Going cloth...

We finally ran out of diapers - we've been incredibly blessed with generous family and friends who had outfitted us with diapers since she was born.  I was either going to have to buy new #3 diapers or go cloth.  I'd been avoiding going cloth because it seemed like a huge hassle and too much work.  Well with the addition of solid foods, we had firmer poop coming out, so it seemed like it might not be such a hassle anymore.

I had a playdate with Heather (my green-super-save-the-world-Mama-friend) and Pippa.  I was telling her that I might go cloth; she jumped on it and said she was planning to sell her extra bum genius diapers.  So I bought 7 of them.  Heather had 20 (I think?) and she felt 12 was enough for her.  I nabbed another 2 or 3 (I forget here too) from my sister who tried the same brand in the early days with my niece. (It became too difficult for her in a highrise apartment building with a shared laundry room.)  So there I was with my 10 or so cloth diapers ready to go.  I knew enough from conversations with Annie, Heather & Meghan that bum genius seemed to be the ideal brand since they can grow with the babies.  "G" diapers and others require you to buy new sizes each time the kids grow.  Bum genius allows you to snap the diapers into the right size for you. (see photo)

Well, we had an accident the first night - sad, but I had forgotten to add the extra nighttime layer too, so that could've been it.  Daddy watched the baby the 2nd night (I had my first girl's night in almost 3 months) and he put her to bed without switching a new diaper on (oops!) so we wet through that one too around 2am. Surprisingly, I've learned it's very easy to change a baby with a cloth diaper while nursing in the middle of the night. (For those imaginging me leaning over a changing table - please save yourself the brain strain.)  In the rocking chair, the cloth diapers just fold over the bottom.  They're soft and comforting so she isn't phased by it. 

Lessons learned here for the time being:  cloth diapering works great - for the daytime and for parents.  My Dad bought a box of #4 Huggies from BJs so we use them for nighttime and for babysitters (my parents). 

More Lessons: You MUST wash those cloth diapers before 24 hours.  They STINK if you wait. Which isn't the end of the world, but it can get 'stanky' if you leave it around. The sun works great to dry them out. :)

wonderfully delightful compliments

I was sharing some of the surprisingly wonderful compliments my husband has showered me with.  Two years ago, I would have laughed at women thinking these kind words would melt their hearts and well up the eyes with some light tears.

• "The house looks amazing!"
• "I didn't expect such good food." (in response to nice surprises about marriage)
• "Great job on the bushes!" (I trimmed them)
• "Look at Mary's awesome garden."

Who knew?!?! Honestly, I feel such confidence and self worth when I hear things like this.  Yes, it seems super lame to you single people.  Just wait.  Your hearts will light up when your husbands/wives dole out special 'nothing' compliments too.  

time to lower the crib!

On anything. On everthing. Whenever. Wherever. Look out.

It was one morning when I went into her room to get her only to find her staring over the crib rail at me. We lowered the mattress that afternoon!

Pulling herself up on objects and people came so quickly after crawling that it's hard to believe.

She will crawl over and pull herself up on my leg. She will crawl over and pull herself up on her highchair. She will pull herself up on the dog. She pulls herself up on the exersaucer, which leaves her looking like she's providing the percussion for a thunderstorm. Swaying, bending, arching, teetering and (if I can get there fast enough to avoid it) crashing. It spins and rocks, so it's my least favorite thing that she climbs on.

The carpet often provides a safe landing, and I watch her like a hawk around corners and hard surfaces. That aside, she's so proud of herself that I can't help but let her keep doing it. Everywhere!

Sitting Tall

Ellie has gotten the sitting thing down. She actually mastered sitting AFTER crawling. Weird, right? But she's her own woman, clearly!

The sitting makes me laugh at times, she'll now pull herself up to stand up only to fall into a sit. She'll be wailing her sweet little head off when she wakes up in a stranger's house in the sitting position. She'll crawl over to the foam that Nana bought. And climb up to sit on it like an Queen! It's so nice to be able to have her sit next to us on the couch or on a bench.

Fun things all the time!

And we're.........crawling?!?!

The little one had been working on moving for quite some time. She started the wounded soldier/sniper drag around 5 months. Then she started getting up on all fours and rocking (well, maybe teetering or shaking is a better description). David and I assembled a bet that she would crawl within the next 10 days, or before her 6 month mark of 6/8/10. I took the under and David took the over.

Her crawl track finally paid off on June 14th. My Dad was over to offer assistance with the shed construction and we were all outside. Ellie had a blanket in the yard scattered with a few toys. She was up on all fours and rocked herself forward.

Cross patterning like a rockstar. She moved nearly 6 feet. Of course, I shed a tear. Crying as a Mom, when your kids do new things, is so foreign to me, so I challenge someone to explain it to me. It just happens.

The kicker is that once it's figured out, it's all they can do. I had childproofed just in time! And thanks to my loving husband, we switched the dining room and the piano room. Now the room closest to the kitchen is child friendly and she can do whatever she wants with plenty of safe room. Added perk, the dining room now feels lie a real room!

Date Night!

We had the most incredible date night. My parents offered to watch Elizabeth, and Dave decided we'd head to the Mann Music Center (an outdoor half shell amphitheater).

One of our favorites was playing with the Philadelphia Orchestra behind him. Chris Botti, the trumpet master, himself. Awesome show!  Beautiful weather.  I wanted to sit on the lawn rather than in the seats underneath the partial roof.  We packed a picnic basket of red wine, pellegrino, asiago, sharp cheddar, roasted garlic hummus, garlic naan, baby carrots, red grapes, and a cobb salad (with ranch dressing for my awesome husband)!

We kicked our shoes off and spread our blanket - hearing Chris Botti under the stars and with a city skyline in the background...it just doesn't get better. 

So grateful.

Real food!

Oh a new land for us!

I went back and forth on when to start her on food. People ask if she seems interested in eating. I'd mentally think, well, she's interested in directing everything to her mouth, so how can I tell?

ss a treat for my Mother in Law for our delayed Mother's Day, we introduced E to bananas. Her Aunt Molly smashed that bad boy up nicely and while Nana held her, Daddy took pictures and Aunt Molly fed her. Fed her is a nice way of putting it. She wasn't so sure what to do with the mushy cream stuff aiming toward her face on a shiny long thing. I'll consider it a success since she swallowed most of it. We tried banana again a few days later.

Now fast forward to how she acts today. As soon as the spoon comes out of the drawer, as soon as the tray slides into position, as soon as her Mom sits down in front of her with a bowl of something - it's on! Squeals, grunts, grabby hands and head thrusts toward the food begin. Don't take a break, don't be too slow in delivering and don't run out of food early. She will advise not too pleasantly her disdain.

She's an absolute riot to me. She loves everything; I'm going to put a running list of new foods on the side here.

Comedy Hour

Elizabeth has been checking herself out in the mirror on her playmat. So today, she kept looking at me saying, "Mom, there's nothing on the other side of this? How dumb do we think I am?!"

Driving Already..that was fast!

Tiny Cherub

These were quick shots from when she was supposed to be sleeping, I found her like this.

Sleep Update

We're not sleeping through the night, but we do wake up only once - I feed her once and we all go back to sleep.  This is a thankful reprieve since she was waking 6-7 times a night for a week there...but it was clearly teething.  Wow, it was crazy, because we couldn't figure out how to make it better.  And when you're in the thick of it, as usual, it never feels like it's going to get better.   But, as usual, it does.  So we're going to just enjoy this pattern of good sleep while it lasts...until the next disruption. ;)

Lesson: don't try to fight it.

6 Months! What?!?!

It can't be 6 months already! I can't believe my baby girl is 6 months-old! Wow.

Tricks: she's dragging her body all over the place these days. She's able to sit up, albeit with poor posture. When she's on her belly she will get up on all fours and rock back and forth. Dave swears he saw her take one or two movements forward (aka crawling), but we made a bet that both of us need to see it for it to count as legit. This morning she pulled herself up on her crib to a slanted standing position. Craziness! I guess I have to change my viewpoint on where the dangers lie!

Life: is surprisingly going well sleepwise. She's been sleeping much more consistently now that we've started solid foods. After months of sleeping best on her belly, our baby is now a side sleeper. She seems to sleep best on her side. She'll flip back and forth without waking up. With the megaheat that we've had recently, the window air conditioner has been on almost nonstop! I liked the energy saver. Setting, which regulated the air temperature, kicking on when it got past the temp. Here's the bummer, every time it would kick on or turn off, she'd wake up! The sudden change in noise brought her out of sleep. So. We've just kept the air conditioner on a higher setting, and we let it run.

She's probably going to need white noise once we take it out in the fall. Sigh. Can't win 'em all.

Teaser!

We don't dare talk about it.

We've become as superstitious as hockey players refusing to shave their beards during the playoffs.

If you kid sleeps through the night suddenly, you don't tell anyone, for fear of taking for granted that it might never happen again.

That great nighttime storm two nights ago provided our first full night of uninterrupted sleep. Around 5:45 I ran down the hall to her room, Dave must've heard me scurry and followed. I gently touched her shoulder, didn't feel anything. I tried her arm, and still no discernable movement, so I began pocking her to evoke some sort of response as my panic started. Dave shouted in as much of a whisper as he could, "what are you doing?! Don't do that!"

I couldn't help it! And fortunately she didn't wake up until after I hopped out of the shower.

She made it through her first night alive; she can do it again. Just have to make sure we don't talk about it.

"We make plans and God laughs."