for a good deal and even up saving a lot of green by buying new. The Green Toys cookware and dish set went down to about $20 on Amazon, where I had a gift card on file, and I snagged it for him. I know he will get lots of use out of it, and I imagine his siblings will as well (when he has them…eventually). The best part? Even though it's new, it's kind of green because it's made from recycled milk jugs. It's also gender-neutral – something of an issue when you are looking for a toy for your son that is sold in the aisle next to the barbies.

I've also been looking for a good set of wooden blocks for Jack and have failed to find them used for more than about $5 less than the price for a new set, and usually the used set is somewhat dirty and missing pieces. To me, it's worth $5 to have a clean, new set, especially since we are talking about wood, not plastic.

Have you been able to score some good deals on used toys? Or do you prefer to get a great deal on something new?

Making Holiday Spending a Non-Issue

2010-12-21T18:31:00.001-08:00

In years past, we have not done much planning for Holiday spending and that tends to lead to some headaches. This year, we decided to do things differently. My husband had inquired about Christmas accounts at our bank and they didn't offer them and for a while, it never occurred to us that we could do it ourselves. Then one day I realized that we don't have to keep our money in the bank. So every week we put a set amount of cold, hard cash into an envelope marked "Christmas".
Before we started, we determined how much we expected to spend on every person on our list, using the higher amount of the price range we usually aim for, and added everything together. We assumed, for example, that we would spend $100 or less on our son, since he is only 18 months old. He is also the only grandchild for my parents, the youngest by 10+ years on my husband's side, and the newest great-grand child by a similar margin all over. This means that he will typically be spoiled rotten by just about everyone, so there's no reason for us to spend even that much.
We then added all the amounts together and divided by 50, assuming that we would need to be done shopping by mid-December. The number was shockingly low. We don't have a huge number of family members and friends to buy for, so we were able to put that money aside without missing it at all. We expect to be able to do this in 2011, even with our coming mortgage payments, without any issues.
In mid-November, we assigned envelopes to each person, noting the amount we intended to put in each envelope, and started filling them. The idea here is the same as with any budgeting system that relies on envelopes – when the money is gone, it's gone. You can't over spend. You also don't forget anyone. We also had an additional envelope to cover holiday portraits and frames, which were gifts in addition to whatever else we give.
I cannot tell you how liberating it is!
We had never had trouble paying for holiday gifts (although we are still not at a stage where we are tempted to buy an expensive "it" toy for our son…) and have never used credit cards so we haven't had to face a big bill in the mail in January, but we did have certain anxieties about holiday spending. We tended to buy as we went, holding out for another paycheck when needed to finish shopping. Sometimes we spent more than we intended because we shopped impulsively. And I always hated when I discovered the last few days before Christmas that I forgot to get something for someone and had to go to Target and pick from the leftover gift baskets, which I generally find kind of boring and impersonal.
So this year, we finished shopping early, were under budget, and haven't forgotten anyone, thanks to our envelope system. We also were actually able to shave several weeks off and combined with what we had already put aside, we bought new laptops as our gifts for each other and don't feel the pain of the expense.
I'm planning to add birthday envelopes and do more year-round shopping in 2011!
How do you simplify your holiday shopping?

Clothing your big cloth-bottomed baby

2010-12-17T08:58:00.000-08:00

If you were to get hold of your own old baby clothes, you'd probably notice they were a big roomier in the back than baby clothes are today. This is because back when you were a baby, cloth diapers were at least still used a lot if not the primary and preferred method of diapering. Around the time I was a baby, disposables were just begining to gather steam and my parents used cloth only with my older brother, but a mixture with me. Seems I suffered the same affliction as my little guy - yeast rashes.

These days, we have so many cloth options out there that the only problem is finding clothes that fit your little one. Chances are, t-shirts will be true to size, but pants are another issue. When Jack was a bitty thing, onesies were an issue. There are, as I see it, two main options.

First, buy a pack of onesie extenders. We have them. We hated them. But many, many moms swear by them for cloth and sposie bums alike as a great way to extend the life of your child's wardrobe. For us, we turned onesies into t-shirts after about 15 months and haven't looked back. For a pretty tiny price, you can give them a shot.

Second, buy the next size up. This is what we did for a long time, until somewhere around 15 months when we suddenly found that Jack's clothes fit better than they used to. If he weren't so tall for his age, he could still be in 18 months size.

As far as where to shop, I have found that the 5-packs of Carter's onesies are longer and stretchier. Knit is your baby's friend! They have some great little knit pants that come in two packs. I have also found that their onesies with snaps ont he shoulder are not as long or stretchy. If your little ones is on the shorter side, you may find that they fit well in Children's Place and Osh'Gosh. Thesir clothes all seem wider to me and shorter, so I imagine they are great for cloth bums on shorter babies.

We didn't even try to put jeans on Jack much before the last few months. Because he does seem to fit in his size better (he's 90th for height, 50th for weight), we are able to get by with one size up IF the jeans have those adjustable waists. I have to yank them all the way out to make the waist fit, then cuff up the bottoms.

Another option is Baby Legs! They are perfect for cloth bums, great for diaper changes and potty training, and look adorable.

Because of our current situation of being half moved and not at all settled, we are waiting until we ARE settled to get Jack potty trained. All the experts seem to agree that in the middle of something like a move, its best to put it off. So we have the groundwork laid and I have high hopes that this year's clothes will fit next year, too, once we get rid of that big bottom!

A used toy that taught me just how much my son knows....

2010-12-04T07:27:00.000-08:00

A while back I found a listing on Craigslist for one of thsoe big blown plastic play kitchens from Step2. It was $20 and I couldn't turn it down, and while it tends toward a fair bit of purple, it's fairly gender neutral. I figured it would be a good way to see if it is worth investing in a bigger one, new or used, in the future. I thought he was too young, but would grow into it. I was delightfully wrong.

He loves it.

He started putting his sippy cup on the "water dispenser" in the fridge door almost right away. He was about 14 months old when I bought it and I had no idea that he realized we were getting drinks from the door in the big fridge. But he was watching more than I realized.

Since then, I have been amazed at what he understands about the goings on in the kitchen, and the rest of the world around him. He brings his toddler plates (which he steals from the dishwasher when we are unloading...or loading...ew) and "washes" them in the sink. He will put his cup or snack in the fridge when he is done with it, and if I'm not paying attention, it might just stay there a day or two...yuck.

We bought him a set of Melissa and Doug "Pantry Food" when he was about 15 months old and he knew without being told what most of them were. My dad held up the box of "frozen waffles" and asked him what it was and he said, "faffles," before I had ever heard him say the word before. If we asked him to go get the juice from his fridge, or the butter, or the milk, etc., he would go in the play room, open the fridge, find it, and bring it back. And he closes the fridge door, which I love. He understood right away that it was play food. I made him felt cookies and he pretended to nibble them without actually putting them in his mouth.

While Jack was saying many of the early toddler words by his first birthday (mama, dada, nana, papa, etc), I didn't think he was ahead of the game. And I had no idea how much of a sponge he was. By 14 months, he was regularly using at least 2 dozen words. Now, at 18 months, he can repeat just about anything and is speaking in 2-4 word sentences frequently. He is no longer using signs unless, for example, his mouth is full of food and he wants his sippy cup.

He is learning the alphabet and numbers. If you say the alphabet, he will usually say the next letter rather than repeat the one you say. It blows me away. His pediatrician told me that this language skills are very advanced.

There is the unfortunate side effect of having him repeat what I say in frustration at another driving in the car. No cussing, but a fair bit of impatience and not-so-niceness. But the benefit is that I told him that cars say Hi by beeping their horns and if you ask him, "What does a car say?" he responds with, "beep beep! hi!" Adorable.

He knows the animal sounds for about a dozen animals, thanks in part to Sandra Boynton's "Moo, Baa, LaLaLa," a personal favourite. If you don't have any of her books, you need them. A big step up from Goodnight Moon.

Today, we waited in the car while my mom ran into a store and he kept saying, "Hurry, Nana. Go, Go, Go! Run! Come on, Nana, Come on, Nana," and when I asked him why Nana should hurry up, he said, "Guggle." Guggle is his word for Snuggle, or Hug. He wanted to give Nana a hug. Sweet, no? He's going to be sad when we move.

But I think the best thing is that when I say, "I love you, Jack," he says, "I love you, Momma," and kisses me. Melts my heart every time. I'm trying to pretend this age will last forever.

So I've been kinda busy...

2010-12-03T01:32:00.000-08:00

I knew I had more or less abandoned my blog but I didn't realize it had been so long. I have been on a serious crafting streak and that, combined with the mayhem that is my husband's management interview process, has led me to just not make time.

But I am hoping to be back, especially since I am now in possession of my very own, my very first laptop. I have had many computers over the last 15 years or so, but this is my first laptop and I am loving it to bits. My husband and I each have our own (non-matching) laptops so I can organize photos the way I want and have the icons I want on my desktop and the mouse speed is perfectly suited for my fingers :)

At any rate, here are some of the projects I have been working on:

Made little man some PJ loungy pants. I don't let him sleep in them yet because of the whole fire safety thing. I also refuse to buy flame retardant materials (unless they are naturally so) so he sleeps in snug fitting jammies and wears these on those lazy Sundays. I used Alexander Henry's 2D Zoo in Pool. Loves it.

He's real pleased with himself for climbing up on the chair WHILE getting pants put on him.

Close up. I made the cuffs nice and long and hid extra elastic in the waistband for my growing toddler

I searched high and low for more of this fabric. I bought a yard at JoAnn with no particular plan for it. Then almost immediately determined that I would do his bedroom in a jungle-y theme when we move and went back for more. They were out. So were the nearest stores I could concievably drive to. So were my favourite websites. And finally, I decided I was unwilling to pay inflated prices and gave up. Then I found 2D Zoo in Chocolate and fell even more madly in love. Not too much blue. So I found a good deal online and ordered 5 yards, plus 3 yards of the Teeny Tiny Zoo in Chocolate. So far I have made him a duvet cover, but since we never bought a crib bedding set, I also had to make a duvet. That was the hard part! Got the tute for the duvet cover from Prudent Baby. Incidentally, I also got his pants tutorial at Prudent Baby. I love that blog. I wish they had more little boys!

Jack's big boy conforter in all its glory. He just woke up form a nap but I think he was kind of wanting to take another.

I didn't want to waste yardage so I used that soft and comfy blanky stuff in long strips on each side, which made it more difficult to line up perfectly. And can I just say that I love snaps? I had no idea they were so easy to apply. I could have been making onesies! Makes me want to have another baby just so I can make onesies. But, alas, a good friend is pregnant so come January when we find out if its a girl or a boy, I'll be ready!

I also made Jack an I-spy bag with the Pool and I swear I took a picture but I can't find it. Possibly because I haven't yet moved all my pictures over yet.

I made some things for the above mentioned friend but they are a Christmas gift so I can't post them. I also already wrapped them and never took pictures, but it was nothing terribly impressive I'm afraid. My original plan didn't pan out and I had to improvise.

And I have been making loads of felt food for little man for Christmas, but I think I will post those in one separate post. I haven't taken pictures of everything just yet.

I have a bunch of handmade Christmas gifts planned but since my husband just got a promotion and transfer and is supposed to start on December 16th, I'm not sure I'll get things done. But it looks like we may jsut hang on and move after the new year, with him doing a lot of commuting in the mean time, so I'm hoping I can get as much use out of my mom's clever little serger as I can before I have to kiss it goodbye (but let's face it, we are moving 3.5 hours away so I can always come visit).

I had big plans for a handmade felt advent calendar but it looks like it may be next year. I'm hoping to at least get our stockings done, though.

Anyone out there planning handmade holiday projects? I love to see the massive increase in craftiness this time of year!

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Yes, I'm "still nursing"

2010-07-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

In this country we have cultivated ideals about parenting that are simply not beneficial to children.

For example, I have never been terribly fond of the baby entertainers and I skipped registering for them. I bought a boucy seat at a consignment store so I would have a safe place to put my son that was easily portable and visual for me, but I believed they were not a healthy place for a baby to spend a lot of time, especially asleep, so I didn't try to put him in it a lot. Mostly just so I could take a shower every now and then. He hated it and I would have all of five minutes to shower if I was lucky before he flipped out.

Why? Because babies are not hard-wired to want to bounce in a seat alone, strapped into a harness, with some silly little stuffed animal dancing around in their faces. They're hard-wired to want mama (or maybe sometimes dada) and they want her all the time.

All. The. Time.

And that's normal.

Maybe there are a lot of babies out there who are perfectly happy to sit contently in a bouncy seat or on a play mat/gym or in a jumparoo. My kid is not one of them, and I never really expected him to be.

He wanted to be held. So I held him.

I held him while he slept because by his third day, I already knew he slept better and longer if he slept beside me. I held him 90% of the day at least and at night he slept beside me - first in a cocoon, but soon enough in bed with me. In the cocoon, he slept okay, but I didn't. I fretted all night. Beside me in bed, we both slept well for many months.

People told me he needed to learn to sleep alone.

People told me I was spoiling him.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that an infant has the capacity to manipulate, so I responded to his needs. I couldn't imagine anymore why I ever expected him to spend time alone, especially when I was right there beside him. It felt natural, and right.

It reminds me a little of what I dislike the most about disposable diapers. Yeah, of course, I WOULD find a way to bring that up! But in all seriousness, the new Pampers Dry Max is touted for being dry for up to 12 hours, giving babies more uninturrupted play time. But is 12 hours in a wet diaper a good parenting choice?

I like to think that most parents, at least those who can reasonably afford adequate diapers (disposable or otherwise) do not limit diaper changes to 2 per day. No one believes this is ideal. And yet, I kind of think parents who use disposables sort of expect to get a lot of milage out of each diaper. They don't want to change it and throw it away if it isn't, well, "full". Other moms have told me this in person so I'm not making it up in my head. At about 25 cents a pop, you're spending money every time you cahnge your baby.

But my point is illustrated nicely in this because many parents these days seem to think that parenting is largely hands-off. Babies sleep in cribs, play in play yards or on mats or in contraptions they cannot escape, and get carried around in their infant seats, which are now often referred to as "carriers".

But it all comes down to our need to control things we cannot control. If you force your infant to sleep alone and play alone, s/he won't "need" you there all the time and you can have your hands free. Wean, and you get your body back.

But the fact is that babies should be in control of what they need. Parents are there to meet those needs in the way they feel is best. Ignore the diaper and formula commercials, the huge list the baby superstore gives you for a regisrty guide, even forget what your mother tells you. No one else knows what is best, and no product in a store will make parenting easier. They may even do more harm than good!

Raise your children with love and care. They are precious and before you know it, they will stand up, take a few steps, and start an all too short journey away from you.

As for Jack? I have a 14 month old son who is quite secure. Yes, he is "still nursing" and he's happy as a clam about it. So am I! He also wanders off and explores his world. He isn't attached to me all the time anymore, but it's up to him. Boogie decides when he needs to be near me and when he can explore. But he has limits, which he tests constantly. But I live day by day, secure in the knowledge that my son will continue to test me for as long as it takes to him to see exactly where the boundries are. It's a journey we are taking together.

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Baby's Favourite Banana Pancakes

2010-07-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

Finally getting around to posting this. I've been tinkering with a few batches, but since we generally freeze them and they last a while, it's taken time to get it just right.

Please note that there are several substitutions and I have tried no more than one at a time. So doing all at once may cause a mess for all I know...

Baby's Favourite Banana Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
2 T sugar (optional)
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c milk (no to dairy? try apple juice)
2 T melted butter (I assume, but don't know, that oil or a veg. butter substitution would work. Haven't tried this one though)
2 eggs (or just egg yolks, or omit them and add a little more banana, or applesauce)
1 ripe banana, mashed (as ripe as can be!)

Method:

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Don't over-mix!

Too wet? Add a little more flour at a time.

Too dry? Add more milk a little at a time.

Allow the batter to sit while heating a griddle or pan to med-low/med. heat. I butter the pan before each new batch, but feel free to use the pan lubrication option of choice.

Drop 1/4 c at a time into hot pan, flipping when the edged are dry and any bubbles have popped.

Should make something in the neighborhood of 16 pancakes, but my batches seem to vary from about 12-18. Feel free to make smaller or larger for your child's preference!

We serve them up plain and then freeze teh rest, layered between wax paper sheets. They reheat in about 30 seconds in the nuke, or toaster "frozen" cycle if they are big enough.

Enjoy! Next up will be our new favourite, Apple Cinnamon Oat Pancakes!

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Parenting advice/ parenting someone else's child

2010-06-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

Now that I have my son, I am confronted with parenting issues all over the place. If it isn't my own child, sometimes it's someone else's.

There are as many ways to parent as there are parents in the world, so I expect to rarely run into a parent with very many of my ideals. I'm also somewhat outside the box as far as modern parenting goes.

But sometimes I see something so bad I think...can't I step in?

For example, we recently went to a children's museum in another town nearby. My son loved best the room reserved for infants and toddlers, dubbed "The Gentle Zone". While in there, we encountered several parenting issues that I wanted to confront, but didn't, for various reasons. The one that bothered me most, of course, involved disposable diapers.

A little girl was playing on the little bitty slide. She had a very short little baby dress on, which I don't really object to in general (although I would have had a diaper cover of some sort on my child, but whatever, she was about 18 months). However, it is relevant because I could see her diaper from every angle as she moved about the room. She was in the same area with Jack and it was inevitable to notice that her diaper was pretty soaked. You know how disposables look when they are saturated? For boys, its mostly in the front. Girls tend to be more in the middle, but this one was full up to her waist. At one point, she bend over and I could see the tell-tale lumpiness of poop in the back.

I was pretty horrified. See, mom and dad weren't standing to the side, barely watching. No, they were interacting with their daughter constantly! They were having a blast! This of course could explain why they didn't notice - we are blind to some things when we are highly tuned into others - but I was sort of tempted to draw their attention to it.

I didn't. Not because I feared the kind of ugly, defensive confrontation that the first scene could have caused, but because hygiene is so...personal. Even for a baby or toddler. Parents who are obviously so head over hills in love with their child that they brought her to an awesome museum and are interacting with her so throughly shouldn't be the kind of parents who don't notice that their child is soaking wet and has pooped her diaper. But we also live in a country that has come to think of diapers as "hygienic" for some reason. We believe that disposable diapers are "clean and dry" even after a child urinates in them. So telling another parent that it's time for a diaper change seems invasive in some way.

On top of that, some parents just don't think diaper changes are that important. I have met women who have told me that they wait as long as possible to change diapers because they are so expensive. One woman told me that she knew that it was "bad" but that her baby didn't seem to mind being wet and it was one less thing to do so she only changed on a schedule unless he pooped. And in this incident at the museum, its entirely possible that these parents view the fun their child is having and the positive learning environment as more important than stopping all that for a diaper change.

And its possible that they just didn't notice.

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Potty Training - Day Whatever

2010-06-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Not sure why I was numbering those posts. I have no idea what day we are in. I do know it has been over a week and I have changed only two poopy diapers. Once, I knew he was going but thought it was too late. I then went to change him immediately when I thought he was done and found that he wasn't! So I hurried him to the potty. Which was delightful, as I then had to both empty the poo from the potty AND dump/spray a diaper. The worst of both worlds, eh? The second time, I wasn't watching him (as in, I was elsewhere and someone else was watching him who did not know the signs). That time, it was also someone else who changed the diaper, so technically I have only changed 1but there have been 2.

He is starting to understand the ASL sign for potty, which may or may not be the real ASL sign. Someone I spoke with today showed me what she believes if the correct sign. However, we do not employ daycare or anything like that so it is really only our family that needs to know the sign so we are going to use the one we started, which is almost the same anyway. At any rate, he looks toward his potty when I sign and ask if he wants to sit on it.

Since we have been having trouble finding signals that he is going to soon pee, we are concentrating on #2 ont he potty for now. I feel like by the time he does learn the sign and associate eliminating with the potty and then use the sign to tell me he needs to use the potty, etc., he will start to associate urinating with all of that as well. He DOES however still look down at his boy parts area whenever he pees, diaper or no, so I suspect that just having this diaper-free time has been helpful in learning to recognize the sensations.

Another small update - this morning, he sat down on his potty (fully diapered and jammied) and played with a toy for a minute or so before getting up. So I think he is getting more comfortable with the potty in general. I also think it may be somewhat novel for him to have a seat other than his high chair/booster or sitting on a couch or chair with an adult.

My expectations? I think that over the next 4-6 months he will slowly learn to make these associations and let me know when he needs to use the potty. I expect that by the time he turns 2, he should be using the potty and hopefully out of diapers at least most of the time - although I am not holding out hopes that he will be completely out of training pants. When we are ready for trainers, I'll stick with cloth of course.

I'm thinking that once he is signing or vocalizing his need to eliminate, he can switch to trainers. This way, we can bypass the fancier pocket trainers that are, ultimately, just a diaper that pulls on and off and go right to something that isn't waterproof at home and maybe some that are when we go out.

I've also read that a lot of kids respond well to a system of having to go back into a diaper if they wet their training pants. The extra incentive sounds effective and not at all cruel. Boogie is not in love with wearing anything, let alone a diaper, so I suspect that this method will work well for him!

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Potty Training - Day 2ish

2010-06-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

So Boogie has definite signals that a #2 is coming, but his pee signals are not clear yet. He seems as surprised as I am when he suddenly stars to pee!

We had some outside naked time Wednesday and he only peed once, and was thoroughly amazed when he crouched down and saw himself pee for the first time. He then proceeded to play with his little boy parts for a bit, but that's nothing new...boys, right?

So we have been having daily naked time in the kitchen and he seems to enjoy it, since we have not really ever let him spend much time in there. Our cocker spaniel is pretty incontinent and that's where he spends most of his time, so it was always easier to gate him in and keep Boogie out.

For right now, we will be sticking with some daily naked time and try to get him on the potty often and whenever we see signs of impending elimination. However, of the 5 times he has so far peed while naked, twice he has crouched down first, but three times he hasn't. I haven't recognized any other signals but I'm going to just keep watching until we do. Eventually it will happen.

My goals for now are to learn his signals and teach him the ASL sign for "potty". He did well with the ASL sign for "milk" and has started signing again after a hiatus of pulling on my shirt instead. We re-instated the milk sign recently and he took it back in really fast, so I have high hopes that we can learn the potty sign within a few weeks and at least learn to associate the sign with the potty itself.

Fortunately, he seems more than able to eliminate without a diaper, which I credit to his being in cloth. However, he is still not bothered at all by a wet or dirty diaper, so I'm also hoping he will start to feel the wetness and signal to me that he needs to be changed. I think this will help in the process if he can learn to be uncomfortable with a wet or dirty diaper.

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Potty Training - Day 1

2010-06-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

So we have started the earliest stages of Potty Training. Although, to be fair, many would claim that teh earliest stages should mean starting at about 3 months of age. Personally, while I believe that Elimination Communication (or Natural Infant Hygiene) can and do work for many families, cloth diapers worked well for us.

And they still do! I'm not parting with diapers anytime real soon, but I noticed recently that my son does not seem to be bothered by wet or dirty diapers and I believe this is problematic.

Back in 1961, when Proctor and Gamble were first developing disposable diapers, they hired a pediatrician to do their dirty work. He was hired to convince parents that disposable diapers are cleaner, dryer, and safer than early potty training. In the early 1900's, even in the US babies were potty trained from very early ages and most children started by 9 months.

Now, the average age of potty training is around age 3! Many parents are waiting longer and longer to potty train, waiting for a mystical, magical "readiness" that may not actually exist. Pediatricians are telling parents that waiting until their child is older is fine, but the reality is that as kids get older, they crave stability, control, and schedules. So I've asked myself, "Does it make sense to wait until Boogie is older to teach him to use the potty?"

The answer I have come to is a resounding no. But, I do understand that modern life means not everyone can potty train their young babies and toddlers. Day cares are not always able to help working parents and it just isn't always feasible to potty train based on watching your child like a hawk to see the often subtle cues that signal impending elimination.

However, I am fortunate in being able to stay home with my son.

And this morning, I got him on his potty in time for #2! Not that he understands yet, but he will. Naked time is fun for him!

I'd post a picture but...uh...ew...

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Useless Baby Gear

2010-05-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

One thing I tried really hard to do while pregnant was block out all the useless baby items. I knew we didn't need a wipes warmer for our baby to be happy and healthy. But there are soo many items we either purchased or were given that turned out to be a waste of money. We didn't buy a swing and by the time I decided I needed a bouncy seat, I found one for less than half of retail (in good shape, too!) at a consignment store. My son barely used it, preferring to be held. But while we didn't bring home every kind of plastic entertainment center or soothing rocker or whatever from the baby store, we did bring home a few duds.

1) Disposable nursing pads. I went through a dozen boxes of these at least and with that money, I could have bought a dozen pairs of nice cloth ones and been done with it. I never had to run out for diapers, but I did have to run out for more of these when I ran low and it irritated me to be doing that. But I never knew when I would stop needing them. Boogie was about 5-6 months old when the leaking slowed down to a mere trickle and I switched to a set of 6 cloth nursing pads. Almost immediately after making the investment, I stopped needing them altogether. But next time, I'll know. And I'll be investing in cloth from the start (with maybe a box of disposables just in case).

2) Sleep Positioner. I thought this was vital. I mean VITAL. Turns out that babies who can flip themselves over well enough to do so in their sleep don't need to stay on their backs all night to stay safe. However, babies who can't...well, they won't! There's no need to use these positioners and frankly, ours was a pain in the butt to clean. If you feel you must have one, find one that does not have a back piece that goes under baby's head or you will be washing spit up off of it frequently. And ours couldn't go in the dryer so that was fun, too. I gave up on it fairly quickly.

3) A second car seat base. My son has never once ridden in my husband's car. The base didn't fit well and we never needed it, really. Eventually, it went in my mother's car, but because I had a two door car, we were using her car 95% of the time anyway and could have easily only used hers, or (with more difficulty) only used mine. Thankfully, I now have a 4 door car and we've more or less ditched the infant seat anyway!

4) Car seat toys. Those adorable little toys that hang from the car seat handle for baby to play with? Boogie never cared for them at all. Besides, the handle should be back when the carseat is in the car, so when is he supposed to play with them? I never liked for him to spend a lot of time in his seat when it wasn't in the car, so he got zero use from the toys. We recieved a ton of them and bought some ourselves and Boogie just never cared for them. Now they collect dust at the bottom of his toy bins.

5) 9 Months size clothes. Boogie was in and out of this size in maybe a month, and yet he had an entire complete wardrobe in that size. Next time, we'll skip right to 12 months.

6) The breathable bumper. Boogie didn't sleep in a crib until 7 months (we didn't even buy one until then!) but I put the bumper on it and found that within a month, he was pulling himself up to stand on it and it really wasn't serving any purpose. So down it came. I'm pleased that we never bought a crib bedding set for $150 or more, since they seem to be almost entirely useless. He sleeps on plain blue fitted sheets that were about $10 for 2 at IKEA.

Fess up! What did you bring home for baby that was completely useless??

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First Birthday

2010-05-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

Today is Boogie's first birthday. While he is climbing around the living room (walking! already!), pulling things off the shelves and unfolding laundry for me, I can't help but be mystified as to how we got here. A year? Really? It just doesn't seem that long ago that he was this little bitty bundle of a thing.

I was a mean mama and scheduled his 12 month check up for his actual birthday. This morning we went and crawled around the exam room for a while.

That was great fun. Then the nurse came and took a finger prick blood sample and that was actually kind of interesting. He was more fascinated than anything else. The stethoscope was also a hit. For the record, a BumGenius is pretty easy to use at the pediatrician, where the diaper goes off and on and off and on. One piece is handy :)

Then came the big V. Vaccination time! He didn't like that at all. For a toddler, he sure took it like a...well...like a baby. But he's still my little baby so it's okay. I was an extra mean mama and took a picture of him crying afterwards. Then we had some mama milk and it was all better.

He has always been a happy baby. I don't know if he is naturally happier than average or if we are just fantastic parents who meet all of his needs. I suspect its at least party a natural disposition but I like to believe it is at least partly my doing.

A year ago, I was terrified that he would never learn to latch. The first week of his life was arduous, as I suspect it is for all new parents. My husband and I were completely overtaken by a 7lb 9oz creature that seemed to be under the mistaken belief that we knew what to do with him. I clearly remember the sloppy lists and lists of notes on feeding times and duration, diaper changes, etc. I also remember throwing it in the trash and deciding that I would be a lot happier if I didn't have to look at a list of the times he failed to latch. I also remember throwing a nipple shield at the night table and deciding firmly that he would latch when he got hungry enough. And he did. Pretty quickly, in fact.

As it turned out, we did know what to do. We just had to put the books down and listen to our intuition. I know it took longer for my husband to hear his than it did for me to hear mine. But that's fairly normal, I suspect. After all, I was home with him and learned his cries sooner.

So here's a few things I wish I had known before I became a mama.

1) Don't let anyone convince you to send your newborn to the nursery for the night. You won't sleep better. You just had a baby! Is he okay? Is he hungry? Is he crying? What if they give him formula, even though you ask them not to? What if he gets a paci, even though you ask them not to? My son had a lovely sign on his bassinet asking that he not be given formula, pacis, or anything else without our permission. He came back from the nursery twice with a paci shoved in his mouth. No wonder he wouldn't latch! I wish I felt 100% sure they didn't give him any formula. I do feel 100% sure that his needs were not adequately met there, as they would have been with me in our room. If they didn't bother to read and obey our sign, why would they respect anything it said? I probably wouldn't have laid there wondering if he was okay if he had been 2 feet away, either. Oh, and then the bill came. Turns out the nursery isn't a free service provided out of love.

2) Babies don't come with schedules and they don't really care about the one you thought up for them, either. The fact is that you just cannot schedule a newborn. I would venture to say that you cannot really schedule a baby at all for several months at least. Boogie took to a sleep schedule at about 7 months and I don't think he would have gone for it even a few days earlier. He's never been one to nurse on a schedule and he only just now wants his solid food meals on one. The best thing I could do for Boogie was to meet his needs when he needed them. And I look back now and feel confident that I have not taught him to eat when he isn't hungry or to eat more than he wants, nor have I made him wait to eat because it wasn't "time". And this is a good thing!

3) You just do not know your capacity for love until you have a baby. You can love your spouse, your parents, even your adorable puppy. But you really just can't fathom how overwhelming the love you will have for your child is until you meet him (or her) and feel it for yourself. Which bring me to...

4) There is nothing cooler than when your baby says "mama" and means you. I remember when he started saying "baba" and my dad said he thought he was talking about me. I remember realizing that baba meant, actually, my boobs (or maybe the milk in them? Still not sure but he still says baba when he wants milk) Then one day he started saying "ma ma ma" and it seemed random. Until he pulled himself up to standing at the baby gate and called a string of "ma ma ma ma" and reached for me. My heart almost exploded. He loves me! He really loves me!

5) It really truly does not matter if his outfit matches. What matters is that after he nurses in our bed in the morning on Saturday, Daddy takes him downstairs and I sleep for a while longer. So what if I come down at a cool 8:45a and he's wearing the shirt from one outfit with the pants from another? Or still in his pajama shirt and pants that don't match? Or no socks? Or nothing at all? He's happier naked anyway.

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I'm nothing if not frugal

2010-05-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

I love frugality. I was a hard-core drugstore game playa for a solid year and a half before I had Boogie, and then I sort of started to leave that behind in favor for more natural products over the ones I was getting free or cheap playing with CVS freebies.

However, natural products are very rarely had for the kind of deals I was getting on, for example, shampoo or shaving cream. These were free, in fact.

So, I take what I can get. I recently posted about how I buy Boogie's yogurt in the larger container and portion it out, freezing some, instead of buying the individual packs. In general, I prefer to buy the plain whole milk organic yogurt over the packs because they have added sugar and I prefer to give it plain or add my own fresh fruit with no added sugar.

However, a week or so I came across a deal that was too good to pass up. Whole Foods was running a coupon in their Whole Deal Newsletter for $1/1 4-pack of YoBaby 3-in-1 Meals. I had snagged a few $1/1 Manufacturer's coupons from a blinky at another grocery store, and our Whole Foods allows you to use both a store and a manufacturer's coupon. Since the packs were on sale for $2.69, I picked up 4 packs of 4 for $0.69 each, or about $0.17 per cup.

He loved them and enjoyed them until we ran out yesterday and had to buy a new tub-o-yogurt. But that's a good savings over regular price on the larger tubs as well, which puts more money in our grocery budget for fresh foods.

So a little added sugar isn't going to kill him, really. Especially since he has hadly had any kind of added sugar in anything. The exception is Annies organic bunny grahams. Love those. I mean, Boogie loves those. Okay, I eat most of them.

This is just one example of how you can make organic work for your budget. I firmly believe that it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Do what you can and be an informed consumer, especially when it comes to the products you put on or in your body. Once we run out of the stocked up items I have from Drugstore game days, we will switch to more natural products, including and especially those we use for Boogie. I recently picked up some California Baby products on clearance at Target for about what the conventional Johnson's stuff costs so I'm looking forward to emptying the current bottle of baby wash to make the switch. We have already dropped the baby lotion in favor of Coconut Oil and it works better! But I can't bring myself to throw away what we have in favor of spending more on something else, so we're making gradual switches.

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Flip Diapers Review

2010-05-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

We recently purchased a couple of Flip diapers from BumGenius. I was looking for a better cover to go over our Mother-Ease diapers and inadvertantly fell in love with an entirely new diapering system! Flip diapers are everything I have been looking for and more.

The covers have snap closure, which is ideal because velcro covers were coming undone with all the vigourous crawling Boogie has been doing - and now, as of Saturday, he is walking, too!

I love that these diapers have a stay-dry liner that wicks the moisture away from Boogie's little bum. Since he has been having some problems with yeast rashes, I have been looking for a way to keep these at bay and these liners seem to do the trick. We have been using them for about a week now - with a mixture of Flip liners and prefolds - and they are working great for us.

Another bonus? The liners take up less space in the diaper bag, so I can carry more with me for longer trips without having to over-stuff an already packed-to-the-brim bag.

Right now, Boogie is in the middle size of these adjustable diapers. Since I am planning to start potty training in the fall/winter, we should find that these diapers are the last covers we will need to buy.

Plus, they are super trim and haven't leaked at all. Here's an action shot -

Couldn't get him to hold still long enough to get a clear shot!

Because a day pack (2 covers, 6 inserts) can be had for $50, any parent can afford to use these diapers. I would think for a newborn, you might need two day packs per day, but if I were buying these from the start with no other diapers in my stash, I would buy 4 day packs for $200 and plan on washing every other day at least until Boogie was 6 months or so. After that, you would have plenty of wiggle room for washing - no time every other day? No problem! We currently have 4 covers, 8 stay dry liners, a handful of prefolds, and the liners from our Mother-Ease dipes, which I have found work well for at home if we stack two liners in the covers. I haven't really tried these liners out and about because I haven't needed to, but I'm confident they would work just fine. I'm going to hold out and see if they have more new colors for covers before I buy any more, but I can certainly work with what we have without buying anything else until we are done with potty training.

And as for the math? We are still far beyond the point where we broke even on diaper costs against what disposables would cost, even though we are back to disposables at night most of the time. We are at least 4 months ahead!

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My First Mama's Day Card

2010-05-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

There is a part of me that wants to keep this all to myself, because it makes me so incredibly happy. But as I was writing my last post just moments ago, I decided that I just had to tell the world (or the maybe 6 people who "follow" me at this point haha) how thoughtful and loving my husband is.

Today I recieved my first Mama's Day card and this is what Boogie "wrote" inside:

Dear Mama,
Thank you for my swimmin pool and my superman shirt, and my squishy frog, and for snacks and panacakes, and for not letting me eat Whimbly's food. But most of all, thank you for showing me that, even though we're both new to the whole thing, Mama loves me, and I can rely on that for the rest of my life.
I love you,
(Boogie)
P.S. Red boat get sinked.

Whimbly, by the way, is our cocker spaniel. The boat thing is a bathtime reference. I wouldn't have included it except that if I ever lose the card, I like to think I could look back here and see it.

My husband rocks.

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A look back for my first Mother's Day

2010-05-09T19:43:00.000-07:00

Today was "Mama's Day" since Boogie calls me "mama". Interestingly, he calls me "baba" when he wants milk for hunger or comfort, which has led me to wonder if babies who are bottle-fed are really calling their bottle a "baba" because it's the same consonant sound, or because many babies learn to say that sound first...but that's besides the point.

Just over a year ago I became a mother and I was thrown into a world that I could not have prepared for in any real way.

We bought a super fancy infant seat (okay, its a graco so its only so fancy but it was the fanciest graco infant seat) and by the time Boogie was 6 months old he hated it as much as we did. Not only that, but I learned rather quickly that Boogie didn't want to spend his time in his infant seat. I had seen babies toted in infant seats everywhere for years and just sort of assumed it was what babies liked. Nooo...not Boogie. He wanted to be held always, and while at first this seemed like a bit of a burden, I now thank my lucky stars because all that closeness has made him happier, healthier, and more secure. And I feel like a better mom for holding my baby close to me as much as possible.

I read books about breastfeeding because I was so incredibly terrified that Boogie and I wouldn't be able to make it work. The first week was rough, full of tears and frustration. My poor husband, bless him, was terribly confused when I cried profusely because Boogie wouldn't latch without a nipple shield. Now, nearly a year later, Boogie is still nursing at least 5 times a day and recently he has started giggling and smiling and shrieking in delight when I ask him if he wants milk. It is The. Most. Adorable. Thing. Ever. I love that he now crawls to me, climbs on my lap, and tries to latch on through my shirt. Okay, so that is sometimes not so adorable but I do love that he is so excited to drink my milk!

I think my favourite part about being a mom is when Boogie calls me Mama. He started out calling me Baba and still calls me that when he is unhappy or wants milk. I think it may be my breasts he is referring to and not really me as a whole, but soon enough he started calling me Mama. Then he started calling his daddy Dada. We've since taught him "Nana" and are working on "Papa" (for his grandpa). But once he learned Dada, he chatters that syllable over and over all day whenever he is happily playing. It seemed he only said Mama or Baba when he was upset. But last weekend while my mother and I were in NJ for a bridal shower, Boogie stayed with her while I attended shower preparations with the rest of the bridal party. Apparently, he said Mama over and over the whole time he was with her! So it isn't that he likes Dada better - he just misses Dada during the day. Which is fine with me! I know that my husband wants to have a close relationship with Boogie, and I want that for them, too. But it's nice to know that we're both equally loved.

I'm pretty sure that his relationship with me will be based on comfort and having basic needs met, while Dada will be the "fun" parent most of the time. I just don't "get" GI Joe and dump trucks so Dada will be a lot more fun for that. However, I look forward to nurturing his creativity and imagination whenever I can with art projects, lots of reading and writing together, and cooking together.

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Nightime diapering "demystified"?

2010-04-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

After another bout of yeast rash, I am reconsidering our nighttime diapering solution. We have been using two of our regular diapers, one on top of the other, and Boogie sleeps well through the night. He isn't a heavy nighttime wetter, but it seems the yeast rash cold be related to the wet diapers.

I do change him very frequently during the day, sometimes even leaving the cover off all day so that I can see as soon as he is wet and change him promptly. So this leaves me with nighttime diapering being the problem. For now, we are going back to the dreaded disposable at night and are currently using Seventh Generation after having such a great response from their customer service.

I have heard that Fuzzi Bunz are the way to go with nighttime diapering, but the thought of putting down so much money for yet more diapers is somewhat hard to swallow. We already own 30 Mother-ease contours, a few of the new Flip diapers, 2 Swaddlebees pockets, and one new Bun Genius. I haven't tried the Bum Genius out at night yet because I haven't washed it enough. I'm not looking to wash them over and over jsut to be able to use them, so I have only washed them with my regular loads. It should be ready after another washing but I'll also need to use it durring the day a few times to make sure, and that will mean another week or two at least. My plan is to stuff it with a prefold. (We also own a few prefolds in addition to those from our newborn diapering days.)

My preference from the start was natural fibers only but after 11 months, I'm ready to look at some of the newer stuff, like the Bum Genius, to find a nighttime solution that will work for us. I've weighted the pros and cons of natural v. man made fibers against using disposables at night and even with the chlorine-free disposables, I feel like ultimately I would be paying off a few month's worth of disposables in a couple of nighttime diapers pretty quickly anyway. And since we are planning to have more kids, we'll certainly use them. But what if they don't work for nighttime?

I enjoy cloth diapering so much and I am hoping to find a good solution. Has anyone out there found night time diapering to be challenging? How did you solve the mystery, or at least make peace with 7 disposables a week in your trash?

One of my newest favorite-ist bloggers has a post with insight into cloth diapering your second baby here. Emily also has posts on anti fungal baby wipes, diaper liners, and more linked on that post.

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Customer service can be really fantastic so complain when you don't get you way.

2010-04-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

I have three customer service stories I would like to share, and commend the companies for their efforts at rectifying the situation.

A few months ago, I purchased a package of Seventh Generation diapers and found that about 90% of the diapers were cut improperly and barely functional. We were using them at night some and on trips, etc. Not often, but enough that I felt like I was losing money on that pack. So I contacted the company via email and complained, while also letting them know that I had previously used their products (a variety of them, not just diapers) with complete satisfaction, which increased my disappointment. As I was writing it, I recalled that I had also had a few packs of their wipes that dried out almost completely within days of opening them several months before - back when Boogie was a wee little thing - and mentioned it.

I received a response within hours with follow up questions. One email led to another and before I knew it, I was offered a full reimbursement for the diapers AND the two packs of wipes! I had figured they would offer coupons or a voucher for a free pack, or even possibly replace the pack itself. I was shocked that they were so willing to stand by their product that they were going to give me my money back without na reciept, UPC, or even one of the faulty diapers to prove there was a problem. I was so pleased when the check arrived that I used the enclosed coupon to buy a pack of diapers (when they were on sale of course) to have on hand. We have used a few and the new design is fantastic. They are 100% back in my good graces and while buying disposables is rare for us, we are now open to Seventh Generation diapers where I had been paying more for Earth's Best.

Next up is Munchkin. I bought one of their little insulated bottle totes for carrying Boogie's food around when we are out but recently one of the gell packs that go in the freezer busted open and gell got all over it. I contacted the company and complained, asking for a replacement. Again, within hours I had a response from a real person asking me to take a picture of it and they would replace it immediately. By the end of the week, I had a new gell pack! They even offered to reimburse me for shipping with an "age and gender appropriate gift" for Jack if I preferred to mail the entire product back for a full replacement. However, I was able to clean it well and I didn't think it was neccessary. But knowing that they were interested in doing anything to keep my company loyalty was nice. I'm not a huge fan of their products, but I have a good reason to choose them over another similar product in the future because I know they stand by their products.

Finally, I have had an issue with Enfamil vitamins. I have been looking for a suitably priced alternative to Boogie's vitamins, and have even considered not giving them to him at all because in general, I'm not a big fan of vitamins. However, I suffered from a severe vitamin D deficiency as a teenager that caused me to miss half of my senior year in high school, so I worry a lot about him getting enough vitamin D, especially since sunscreen blocks the natural absorption of this vital nutrient. So I have been buying them but in the last few months, two bottles have been faulty in their "child proof" caps. Boogie was able to open them by twisting the bulb, rather than the plastic cap, and dumped them on himself and the carpet within moments when I was only a few feet from him and not paying 100% attention. I now keep them much farther from his reach (once is a fluke, twice is a problem!). At least, after playing with the bottle, this is how I assume it happened.

I believe there is a problem with any children's medication that a child can open themselves, especially at less than 1 year old (the first time he was about 7 or 8 months!). So I contacted them about a week ago and today received two replacement bottles and a prepaid shipping label for returning the faulty bottles.

The moral of the story? If a product doesn't meet your expectations, complain! You may not get a refund or replacement, but you will definitely get a good idea of how the company's customer service works and know whether to buy anything from them again in the future.

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Popsicles!

2010-04-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

Making Popsicles is easy and I'm sure just about anyone could figure it out but I wanted to share my son's first Popsicle recipes because I really just need a good reason to show off these adorable pictures of him getting Popsicle all over his face.

First, cut up your strawberries (oh, well wash them first, then cut) and bananas.

Dump in a blender, mini prep, or food processor. Or for older kiddos, just mash them up really good.

Puree!

Scoop/pour into molds. I made half with strawberries and bananas and half with yogurt added to the fruit.

Finally, freeze them overnight and share with the Boogie in your life. That's a shot of the actual first taste! He ate about half of it, which is not a small amount for him.

And finally, check out this clever way to make a healthier version of those sugar filled otter pops your kids will beg for. Love the name of her blog!

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The Sweet Potato Method

2010-04-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

I was at Whole Foods the other day when I saw purple sweet potatoes, which not only intrigued me but also reminded me that we are fresh out of sweet potato cubes in the freezer. Sweet potato is one of Boogie's favorites so I grabbed one for him to try.

Here's how I do it.
Take your sweet potato and wash it off. Place it on a piece of foil, or on a cookie sheet. Preheat the oven to 350 and go ahead and stick it in there. Once the oven is heated, set the time for 30 minutes. That's about how long it takes for a medium sized (not too fat) sweet potato for me. I also threw in a regular sweet potato at the same time.

Since you are heating up the oven anyway, take a head of garlic, chop off the top half inch or so, sit it on its own foil sheet, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and EVOO and wrap the foil up around it. Toss it in the oven with your potatoes. You will be handsomely rewarded.

The potatoes are ready when they are nice and smushy and give easily. They will bleed purple sugar all over the foil. This is one instance where I prefer to throw a small piece of foil in the recycling than wash the sheet pan covered in sticky sugar.

Peel the skin off and...Mash!

Add the regular sweet potato and mash some more!

For a really smooth puree, you can use the blender. But if they are really cooked well, you can probably mash them well enough with a fork or potato masher.

Your garlic will take a bit longer than 30 minutes. 45-60 minutes should do it. It will be easy to squeeze all the garlic out. Just push it into a small container, cover with EVOO if you aren't going to use it in the next day or so and stick it in the fridge. Or, add some to Boogie's mashed sweet potato because he likes garlic!

Now just spoon into ice cube trays and freeze. This is one of my fancy Tupperware ice cube trays.

There is it with the lid on it. That's my husband on his way to put it in the freezer for me.

Oh, and Boogie loved it. Forgot to get a picture of his purple-covered face but thankfully, it didn't stain.

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Goals for the next year...or so

2010-04-20T07:06:00.000-07:00

So far in my journey I have made a few minor and a few major changes to the way we live that hopefully will impact not jsut our health, but the environment as well.

Using cloth diapers was never an environmental choice, but I love that something we chose to do anyway is so good for the earth. And even better for the earth is my recognition that I can get rid of all disposable products (ah...except toilet paper. Let's not go there). So my first goal is

1) Stop using disposable paper and plastic products (except said TP).

Perhaps my biggest goals, though, are related to health and nutrition. I have been researching how contaminated produce can be and have focused on buying organic produce for Boogie. But I also buy him only free-range organic chicken, organic tofu, beans, grains, etc. for him. I have had a hard time convincing myself that I deserve the extra cost of organic foods, too. And since I am perfectly capable of making just about everything from scratch, my next three goals are

2) Buy only whole, organic foods for myself and my family.
3) Make all of our bread from scratch using the recipes in my copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
4) Eliminate as much processed food from our diets as possible.

One thing I want to mention. Before getting pregnant and having my son, I never really thought much about organic foods. But I did always kind of hate carrots. They always tasted weird to me. Since I switched to buying only organic carrots (which are quite affordable - they are the same price at my local grocery store as conventional), I have noticed that they never have that weird taste. Which repulses me because now I feel like I have been eating pesticides my entire life. My son will hopefully never know a carrot that tastes like chemicals.

My husband likes the diet soda so we have talked about ending his relationship (at least on an everyday basis) with this chemical-laden beverage. I know it is asking a lot of him to change his lifestyle so much, so I'm planning to go easy on this one. I won't be buying it but if we go out to eat, I'm not going to begrudge him a little caramel colored artificially sweetened water. For now.

And, finally, I have one more goal that will make our budget a bit happier. Other than avoiding impulse spending and using sales, coupons, and a rather large freezer to save money, when we get relocated I am planning to

5) Buy used and save the difference.

The now-famous Duggar family (of 19 Kids and Counting fame, for those who haven't seen TLC in years) have been known to use that phrase to describe how they lower their carbon footprint with such a large family, and how they afford the everyday expenses of life. I believe this can make a big difference in many aspects of our life.

So, for now, we are still camping our with my folks until my husband's career relocates us at an undetermined point in the hopefully near future. I believe we will be moving in the next 3 months or so, so some of these goals will take a little longer.

Does all this mean that my child won't ever blow his nose with a tissue or enjoy some store-bought graham crackers? No, of course not. But I'd love to raise him in a world of handkerchiefs and homemade, wholesome snacks because I believe that he will continue into his adulthood to consume less, spend less, and love the earth that yields so much for us.

If I can manage at least most of this over the next year or so, I'm hoping we can add in an organic garden next spring/summer...wherever we are...

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Store-bought options for baby food. Organic still wins in my book.

2010-04-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

Although Boogie more or less refuses to eat anything we have offered him from the Gerber Organic line, or from any kind of "jar" food, he has accepted some of the new pouch foods. He is especially fond of the fruit pouches because he can suck the fruit out himself and literally sucks it all down in about a minute, with a couple of small breaks to catch his breath. Plum Baby are our favourite for a quick "toss in the diaper bag" option.

A facebook friend recently noted that although she makes her own baby food, she tried Sprout foods with her daughter and she loved them! So I thought I would give them a whirl. Because let's face it - it isn't always easy to carry around a cooler bag full of cubes of baby food and babies need veggies, whole grains, and proteins in addition to fruit. So when Sprout foods finally went on sale, I bought a few to try. So far he has tried the Roasted Sweet Potato and White Bean, which he loved, and the Butternut Squash (also loved). These products are made by Tyler Florence, of Food Network fame, and are organic. And delicious. I tried them and I can honestly say that I would eat them. But at the regular price of $1.39 each, they are certainly not an every day option. More something to toss in diaper bag when we are in a hurry.

We also tried the Pasta with lentil sauce flavor and Boogie regfused to eat it. This may be because he is already eating small pasta shapes with real sauce and the pureed version could just be a turn off. But, then again, I tasted it and found it kind of gross.

We are also fans of Happy Baby products. Boogie loves their organic puffs and they have half as much sugar as the Gerber brand. And here, they tend to be on sale fairly often for about $2.50. By joining the Happy Baby mailing list, I get coupons for $1 off 2 products and that makes them $2. Gerber puffs run about $2 on sale and the package is smaller. Again, twice the sugar in Gerber so this is definitly a cheaper, healthier option.

Boogie loves the Happy Baby yogurt drops, but since he does eat yogurt every day, we don't indulge in these often. I generally mix a couple in with the puffs for a "snack mix" kind of thing. I add freeze dried fruit bits, as well. I haven't found a budget friendly organic freeze dried fruit marketed for babies, but freeze dried fruit bits can be found in the dried fruit section of some grocery stores. Larger pieces can be broken into smaller ones. Boogie likes mango best!

Still, our favourite snacks are homemade. We usually do carry a small bottle cooler which holds a yogurt and a small container of fruir or veggie cubes. I have found that most restaurants are more than happy to bring a cup or bowl of hot water, which I can then sit the container in to thaw the food slowly. Apparently, they do this all the time for parents who need to warm bottles.

And there's always the universal portable baby snack - the banana!

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on a lighter note...check out this giveaway!

2010-04-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

Check out this giveaway for a chance to win a free Tots Bots all in one diaper at Cloth Diaper Blog. Adorable colors, no? I'd love to give this diaper a try!

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Just because everyone else is doing it...

2010-04-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

I often wonder if other parents in general consider cloth diapering or if the majority just go with the "default" - disposables - and never really think twice about it.

I had a first-hand opportunity to see that cloth diapers are not what they were when, well, okay...when I was a baby. And I'm not that old! A family friend used them with her kids (now both well out of diapers - potty trained completely by age 2!).

So during my pregnancy I researched cloth diapers more than any other single baby item. And we checked the reviews on everything that entered our house for our little bundle of joy. We ended up buying the same diapers our friend used. The price was right and they adjust to fit from about 10-12 lbs (that's when they fit Boogie) through...well, he's about 22lbs now and they have plenty of room. For the record, we use Mother-Ease contour diapers (pictured).

But I imagine that many parents think of diapering choices as which brand to use (Pampers, Huggies, Luvs, generic...) or whether to use a wipes warmer or not. What kind of plastic diaper pail system to buy is apparently a hot topic as well.

Anyway, I was a little bit shocked, and a little bit not-shocked-at-all, by this story. When I found it yesterday, I wanted to shout from the rooftops to all new parents and parents-to-be to PLEASE realize that disposable diapers as just as much a choice as cloth diapers are. Think about what you are going to put on your child 24 hours a day for approximately 2 years.

There are plenty of arguments about whether or not cloth really is cheaper or better for the environment. These seem to always be the key points in arguments against cloth, but I have also had countless women ask me about Boogie's diapers (usually in public restrooms while I'm changing him) and a lot of them ask me if he doesn't get more diaper rash.

I'm not sure why people ask this, but the fact is that diaper rash has not been an issue for us since we switched completely. Before we were 24-7 cloth, Boogie did have a lot of diaper rash. And we changed him quite frequently no matter what he was in.

Which is why I am 100% convinced that cloth is healthier.

This is a great article (ironically, it shows up with an ad for pampers) that sums up the health costs of disposable diapers.

It all goes back to that old addage that all our parents quoted at one time or another. If all your friends are jumping off a bridge, do you do it, too?

If you don't even have to stop and think about that one, ask yourself why many parents don't stop and think about why they are diapering with disposables.

I'm not saying that disposables are akin to throwing your kid off a bridge. I'm just saying that parents should consider all of their options and weigh the benefits and the deficits for each one. And, hopefully, if cloth isn't going to work for your family, you might just consider one of the healthier chlorine-free disposable diaper options out there.

Maybe, just maybe, if enough parents switch to chlorine-free, healthier diapers, the major brands will have no choice but to start manufacturing a better product. I know Huggies has a new "pure and natural" diaper but compared to Earth's Best or Seventh Generation, it's just more green washing.

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free cloth diaper with $10 BumGenius purchase

2010-04-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Check out The Thrifty Mama's post about how to get a free BumGenius diaper with $10 BumGenius, Flip!, or Econobum purchase.

I had a coupon from Pregnancy & Newborn magazine and found a new local online shop in my area that carries them. Sweet Bottoms Baby Boutique is an online shop but based in Fuquay-Varina NC. It's not a far drive from my home so I called up the owner and asked if I could stop in to her showroom. She's a new seller and has an amazing little "shop" in her beautiful home and she invited me to come and take a look.

Boogie has been wearing Thirsties covers since he was itty bitty but now that he is crawling all over the place at the speed of light and starting to walk some, they aren't fitting as well. He's apparently skinny! With the velcro tabs secured as tight as can be, they slip out on the edges and cause some serious leaks. It was time for new covers and I've had my eye on the Flip! covers from BumGenius. I've also been looking to try out the BumGenius all in one diapers, since I haven't had any experience with an all in one.

So I grabbed my coupon and drove over to Sweet Bottoms Baby Boutique and after listening to my message, the owner of the shop had pulled several items out that she thought would work for us, including the Flip! diapers. They are super cute! I decided to buy the covers with the inserts for just $3 more (each) than the covers alone so that I can try them out and report back later. The liners need a few washings before they will be ready to go, but so far the covers are fantastic! They are not as quick for changing Boogie - he wrestles me at every diaper change and frequently crawls around buck nekkid for a few minutes while I attempt to distract him long enough to finish the job. I'm hooked. The covers fit nicely over his Mother-ease diapers and I'm looking forward to trying them with the inserts. If they work out well for us, I might just buy a few more inserts for days when we will be travelling around a lot, as I will be able to fit more in my diaper bag that way.

As a bonus, I also picked up a free BumGenius all in one diaper for Boogie to try out. I'm impressed by how soft it is. Once it's washed up good, I'll post a review.

I just became a fan of Sweet Bottoms Baby on facebook and found a link to this article about the new Pampers DryMax, confirming what I already suspected about these new "12 hour" diapers. Rashes galore!

Sweet Bottoms Baby Boutique offers a great selection of cloth diapering supplies including all types of cloth diapers, hybrids, and covers, plus wipes, wetbags, other natural parenting items and more! If you are in the market for some new cloth diapers, check out her site. She offers free shipping in the US.

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Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

Every child should get to do this just once...

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Making cereal - it's cheaper and easier than you think!

2010-04-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

Making Boogie's cereal seemed like a chore when I first learned it was even possible. Perhaps I was being naive, but I never realized that I could give him cereal that didn't come in a box from the supermarket. When I first read about it somewhere on the internet, I was kind of blown away. Did people really do that?

Besides, baby cereal is cheap...right?

Turns out it isn't. I wish I could give you a true cost comparison but I haven't taken notes recently and all I know for sure is that on a week-long trip to NJ recently, I spent about $1 on whole grains - oats, millet, and rice - from the bulk bins at my friend's favorite supermarket. All were organic and the grains lasted for the week without any left to spare and without leaving us underfed :)

The same amount of commercial cereal (a one week supply) would have cost about $3.99 because we prefer Happy Baby HappyBellies organic cereal, but I could have gone with Earth's Best for about $2.79. And he would have taken care of most of the package. So even if you assume that he would have eaten about half the Happy Baby cereal, that's still $2, or twice the cost.

I bought a giant bag of Organic Quinoa recently for $8.99 at Costco. That works out to $2.25 per pound, which is less than what the bulk bin cost is at Whole Foods here.

A word of caution - If you batch grind your grains, you will need to measure differently. They will fluff up after grinding and you may need 1 1/2 x as much for a batch of cereal than if you measure, then grind, every couple of days. This isn't really a problem, though. You just measure it, grind it, and then measure it again to see how much to use later. Just store any pre-ground grains in the fridge in an air-tight container.

Here is 1/3 cup of Quinoa before grinding.

...and here is the same Quinoa, after grinding. It's hard to see but its about 1 1/2 x as much. My little red bowl has a marking inside for 1/4 cup, and the full bowl is 1/2 cup. I should probably have levelled the contents for the picture, but I didn't think about it.

Here's my 1/4 cup of Quinoa, again, before grinding. Maybe this is too many pictures but it also illustrates how it grows after grinding. I use a simple Krups grinder - it is reserved ONLY for grinding baby food and things baby can eat, like flax seeds, so that I don't have to be super picky about cleaning it since it can't be submerged in water.

See how big it gets? Okay, you get the idea. Let's move on. Before you grind, measure out 2 cups of water and put it in a small pot on the stove to boil. If baby is only easting a few tablespoons of food a day, you can half this and you'll want to use less cereal to water.

When it comes to a boil and your grains are ground into a nice fine powder (look for a flour-like consistancy), whisk them in. This is important because if you don't use a whisk, you'll have undercooked lumps floating around in watery mess and your baby will look at you like you are a martian if you try to feed it to him. Also, undercooked grains are not good for baby! Set the timer for 10 minutes, and whisk every couple of minues until it's done. ALWAYS taste it to make sure it is cooked well.

Measure the first time and then guess the next. I have 6oz bowls and this is what 1/2 cup of cereal looks like in them. I pour the first three, then put the rest in a bowl with two cubes of fruit (if its breakfast) or veggie (dinner) to help it cool down easier. Some people believe it should go directly into the fridge. I let it cool for about 5 minutes before sealing the lids and sticking it into the cold.

Here's Boogie's breakfast. Once the apples melted and the cereal was nice and cool, I added a dash of cinnamon because Boogie loves cinnamon!

Yup, he's an eater.

Down the hatch!

All gone!

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Tag! You're It! Tuesday

2010-04-13T06:49:00.000-07:00

My first game of Blog Tag!

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Yogurt for Boogie

2010-04-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

I love to give Boogie yogurt every day because I believe that it will help keep his digestive tract healthy. So far, we haven't had any stomach sickness (or, for that matter, any sickness!) so I'm going to assume it works until we have a problem.

I started out buying the little individual cups of YoBaby from Stoneyfield Farms. The plain is, in my opinion, the best way to go. I add our own fresh fruit puree for flavor sometimes, but we take it plain most of the time. I think it is important for him to not get used to having added sugar in yogurt.

I realized one day that I was spending too much on yogurt this way. Those 6 cups, about 4oz each, cost about $2.99. That's about 24oz, or about $.13 cents per ounce. If I buy the 32oz organic "cream top" (whole milk) yogurt for $2.99, it's only about $.09 per ounce.

Because it is "cream top" yogurt, you do have to stir it up well to mix the cream in, but you need to do that with the little cups as well because they do the same thing.

I typically freeze half of the yogurt so that it keeps longer, because he isn't eating 32 oz of yogurt in a week, and after 6-7 days I start to feel like it's not fresh enough anymore.

So I freeze 4 6 oz glass bowls with about 4oz of yogurt in each one and when there is only about 1-2 servings of yogurt left in the original container, I take one out of the freezer. They sometimes take a whole day or longer to completely thaw (my fridge is cold, what can I say?)

I'm still a fan of the individual cups for travel. If we are going to be out for lunch, they fit nicely into a cooler bag made for holding a bottle/sippy cup. Our glass bowls with the lids fit well, too, but they are a tight squeeze. In general, though, I recommend feeding yogurt with no added sugar at least 90% of the time so that as your kids grow older, they are not accustomed to that extra sweetness. You can always add fresh fruit puree and it will naturally sweeten without additional sugar. Boogie even likes veggies with his plain yogurt, such as sweet potato. The other day he wanted his broccoli mixed in!

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Staying organized with Boogie's meals

2010-04-09T07:03:00.000-07:00

I stay organized, making sure Boogie gets at least most of what he needs day to day with a simple dry erase board my mom bought on clearance at an office supply store a few months ago.

I took some Sharpie markers and created a "chart" listing the main food groups and how many servings he needs per day, and then added a box for each serving. I use a dry erase marker to check them off after meals. I also have a blank at the top for what day it is so that if my darling husband gets up with Boogie on Saturday morning so I can sleep in some, I know later whether he has started a new day or forgotten, and then I can ask him what he had for breakfast.

It's also nice because some mornings when Boogie and I get downstairs, said darling husband has written in the new day with something cute like yesterday's, "show your tongue off day!", to which he added in between the other food groups, "show your tongue 50-100/day," and several boxes to check off.

Recently, my father taught Boogie to stick out his tongue when someone asks, "Where's your tongue?" It's a lovely habit I look forward to trying to break. He LOVES to show off his tongue! We are trying to teach him to point to his nose in response to, "Where's your nose?" but so far he just sticks his tongue out, proving that he is really not aware that the thing he is sticking out is called a tongue. But he's getting there :)

Typically, Boogie gets a serving of baby porridge for breakfast and 1-2 servings of fruit, sometimes mixed in but usually separate. Lunch is 3-4 oz of plain whole milk yogurt with another serving of fruit, a piece of toast, and some veggies. Some days he doesn't eat that much, though! Dinner is generally veggie-loaded with 2-3 servings (depending on how much he has had earlier), some whole wheat pasta, more cereal, or a whole grain that hasn't been pureed prior to cooking (like quinoa or rice), or some whole wheat bread or pita. Some days he gets chicken either in "meatball" form or just cooked bits. The other day I put a bit of sweet curry powder on the chicken and he loved it!

Boogie also gets an egg 3 times a week, usually scrambled, for breakfast. He also enjoys tofu, beans, and now hummus. I try to go easy on meat-based proteins because I think its good to not get him used to meat every day, or even several times a day, while he is young. He also loves bits of cheese, but who doesn't love cheese??

UPDATE - My darling husband reminded me that if you draw over over the sharpie marks with the dry erase marker, it will remove the sharpie marks. So if you want to try this, make sure you make the boxes big enough to draw an "x" inside without touching the lines.

Also, when it inevitable gets skuzzy looking, use rubbing alcohol to remove the old sharpie marks instead of buying the pricey white board cleaner.

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Save money on organic juice by not buying it

2010-04-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

I save money on juice by not buying it. But that doesn't mean Boogie only gets to drink water. Mostly, he is still getting his "drinks" from mama, but I do offer him a sippy cup of water (and sometimes when I'm feeling lazy I just put water in a cup and hold it for him) with every meal and he typically drinks about half an ounce to an ounce.

But I do give him what I call "juice." When I cook apples to make apple sauce, I save the cooking liquid, strain it, and freeze it in ice cube trays just like I do his purees. I do the same with pears, peaches, mango, etc. Soon I am going to add veggie "juice" as well, though I will probably mix it with apple or pear at first so that he can get used to the taste.

I suppose I could just not ever give him anything but water, but I offer him a cube of "juice" mixed with water (I estimate it to be about 25% fruit liquid) has the same effect that straight juice does as far as his, ah, diaper issues. His pediatrician told me to give him straight juice if his stools are firm or if he seems constipated, but I just cannot fathom buying a bottle of juice and then throwing most of it away. I did this once, and ended up boiling and freezing it into trays and it was a bigger pain in the bum that just freezing the cooking liquid, since I'm already in baby food mode.

This way, any nutrients that come out in the cooking water, go right back into Boogie later :)

And when he starts drinking veggie "juice," my hope is that he will get accustomed to drinking things that are not sweet.

As you can see above, one batch of apples also yielded about 14oz of "juice." This lasts us a good two weeks and its FREE.

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Using the Apple Method for other baby foods

2010-04-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

Using the same method as with The Apples, you can also make:

Pears
Peas
Sweet Potatoes*
Winter Squash*
String Beans
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Carrots**
Parsnips
Beets**
White Potatoes

I could go on but I think you get the idea. If it is more cost effective to buy bagged frozen fruit,m especially when they are not in season, you can also simmer frozen fruit right from the bag until it is thawed and, if baby is new to the game, nice and soft. Then puree as usual.

*I prefer to bake or roast sweet potatoes whole (350 until very soft), scoop out the flesh, and puree. With Winter squash, I cut in half, scoop out the seeds and whatnot, and bake at 350 until a fork can go right through it, then scoop out the flesh and puree. I believe they are more flavorful this way, but boiling is fine. Steaming is also a good option.

**Carrots, as well as spinach, beets, and other foods can contain high levels of nitrates. Some people believe you should not make these foods yourself for your baby. If you like, you can skip making them and buy them jarred or frozen, but I find that fresh carrots are one of the least expensive baby foods and my son will not eat the jarred kind and neither would I. So I recommend waiting until at least 8 months to introduce them and dumping the cooking water and using fresh filtered or purified water for pureeing them to avoid adding nitrates back into the baby food.

Hello, Coconut Oil? I LOVE YOU. That's all.

2010-04-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I do. I purchased a bottle of coconut oil yesterday, which is surprisingly easy to find (at Whole Foods) and I was even a little taken aback by how many brands there were. I went with the Whole Foods 365 Organic Virgin Coconut Oil because the price was right and it was precisely what I was looking for so why pay twice as much? Sometimes I wonder if I am frugal or just cheap.... I have been wanting to try it for a while, every time I hear or read about difference uses for it. I wonder if bloggers realize they come off sounding like the stuff is a miracle cure all. I bought it less than 24 hours ago and I am already hooked. It really IS amazing stuff!

My original intentions were to make a bug spray for my son that is safe for him, at 10 months, and works for me and my husband as well. I also figured I would make a spray for the dog for fleas and ticks, as well as mosquitoes, so I can avoid chemical exposure (he has liver disease, so its probably not good for him to have spot on treatment anyway, even if we didn't have the kiddo around) for all of us. I bought eucalyptus oil, sweet orange oil, and citronella oil, and already had some good tea tree oil on hand for the dipes.

I figured it was a good time to check out coconut oil as a carrier oil, and for some reason was somewhat surprised that it is solid at room temp. Won't work for the dog, but it sounds like a fairly easy way to use it on the kid! Came home, melted 1/4 cup and added my oils (I'll give up the exact proportions when I know whether they are effective and have finished with my tinkering). I poured it into a leftover tea tin and left it to set. Meanwhile, I dabbed a bit of it on Boogie's back, up and down his spine, so I would be able to recognize any reactions easily.

Wow. That stuff leaves baby oils and lotions in the dust! It rubbed in smooth, left him nice and soft, and the best part is...I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IS IN IT.

I then proceeded to run into the kitchen where I left the jar of coconut oil sitting innocently on the counter and start rubbing it all over my arms. Oh, the smell is heavenly. If you like real coconut scent, you will love this stuff. It isn't overpowering and it doesn't linger so I imagine I can use it for years without getting coconut overload.

I tasted it as well, of course, since it can be used for cooking. I like that it is food-grade so if my kid finds it and decides to eat it, I only have to worry about his saturated fat consumption. If he drinks lotion, I have a whole host of other worries. It seems to be fairly tasteless, which is kind of a disappointment. I will have to compare the nutritional info to butter before I give that a shot, but I have heard it is fantastic in brownies.

Oh, and I also rubbed the plain stuff on some dry patches on Boogie's skin that he has had all winter. Nothing has made much difference to them until last night. They are no longer visible, though you can feel the dry spots. No reactions to his skin so I suspect after 1 or 2 more applications he will be rid of them finally! I also plan to rub a bit on his scalp tonigh durring tubs as he has a dry scalp, possibly caused by the use of baby shampoos. But I'm working on that. My own skin is also nice and coconut-glowy. Interested in a recipe for Homemade Deodorant that uses Coconut Oil? Check out Jessica's post on How About Orange, one of my favorite crafty blogs :)

3 lbs of organic apples for $3.69 = Cheaper than a jar

2010-03-18T17:25:00.001-07:00

The contenders?

3lbs of Organic Fuji Apples (which, by the way, smell amazing) for $3.69 at Whole Foods

vs.

Earth's Best Organic 12-pack of 2nd Foods Apples - $10.99 (12 4oz containers = 48oz).*

You don't likely need to buy anything to make baby food other than the food itself. I'm starting with apples, because they are so easy and most other baby fruit and veg purees can be made with the same method. Also, at 10 months my son is moving away from purees and this is one he still really loves. I'm pretty sure I will be making applesauce for years to come....

So its easy to get started. If you have a blender, food processor, or food mill, you are set to go. If not, then I was wrong and you will need to get one of those things. But the plus side is that you can use any size food processor - even those little bitty ones - and the results are the same. You may find you prefer smaller batches, or you may find that you just have to puree in batches. Peel your apples and core them. Cut them into whatever size chunks you like, as long as they are roughly the same size.

Place them in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer until they are nice and mashy. Use a slotted spoon to pull the apples from the water and put them in your food processor or blender with as much of the cooking water as it takes to puree them to your desired consistency.

For "Stage1" foods, you will need to add most if not all, and maybe more water. Personally, I believe that "stages" are something baby food companies made up to make sure you spend as much money on baby food as possible for as long as possible. I don't generally add more than I need to to get the food pureed and instead I look at the texture. Boogie started with very smooth purees and moved slowly to chunkier ones. Apples can be pureed as much as you like forever since you will probably give your baby applesauce for years to come.

Spoon the puree into ice cube trays and if they have covers, cover them and freeze. We have some handy dandy Tupperware trays with lids that my mom bought off Ebay for fairly cheap, but they are currently in the freezer full of kale puree (yes, my baby LOVES kale puree!), so alternatively, you can put them in whatever trays are handy and wrap them in plastic wrap or foil to freeze. Just make sure if they are at all liquidy (as most purees are, no matter how little water you have added) that they are level.

I forgot to take pictures of my ice cube trays. Oops...

When they are solidly frozen (overnight is generally about right), pop them out and fill up a freezer bag, label it with the date and contents, and stick it back in the freezer. A deep freeze is super helpful with this as your collection of baby cubes grows!

I ended up with 32 ounces, or thereabouts, which translated into about 32 ounces of food, or about $.12 per ounce. Earth's Best jars work out to about $.29 per ounce. Not bad. If you ar elooking for a "stage 1" consistancy, you will probably add enough water to bring it to about 40oz or more, making your cost per ounce less than $.10.

*I like Earth's Best. This is for comparison only. Because their products are organic, whole grain, and do not contain (to my knowledge) any added sugar or salt, I believe they are a better alternative to conventional jarred baby food. But I believe that fresh, homemade whole food is best.

Cloth Cost

2010-03-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

There are a hundred websites at least that can break down for you the cost of cloth diapering versus disposables, but sometimes the reality is somewhat different.

Prefolds are cheap and actually not all that difficult, but as your baby gets older, it can be difficult to get them on and off of a squirmy baby. The all-in-one kind are pricier but they don't necessarily last and washing can be more complicated.

Washing gets more complicated if you use anything with synthetic materials. We use cotton terry diapers so we can even bleach them if we need to (which was nice when we came down with a nasty bout of thrush and yeast rash last fall). But I also have 4 pocket dipes that we use when we are out and about sometimes, since Boogie is at the "I will do whatever I have to to move in the opposite direction of what you would prefer," stage. A two-piece system is just a little more difficult on those silly fold out changers in public restrooms.

So what's the real cost? We spent about $600 all together, not including the ongoing washing-related expenses, which I find to be somewhat irrelevant. I don't notice the difference, really. And I usually fill the load with wipe up towels, burp rags, kitchen rags, etc. We try to use as many cloth towels instead of paper towels in the kitchen as we can, so I always have other things that can go in with the dipes.

At about $10 a pack for disposables, that's only 60 packs or roughly 30 weeks. Although, I don't really know how many disposables most parents go through in a week so maybe that's optimistic, or pessimistic? I realize that you can get most name brands or even store brands for less than that if you are vigilant, use coupons, etc. but those diapers make my son break out in a really nasty rash. So we use chlorine-free/dye-free/fragrance-free Earth's Best on the occassions when we need disposables (like on a trip to NJ last month when we really couldn't fly our stash with us) and they run about $13 a pack here, so I'm extra greatful not to be buying diapers.

The real cost to me isn't just in what you pay for disposables. You actually would need to spend a lot on top of the line cloth diapers before you would spend more on than on disposables, especially if you then use disposable training pants...plus you can't re-use disposables for the next baby, etc. and so on. And if your kid is like mine, you'll be spending plenty on rash creams, too.

The real cost is health. Like I said, my son breaks out terribly with "conventional disposables" (if that isn't a contradiction in terms). But he didn't always. From the time we brought him home from the hospital, he was in disposables off and on for about two months. Our diaper system was too big for him at first. I had a dozen prefolds, so we did use those after about 3 weeks, and then we sowly transitioned into cloth full time over about a month.

The problem started when we hadn't used the disposables in a while and put one on him to get pictures made in a onesie that no longer fit over a cloth diaper. For maybe 10 minutes he was in that diaper. MAYBE. And when we took it off (okay, wasteful to take it off when it was dry but I don't like the chemical exposure more than I care about the environment), there it was - a bright red angry rash covering every single inch of where the diaper touched his skin, even down to the papery bits that hang off the elastic around the legs, and all the way up to the top the whole way around, even over his legs. And he hadn't even peed in it.

So the question isn't why my son broke out like that. Obviously, it had something to do with the chemicals and fragrances in the diapers that he wasn't used to. The real question is why don't other babies break out when they start out in disposables and live in them for 2-3 years? The answer lies, of course, in the month or so that my son was not exposed to disposable diapers at all before that photo session.

So maybe your baby doesn't seem bothered at all by disposables. Maybe s/he never even gets diaper rash. I can't tell you how many disposable diaper using mamas have warned me that cloth diapers cause diaper rash, and have been then shocked to hear me tell them we just don't have that problem. In fact, he has never had it aside from a bout of thrush, except when he has been in disposables.

But do you want to just assume that it isn't affecting your child because there are no outward signs? Personally, I don't like to assume that because I can't see something, it isn't there. Only I had the opportunity to see it, know it is there, and be greatful that I was already doing something about it. It took about a week for that rash to clear completely. The pictures are cute, but they weren't worth it.

Why "Feed Me, Cloth Me"?

2010-03-15T07:46:00.001-07:00

I have been thinking about writing a blog for a while now. Since my son was born in May of 2009, I've had little time to spend on my first love - writing. I started writing recreationally when I was fairly young, perhaps about 9 or 10 years old, and in high school I found that poetry spoke to me and soon after that, discovered a genre I wouldn't know the name for for years to come.

In college, I took my first creative writing class in Creative Non-Fiction. It was the only class open for a transfer student late to the registration process. On the first day, I fell in love with writing all over again. I had been writing CNF for years without knowing it had a name. Blogging is not unlike CNF in may ways - at least, I believe that this blog will not be unlike it.

Over the last 10 months, I have learned so much about myself that it almost overrides the first 26 years of my life experience. Having a baby truly changes everything.

Feed Me!

I have always wanted to make my own baby food. I loved the idea of little ice cubes of carrots and peas in my freezer, a veritable rainbow of veggies and fruit. I had no idea that I could make baby cereal myself. I never expected I would feed my son tofu regularly. I certainly never realized I could make beans or lentils in batches and freeze them in ice cube trays. I bought cottage cheese for the first time in my life (and I was apparently avoiding it for good reason, but Boogie loves it) And I had no idea I would be buying so much yogurt.

But once I got started, I found it was incredibly easy to make healthy, organic, fresh meals for him. I love thinking up new ways to make simple delicious food that my husband and I can enjoy with him. It almost makes me sad to see that my son is outgrowing purees, even thick chunky ones, and wanting more and more to feed himself. In addition to loving the process, I love the outcome. Boogie eats anything (almost - see below) and loves everything he tries, including foods I don't care for like kale, cottage cheese, and lentils.

In the last 4 months, I have made a lot of baby food. It amazes me when I pass the baby jar section in the grocery store how incredibly expensive it is to feed your child what amounts to canned veggies. To some degree, I wanted to save money by making it myself. But the overriding thought was that I could make sure my son learned to love a variety of veggies, fruits, grains, and more in the first few years of his life if I made everything he eats from fresh, whole foods. Then maybe, just maybe, when he does eventually find himself at a fast food restaurant with friends, he'll take a bite and wonder what it is because it won't taste like food.

I think many parents share at least one of those goals. Making baby food really is easy. And, done in batches all in one day a month, it can be pretty fast and just as convienient as those little jars...and I can tell you from experience that it tastes better. We once tried to offer organic jarred food to my little Boogie at a restaurant and no only did he refuse to eat it (the FIRST time he ever refused to eat anything!), but he cried as though we had tried to feed him thumbtacks. I tasted it myself and I had to agree. Jarred string beans do not taste like string beans. Jarred carrots do not taste like carrots. I can handle that kind of picky eater.

Making your own baby food doesn't stop with purees, even when that phase starts to end (tear!). I'm changing the way my family eats so that we can all eat together and have healthy, nutritious meals that taste great!

Cloth Me!

I knew in my very early 20's that I would use cloth diapers for my children. A family friend used them and I was intrigued. Once night I spent hours on the internet researching cloth diapers and was amazed at all there was to learn. Years later, married and expecting my first child, I revisited the world of cloth diapers and found that even in those 5 or so years, the options have exploded into a phenomenon many people believe is just a trend.

Trendy or not, cloth diapers have been around for as long as...well...babies. Or at least as long as there has been cloth, it has been used for diapering babies.

The first disposable diaper appeared on the scene in 1949, and according to 1980's diapering authority My Mom, disposable diapers were hardly an option for full-time diapering unless you wanted to do even more laundry than you were already doing washing diapers. She said most of them still required a cover (which she called "rubber pants" so you can already see things have changed!) Besides, she used a diaper service and didn't have to wash them herself anyway. My point is that disposable diapers have only been a viable alternative to cloth as a full-time diapering option for about 25 or maybe 30 years. Since then, technology has boomed and a popular diaper brand is now offering a product they claim will keep your baby dry for up to 12 hours.

Which, in my opinion, is a technology we do not need. The longer you leave a diaper on a baby, the longer their skin is in direct contact with urine. They may not feel wet, but they will certainly be in cotact with urine. Think about it. And if you use a disposable diaper, it isn't just urine. We're talking chemicals, fragrances, dyes, dioxin (by-product of bleaching process), etc.

Do our babies really need to be wrapped in technology from the moment they arrive into the world? I think if I had the choice, I'd rather be wrapped in soft cotton than heavily scented, bleached, and dyed paper full of SAP.

This is why I diaper my son in cloth.