First Fathers Day

(Wes and his dad taken about a month ago)

Torrey's first fathers day was a success. We had planed on going on some walks in the woods with Wes and our dog Nancy but even though the forecast said no rain until the afternoon it started early and didn't stop all day. So we nixed that plan and decided to go use our awesome gift card to Gardeners Supply from our lovely friends Matt and Danny and get some HOPS. They were all 40% off for Fathers Day, how perfect! We got one Cascade and one Centennial.

Yep - HOPS

Torrey has been excited about growing his own. He has been brewing up a storm the past few years...

And now we have the perfect spot to start growing. With great sun and a high climb area the side of our house was a great fit. They can grow to be 20-30 feet tall and might have to raise the pulley system up to the top if they decide to do that. We got the pulley/rope idea from this website.

So excited to see them grow and pick the hops. The pulley makes it easy to drop them down when we need to harvest. They will also cover up the ugly wires on that side of the building and fill in the kind of hollow there. Some nice greenery for our entrance area.

In other news Wes is getting so cuddly! When he was teeny tiny he use to sleep on our chests then he stopped one day. All of a sudden, and I missed it so. But now he snuggles up and rests his head out of his own choosing and it just feels all the sweeter. Such a lovely little guy!

Oh and of course, Happy Fathers Day to my dad. Hes a great father and super fun to watch being a grandfather. This is a photo of him and Wes I took on a trip to my hometown this past week. Its my dads old car that is still in great condition, a late 1960's ('68? I think) Mustang. Hopefully some day Wes will get to drive this car himself, he sure did enjoy playing around in it. 

Hes growing!

4 weeks and 7.5 months

Food - french toast in a cup

So I am not a huge microwave cooking fan but this just appealed to me.

I love sweet breakfasts, Torrey does not. Its hard to get him to make me french toast, though he does often. Yes, he makes me my breakfast sometimes, I am lucky :)

But this is manageable even with a baby in the arms. No hot skillet to worry about. 

Check it out! I cant wait to make it myself. I love to use raisin bread for french toast, yummy!

FRENCH TOAST IN A CUP

Cloth Diapers - Its how we roll - 7 months in

( 4 Prefolds, one orange Thirsties cover, 3 BumGenius covers, 3 BumGenius inserts, loving life on the clothes line)

Skip down to the "Here's what we do" section if you just want to see what we use for cloth diapering our little guy.

So it seems that many folks have an attitude about cloth diapers. Some people think they are hard, more time consuming, too much work, or that maybe those who do cloth diaper are pretentious, and high on themselves for saving the environment or something. Well let me tell you, we cloth diaper and also buy paper towels in bulk! So take that environment!

Honestly I cloth diaper because it is cheap and because it held in those crazy newborn explosion poos better so I didn't have to always bring extra baby outfits and change Wes so much. Oh and I guess because we have access to laundry (if we had to go to the laundromat I wouldn't cloth diaper, that would be too much work for me). Oh and those big diaper butts are cute, and fun to pat, and who knows we just do it and it works for us. Just like everything else in parenthood.

But I don't think it is hard at all or really much work. I don't have to have emergency trips to the store for disposables. Since we have recently switched entirely to cloth wipes and cloth diapers at night I also have no garbage coming out of Wesley's room. This makes it harder for Nancy, our dog, to have fun when we are not home by getting into the dirty disposables, sorry Nancy.

Also I know some childcare places wont allow cloth diapers, but I also think more are coming around to the idea. So that can be an deterrent for some families. And remember no diaper is perfect, babies pee and poo a lot just like you pee and poo a lot. They all have their drawbacks and their advantages. If you want to avoid diapers totally look into Elimination Communication. Its a real thing and I wish I had the balls to do it.

(One month old Wesley bum in prefold with x-small Thirsties cover )

I will say the only time I wanted to use disposables instead was those first few weeks. I got the urge, they were one less step (as I was using prefolds and covers) and I was an overwhelmed new parent. But I fought that urge (just like the urge to stay inside and not take Wes with me places because that was also 'easier'. Then I figured out that he was calmer and I was calmer if we got out! ) Now I love using cloth.

I also believe you can switch to cloth or back to disposables at any time. There is NO RULE that if you didn't start from the beginning you cant use them now. So if you are interested, just try, you might like it. There are websites that offer this feature of just trying them for a month or so. I actually think starting cloth at like 4-6 months is a good option too because the baby is bigger so the diapers don't look so huge and you are pretty much a pro parent a that point (had har) and would find it easier to manage a new thing. Remember a baby is in diapers until they are 2 or 3 so switching at 6 months or so still saves a ton of money and gets lots of use!

Welsey at 2 month Drs Apt - Prefold with size 1 Thirsties cover

Here is what we do:

We got the vast majority of our cloth diaper stash at our baby shower or as gifts. This is the benefit of knowing you want to cloth diaper ahead of time. So we have spent very little so far on diapers. However I really think it would only cost about $300 bucks for a starter stash. If you have any questions or want any advice feel free to email me at tauwarte@gmail.com for more info.

(Wesley at 5.5 months in the Ocean in Flordia. Wearing a Bum Genius 4.0. They can be used as swim diapers too if you just remove the liner!)

I buy more cloth diapers as I need them, I think you could get away with 12-15 of one type to start with. We use two types because we started with one and also were given some Bum Genius and fell in love with them too. Most people just pick one type and stick with it, more info on TYPES of CLOTH DIAPERS.

I use mostly Bum Genius now. They are an pocket diaper that once you stuff the insert (a pad that absorbs all the pee) in it all goes on like a disposable then all comes off and goes in the wash. Easy for grandparents and caregivers. They also use snaps to go from small to x-large so you dont need to keep buying new diapers. I just upped my stash from 5 of their 4.0 diapers to 11 with their by 5 get one free sale. Such a good deal. Less than $100 bucks more and now I have enough diapers for the next 2 years, for real.

We also have prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers and Thirsties covers as well. We started with prefolds and covers because we were using Smarty Pants Diaper Service (the best!) so we have these for back up still.

I have 12 of each size newborn, small and medium in the prefolds (he uses medium now) and 4 of each size x-small, 1 and 2 in the Thirsties covers. The prefolds also make great burp cloths and can even be stuffed in the pocket diapers if you are out of inserts.

I have two 'wet bags'. One as a pail liner and one zippered one for the diaper bag.

We have a toilet attached diaper sprayer but rarely use it now that Wes has started solids and so has his poop become solid. He poops, I take off his diaper and shake the turd out over the toilet, then put the remaining diaper in the wet bag. That easy. Before with the milk poos I would spray it a little over the toilet then put the whole thing in the wet bag. Still easy.

I made our cloth wipes out of some organic flannel I had lying around. We were using disposable wipes but Wes got a crotch rash we just couldn't kick so cut back on any disposable products and it has cleared up.

We use coconut oil for diaper cream, when needed. I have used other products too occasionally and found no problem with the cloth diapers. But we use product on him sparingly so I guess build up hasn't had a chance to occur.

I use Charlies soap for our laundry and LOVE IT. You use very little and it works very well.
We do diaper laundry every other day as its own load. If we had more diapers we could go longer. I take out the Bum Genius insert and wash them all together. The Thirsties covers don't need to be washed every time, just when they get really wet or stinky. All the pee and poo washes away, really, its gone, I shove my face in the clean diapers and sniff to check, yep gone.

 I usually air dry the diapers but also toss them in the drier if needed occasionally. I think I will be using Smarty Pants's 'wash your stash' service every once in a while to really get them all super duper clean. Maybe once every 2 months. You can also do this at home, its called 'stripping your diapers' google it.

Oh and YouTube videos are the best for more cloth diaper info and examples of real babies wearing them.

Honestly that is it. Its easy. It works for us, we love it.  No Big Deal.

Wesley at 7 months

Wes is :

Sleeping through the night! : Not every night but 2 times in the last week he went down at 7pm and woke after 6am with no nursing/changing/waking. The other nights I feed him sometime between 3 and 5 am when he wakes. Either way I am getting solid chunks of sleep as I go to bed around 10 every night. I am dreaming again and even woke up last night from a dream so strong I got out of bed and told Torrey to get up because we had "squished the babies in the bed". I had a dream that we had two babies that were small and shaped like towels with heads (yes, so strange, but yet seemed normal in the dream) and that I woke up and feared for their lives. Crazy sauce.

 
Eating food - solid food: We have started some Baby Led Weaning in with giving him purees. This basically means if I think he can handle it he gets real food. Like what we had for dinner, real food. Honestly, most does not even get swallowed but he gets to work on things like picking it up and chewing. He loves chunks of crusty bread, hunks of apples, spaghetti, Cheerios, boiled carrots and little pieces of bread dipped in yogurt or avocado.

Is down to nursing 5 times a day : We have a rough schedule that we have formed together and its going really well. I LOVE breastfeeding my baby. Love it. I didn't have many issues, its been going well and he is a great nurser. Some distraction issues we had around 4/5 months have gone. Its a lovely time we have together and I will be sad when it ends. But hopefully we have some more months to go!

 But guess what?! Wes had formula for the first time the other day. My mom came up to watch him while I went to work and I just didn't remember to store any milk ahead of time. So I had like 2 frozen bottles. So I talked to a friend that does some supplementing with formula and bought a little tub. My mom said he did look at her strange when she gave him the bottle like "what is this stuff??" but took it down anyways. I don't think I will need it very often but it did save the day and took a bit of stress off me about how I was going to get in extra pumping sessions.

Oh and the kid has TWO teeth!: They came in in the past 2 weeks. Two cute little chompers on the bottom. He had a few fussy days and interrupted naps but sailed through pretty well I think.

Had his second hair cut of his life: Before Florida Torrey's mom (our personal family hair cutter) cut off his 'rat tail' and trimmed it up. And this past week Torrey trimmed up his 'womb hair', the long stuff on top that has been with him since the beginning (see pasta eating photo above for example). It was just too long he was having moments where he looked a little too much like Dwight Schrute.

 It looks so cute now. And his new hair is growing in a light brown and is so sweet and soft with a little flip in the back. Much better than Mr. Combover Baldy that he was.

He is also: Babbling and chatting often and trying to get his knees under him when on his belly, and pulling up on low shelves/rails/the sink when he can.

Okay that's pretty good for an update here are some more photos. This kid is SO MUCH FUN:

Its was such a hot weekend, Wesley spend some quality naked time in his "pool" inside and outside while we installed a much needed new fan for the sun room. And by 'we' I do mean Torrey did it while I sat and took pictures of Wesley. Hard life, I know. 

Posts should get more frequent since we are finally getting a new home computer this next week! Thank goodness I will have my photo editing software, letter 'g' key, down arrow (its pretty broke), and  faster web browsing back. Cant wait!

First post baby Half Marathon

Yesterday I ran my first post baby Half Marathon. I have to say it went well, better than some of my pre-baby half marathons. I think I ran around a 1:40 (messed up my watch and results are not up yet) and stayed under a 8 min per mile pace the whole time. I hadn't done much speed, workouts or runs at that fast a pace so I was happy I was able to maintain the pace the whole time. It was great to get out there and was very motivating to keep running and get speedy again!

Vermont City Marathon is one of my favorites (I have run the whole thing twice and the half marathon relay 3 times now). The weather was cool and rainy but I would much rather have that than hot and humid. I have never run the last leg of the relay because during the whole thing those last few miles were such a killer that I didn't want to go there again. But now we live in the area the marathon goes through and I am very familiar with that area of the course. So I loved running the second half this year. My buddy Kirsten came up from NYC to run with me. We hadn't raced together in years (we ran in High School together) and it was so fun. But next time we need to actually run a race at the same time so we can really run 'together'.

OOps! Didnt know we were 'flexing' for the photo....

That's better

And who doesn't have diapers drying in their kitchen? I am going to have to do a cloth diaper update soon, we are still loving them! Back to running talk...

Overall I was really happy with the race. It made me hopeful for the next one. I am thinking another half in the fall and try to PR? I think my PR is 1:34 and that was actually the first half of a whole marathon (can someone say "went out too fast"?!). I think if I keep running at least every other day, stay healthy and get in some tempo/speed and faster overall runs it could happen. I think the most mileage I did in one week leading up to this race was 22, so for me that is some seriously low training mileage!

I have to say this 'post baby' body feels pretty much like it did pre baby now. Other than the fact that I have a sweet little baby and I am breastfeeding, I feel pretty much the same. I have some core work to get to but other than that having a baby did not 'destroy' anything. So now I am excited to keep running and get a few more good racing years under my belt before the next kiddo!

Lastly I just want to post this photo of Wes I found when I pulled these photos off the camera card. He is about 2 weeks old, I think, and in one of his first cloth diapers....OMG so tiny, look at those little chicken legs!

Fostering an independent baby

So when Wes was a few months old I stumbled upon this blog. I wrote about it here. I am now re-listening to the book Your Self Confident Baby by Magda Gerber and learning even more about the RIE parenting philosophy.

 I didn't know how I would 'parent' before I had Wes. Much of the time I was interested in attachment type parenting styles but also interested in having a baby that could play by himself and sleep well alone. I remember growing up playing for hours in our back yard with and without friends. Imagining worlds and exploring while my parents went about their daily activities near by. If I needed them they were there but I also never felt smothered. I wanted that same existence for my own kid. But I didn't know, were they born with a tendency to enjoy those things or are those fostered into them? So about 16 weeks in I ran across RIE.

Can I just tell you all a bit about it?!

It seemed to be what I wanted to do naturally as a parent but as a first time parent being overwhelmed with information it thankfully broke down HOW to do it in steps. Now that Wes is 7 months and I listen to her book again I am finding more and more things to incorporate into our lives. Here are some of my favorite parts of RIE.

1- Foster independent play : Babies work hard, they try to reach things, try to move, and sometimes just love to watch. From a very early age there is a focus on playing on ones own. To not prop a baby up in a position it cant get in to or out of itself. I tried to have Wes spend much of his free time (time not used for eating, sleeping, being changed) on the floor on his back. Imagine lying on the floor. Now imagine lying on your belly, you cant see much can you, you also cant move much. But on your back! You can see all around you, and can move all your limbs and use your hands. We still did 'tummy time' but mostly I laid him down on his back in a safe space with maybe a toy near him.

Here is the key part. I left him alone. Not "here ya go baby, here is the floor, I am going to the store" alone, but 'let me stay out of your business' alone. I would work quietly near by or just sit and watch him. Its hard at first but it also makes for much more free time for me. I am able to get so much more done. It is KEY for someone who needs to work from home. So if he was content doing what he was doing, even if it seems trivial to me I let him be. He is able to explore, concentrate on little things, work on body movement.

There were totally times (can I say weeks) where he would immediately flip over and start yelling. He was frustrated and I would get frustrated, it didn't always work. And of course there are times when I want to cuddle or snuggle and its not all about leaving him on the floor. I just read that in times of crying or frustration, if all the babies basic needs are met, start with the littlest amount first. So instead of just swooping in and changing the situation. First observe, then help a little if you need to (bring a toy closer, move something out of the way) then help a little more, then pick up. This is something I need to get better at. Meeting Wes halfway to his goal rather than doing it for him.

2- Its all about RESPECT - If you were engrossed in a task and someone came along and picked you up with no warning what would you do? It would piss me off. Well same for babies. So even if I think he would be bored doing what he is doing, even if he is just staring off into space, I let him do it. I respect that it is what he wants to do. If he was mad he would tell me, those who know Wes know he likes to talk/yell. If I need to pick him up, if I need to go somewhere or change/feed him I just let him know first. No surprises, he may not understand me now but I don't know when he will be able to (as it will be before he can talk) so I might as well start letting him know what I am doing.

3 - Focus - One-on-one attention during Eating and Diapering: I have slowed down diaper changes. They aren't something to rush through. If Wes wants to touch the wall, or play with his feet/hands I let him. I make sure to give myself time and then give him time to go slowly. I let him know what I am about to do and just enjoy being with him. This is time to just be with him, its sweet time that wont last forever. This makes these moments better, he has never had issues with changing time unless he was hungry or tired.

4 - Routine and calm : Basically we stay home a lot. I moved my work home and we work around our naps. Wes's routine is important because with that I get a happier more content baby. Its not usually worth it to mess up our days just so I can do something when I can usualy work it around his schedule. I also try to buffer busy days with calm ones around it. Something I read in Simplicity Parenting, another book I really enjoy.

There is more to it but those are the basics that I really enjoy. We don't 'go by the book'. Wes uses a pacifier (Magda does not support them so much) but now that he is old enough, the majority of the time, I put it near him or ask him if he wants it and hold it out to him. He then can take it if he wants (usually does). We also do use the doorway jumper, swing, stroller and other 'baby props' and I wear him often out in public. I just make sure to balance that with plenty of free time every day too.

But you know what I like best?! It takes the stress off. I am not spending every second trying to 'entertain' my baby. I have found over time that he gets overwhelmed with too many toys (like more than 2 around him) and calms down if I simplify his surroundings. He really likes to do things on his own and it is SO ENTERTAINING to watch him do them! But it is a process. If I didn't stumble upon this as early as I did I would have some backtracking to do. Babies get used to what is around them and start to expect it.

My next project is to turn a corner of our sun room into a little baby play zone. He is quickly outgrowing his pack n play as a play area and needs more free space. Here is some inspiration:

These two are taken from Janet Lansbury's Facebook page

This one from a favorite blog 

As they say in "Your Self Confident Baby" it should be a space that if you got locked out of the house for a few hours you wouldn't be worried about your baby there. Not that that would actually happen but that is how baby safe the area should be. So we are going to get a gate like this one and corner off a section of our sunroom. I think he will love it!

P.S.- I mean OMG, I am buying a baby play yard. Really?! This is happening. So much you learn when you actually have a kid compaired to what you think you will do when you dont. Reality folks, this little man rules.