Movin' on up

Taylor is officially over 15lbs. Yes, I know a LOT of other babies reached that milestone well before their 5th month, but my baby is petite.

So, this means we are moving up to the next size of diapers. Once I do the load of diapers tomorrow I will retire the infant prefolds and covers (to await our next bundle of cuteness) and prep the new diapers for Taylor to wear until she's potty-trained! Wow!

I think the cost of her cloth diapers, cloth wipes, and wipe solution for the first 5 months totaled roughly $250. Of course there were other start up costs like the trash can, wet bags, and laundry detergent; but in the end it was definitely not over $350. We were very blessed in that everything was purchased for us by our parents, and my sister let us use her infant stash of cloth diapers.

For this next stage (5mo-potty trained) we bought larger fitted diapers, prefolds, and some sturdier covers. I guesstimate another $300. Definitely worth the investment!

I can't wait until we can start buying Taylor little undies :)

Our little angel

With all the traveling Taylor and I have done the last couple of weeks, we've encountered a lot of people. And they all have one thing in common - they LOVE Taylor.

She's such a social little girl right now. She smiles at perfect strangers and interacts with them for up to 10 min at a time.

Here are some of the comments we've received:

• "She's so guapa and petit" (translation: pretty and white) - Filipino family friends
• "She's like a china doll" - Filipino family friends
• "She's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen in my whole entire life" - 10yr-old boy at airport check-in
• "She looks like an angel. Is she?" - same boy at airport check-in
• "You could put little wings on her and hang her on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel" - deacon at church

Diaper crazy

Recently I discovered Diaper Swappers, an online diaper buying/selling/trading community. It started out great - I sold 3 diapers on there that weren't fitting Taylor too well, and replaced them with 5 others that are really good for her. Then I discovered the gazillion other brands of diapers and accessories out there...

Oh my goodness, what did I get myself into!

Though we practice Elimination Communication (EC), I find myself clicking through post after post of diapers for sale. Some brands are ridiculously expensive, many diapers on there are made by "WAHMs" - Work at Home Moms, and all of them seem to sell within a couple of hours of being posted.

My newest obsession - Diaper Change diapers. I want a whole bunch of them. They're sooo cute and lots of women on DS say they are excellent quality with amazing customer service to back it up. You can get all sorts of different prints to match outfits or moods or...I don't know, room decor!

But then I refocus and instead hope that someone I know has a baby and will use cloth diapers and I can buy them one of these...or 3 or 6.

Back to reality.

Nighttime diapering has been our latest challenge. Taylor used to wake up when she fed and I could potty her and change her diaper if needed. Now she keeps her eyes closed even while nursing and fusses if I take her out of bed. And, if I'm changing her diaper she'll keep her knees hiked up really high so it's really difficult to fasten on a new one.

The other problem is that she's a side-sleeper, so her diaper often leaks out the leg at some point in the night.

I thought adding an extra layer of absorbency (a hemp doubler) to her prefold would address these problems, but it still doesn't seem to be quite enough. So, the last few nights I've been putting her in the BumGenius One-size diapers, our usual "going out" diaper. They are very absorbent and have a stay-dry layer to keep the moisture away from her sensitive little bum, but they still leak out the leg a bit. And if I use them at night they aren't available to use during the day if we're running a lot of errands.

My next thought is to get a Nekkie Blankie or make an equivalent myself so Taylor can sleep nakey butt on it at night. I'm a bit hesitant to order a Nekkie Blankie online because the company is under new ownership and the site is really outdated. But to make one myself requires a bit more research into fabrics and stuffings materials...and potentially will not be any less expensive than getting the real thing. Of course, these work best when used in conjuction with pottying at night and we're just not there right now.

Anyway, I doubt anyone reading this is nearly as interested in diapering solutions, but I think it's a really neat topic. On to my chores for the day!

Update to "Fashion Faux Pas" and more

So all my worrying about Taylor wearing her 0-3mo clothes enough turned out to be for nothing. She's 4 months-old now and still fits into several of the little outfits. I think she's just really petite. The only thing that's bumping her up to the next size are her bulky cloth diapers! But I still wouldn't have it any other way.

Taylor had her doctor appointment yesterday, which included another round of shots and the oral vaccine. I think she actually did better this time, though she cried a lot yesterday afternoon. She slept in until 10am this morning (when Mark called my cell phone and the noise woke her).

She is now 13lbs 2oz and 24in long and the doctor said she's just below the 50th percentile. She's catching up! Her head circumference is only around the 25th percentile however, so Mark is worried she'll end up having a small head. Ha!

Other milestones:

• Taylor is rolling over from tummy to back on both sides and has gone from back to tummy once already.
• She is vocalizing a LOT more now...particularly right before she falls asleep.
• She is grasping objects fairly well and bringing them up to her mouth to chew/suck on.
• She smiles at pretty much everyone and is very interested in her surroundings.
• While on her tummy, she sometimes moves her legs to scoot herself forward with her face planted in the sheets...doesn't quite have the arm strength yet for crawling

Good week so far

The past couple days have been really good and so far today is turning out well too. Taylor has been on a nice sleeping and eating schedule, I've been able to get lots of cleaning done around the house while she's in one of the carriers (above), Mark has started on some projects that he had neglected for a looong time, and Phoebe has been very well behaved while running free in the backyard (now that Mark improved the fence).

Actually, thinking back, the weekend was great too! On Saturday, we went to the St. Louis Brewfest in Forest Park. It was the second time we'd been there. The first was right before I got pregnant and this time around we have a tiny baby to tote along with us - pretty good timing if you ask me. We bought the tickets in advance which was such a good idea because the afternoon time slot was sold out before we even arrived! Mark and I sampled about 26 different beers of the 100+ they had available. I had really missed tasting some of those over this last year of pregnancy! The ground was so muddy and I was grateful we had Taylor in our Beco carrier instead of trying to maneuver a stroller in that crowd (like some people did!). The more I use carriers, the less I can think of situations in which strollers would be better. Taylor slept almost the entire time!

(This is the Earth Day Festival a couple of weeks ago, but we looked pretty much the same)

Afterward, we went to Trader Joe's and picked up a beautiful bouquet of flowers as my first Mother's Day treat. On Sunday, Mark decided to spoil me by taking care of the baby all day while I did whatever I wanted (which was to clean!). He treated me to Einstein Bagels for lunch and India Palace for dinner (mmmmmm!). We tried to find a good movie about mothers on Netflix online, but sadly they didn't have anything. I think most of the movies out there about parenting seem to focus on fathers. Maybe the everyday life of mothers taking care of children isn't interesting enough to film...it's just too real and ordinary. Mothers only make good film fodder when they are neurotic.

Some days I'm probably neurotic enough to star in a film, but most of the time I'm just a regular mom who cleans a whole lot. A good day for me means that I've done most all of the laundry and put all the clean clothes away, I've ironed or steamed Mark's shirts for work, I've managed to find or make something for us to eat for dinner, and I washed all of the dishes before bed. A really good day means I was able to squeeze in some exercise, reading, and message board hopping as well. A fabulous day would be if I could do all of the above AND run an errand out of the house! I don't know if a fabulous day is really possible, but one can always hope.

Postpartum update

I'm losing hair now like it's going out of style. Every time I run my fingers through my hair I loose another handful. I keep finding Taylor with strands of my hair clenched in her little fists too. :)

I weighed myself again this morning - only 6 or so pounds left to go! I drastically cut back my cookie/milkshake intake so I think my body is just adjusting to much much less sugar in my diet. And, I've been walking Taylor and Phoebe around the block for at least 30min a few days each week, so I think that's been working.

Right now Taylor is sleeping in the Beco carrier on my back. Boy, is it easier to eat and type and do anything in front of me when she isnt' there! Yesterday I got Mac 'n' Cheese on her shirt and the day before I dropped fettuccine on her head (she didn't notice either).

I weighed her the other day - 12.5lbs! But she still fits in all her 0-3mo clothing and the diapers that say they only go up to 12lbs. She's a skinny little bean.

I'm behind in pretty much all my household chores right now...so I better get to those. More later.

Stuff to remember

I don't really have a journal or a formal baby book for Taylor, so I thought I'd post a few things here that I want to remember about her first three months (which officially ends today).

The "aww" category:

• Rubbing her face into my chest, the sheets, or with her little hands when she's tired
• Using my breast as a pillow when she's done nursing in bed
• Sneezing in multiples
• Smiling in her sleep, and more recently, smiling at me!
• The time Mark stayed home sick and she greeted him with the biggest, gummiest series of smiles we had ever seen
• Smacking her tongue against her top lip and chewing her tongue
• Smiling at the wall outlet in the bathroom and at the embroidered animals in her crib
• Giving us huge smiles when we potty her
• Staring at herself in the mirror
• Pottying in public toilets - woohoo!
• Graduating to one or fewer poopy diapers a week!
• Learning how to move the animals on her bouncy chair to get music to play
• How Phoebe was so scared of her and whined incessantly when we first brought her home, but now is so excited to see her and licks every inch of her she can reach
• Sucking on anything in reach when hungry (our shirts, shoulders, arms, fingers)
• Now sucking on her own hands and making LOUD smacking noises
• When her little fist creeps up toward her mouth while nursing and she ends up sucking on her hand instead of feeding!
• Very expressive, funny eyebrows that looks like flying birds (an "M" shape)
• Talking to herself or making conversation with us
• Entertaining herself before bed by playing with her hands, babbling, and staring at the ceiling light fixture
• Rubbing my face in her soft, baby hair
• Mark twisting her hair into lots of little spikes or letting it dry standing up straight
• Opening her mouth up wide when we kiss her on the lips
• Coughing as a precursor to crying
• Holding her in my left arm as I eat lunch/dinner, type, or do laundry
• Sleeping in the Moby Wrap with her head tilted back and her mouth wide open
• Mark's "Poopy in the Sink" song
• Taylor's name song
• Blowing spit bubbles

The "eww" category:

• Sticky little hands with fuzz tucked in between each finger (and fuzz in her toes, and neck, and armpits...)
• The time we tried to give her a pacifier and she gagged and threw up everything from the last hour of nursing
• Gigantic boogers that are either sneezed out or sucked out
• The time we were driving to the mall and she sneezed on they way and when we got there I discovered she had dried snot smeared all over her face and blanket
• Crusty eczema all over her forehead
• The time Mark was changing her and she pooped all over the changing table, wall, and diaper basket!
• Foamy poo
• Sweaty, smelly feet
• Loud belches and the gurgling sound of pooing in a diaper
• Missing the sink while pottying her and getting it all over the counter/myself