Monday, May 31, 2010

From two to three....

He has changed SO much in one year. He went from baby chub to a skinny little boy. Diapers to underwear. A crib to a big boy bed. Really, what is left of my BABY??? His cloud blankie? Is that ALL I have?

May 2009




June 2009



July 2009



August 2009 (moved to Hermosa Beach)



September 2009


first day of Mother's Morning Out


October 2009



November 2009



December 2009




January 2010



February 2010



March 2010 (moved to new house)




April 2010



May 2010

Happy 3rd Birthday Aidric!!!

I feel like there are times when I can not believe how old my kids are. But, in this case, it just seems right that Aidric turned 3 today. Maybe b/c I've been saying "almost 3" for so long, it actually just seems like it's FINALLY here. He's definitely been asking, "why?" about EVERYTHING for months now, and that is definite "3" behavior, in my book =)

We'll start the birthday post with a list of things we love about Aidric at 3:

*How much he loves to be with juliet. If he happens to wake up before her, he insists on being the one to go open her door and "get" her. If I'm going to the store and ask him, "Do you want to stay here and play with daddy or go to the store with mommy?" his immediate answer is, "What is jules doing?" He just wants to be with her ALL.THE.TIME.

*His love of snuggling. Every night, he asks us to come check on him (and julesy, and ourselves) and then when we do, he pulls out the, "Will you snuggle in my bed for a few minutes?" We can't resist...and I've even fallen asleep once or twice.

*The never ending flow of nighttime compliments. When we're snuggling, I don't think he wants us to leave, so he starts doling out the compliments. Generally, it starts with a simple "I like your hair mommy/daddy"....."It's so beautiful". But, the other night he noticed something on my arm and I told him it was a mole. He paused for a few seconds before he came back with, "I like your mole mommy. It's so pretty."

*His immediate response when he's done something hes not suppose to and you're in trouble, "I didn't mean to do it." Said in the SWEETEST, most INNOCENT voice ever. If he absolutely meant to do it, I'll generally say, "yes, you did mean to do it honey; I watched you, and you did on purpose." He'll follow that with a quiet, "Oh. I'm sooooorry." (again, said in the sweetest, most sincere voice)

*This is a TOUGH one to write out...I so wish I could get it on video. He says in a total stoner voice, "What is she doooooing?" or "Jules is sooooo weird." whenever Juliet is doing is something particularly silly. (often)

*The minute Juliet is disciplined, he verifies what she did wrong and then says, "But I'M not doing X." No, buddy, for this exact minute, you are not doing X.

*The silly names he gives us..."Mommy, you're a CAR." "Daddy, you're a mommy." "Juliet is shbaofabo." But, the minute we try to play along and give him a new title, he gets all upset and says, "No, I'm Aidric."

*He's such a people pleaser and always wants us to be happy with him. He often asks, "Are you happy to me?"

*How polite he is. I LOVE that he says please and thank you, your welcome and excuse me 99% of the time without being prompted.

*The protective of Juliet. If I ask him to "watch her" for me for a minute while I turn my back, he takes his job VERY seriously. I'm obviously still watching, but I do feel better knowing that with Aidric on the job, she is NOT going to get away from us. He'll grab her hand and force her to stand right next to him until I tell him he's off duty =)


FAVES:
purple anything
tanilla (vanilla) anything
thomas trains and train table
water
dancing/music
reading
the beach
watering our garden
puzzles
his big boy bed
cloud blankey
special treats
special milky (horizons vanilla milk)
pancakes


Adorable "aidricisms":
Buzz Lightlear
helicocker
packback
tanilla/banilla

Don't fret the lack of pictures in this post....I'm following it with a whole year of Aidric =)

Friday, May 28, 2010

Day 2 in Cloth Diapers

These pics are from yesterday. Wearing the Thirsties Fab Fitted with the Thirsties Diaper Cover. She slept through a 3 hour nap and wore it for an hour or so before the nap...and NO LEAKS. I love how soft the fitted is. Seriously, I'd wear it...ok, it's a little too bulky for me. But SO cozy.




unfortunately, she's clearly capable of taking it off




This morning, we started with a prefold and the same Thirsties cover from yesterday. I need a LOT of practice with this. After watching some tutorials on youtube, I decided to keep it simple the first time. I just laid it out flat under her, pulled it up between her legs, tucked the top under and used a snappi to keep it together.

I'm sure I didn't get it right, though she wore it for 2.5 hours and there was a lot of pee when I changed her and yet no leaks! I'm trying to reserve final judgment until we've used everything multiple times, but I don't see myself loving the prefolds. I might try to work at least one in a day though, b/c they are SO cost-effective! (Again, probably user-error, but she also had red marks around her thighs by the time I changed her??)

(You can see she was kind of over me taking pictures EVERY time i changed her diaper!)



Here is the prefold without the diaper cover. This is unbleached, but they do come bleached as well.




Before leaving the house, we switched into the Dream-Eze AIO. Love the deep color and it seemed like such a great fit....until I put her pants back on. Hello J. Lo! It seemed comfy though, no red marks around her thighs and after 3 hours in it (and running around at the park), it didn't leak at all. It was soaked with pee, but contained.





And...our fave so far...here is the Fuzzi Bunz Pocket, size Medium. Love the color, such a soft lining inside, super adjustable for easy sizing. No leaks. Dries fast.




So, we've tried everything in our trial pack now! I am reserving judgment for what we'll keep and what we'll send back ...and I think I might order another trial set in a week or two...it'd be nice if they overlapped by a few days so I can prep all the new ones while washing used ones instead of feeling like i am wasting so much water!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Day 1 of cloth diapers

I received a few blog comments and emails from people who are interested in giving cloth diapers a shot. There are a ton of blogs out there with GREAT information, so I am not at all going to try be an authority on the subject! BUT, sometimes the easiest way for a newbie to learn is from another newbie who has the same questions. So, here's a quick recap of our day with some pics of the new cloth diaper model. (oh, and I've been reading this blog from a one time newbie to help ME learn. (as well as asking a TON of questions to my CD friends!)

I had prepped all of my diapers last night, hanging most of the shells and covers to dry, rather than putting them in the dryer. So, this morning, my first choice was the only one that was completely, 100% dry. The Bum Genius 3.0 pocket diaper (one size). My initial assessment: easy, like that it dried more quickly than the rest, a little bulky.




After we changed that one twice (generally, it's a one time use diaper, but she had just pooped the first time and I had a disposable liner in so it was a quick toss that out, put a new liner back in and keep the same diaper), we moved on to the GroBaby shell with reusable cloth snap-in soaker and booster pad.

I thought it was adorable and fit well, but changed her 2 hours later before leaving the house and I was shocked to find that she peed through (or maybe around?) the soaker pad. The shell was wet. I was hoping to get a few uses out of the shell since the trial pack came with 3 other soakers/boosters.(In all fairness, I did not pre-wash the shell and liners FIVE-SIX times like the directions say is necessary for full absorption.) So, we'll be giving this one another shot. I'd love to love it b/c it's also really easy, dried quickly and they have lots of cute patterns =)




Next, I put the fuzzi bunz pocket on her. (size medium). LOOOVED it. So soft, so cute, good fit. I don't have a picture b/c we were on our way to the park and when we got home I forgot to take one before I changed her.

I put her down for her nap in the Thirsties Duo. I don't love the way it looks. Pretty bulky. But, it did seem very soft and cozy. And it didn't leak after a 3 hour nap (and about an hour before the nap) so I'm happy with this one!





After her nap, she wore the Thirsties fab fitted diaper with a Thirsties Cover. It was also really bulky, but she wore the same one from 4:30-7:30 with no leaks. And the fitted is soooooooooo soft!! I took some pics, but have no motivation to import them right now...maybe tomorrow! Also up tomorrow: Dream-Eze all in one (that is STILL not dry!) and some prefolds with the Thirsties cover.