A Cloth Diaper Update

As I was putting the cloth diapers in the wash tonight I realized that it has been nearly 14 months since Caroline began wearing her cloth diapers. I remember how nervous I was when we made the decision to use cloth and how scary the whole washing process seemed to be. I was so confused about everything! Now, I hardly even notice the extra laundry or effort and laugh at my pregnant self and the concerns that I had that now seem so silly. Here are some of the concerns that I had and how we have handled them along with some of the hacks that we have used to make cloth more manageable.

First, I was so overwhelmed by all of the options! There are prefolds, and pockets and fitted, one size, and all in one, organic, hemp, cotton, microfiber, wool. The choices are dizzying. I'd like to be able to say that I really did my homework and was really well informed about diapers but really I just picked the ons that seemed to be the most like disposable, were reasonably priced, and made in the US. We went with the Bumgenius Freetime all-in-one diapers. These diapers are a single piece with nothing to stuff and are ready to go straight out of the drier. They are also one size which means you use the same set for the life of your diapering. They do take a long time to dry but my husband has never had a problem with them and it is way less intimidating for childcare workers. Even my college age babysitter is a fan. These are on the pricey side but they were totally worth it! I'm pretty glad that I stuck with one brand and style, simple is good. We also picked snaps over velcro for longevity. We had a few velcro and they were sort of a bust :(.

Because we picked an easy to use diaper that is one size we are able to get by on just 18 diapers which means they don't take up much space and they really weren't that expensive.

With just 18 diapers we do laundry at least every other day but mostly we just throw them in at night after we put her down but before we go to bed. With that said, she does wear a disposable at night. I just didn't want to deal with the possibility of leaks. I'm okay with buying 30 diapers each month. I was freaked out by the washing process. Each washing machine is different and so I wasn't sure what I would need to do in my machine. Well, it's not that complicated. I probably over wash my diapers but better over than under! We do a full cold cycle on gentle with an extra rinse and then I add a scoop of the Bumgenius soap (I have also tried Rock 'n' Green and it was fine) switch the water to hot and do another full cycle on gentle with an extra rinse. When it's sunny outside I hang them to dry and the sun bleaches them out. When it's not nice we throw them in the drier on low heat for two full cycles, they take awhile to dry because they are all in one. When I start to see stains I can bleach them but I don't do that too often, maybe every 4 months or so.

What about the poo? Well, it's not as terrible as I thought. When she was tiny it was easy, no rinse was even required since she was breastfed. After that we got a diaper sprayer to attach to our toilet and really she usually poops first thing in the morning while she is still wearing the disposable. The only gross part is when she poops at daycare and it sits for a few hours before getting rinsed but that's not very often.

What about leaks? Yes, on occasion we will get some wetness. Usually this is my fault for not being more diligent in changing her. The diapers don't get the squishy wet feel that disposables do so I go by the clock and change her every 2-3 hours. If I go past 3 hours I'm sure to get a little over saturation but it's not too bad, just a little damp between the legs and I always have an extra outfit with me anyway.

Would I do cloth again? Absolutely! I love never running out of diapers. We did use disposable at daycare for the first few months because our laundry exploded and I was trying to get back to work full time. I had also bought some not so great diapers that didn't work for overnights so we had to use them up. We do use disposable for overnight trips or if I know I'm going to be somewhere with little access to a changing table and I know it's going to be more than 3 hours I'll put her in a disposable just to be safe.

One interesting problem that we encountered was the "fluffy butt"! Caroline can't wear little jeans or non-stretchy pants because of the size of her rear in her cloth diapers. She does have an outfit or two that we wear a disposable with because it's just so cute and would never fit over the cloth. Onesie extenders were also a lifesaver in the early days, it's easier now that she mostly wears shirts and pants.

I guess that about sums up our cloth diapering journey!

What My Kid is Eating

Now that Caroline is back in school we are back to packing school lunches. So, what do you pack for a 15 month old to eat when the traditional crackers, cookies, bread, and peanut butter are off the table? Well, my paleo baby has a quite varied diet but all of her lunches have a few things in common. I always pack a protein, a veggie, a fruit, and a snack item. Here are some examples of her favorite foods:

Sliced black olives, she can nearly eat an entire can of these! I buy the ones with no additives.
Grapes, quartered
Raisins
Green beans, she likes the mushy canned variety
Frozen peas, put in her lunch frozen and they thaw by the time lunch comes around
Broccoli
Chicken
Ground beef
Hard boiled eggs

A lot of times she'll have whatever protein we had for dinner the night before and then a mix of the other items. Whatever she has leftover when I pick her up she snacks on during the walk home from school.

Going Barefoot

I've always been a fan of flip flops and sandals but when I started running I began to wear really clunky and cushioned running shoes which led to wearing super supportive work shoes and feet that would ache at the end of the day. After spending much of April, May and June wearing flip flops and sandals again I decided to keep up the nearly barefoot life and ordered some Merrell shoes and I am loving them! Earlier this month I went all in and got my first pair of Vibram Five Fingers shoes!

I am loving it so far although my legs definitely get tired quicker. My students do comment on my Five Fingers but mostly in a "hey, those are cool" way. I like it so much that I donated many of my old shoes. I did keep a newer pair of sneakers and my higher quality dress shoes. I'm on the hunt for some cold weather dress shoes that are minimalist for winter but I'm not in much of a hurry!

These are my soft star shoes, Caroline has a pair of their moccasins.

A Whole New Year

One of the great things about being an academic is the opportunity to begin anew each semester and particularly each new school year. August brings with it stress over the changes of the curriculum and uncertainties about the students but there is also a sense of excitement that fills a college campus. After four sleepy months the buildings and grounds come alive again with eager faces. I'm looking forward to a fresh start, a routine, and mostly just seeing some of my favorite young people back on campus.

For our family this will be my first full year working and being a mom as I was blessed to get to work part time last fall. We have our childcare arrangements in place but I'm still a little anxious about the nap schedule and just daycare in general. I'm anxious about some new teaching strategies that I'll be using and how that's going to work out. 

More than anything though I am ready for this new adventure!

Baby + Hotel = No Sleep

I love to travel and explore new places. Over the past year travel has included a few extra pieces of luggage and an adorable companion. As much as I love having my travel buddy with me and I've figured out the logistics of packing and checking luggage there is one aspect of travel with a baby that I still haven't gotten used to. Hotel rooms are not built for a baby's schedule! Taking a baby to a hotel poses tons of challenges. First there is the crib issue. If we are driving I'll bring our own portable crib along but when we fly I rely on the hotel crib. Hotel cribs are hit and miss, most hotels do have them but you never know what condition it's going to be in or if you'll even get a sheet for the bed. My baby does not do well with this and ends up crying more and sleeping less when we are on the road.

Second, say that I don't want to go to bed at 7 pm when I put the baby down, where do I go in a hotel room? Invariably I end up sitting in the bathroom for a few hours reading until I'm tired. I've gotten better and gathering up what I'll need before bedtime and making sure I have food and drink on hand but just the same I'm spending a portion of my vacation hanging out in the bathroom.

Third, how are you supposed to handle crying? At home we only go to get the baby if she cries for more than a few minutes but in a hotel, as a courtesy to other guests, I try to respond to crying much quicker. This sets up a bad system where she just wants to be held and cries more often and finally I give up and she sleeps in my bed while I try to rest. Related to this is the fact that she knows we are in the same room as her so she wants to be as close to us as possible. This isn't a problem at home, just a hotel. 

So, what do we do? Book a suite? I wish we had that much diosable income! I don't have any grand answers but I sure hope that things get a little better as she grows because hyper is a lot of the world left for us to discover!

Tales from My Garmin Vivofit

For my birthday this year my wonderful husband bought me a Garmin Vivofit. I had been using an old school pedometer for a few weeks until I lost it. I set a goal of 8000 steps per day as a realistic goal. I've been using it for about 2 months now and I'm learning some interesting things about myself, my sleep, and my activity levels. Here are some of the charts that summarize my progress:

For the month of July I was doing pretty good until we went on vacation! A lot of those big days were teaching days where I walked around the class a lot. In July we also regularly took Caroline on walks for her naps.

In August we were still on vacation and then we had transitioned Caroline to napping in her crib so we weren't going on nearly as many walks. It's also been so hot out that going for walks hasn't been much fun. It's good to know my habits, I'm working hard to increase that number and move my goal to 10,000 steps per day by mid September.

My new toy also tracks my movement as I sleep. The spikes are usually when I hear Caroline on the baby monitor and check on her. Sometimes I forget to wake it up in the morning so I get a big peak at the end. I'm shooting for 8 hours asleep and we're doing pretty good. This particular day wasn't great, Caroline was getting a tooth and has just been getting up way to early!

This night I went to bed late but slept pretty soundly! 

Overall I'm really happy with my gadget, it also functions as a watch so that's been helpful and also makes me more likely to wear it.

A Travel Inspired First Birthday!

About 7 months ago I was snuggling my tiny baby, and as she lay sleeping in my arm I was perusing Pinterest and started thinking about that baby's first birthday when it hit me. Her birthday should be travel themed, especially considering all of the travel that she has done in her first year! Our little lady has been to 10 states in the first year and I am looking forward to the day when I get to take her in to get a passport and take her abroad. 

I pinned all sorts of ideas on Pinterest and then remembered that my brother-in-law collects maps so I sent an e-mail to the family asking for old maps and atlases. At Christmas we collected them and brought them home. All of the decorations, except for the globe beach balls are up cycled! I feel like such a hipster ;)

Anyway, here are some pictures and explanations of everything.

This is our dining area which was the main decorated area of the house. I made bunting with the maps, hung some of the beach balls from the curtain rod and used more maps to make the garland hanging from the chandelier. The table cloth is a bunch of maps taped together. 

On the walls I have hung her monthly pictures matted on more maps.

The food was inspired by the places that make Caroline who she is. Here is what we had and it's significance:

• California fresh fruit and veggies (where Mom is from)
• Pennsylvania pretzels (where Dad was born & went to college)
• Oregon Tillamook cheese (where Mom went to college)
• Indiana popcorn (where Mom & Dad met)
• Ohio Skyline chili dip (where Dad is from)
• Texas sweet tea (where baby was born)

And of course, there were cupcakes with map wrappers and toppers! The wrappers were the only part that I didn't feel was worth the effort, which is why the front plate doesn't have them.

We hung more globes in the living room. Our walls just happen to match the green on the globes!

The wreath on the front door was made of map circles. There was also a sign in the yard made of two maps with the same saying. Sadly Dad threw it away before I could take a picture.

Our bar was decorated with more globes sitting on vases.

We had bunting hanging over these two openings with pictures of baby on the ledge. You can also see a bit of the world map in the kitchen which is where we did the big cake smash! It was tons of fun and not very expensive considering that all of the decorations were made of things on hand. The only expenses were the beach balls ($20 for all 12 and they were the party favors) and food which we bought way too much of!