Friday, April 3, 2009

Happy Baby

Our neighbors brought Charles a gift the other day - their 11-month-old's used exersaucer, which he no longer fit. Charlie loves it! He can rock and roll and spin all around, and there are scads of toys with which to play. He contentedly played in it today while I vacuumed today.
We have had a busy week, and it's about to get even busier. My folks were here, so Charles and I have been spending a lot of time at Goodwinds. Also, it's been raining, so no walks of late (which sucks, since I can't get to the gym - the only time I can go is VERY early in the morning, and I have been so exhausted that that really isn't an option. I can hardly wait until after tax season so Tony and I can take turns going to the Y in the evening. Sure, we won't see much of each other, but we'll feel better).

Tony is exhausted from taxes. He tried to put Charles down for a nap last night and ended up sleeping with him. Aren't they just two peas in a pod?


Charles continues to love every food we give him, except formula (thanks for the suggestion, Carole, but I don't think this one will work). He flat out refused to take a bottle of formula from me (remember, I have no one else here at night to potentially give it), and he only would drink about an ounce while my mom babysat him yesterday, all the while being, in her words, "pissed off about it." And he makes the funniest "gross" face! He knows there is something better out there, stubborn child. On the upside, Buster thought the formula was AWESOME, so he got the leftovers. Anyhow, Charles still wakes often, but goes down a bit earlier, and we have opted to have him sleep more of the night in our bed for everyone's sanity. Instead of bringing him in about 4 am, we get him at about 2.

AND... we decided to invest in cloth diapers! Now, these are not your mama's cloth diapers. There are no pins, no folding, and no rubber pants. They are colorful and very absorbent, have loads of snaps, and fun little inserts. Also, they will save us a boatload of money. We figured out, based on the diapers we have purchased so far and estimates of increasing costs as the diapers get larger and more complicated (pull-ups, for example), that we would end up spending anywhere from $1200 to $2000 on diapers between now and Charles' 3rd birthday, not to mention what we will spend on the next baby, and these diapers are designed to last through multible children. So, instead we spent $450 on 24 "one size" FuzziBunz diapers that are adjustable to fit a 7 lb to 35 lb baby. Now, I can see how they would be a bit bulky on a 7 lb baby, but nonetheless, much cheaper. Also, they came with 24 cloth wipes, which, if we had used sooner, might have saved us that horrible diaper-rash incident of long ago.
And they're cute.
So, I was a bit confused and did a lot of research, but they have so far worked out really well. I think I have finally got them adjusted to fit correctly, and we put in the super large "toddler" insert for nighttime, and the smaller "infant" insert for daytime. I dump solids into the toilet - easier now that they are actually pretty solid - and put dirty diapers in a pail. Then, I wash in the washing machine with a soak cycle and a double rinse and a teeny bit of bleach. Voila! Clean diapers. And they are so soft!
Next, I am going to get a composter for my garden. How granola am I?
Well, I wish you all a great weekend. It's Liz weekend here, so we are going to have some fun (My good friend Liz is flying in from San Fran). Cheers!

6 comments:

Sarah said...

That's crazy! I've been looking at cloth diapers too. My friend Krista has had both of her boys in them and loves them. I have read lots of good things about Fuzzibunz. You'll have to let me know how it ends up working for you. Maybe we'll be riding the Fuzzibunz bandwagon soon too!

Have a great time with Liz!

K Schimmy said...

Buster likes formula, huh? Just don't let him try breast milk, or you'll be in trouble. =)

We got a system called "gDiapers" which are a combo of cloth pants, plastic washable inserts and flushable, compostable inserts. We haven't tried them yet, but as Ruary's poo cycle becomes more predictable (it's not yet), we will move into using them. You are not granola, just money- and earth-conscious. Not a bad thing.

Unknown said...

I'm still not sure how diapers can be fun. They can be funny and using them can be fun, but they cannot be fun on their own.

I'm sure I will have female backlash on this one.

Mom and Dad said...

Ah, it is the little pleasures of life that one becomes excited by. Down to the basics, one might say. Course you know me, we used Pampers for about 3 weeks, discovered what a horrible mother I was and never had disposables again. Cloth was the way to go, but mostly used the ones Gma made from her fancy sewing machine with all the fancy designs on them. You talk about fun.....grandmothers getting excited about designs on diapers....okay it was a while back. Sounds like your routine is similar to ours, but likely much better. Bleach was my constant friend and companion. Likely the reason I still use it today, but the bucket is gone from the utility room. Glad to see some things come full circle. Traveling is the only time I considered disposables.
Glad things are getting better. He sure is the cutest grandson we have and such a pretty smile. Looks like sitting up in the play thing is a great thing too. Good job and thanks for hand me downs.

Amanda,, Travis, and Izabel Rainha Felton said...

Izabel learned how to sit up from her exercise bouncy play toy. We were given two of them one for hour house and one for grandmas house. Made going to grandmas house so much easier. also when he starts to crawl look into a play yard if you need him to stay in a certain area and not get into stuff. We bought are play yard for 59.99 at walmart. Also going to use it outside so Izabel can play in the back yard.

Mom and Dad said...

Great idea. Would be happy to get one too. ???