Gro Baby Cloth Diapers

Recapping the last few months: Working on Potty Training with Ethan, Leah has arrived...now almost 4 weeks old! Bailey has turned into a great big sister doggy. (She's hardly even bothered by Leah's arrival...except for the occasional interruption to her sleep!)

So I was reading up on some stuff after Leah came home. Found a link for some cloth diapers called Gro Baby. We've used regular disposable diapers with Ethan since he was born, and I've never tried cloth diapers before. I never really thought about using cloth diapers - figured it would just be a messy clean up process or would be difficult to get a sufficient supply to really make it work easily. However, a friend of mine decided to start using cloth diapers with her daughter a year or so ago, and I have been curious about using them after looking into the stuff about Gro Baby.

These diapers seem pretty straight forward...an outer shell that allows for use with newborns through toddlers. (8-35 lbs. can use them), an inner liner, and a booster for nighttime, naps or for long car rides.

Being a parent in today's economy...diapers can be expensive. Already buying diapers for Ethan's growing up has gotten pretty expensive, and now (hopefully for a short time --- we're working on Potty Training Ethan...but it's going all too slow) we're buying diapers for two! Diapers are expensive, diaper genie refill costs add up, etc. And this is only the cost. Not to mention the bags packed full of nasty diapers...the smell is pretty bad, and where does it end up? ..... sitting in a dump somewhere ..... Imagine all the nasty diapers heaped in a landfill somewhere...

Ok...I'm getting side tracked here.

Anyway, after looking at the site and talking with Mat about Gro Baby diapers and cloth diapering...we're interested and curious. How do they work? What's a good amount of shells, liners, etc. to have a good working supply? Does cloth diapering make potty training easier? What's the most challenging thing about using cloth diapers as opposed to regular diapers?

Any of you who use cloth diapers have any suggestions? Has anyone seen anything about these Gro Baby diapers or have you tried them before?

http://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/grobaby%E2%84%A2-ic-11_16.html

Imagine how much $$ would be saved....

Imagine how many diapers would be avoided from being thrown into a landfill.....

Ethan, say "Mama!" .... PLEASE!!!

I have to say that I love the stage that Ethan is in right now. Although he can be quite clingy and gets rather set in his thoughts (Hmm, not sure where he gets that from!!) ..."No, I will not take a nap!" or "I am hungry NOW...feed me NOW!") I am very anxious for him to talk and learn to walk. He has started saying Dada...and he loves that he can say it. He loves it so much that when I try to get him to say Mama...all he says is Dada! (and he says it with alot of determination too!) The funny thing is that when my mom tries to get him to say Mama...he just smiles at her. But for me...no...he's not going to say Mama. He says Dada! My mom says not to worry...when he wants to say it, it will be the right time. (My brother said Dada for months, and then finally said Mama first on Valentines Day.) It's just one of those things, I guess. I'm here every day, all day...caring for him and playing with him...and he says dada first! Go figure! LOL

We went to see Santa today. For the record, when a child hits the stage of not wanting to be away from his Mom or Dad...do not wave a set of loud jingle bells in a child's face and make silly faces. I can guarantee it will not make them laugh! Ethan was actually ok with seeing Santa, until the idiot girl decided to "try to make him smile"...which really only made him cry. Needless to say, we didn't get a great picture, so we'll be making a few more trips to see Santa until we get a good picture.

Ethan had his 9 month check up the other day. (P.S. i can't believe he's already NINE MONTHS OLD!) He is 21.5 lbs, and is 29.5 inches long. He has 2 teeth on the bottom, and is working on 4 more... (which means that with 4 trying to come in, sleeping all night has become rare once again.) And he's officially starting to eat table food! It's so funny to see him grab a banana bite or a piece of green beans and try to cram it into his little mouth. : )

Well, enough for now. I should head to bed and enjoy some sleep while the little one is quiet.

We'll miss you Nana!

Please keep my family in your prayers. After five years, my Grandma's battle with Alzheimer's ended on Sunday morning. She has returned home to be with my Grandpa, and is also enjoying the delight of being a Great Grandma to our two little angels.

She is whole again...she feels no pain and is once again the Grandma that I remember!

Phyllis Swisher - November 11, 2007

Ethan

Finally...a new post with pictures!

Me and my Daddy
















A typical Sunday afternoon - sleepin' with Daddy




















Playin' with Aunt Andee before bed





















All smiles after waking up from his nap

Ok, so it took way too long to get an update with pictures, I know. But I finally got my pictures off the camera and ready to upload. It's been pretty hectic here. Now that band is over, I've been spending some time trying to catch up on stuff around the house.


What's new with Ethan: He has officially reached the phase of separation anxiety. While I love his hugs and kisses and constant closeness, it can be really hard to do anything around the house when you can't put him down. He cries and crawls up my leg when I put him down...and gives me the pathetic face: "please Mommy, don't leave me or I'm sure I'll die!!!" And for the past three weeks, he's been dead set on getting up at least 3 times during the night. Last night, he got up 3 hours after I put him down, and was just about to scream his little head off. So I laid down with him on the couch, gave him some juice, and ended up falling asleep there with him until 3:30am when he woke up again. So I finally got him back to sleep and took him to his bed...only to wake up again at 6:30am. I can't decide if it's new teeth coming in, or that he wakes up and is scared that he's alone...or what it is. But I'm ready for this phase to pass! :)

Halloween was another adventure! We had 5 stops to make: Grandma's and Grandpa's, Great Grandma's and Grandpa's, and Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Andee's houses. If you can imagine a hungry cow who can't stand to sit still, or be taken in and out of the carseat, and only wants to be held by Mom and Dad...but everyone else is wanting to hold him...then you can understand how our evening was. But when it was all over with, and we finally made it back home, it was a pretty fun night. I'm trying to add a video also, so we'll see how that goes.

Pictures of the Little Man!!

More pictures of Ethan coming...just as soon as I get them downloaded off my camera.


Another busy weekend, filled with band stuff. But it's is getting closer to being finished....just a few more weeks. As much as I like music and all, I just get tired of all the extra that goes into it. The extra nights away from Ethan and home each week/weekend, the extra drama added into my life, the extra headaches trying to make everything work just right. Ugh...I need a season off, I think. LOL Plus, I hate that Mat and I are gone all the time and have to have someone else watch Ethan. I feel like just when he figures out our bedtime routine, we switch it on him by having someone else do it, or having it at a different time. Blah...I guess I just have to be thankful that he's such an easy baby.

Happy Birthday Shawna!

Happy Birthday Shawna! I hope you have a great one tomorrow!!

Love ya!

Val