Monday, October 31, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Diapers
Even though we had no expectation (or even necessarily desire) of becoming pregnant, I'd read people's blog posts about cloth diapering with interest. (I'm weird like that.) So, when we found out we were pregnant, I decided we were going to cloth diaper. Steven wasn't too on board with that until we signed up for a registry at Babies R Us. When the clerk helping us spouted the statistic that babies go through approximately 3000 diapers in the first year, Steven saw the wisdom of cloth.
Whenever I mentioned to people that I planned to use cloth, I received a lot of negativity. A few friends were supportive, but most people seemed appalled. My youth group acted thoroughly grossed out. (What does that say about a generation that has been brought up with everything, including electronics, being basically disposable?) People seriously think using cloth is crazy. I don't get it. What's the big deal about washing diapers, especially seeing as I love doing laundry?
I chose a couple of different all-in-one diapers, and we're all set to use them. Just one problem: Alex isn't big enough yet!
He needs to gain a little more weight and get fatter legs!
It was painful to drop several hundred dollars at one time on diapers, but now that's looking downright cheap, seeing as the cloth diapers will last until potty training. In his first 5.5 weeks of life, I think we've spent nearly $100 on disposables! Now that's crazy!
Whenever I mentioned to people that I planned to use cloth, I received a lot of negativity. A few friends were supportive, but most people seemed appalled. My youth group acted thoroughly grossed out. (What does that say about a generation that has been brought up with everything, including electronics, being basically disposable?) People seriously think using cloth is crazy. I don't get it. What's the big deal about washing diapers, especially seeing as I love doing laundry?
I chose a couple of different all-in-one diapers, and we're all set to use them. Just one problem: Alex isn't big enough yet!
He needs to gain a little more weight and get fatter legs!
It was painful to drop several hundred dollars at one time on diapers, but now that's looking downright cheap, seeing as the cloth diapers will last until potty training. In his first 5.5 weeks of life, I think we've spent nearly $100 on disposables! Now that's crazy!
Monday, October 24, 2011
One Month Down
Yesterday was Alex's due date. Seeing how big he is now, coupled with the fact that I wasn't allowed an epidural during birth, I am so glad he came early! (Since he was healthy and all.)
This was taken on his one-month birthday:
Isn't that superhero sticker the cutest?! A friend gave us a stack of those at one of our showers. There's one for each month of his first year. Great way to track how much he's changing from month-to-month!
I'm also glad he came early because now we've got the first month behind us, and we're that much closer to the day he finally sleeps through the night! (I am way too old for this interrupted-sleep business!) Right now I do all nighttime feedings during the work week. Then Steven takes over on weekends. Let me tell you, I live for Friday nights now! Come Friday, I'm pretty punchy from the lack of sleep.
Steven and I originally planned to alternate Sundays while Alex is in his staying-home phase (doctor prescribed), meaning, Steven would go to church one Sunday, then I would go the next, and so on. Instead, my husband has been gracious enough to let me go every Sunday. He goes to work 5 days a week. I go nowhere, and he saw how much happier I was after that first Sunday of church. Isn't he great?
I attended my first music rehearsal in a couple of months last week, and I sang on the praise team again this past Sunday. I missed it so much! And it's funny how we can make plans, then they all fall apart to be remade into something else. I'd intended to finish out the month of September on stage, then drop out for the entire months of October and November. I was getting too hot on stage in pregnancy with the glaring lights. What happened instead is that Alex arrived 5 weeks early, and I didn't even get to finish out the month of September! And now I'm so ready to sing again, much earlier than I'd anticipated.
Speaking of singing, our little man loves music. We knew this even when he was in the womb. I'm not kidding when I say that there was at least one Sunday he was kicking in time with the music at church! He always became quite active whenever I sang, and that's served us well in his short little life outside of the womb. I can (usually) calm a crying fit with some singing. The cats appreciate that quite a bit!
It's been a challenging month for us, but mostly enjoyable. I'm constantly amazed at how much I, a non-baby person, actually love this little guy. I couldn't believe it when a strong feeling of possessiveness overtook me the other night when we were at the home of friends and people kept taking Alex from me.
I never understood why people always want to hold other people's babies, and frankly, I still don't get it, but I totally want to hold mine. (Good thing, huh?) But there I was, getting flustered inside because someone else wanted him. Go figure! The mothering instinct continues to surprise me daily.
Oh, and that swing he's sitting in for his pictures? My new best friend. I totally didn't want one because swings are just so big. But I broke down. We went to Kid-to-Kid and bought probably the largest one they had! And even though it's huge and totally doesn't go with my living room, it's been the best purchase so far. He loves it, and I finally was able to start doing basic things like cleaning house and cooking dinner.
This was taken on his one-month birthday:
Isn't that superhero sticker the cutest?! A friend gave us a stack of those at one of our showers. There's one for each month of his first year. Great way to track how much he's changing from month-to-month!
I'm also glad he came early because now we've got the first month behind us, and we're that much closer to the day he finally sleeps through the night! (I am way too old for this interrupted-sleep business!) Right now I do all nighttime feedings during the work week. Then Steven takes over on weekends. Let me tell you, I live for Friday nights now! Come Friday, I'm pretty punchy from the lack of sleep.
Steven and I originally planned to alternate Sundays while Alex is in his staying-home phase (doctor prescribed), meaning, Steven would go to church one Sunday, then I would go the next, and so on. Instead, my husband has been gracious enough to let me go every Sunday. He goes to work 5 days a week. I go nowhere, and he saw how much happier I was after that first Sunday of church. Isn't he great?
I attended my first music rehearsal in a couple of months last week, and I sang on the praise team again this past Sunday. I missed it so much! And it's funny how we can make plans, then they all fall apart to be remade into something else. I'd intended to finish out the month of September on stage, then drop out for the entire months of October and November. I was getting too hot on stage in pregnancy with the glaring lights. What happened instead is that Alex arrived 5 weeks early, and I didn't even get to finish out the month of September! And now I'm so ready to sing again, much earlier than I'd anticipated.
Speaking of singing, our little man loves music. We knew this even when he was in the womb. I'm not kidding when I say that there was at least one Sunday he was kicking in time with the music at church! He always became quite active whenever I sang, and that's served us well in his short little life outside of the womb. I can (usually) calm a crying fit with some singing. The cats appreciate that quite a bit!
It's been a challenging month for us, but mostly enjoyable. I'm constantly amazed at how much I, a non-baby person, actually love this little guy. I couldn't believe it when a strong feeling of possessiveness overtook me the other night when we were at the home of friends and people kept taking Alex from me.
I never understood why people always want to hold other people's babies, and frankly, I still don't get it, but I totally want to hold mine. (Good thing, huh?) But there I was, getting flustered inside because someone else wanted him. Go figure! The mothering instinct continues to surprise me daily.
Oh, and that swing he's sitting in for his pictures? My new best friend. I totally didn't want one because swings are just so big. But I broke down. We went to Kid-to-Kid and bought probably the largest one they had! And even though it's huge and totally doesn't go with my living room, it's been the best purchase so far. He loves it, and I finally was able to start doing basic things like cleaning house and cooking dinner.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Tenuous Peace
When we found out we were expecting a baby, we started thinking about how the cats would react. We figured that Doogie, who has always been our skittish kitty, would be freaked out. We thought Ninja would be cool with it. Instead, the cats had the opposite reactions. When Steven brought the carrier in that first night home, Doogie walked right up to it, sniffed Alex, and seemed to shrug his shoulders and walk off. He's retained that attitude. The baby just doesn't interest him.
Ninja, on the other hand, has been terrified. He slinked up to the carrier in a fearful manner. He jumped at every little sound for the next two days. The baby monitor invoked more fear. His perfect little world was shattered by the presence of this new tiny person.
The crib tent we put up with Ninja in mind? Totally unnecessary. We'd feared he'd want to be in the crib with the baby. That's pretty much the last place he wants to be! And he no longer gets up on the changing table.
He actually smacked Alex in the head when I was feeding him. Thankfully, Alex didn't even flinch, which means Ninja didn't smack hard. He got a stern NO from me, and he hasn't tried it again.
I'm pretty sure that any time we take the baby out somewhere, Ninja is deeply disappointed when we return with him.
But there was the night I walked in on this:
It was a tenuous peace, but we'll take it.
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