catchin' up

Well let's see, what's been going on? We've had kind of a rough week, I guess. First Madison had her 18 month appointment on the 21st, which went ok except she would NOT hold still for the weight/measurement checks. So I'm pretty sure those are inaccurate, considering they weighed her in at a full pound less than her 15 month appointment. Then she had to get one booster shot plus HepA (no MMR yet, we're delaying that one) and she wasn't too happy about that. Then she had to have her hemoglobin checked which came back low, so I had to take her back the next week to have it re-checked. The second time they did it though the vein in her arm, not the little finger prick like the first time, and it was horrible. She was so miserable, and I felt horrible for her. Fortunately her levels were fine this time, so I don't have to worry about adjusting her diet too much.

Speaking of diet, we did have to adjust a bit this weekend, to mainly bland foods. Last week she began vomiting. Occurrences were intermittent (every other day in fact) and she acted just fine otherwise. After she threw up again on Friday I called the doctor and recieved a little bit of reassurance...the nurse said she had 3 calls exactly like mine that day. So some sort of viral thing is going around...which I'm pretty sure she picked up at the doctor's office. At her WELL BABY visit. Harumph.

We were going to take our yearly trip to WI this weekend but because I wasn't sure how M would be feeling we decided not to go. Turned out she was just fine...no more vomiting...so I'm hoping the bug is out of her system.

On a fun note, I was finally able to meet up with my friend Delaney and her son, who is just a month older than M. We've been trying to find time to meet for months and this time the stars aligned. We met at Brookfield Zoo and had a super time. The toddlers had their own sort of conversation ("no no no" "NO NO!" "Ablagoobly?" "Doo doo hiiii!"), it was really cute. And we mommies chatted about life in general and parenthood. We used to do shots, now we do diapers. Boy have times changed!

I will add pictures tomorrow, running out of time tonight!

to cloth or not to cloth?

I am considering--again--trying cloth diapers with Madison. I say "again" because I got gung-ho about cloth diapering (CD) before she was born, buying roughly $100 of supplies (2 dozen prefolds and 3 covers) and using them about, oh, two or three times. Looking back, there are a couple of reasons I gave it up without a fair trial. First, I didn't realize that every time a newborn relieves itself poop is in the picture. I just couldn't see doing laundry every other day when I was sooo tired from the rigors of new motherhood. Also, when I tried putting the diapers on her they always seemed way too big. She was a small baby, and I think what happened is the diapers/covers were meant for bigger babies, even though they were a size small.

So after all this, why the renewed interest in CD? Well, I'm tired of lugging smelly, heavy loads of disposables out to the trash. If one child is producing that much waste (the dirty diapers I mean, not necessarily the pees/poops) just think of how many tons of soiled diapers are disposed of daily around the world! This summer we've started thinking a little greener and this is one area where I think we can improve.

Also, I've heard that once potty training begins, it's a little easier for toddlers to know when they've gone because cloth doesn't wick moisture away from the body like disposables do. Food for thought for the future.

So...I'm researching CD. This time I'm reading tons of articles and asking people I know about their experiences. I'm considering a trial package from Jillian's Drawers that offers an assortment of CD types for a $100 deposit, with the option to return what you don't like. If you return them all you get your money back minus $10. If you decide to keep some, the price is adjusted accordingly. Since there are so many types and I'm not sure what will be right for us, this sounds like the best way to go. Plus, I can always sell the ones I bought (they really are practically brand-new!) and use that to pay for some of the new stash.

Here's Madison with her latest obsession: her alphabet mat. She LOVES letters and is always pointing out the ones she can identify...which is a pretty lot impressive for an 18 month old I think!

inside, outside, upside down

I've had a lot of thoughts in the last few days about what to post here next, but it's been hard to find time to get online to do much. Now that school has started again and Kevin is back in teaching mode he's not home much during the day, so it's just Maddi and me. She's a good kiddo but a handful sometimes, so I have to watch to make sure she's not turning the TV on and off repeatedly or dancing on the coffee table.

Today we went to the Children's Museum. Cool place...lots of hands on stuff for little ones and they even offer toddler time programs...I think we'll go to some of the upcoming planned events. I didn't bring the camera today, but here are a few other recent pictures you might enjoy of our little acrobat. She's doing somersaults now!