tuesday post

First of all, I would like to report an abrupt ending to Rachel's paci usage. That's right--we packaged them up and "mailed" them to the hospital for little babies yesterday. I was anticipating a loooooong night last night, but Rachel did great! I have been dreading the end of paci era, and I am relieved that it hasn't been a big deal so far. I hadn't planned to take them away so early, but Rachel face and lips have been so chapped lately, and she always had a weird white film on the inside of her lips whenever she woke up, so I decided the time had come.

We have also officially switched to training pants by day. Rachel is finally big enough for the smallest sized cheap training pants, and I am relieved to be rid of diapering a busy toddler. She averaged two accidents for the first few days, but she's only had one (usually during dinner) or none for the past 3 or 4 days. There are still times when she wears diapers: when she sleeps, and when we're on long car rides, for church and for a babysitter. She doesn't seem to mind switching back and forth for now.

Saying "byebye" to the paci and "byebye" to diapers really makes me feel like my little girl is growing up. To prove she is getting closer to two every day, the last week or so has been full of meltdown after temper tantrum after extreme mood swing. It's a roller coaster living with a toddler! Here's a video of Rachel begging for a cracker, as she does innumerable times a day. She usually uses a sign she made up for cracker, but she already knew that I knew what she wanted, so she didn't bother here...

Rachel is really talking a lot lately, too, although her words are few and often unintelligible. She kind of just talks about whatever she can name, putting the words together into nonsensical sentences. My favorite is that she likes to say "maamaaaa" so sweetly now, and she absolutely yells "DADDY, DAAAADDY," when Jarrad's in another room. Also, whenever I say, "where's the _____?" (fill in the blank with whatever I can't find at the moment), Rachel immediately calls for whatever it is--"jaaaacket, jaaaaacket,"--and then hugs and kisses the item as soon as we find it.

cute moment

Today, we got in the car to go to the grocery store. Rachel started yelling "glasses, glasses, glasses" (in her language, of course), as she pointed to my suglasses that were clipped to the visor. I put them on, and she said, "yay!!" and clapped her hands.

Rachel had a meltdown one day because I wouldn't let her climb onto the coffee table, where she intended to sit on a little plush couch that goes with one of her dolls. I did let her sit on the toy couch on this chair, though, and that made her happy enough.

And, finally--last but not least--we visited MiMi and Poppy over the weekend, with Uncle Travis, Aunt KiKi, and Cousin Tyler. Tyler has suddenly become very interested in Rachel, so getting the two to pose for a picture wasn't difficult. Awwwwwww.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel has enjoyed learning to use crayons and stickers. Her artwork would be so fun, if she didn't usually ball it up and declare it "TA" (i.e. trash) as soon as she was finished. I guess she's one of those artists.

smelling sauce

I stripped Rachel's diapers tonight--one of the joys of cloth diapering. The funny (not really) thing is that it's my most expensive diapers that smell sooo bad. The cheapest ones, the ones I started out using exclusively, are made of several layers of cotton--and that's all. The pocket diapers have a waterproof layer on the outside and a fleece or microsuede layer on the inside, and you stuff something absorbent in between, usually a microfiber insert (microfiber can absorb ten times its weight in liquid). All the layers in the pocket diapers are made of synthetic fiber. The waterproof part does not smell, but the fleece and the microfiber inserts reek of ammonia. My cheapO, bulky, not-so-cute cotton diapers smell FINE. Go figure. Anyway, what causes the odor is usually detergent build-up. I knew it was there, I was just in denial. My friend Christina left a comment on yesterday's blog that made me admit I had a problem, which is the first step. Tonight, I soaked and scrubbed the dipes in Dawn dishwashing liquid (which supposedly cuts through the detergent buildup much like it does grease buildup on dishes), and I'll be running them through hot wash cycles until there are no bubbles in the final rinse. As much of a pain as this all sounds like it is, it's also kind of an adventure. Sure, I'd rather go to bed early tonight, but it is fun to problem-solve.

Rachel took terrible naps again today, and she was up in wee hours of the morning again. I decided to put her to bed early, in hopes of fixing what is probably over-exhaustion at this point. Unfortunately, she talked to herself for several minutes before falling asleep, so she really only ended up about 10 or 15 minutes early. Oh, well!

Right after Rachel's morning "nap" (should 45 minutes even count as a nap??), Rachel and I went to visit Aunt KiKi and Cousin Tyler. Tyler is 7 months older than Rachel, and the gap in their development is getting smaller and smaller. They are beginning to interact a lot, and they even both had cheese (and Cheerios, since Tyler stole some of Rachel's) at lunch! Aunt KiKi let Rachel bring home Tyler's walk-behind toy. She looks so proud to be independently walking!

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	5	2
poop	0	0	I hope this doesn't mean we might have a midnight diaper to change!

cute moment

Tyler has a new habit of backing up to people and sitting in their laps. It's fun for his mommy and daddy, although sometimes he does have ulterior motives (like today when he gave me his sweet face and sat in my lap because I was holding the camera and he wanted it). Today, as 17-pound Rachel sat innocently on the floor playing, 30-pound Tyler tried numerous times to back up to her and sit on her lap. As obvious as it seems to us, he didn't understand--that will never work!

non-toy toy of the day

I tried my best to get a good video of these two kiddos playing. The window of time they were able to play together was small, since we were there close to lunchtime, and Tyler only takes one early-afternoon nap right after lunch these days. This is the funniest video I took. I told Kim I think it's a glimpse into our future. As you can see in the pictures and video, it seemed whatever one was playing with at any given time, the other wanted. And, since they were both ready for a nap, it was a funny exchange to watch. Rachel took it all in (and took notes, I'm sure). In the video, Rachel and Tyler are fighting over a water bottle, and I'm behind the camera laughing silently. It was so much fun to see them play together!

rhyme time

Sunday/Monday were good days (and they rhyme). She was dry both mornings, which makes four dry mornings in a row! It's unbelievable. I've looked back, and, except Sunday, we're using only 2-3 diapers a day now! I'm still waiting for the day she is reliable in communicating her need to use the potty, but I am convinced that will be the final piece to the puzzle.

On Sunday afternoon, Pop helped Jarrad change the brake pads on my car, so Rachel and I were home alone, and we were both exhausted from an eventful weekend. Feeling a little down, I decided to eat a sugar-free popsicle (what's happier than that?). Rachel seemed down, too, so I let her have a few licks. It was her first taste of something purely artificial and she loved it (of course).

Aunt Mamber watched the devastating end to the UNC NCAA game (she's a Tar Heel) at our house while Jarrad and I went to our friends' house for Bible study. Even though Aunt Mamber gets really into her Carolina games, she was very good not to scream loudly and wake up Rachel. We thanked her for her self-control.

My buddy, Koen came over this afternoon to hang out while his older brother, Bob celebrated his birthday with a few friends. After Jarrad came home and we put Rachel down for the night, Jarrad and Koen played together. Koen doesn't know Jarrad very well, but he seemed to enjoy his silliness almost as much as Rachel does!

Progress Report (Sunday)

	potty	diaper
peepee	2	4	Did I miscalculate?
poop	1	1

Progress Report (Monday)

	potty	diaper
peepee	8	2
poop	2	0

	AM nap	PM nap
duration	0:45	2:30
diaper	dry	dry

She's not had a wet diaper after a nap in so long!

cute moment

non-toy toy of the day

I let Rachel play with our drumsticks (they really belong to our friend Jesse). She likes to bang things together and slam them on the ground, so she really seemed to know what she was doing with those sticks! Rachel's Uncle Travis played drums, so it's in her blood. Koen's brother Bob also plays the drums. Maybe they can play a duet sometime!

mirror, mirror on the wall

First things first: I forgot to wish my brother Happy Birthday yesterday!!! I am terrible about birthdays, but please don't be offended! (I did call him, by the way.) Rachel has the best Uncle Travis in the world...HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!

Rachel's 9-month visit went well! I was a little concerned when she weighed in at only 17lb 6oz (25th percentile for her age)--I was sure she was at least 18lb, and she measures 25.5 inches (20th percentile). But the doctor reassured me that, at this age, many children begin a different growth pattern than the one they've been on since birth (Rachel was in the 65th percentile at 6 months, and even higher before that). The doctor complimented Rachel's oh-so-cute cloth diaper (she wore my favorite FuzziBunz).

Our wake-up call came at 5:00am today. I couldn't believe she was up and demanding attention so early. I guess the chaos yesterday probably didn't help. She got up and played, but quickly got fussy. At 6:15am I went through our whole naptime routine and put her in her crib, not sure what to expect. She slept until 8:30am. That was nice, but it made her real naps crazy. I shouldn't really complain, though, since she usually stays in a relatively good mood, no matter what her naps are like. I put her down early tonight, and I hope she will recover easily from the lack of sleep!

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	7	2
poop	1	1

	AM nap	PM nap
duration	0:45	0:45
diaper	dry	dry

cute moment

This afternoon, Rachel was playing in her room. She had her paci in her mouth, but pulled it out to set in on top of one of her containers. She then proceeded to pick up the container to get the paci back in her wide open mouth. I burst into laughter when I saw what she was attempting to do. She looked at me and started laughing too. When I finally settled down, she picked up her paci, put it on top of the container, and looked at me with a big grin on her face. She's such a comedienne.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel's doctor let her play with a popsicle stick during her appointment today. Rachel was all smiles, which the doctor seemed to love, until after she got her shot. Rachel looked at the doctor, seeming to feel a bit betrayed. The doctor said, "Oh, have I lost my friend?" Rachel stared blankly at her, then looked at the popsicle stick in her hand, and back at the doctor. She soon broke into her precious grin. I guess the doctor's gift of the popsicle stick made up for the poke she got from her.

dry as a bone

Rachel woke up at 5:30am: she has too easily adjusted to the time change. So, we had about and hour and a half of quality mommy-daughter before-the-sun-comes-up time. My wonderful husband took over at 7:45am, and I went down for my morning nap of 40 minutes. It was just what I needed. Before her nap, Rachel insisted she walk some laps in her bedroom. I got dizzy, but she was cooing the whole way.

I bought some more diapers today from another person on Craigslist! I've promised Jarrad that our collection is now complete--no more diaper purchases! (I do still have a few on the way in the mail, but that's IT). The seller and I met at a Kids' Consignment Sale, so Rachel and I breezed through. I bought her a cute little swimsuit, pink with white polka dots, Gymboree (okay!) and an adorable dress for summer, OshKoshB'Gosh and brand new. Both are sized 12 months, so they will be perfect this summer. I'm excited to get the swimsuit, too, since we will be going to the beach in July!

Rachel had a really good day today, and so did I. Jarrad doesn't know how much it means to me when he hangs out with her for a few minutes and lets me take a nap early in the morning every once in awhile. It recharges me, and it helps my feelings (I get overwhelmed, discouraged, and/or frustrated too easily). It's just such a nice break from feeling like I'm on call all the time, and I love him for it.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	10	4
poop	4	0
	AM nap	PM nap
duration	1:30	0:45
diaper	dry	dry

I cannot believe how well this potty business is going. I'm now phasing out of potty celebration, because she's got pottying down pat. Now, I'm making a really big deal over a dry diaper. So we cheer and jump and exclaim over the dryness, and then she sits on the potty. It shouldn't be long now!

cute moment

Rachel has a toy we call her "DaddyToy" because there is a silly picture of her daddy on one side of the ring (there's a mirror on the other side). She has always loved that toy. It's a great size for her to hang onto, and it's perfect for chewing on. Today, she was playing with her DaddyToy, and I showed her the picture of Jarrad. I said, "Who's that, Rachel? Is that Dada?" At first, she looked at the door, expecting him to come in. I said, "No, Rachel, right here, it's Dada!" She looked at the picture, perplexed, and then broke into a huge gummy grin and giggled. She's seemed to be seeing it for the first time, because, after that, she would chew, then look, then grin and giggle.

non-toy toy of the day

There is one knob on Rachel's chest of drawers that has a stripped screw, and so it hangs kind of loose. Rachel likes to make it rattle, and today she kept coming back and playing with it. Each time, she had her focused face on, like she was really concentrating on her task.

kiss my love

On Saturday, I got 5 Kissaluvs brand cloth diapers off Craigslist! I am so excited! These are the perfect diaper for Rachel to wear during the day when we're home and she's playing and pottying regularly. They are fitted diapers, so they wrap around and snap, and they fit like really thick underwear. It's a better alternative than letting her crawl around with a bare bottom! Hopefully we'll have less floor accidents this way. Cloth diapering is so much easier and more fun than I imagined it would be.

I was hoping the time change this weekend would put Rachel back on schedule to start sleeping until 7:00am like she used to, in the good ol' days. But this morning, she cried for me at 5:50am, even though her body should have thought it was only 4:50am. How did she know?? All I know is that I am struggling, having missed that hour completely. Church was great this morning. Jarrad, Rachel and I all dressed in RED to back the Pack! We were very excited about NCSU making it to the ACC Championship game, and we had to show our support. Rachel was a hit in her cheerleading uniform. If you know me, you know I am not a fan of cheerleading, nor cheerleading uniforms, and, even less, clothes with messages written across the bum. But, just this once, it was pretty darn cute.

Progress Report (Sunday)

	potty	diaper
peepee	6	4
poop	1	0

	AM nap	PM nap
duration	1:00	1:15
diaper	wet	dry

Rachel did well on the potty Saturday too, but I can't remember the exact count. I do know she had one floor accident after her bath, and Jarrad got to witness this one. We both laughed pretty hard.

On another fun potty note, when Rachel doesn't want to stop what she's doing long enough to sit, I can always convince her by putting Eeyore on the potty and making him jump up and down as if he went. She grins and complies every time.

cute moment

I took Rachel's lunch with us to watch the game at a restaurant with Jarrad and a couple of guys we know. Her lunch included a Zwieback Toast. Since Monkey also tagged along, Rachel thought it would be nice to share her lunch with him. She repeatedly offered him bites of her toast.

non-toy toy of the day

While watching the game, Rachel most preferred playing with the ketchup bottle on the table. I made sure she kept her paci in her mouth so she wouldn't try to eat the ketchup! Yuck! (Don't worry: after she played with the ketchup bottle, she played with a hand wipe.)

sock it to me

What looked like would be a long night really wasn't at all, and Rachel slept fairly soundly until 6:00am. Yes, early, but I'll take it. Her morning nap, only 45 minutes. Her afternoon nap, one hour. We went to EarthFare to restock on a couple of things, and just to get out for fresh air and new scenery. I bought a gDiapers starter kit, just to get two 'little g' pants to try as cloth diaper covers. I think they're going to be great! I'm only mad that they don't offer the colors I want in the kits, so I have to settle for what they've got (bright orange and bright red, but maybe I'll take them back and get the milder blue and green, even though blue it a little boyish). Tomorrow we have lunch with the Pastor of what will probably be our new church. It will be a full day!

I have writer's block tonight, so just enjoy the usual stuff (that's why I set my blog up the way I did haha).

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	5	7
poop	1	0

Rachel is definitely communicating now regarding the potty. Usually, she'll clearly tell me "potty" (in her own language), and her diaper will be freshly wet when I remove it. But she gets it! Generally, the times she uses the potty are when I know it's been awhile and she probably needs to go, and I sit her down, and she cooperates. She did tell me before she pooped today, though, and I got her on the potty in plenty of time. Good baby!

cute moment

This morning, Jarrad had a gentleman come over to take a look at the area behind our house (we're hoping to clear the trees and make a backyard soon). Jarrad and the nameless man stood outside chatting, right below Rachel's big window in her room. When she spotted them, she started banging on the window and hollering, "DADA, DADA, dada, DADAAAAA." She was so loud that they stopped talking, looked up at the window, and gave Rachel a big smile. She watched them the whole time, giggling, banging, and yelling for Dada. She got a big kick out of seeing the top of Dada's head!

non-toy toy of the day

My sock. Need I say more?

to err is human

Today is a sad one for me. Today, I should admit that I am beginning to hate the cloth diapers and covers I bought. Reasoning led me to purchase the least expensive diapering option to try first, since Rachel isn't a heavy wetter and there might not be any reason to spend more. So, I bought prefold cotton diapers and Dappi brand velcro covers ($3 each). The diapers are plenty absorbant, but they are terribly bulky, and it really slows Rachel down when she's trying to crawl. The covers are the worst. The velcro is cheap and exposed (though it's not supposed to be), so it scratches Rachel's legs and belly. This afternoon, I had had enough, and I put them away. Rachel wore her couple of oh-so-cute pocket diapers for the remainder of the day, and a disposable to bed. I've ordered a couple of fitted diapers to try, but I need to buy better covers. There's so much to choose from it makes my head spin!

Last night was terrible. Rachel was wakeful, and fully woke up around midnight. I changed her very-wet diaper and rocked her for a minute, but then I put her back down. She screamed. She screamed (and I cried in the hallway outside her room) for about 35 minutes before finally going to sleep. I think the problem is that we developed a nasty night-waking habit when she went through the stage of standing in her crib. Now she expects me to come and soothe her back to sleep when she wakes up in the middle of the night. But if I keep that up, she won't get good quality sleep, and we're both bound to be exhausted every day. She woke up again at 4:45am, but I left her completely alone, and she went back to sleep until 6:30am. I couldn't wait to hold her when she woke up this morning, and she didn't seem to hold a grudge.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	5	7
poop	1	1

It was a battle of wills with the potty today, and Rachel mostly won. The only time I absolutely insisted she sit was when I knew she needed to poop (go #2, as my mom would have me say). I literally held her on the potty until she grunted and went. She was mad, but it only took a few seconds for her to realize I was serious about her going.

cute moment

First thing this morning, Rachel was crawling around, playing in her laundry basket, and being extremely talkative. I needed to put socks on her little feet. I got the first one on, but then she darted under one end of her crib and out the other side. I got down there to put her sock on, and she grinned at me and darted back under to escape back to the opposite end again. We played this game, back and forth, several times before I finally wrestled her sock on her. She's becoming so silly.

non-toy toy of the day

After she finished eating lunch, I let Rachel play with her spoon, and, since she was already a mess, I put a spoonful of yogurt on her highchair tray. She was in squishy heaven!

another pleasant valley sunday

Sundays are so long for little Rachel. She invariably misses her morning nap, so her routine is usually way off. Today was a little better than usual though. She caught a catnap on the way to church and on the way home, so she went down at her normal time for her afternoon nap and slept almost 1.5 hours. We visited Lisa, Matt, and Leah this afternoon, and we got to try out Leah's highchair, which Rachel loved. I've been thinking Rachel hates her highchair (she has some strange highchair behaviors), so we might be investing in one like Leah's soon. On the way home, we stopped by to see our friends Glenn and Jessica, and Glenn's mom Kathy. Rachel had fun looking at a funny book and jumping up and down with Ms. Kathy. Glenn calls every once in a while when he's passing by our house to see if he can stop by and "squish the baby." So cute! Of course, we forgot to take our camera with us on these outings, so no pictures of our friends. I tried to take one with my phone, but it looked pretty terrible. Maybe next time!

Yesterday I was able to buy two gently used Haute brand diapers off Craigslist for Rachel, and I LOVE them. I've been wanting to try them. They come in such cute colors and they feel really sturdy. Finding them used is a blessing. We now have three of the fancy cloth pocket diapers, so Rachel should be able to sleep in cloth full-time now. (I was using disposables at night when her one FuzziBunz pocket diaper was dirty.) I'm so excited! I would love to fill out Rachel's cloth diaper collection with more like these, but they are really expensive, and the others seem to work fine for daytime use. Anyway, cloth diapering is becoming a fun little adventure!

Rachel is definitely saying, "mamamamama" now! It's exciting to hear, and I think maybe she does make the connection. Most of the day, everything is "dadadada," but when she cries from her crib, she says, "mamamamama." It's so sweet. A sidenote of interest: she consistently calls the potty, "dadada."

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	7	7
poop	0	2

cute moment

After Rachel's nap this afternoon, she peepeed in her potty. As usual, I encouraged her to say, "bye bye, peepee" before I left the room to clean up. She usually looks interested and sits politely while I leave. This time, however, as soon as I said, "say, 'bye bye peepee,'" Rachel sprint-crawled toward the door to escape as soon as it opened. She had a big grin on her face because she knew exactly what was going to happen next. So I took her with me. When we got back, I put the potty in its usual spot. Rachel played for a moment and then giggled and looked up at the potty, waving her fist and saying, "dadada." "Yeah, Rachel, that's the potty," as I helped her make the potty sign. She smiled and kept waving at it. "Do you need to use it again?" I sat her down, and, sure enough, she went again!

non-toy toy of the day

I stayed in Rachel's class at church this morning. For the most part, she didn't really care that I was there, nor did she care that I was tending to other babies. Many of the other babies wore shoes to church, but they were constantly falling off. Rachel, who LOVES to play with shoes, was always able to find the missing shoes. Once, I saw her putting a tiny brown shoe in her mouth. I took it from her and put it away, only to turn around and see her with a large white shoe in her hands! I hadn't even seen that shoe! But Rachel did.

the fabric of our lives

Rachel's cloth diapers were finally delivered today! They have to be washed and dried 4 times before use, but we are well on our way to chucking Target diapers for good. I went to EarthFare and bought some Seventh Generation brand disposable diapers for when we're out and about and I don't want to tote back soggy cloth diapers, or for when someone else is watching her and doesn't want to be cloth diaper trained (although it's not as difficult as I thought it would be). With all these changes, I hope Rachel's bottom will stay healthy!

Today was also toy rotation day! Rachel has been bored with her toys for a couple of days now, so I did a switch-out. She was very excited to see her old friends. She crawled from toy to toy, not sure which to play with first.

PopPop and Uma has graciously been letting Jarrad use one of their cars to drive to work. This afternoon, it broke down. We feel terrible that a car that we were blessed to borrow actually died in our care. PopPop was kind and didn't blame us, but we still feel pretty bad. Looks like the Buick, dubbed "ButtUgly" by its owners, will be retired sooner than we thought.

Tomorrow we head to Lumberton to celebrate February birthdays with Jarrad's extended family. I'm looking forward to it; it's always fun to watch people dote over Rachel.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	6	4
poop	2	0

After a discouraging potty day yesterday, we started off with a bang today. There is no doubt she knows what's going on. When we say "potty," she looks at the potty. We're even fairly certain she's tried to communicate her needs to us a time or two (both potty poops today came after we set her on the potty when she seemed to be indicating she needed to go). I hope it sticks (so to speak).

cute moment

Rachel woke up this morning at 5:45, but she was a happy baby. She entertained herself peacefully in her crib until about 6:15, while Daddy and I listened on the moniter, "dadadadada, dadada, dada, dada, dadadadada." She seemed to be having a real conversation with herself; maybe she was giving herself a potty peptalk!

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel is amused by bare skin. When I'm in her room, sometimes I lie down on her floor and stretch out, causing my shirt to pull up higher than my waistband and expose my belly button. No matter what Rachel is doing, she lets out an excited coo and sprint-crawls over to give my belly a sloppy kiss. Then, she giggles and dances.

deep thought

This morning, my wonderful husband got up early so he could hang out with Rachel while I took a much-needed 30-minute nap. When I was up again, I wanted to thank him for babysitting. Wait, babysitting? He's not a 14-year-old girl who's gabbing with her friends on my phone and trying to keep my baby happy at the same time. I would never refer to what I do daily as "babysitting." I mother Rachel. So, then, I should thank Jarrad for fathering Rachel. NO no that's not right either. How is it that "to mother" and "to father" mean such completely different things??