Little Miss Birthday

Well, M never ceases to amaze me. We had a great birthday. Today we got up and hung out together. Grandma Lana came and got her about 12 so she could nap over there while B and I cleaned the downstairs and got everything ready for the party. The party started at 3- a much smaller party than last year, but just as fun. She got some AWESOME toys and I think she'll love each and every one of them.

I was pretty excited about how great the cake turned out. The Baby E worm.In all her glory. A pony and all.With Grandma Betty.Opening a present.Coloring at her new desk. Grandma Lana got her this and let me tell you- it will be WELL loved."Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to Mira, Happy birthday to you."Blowing out her candles! She's a pro!!M is two now- here's a little bit about her.
*She is SO SMART. Not kidding.
*She pretty much has all of her colors down.
*She can count to at least 10.
*She says 8-10 word sentences.
*She's quite opinionated- she knows exactly what she wants and when she wants it.
*She has quit sleeping through the night and wakes up screaming several times and always ends up in our bed...(advice for us??)
*She's pretty easily redirected when she's acting poorly- I can usually get her to eventually do what I need her to do.
*She knows TONS of songs.
*She loves to sing and dance.
*She loves to swing and play outside.
*She loves to read books and reads to herself often.
*She LOVES her brother. She lights up when she sees him.
*Her favorite shows are still Baby E (hence the cake), Barney, and newly, Yo Gabba Gabba.
*She'd color all day if I'd let her.
*Still the good eater. She loves all meat except hamburtger, loves cheese and fruit, and the only veggie she'll eat are carrots."
*She wears a 24 month or 2T outfit and a size 7 shoe.
*Still not remotely ready for potty training.
*She has a new kind of attachment to us- cries when we drop her off places- strange.
Some of her favorite sentences:
"No, I don't want to."
"I need a different one, mama."
"I go to grandma's house."
"No No G-G."
"Mama by you." ( she says this one at night or nap when she doesn't want to lay by herself)
"I color."

Hanging out on her personal couch after the party and her bath.
And lastly- a picture of my guy. He's doing great. We are fortifying his breast milk with lots of calories and he's tolerating it great. We go in for another weight check on the 2nd. If he shows good gain I think I'll cut back his calories a tad. I wanted to continue pumping for him, but on Thanksgiving I ended up with Mastitis (of course). It's just going to be too much. I'm ready to dry up and move on. I have done the best I can possibly do and it's been a LONG road. It's time for him to start sleeping through the night and for us to move on to the next stage.
I was looking at him today and thinking about putting the baby toys away and it crossed my mind that in a couple of years we get to have another baby. I was so excited and I felt so lucky to think we get to do it again some day. I'm definitely not ready right now, but I'm excited about our future. I am enjoying the two of them so much. I love them both more each day. G's personality is awesome. We are so very lucky.

Things and Thoughts

So- G had bottles all day yesterday and nursed twice in the middle of the night like usual. Getting him to eat is AWFUL! He isn't hungry! It pisses him off royally to keep making him eat and we're basically obsessing over it and always shoving a bottle at him. He screams, turns his head, and tries to wriggle out of your arms or away from you. So irritating. If anyone has any ideas please let me know. I am thinking that tomorrow I might just make him get really hungry before I give him one and then he'd take more- maybe wait 4 hours in between?? I don't really know what to do. He took 4 oz this morning and has since had two 3 oz bottles. I'm glad he doesn't just eat to eat and that he stops when he's full (unlike myself), but it's going to make this hard getting him to gain...

On another note, I, myself have lost 7 lbs!! Woohoo!!! I am learning that I CAN survive when hungry! heh. I've been using our treadmill nearly every day and trying to keep my calories at around 2000. I'll have to cut my calories when my breastmilk dries up, but for now this is working really well and I'm starting to feel better about myself. I want to loose about 10 more but I'd be happy with five! We'll see. Tomorrow isn't going to make it any easier!

Everyone have a happy thanksgiving!

FTT

In other words, G has been diagnosed with Failure to Thrive. Great. All this means is that he doesn't grow. It's pretty hard for me NOT to take it personally. I have been his sole source of nutrition since the day he was born. I have tried so hard to do what was healthiest for him, and god knows, breastfeeding hasn't been easy for me. I feel like I have kept something from him perhaps- maybe I should have done something sooner. Why doesn't he grow? Obviously not enough calories. I really hadn't worried about it much because he's so happy, but there has to be a reason for the stunted growth.

Basically we're supposed to pack on the pounds. Give him bottles and add calories to them. We have a ton of breast milk and I will continue to pump for awhile- we'll add formula powder to the breast milk to make it fattier. I feel good about making it to 9 months (well nearly, but he'll have all breast milk until at LEAST 9 mos). It's so much longer than I ever expected to come. I plan to give him bottles throughout the day with extra calories and then nurse him to sleep and nurse him if and when he wakes during the night. That way I won't have to come downstairs in the middle of the night to make a bottle, or get up to pump. I'm not sure how long I will keep up the pumping- really I'm just doing it to make weaning easier on myself and prevent a breast infection.

I'm not nearly as sad as I figured I would be- I think part of me was ready to do it, but I didn't really have a concrete reason to do it other than selfishness. Well....I guess now I do.

A Sad Good-bye

So this has been a hard week for us- B's Grandma Della passed away early Tuesday morning in her sleep. The funeral was today with the visitation last night. It was pretty unexpected. About a month ago I took the kids back with Lana to visit for about four days. She seemed to be doing so well and we had a really great time. What a blessing that we went and spent that time with her. I feel so lucky to have gotten to know her as well as I did, and so disappointed that I didn't have more time to get to know her better. It has been especially hard on B's mom who was so very close to her mother- much like I am to my own. B has a HUGE extended family (She had 10 kids!) and it was really hard on everyone. She was probably the best person I have ever met. No one ever heard her utter a bad word about anyone. Her walk with the Lord was one to be envious of. I drove home tonight after the funeral with G so I can work tomorrow. We had a good few days with family- though the circumstances weren't ideal, of course. I'm so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family. Terribly- I don't have any pictures of her with G...

Our family with Grandma Della when M was 3-ish months old...Grandma Della and M on a visit last year.

Randoms

Just some random pictures from the past week. Sweet G. Look who actually ATE a teething biscuit!!! Put it in his mouth ALL BY HIMSELF!!

My attempts at a christmas card picture....rather amusing.
Settled on this one.
After that they just played together. They love to play in the tent together. It's pretty cute.
Then with the little people.
This football is by far G's fav toy. It's so funny how he's such a boy. He gravitates to balls, cars, and trucks. He has such fun pushing trucks around.
Look at this hilarious shot of M after her bath tonight playing with the Go Duster. heh...
G wanted to dust too.
So G is only 15 lbs 11 oz....not even on the growth chart.
I don't feel like he looks that small!
I really am at a loss as to what I should do. Part of me wants to stop breastfeeding, and part of me doesn't. I know it's best for him health wise, but what if somehow he's not getting as much as he needs? He seems happy and healthy and he's definitely passing his motor milestones. This week he started babbling da-da-da-da too. It's so cute to hear his little voice. I certainly don't want to hold anything back from him. I just want to do what's right, but it seems rather unclear to me right now. I took him to breastfeeding group today and weighed him and talked with the lactation consultant. She just told me to eat more protein and give him more hindmilk when he does get bottles. I tried giving him a bottle of milk yesterday when he was acting fussy after I fed him- he took about 1/2 an ounce....I guess we'll be going to visit Dr. M next week. I'd do anything for that sweet face...

Covers- PUL, Fleece and wool.

So now- what do you cover your prefolds and fitteds with?? Well- there are 3 basic covers (or simply nothing!)

PUL is the most waterproof.

Polyurethane Laminate (aka PUL) is a fabric that has been heat laminated to a layer of polyurethane. Technically, most any fabric can be laminated, but diapers are usually made from laminated cottons, polyester knits, or poly blends.

It is also the least breathable- most like a disposable. We use PUL quite a bit- always under clothes. I prefer 2 different types of covers- Thirsties and Bummis Super Brites. I find these two to be the trimmest and the most "bulletproof." The fit fantastically. Thirsties run super big and Bummis run pretty small. They both have extra leg "gussets" to keep messes in!

M in a thirsties- strange, I can't find any pics of G even though they are what we have most of...

Super Brites:

My second choice for days and first choice for nights is Fleece. Fleece is SO easy to wash (I just wash them in the regular laundry) and really breathable. It keeps my sheets dry at night every night! I make my own fleece covers, but we used to buy them. You can find those that snap or velcro close, but I prefer the pull-on style, or fleece pants (must be 100% polyester). A fleece cover that is pull-on is called a "soaker" which I make myself. Fleece pants used as a diaper cover are called "longies." There are also pocket diapers made with a fleece outer for night time.

My first soaker made by me:

Before I started making my own, we used the stacinator deluxe at night- there is NOTHING trim about these. As for pull on soakers, most are made by WAHM's.

My first pair of longies...

Wool- not my choice, but lots of people love it. I am too lazy to take care of it even though it's not really hard. You have to hand wash and lanolize it to maintain it's waterproofness. Not for me. It is VERY cute though and if you're talented in a knitting kind of way it might be for you. Also- you can make wool covers out of old sweaters. It's very very breathable and much softer on baby's skin than you might think.

M in some wool longies made by my friend Josie :)

So those are your cover options. Hope you enjoy!

Fitteds

So no pictures today as I'm at work (using my time wisely), but the blog is littered with pictures of the kids in fitteds. I'll add some to the post at some point.

A fitted is a formed diaper (with elastic in the leg openings and back) with no outerproof layer. So basically- just like a disposable but requires a cover.

You might ask- why would I want to use that if I still need a cover? Well, you can use them without covers at home if you want to change frequently. Also, they are MUCH easier to wash and keep clean than an all-in-one diaper which has a waterproof outer. I frequently use our fitteds at home with just a tee or a dress for M. The kids ALWAYS wear fitteds at night because that's the only real way I have discovered to keep them from leaking out when they're in one diaper for so long.

I feel that each cloth diapering system has its place. When we are going somewhere I rarely use fitteds because I feel it's too many pieces to keep track of for changing and such, but I do it occasionally. It's definitely easier than changing a prefold!

There are about a million different kinds of fitteds. Some are all one piece, some have snap in or lay in "soakers" that you place inside the "shell." The point of this is to make drying time less when adding more absorbency. The diapers that are all one piece tend to dry very slowly (like 2 dryer cycles) and hold on to stink after washes.

Here are a couple of mainstream brands (I do not use any of these brands but I have tried them all at one time or another):

One piece:
Thirsties Fab Fitteds- velcro
Kissaluvs- snap

Two piece:
Baby Beehinds- snap and GREAT for nights
Tiny tush- snap

There are also those fitteds which do not have closures. I find these the most adjustable but they do require pins or a snappi as before. These are my fav. Not all fitteds are "sized." You can find many that adjust from newborn (or close to) to about 35 lbs!

Fitteds are pretty easy to make yourself which is a plus. There are a million different fitteds made by work at home moms (wahm's). Fitteds range from about 8 dollars a piece upwards of $60....the fitteds I use are all WAHM made except limited edition ones you can't buy anymore. My favorite place to buy these products is http://www.hyenacart.com/. Warning- this can cost you a LOT of money....

There are also what are called "prefitteds" which are prefolds converted into fitteds with elastic in the legs and such. They are pretty economical and just like prefolds- you can beat the ease of washing them! Prefolds are more absorbent than you think (or than you have heard from your grandma). We have a ton of prefitteds that we used to use exclusively on M and I had some nb ones for G. This is my favorite WAHM to make prefitteds.

I think next post we'll discuss covers because prefolds and fitteds are the diapers that require them. See you soon!

Prefolds, Pins and Snappis

I will preface by saying that my son REALLY hates to have his diaper changed so a lot of crying occurred during this time...hence the bear for folding pictures!

What is a prefold??
The diapers your grandma used. They are usually cotton (some are hemp) and they are "prefolded" and sewed so there is more absorbency in the middle than on the sides (for obvious reasons). The trick with prefolds is finding a fold you like- we'll get to that later. Prefolds are good if you are patient and want something SUPER easy that is impossible to ruin. In my opinion there is something classically perfect and wonderful about a prefold, however, you won't see me using them very often. I am not very patient...

There are tons of different kinds of prefolds and really they're all the same. The main difference is unbleached vs bleached- they say that unbleached are more absorbent, but I really think it's about the same. I have some of both. I get most of mine from greenmountaindiapers.com because they have custom sizes as opposed to the run-of-the-mill ones. It works better if you have an a-typical kid (like my tiny tall ones). They can be embellished (fabric added to the outside to make them cuter), dyed, made with a "stay-dry" inner, etc. Very versatile.

Prefolds must be pinned or snappied. I am a pin kinda girl because you can get a much snugger fit with pins. I do have some of both.

These are a couple I have with your accessories...
M in her prefold (not very cooperative I might add). I really don't have any more prefolds that fit her well. This prefold is too small to snappi but I can still use it with pins. In order to use a snappi you have to have a bigger prefold which = more bulk.G in an infant prefold (not very many 8 month olds can still wear an infant....) It just barely fits.G in a GMD yellow edge (infant that's wider). Snappiable and fits much better as you can see.The thing I don't like about snappis is that you are supposed to always have the prefold covered because the 3rd "leg: of the snappi frequently comes uncaught by the fabric and catches on EVERYTHING. The teeth are pretty sharp.Folds.
I always use the newspaper fold...It's easy.

Some people prefer the bikini twist for it's trimness between the legs (start as before). I dont like the big bulge up front.The jelly roll fold is essential for catching poop. Especially in bf babies.Hard to see but you can get it REALLY snug around the babies' legs. I have some pics of G as a nb in this fold but don't have time to look right now!There is a TON more that could be said, but my goal is just to give you an overview of cding so you can make an informed decision. I'm attempting to keep it brief! If you have questions please leave a comment and I will answer it!