Benjamin was up ready to start his day at 6a.m.

Oh, JOY.

I let him rock out to the sounds of the Fisher Price Aquarium until 6:45, then I gave up on getting any more sleep. So now we're up. He's having his morning milk and I'm having my coffee. It's a ritual I enjoy very much, just not usually this early.

New cute-osity to report:

1) Ben smells flowers. All of them, everywhere. Even the ones on the wallpaper in our powder room. He gets really close and makes this hysterically funny sniffing sound.

2) He also feeds his stuffed animals. I am forever wiping them off because he has given them drinks of milk or bites of yogurt. At this very moment, in addition to giving his stuffed kitty a sip of his milk, he is also brushing kitty's fur with my hairbrush. Let the pretend play begin! ;) I see a kitchen set and lots of fake food in our near future.

3) He is extremely intrigued by the feet on his pajamas. One of his pairs of pajama pants recently started fitting and they have little rubber grippy feet. I guess this is the first time we've put footy pajamas on him since he's been truly aware of this sort of thing. He held onto his feet and kept attempting to examine them up close while Tom was trying to finish up the bedtime routine last night. It was difficult to brush his teeth with his feet in the way. Then, after that, he'd walk two steps and sit back down to examine his feet some more. You had to see it for the full effect, but trust me, it was funny!

That's all for now! Maybe some pictures later! :)

Last week, I found this recipe for homemade playdough on Isaac's blog.

Combine:
2 C Flour
1/2 C Salt
1 TBSP Cream of Tartar

Add:
1-3/4 C boiling water
2 TBSP oil

Today we decided to give it a try. It worked out great except that by "oil", I assume the recipe means vegetable oil, but all we had was olive oil. Oops. It worked fine. And smelled great! I briefly thought about adding some garlic, basil and oregano.

We got out some cookie cutters and Ben seemed to enjoy it, once he realized it wasn't his snack. (He was sort of confused because we were playing at the kitchen table.) I also pressed his hand into some dough and made a little handprint Christmas ornament for our tree this year. :)

Anyway, it's a really easy, fun little rainy day activity... thought I'd pass it along!

No, Benjamin does not need a ride-on train. He's quite happy riding Ryan's train once in awhile. Unless you want a train to keep at YOUR house, in which case, sure, he'd love a train.

We just got back from Ryan's birthday party! The boys had a great time... Ryan's mommy had lots of activities planned around the theme, which was Thomas the Tank Engine! There was a little Thomas train set up for the kids to play with, train whistles, train stickers, Thomas the Tank Engine cars for favors, and they made their own wearable trains out of very cleverly disguised Pampers boxes and train suspenders.

Ben had a great time and wore himself out. And I think Ryan enjoyed his train birthday a lot! :)

A few pics...

Ryan and Benjamin composing a birthday sonata at the piano...

Singing happy birthday to Ryan

Daddy and Benjamin working on Ben's train

Benjamin riding Ryan's way cool train (how many kids have their own TRAIN to ride on?!)

Ryan and Benjamin decorating a balloon with stickers

Every single time we have plans to do something... like actual, set in stone plans, Benjamin refuses to nap. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. It's uncanny... I mean, it's literally like he has some bizarro baby spidey-sense.

We have Ryan's birthday party at 3. It's currently 12:50 and NO NAP YET. Any other day? Down at 11, up at 1:30-2'ish. Perfect, right? Yeah, it figures. Can't wait to see how this plays out. Grr... I'm betting on a 20 minute nap in the car while we drive there.

We woke up to clouds... then it got sunny... then we thought for sure it was going to storm like crazy... now it's sunny out back, but stormy out front. I think the weather is confused.

Benjamin is going to visit his Nanee and Pap this afternoon and Tom and I are just going out. We don't know where yet. Movie maybe? Hunting for a tv to go downstairs? Maybe just for coffee and a walk. We never really know. We just go. There's an Amish market near his parents' house that is always sort of interesting to visit. They have good pie. :) I could go for some pie.

My friend Amy is at Hersheypark today. I'm jealous! I haven't been in forever. It'll probably be a few years before we go again too because I'm not sure we'd enjoy it quite as much with a one-year-old. But some people would say that about Disneyworld too... so who knows. They have this really great chocolate "factory" tour/ride that dumps you out into the biggest store full of chocolate you have ever seen. They also pump chocolate smell into the ride... it's heaven. And free samples... there are free samples. SO GOOD.

If you're reading this blog, have kids and you live in the PA/MD/DE/VA/D.C. vicinity, you may also want to check out Dutch Wonderland. Jen and the family went a month or two ago and said it's a wonderful place to take kids. It's A LOT cheaper than Hershey too! I was just looking at their website and it looks really cute!

Tomorrow is Ryan's birthday party. That should be fun! :) One of the best parts about having friends with kids the same age is that they plan things around their kid's naptime, which coincidentally means things are planned around OUR kid's naptime. So the party is at 3:00, which means everyone will be well rested and in good spirits. Hooray!

22 days till Disney World. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!! Already, I can tell this trip is going to be different for Benjamin because he understands so much more. I'll be able to point things out and he'll get excited about them... like the elephants on the Jungle Cruise, the birdies in the Tiki Room, and the characters (most of whom he knows by name now), even the airplanes at the airport should be exciting for him! He's also so good at climbing now... I think he'll really, really enjoy exploring the kiddie areas. I can't wait! :) Plus, it's going to be MUCH less crowded this time around. We are going during the least busy month, so that will be VERY nice.

Oh, it's cloudy again. The suspense is killing me! ;)

Upside down Benjamin...



And two of my little music lover... (he will sit in front of the cd player for a LONG time just listening)

I just love how he sits on his knees with his feet all tucked under...


Listening intently... (to the Disney World soundtrack) ;)

About a month ago, Tom taught Benjamin to do the "stomp stomp CLAP" bit from "We Will Rock You" He usually slaps his tummy twice and then claps, but he's pretty good. If you put the song on, he actually keeps up quite well! ;) Yeah yeah, video. I'm working on it!

Anyway, Ben now uses this slap slap clap thing as a greeting whenever he sees Tom. It's hysterical. He also just does it randomly throughout the day.

But last night? He took funny to a whole new level. For whatever reason, bad dream, too hot, too cold, planets not quite aligned...whatever... he woke up at midnight. So I brought him to bed with us and he fell back to sleep. A little while later, his binky fell out and he "woke up". I put that in quotes because I'm not entirely sure he was actually AWAKE. What did he do? Did he feel around for his binky? Snuggle up with froggie? Whine? Cry? No...

Slap slap CLAP. "Daddy!" Slap slap CLAP! "Daddy!" Slap slap CLAP.

At 1 a.m.

He did this until I replaced the binky and then he was out again.

Yuppers. I definitely got a ONE-of-a-kind with this child...

Apparently Google now has their own IM program? I give up... I'm out of room on my screen. If I don't respond to you it's because I'm either away (and forgot to set my message) or I just can't find your IM behind all the other windows! Gah!

I first saw these Crayola Window Markers at Jen's house. They are way cool. I picked up a set at Joann two days ago and we've had a ball with them. The only problem is that our windows have those crossbars on the inside and Benjamin can't seem to grasp that he can't WRITE on those. So I have to supervise very closely.

Yesterday evening though, we took them out on the deck and I let him doodle all over the glass table. So fun!

I will warn you though...cleanup is a little messy and takes forever. They leave sort of a film you have to wipe off about a hundred times before the glass is clear again. :) Worth the trouble though! :)

Chocolat: Excellent movie. Go Netflix it/rent it. NOW. Okay, well maybe you can wait until tomorrow morning. But do it soon! Trust me, it was GOOD!

Also, Chocolat the soundtrack? Get that too while you're out.

And can you pick me up some actual chocolat? Thanks. :)

p.s. It's cool enough here tonight to have the WINDOWS OPEN. We're listening to all those wonderful summer evening sounds... crickets, froggies...whatever animal makes that click-click-click sound. (what IS that, anyway?)

Happiness. :)

Yes, I realize there were catalogs... but it's just not the same.

During Ben's nap today, I managed to finally find a rug that matches the master bathroom, ordered that. "But," you say, "It's just a bathroom rug! You can get those at TARGET!" Yeah... I know. In every dang color except for the red *I* was looking for that matches the valence we put up when we redid the bedroom. Of COURSE that color would only be available at Pottery Barn. These home decor places conspire with each other, I swear they do. It doesn't help that I'm picky and didn't want one with that rubber grippy stuff on the back of it. Monkeygirl feels my picky home decor pain.. I know she does.

Measured the second nursery office for new blinds, ordered those.

And ordered a print I've been eyeing for the basement family room.

Btw, if you clicked on that link you found out we're going with a (subtle) Disney theme for our basement decor. Shut up. It's not going to be tacky or childish, I promise. ...though I HAVE always wanted a "Mickey Parts" bathroom. (you know, the one with the mickey glove as the soap dish and the mouse ears shower curtain rings?) Hrm...

Lefty McGee


Mommy is SUCH an artist...

Benjamin is 17 months old today! :) This past month has brought even more fun and craziness to our house. Some dancing, some booty shaking and some new words (as listed in yesterday's post) He knows most of his letters and shapes too! :)
There also must be a LOT of growing going on because most of his summer clothes either don't fit or are close to not fitting! :

...not that high school was "home". But I did spend four very formative years of my life there and much of who I am today I became during those years.

I visited my old high school this morning and of course, it inspired a post...

First of all, I've been out of there TEN years. WOW.

Anyway, I've mentioned my favorite English teacher, Mrs. Cawthorne, on here before. But I also had a favorite math teacher who deserves some recognition. It's odd that I'd have a favorite math ANYTHING because, well, let's not beat around the bush, I ABHOR math with every fiber of my being.

I was coming off of a traumatizing year of Algebra II with a different teacher where I earned pretty much straight D's (oh yeah, I was a math STAR!), and Mr. Radcliffe made three years of Geometry, Trig and Analytic Geometry not as painful as they could have been. He also let me into a Pascal programming class senior year (that I had absolutely NO business being in) just because I wanted him as a teacher for my senior year.

Why was he the bestest math teacher in the whole world? I'm glad you asked...

1) JOURNALS. Some ridiculous part of my math grade was based on keeping a journal. We had to write three lines a day and it could be about ANYTHING. I was ALL OVER THIS. The best part? He read them... each and every one of them...and wrote back. He did this for every student in every one of his classes. There were some kids who hated it... and some who just wouldn't do it. I never understood that because a) it was fun and b)EASY CREDIT! But maybe they were just math nerds who didn't like to write. To each his own. ;) I still have all of my journals from all three years I had Mr. Radcliffe. Every now and then, I come across them when I'm cleaning out the closet. I always take a minute to flip through and they always make me smile.

2) HUMOR. This was a teacher with a great sense of humor.
Some of my favorite memories:
* Once, in geometry, this girl raised her hand and asked to go to the bathroom. He gave her the hall pass and as soon as she was gone, he made us all get up and go hide in an empty classroom. C'mon... that's FUNNY! She was so confused...

* He told a story once about when he was teaching at another school. One of the other classes was doing that thing where you carry around an egg all the time and pretend it's a baby. Well, this one guy left his egg in Mr. Radcliffe's room. The next day, Mr. R. showed up to class eating a scrambled egg. HHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ohh man, good stuff, I tell ya!

* He showed up in costume on Halloween, I distinctly remember a dracula custume one year.

* He used to incorporate students into the test questions. Every time a test was passed out, you'd hear sporatic laughter as people read through it. Somewhere (in the same box as the journals), I have a test I was written into. I wish I could remember the question because I'm sure it was funny!

* He called me Moron. (kinda sounds like Erin if you you really butcher it). Other math retards may not have found this funny, but it was all in good fun and I thought it was a riot.

* Once, he was all annoyed because someone stole his donut. I don't remember the details of the donut-napping, but I remember I thought it'd be funny to make a "Missing" poster for said donut. He thought it was hysterical and hung it up in his office. It was up there for the longest time... I wonder if it's still around?

3) He really got to know all of us. This was a teacher who was (still is, I'm sure) 100% invested in the students he taught. He was always available if you needed help... he showed up to school events was the coach (still coaches, I think) the girls softball team.

Once, he showed up at my house while taking his kids trick or treating on Halloween. (and about scared me to death, as I remember) He also came to my graduation party! How many teachers take the time to do something like that?

Unlike in my English and writing classes, I had no particular math talent to speak of. I wasn't the star in those classes, by ANY stretch. I struggled, I cried, I failed things. But Mr. Radcliffe got me through high school math and out the other side without too much trauma in the middle. I'm quite happy to never set foot in a geometry class again, but I do miss those years and look back on them with happy memories. I try to go back for a visit once a year or so... because it's always nice to say hello and check in.

I hope Benjamin has teachers like Mr. Radcliffe and Mrs. Cawthorne -- the kind he can look back on years later and realize what an impact they had on his life. I really got lucky... I could rattle off five or six great teachers I had, maybe more. (one of them is Ben's godmother now!) One was more wonderful than the next.

Thanks, Mr. R. You know I think you're great! I'm so glad you're still teaching and that you still seem to love what you do. And I sure hope you're still making those crazy kids journal! The time you took with those journals means more to me than you will ever know. :)

A math teacher who encouraged my writing... that's just cool!

Benjamin has a new word...

"Ow-ee"
As in, he pinched his hand on Saturday and I called it an "ow-ee". Now he keeps pointing to that part of his hand now and saying, "Ow-ee!" Too too TOO cute. Except I think he just thinks that part of his hand is called an "Ow-ee" Oh well, we'll sort it out later, maybe the next time he gets a skinned knee or a bumped head, which should be in no more than four hours or so.

Other fun things to share...
He will bring me his Chicka Chicka Boom book and say, "Ohhh Noooo." As in, (for those of you familiar with the book) "The whole alphabet up the... OHHHH NOOOOO! Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!"

If he wants to read his Five Little Monkeys Book, he'll bring it to me and say "No no no!" As in, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" He also said this when we encountered the monkeys at the zoo. I thought that was pretty smart! ;)

Goodnight Moon he just brings to me and says, "Light!" because it features a lamp on just about every page.

OH! And my current favorite... do you all know the song "Mah-na-mah-na?" It's an old Muppets bit. I'll try to post it later since I have it around here somewhere. Anyway, we always sing it Ben... in the song, the man puppet says "Mah-na-mah-na!" and the little backup singer girl puppets sing "Ba dee pee dee!" It goes on. Anyway, Benjamin will just randomly look at Tom and me and say "Ma ma ma" and expects us to sing "Be dee pee dee". He'll do the whole song. It's hysterical.

Oh yes, there is video forthcoming. Just have to catch him at the right time! ;)

Get your position here

Stopping to smell the flowers...


Taking a break from his sidewalk art...

We haven't really taught Benjamin any sign language. I started to, back when he was about six months old. But you may have noticed how I like immediate gratification and, well, I wasn't getting it, so I wasn't very consistent with using the sign language I was trying to teach him. In spite of me though, he has picked up on some things on his own... "All Done", for instance... useful, right? Yay!

Now I've noticed that he learns signs really fast now if I do them. The ones he decides he likes for whatever reason, he picks up almost immediately and uses them constistently. Unfortunately, he hasn't really decided he likes the useful ones like "More", "eat", "milk" etc... :
Instead, his sign vocabulary consists of mostly words that are SOOoooo not helpful.

Table, for instance. He got this one from the Baby Wordsworth DVD. He can sign table like a pro. And um... he can also sign "dance". Now he can tell us when he wants to dance on the table. WONDERFUL!

He also does "violin" rather well. What do I do with THAT?

Oh, and he can sign (a madeup sign that his aunt debbie came up with) "volcano".

Umm... yeeeeeah. See what I mean?

The signs he likes, he picks up almost immediately and uses them consistently. Unfortunately, he hasn't really decided he likes the useful ones like "More", "eat", "milk" etc... :\

Okay, so more funny than frustrating. But I KNOW if this kid can sign "table", he can sign "more". He just doesn't WANT to. ;) Sheesh. How RUDE.

OH...MAH....GAH. I just got back from Safeway where I used my THIRD set of free diaper vouchers from Pampers. And guess what they got me? MORE DEFECTIVE PAMPERS CRUISERS! I have been stuck in this awful defective Pampers free voucher circle for three months now.

Greeeeat! So this time, I didn't make it all the way home before I discovered it. I used my common sense (tada!) and opened them in the parking lot. Sure enough... they were the bad ones. A-freakin'-GAIN. This is the FOURTH time. Every time this has happened, I have called Pampers. And every time they assure me that the problem has been fixed and that all the stores have pulled the bad ones off the shelves.
(Well... all the stores apparently except for Target, Walmart, Superfresh, and Safeway.)

Then they send me vouchers for more free diapers. The last time? I got the free ones and then when THEY were bad, I exchanged them for Huggies. (this only worked because Target was out of everything with the Pampers name on it) I now love Huggies, but since I have vouchers for free Pampers, I can't really BUY the Huggies because that woul just be stupid.

SO ANNOYED. SO SO SO VERY ANNOYED.

Oh, and the very best part? I'm pretty sure all the above mentioned stores think I am running some kind of underground/black market Pampers pilfering ring or something. The last girl I talked to when I went back into Safeway to exchange the Cruisers for the Baby-Dry just kept looking my receipt over and then looking ME over. I had to get her to reissue one of my vouchers because they didn't have any Baby-Drys in the size I need... that REALLY made her suspicious.

So Pampers... thank you... thank you SO much for really taking care of this problem.(and for making me want to cloth diaper my kid 24/7)

NO. I don't want more free vouchers. I just want your diapers to WORK.

I go out weekend after weekend, thinking at some point it will BECOME fun, but it really isn't. I think I'm too picky or something.

At any rate, we *finally* decided what furniture to put in our basement family room. Yep. Yep we did. And the best part? It's already here. In our living room.

We decided it would be easier to just move our current living room tables downstairs and get new stuff for the living room that would match our dining room. (are you following this convoluted plan?) This is mostly because Benjamin has already started beating up the living room coffee table. And though it is "distressed" as they say in the design world, he's taking it to an extreme. Part of the reason for doing this whole basement project in the first place is to make a (feeble) attempt at keeping our living room the adult "nice" (yet still casual and homey) room.

No, we will not let him dance on the new living room coffee table. Or bang it with toys. Or run his cars on it. But he can still do all this and more "newly" (oldly?) furnished family room.

So we ordered the new living room stuff today and it will be here next week. That rocks! I am loving this near immediate gratification! This whole waiting two months for a couch is driving me insane.

We came downstairs this morning and Tom and I went in the kitchen to get some coffee. In the other room, we heard Ben saying, "ewwww!" over and over. I went to investigate and found him pointing to a HUGE pile of ants under one of the end tables. After I finished doing my own "ew ew ew" ant dance, I got myself together and started The Extermination. I chanted "Die suckers die!" while I Dysoned them. I emerged victorious. Or so I thought.

Turns out I won the battle, but not the war. I decided to investigate where they might be coming from, since I thought I had coated basically the entire deck/patio door inside and out with Raid just a few weeks ago. Well, further examination had me doing my "ew ew ew" ant dance all over again because they were ALL OVER THE CARPET, concentrated in the area by the other end table where we keep some of Ben's books.

These ants are just STOOPID. Why? There is NO FOOD in this room. I learned THAT lesson two years ago with a box of gummy bears I left on the floor. So they are trying to eat books. ? Or maybe they are a new genetically modified variety that subsist on carpet fiber? I dunno...

At this point though, I meant business. We moved ALL the furniture. (yes, at 7:30a.m.) I Raided the outside of the patio door again and all the baseboards inside. Then I vacuumed not once, not twice, but THREE times. Tom put in "Another One Bites the Dust" to really get me in the spirit as I killed the remaining scattered soldiers.

I'm a little less itchy right now. But still a tad freaked out. Ewww ewww eww.

(the nice cat) Poor POOR kitty.

nothing further.

(sorry about all the videos today, it's raining, we're bored)



Video sharing at JussPress.com

Hee hee...



Video sharing at JussPress.com

I started out with the cloth diapers figuring if I liked them even a little, I'd use them maybe once or twice a day.

Well, I'm very surprised to tell you that I like them so much, I'm now using them about five or six times a day and only using a disposable diaper at night and once in awhile when I'm going out and not going to be home for a few hours. Otherwise? Ben's sporting his big cloth diaper butt all the time now, even for trips to the store.

Who'da thunk it? Certainly not me.

At this point though, I don't have enough in my stash to go a day without doing the diaper laundry. So I need to get a few more. I'm ordering a couple a week right now so it's not all at once. I just placed an order for two more FuzziBunz, which will bring my grand cloth diaper total to eight. That's pretty respectable for someone who never thought they'd own more than two or three, and purely for experimental purposes.

The first round of diapers I bought, I accidentally purchased a diaper COVER because I thought I needed it with the FuzziBunz. I quickly learned that you don't and that you only have to use those with the fitted diapers (we have this one). So I bought a fitted diaper to add to my collection so the cover wouldn't go to waste. They are adorable and so are the covers. The only thing is that unlike the FuzziBunz, they don't have a fleece layer to pull the liquid away into a separate absorbent layer. The whole DIAPER is absorbent. So leaving it on three hours (as I did) is a big MISTAKE. It was soaked. I get it now though... these will be good diapers to use as Ben gets ready for potty training because they feel so uncomfortably wet. You are supposed to check them every hour or so though and change them as soon as they feel wet. (just an fyi for those you considering your own cloth diaper experiment)

Even Tom has gotten into it. In true Tom fashion, he did all the math... asked me how much the diapers cost vs. how much the ">cases of Pampers cost... how many Pampers I would use a day .. yada yada... and figured that by the time I have been doing this for six weeks straight, we will be saving money. (or at least have broken even ) He has yet to CHANGE a cloth diaper though. I think he'd be fine with just a wet one, but he is absolutely PETRIFIED of the poopy ones. Hehehe...

Yum!

Last night I went to Meghan's Pampered Chef party. I took my camera with the intent to take tons of pictures of people posing with crazy kitchen gadgets, but I didn't take a single one. Why, you ask? Because I was too busy stuffing my face with southwest chicken ring and apple caramel cheesy goodness.

OH! So before it all started, I was chatting with my friend Mandy. (sorry, no link because she is a non-blogging lah-HOOSER) and I asked where her sister Becky was and Mandy mentioned she was going to come but ended up having to work late. Becky is a nurse over at Johns Hopkins. Okay, so come to find out, Becky has my blog bookmarked on her floor's computer and now? THE WHOLE FLOOR READS. And then? They talk about it. Apparently, they were all abuzz about my cloth diaper experiment the other day. That just cracks me up! So anyway, I just wanted to give a little shoutout to the girls over at Hopkins. I've been wondering why there was so much jhu.edu in my stats... mystery solved! ;) Thanks for reading! (and whoever bought the Mommy's Little Monkey shirt, thanks too! :)

Okay, so Pampered Chef. I like Pampered Chef, I do. I'm a HUGE fan of their pizza stone and I use it ALL THE TIME. But I really didn't intend to purchase more than an apple corer and a new measuring spoon. (my old one melted in the dishwasher)

Then came Eunice.

I'm telling you, Eunice could sell me dryer lint.

Everything she held up, (and some things she didn't) I suddenly had a need for.

Bamboo tongs? Can't. live. without. them.

Measuring cup that you can push the bottom up out of? (I still can't figure that one out) NEED IT.

Bright red silicone hot pad that doubles as a jar opener and about a hundred other different things? MUST HAVE.

Thingy to cook soup in the microwave without stuff exploding everywhere? (Tom will love this). GIVE ME TWO!

About the only thing I couldn't find a use for was the avacado peeler. I have never even had an avacado IN my house much less had the need to peel one.

And the food? OHMAHGAH the food. So. good. SO. FREAKING. GOOD.

At some point during the evening, Mandy and Meghan decided *I* need to host a party.(I'm unclear as to WHY they want me to do this, but I think it involves free stuff) So as I was paying signing over my house to Eunice at the end of the evening, she says, "Would you be interesting in hosting a party?"

From behind me, I hear Mandy say "Yes!"

Eunice says, (not even blinking an eye that none of this is coming out MY mouth) "What month?"

"She'd like to do it in September. But the 25th is bad for me."

Uhhh....

Thanks Mandy. Now Eunice is going to be calling me every other day. :P

I just might host a party...(not in September)It was fun and the food was yummy. (and I really want this ice cream scoop) And frankly, Eunice did rock the hiz-ouse. Apparently there are only 15 other Pampered Chef cult leaders consultants IN THE COUNTRY who have sold more than her. Somehow, I believe that!

OH, and I spent enough to get the free bowl. Yay! ;)

Ben turns 17 months old next week, so I was reading up on what's supposed to be going on... thought I'd share (with my own editorial comments in red)

New this month: Going up"Consolidation" is a key word during this month. More than 90 percent of 17-month-olds are walking well enough that they're able to walk, squat down to pick an object up off of the floor (or RUN at full speed toward any open door, or dance like a maniac on the coffee table)— or stoop to play with it for a minute or so — and then pop right up again and keep on going. Just a few weeks (or maybe months) ago, your toddler couldn't walk without holding onto something, either your hand or a piece of furniture (or the cat), so this agility is remarkable. (and really REALLY exhausting)

This month, then, is a period of fine-tuning and combining skills. Climbing continues to be a big thrill. (Greeeeeeeeat!) Your 17-month-old demands that you let her walk up stairs (he doesn't demand to go upstairs, he just goes. We took the gate down because him climbing up it was getting old), rather than be carried, though she probably needs you to hold her hand. (oh! They mean the kid actually wants to WALK as opposed to crawl up the stairs. Yeah, we totally just started that. Mr. Short Legs is pretty determined in the stair climbing arena) She also wants to try climbing up onto chairs — and other pieces of furniture that are about chest height (ya think?! Note to self: Buy some taller furniture)— and, once she gets up, is able to turn herself around (and do the hokey pokey, because that's what it's really all about) and sit facing forward, a complex feat. (Since your toddler can get around the house quickly, and because she is constantly testing her physical abilities, consider gating potentially dangerous areas, such as staircases, and putting childproof door latches (or heavy duty velcro) on bathroom doors and other parts of the house where exploring could get her into trouble.)

It's also common for a 17-month-old to put physical skills to use by trying to climb out of the crib.(haha! My kid's too short to do this!! neeer neener!) For safety's sake, adjust the crib mattress to the lowest level, and never leave the side rails down. (heck no! I'm not leaving the side rails down.. that will only encourage him!) If your child can climb out in spite of those measures, you may have to move her out of the crib and into a bed, where she won't have as far to fall when she climbs out.

----------------------
Yeah, so 17 months sounds like more of the same. Yay! Oh well, at least I'm getting plenty of exercise! Gah!

I just raided another ant party in the basement. (which I have been told I should call a "family room" now since apparently in some parts of the country, "basement" means dark, dank, windowless room? Really? Comments? Confirm... deny?)

Anyway, they were really wooping it up this time. I think I saw a tiny keg in the corner and the music was turned up WAY too loud. Who knows how long the party had been going on. Judging from the sheer number of partiers that had gotten the memo, I'm going to guess it was an all-nighter. But they are all dead now so... party's over for now.

Speaking of terms that are different/unknown in different parts of the country, do you all know what a snowball is? (those of you NOT in Maryland?)

**edited to note that the "snowball" am referring to is NOT, in fact, the dirty kind** :P
I will also tell you that it IS edible, but not something made by Hostess. Wow. So apparently the rumor is true... snowballs are local. How WEIRD! Keep guessing, I'll tell you what it is later and maybe share a picture or two if I get out of the house to take one!

**edited again to add that THIS guy explains the Snowball quite well.

here.
Fisher Price has all these great little Flash games online. I don't know about your baby/toddler, but Ben loves to sit on my lap climb up onto the computer chair and play on the keyboard. The game I just linked to lets him do that without messing things up (or stopping the game by hitting the wrong key. He played it while I folded ALL the laundry yesterday. (and he looks WAY cute sitting at the computer all by himself)

They have other ones too. But he needs help with some of those. He especially likes the ABC one and the animal sounds one the best.

Of course, now when he sees my laptop out (like now) he's even more all over it than he used to be. SOoooo... yeah, gotta go! He's attacking!

The boy "asked" to go into his crib for some quiet time. (by asked, I mean, he got his froggie, went upstairs and reached up for the crib while looking at me and whining). I think he got bored with me or something! So up there he is... and here I am, watching Dr. Phil.

Thought I'd update a bit on the cloth diaper thing. I'm getting used to it... the washing them all the time threw me a little bit, but I got a few more diapers and now that's not as annoying. I've got it down.

Ben hasn't worn a single disposable diaper all day long! (it's raining so we haven't gone much of anywhere) I changed a couple of poopy ones and it's not so bad now that I've done it a few times. I really like it and Ben seems to like the soft diapers. I keep meaning to put one of each out (a cloth and a disposable) to see if he'll pick one or the other. I'd be willing to bet he'd choose the cloth one. They are just so soft... Also, the lady I got them from over at naturalbabies.com is great!A snap broke off of one of my FuzziBunz and she is going to exchange it for me, no questions asked.

(YankeeBelle, you could totally do this part-time when the baby isn't at daycare... and you'd love it!)

Ah well, I should go get the boy. Quiet time can only last so long. Sorry if this post bored some of you. I know a few people were curious about my cloth diaper experiment though. :)

Notes for the baby book...

Ben is starting to mimic words and sounds that we say now. It started with letters, he'll repeat almost all of them (and now knows most of them too!). His current favorite is B. B for Ben. "Bee bee bee bee bee!!"

He also talks back to his Leapfrog toys sometimes when they say animal names. I heard "dog" for the first time this morning after the Leapfrog basketball game spelled it out and said it. Yay! 18-month language explosion, here we come! (maybe) ;)

I took a test yesterday and it came back negative. It would have been crazy insane if it had come back positive (and, wow, 100% OOPSIE!) and I was *mostly* rooting for it to be negative because of some timing issues with our upcoming Disney trip.

But... okay yeah, I'm disappointed. And here's the REAL kicker. So was Tom.

For three days (increasingly more so for each of those days) I have walked around thinking I MIGHT be pregnant with Ben's brother or sister. I wasn't concerned either way, it was just in the back of my mind. I was careful with how much coffee I had. I skipped out on the crazy raspberry vodka concoction at the family picnic. (okay, yeah, so that didn't take much willpower). I took my vitamins faithfully.

I am still waiting for the real proof I am not pregnant, but I'm sure it's coming. Just a little late for whatever reason. But yesterday, when it still wasn't here, I was SO sure that test would have two lines. I sooo didn't want it to. I soooo DID want it to. I was torn. But now that it didn't.... well, not so torn. (I think. Hrm.)

It's definitely good that I won't be six weeks pregnant in Disney World. That's good news for everyone involved, TRUST me.

But I had already accepted it and I feel like I would have managed...

It's also good that I'm not going to be due at the end of April. It would been a CRAZY two months for us, the new baby's birthday being preceeded very closely by my birthday, Ben's birthday, our wedding anniversary, my brother's birthday, and Tom's birthday.

But we would have managed...

:: sigh ::

Soooo, a meme...(stolen from Rbelle)

25 questions that won’t change your life


1. When you look at yourself in the mirror, what’s the first thing you look at?
My hair

2. How much cash do you have on you right now?
$6

3. What’s a word that rhymes with “TEST”?
Pregnant.

4. Favourite plant?
Anything that is hard to kill and makes pretty flowers.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
Probably myself. Calling from the house phone to FIND the cell phone.

6. What is your main ring tone on your phone?
The Muppet SHow Theme

7. What shirt are you wearing?
What else? A polo.

8. Do you “label” yourself?
I don't even know what the heck this means.

9. Name brand of your shoes currently wearing?
Les Socks.

10. Do you prefer a bright or dark room?
I prefer afternoon sunlight when possible... otherwise, just a lamp or two

11. What did you have for breakfast?
a whole wheat eggo with some butter and jelly

12. Since question 12 is weirdly missing, make something up.
I'm really sorry for the lack of a real post today... maybe later.

13. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Sleeping

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell phone say?
"Hey! I found a ring!" (from Amy)

15. Do you ever click on “Pop Ups” or Banners?
only by accident. There is one on Yahoo with a yellow running guy that I keep clicking on by accident lately and it is driving me NUTS.

16. What’s an expression that you say a lot?
"No NO Benjamin!"

17. Who told you they loved you last?
Tom

18. Last furry thing you touched?
the evil cat

19. How many hours a week do you work?
24/7?

20. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed?
I don't use film anymore and I'm pretty much caught up on my shutterfly ordering for the moment.

21. Favourite age you have been so far?
28 has been nice. 25 was good too.

22. Your worst enemy?
Depends when you ask.

23. What is your current desk top picture?
Some generic Windows XP background w/ clouds and grass.

24. What was the last thing you said to someone?
Hey, you pooped! When did that happen? I didn't smell anything!

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to go back in time and fix all your mistakes which would you choose?
The money please. Mistakes build character.

We went to a picnic today with Tom's family and extended family. The boy wore himself out on the playground and had a ton of fun doing it.


And we managed to take a family picture... Can you find me? I'm one of the disembodied heads in the back row. Ben is being held by his grandmother in the front center. He wasn't very patient with the whole family picture taking business.

I could barely hold the camera still I was laughing so hard. Click below to see why...

The kid's got mad skillz.... what can I say? ;)


To to clarify, this new method of drinking out of a cup is not without its very big messes. But most the the time, he's pretty accurate. Now if someone could just teach him how to be more accurate with that fork...

Well, it was inevitable, though I did my best to avoid it. The poopy cloth diaper. I thought I was safe because I had just CHANGED a poopy (disposable) diaper... but I'm thinking Ben has a little bit of a tummy bug going on right now because 45 minutes later, with a nice clean Bumkins on his butt, he started make THAT face.

At that point, it was too late and I thought, "Well, at least I can blog about it!"

So here I am.

Let me tell you people, I was NOT feeling the cloth diaper love when I was changing that sucker. Like I said, he seems to have some sort of bug, so just infer from that what you will and we'll just say "it" didn't just "roll off" into the toilet. Yeah. Not cool.

However, immediately after, I had to empty the diaper genie because, as usual, it was overflowing, and frankly, that was no picnic either. (and actually took more time than emptying the poopy diaper.)

Yes, it was an adventure. But, I do NOT wish to do THAT again today, especially if he is going to keep up the poopy streak he's on right now. SO, he's wearing a Pampers.

For all the points I just lost with the crunchy mommies for being a poop wuss, maybe I can win some back by telling you that I took Ben OUT OF THE HOUSE today in a cloth diaper when I ran some of my errands. Points? Anyone?

Ben's first-year scrapbook a.k.a. "The Tome", is finally complete. I'm very proud of it, but am going to make a concerted effort to keep the new "family" one I'm going to start a little more under control. This one, which I haven't actually weighed but it feels like at least ten pounds, is a tad unwieldly. I think the traditional "scrapbook" cover isn't going to last and I'm just going have to put the pages in a 3-ring binder.

If you gave Benjamin a card at any point in his first year, we have it. Just so you know... they are ALL there. If you held him at any point, if we visited you, or if you visited us? It's documented. First tooth, first roll, first steps, first stuffy nose... got it. It's a little overwhelming. But at least I don't have piles and drawers full of STUFF all over the place anymore.

Whew. Okay, time to start the new one. :)

I had plans! Things to do! People to see... and now it's Friday and I have done like, ZERO of them and seen NO ONE. Lame. And today my big adventure consists of running to the grocery store because I forgot we have to make fruit salad (yummy, yummy*) for a picnic we are going to this weekend.

I do have some shoutouts (wow, am I HIP or what?) to some friends who claim they get no blog-love. Congratuations to Amanda and Dean, who just found out yesterday they are having another little girl! A little sister for Hannah will be arriving around Christmas-time if all goes according to plan. (meaning Amanda's doctor has mercy on her and does the c-section before her due date in early January) ;)

And also congrats to Ben's (estranged) aunt Amy who just bought a house with The Boy! It's entirely too far away though! An hour away and requiring travel of the Washington, D.C. beltway to visit is just NOT COOL. But nevertheless, I am happy for her and The Boy.

I have some news involving Ben and the use of a cup without a lid (ooo!) but that will have to wait until I can provide photo documentation.

The weather? Eh... 125, hazy, hot, and humid or something. I say, just stay inside and watch Sesame Street like we probably will.

And that has been this morning's Blog News. Thanks for reading!


*Clever little joke there, eh? See... if you DON'T get it, you just think, "Oh, she must really like fruit salad. Good for her!" But if you DO get it, you will now walk around with that annoying Wiggles song in your head ALL DAY! Go me! ;)

I have to run a bunch of errands today. That's always fun in the 90 degree heat and humidity with the boy along for the ride. But, on the bright side, I get to go to Target. Yay! A trip to Target always brightens my day. And Ben? I have trained him well because HE loves Target too.

However, he has already learned that there is a toy section... a place where he can look at the toys but not (always) take one home. That makes him very VERY sad. The kind of sad that often leads to screaming. Ugh. But I LOVE going down the toy aisle! So I must be into self-punishment or something because I always do it anyway, knowing full well what the inevitable outcome will be. Luckily, he usually stops after a couple minutes or so, when I hand him some goldfish to distract him. ;)

On a side note. Have any of you explored the dollar section at the front of Target? I got new measuring cups there last time, and chip clips, and containers for leftovers and replacement glass for frame Ben broke! What joy! What glee!

Wahoo! I seriously need to throw a party... I feel like I have been paying this thing forEVER. And those morons at the U.S. Department of Education (at least the ones who answer the phones?) I NEVER HAVE TO TALK TO THEM AGAIN!! :D

I'm sure the other mommies will agree with me... but I think it's really interesting, and Tom does too, how when you have a baby you get to observe development -- all kinds -- from the very VERY beginning. You see firsthand how a child learns to do the most basic things, things we totally take for granted like sitting up, walking, feeding ourselves and speaking and understanding a language. (Do you realize how complicated it is to just to learn to speak much less learn about all the in and outs of a language? FIVE years of French and I'm sure French two-year-olds sound better than me when they speak it.)

Anyway, so babies... first they are that somewhat boring, yet simultaneously fascinating, do-nothing lump. But you keep thinking about how cool it is that nine-months ago, they weren't even a lump? They were just two CELLS. MICROSCOPIC CELLS, people! Cells that grew arms and legs and a BRAIN (and a tail, but that fell off, thank goodness). That's just cool...

Then around the time when you get bored with pondering that... they start doing things. Smiling, studying you, ROLLING OVER. But wait? He was just a lump? How did he get it together enough to roll over? The process was just so interesting... and I watched it from day one. One day he started lifting his head a little on his tummy instead of just screaming and burying it into the playmat. He worked on that for awhile, then he figured out how to push up on elbows a little... then one day, literally RIGHT in front of my eyes, it all came together for him and he ROLLED OVER. He looked just as surprised as I was.

It has been the same thing with the talking. First he was pretty mute except for the screaming... ah yes, the screaming. They sure do know how to do THAT from the start. I can just imagine God saying to each little soul before he sends it down.. "Okay, now you won't be able to do MUCH when you get there... but you can SCREAM. And you'll need to do that a LOT. These are first-timers, kay? Now let's practice... "

Then, JUST when we were thinking he was only born programmed with screaming mode, he started coo'ing. And lo, it was music to our ears. "He coo'ed! He's a genius!"

Then we were hooked. We wanted more. We were in his face constantly... filling his little head with syllables. "Mamamamamamamamama..." "Dadadadadadadada", "Orioles baseball Orioles baseball Orioles baseball" (sorry, that was dada getting carried away)

But more didn't come until he was almost SEVEN MONTHS OLD, if I remember correctly. There he was, standing next to the chair in the living room (I think he must have practiced THAT skill in the womb or something) and finally... "Mama."

Then he promptly forgot how to say Mama and moved on to Dada. But I digress.

What has been interesting is looking back and seeing how much he has learned over the months. Each day by itself doesn't seem like much but considering he was that mute lump about 16 months ago, I mean, that's some serious progress.

What brought on this developmental diatribe? (Rbelle is going to visit today and she's totally going to just LEAVE when she sees the millions of words waiting for her) Well that whole "Bop-it" thing from yesterday-- You see, I realized that was the culmination of a month or two of work for him! He has been working on the "P" sound for awhile... when he sees my dad he whispers, "Pop Pop Pop" (almost like he's not quite sure of humself, and just practicing) And then just a week or so ago, he got a real handle on the "B" sound. And I guess the "Bop it" combination was just the perfect launching point for a whole new sound! He went around the house for, I kid you not, FOUR hours last night saying "Bop it" and various derivations thereof. "Bob-ay" "Bop-EE" "Bob-EYE". Something obviously clicked there...

Anyway, all very interesting... more and more I kinda wish I had studied child development in college instead of marketing and advertising. It's just cool. :) I might just have to google myself an education later on.

For those of you following along at home.... ;)

We used the Bumkins AIO this afternoon. Ben wore it for about four hours (until he woke up from his nap) and it held up perfectly! He definitely "used" the diaper... and it didn't leak one little bit! Also the FuzziBunz has been washed and dried and looks brand new and ready to use again... the Bear is apparently ashamed of being all naked now and is gazing at it longingly.

Benjamin has a new word... are you ready?

It's "Bop-it"... yes, as in the cheesy game.


We have one in the basement where all his toys are and sure enough, he calls it, clear as day, a Bop-it.

Daddy's reaction to the news?

"I was really hoping the first game he'd recognize would be Monopoly."

**updated to answer Yankee Belle's question**
Apparently, you can just throw them all in a bag or a diaper pail (wet or dry) until you are ready to do the wash.

Now, I only have two diapers in circulation at the moment and I knew I was going to be doing laundry today sooo... I kinda took the lazy way out and just threw last night's FuzziBunz in Ben's regular hamper. I'm also just washing it with the regular clothes since I can't justify washing just one (or three) diapers by themselves again.

I'm just washing them in warm (after a soak cycle first) and tumble drying on low. Apparently the main key is to make sure they are well rinsed... otherwise they can stink and/or leak. (this is all what I have read, I really have no clue). So the washer is running an extra rinse cycle as we speak. This would all be much easier, I think, if I had more diapers and could wash them all together.



Last night, we tried the blue FuzziBunz. (the one with the pocket and maxi-pad-esque insert) It worked great! He wore it about three hours and when we took it off, the fleece first layer was totally dry, and the maxi pad thing was soaking wet. So there you go! Not too bad. So far, my only real complaint is the bulkiness. But I don't think there is any way around that.

This morning, (post his usual a.m. #2), Ben is sporting a Bumkins All-in-one. And, as you can plainly see, baby got BACK.


Lotta junk in the trunk!

He seems comfortable enough in it though... I'll update later when the diaper itself has been truly christened tested.

I'm going to take this post to respond to the questions and comments from the peanut gallery.
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I'm very interested in what you think of the cloth diapers. Ive been interested but havent jumped in seems like $20 a diaper is a little expensive to me. Im still doing the disposable route.
Steph

Steph: in all honesty (*maybe* I'm jumping the gun here), I will probably still mainly use disposables. I think if I had started with the cloth thing a little earlier, maybe I'd use more of them... but now the investment is pretty large to really cloth diaper frequently. And if you go by when the average kid is potty trained (36 months) we're already almost halfway there... but, we'll see... my initial investment was $16.95 for the FuzziBunz, and I think $13.95 a piece for the two Bumkins. I'd have to use them a LOT for justify the cost right now. But then again, I don't have to get in my car, drive to BJ's and lug home a huge case of Pampers (only to find I got another %*# defective box that I have to go return). Hrm... sorry, rambling.)
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Still laughing~~~
gm | 08.08.05 - 8:44 pm | #

GM - thanks, Mom. :P

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Laughing my arse off over here.

Laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh.

(psst.... tell me if it works, ok?)
Mrs. belle

-Mrs. Belle, you and gm can just go stand in your own little laughing corner together. ;) I'm sure Mrs. Flinger will be along to join you shortly. Heck, I just might join you in a week or so after a coupla poopy cloth diapers.

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Girl I am so proud. I would LOVE to use cloth but daycare is likely in my future so I will be going the disposable route. However, that's awesome.

I'd say the 26$ case vs. the 17$ diaper: factoring in one less diaper in a landfill for 500 years, every time you use the fuzzibunz, that's a good thing.

I guess I'm going to have to plant a bunch of trees to make up for the damage I'll do, tree-hugging, recycling, ecologically-minded freak that I am.
YankeeBelle

YankeeBelle - LOL! You know you could just cloth diaper at home and on the weekends. That's what a lot of the women on my message board do. ;) Besides, did you go LOOK at the cloth ones? So. Freakin. CUTE.

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Why are you already worried about potty training? Be sure to watch out for diaper rash- if he feels it that means it's right on his skin.
Jen

Jen:
I'm not worried about potty training... GAH... especially right now that Ben seems more than content to continue doing his business in his diaper (either kind) and thinks the toilet is only for throwing daddy's contact lens case into. Not even going to TRY to introduce the idea of the potty until he's interested. (probably mid two, right?)

BUT, I am curious to see if this makes him more aware that he is wet. As for the wet being against his skin... actually, if you change them frequently enough, it's not really. The first layer stays dry and the absorbent maxi pad thing soaks up all the pee. (I observed this last night when I took off the FuzziBunz, but more on THAT later). I think it still doesn't feel COMPLETELY dry, like a disposable, where all the pee gets sucked up into that gel stuff. Everything I have read says if you change them frequently enough and sanitize the diapers well, diaper rash shouldn't be a problem.

In FACT, I'll have to get Jane or someone to back me up on this, but I think cloth diapers are often a treatment for persistent diaper rash.

Again, this is just an experiment. I don't expect Ben to start peeing on the potty next week or anything... :)

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This post had me cracking up! Especially the pictures of Bear wearing the diapers. From the looks of them, I'm liking the FuzziBunz too. Let us know how they work out!

Oh, and I see you are just as creative as we are about naming the stuffed animals...ours are Elephant, Monkey, Froggie, Puppy and Teddy. Hmmm...can you guess what they are???
Carolyn

Carolyn: Yeah... ::blush:: We're not so creative. We also have froggie, doggie, kitty, kitty and kitty. (LOL!) Btw, this is not Bear's first stint as a diaper wearer. We used him for practice with the newborn diapers before Ben was born. ;)

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I'd rather toss out shitty diapers than wash shit covered things lol It wasn't enjoyable when I dropped a poopy diaper on the chanigng table cover and had to wash it, I can't imagine washing mass quantites of poop covered diapers. But, more power to ya
Sarah

Sarah: I thought the same thing. And I'm going to try my best not to try the cloth diapers at a time when Ben is infamous for doing #2. However, apparently it's also not a big deal. It falls right off the diaper into the toilet and then you just wash it. I figure I wash pretty gross bibs every two days! How much different can it be?

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LOL oh my god Erin, you had me laughing so hard! Especially with the bear with the diapers on. Thanks I needed that tonight! I also have been over on that website looking at all the cute diapers but haven't jumped on that bandwagon yet myself. I just couldn't do the hundreds of $ to get into it at the start, but then I think about all the money spent on the $26 cases of Pampers makes me go hmmm. Also not sure I could stomach putting poopy diapers in the wash. Wisking them into the diaper champ is enough for me. Can't wait for more posts on the diaper saga!
Dawn

Dawn: Thanks! ;) The bear cracked me up too after I went back and looked at the pic. Aw c'mon, you know you want to join my experiment. Just get two or three diapers like I did. They sell for pretty much what you paid for them on EBay if it doesn't work out. (that's what the cloth diaper crowd tells me)

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You're braver then I am. They make Pull ups with a feel wet liner now. That will potty train him just as fast. I am just not into scooping poop out of a diaper.
Rachael

Rachael - Yeah, but have you TRIED the Pull Ups? We have the Pull Ups First Steps and they SUCK. They do NOT stay up if the baby pees even ONCE. And poop? Goes RIGHT UP and out the back. It's nasty... GAG. That being said, I still have two packages of them to go through. Argh.

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OMG. I almost peed myself - where did you say you got these diapers? LOL

I have no words...Bear in the diaper is hilarious, as was Tom's reaction.

Good luck with this, and keep us posted on any progress!
Canadian Carrie

Canadian Carrie:
LOL! Hey, if you are going to pee yourself, why not try a cloth Depends? ;) ROFLMAO. Tom's reaction cracked me up too! Anyway, I got the diapers at naturalbabies.com. Another website that came highly recommended (from Jane) was diaperware.com, but I haven't ordered anything from there yet.


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Thanks for all the comments and questions, guys! If you have any more questions, post and I'll try and find an answer for you.

If you'd like to laugh at me and make fun when I have to dump a #2 into the toilet instead of throwing it into the Diaper Genie, please go stand in the far corner with my mom and Rbelle, (Sarah, you are banished to that corner too)... like I said, Mrs. Flinger will be along shortly. ;)



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Let me preface this post by sharing some things you may or may not know about me:

* I do not recycle -- I know, I know, it sounds horrible. But I don't just do not have the patience or the space right now.

* I did not breastfeed -- I do not want start a bf/ff debate here, I'm just stating the facts. I didn't want to do it, so I didn't. (Those of you who are tsk tsking me right now, don't worry, the boobs enacted their painful revenge for violating mother nature's plan, so I have been sufficiently punished)

* I did not wear my baby (though I can see the advantages to this... maybe next time around if I get one who will be still for more than .5 seconds)

* I did not co-sleep

* I don't buy organic stuff just because it's organic. Have you SEEN the organic bananans in the grocery store? Ew! I like mine genetically modified, thanks. ;)

Now that I have painted that picture of myself for you... I present to you, my latest baby experiment.

~Cloth Diapers~
The girls over at the mommy message board I read got me pondering this. And Jane told me a little more about it. I was intrigued at the idea of potentially getting Ben potty trained sooner. ("they" say that cloth diapered babies potty train sooner because they can feel that they are wet) I was also enamored with the adorable designs and pretty colors and the idea that I wouldn't have to clean out the stupid Diaper Genie as often if I used cloth diapers some of the time. Extra laundry I can handle but that Diaper Genie... man that thing KNOCKS ME OUT when I open it.

Soooo... the experiment began. I went over to Natural Babies (I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that all of the aforementioned things put me in their customer-profile minority) and I purchased three diapers. Just a sidenote, I have nothing against those who are a little more crunchy than me, I'm just saying most people would surprised that *I* was interesting in trying out cloth diapers.

* 2 Bumkins AIO's (All-in-ones) -- meaning they are basically exactly like a disposable diaper... no extra inserts or covers. And you just wash the whole thing.

* 1 FuzziBunz - This is a pocket diaper with a place to put an absorbent insert (sorta looks like a big maxi-pad shaped towel). You remove the insert and wash both pieces.

They arrived today and, for comparison's sake, I put them next to each other with a Pampers Baby-Dry disposable.

from left to right: Pampers, FuzziBunz, Bumkins All-in-One

You can see that, although the cloth diapers are a little bulkier, they are not altogether that much bigger than a disposable... well... until you put them on the baby. But I'll get to that later.

Benjamin was napping when they diapers arrived, so I had to use Bear as my model. Ideally, Bear would not wear a large cloth diaper or a size 4 Pampers Baby-Dry, but he's the biggest stuffed animal we have so....


Although Bear appears to be equally comfortable in all the diapers, The AIO seems to be more bulky than the other two... wouldn't you agree?

Okay, so with cloth diapers, you apparentely have to wash them three times before you can even THINK about testing them out on a real life pee/poop machine. (something about making them more absorbent) So the rest of the afternoon was spent washing and drying them.

At around 4:30, they were finally dry and Ben needed a diaper change, so I put the FuzziBunz (the blue one) on him. It's really REALLY soft and really cute. However his shorts barely fit on top of it! Daddy walked through the door and his first comment was, "Why is Ben's butt so big?"

Speaking of daddy, what does HE think of all this?

"Are you turning into a hippie on me or somethin'?"

My mom keeps laughing at me and swears I only started this so I could blog about it. And, while it IS something interesting to blog about, that's NOT why I started the experiment...

I'll update soon about the FuzziBunz... and tomorrow we'll try the AIO. Although I can already tell, I'm liking the FuzziBunz better... In my next post, I'm going to attempt to rationalize the $16.95 cost of one FuzziBunz vs. the $26.00 cost of a case of 104 Pampers...

Ben has been a little VERY slow to transition to real food. Around 10 months'ish (maybe earlier?), when the other kids his age were starting to eat the dinner mommy and daddy were eating, he was still quite happy with the pureed beef in beef broth a la Gerber. As per all the baby books, I continued offering him different types of foods over and over, but it was really starting to seem hopeless. Yeah, he had SOME non-mush things he'd eat -- waffles, goldfish, pretzels, toast, ravioli, the occasional scrambled egg... but for the most part? Mush. Mush and MORE mush for his main meals. Kinda odd for a kid with 16 teeth, don't you think?

The past two weeks? He's eaten whole grapes, real mac and cheese,raspberries, spaghettios, any kind of big-people cereal in milk, chicken (the non-mush kind), chunks of pineapple, a cherry concoction that his Uncle Marc made, corn... everything we throw at him, he eats. Bizarro. But a very welcome milestone (finally). It'll be nice to go out to eat and be able to just feed him off of our plates or order him a kids meal.

What took him so long? What finally made him "take the food plunge"? Don't you wish you could get into their little heads and find out the answers to these sorts of things?

On your Saturday afternoon baby-free "date", drag him to three furniture stores in one afternoon... Ask him how he feels about 52 different fabric swatches. Ask him questions like, "Do you think the red is too bold?" "Do you think this one is more durable than this one?" "Do you like this texture?" "How about this plaid?"

Laugh maniacally as his eyes glaze over... then make him hand over a chunk of that bonus he just got on Friday to the nice man at the furniture store.

Spend the rest of the day talking and obsessing about the sectional you just purchased. Keep whipping out the fabric swatch you brought home and asking him over and over again if he really REALLY likes it or if he's just trying to get you to shut up about the dang couch already so he can watch the Orioles [some other team that doesn't suck] game. Tell him you want him to take a picture of you sitting on the fabric swatch it in the spot where the couch will go so you can picture it better.

Enjoying this too much to let the fun end>? Make him sit next to you while you peruse the Pottery Barn website deciding how else to spend his bonus.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

Seriously though... If it were up to Tom, this house would be furnished with a futon, his Orioles some other team that doesn't suck chair, a few milk crates/boxes, some Star Wars Posters, his little league trophies, and a bunch of baseball hats scattered all over as accent pieces. It's amazing I've gotten him to let me buy the things we HAVE bought over the years.

Btw, that table from the Pottery Barn catalog I have oggled for four years? I found an almost identical one at the furniture store where we bought our sectional...(thanks for the tip, Val!) ...about $200 less that PB too... (if you figure in the shipping charges I won't have to pay and whatnot). Finally it is MINE... ALL MINE! I'm downright giddy. Of course, nothing we bought today gets delivered until freakin' November so I'll have to wait awhile longer. But after four years of saint-like patience, another 12 weeks won't kill me. I'll just have to go visit it at the store a few times between now and then. ;)

I don't know if I have mentioned this before or not... but my child is obsessed with lights. Lights of all kinds... big lights, small lights, traffic lights, nightlights, candlight, sunlight, moonlight. If it shines, he wants to talk about it, touch it, and gaze at it.

Excited by his newfound word, the adults in his life jumped all over his obsession. That was about four months ago... We started drawing lights on paper, lights on the sidewalk... all just to hear Benjamin say "Nigh! Nigh! Nigh!" Even the least artistic among us (my husband and I compete for this honor) have mastered drawing lamps now.

The other day, just for fun, I took a pen and a drew a lamp on the back of his hand before we went to the grocery store. I figured if all else failed, he could stare at his very own light and be happy. Well it worked... and WHAT a can of worms *I* opened. Now he brings me any pen he might find laying around, points to his hand and says, "Nigh!" D'oh.

Here he is pointing to his hand after I said, "Show mommy your light!"


And here is my lovely artistic rendition of a lamp as drawn with ballpoint pen.


He is equally obsessed with violins these days, by the way... so on his other hand, he has a violin. Yeah, my kid is a little odd...

I realize I am getting repetitive... but for the LOVE OF PETE.


I really and truly have nothing else to say. OH, except that it's HOT.

Oh yeah, and my friend Jen, Ryan's mommy, is pregnant with #2! Go say congrats! Send her first and foremost healthy baby wishes (of course), followed up with a few of those "pink" wishes for good measure...

It's time to place the "How Observant is My Husband?" Game!

I just got this lovely new rug for under the dining room table...another great at find at Tar-jjay
(oops, I can see from the pic I need to center it a little better. That's what I get for letting Ben "help") ;)


Annnnyway, the question is... how long will it take Tom to notice it when he gets home? Place your bets NOW!

Me? I'm going with... he doesn't notice it until Saturday sometime.

**update** He has been home for half an hour and hasn't noticed YET. (despite the fact that he hasn't LEFT the room with the rug since he got home)

The stair/furniture tool to my vacuum cleaner is missing... I'm sure you can all guess who was last seen with it.

::sigh::

The cat hair is starting to take over... please send help.

Summer is SO last week... I'm ready for fall. Of course, fall around here always seems to take a LONG time to transition in, and inevitably, I have to keep the shorts and t-shirts out until November. HATE that.

Yesterday evening, Benjamin and I took a walk. (in the 112 degree heat... we were desperate to get out of the house) For some reason, he was not as distracted by the mailbox/his shadow/the trash can/our car and we made it further down the block than we usually do. I met a girl and her 14-month-old named John. What a CUTIE. He and Ben were adorable together.

Then another girl came over from across the street who I have met once before, with her little girl Sophia, who is two. Lemme tell ya, I am IN trouble because, my kid? LOVES THE GIRLS. He really liked touching her hair... Sophia? She was not so much
feeling the love. Sophia's mommy is 9 weeks pregnant with #2. (Sidenote: Hey pregnant mystery friend, you totally need to come over and meet Sophia's mommy)

Anyway, nice girls... both SAHM's. (for the moment anyway) The problem? I completely forgot to ask them their names and they never asked me mine. I should KNOW Sophia's mommy's name, because I met her at a neighbor's party once but uhh... yeah, it's gone. So now I am in this very strange position... do I ask next time I see them? Or do I just wait for someone else to say it and hope I hear it?

Argh...

With Tom's latest work news and talk of expanding our family soon, there has been some banter about moving.

Nothing serious, mind you... just the realization that we will NEED to move eventually. But when? And where? Argh. I feel like we just DID all that and the WHERE was a truly annoying time of marital compromise. Not to mention, Tom and I go about decision-making in extreme opposite ways:

Me: (first house we see) Oh I love it. It just feels RIGHT. Let's sign the contract.

Him: No. We have to see EVERYTHING that is for sale in the six surrounding zip codes. Let me run the numbers... analyze the average appreciation potential of the properties, visit the schools in the district and practice driving from the house to our offices during rush hour to see how it REALLY will be.

(Seriously... that was only a SLIGHT exaggeration...)

Luckily, it all worked out. We appear to have made a good decision and Tom is quite happy where are now since he can get to his office in about 5.5 minutes if he hits all green lights.

I REALLY do not want to move. ... I like where we are and this house is JUST enough for me. Not too much to clean and take care of, ya know? Plus... the decorating. I'm just now getting a handle on decorating this place. Who wants to start all over again with bare walls and painting and blah dee blah blah it just makes me tired thinking about it. Oh wait, and then there is the actual MOVING part of moving. Could that possibly suck more? Packing up all your crap... carrying it somewhere else and then unpacking it again?

It's enough to make me want to live in this townhouse until I retire to one of those old-people places where they make crafts and have bus outings to the grocery store.

Honestly? We could move tomorrow and just get it over with... the real estate market has been very kind to our property values around here over the four years since we bought. But I think we'll hold off seriously looking until after kid #2 makes his/her appearance. Then we will truly be bursting at the seams. (Later, I'll post a picture of what will be kid #2's bedroom...er... closet so you can see what I mean)

There is one exception to this. About two years ago, they built nine single family homes in our neighbhorhood, as in, you can see them from our front porch and probably carry on a conversation with the people who live there. (I'll throw ya a picture of that view too later) Tom and I were talking and I think we have an agreement that if one of them goes up for sale anytime, we'll at *least* go look at it. It makes sense since a) we love our location and b) we really hate change. Voila! So that's sort of exciting... they are still pretty new to go up for sale, but you never know.

Anyway, all talk about moving aside, Tom came home from work very excited last night. His review overall went very well... they just hired his little brother to work UNDER him. How weird is that? It wasn't so much a "hookup" situation since Tom's brother went to school for the same thing AND he's a math genius who already did a stint at one of Baltimore's biggest investment firms. All in the family I suppose...

Soooo... exciting times in Ben's family these days!

Audience participation time: Those of you who have moved from your first house... I'm just curious... how did you decide to move again? I mean, I know in my parents' case, my dad went out for milk one evening and came home to tell us he'd bought a new house.... but how do NORMAL people do it?

Tom's annual review/bonus doling out was this morning.

He just emailed with the results and... wAHOOooooooooooooEY! House fixin' uppin' here we come! We're so proud of dada!

Also, (this is old news, but I forgot to post it), starting the first of the year, he's a partner in his firm! This was his goal when he first started there out of college and he got it way sooner than he thought ht would. Like, I said, we're pretty proud of him over here.

So yay for husbands who are good at and love what they do... because uhh... for me, that was SOOOOO not the case out there in working people-land, and I REALLY like my life these days.

I finally got around to ordering all the pictures from Shutterfly that I need to finish the scrapbook of Ben's first year. Since it included about 50,000 pictures from our trip to Disney back in March, it was QUITE a large order. Of course, I did get carried away and also ordered the pics to get caught up to this month. Something like 300 pictures total. (I ordered doubles of all the Disney pics for another project I'm working on).

My mother-in-law is my inspiration when it comes to keeping photos organized. She is SO HARD CORE, lemme tell ya. She has 7 (8?) albums... all chronological, dating back to when she and my father-in-law were just married. There are dates and CAPTIONS, people... CAPTIONS!

"The boys" (my husband and two brother-in-laws) mostly couldn't care less... but the girls that come through that house (myself, sister-in-law, Tom's ex and even the neighborhood girls that used to come over and hang out with us) just can't enough of them. Tom and I spent more dates than I can count with me sitting on the floor flipping through the albums for the 100th time and him watching tv.

At first, it was just to check out Tom's ex-girlfriend and to see when I finally made an appearance in an album, but it was also fun to see my husband (then boyfriend) as a little kid. Now I can practically tell you what picture is in which album on which page! I can't say that Tom ever had the same interest in MY baby pictures... boys suck.

So anyway, I'm trying desperately to stay on top of our albums/scrapbooks. I have some backtracking to do since none of the pictures from when we were dating are in any kind of book. Neither are our wedding pictures, except for the professional album... but we have so many other pictures floating around. I have my work cut out for me... GAH. And when I'm done HERE, maybe I'll go work on my mom's BIG BOX. (yes, our family history is in a big box... there are some envelopes in involved...but mostly a big box) ;) Sorry mom. I can't really blame you... you didn't have Shutterfly!

When we first brought the boy home there was the 12 hour marathon nap during the day... something about having days and nights mixed up blah blah...easy during the day, but nighttime hell. OH what a joy that was.

Then was more naps than I can count (like every other hour?)...

Then it was three naps a day, every three hours... (I think?)

Then it was TWO naps a day, one at 10'ish and one at 3'ish.

Then it was ONE nap a day, around 10.

Now, the nap-fairy has smiled upon us once again. Since our trip to the zoo with Jen and Ryan the other day, during which, I postponed Ben's nap until he totally crashed in his stroller at noon... the napping has started happening around 11 or noon.

This means, joy of joys, I no longer have the 6-7 hour Ben marathon in the afternoon. It's much better broken up this way. He sleeps until around 1:30 or 2 now, which leaves only a four-hour stretch of toddlerness in the afternoon.

Not that I don't enjoy spending all day every with him, because I do, don't get me wrong. It's just that six hours straight... well, we start to wear on each other a little, I think. He gets bored with me and with his toys and with these four walls...(and the same old places I take him all the time) and I start practically clawing my eyes out longing for interaction with someone with a vocabulary larger than 12 words.

So yay for later naps. ;)

My only problem now is finding the motivation to DO anything during these naps. Like right now, for instance... I am blogging. I have a million things I SHOULD be doing, but I'm just enjoying the break. :: sigh ::

...with me that I go into Old Navy with the desperate need to find *myself* some non-jean-type pants. I find one pair, try them on only to find them to be WAY too long, give them to the girl in the fitting room then proceed to go raid the baby section and get Ben's ENTIRE fall wardrobe. Ben? Six pairs of pants, six shirts and a baseball hat. Me? Zip. Wrong I tell ya... just WRONG.