Cutie Poops and Bottoms

Isn't that a cute name for a cloth diaper store? I thought so...we went there on Saturday to explore the world of cloth diapers.

Lexi has been wearing a hybrid diaper for about a month now (G Diapers with the flushable insert) and I really like them. I have 4 covers and that seems to be plenty...unfortunately 3 are pink and 1 orange...they don't have much of a color selection. But I digress...we went to the aforementioned store to see about other possibilities. I know I could have ordered them online, but I need to SEE them and SEE how they fit/fold etc. I ended up with some prefold diapers, a Thirsties diaper cover, a Thirsties pocket diaper, and a Fuzzi Bums (I think) all in one. The nice thing is that the prefolds will also fit into the G Diaper covers I already have.

Lexi doesn't seem to notice the difference. Why did we make the switch now, you might be asking yourself, after 15 months of disposables? Well, aside from the obvious economic and environmental savings, it's to help potty train her. She will feel the wetness in the cloth diapers.

Yes, we are starting what I like to call "pre-potty training". Lexi has a potty chair in our bathroom, and when we go, she goes. By that I mean, she will walk into the bathroom, lift the lid on her potty and sit down. She watches us and we tell her we're making "pee pee" or "poo poo". If you tell her to go potty, she will go into the bathroom and sit on her potty. She is also becoming aware that things "come out" of her body. We have had her skinny dipping in her pool recently and when she pees, she knows it.

I have no fantasies that she will be potty trained by 18 months, but I'm doing what I can to get her used to the terms, the potty etc. If it turns out that she takes to it, awesome. If not, that's fine too. She'll do things at her own pace.

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In other news, we went to a village "fair" over the weekend and Lexi got to ride the Merry Go Round and train. She was NOT happy with the up and down of the horses on the Merry Go Round...but seemed to enjoy the train ride. We didn't stay very long as it was hot and humid...seriously can it PLEASE STOP RAINING!

G Diapers / Cloth Diapers

OK...so for all you cloth diaperers out there I want some advice. We've been using Fisher Price Happy Days and Happy Nights disposable diapers on Lexi since they came out (probably about 10 months now)...but I really want to start using cloth. I bought 3 of the G diaper covers...but also bought the "flushable" inserts. So far, I like this. I don't have to "store" dirty diapers until laundry day...and I am also not throwing away any disposable diapers. The inserts are biodegradable and flush right down. The issue I am having is the cost of the covers. I paid $40 for 3 covers. Now, maybe I didn't do my homework before hand...but I think that's crazy! I know, I know...the money I'll save in the long run not buying disposables makes up for it, but still. We don't have alot of excess cash right now to spend a few hundred dollars on diaper covers...and my local resale shop doesn't sell diaper covers for "sanitary reasons".

Can anyone recommend a budget friendly way to convert to cloth? Anyone know of any websites I can order inexpensive diaper covers? Any etsy shops sell them?

Thankful for...

ICLW Baseball!

Didn't sign up for ICLW this month, but thought I'd play along with Kym's game.

Here's what to do if you want to play ICLW Baseball:

1. Copy these instructions and post them on your blog.

2. Answer the Base Questions.

3. Find other participating bloggers who have the same answers you do. Find at least one blogger for each base and link back to them in your baseball post. You may find more than one blogger with common answers for each post base. Your post will be a work in progress. Get YOUR base answers up ASAP, then go back often to edit and add the links of bloggers who share answers with you!

4. Once your base answers are up, go to I'm a Smart One/Kymberli's blog and add your baseball post hyperlink to the list. Kym's blog is home base; check the list to find the other players.



Here are my base answers:

1st - Coke
2nd - Famous Dave's
3rd - October shared with Kim
4th - Toy Story

What are your answers?

2 weeks in...

and she's STILL sleeping through the night every night. Unreal. She's a little more clingy during the day, but that could be the molars that are threatening to break through anyday now. She's still not eating as much as she used to, but she's at least eating. Her faves have been mac n cheese (I know, oh SO nutritious) and cheese slices. But it's food. We're down to less than 24 ozs of milk a day...usually around 20 - 22 ozs. And she drinks about 8oz of juice and 8oz of water depending on the day. We fill her sippy cup with juice in the morning and she carries it around with her. When it's empty we fill it with water.

I am still in disbelief that it only took 2 nights of crying...I still have to ask DH sometimes if he got up with her. It's that dramatic of a difference.

On another note, Father's Day was great. Lexi bought her daddy a Stanley Cup Hawks jersey (we ordered it before they won) and a frame that says "Dad's Little Monkey". DH calls Lexi "monkey" all the time...and has since she was born. It was quite fitting. We had my parents and his parents over for dinner and play time with Lexi. She throughly enjoyed herself.

I'm SO grateful to the man I married for sticking by me through everything we've been through...job losses, infertility, homelessness (for 2 months), moves, and my utter depression after our first failed IVF. I could not have made it through without him. He truly is my better half. And a wonderful daddy to our miracle daughter. I love watching him with her and how she looks up at him with wonder in her eyes.

I know I don't show him enough just how much I love him.

Daycare

My mom had told me about a week ago that she wouldn't be able to watch Lexi this week...and my sister, who is a teacher, couldn't watch her today, but can the rest of the week. So I had a predicament...solved by my company's backup childcare plan. We get 20 days a year...10 are free and 10 are $15. It's at a Bright Horiz0ns location...so I signed her up.

I was nervous walking her over there...this is the first time that she is with people she doesn't know. I thought for sure there would be tears. When we walked in, I took Lexi to the "infant/toddler" classroom and she was off. There were 2 kids there already and they expected 2 more for the day (5 kids total)...but all the new TOYS. O.M.G. She must have thought she was in heaven. I honestly don't even think she realized I left. She was too busy investigating all the new things.

I hope the rest of her day is as enjoyable for her...I might stop over there at lunch to "peek" in on her. I don't want her to see me (think that would make it harder to leave) but would like to see how she interacts with the new environment.

Now I just have to quell my tears and know that she's being taken good care of.

14 months in photos

Dearest Lexi,

Happy 14 months sweet girl!

Mommy just LOVES your smile!

And you love your car!

Just like this picture...it's SO you!

You love spaghetti...and will gladly eat it.

Yum Yum Yum!

You went to the zoo for the first time and saw the lions!

And got to brush a goat!

and just fool around with Daddy!

The zoo wore you out!

You also got your first boo boo while playing outside with grandma!

It looks worse than it was...you didn't even cry!

You're learning to use your spoon...but it's still messy!

And you LOVE popsicles! They are your favorite dessert.

See the cheezy grin.

You went to your first drive in movie...and watched Shrek 4, but you were more interested in the doggies that were there!

But you learned to drink from a straw that night! And have been doing great ever since.

You love to swim in your pool with your "brother"

We love you SO much!

Nights 4 and 5

OK...this is bad. Well, not bad, but...still...bad. Shame on me for not doing this whole tough love thing sooner. Lexi slept all night again Monday night and last night. Not a peep out of her until 7:30am. This is all too good to be true. I fully expect to go back to a shrieking toddler at night at any point...but still...WHY didn't I do this sooner? Really? 2 nights. That's all it took so far...2 nights of letting her cry for 5 minute stints. 2 nights of NOT giving her a bottle when she got up. OMG I know I'm not even a week in, but I can't BEGIN to tell you the difference.

She's eating. As in ACTUAL food, and not just her little puffs and things that she ate before to appease me. Monday morning she had a hard boiled egg (just the yolk), rice cereal and pears. She NEVER eats that much for breakfast. Yesterday she ate half a toaster strudel (daddy day) and a yogurt for breakfast. Not too mention the amount she's eating for lunch and dinner.

She also stays up later. We used to put her to bed by 7:30...now we wait for her queues and those have been coming around 8:30 - 8:45ish. I LOVE that I get to spend an extra hour with her at night. An hour of HAPPY baby...not crying miserable baby.

I'm really kicking myself for not doing this sooner. Imean, I knew in my head that we should give up the overnight bottles, but it was so convenient to just give it to her so she'd go back to sleep. I didn't realize the habit I was forming with her. I don't want her to NEED a bottle to go back to sleep. I don't want her to NEED me to go back to sleep. And the last 3 nights clearly proved that she doesn't NEED those things...she WANTED them. And so far, 2 nights of "depriving" her of those WANTS seems to have done the trick.

Don't get me wrong. I was never a proponent of CIO. I didn't believe in it for our child...and still don't to some degree. But I understand why parent's choose this method more than I ever did before...and we've obviously incorporated some CIO into our repertoire.

On a different note...DH and I are thinking of moving back to our old neighborhood. When we moved out almost 4 years ago, we had been living in a 2bdrm townhouse with our big ole lab. We wanted an actual backyard for him to run around in, and not have to tie him up in a "common area". The housing market back then was just starting it's decline, but all the homes in that neighborhood were still well out of our reach. Now that the market is where it is...those homes that were previously untouchable are now priced more into our budget. The area is great, having been built up commercially quite extensively over the last 4 years (think farms now being Meijers, and BBB, and Walmarts and Targets), and the school district is one of the best in the state. The problem? I LOVE our house. Not so much the structure itself I think, but more what it represents. We lived in this house when we started our first IVF. I cried in the would be nursery when that cycle failed. This is the house that I was in when I got the call saying we were pregnant. This is the house we brought our baby girl home to at 1 day old. This is the house that holds all those memories...and it's hard to think about letting it go. I know I'll still have the memories, and that we'll make new ones in a new house...but it doesn't make it any easier. Plus, I DO love the layout of our house. It's so open and airy...everything else just doesn't seem to compare. And the ONE house that we found that we both LOVE? Priced in our price range...but the annual taxes knock it out of there. UUGHH. PLUS, our house is NO WHERE near ready to be put on the market. And I fear what a realtor will tell me I can get for it.

SO many things...

Nights 2 and 3

Saturday was night 2 of tough love. I was really hoping for a repeat of the night before...but of course, that didn't happen. I put Lexi down at 7pm (she was SO tired) and she woke for the first time at 10:15pm. She cried for about 4 minutes...then silence. Until 30 minutes later when she cried again for about 3 or 4 minutes. Rinse and Repeat until 3am! Every 20 or 30 minutes she was screaming for 3 or 4 minutes...O.M.G. I wanted SO badly to give in, give her a bottle, and GET SOME SLEEP! But I didn't. DH was SO close as well...but we managed to make it through the night...and we all slept in until 9:30am on Sunday!

My mom said she was testing us...to see if we would give in. Kinda like you see the kids on Super.nanny doing. But OMG, I SO wanted too. If I wasn't all warm and comfy in my bed, I may have been MORE tempted to give her a bottle.

Yesterday, like I said, we slept in until 9:30 and left the house at noon to go to a friend's. Lexi slept the hour drive in the car and had another 15 minute snoozer at around 5pm. When we got home at 7, she was still raring to go so we decided to keep her up as long as she was happy. Bedtime was 8:45pm...she woke once at 9:15 and whined for about a minute...but then SLEPT UNTIL 5AM! Yes, you read that correctly. I'm not sure if she "got it" with the tough love or she was just exhausted from the day. Either way I was SO happy to have 7 hours of sleep. We'll see over the next few nights if she really "gets" it.

Sorry this post is so mundane...but I want to capture her sleep patterns.

Night One

Last night was the first night of the "tough love" we were supposed to "inflict" on Lexi. And I'll admit...it was H.A.R.D. She went down at about 7:45 (which was hard in of itself since she was overtirred) and woke at 11pm. I let her cry for 5 minutes before I went in with a bottle of water. I DID pick her up and sit with her in the rocker and offered the water, which she threw on the floor. We rocked for about 10 minutes and I told her that Mommy was going to sleep, her baba was going to sleep, and that Lexi needed to go to sleep...into the crib and cue screaming. I told her she was ok and that I loved her, and I walked out of the room. I let her cry (ok, scream) for about 15 minutes and went back in only to find she had thrown all her lovies on the floor. I picked up all the lovies and put them on her changing table, with the exception of Tigger, that I did give back to her. Told her she was fine...mommy needed to sleep, baba needed to sleep, she needed to sleep, mommy loved her and left again. Cue screaming.

At this point I REALLY wanted to give her a bottle of milk and go to bed...but I laid in bed listening to her cry...and about 20 minutes later (just before midnight) it got quiet. Music to my ears. She did wake up again at about 12:45, cried for 10 minutes (I didn't even get up) before giving up and going back to sleep...and get this...she SLEPT TILL 7AM!

It was brutal to listen to over an hour of screaming...wanting to cry myself (hubby wasn't home...lucky him), but I know it's what's best for her. Hopefully, it won't take an hour of crying tonight...but if it does, I'm prepared to deal with it. I think.

Tough Love

Lexi went to the pedi today to talk about all the issues in my last post. His answer...Tough Love. He says her issues are behavioral and not developmental. She's spoiled and knows how to get what she wants out of us.

She gained 2lbs in the last month, so she's obviously getting enough nourishment. However, when I told him she goes through 2 gallons of milk a week...his answer was to cut back. He said she can grow on 24ozs of milk and 6 bites of food a day. We are to offer her breakfast, if she doesn't eat it, she gets nothing till lunch. If she doesn't eat lunch, nothing till dinner etc. No snacks. No more than 24oz of milk per day. That's only 3 bottles. She drinks that over the course of a night. How am I going to manage to do this?

We are not to pick her up and coddle her at night. It's just rewarding her behavior. This I don't really agree with. I mean, I'll let her cry for 5 minute stints...I guess I can increase this to 10 minutes. But I refuse to just let her cry herself to sleep everynight.

It's going to be a rough few weeks while we try to incorporate the tough love...well, as much as we're willing to do anyway. I know it's in her best interest...but I hate to hear her cry. I hate to see her look at me with those eyes while she's crying. I'll try to post as we go along to let you know how it's going. I know this is going to be harder on me than it is on her.

I'm worried

Sorry I've been MIA...just haven't felt much like blogging. I'm worried about Lexi. As I've mentioned before, she's been having poop issues...and we've pretty much resolved it with the introduction of Miralax. And I thought that once the poop issues were resolved, then her other issues would resolve themselves. But they aren't. I haven't talked much about the issues we're having, so here goes.

Lexi can't eat. What I mean by that is she still can't eat most table food. She is unable to swallow it and anything we give her usually ends up squirreled away in her cheeks or she chokes on it. We're not talking about hot dogs and hamburgers here...but simple things like mac n cheese, or spaghetti o's.

Lexi won't eat. She is refusing even the baby food she used to devour. She pushes the spoon away before she even tastes what's on it. She used to eat 3 jars of food a day. Now, I'm lucky if I can manage to get her to eat one. And even in that one, I have to "trick" her. The one thing she WILL eat is sliced cheese. So I've resorted to putting a tiny piece of cheese on top of a spoonful of baby food to try to get her to eat it. That only works for maybe a few spoonfuls. She used to eat strawberries and blueberries...now, she throws them on the floor. The Danonino yogurts she'd eat? Pushed away (though she did eat one this weekend! YAY!). She will eat a popsicle...but she can't live on those.

Lexi isn't sleeping through the night. No big deal if she was getting up once and going back to bed. But that's not what is happening. Case in point...Monday night. In bed at 7:30pm. Wake up at 10:30pm...drink 4 ozs of milk...refuse to go back to bed by screaming her head off when her feet hit the crib mattress....sit in mommy's bed until midnight, when daddy finally gives her another 4 ozs of milk and she falls asleep...wake up at 3:20am...drink 8ozs of milk and go back to bed. Last night was the same...asleep by 8:30pm...wake at 11:30pm...drink 5 ozs, refuse to go back to sleep until after 1am. This has been going on for MONTHS.

Lexi doesn't talk. Sure, she babbles...and we've learned to pick out what certain sounds mean, but there are no real words. She does say "Mam" but she calls DH "Mam" as well. So I don't know if she is really meaning "mom" or not. "Up" is just "puh". Sure, I understand her...but it became very evident to me this weekend, that my understanding her, doesn't mean she talks.

Lexi has another disturbing behavior that concerns, OK, frightens, me. And I've been the only witness to this except one time when DH saw it. When she gets really angry...she tends to "hurt" herself. She will hit herself in the face or pull hard on her lip or hit herself in the chest...and one time (the time DH saw it) she ripped a clump of hair out of her head. I mean a BIG clump...it left a big red bald spot on her scalp. This doesn't happen often, but when it does, it shocks me every time.

One of these things by itself wouldn't be overly concerning to me, as I know each child develops at their own pace. But everything lumped together, the digression of eating and sleeping....well, it's got me down right scared for her. I've called her pedi and am waiting to hear back from the nurse. I want to get her evaluated...but I don't know where to start. Maybe I'm worrying over nothing? I've been pretty easygoing when it's come to Lexi and her development. Not comparing her to other kids her age. But at this point, I really feel that kids YOUNGER than her are starting to pass her...and THAT concerns me.

Please tell me that all this is normal...that it's no big deal. I'm so perplexed...and concerned for her.


***UPDATED TO ADD*** Heard back from the nurse...she wants Lexi to see the pedi. Appointment is Friday at 9am.