Sao Miguel

I have travel fever.

It all started a few weeks ago when I was working on the photobooks that I wrote about. Once I finished the yearbook, I made a book to document our trip to Sao Miguel, one of the Azores Islands of Portugal. That was an amazing trip.

I don't have much to compare to since we haven't done much traveling, but I would definitely go back. Before this time last year I hadn't even heard of Sao Miguel, let alone the Azores Islands.

Lagoa do Fogo

Our daycare provider was going on a Disney cruise the last week of February last year and so we knew that one or both of us would have to take a week's vacation to look after Bean. We started thinking about going away, but didn't know where to go. I was 3 months pregnant with Pea, so I wasn't super keen on wearing a bathing suit (you know that stage when you're getting big for your bikini, but you're not really pregnant enough to embrace a maternity bathing suit?). Also, we didn't want to have to do a vaccination blitz with Bean (and didn't know if we'd have enough time).

At the  Caldeira Velha.

It just so happened that I saw a client who grew up on Sao Miguel and he recommended it as a destination for travel. When I asked about the weather in February, he explained that it's their rainy season there, but  the temperature doesn't drop much below 17 degrees Celsius. He also said it was a good place to take a toddler because it's safe there and everyone seems to love children.

That night, I went home and googled Azores and found this very handy website: www.visitazores.com . We looked at the packages offered and settled on a week-long package on Sao Miguel. The agent that we worked with through the site was super helpful, even getting us a car seat for our rental car so that we wouldn't have to fly ours over.

The gorgeous view I awoke to after our nap on arrival day.

Our flight was direct from Toronto to Ponta Delgada (the biggest city on Sao Miguel), and took about 5 hours. We flew late at night, so Bean was able to sleep on the flight (and we caught a couple winks here and there). We arrived early in the morning their time. There was an agent waiting for us at the arrival gate and she helped us get our rental car figured out. We drove directly to the hotel and napped for a couple of hours.

Once we awoke from our nap, we carried out a pretty normal day, exploring Ponta Delgada on foot. We stayed in Ponta Delgada that night and the next, then stayed 3 nights in Furnas, one in Nordeste, and then one back in Ponta Delgada before flying home.

Sightseeing highlights of the trip were Sete Cidades, Caldeira Velha, Lagoa do Fogo, Furnas and Parque National da Ribeira dos Caldeiroes at the Achada waterfall.

Trip highlights include the amazing weather, views and vistas, as well as funny stories from hurtling down winding roads that sent poor Bean's carseat tipping to its side, herding cattle with a Fiat Punto, and getting stuck in a farmer's field with said Punto, requiring the husband to go find locals to tow us out!
 

Bean was 17 months old when we went. Here's a quick rundown of how we made the trip work for our family.

1. Snacks on the plane. We packed dry cereal, raisins, granola bars and she ate it all!

2. Drinks during take-off. Other parents bring juice, but Bean was still breastfeeding occasionally, so I nursed her during take-off. She was asleep when we were landing.

3. We swallowed our pride and left the cloth diapers at home. While we could have made it work with cloth, we chose to go the disposable route for this one week in Bean's life. She lived through it.

4. To pack lightly, we brought no strollers, playpens or carseats. We just brought the Ergo for me to carry her in, and a MEC backpack for the husband to carry her in.

5. We bought her a gift. On the way to the airport, we stopped at MEC and bought Bean her very own Nalgene. It gave her a vessel for water, but also amused her off and on throughout the trip because she had her new water bottle. (Bonus - it didn't leak all over!)

6. Bring a piece of home, but not a big one. We brought one stuffed animal, one bowl, a fork and spoon, and two sippy cups. I don't think we even brought a blanket.

7. Be casual about food. We quickly discovered that sit-down dinners were challenging. We opted more often for eating on a couch in the lounge at the hotel so that Bean could play and wander around and just come take bites as she liked. A grandmother's nightmare I know, but it saved us from dinner table battles. We all got to eat and we were all happy. When we returned home, we went back to eating dinner at the table as a family. No one died.

8. Make time for down time. Although Bean always woke up around 7 am, we rarely left a hotel before 10 am. She would snack on some cereal and locally purchased fruit in the hotel room while we showered, then we would go down for a sit-down  breakfast at the hotel restaurant. After breakfast, I would just relax while Bean could tour around the lobby or lounge. Bit of an over-share here, but that gave her time to have her morning poop before we got on the road. Got that messy bum change out of the way and then we were good for the day!

9. Balconies are your best friend. If you're traveling with children balconies in warm climates are handy! Husband would get Bean to bed while I sat in the lounge reading or writing post cards. When I came back to the room, we would sit out on the balcony so as not to disturb Bean. He would drink wine and we would eat chocolate and play cards.  It was nice.

10. Drive during nap time. We tended to drive a lot in the morning after we left the hotel. That allowed Bean to have a morning nap. Then we would stop for lunch and do some walking for awhile before getting back in the car (where Bean would nap again). There were also times when she would nap in the carrier on husband's back, but most of the time she slept in the car.



Hopefully this will inspire you to travel even if you have a little one at home. I'm sure it's a little trickier with two or more, but I think it's manageable as long as you are laid-back about it all and you set realistic expectations.

A Whirlwind Week (+ What's in Your Kids' Medicine?)

You're probably wondering where I've been for the last week.
I've set out to try to post 3 days a week, but already my schedule is floundering a bit. Sure, it's not ideal, but it's for good reason.

When Pea was born in August, we left Bean in daycare Monday through Friday so that I could bond with Pea and also catch up on sleep. This was a great setup for us, especially since our daycare provider is super-affordable. However, over the holidays in December, we had Bean home with us for ~2 straight weeks, and on many of those days, my husband went to work, leaving me home with both kiddos. At first it seemed daunting, especially since we were working (albeit part-time) on potty training with Bean; however, we quickly found ourselves in a groove and I began to REALLY enjoy that time with my wee ones. When it was time for Bean to go back to a full-time schedule at daycare, I was sad, so we decided that we would change things up and I would keep her home with me three days a week. Our daycare provided requested specific days (since some are more convenient for her to have another little body around), and we decided she would go Mondays and Fridays, but be home Tuesday through Thursday. Great decision!

We've had lots of fun on our days together, from going to the library, to going to the Family Literacy Centre, to even going to Toddler Time at Skyzone (room full of trampolines - oh yeah!). Aside from enjoying the time together, there have been two really great benefits to having her home. The first is that Bean has been a positive influence on Pea in terms of routine. While he used to cat nap all day (because I couldn't be bothered to wiggle him into a schedule), with Bean around, he has a small nap in the morning and then a longer one in the afternoon while she has her nap. The second advantage has been HUGE progress in potty training. Yep - last Tuesday she decided she was done with daytime diapers!!

So why the the whirlwind? Well, potty training a 2 year old while looking after a croupy 5 month old makes for busy times. Combine that with back pain for mom, back pain for dad  (plus a second degree burn on his hand), sporadic fever in the 2 year old, and sleepless nights, and you've got yourself a crazy week that leaves little time for cranking out quality blog posts. The good news is that the potty training is good with only ~1 accident per day, the croup is subsiding, my back pain is gone, the husband's is improving, and the fever is gone. Sleep isn't back yet, but we're working on it.

Now the medicine bit. As I'm sure you can imagine, this weekend I found myself scouring the shelves of the local drug store for some miracle that would solve all our problems and deliver us all to sleepytown. Here is what I learned from that adventure: READ THE LABELS CAREFULLY!

When I was picking out analgesics for Bean to help bring down her fever, I was faced with some decisions, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen? Liquid or melting tablets? Grape, orange, fruit, bubble gum or cherry flavour? Dye-free or (full of) dye?

Those seemed like the easy choices. We like ibuprofen in our house usually, and the melting tablets are easy with Bean because it's less mess. We stick to grape because we've always used grape. We like dye-free because it makes us feel like conscientious parents (haha).

All set to go then, right? Wrong.

When I looked at the matches for those decisions, I had a choice between Advil or the store brand. The store brand was cheaper, so I went to grab it, but soon realized that the dose was cut in half but the bottle still contained the same amount of tablets. Tricky! So in this case the store brand was less economical. Point for me - I didn't fall for it.

Ready to go? Nope - I decided to read the non-medicinal ingredients and discovered that the first non-medicinal ingredient listed on the ibuprofen boxes was aspartame. Yes, you read it right - aspartame. An artificial sweetener that has not been tested extensively in children and thus the reason why diet pop is not recommended for children. Huh. Take a look at the acetaminophen - no aspartame, but sucralose is there (though it's the last of the non-medicinal ingredients listed). Sucralose is the same as Splenda, so yet again another artificial sweetener. On top of this, both medications contain sugar alcohols. I knew about the sugar alcohols in analgesics; however, I was not aware of the artificial sweeteners. Now here's the kicker. While I thought I was all wise to purchase the acetaminophen because it had contained a sweetener that I'm more comfortable with, I soon realized that the order in which the sweetener is listed on the label has nothing to do with the content in the medication - the ingredients are listed alphabetically!

So long story short - when you buy pain relief medication for your kid, there's a good chance you'll be giving them a dose of artificial sweetener. Don't think you're smart by picking the one with the sweetener listed last - that just means that you picked one with that starts with a letter that comes later in the alphabet. I'm going to let it slide since Bean rarely takes medication and it's likely a very small amount that's in each tablet. However, it makes me better appreciate food labels which actually list their ingredients in descending order.

A walk in fresh air is the ticket to sanity.

That is the moral of today's story.

Be forewarned - this post starts with a pathetic sob story, but stick with me. I expect it will be entertaining nonetheless.

Pea Pod likes to wake up every 3 hours during the night usually, which equates to at least 2 wake up calls in the night for me. The other night, however, he slept much better, so after going to sleep around 11:30 pm, I only had to get up at 3:30 am and then again at 6:30 am. Bean also woke up at 6:30 am, so we were up for the day at that point. That means I slept roughly 6.5 hours which isn't bad for me these days, but for some reason I was exhausted and really, really grouchy.

It didn't help things that Bean was also grouchy (again, for some unexplained reason). She was throwing screaming fits left right and center and refused to do anything reasonable the first time I asked. I seriously contemplated calling up our daycare provider and begging her to take my little toddler off my hands for the day just to preserve some of my sanity.

But I couldn't do that. After all, she's my kid. If I can't look after her when I'm feeling a little grouchy, what kind of a mother am I?

While I was feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, irritated, and all of those things, my sweet husband attempted to come to my rescue by granting me some alone time in the form of a shower.

Yeah - not so much. Little toddler Bean decides 3 minutes is quite enough alone time for Mommy, and trots into the bathroom and pulls open the shower curtain to tell me all about the "pictures" she can't find and demanding that I find it. (Yes, I said "it." "Pictures" refers to an iPad-like toy she got for Christmas that we hid from her because she was so obsessed with it that it was creating some behavioural issues.) I really wanted to tell her to take a hike, but I held my tongue and told her I'd help her look for it shortly.

Exit shower, Bean demands "uppie" as I'm trying to sneak upstairs to throw on some clothes. I bring her up to my room and proceed to get dressed while she tries to get into everything. Finally, as I'm about to go back downstairs, she decides she wants to play in her room and has a screaming fit because I won't stay upstairs with her. Bah.

Honestly, I don't even remember what else went wrong (so it makes for lame story), but I can tell you that I felt like I was losing my mind and that my daughter was the most irritating little being on the planet. And, I was going to have to spend the day dealing with her tantrums and whining as well as her rough love for her infant brother.

Finally, I had an idea - I was going to take them outside. I would strap them in the stroller and walk to the library to return the books and movies we had borrowed. Bean would be motivated to go because she likes playing with the trains there, and Pea Pod doesn't argue much these days.

I cannot even tell you what a difference that walk made. While I still had my kidlets close to me, I got to experience some real, good quality "alone time." I could think without being interrupted, there was no screeching or whining, and my head was clear. That walk was miraculous.

And now that the kids are in bed and I'm writing this post, I realize that my walks most often have this outcome. I can't think of a single time that I've gone for a walk and haven't returned feeling much better than when I left. There's just something about going for a walk on your own (or nearly so). For me, those walks bring clarity to my mind and sanity, too.

Physical activity is therapy for the body and mind. Even a simple walk with a stroller will do the trick. Believe me - I know.

Years to Remember

Remember school yearbooks? How expensive they seemed to a high school student? But how incredible they were when you finally got them? So shiny and new and starring you and all your best friends? And then there was signing them! Nothing made you feel more proud and popular than having the inside covers inked up with messages from your friends, crushes, acquaintances, as well as the odd note from some random person you barely knew.

Well, in our home, yearbooks have recently taken on a whole new meaning. After realizing that I had a billion digital photos with which I was doing nothing, I decided it was time to make a photobook. Sure, I'd tried scrapbooking in the past, but it's tedious and reminds me of why I wasn't an art major.

My (incredibly artistic and gifted) sister-in-law was always creating fabulous photobooks documenting her travels and adventures. I loved looking at them, as well as the idea of ACTUALLY using the photos she had taken.

2010 was a pretty big year for us, with the birth of our Bean, as well as some very sad losses. I had taken photos regularly throughout the year since my husband and given me a DSLR as a graduation gift that January. So, what better year to start!

That first year, I used Photolab. They had a deal on and it seemed easy enough, so I gave it a whirl. It turned out decently, but I'm even happier with the way the 2011 yearbook turned out from MyPublisher.

This year I intended to use MyPublisher again because I was happy with their product and they always have deals on. When I was about to check out, having made a 2012 yearbook in the same style as the 2011 edition, I realized I could save a whole bunch of money by upgrading the cover and paper. OKAY!

The fancier cover and paper are awesome. We're super happy with the finished product! So happy, in fact, that I rushed to meet the sale deadline to order a photobook from our trip to Sao Miguel last winter.

If you're thinking about making a 2013 yearbook, start now by following these steps to save you time next January:

1. Take photos regularly and upload them to your computer or web album.

2. Colour correct, crop, edit as you go. I always skip this step, so when you look at my photobooks up close, it is blatantly obvious that I work in nutrition, NOT graphic design!

3. Organize your photos by date. I like to separate by month.

4. If you want to keep track of important dates, do so electronically or use ONE calendar/agenda to do so. It's no fun hunting around for a date in a year's time.

Oh, and I'm so proud to say that I started doing these yearbooks before I ever saw the idea on Pinterest or anywhere else!

Another Babe is Born!! (In a much different way)

It's been almost 2 years now since Bean (JC) was born in our little second story apartment! When I think back to my pregnancy with her and her birth, everything seemed so uncomplicated and (sort of) easy. I had good energy during the pregnancy, was never sick, and she was born in the comfort of our very own home.

As much as I love our new little Pea, things worked out a little differently (and a little more complicated) with the pregnancy and his birth. Similar to Bean's gestation, I had decent energy for most of the pregnancy; however, at the 37-week mark, things got interesting (and not in a good way).

On Tuesday, August 7th, I woke up feeling not so great, feeling low on energy and kind of light-headed. I figured it was just fatigue, so went to work anyhow. I had a really poor appetite that morning, and by the afternoon, I had abdominal cramping and was having difficulty concentrating. My husband picked me up from work early and I went straight home to bed. That's when the cramping really got going! My husband suggested that perhaps it was early labour - after all, many labouring women experience poor appetite, nausea, and general ickiness! We started timing the cramping/contractions and called our midwife. With contractions occurring every 3 minutes and lasting a minute a piece, we started to think it was "go time." We arranged for childcare for Bean and prepared the bed, bathroom, etc. for a home birth.

When our midwife called back awhile later, she recommended I get in the tub to see if labour would slow or progress. However, after bathing for a bit, the nausea increased and I was sick. And then the contractions STOPPED! Our midwife showed up and checked my cervix, but I was only 1-2 cm dilated and 50% effaced ... so she went home.

That week my appetite never really returned and I continued to feel yucky, and had pale stools and darker than normal urine). Come Saturday night I suddenly begin to experience EXTREME itchiness on the palms of my hands and soles of my feet! I tried soaking my feet in cold water with little relief.

When I woke up the next morning, the itchiness was just as bad and I was starting to put things together. I googled the symptoms (itchiness, pale stools, dark urine, low appetite) and came up with ICP (intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy). This website was the most informative: icpcare.org

I called my midwife and shared my thoughts. She acknowledged my concerns and suggested trying Benadryl to rule out an allergic reaction. (I didn't bother because I was sure it wasn't the case.) We were visiting my parents a few hours north of here when the itching started, but we were planning to go home that day, so we got in the car and headed home.

On the drive home, I started reading through the womens' stories on the icpcare website. Most of the stories had happy endings when women were induced at 38 weeks. But then I read one more story, where the woman had planned a home birth and waited til the baby spontaneously arrived ... and the baby was stillborn. And that is when the waterworks started and the panic set in (yes, in the car, on the highway, with Bean sleeping peacefully in the backseat).

Shortly after we arrived home, our midwife called and said she'd like me to meet her at the hospital to get some blood work done to check for ICP (seems she was starting to worry, too)!! So I met her at the hospital, put on the fetal monitor, and had some blood drawn. Movement was good, and hours later we found out that my liver enzymes were elevated (an indication of ICP). Care was transferred to the OB present and plans were made to induce me that coming Wednesday.

Over the next couple of days, my appetite started to return and the itchiness resolved. On Tuesday morning, we went into the hospital and a prostaglandin gel was applied to my cervix to encourage it to ripen. Within a couple of hours, I had regular, increasingly intense contractions. We arranged for childcare for Bean (again!) and returned to the hospital. When they checked my cervix, nothing had changed. Oh, and suddenly the contractions became irregular and less intense .... GRRRRRR!!!! They sent us home and told us to return in the morning.

I slept reasonably well that night and gave Bean a good cuddle Wednesday morning. We arrived at the hospital and they started IV oxytocin and ruptured my membranes (broke my water) to encourage the contractions to become more regular and intense. And man, did it work! Within an hour and a half I was in active labour. Within 3 hours our little Pea arrived, healthy and weighing 6 lbs 8 oz, measuring 21 inches! The placenta, on the other hand, didn't look so hot, so it's a good thing we kicked Pea out when we did (at 38 weeks + 1 day). I can't even imagine how differently things could have turned out had I not found the icpcare website (what if I hadn't told my midwife about my symptoms??)!

Back to Work

I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't been blogging much lately. My 1-2 time per week posting schedule has sort of gone out the window this past month. It's not because I don't have anything to say, it's just that I've found myself using my time for other things lately. It's not that I don't think blogging is a worthwhile use of my time. It's more that I have such limited time right now that other things (such as chores) take priority. Cleaning the floors, for example, has become a recent priority as JC has discovered mobility. She's not quite crawling yet, but she does this sort of "froggie shuffle," where she propels herself forward on her belly (literally, on her belly), by pulling herself with her arms and pushing off with her feet together. She's actually quiet adept at it and she can get moving quite quickly. And, if I don't want her shirts and dresses looking like used Swiffer sheets, I have to stay on top of the sweeping, vacuuming and floor-washing.

More than anything, though, the recent time crunch is a result of my decision to go back to work. I didn't expect that I would go back to work early (JC is 8.5 months), let alone full-time, but here I go! On Monday, in fact! Yes, it was a tough decision, but I think it's a good one. My husband will be able to claim the rest of the parental benefits, so he can stay home with JC for the summer and still make a bit of money.

I have to admit that I was pretty excited to be offered this full-time position initially. That first day I felt pretty awesome. However, the next morning I woke up thinking about how I'd be "abandoning" JC to go back to work and I cried ... A LOT. I spent the next week crying most days, feeling like I was never going to see her again. After chatting with some friends and my mom, I started to look at the return more optimistically rather than as "impending doom." ("Impending doom" describes, to a tee, how I had been perceiving my return.)

Now I'm trying to think of it as just another activity that I'll be doing on weekdays. I'll still get up in the morning and cuddle my little bean, and nurse her and feed her breakfast and get her dressed. But, instead of being the one to put her down for her morning nap, I'll let her daddy do it, and I'll go out for the day (to work). I'm sure I'll miss her during the day when I'm not busy, but I'll be home before 5 o'clock most days, so we'll still have plenty of time in the evenings (she goes to bed ~9:30 pm). I'll miss 2-3 feeds while I'm at work, so I intend to pump so that she can take it by sippy cup or bottle.

So, why has this upcoming employment interrupted my blogging routine? Well, I guess in a way I'm nesting. I know, it makes it sound as if I'm about to go into labour again, but it makes sense that I'd be nesting again. I'm rushing around trying to tie up all the loose ends before things get really busy. My to-do list is a mile long and so it leaves little time for blogging. I hope to continue to write posts, but please forgive me if they are not as regular as they once were.

Using cloth diapers is NOT as difficult as you might think

... or at least when you have a working washing machine!

It is entirely possible to use cloth diapers and just wash them at a laundromat - it's just more convenient when you have laundering capabilities within your home. I say this because last Friday night we put on a load of JC's dirty diapers - a very FULL load, I might add! - and our washing machine died on us. KAPUT! (Why do we do laundry on Friday nights? Because of time-of-use [TOU] hydro billing, plus we were going away for the weekend and needed some clean nappies.) Thankfully, we got through the double rinse cycle before it broke ie. just missed out on the WASH cycle. My hubbie spent the next 30 minutes ringing the very absorbent diapers out in the laundry sink and tossed them into one of our "dirty" diaper bags. We let them sit overnight in the basement, and the next morning he drove them to a local laundromat to get them clean. We brought them home to dry them (knock on wood there's nothing wrong with our dryer ... yet).

A lot of people I know that are having babies have been asking me about what we do for cloth diapering. There are many excellent resources on the internet, but here is our diaper run-down:

WARNING: THIS IS VERY DETAILED, SO IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN THE DETAILS OF CLOTH DIAPERING, YOU MAY WANT TO SKIP TO ANOTHER POST.

We bought our cloth diapers from Re-Diaper in Hamilton. They're a great resource if you have questions about cloth diapers.

We use Bummis pre-fold inserts. They're bulky and give JC a big booty, but they work really well. Super easy to clean and easy to change. They come in packs of 6. We had 4 packs, equalling 24 diapers and that worked out nicely. When JC was about 3 months we moved up in size and they should work till she's done with diapers.

Sometimes we also use Kissaluv fitted diapers as inserts. They're less bulky and are great for containing big poos. We use them when we're expecting a big poo or when we really REALLY don't want a blowout (ie. at a fancy event or something). I find them less absorbent and less breathable, but as I said, much less bulky and good for containing messes. Again, upgraded from size 0 to size 1 at around 3 months or so. We have 6 of them.

To cover our diapers we use Thirsties Duo Wraps. Bummis & Kissaluv both offer their own diaper covers, but we REALLY like the Duo Wraps and they work well with both the Bummis and Kissaluv inserts. We prefer the snaps over the velcro closures. Had to upgrade size when we upgraded the insert sizes. We have 8 of them.

For swimming, we use the AppleCheeks swim diaper. It's great - makes much more sense than disposable swim diapers. If you decide to use disposables instead of cloth diapers, at least use a reusable swim diaper. Then you don't have to worry about having garbage - it's just another swimsuit! We have 1 of them.

When JC was first born, we had to do diaper laundry every other day. Now we tend to have 2 days off between loads of diapers.

We use baby washcloths as wipes and could just as easily use cut up squares of old t-shirts. We just use a damp cloth to wipe her bum - no wipes. (They sting when they have rashes and they're kind of messy we think.) Besides, it makes bum changes garbage-free!

We've used 2 types of bum creams that are safe for cloth diapering: Purple Urchin's Baby Butt Balm and Dimplecheeks Baby Bum Bum Balm. We prefer the Purple Urchin one. Initially we only used butt balm when she had redness, but now that we're into teething we use it at EVERY diaper change to prevent rashes (they sneak up on you when they're teething!).

We use a bag to store dirty diapers till laundry time. We have three GroVia bags so that we can just toss it in with the diapers when we do the laundry. You can buy step-cans to put them in (like a garbage step can), but we just let it sit on the floor beside her change table. When we're out and about we use a PlanetWise bag because it has a compartment for wet stuff (dirties) and one for dry stuff (clean diapers). We just have one of these.

We do our diaper laundry using Claudia's Choices laundry detergent because it doesn't wreck the absorbency of the diapers. Rockin Green is a really good brand, too, especially if you have hard water. We've also used a trial pack of Tiny Bubbles and it worked out fine.

We use dryer balls without dryer sheets in the dryer. Oh! And no fabric softener. You can get wool ones that I've heard great things about, but we haven't tried them yet.

When we do laundry, we do 2 cold rinses with lots of water. Then we do a hot wash with the amount of water that is appropriate for the load size. We do an extra rinse with this load, too. Then we either hang the diapers out to dry, or we put them in the dryer on HIGH heat. We hang the Duo Wraps to dry. **Breast milk poo stains come out in the sunshine when you hang them out to dry, so that's nice :) In the above photo, you'll notice stains on the diapers on the right - those stains all came out after a day of sunning them!

Now that JC is starting on solids, we've installed a BumGenius diaper sprayer on our toilet for rinsing solids. This should probably be done if you're using formula, too. Breast milk poos can just go in the washing machine as is. We keep one of our GroVia bags beside the toilet to chuck the soggy diapers in once they've been rinsed.

Well, that's the down and dirty on our cloth diapering! If you have questions, ask away!

A word or two on babies and sleeping ...

I am no expert when it comes to babies, sleeping, or the two combined, but I like to think I have a brain in my head that works reasonably well.

I just have to get this off my chest because it's something that really drives me up the wall.

All people are not the same. Some people sleep long periods of time. Some people wake multiple times in the night. Some people take naps. Some don't. Some like to sleep under the covers, some like one foot sticking out. Some people crash the moment they hit the pillow. Some toss and turn for hours at a time.

What am I trying to get at? Sleeping patterns, I believe, can vary appreciably amongst different people. And as a result, so can the sleeping patterns of babies!

Do not dare to put yourself down because your baby wakes up one, two, three, eight, or ten times a night. Do not judge yourself for nursing your baby to sleep, or for "wearing" your baby to sleep. Do not feel threatened when other moms report that their child sleeps through the night if yours does not.

Babies are different. They sleep differently.

Some can be laid down in their crib when they're sleepy and will put themselves to sleep. Some require rocking to sleep and can only be laid down when they are completely "out." And still, others prefer to co-sleep all night long.

It doesn't matter how your baby or anyone else's baby sleeps. What matters is that the baby gets the sleep they need and that you do too (eventually!).

So, for the love of all that is holy, do not feel bad about your kids' sleeping patterns, and certainly do NOT give unsolicited advice to parents about their children's sleep habits.

Thank you. And thank you for putting up with my rant.

PS. This wasn't meant to be an angry post - just a shout out to the moms out there and a reminder to myself for when I'm having a weak moment :)

Swimming Update

I wish I could say that I have mastered more of my goals that I listed off in a previous post, but you just have to take things one step at a time, right?

This may not seem like a big deal to some, but I am proud to say that I not only met my first goal, but I trumped it!

The week after I posted that I wanted to "slip in" the pool with JC, I did it. It's no big deal at all. It simply involves laying the babe down on the deck beside the pool edge (with toes toward the pool so baby does inadvertently roll into the pool!), and keeping one hand on baby's belly while you slip into the pool. Then you simply pick up the little cutie and you're off to the races. SIMPLE. NOT scary.

So how did I trump it? Well, 3 weeks ago, we were introduced to "underwater passes." This involves diving the baby into the water head first and having the instructor "catch" the baby as he/she comes up from the water. (Sort of like a little dolphin dive.) You support the baby's belly with one hand (left hand for me), and with the other arm, you support the baby's back with your forearm and support the baby's head with your palm (right arm/hand for me). Then you dive the baby into the water, head-first, and slide the baby out of the water in an upward motion, allowing the instructor to grab him/her. This one is much scarier than "slipping in," but still is NOT THAT BAD! JC didn't seem to mind a bit. In fact, it seemed easier for her than when I dunk her!

I wonder what the next swimming hurdle will be ...

Almost deleted it

I've been putting off writing another post because I've been trying to avoid having to do it one-handed. However, I think that's the only way this is going to happen.

JC Update: teething ... definitely teething. How do I know this? No, not because she bit me, but because she's not sleeping through the night anymore, she cries a lot more, she drools without end, chews on everything, and was wiping a bloody, saliva-sodden hand all over her PJs this morning. Gross? Yeah, well, that's teething for ya.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be writing another post this week or ever. The other day I was cruising around on here and came across Minimalist Mom's post about giving up facebook (and Faith's note, too). I find her minimalist approach to things really intriguing and almost inspiring. After reading her post and the comments it gathered, I was determined that I would delete this blog as well as my facebook account. I didn't want to be wasting my time online when I should be spending it with little JC while I get to be home with her! However, a wise and understanding friend reminded me that on cold winter days when I'm lacking sleep and JC will only sleep in my arms, there's no shame in wanting to somehow be connected to the outside world. (Especially if it requires only one hand, leaving one hand to cuddle my sleeping bean.)

Getting Gutsier

Gutsier ... is that a real word? Regardless, what I mean to say is that I'm trying to be a little more brave ... or at least I'm thinking of becoming more brave.

The braveness kicked in at swimming lessons yesterday. Sure, I didn't opt to "slip in" with JC (I walked her in using the shallow stairs), but I DID manage to completely dunk her not once, but TWICE!! I was so proud of myself. Though, I had to laugh to myself when our instructor suggested that we could either just dunk the babies on their own "if we [didn't] want to get [our] hair wet," or we could dunk ourselves at the same time. Let me tell ya - dunking myself at the same time would NOT be a good idea. I would be coughing and spluttering and panicking and poor JC would be at the bottom of the pool, or more likely treading water expertly and laughing at my inability to go below the surface without inhaling half the pool. Yes, sadly, I am one of those adults who plugs their nose to go underwater. Do NOT push me in a pool. I will choke and choke and choke and you will feel nothing but sad for me. It's THAT bad. In any case, JC did a great job with the dunking and I was very proud of her.

The braveness wavered today when I decided to look online for a local yarn/wool shop. I've been inspired by the knitting books I've been flipping through (most notably, Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats) and the beautiful yarns they use, so I wanted to see if I could get my hands on some myself. Well it turns out there is a lovely yarn shop not far from here, but I am too scared to go! How ridiculous is that? It seems silly, but I am really intimidated! I guess I'm afraid of spending an obscene amount of money on something that I will massacre and then I'll be even more upset than I am when it occurs with my good ol' Zellers-on-sale-acrylic yarn. Or maybe I'm scared that I won't be able to make intelligent conversation with the knitting experts there. I don't know ...

Ok, and here's one more thing I've been wimping out about: I need to call my aunt and uncle because they haven't seen JC yet. I know, I'm a bad niece, procrastinating like this, but there really is a reason (not sure if it's a good one, but there is one nonetheless). Ummmmmm, so ... they smoke ... a lot ... in their house ... and they live ~2 hours away from us. Usually I would just grin and bear it and just go sit with them because I really love them and want to see them. However, I really don't want to subject JC to secondhand smoke like that and I'm afraid of hurting their feelings. I think I just have to call them and suggest we meet elsewhere like at a coffee shop or something, right? And I guess I'll just have to explain if they ask? That's the right thing to do, right? I'm still not exactly chomping at the bit to call them and do it though. Hmmmm ...

One thing I DID do was go back to my last post and add the links that I was too scared to add. Baby steps ...

Well, now that I've confessed my fears I guess I should make a plan to conquer them (or at least some of them). Here goes:
1) Next week I will "slip in" with JC at swimming lessons
2) I need to practice going underwater without plugging my nose. Perhaps we can go swimming as a family sometimes and I can practice this while my husband swims with JC.
3) I should just buck up and go to the yarn shop. Maybe I can make JC a really nice hat or something. A pattern that I trust will work, so that I'm pretty well guaranteed success with my first real wool purchase.
4) I need to call my aunt and uncle. I will talk to my husband about when we might be able to go visit. Then I will call them to try to make plans.

Wish me luck!

Oh, and here's a question for ya:
How important is it that I shower JC at the pool after each swimming lesson? I've just been drying her off, dressing her and taking her home and then bathing her after she wakes up (and I shower while she's sleeping). I sort of figure that showering in chlorinated water without properly washing won't do much to get the chlorine off her or any other thing that the showers are meant to remove. Am I way off base here? All the other moms seem to shower their babes after swimming, but I just don't understand the benefit. Help me out here.

And another 2.5 months ...

So it seems that I am not so religious about generating posts. Now we can all see why my diaries are half-empty (or half-full depending on how you look at things).

For awhile there little JC was sleeping on my lap a lot, so it was easy to type; however, she started being awake more (NOT complaining - she's a lot of fun!!), so I didn't have a lot of time to post. I would have blogged during naps, but somehow I think my hubbie might be a bit disappointed if we had to live in a pig sty with no food while I blogged away ...

So, to catch you up on things a little:
1) JC is now 3.5 months old and appears to be teething. She's chewing and sucking on anything ... bibs, receiving blankets, fingers, arms, toys ... you name it! She can hold her head up quite well now, and she can roll over a bit now, too! We even heard some first giggles this week :)

We started swimming lessons last week and they were great! She LOVES the water, especially when she's on her back with her hair wooshing around her (she has a lot of hair for a 3 month old!). She was the only babe in a reusable swim diaper (AppleCheeks, purchased from Re-Diaper), and the only little girl without an actual bathing suit. When I noticed the bathing suit thing I felt embarassed for about 1 second, then realized how silly that was! Are baby bathing suits comfortable? Are they easy to put on? Do they really keep them warmer? My answer to all of these questions was NO. Not to mention, I doubt that JC is self-conscious about such a silly thing, so I decided I wouldn't waste my time worrying about it, nor my money buying a little piece of spandex to torture her with. Swimming lesson #2 happens this afternoon. Hopefully JC's 2nd impression of swimming is as good as her first.

2) My parents gave me a pattern book, knitting needles, and some yarn for Christmas in hopes that I would knit a little pink cardigan for JC.

I learned to knit a few years ago after my paternal grandmother passed away. I remembered her always knitting for babies in the family and my cousin was pregnant with her first child, so I suddenly felt compelled to learn to knit and to create something knitted for the new little being. Well, after some very frustrating attempts to learn to knit from a book, I gave up and taught myself to crochet instead. I crocheted a beautiful baby blanket for my cousin's son and all was well.

But, it wasn't long before I decided I would get back in the saddle and attempt knitting again. I tried a scarf and finished said scarf after messing up the gauge royally and making one of the largest scarves known to humanity. The next project was a smaller scarf, which curled up because I didn't realize that stockinette stitch results in curled up work if you don't help it out by bordering the edges a bit.

Anyhow, since that time, I got pregnant with JC and decided it was time to get it right with knitting. I borrowed Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats from the library and set to work on a baby hat. Well, it turned out marvelously and I ended up knitting about 12 hats!!!! Go me!

So I started this sweater for JC and things were going well until I messed up and purled when I should have knitted or knitted when I should have purled. Said unfortunate error occurred on New Year's Eve while my hubby and I were watching a movie (we don't have cable, so weren't watching countdown shows). When I discovered my error, I promptly fReAkEd OuT, cursing and swearing. I remember ripping the knitted work off the needles, stabbing the unsuspecting loveseat with a knitting needle, and biting through the work, stretching it with my hands while I growled like an out of control yahoo. My hubby was pretty alarmed and tore the pink mess from my hands, and insisted that I calm the heck down. (And then the clock struck 12 and it was 2011). Yes, I transitioned into this new year, (quietly) screaming (JC was asleep upstairs), crying, and ripping apart yet another knitting disaster ... good omen? Not sure ...

Since that time, I have googled TINKing so that I can now fix my knitting errors in a civilized manner and have managed to complete the back panel and one of the two front panels for JC's little pink cardigan (as pictured in the above rather dark photo). Last night I made an error and fixed it without any freakouts (not even a single curse word!). I am relieved, and so are the loveseat and my husband. I'll let you know how the rest goes ...

3) I borrowed some crochet (and one knitting) amigurumi books from the library and I'm really excited about making a hot air balloon for JC's room, some birds, some bees, and maybe even some airplanes (all of which will hang from the ceiling). I can't wait to get started, but I need to focus and finish the great pink cardigan first. Also hoping to knit up a little hat for my step-aunt-by-marriage's son-to-be ...

4) Starting to think about going back to work and what that will entail. A friend recently started a blog and wrote an inspiring, yet confusion-provoking post about doing what you love. I love my career, but am still new to it and am overly impatient as to where my niche will be. As much as I love my career and have the education to back me up, part of me wishes I could knit, crochet, sew, cook, bake, run, and mother myself a living rather than doing work in a traditional sense (not to say that none of these qualify as work, just saying that it's not where my education lies ...). I guess I just need to be patient and things will sort themselves out.

5) So ... I'm clearly blogging, but I'm sort of shy about said blogging. A little hesitant to link my blog to others' blogs and to websites because I'm not sure I'm ready for others to read what I write. So why am I blogging rather than keeping a diary? GREAT QUESTION! Maybe I shouldn't worry so much about what people think ...

FAST FORWARD 7 MONTHS

Well, as the heading suggests, I have neglected this blog for roughly the last 7 months. My how things have changed since that first entry! To make a long story short, the pregnancy went very smoothly - not much nausea, no vomiting, and only a few nights up with Tums and Gaviscon nursing heartburn. Our daughter was born at 11:07 pm on Wednesday, October 6th and weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz, measuring 20 inches in length. We ended up opting for a home birth (so happy with that decision!!!), and are loving parenthood so far.

You would think this post would be longer after such a long time away, but baby is calling, so off I go to Mommyland.

The news is spreading

Wow! What a busy weekend we had. After working a full day on Friday, we took off to Brampton to see my aunt, uncle and cousin. We shared a delicious dinner and my husband and I shared our exciting news. We stayed till midnight, drove home, went to bed and were up again at 6 am preparing for an early trip to Belleville. In Belleville, we met with my husband's grandmother, as well as his aunt and uncle. We had breakfast at a cute little family-operated restaurant, and again, shared our news. Everyone seems very excited! Our next stop was Cobourg to see my grandparents, as well as my aunt and uncle. We had a good time sharing the news with them and had dinner there before dropping in on yet another aunt and uncle!

Today has been a much quieter day, though I did manage to take in an ultimate frisbee game. Had a little breakdown tonight (thank you, mood swings), but am feeling much better now and ready to take on the new week!