19 months tomorrow!

Happy Fall everyone! Owen is 19 months tomorrow.

Poop: 18-24 months, Joys of a Diaper Sprayer and Fuzzi Bunz

Poop. It happens.

Yes, I've been elbow deep in baby poop now for 18 months. Technically I also pick up dog poop everyday as well, just for the record. Most recently the baby poop has started to change enough (READ: sticking to diaper) to begin to disgust me and think of new strategies...

1) a diaper sprayer for the toilet ??
2) researching the dreaded potty training ??
3) disposables? (HA HA, as if)

I choose the sprayer as I don't think Owen is quite ready to potty train yet, but we will be laying a foundation soon. Heck, he's already obsessed with talking about pooping if you even LOOK at the bathroom or step near it... exhibit A:

(upon stepping into the bathroom yesterday)
"Mommy Pooping, pee pee potty?"

(while Tia Kate tried to have some privacy a couple weeks ago, foiled by the fact that Owen can open the doors in our house)
"Tia Poops? Potty? Pooping?"

(while in living room hearing Daddy peeing in the bathroom -- through a closed door)
"Daddy pee pee potty"

So, potty talk has started. Here it begins. More on this topic later. Let's get back to #1, (no pun intended)

DIAPER SPRAYER: every cloth diapering parent needs one!

So this thing rocks. I got mine at Fuzzi Bunz Store.com. It's the one approved by Fuzzi Bunz, with microban (whatever that is) It basically turns your toilet into a bidet. You get a hose sprayer right by the toilet (with good pressure that is adjustable) and for just $45. If you have a hose that connects from the toilet tank to your end stop valve (where you turn the water off to the toilet) that you can easily disconnect, installing this puppy is a cinch. Leave me a comment if you have something else, I did and I got a $10 part at the hardware store and fixed it easily.

It was getting a little dicey trying to get the poop off the diapers at this point. We did go through the "it just pops off as a log" stage, and then by some unknown food force, the poop starting sticking to the diapers. Don't kid yourself, thrashing your cloth diaper around in the toilet water as you flush IS fairly effective, but it IS beginning to disgust you, no?? Don't fret, EVEN I considered disposables for a split second... but NOT long enough to give up my precious Fuzzi Bunz. I still love them.

Speaking of Fuzzi Bunz... did you know they have a Petite Toddler sizes? Yup! It's for those skinny little babies like Owen who have skinny thighs but are still getting taller and the size large will never fit. He's almost outgrowing his size mediums (15 months of use and going strong). I did have to purchase new inserts for my mediums recently as they were starting to smell slightly urine sented. Yuk. It only cost me $24, though.

Happy pooping.

Buy a plane seat for your toddler, really, you want one.

Traveling. Ah the joys with a toddler. Owen was 16.5 months on this trip. Since we live in Arizona and Matt's whole family lives in the Southeast, we took a trip back there this summer for 10 days because lord knows we won't be traveling with two babies for awhile.

Believe me one is enough. So we got the GO GO KIDZ travel mate because I knew we'd be traveling by car from Charlotte, NC to Greenville, SC, and Greenville to Athens, GA and Athens to Atlanta, GA. Plus silly me thought that if we toted that car seat with us, maybe, just maybe, there would be an extra seat on the plane and we could use the car seat to corral him.

Nope. No extra seats these days on planes-- EVEN on Tuesdays or Saturday. Sorry, if the plane isn't full, they get a smaller one and pack you into that one, oversold.

I have to say the GoGo Kidz hookup for the car seat was GREAT for transporting Owen through the airport easily and we were able to take our car seat and gate check it with no problem. I give it two thumbs up. I did find it in SkyMiles magazine for $10.00 cheaper than in One Step Ahead.

Q: So, what is it like traveling with a 16-month-old on a four hour plane ride?

A: A three ring circus in a two foot space. You become the personal entertainment and it's exhausting.

Here are some things I would recommend:

• plan trip strategically around the nap schedule. Even if they don't sleep their full nap, at least PART of the flight they will be sleeping. Ex: Owen sleeps at noon, so we got on planes around 10:30-11AM so that he'd get settled and sleep. Also don't forget "blanket" or whatever lovey your child uses to signal it's time for sleep. (remember Owen is not an "on the go" sleeper. He doesn't sleep on us at all at this point and is pretty dependent on his routine and his crib to sleep.
• bring new toys they've never seen before. We got some "invisible markers" and Crayola Color Wonder paper. Owen thought the markers were fun to open and close and toss on the floor. Hey, who cares if he didn't draw? It bought us 30 minutes.
• bring books that take a long time to read. I brought Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever. It takes FOREVER to go through every page and name all the stuff. Owen loves it. We also brought some new books and those captivated him.
• videos? We brought videos like construction trucks videos and Thomas the train videos, but Owen isn't into TV or videos yet so that was a bust.
• come up with some fun games - like peek-a-boo or hiding the truck, or dumping "trash" from the truck.
• buy the kid a real plane seat - in retrospect, I would've gotten him a plane seat and set up his car seat in there and I bet he would've slept 2-3 hours on the plane with all that white noise. I'm serious. It's worth it. Get your parents to chip in if they want to see their grandkids.
• bring the child and yourself a backup outfit on board and a plastic bag. Last leg of the flight and Owen threw-up warm milk and pizza all over Matt about 5 minutes before we landed. Matt had to walk off the plane without a shirt on and Owen in his diaper. We got some looks. Better him than me. Also when Owen was 5 months he pooped something fierce and blew out his diaper, outfit and it was just nasty. I was glad I had a change of clothes and zip lock bag.
• split the difference between the time zone change the first night and get a full nights rest the night prior to the trip. We got to Charlotte, NC at 5PM EST and 2PM our time. We kept him up until 8:45-9PM EST 6PM our time and he slept 12 hours. His usual bedtime is 7:30PM. The next day we switched to regular nap schedule and regular bedtime. We did his normal routine when we could or he would nap in his car seat if we were not at home for his nap. He did REALLY well and slept through the night almost every night in his pack n' play and took naps very well --EVEN at three different locations over 10 days. BIG difference between 5 months, 9 months (VW trip from hell) and now at 17 months. As a general rule I've read that if the child sleeps well at home, they will sleep well on vacation once they've adjusted. Owen did. :) THANK GOD.
• bring the drugs, if you must (we did not) but Dr. Ron told me to try out Benadryl on Owen prior to the trip because it can make some kids HYPER.

As a side note, holding him to sleep and then laying him on our laps during the flight was challenging (not to mention uncomfortable, hard to eat lunch, and hotter than hell) especially considering the absolutely bitchy (sorry) flight attendant we had who got on the speaker while standing about 3 feet from me and made the announcement **with no one else up except me walking in the aisle**

"women with children should not be up in the aisle walking with their children. The captain has the seatbelt sign on"

I promptly told her, "I don't really care about the seatbelt sign right now, and if we want a happy non-screaming toddler, I'll walk him to sleep, thanks."

It wasn't even turbulent. She was just power-tripping. "And your pregnant," she added. I could've ripped the microphone from her. Obviously that woman had never had children on a plane.

Photos from this trip to follow in another photo post soon.

7 months pregnant

photo taken July 11, 2009

Somehow I'm seven months pregnant next week. ?????

If this pregnancy is any indicator, I won't be paying any attention to this new child.

People ask me, "how are you feeling?"
me: why are they asking me how I'm feeling?, oh oh yeah, I'm huge and pregnant

To answer that for all you blog-readers (ah hem, my devoted mother-in-law), I feel great, and haven't thought twice about being pregnant so far, except for my lovely swollen feet. I haven't been riding my bike as much as I'd like or hiking because mostly I just can't carry Owen in a pack so we have to do the stroller walk thing, which is fine, it's just not hiking in the woods like last pregnancy. Strangely enough I am not putting on the kind of pounds that I was the first go round, and I'm on day 5 of a Dairy-Queen-a-day-for-a-week-kick. Yes, I know what's in the DQ and I still love it. Fact is, I'm just smaller this time. Let's not speak too soon, though, after all, I've got 13 weeks to go.

13 weeks until the newborn. REALLY? FINAL TRIMESTER HERE I COME!! I am ready to get my body back FOR GOOD.

Oh, oh, there will be no THIRD baby, I can assure you, permanent measures will take place, promptly.

I haven't had any ultrasounds since the first one at 11 weeks to determine the maturity of the pregnancy. I just didn't want to do them this time since they are not really necessary. This baby moves a lot and at this point there is not any earth shattering news I'm going to find out in an ultrasound that I can't wait for. Needless to say, we are not finding out the sex. I still believe that there are very few REAL surprises in life and this is one of those moments I look forward to, "It's a BOY." Plus I hate planning and decisions so I'll procrastinate on the naming and purchasing baby stuff until I HAVE to do it.

Come back soon, I'm posting some new photos of Owen at 17 months and discussing his AMAZING trip to the east coast in July. We almost made it back without incident. ALMOST... stay tuned.

Words, speach and my favorite age: HINT NOT NEWBORNS

So, admittedly, I'm not a "newborn" type of gal.

"What?"

Yup, you got it. I really don't like newborns. Not even my own. We'll see about #2, s/he could surprise me and be some angel baby who sleeps and doesn't cry and takes a bottle and likes his/her car seat, and can be toted to restaurants and grocery stores-- BUT even still... NEWBORNS. EEEKS! Let's just put it this way, I wasn't one of those "Love at first sight" ladies. I just didn't. I was too busy being happy it was over-- the pregnancy, the delivery, the fat thighs. I mean of course you *love* them but I was more like, okay kid, start growing, let's get this show on the road.

16 months--this age, I can dig. I just love cute little Owen right now. He is technically 16.5 months now. He is just so expressive and fun and learning so much every day. Just this week he started to talk more than just the first syllables of words. He has a few distinct words that even the mailman can understand.

I'm going to catalog this stuff now because I will forget later.

"Oh no" being his real first word. He expresses this when things fall on the floor, he repeats it if you say it or if he is disappointed.
"mama" -- personal favorites, of course
"DaDa and Daddy"
"garbage" -- he finally got it. He loves garbage trucks and now when he wakes up it's all about talking about garbage.
"baby" -- what can I say? He loves books with babies in them and babies in real life, he'll even get one of his own soon.

He also somehow learned animal sounds (I guess he listens when we read stories) and he knows what they are when you ask him "Owen, what does the ____ say." He knows:
cat
dog
rooster
owl
lion (hilarious ROAR)
horse
pig
train
fire truck
cow
bird
duck
donkey (this one is equally hilarious: HEE HAW

He is working on new words everyday. "BEE" is currently our dog: Kaibee. I MUST get some video of his animal sounds. It's so dang cute.

Sleep update 16.5 months: A week ago we moved his bedtime to 7:30PM because he was talking to himself from 7PM-7:45 for about a week and getting fussy in the crib. It was time. He sleeps from 7:30PM until 6:00-7:15AM everyday. He hasn't been bothered by the 6 teeth he has coming in over the last 6-8 weeks. He only has 2 lower teeth to go. All molars are in, and he's chomping away (although still refuses meat). He naps from noon-2PM every day, several times a week he sleeps until 3:00-3:15. I love the afternoon nap. Mommy gets one too. I am 5.5 months pregnant now, but who has time to think about me?

Owen and the garbage truck

Monday and Thursday mornings are special at our house. The "Gaa" comes to pick up the trash. "Gaa" is Owen speak for garbage truck and like any good little boy, Owen is obsessed with them. He holds his mini garbage truck and makes the noises and dumps the trash into the container. You can see him making noises in these photos and take a look at those eyelashes! Also he's been really cute in the bath lately and I just had to throw in the full frontal shot. All photos by me, Cameron. He is 15.5 months in these photos. More on my pregnancy soon. I'm 21 weeks and feeling great.

Nursing officially ended 15 months 2 weeks

So nursing is over and it was easy.  

Praise Jesus, something about this child was easy.  

Owen has been nursing once every morning since late March. Prior to that it was 2-4 times a day for awhile. 

I have been pregnant since early February, which is when I first started to notice him nursing less and less. Then I went on that trip back in mid-March and couldn't pump much milk but he nursed well when I returned.  After a week of being back, I would attempt an afternoon feeding and he would smile at me, and refuse the breast.  I thought it was funny and fine by me, actually. I was ready for him to be less dependent on my milk. 

Since April, every morning he wakes up in his crib, gets toted into our bed and makes the Baby Sign for "milk" and then he nurses for awhile (5 minutes some mornings, 25 minutes others).  BUT that was it.  He would refuse nursing any other time, even if he ever woke up upset in the middle of the night. He actually did that a few times and preferred the sippy cup with cow's milk to me.  

Then in June he would sometimes ask for "milk" and sometimes not, I suspect my supply was decreasing over time as well.  Anyway, this past Wednesday was his last day.  He just looked up at me and I could tell there just wasn't much left and he was done.  He didn't ask the next day or the next and it's the following Monday now.  

So it's over.  I would be sad if I wasn't pregnant with #2 due this November.  There will be PLENTY of nursing to come.  Nursing has been a very sweet experience and I encourage everyone to stick with it past a year.  

So I'll enjoy my four month break. 

I wanted to make the note to any prospective mom's out there or any mom who nursed for less than 6 months:  IT'S WAY EASIER after 6 months and even easier after 9 months.  I'll say this again but the first three months are incredibly demanding and I think once you get the baby on a nice nap and nurse routine around 5-6 months, it all works out great.  

Second note: if you are a "nursing on demand" mama, none of this may apply to you.  I know plenty of women with 15 month olds who nurse 10+ times a day, and all night: a little bit here and there.  

On demand is DEFINITELY not my thing.  I am not an over-scheduled type A personality but I also knew I didn't and couldn't be available to my baby or child 24-7 with breastmilk. It just didn't fit into my life.  Believe me, it was ENOUGH that he didn't ever take a bottle. 

So if you are like me, YOU CAN nurse past that 6 month marker and get it down to 4-5 times in a 24 hour period, then 3-4 times then 1-2 times.  If you are down to 1-2 times, it might just be first thing in the morning and last thing before bed so it's not like you are at the grocery store nursing...  Owen never nursed before bed after 7 months because I needed Matt to be able to put him to sleep.   Point being, don't object to nursing because your baby will have teeth or because you don't want to nurse your toddler in public--you can make it work for you :) 

What to feed a fussy eater? Baby won't eat!

Okay so maybe that is an exaggeration but seriously, this kid is picky.  I tried to do the whole "Super Baby Foods" but around 10 months or so Owen wasn't having ANY spoon fed puréed foods AT ALL.  Used to loved squash, sweet potatoes, even spinach, but NOOOO won't touch it now.  He really fell HARD in love with crackers and cheese.  

In no particular order, that is.  Can one baby live on banana, crackers and cheese?  Stay tuned. 

Okay here's what he eats but not in any particular order and sometimes hates it one day and loves it the next:

pasta w/ marinara  (I get the enriched kind)

crackers (loves Amy's Bunnies)

cheddar cheese (little cubes)

hummus 

avocado

veggie burger

yogurt (although hit or miss big time on this one)

cottage cheese

cream cheese

cow's milk

pears

oranges

bananas

blueberries

raspberries

strawberries

mangos

sweet potato fries and regular french fries

whole wheat bread

peanut butter

apple butter

any cookie you put in front of him

any ice cream you show him

any cake

muffins, zucchini bread, baked goods in general

fried tofu cubes

beans: black, kidney (SOMEtimes)

guacamole n' corn chips

HATES: 

mac n' cheese (whaa?)

hot dogs

chicken anything

mashed potatoes

rice

meat

veggies

eggs

Any suggestions or sympathy out there in Mommy-land?  I really would like to sneak in more veggies and I do have that Jessica Seinfield book but most of that food is for older kids.  

Baby Signs and 14 month-old Owen

We are well into the Baby Signs over here and Owen really seems to love signing, in general.  Once he got started learning them, it was really easy to teach him more--you just make the sign as you say the word and he learns it. He's quite the 'talker' as well, although here at 14.5 months he still doesn't really have any true words.  He does have about 45-50 signs, though and loves to sign about all the things he sees in books and outside.  We are working on signing when he's frustrated or upset so he can get what he wants but right now it's mostly during 'happy times.' He did wake up one night (which is strange now that he sleeps through the night) and sign "milk, milk" so I tried to nurse him but he didn't want that. We went downstairs and got some cow's milk in his sippy cup which he proceeded to gulp down 6oz!  He was thirsty and Baby Signs helped!  My favorite sign is 'motorcycle,' which is his hand in the air like a fist moving backward and forward just like a clutch on a motorcycle.  So cute! 

Owen 13 month photo