Cloth diapering and potty!

It has been so long since I posted but I wanted to get you all ready for my series of posts coming up about making your own cloth diaper inserts, potty training, and more.

We just got back from a 3 week vacation and have gotten back into potty using full swing.  Baby boy is almost 11 months old and I noticed his diapers needing to be changed less often. I put him on the potty a few times, and he goes almost every time, and is almost always pooping only on the potty.

Because of this, I have decided to switch to all cloth diapering. With only having to deal with pee, it seems doable, and that little twinge I was getting in my stomach about using those flushable inserts has been getting bigger. It was seeming more and more wasteful and more and more difficult on the pocketbook.  

I've gotten a couple cloth inserts, and I like them. I'm waiting for some more in the mail (charcoal bamboo), and will be making some of my own with some of the extra prefolds that I had laying around that we never got to using as burp cloths. We are still using the gdiaper covers, which I still love because they are well fitted compared to other one size covers.

I'm feeling great about it all and it looks like baby is too!

Tape resist painting with homemade fingerpaint

This was baby's first Valentine's Day, so it was really fun being able to sit with him and make a present for his Daddy. Since he is only 7 months we chose something simple.

I had seen the idea on Pinterest, to make a design on canvas with tape and then paint over, and remove the tape. Luckily, I had a mini canvas already!

I made homemade, safe to eat, finger paint with cornstarch, water, and a little sugar and salt that you cook on the stove for a bit. I added red and pink food coloring. It did stain a little, but it went away at bath time.

Overall, it was a good baby project. If I was to do it again, I wouldn't use finger paint because its quite transparent and doesn't look great. I would get some non toxic paint and just use that. Now that Griff is old enough to paint, I might have to get him some!

Happy love day everyone!

Our Valentine's Day was full of crafts and yummy food!  I didn't want to spoil any surprises, so Valentine's crafts will be featured after v-day.  Oh well!  Save them for next year!

Protecting your child from germs

I've always been the kind of person that didn't worry about germs. Don't wash my hands much, pacifier on the floor? No big deal. I don't wipe carts, baby can touch the dog, blah blah blah.

There ARE things I do to keep things clean. We sterilize bottles daily. Pacifiers once or twice a week. More often if necessary. And yes, if they are visibly dirty when the fall I will clean them.

And then...
Baby got sick. It was a cold, no big deal. That definitely not the kind of germs I worry about.

Then baby came down with a rash. One the doctor doesn't seem to know what it is, other than " it's not an allergy or reaction". Uh ok. So we are waiting it out for a week and going from there.

In the meantime I bought some products that should help protect him from some of the places he touches that never get washed.

Like shopping carts.
We went with the taggies brand cover and he seemed to like it. Played with the tags and he sat up very well in it.  It has a strap that secures him to the cover, and the cover is strapped onto the cart pretty well.

He wouldn't look at me during this photo because he was watching some seagulls.

I was using the NoJo Secure Me, but that only held him in. He could still touch the cart.

And like the table at restaurants.
At restaurants we mostly use the Inglesina Fast Table Chair, which I only have good things to say about. Those wooden high chairs seem dangerous to me for a baby just learning to sit.  Especially a baby that flings himself around as much as possible.  Maybe in a few months..

To cover the table I got the Summer Tiny Diner Mat.  This is neat because it suctions to the table, is heavy duty, and catches spills, all at the same time.

Hopefully these efforts will help to keep the weird rashes at bay...

Baby shower blanket

Lately when I've attended baby showers my go to gifts are a blanket and burp rags. I sell these blankets on my etsy shop, and I even made one for my little one ( his is slightly more custom).

For this upcoming shower the mommy is having a girl so I was excited to pick the delicate fabrics that lend themselves well to girls.

Here is a preview of the blanket and burp cloths!

6 month mash up

Rolling over

First tooth

Balancing in a crawl position

Standing with help

Loves tickles

and whistling

and favorite toys

and the remote...

Pets his dog whenever he walks by

<3

Home from the Holidays

The holidays were very busy this year,  and starting back in early December I began all my crocheting projects.  We traveled to the east coast for a week, and now we are finally back home.  It has really taken me a week to get back into the swing of things, and I'm still feeling over tired somehow...

Here are some photos from our trip.

Leaving from Babcia's

 Lucked out an an empty seat! (Only on one flight of four, and we actually laughed at when we asked once... doesn't hurt to try!)

Visiting a dear friend in NYC

 Driving hours and hours in the snow

Griffin was able to meet all his cousins and great aunts and great grandparents, but he did catch his first cold, which we are still getting over...

So finally, to you all...