The Bean had is six week check up (last appointment with the midwives -sob!) on Friday. They were really happy with how well he's doing. They checked his heart rate, breathing, colour, size, etc. They were in agreement with us that he is perfect!
He weighed in at a whopping 8lbs. 8oz. That's 3lbs. over his birth weight and puts him in about the 6th percentile.
He measured almost 22in., which is about the 23rd percentile.
(3rd percentile for weight vs. length.)
His head circumference was about 15in., which is around the 22nd percentile.
So, he's still a smaller (and skinnier) than average baby, but doing very well!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
{this moment} Monkey
A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
Inspired by SouleMama.
Inspired by SouleMama.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Diapering Update
I can't quite remember what I've written about our diapering experiences so far.
When Jen was still pregnant we decided that we would like to try cloth diapering. I had been reading a lot about it, but was a bit hesitant to bring it up for fear of being shot down. Eventually I did bring it up though and Jen was TOTALLY on board. My sister gave us a pretty good stash of (mostly brand new) diapers she had picked up from Goodwill and we decided we'd add to it.
Jen's parents weren't so on board when we told them our plans. Jen had been cloth diapered as a baby, and it wasn't a fond memory for her parents. They recognized it was our decision to make, but insisted that they would have disposables there whenever we came to visit. Then, as a surprise Christmas gift, they subscribed us to a diaper service for three months.
Our first delivery was made the week before The Bean was born. Since he was so small, their smallest size didn't fit him right off the bat, so we called and had our start date delayed. In the interim we used disposables, which was fine.
After maybe a week or two of cloth diapering, we noticed The Bean getting a pretty bad rash. It started out as some redness, and then some bumps started showing up. In order to get it cleared up, we switched back to disposables and slathered him up with zinc oxide for a couple of days. As soon as we switched back to the cloth the rash came back, so we switched to the disposables again, but this time with a plan. Every couple of days we would change one element of our diapering routine. First we changed from disposables with zinc oxide, to disposables with a cloth diaper-friendly zinc ointment. Then we changed to our own cloth diapers with the cloth diaper-friendly zinc ointment. We just finished up on re-rinsed diaper service diapers with the friendly zinc. Next we'll try non-re-rinsed diapers with the zinc or maybe re-rinsed with non-zinc ointment. Jen doesn't seem happy about having to re-rinse the diaper service diapers, but to me it's an extra $4 for two loads of about 50 diapers each in the washing machine, they line dry in less than 12 hours, and we don't have to wash the dirty ones, which is really the yuckiest part of cloth diapering. I guess we'll see how it goes, but so far, so good.
All that said, my real reason for wanting to post about cloth diapers was to talk about the different ones we've tried so far. We weren't planning on being with a diaper service, and may or may not continue beyond the three months we were gifted (I love the service, and the price is reasonable, but not as reasonable as washing our own diapers)... the point being, we had already accumulated quite a stash of cloth diapers and have added to it since I last posted about cloth diapering.
We have three Bumgenius 4.0s. These are one-size pocket diapers. We bought the ones with snaps because they're supposed to last better. I'd read great reviews of them and they do behave more like a disposable, which I thought I'd like, but thinking now about the prospect of having to wash so many diapers, they don't seem as great. They're still very convenient, but I don't think they'll be our go-to diaper.
Next we bought a two-pack of Flip "Stay Dry" diapers. In some ways these are similar to the Bumgenius (one-size, also snap closed), but I like them better so far. They're comprised of a cover plus an insert, rather than a pocket. When the insert gets dirty you take it out and replace it. Unless the cover is dirty too, it can be reused. They came with 6 inserts and two covers, which I thought was really good.
We've also bought a couple different covers. We have four Thirsties Duo Wraps. They're meant to fit babies 6-18 pounds, so not one-size, but definitely long-lasting. These are Jen's favourites to use with the diaper service diapers. The cover is similar to the Flip covers, but with an easily wipeable lining. I like them a lot too, but since I do all the night time diaper changes, I prefer velcro to snaps on the covers in terms of ease of use.
Which brings us to the Bummis covers this past weekend: one Super Whisper Wrap and one SuperBrite. I like the SuperBrite better so far. The inside is wipeable, whereas the Super Whisper Wrap is not. The SuperBrite also has leg gussets, whereas the Super Whisper Wrap doesn't. Both are sized, so they won't fit as long as the one size diapers we have, but they fit better. They've both got velcro closures, which I don't like because of durability, but as I mentioned earlier, they are easy to use. I think the SuperBrites are my favourite to use with the diaper service diapers.
The Bean in his Bummis Super Whisper Wrap.
We may not have tried the Bummis because I was set against velcro, but as a part of our diaper service package, we had been renting MotherEase Rikki Wraps. I like them, but the ones we had were kind of worn out and not the most leak-proof. I definitely like the Bummis SuperBrites better.
The next cover I hope to try is a wool (cashmere!) cover for overnights. I ordered on small one and one medium one off of a seller on Etsy, which was much less expensive than buying them in a store or from a manufacturer. I hope they help wick away the wetness that can accumulate overnight. We suspect that the overnight wetness might have been a part of what was making Ollie's rash so bad. We also purchased a couple more microfibre doublers from BumGenius to help with the overnight wetness, so I guess we'll see how it all goes.
Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated!
When Jen was still pregnant we decided that we would like to try cloth diapering. I had been reading a lot about it, but was a bit hesitant to bring it up for fear of being shot down. Eventually I did bring it up though and Jen was TOTALLY on board. My sister gave us a pretty good stash of (mostly brand new) diapers she had picked up from Goodwill and we decided we'd add to it.
Jen's parents weren't so on board when we told them our plans. Jen had been cloth diapered as a baby, and it wasn't a fond memory for her parents. They recognized it was our decision to make, but insisted that they would have disposables there whenever we came to visit. Then, as a surprise Christmas gift, they subscribed us to a diaper service for three months.
Our first delivery was made the week before The Bean was born. Since he was so small, their smallest size didn't fit him right off the bat, so we called and had our start date delayed. In the interim we used disposables, which was fine.
After maybe a week or two of cloth diapering, we noticed The Bean getting a pretty bad rash. It started out as some redness, and then some bumps started showing up. In order to get it cleared up, we switched back to disposables and slathered him up with zinc oxide for a couple of days. As soon as we switched back to the cloth the rash came back, so we switched to the disposables again, but this time with a plan. Every couple of days we would change one element of our diapering routine. First we changed from disposables with zinc oxide, to disposables with a cloth diaper-friendly zinc ointment. Then we changed to our own cloth diapers with the cloth diaper-friendly zinc ointment. We just finished up on re-rinsed diaper service diapers with the friendly zinc. Next we'll try non-re-rinsed diapers with the zinc or maybe re-rinsed with non-zinc ointment. Jen doesn't seem happy about having to re-rinse the diaper service diapers, but to me it's an extra $4 for two loads of about 50 diapers each in the washing machine, they line dry in less than 12 hours, and we don't have to wash the dirty ones, which is really the yuckiest part of cloth diapering. I guess we'll see how it goes, but so far, so good.
All that said, my real reason for wanting to post about cloth diapers was to talk about the different ones we've tried so far. We weren't planning on being with a diaper service, and may or may not continue beyond the three months we were gifted (I love the service, and the price is reasonable, but not as reasonable as washing our own diapers)... the point being, we had already accumulated quite a stash of cloth diapers and have added to it since I last posted about cloth diapering.
We have three Bumgenius 4.0s. These are one-size pocket diapers. We bought the ones with snaps because they're supposed to last better. I'd read great reviews of them and they do behave more like a disposable, which I thought I'd like, but thinking now about the prospect of having to wash so many diapers, they don't seem as great. They're still very convenient, but I don't think they'll be our go-to diaper.
Next we bought a two-pack of Flip "Stay Dry" diapers. In some ways these are similar to the Bumgenius (one-size, also snap closed), but I like them better so far. They're comprised of a cover plus an insert, rather than a pocket. When the insert gets dirty you take it out and replace it. Unless the cover is dirty too, it can be reused. They came with 6 inserts and two covers, which I thought was really good.
We've also bought a couple different covers. We have four Thirsties Duo Wraps. They're meant to fit babies 6-18 pounds, so not one-size, but definitely long-lasting. These are Jen's favourites to use with the diaper service diapers. The cover is similar to the Flip covers, but with an easily wipeable lining. I like them a lot too, but since I do all the night time diaper changes, I prefer velcro to snaps on the covers in terms of ease of use.
Which brings us to the Bummis covers this past weekend: one Super Whisper Wrap and one SuperBrite. I like the SuperBrite better so far. The inside is wipeable, whereas the Super Whisper Wrap is not. The SuperBrite also has leg gussets, whereas the Super Whisper Wrap doesn't. Both are sized, so they won't fit as long as the one size diapers we have, but they fit better. They've both got velcro closures, which I don't like because of durability, but as I mentioned earlier, they are easy to use. I think the SuperBrites are my favourite to use with the diaper service diapers.
The Bean in his Bummis Super Whisper Wrap.
We may not have tried the Bummis because I was set against velcro, but as a part of our diaper service package, we had been renting MotherEase Rikki Wraps. I like them, but the ones we had were kind of worn out and not the most leak-proof. I definitely like the Bummis SuperBrites better.
The next cover I hope to try is a wool (cashmere!) cover for overnights. I ordered on small one and one medium one off of a seller on Etsy, which was much less expensive than buying them in a store or from a manufacturer. I hope they help wick away the wetness that can accumulate overnight. We suspect that the overnight wetness might have been a part of what was making Ollie's rash so bad. We also purchased a couple more microfibre doublers from BumGenius to help with the overnight wetness, so I guess we'll see how it all goes.
Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Family Day Long Weekend
This weekend was Family Day long weekend, which is a somewhat new long weekend, I think mainly intended to break up the long period of time between New Year's and Easter.
On Friday my sister and the little girl she nannies were supposed to come over, but the girl had a bit of a cough, so they decided to save their visit for another day. Instead, later in the afternoon we went over to my cousins' house. We were surprised to see my older cousin's best friend there and enjoyed some tea and scones with them.
Saturday the girls I used to nanny for and their mom came over. They've gotten so grown up, it's hard to believe that it was only a few years ago that I was watching them. In the afternoon we decided to take a trip down to Diaper-Eez to pick up some additional covers for the cloth diapers we're using. (More on that in a future post.) On the way there we stopped at my ex-best friend's (long story) parent's store. I still think about her mom, in particular, often and wanted to try to introduce her to The Bean if she was around. She was. We brought him in and I talked with her briefly. She teared up when I told her he was our son, and said how beautiful he was. I told her I missed her. She asked us to bring him back again and I promised I would. I always feel a little sad when I see her, but I'm glad that we stopped. We got down to diaper store and got what we were looking for. Then we stopped for some teach and picked up Thai food on the way home so we could enjoy a little "date night", sitting on the couch and watching Bones while eating our dinner.
Sunday afternoon one of our friends from the Muay Thai class Jen used to teach came over for a visit. It was great to see her and nice to catch up on what's been going on at the gym while we've been away. Sounds like there have been some big changes... not sure if we'll end up back there eventually or not. Sunday evening my cousins came over for their regular Sunday night visit, and brought along one of their friends who we really like. It was a bit of a coincidence because I had just said to Jen earlier in the afternoon that I wondered how he was doing and when he'd make it over to meet The Bean and then there he was! Jen calls it my twintuition and claims it has something to do with me being a twin.
Monday we meet up with Ashleigh and Jenn from 2moms2dogs2babies. Jen heard about Ashleigh's blog from a co-worker who went to school with Ashleigh so I checked it out and have been going back and forth with her a little bit over email. They are expecting twins this spring! They were super-nice and I was happy to meet another family similar to ours. The rest of the afternoon we lounged around, watched a movie, and puttered around the apartment.
It was an awesome Family Day weekend... even better than last year's now that The Bean is here!
On Friday my sister and the little girl she nannies were supposed to come over, but the girl had a bit of a cough, so they decided to save their visit for another day. Instead, later in the afternoon we went over to my cousins' house. We were surprised to see my older cousin's best friend there and enjoyed some tea and scones with them.
Saturday the girls I used to nanny for and their mom came over. They've gotten so grown up, it's hard to believe that it was only a few years ago that I was watching them. In the afternoon we decided to take a trip down to Diaper-Eez to pick up some additional covers for the cloth diapers we're using. (More on that in a future post.) On the way there we stopped at my ex-best friend's (long story) parent's store. I still think about her mom, in particular, often and wanted to try to introduce her to The Bean if she was around. She was. We brought him in and I talked with her briefly. She teared up when I told her he was our son, and said how beautiful he was. I told her I missed her. She asked us to bring him back again and I promised I would. I always feel a little sad when I see her, but I'm glad that we stopped. We got down to diaper store and got what we were looking for. Then we stopped for some teach and picked up Thai food on the way home so we could enjoy a little "date night", sitting on the couch and watching Bones while eating our dinner.
Sunday afternoon one of our friends from the Muay Thai class Jen used to teach came over for a visit. It was great to see her and nice to catch up on what's been going on at the gym while we've been away. Sounds like there have been some big changes... not sure if we'll end up back there eventually or not. Sunday evening my cousins came over for their regular Sunday night visit, and brought along one of their friends who we really like. It was a bit of a coincidence because I had just said to Jen earlier in the afternoon that I wondered how he was doing and when he'd make it over to meet The Bean and then there he was! Jen calls it my twintuition and claims it has something to do with me being a twin.
Monday we meet up with Ashleigh and Jenn from 2moms2dogs2babies. Jen heard about Ashleigh's blog from a co-worker who went to school with Ashleigh so I checked it out and have been going back and forth with her a little bit over email. They are expecting twins this spring! They were super-nice and I was happy to meet another family similar to ours. The rest of the afternoon we lounged around, watched a movie, and puttered around the apartment.
It was an awesome Family Day weekend... even better than last year's now that The Bean is here!
Friday, February 18, 2011
{this moment} Bathtime
A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
Inspired by SouleMama.
Inspired by SouleMama.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Rug for The Bean's Nursery
Just a quick update because I'm excited that we just made our last (big) purchase for The Bean's nursery.
This...
It's made by a woman named Laurine who I found on Etsy. Her shop is called greenatheart and she makes rugs (and other things) out of recycled t-shirts that she purchases from local charities. We contacted her with a custom request in November, and she told us it would be a bit of a wait until she had time to make our rug, but I'm so happy with the result! I can't wait to see how it looks in The Bean's room.
This...
It's made by a woman named Laurine who I found on Etsy. Her shop is called greenatheart and she makes rugs (and other things) out of recycled t-shirts that she purchases from local charities. We contacted her with a custom request in November, and she told us it would be a bit of a wait until she had time to make our rug, but I'm so happy with the result! I can't wait to see how it looks in The Bean's room.
Friday, February 11, 2011
{this moment} Nap
A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
Inspired by SouleMama.
Inspired by SouleMama.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Snow Day and Other Updates
The past week or so things have been going really well. The Bean's not on a schedule, but he definitely is forming a bit of a routine and Jen and I are learning how to work with it. I'm now in charge of changing The Bean's diaper when he wakes up in the night so that Jen has time to get up and get situated for breastfeeding. It makes things slightly easier on her, and even though I may be little more tired, I think it's fair.
Tuesday night and into Wednesday there was a bit of a snowstorm. Although it wasn't as bad as what had been predicted, it was bad enough that city schools were shut down, which means I didn't have to go to work! This is the first "snow day" I've had since 1999, when I was still in high school. It was awesome. I was able to spend the morning under a half dozen blankets reading and snuggling with Ollie. We had his three week check up scheduled for that afternoon and I didn't think I would be able to go, but because schools closed for the day I got to. The midwives kept remarking on how cute he was and how well he was doing. Just what every Mama wants to hear! He weighed in at 6lbs. 14oz. which means he's been gaining about an ounce a day. No wonder he's starting to look different to us! He's getting chubby baby cheeks and pudgy fingers. Adorable!
Jen's parents said their goodbyes on Thursday night. We were sad to see them go. It was so great having them here to help out. We'll miss the help and we'll miss them. The next time we'll see them will be March, when we go down to visit for a week. They had noticed so many changes in The Bean since they were up for his birth, I'm sure they will notice more big changes the next time they see him.
It's hard to believe that The Bean will be a month old at the end of the week. He's growing up so quickly, and we're growing to love him more and more everyday.
One last thing, it's the Superbowl tonight... GO STEELERS!
Tuesday night and into Wednesday there was a bit of a snowstorm. Although it wasn't as bad as what had been predicted, it was bad enough that city schools were shut down, which means I didn't have to go to work! This is the first "snow day" I've had since 1999, when I was still in high school. It was awesome. I was able to spend the morning under a half dozen blankets reading and snuggling with Ollie. We had his three week check up scheduled for that afternoon and I didn't think I would be able to go, but because schools closed for the day I got to. The midwives kept remarking on how cute he was and how well he was doing. Just what every Mama wants to hear! He weighed in at 6lbs. 14oz. which means he's been gaining about an ounce a day. No wonder he's starting to look different to us! He's getting chubby baby cheeks and pudgy fingers. Adorable!
Jen's parents said their goodbyes on Thursday night. We were sad to see them go. It was so great having them here to help out. We'll miss the help and we'll miss them. The next time we'll see them will be March, when we go down to visit for a week. They had noticed so many changes in The Bean since they were up for his birth, I'm sure they will notice more big changes the next time they see him.
It's hard to believe that The Bean will be a month old at the end of the week. He's growing up so quickly, and we're growing to love him more and more everyday.
One last thing, it's the Superbowl tonight... GO STEELERS!
Friday, February 4, 2011
{this moment} Cozy
A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
Inspired by SouleMama.
Inspired by SouleMama.
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