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You can tell just by your baby's toes if he's still asleep...

Milestones: Happy SIX Months Ebenezer!

Half a year ago today we welcomed Ebenezer into the world! He is such a delightful little man and it has been so much fun to watch his personality develop over these months. He is such a ham! He loves people watching and is such a charmer with his ready smile! He is doing better at entertaining himself but he is still happiest when someone is right there with him, either playing with him or packing him around.

The big development this month is Eb becoming mobile! While he doesn't full blown crawl yet he is really close! Rolling over is old hat and he does it all the time to reach that elusive toy or just to get a change of scenery. He started his move to mobility with pushing himself places using his legs, then he added pulling with his arms to accomplish something akin to an army crawl. This army crawl didn't take him linearly, instead he often pulled himself to one side or the other, quickly pivoting in a circle with his hops at the center. Next he started getting on hands and knees (an accomplishment for a big fella like him), getting up was the first chore then he would 'blast off' by launching himself with his legs! He often ended up on his face but it didn't deter him! Now when he gets on hands and knees he 'revs up' by rocking back and forth. He knows he needs to move his hands and knees separately, the coordination just hasn't quite gotten there yet!

Watching him progress through these steps I have been amazed at how quickly he learns. He is making huge leaps and bounds in a matter of weeks!

In addition to getting around more he is also spending a lot more time sitting up right! While he still needs pillows for safety he sits up really well by himself most of the time, he is even getting smoother in the transition from tush to tummy.

He has finally outgrown his bouncer. We decided it needed to be retired after watching him nearly escape after one of his afternoon naps! Scary!

All of these developments have interrupted his sleep some. Most of this month he reverted back to almost newborn sleeping patterns, waking and wanting to nurse every few hours. It is my understanding that this goes hand in hand with all of the growing and learning he has done lately.

Much to the extended family's chagrin, Eb is still exclusively breast feeding. He is old enough, and his tummy is developed enough, to handle baby food, but I'm not quite ready yet. I know it is good for him and me to keep breast feeding up as long as possible, but it has also delayed the return of my fertility thus far and I want to milk that for all it's worth (haha, sorry couldn't resist!). Plus he is doing so well as is I'm hesitant to change anything up. It's harder for the family than for him! They so badly want to give him a treat or a bite of mashed potatoes, especially since he is so interested in food right now, but they are honing their self discipline while they wait for Momma's go ahead.

While I haven't taken him to a checkup since late May, we have checked his weight using bathroom scales - last time we weighed in he was 23.4 pounds! I haven't measured his length in a while, but his size plus bulky diapers necessitates a nine month minimum size on his clothes, many of his outfits are 12 month!

While last month he was already making a lot of sounds, this month he has started using them differently. Before it was like he would pick one sound to use exclusively all day, or even for several days in a row. Now not only does he use all of his sounds throughout the day he will combine several in one "conversation"! One of his new favorites though is 'dadadad'! While he has connected it to Chris just yet Chris still loves it!

I love seeing our little man grow and turn into a unique person! I can't wait to see how he changes in the month to come!

Playing with Daddy! 6/20/2012

Celebrating with Aunt Bethy! 7/18/2012

Look who can sit up! 7/24/2012

Hanging out on Momma's belly in the morning! 6/26/2012 

It's a beard hat! 6/28/2012

He LOVES bath time! 6/29/2012 

Precious Moments. 7/3/2012

Playing with Great Grandpa! 7/5/2012 

Sharing with kitty! 76/2012

Time with Papoo.

Meeting the Aunts! 7/8/2012

Five generations! 7/8/2012

Almost too big for his car seat! 7/10/2012

Last nap in the bouncer! 7/12/2012

He loves chewing on Momma's water bottle!

Playing with Aunt Bethie! 7/17/2012 

Like this, Pandora? 7/19/2012

The new face!

Can you guess what I'm doing? 7/19/2012

Cloth is Cool!

A happily cloth diapered boy!

Before Ebenezer was born we decided we wanted to use cloth diapers for most of his diapers needs.  So I set of on the mission to decide what kind of cloth diapers would be best for us.  I knew of two kinds thanks to some of our friends who were using them and started my search there – little did I know how many options are out there!  

I highly recommend checking out Kelly’s Closet if you ever consider cloth diapering.  They have all different kinds of diapers and great explanations for all of them, alogn with advice and trouble shooting for folks who are new to the practice (like us!).  We ultimately went with the ‘Flip’ diapering system because I thought it sounded like the least laundry and most flexible system.  Hypothetically it would take us from a month or so after birth (they recommended he weigh 10 pounds before starting) to potty training.  This system uses an old fashioned, pre-fold cloth diaper (the kind that first pops in your head when you hear ‘cloth diaper’) that is folded and stuffed into a water proof cover.  The end result looks and works very similar to a disposable cloth diaper, but it uses snaps instead of sticky tabs.  I liked this system because you line the cover with the pre-fold and if the diaper is only wet when it’s time to change you can simply wipe out the cover and reuse it with a fresh pre-fold.  Doing this cuts down on the amount of laundry you need to do every round as compared to all-in-one (absorbent layer is sewn into water proof cover) or tunnel diapers (there is a cloth tunnel in the cover that you stuff with extra cloth) where the whole thing needs washed every change.  It also cuts down on the number of pieces that need assembled like in the G-diapers.

These cover have LOTS of snaps that allow you to adjust them to quite small and expand the for a bigger baby.  To adjust the stuffing you just change the way you fold the pre-fold.  These really should work for a normal baby for the time span advertised… what we didn’t count on was having a goliath of a son who might out-grow these diapers well before potty training is even considered!

The empty shell stretched out.

These snaps adjust the rise, allowing for different lengths and thigh sizes.

This is the rise snaps where he needs them now.  Top snaps adjust waist.

These are the Organic cotton pre-folds.

They give you two different lengths depending on how you fold them.

Flaps om the inside of the diaper help hold insert in place.

The microfiber inserts sometimes leak on us...

Now that we are in the thick of it I think I would have preferred another option very similar to the one we currently have which combines ‘fitteds’ and water proof covers.  ‘Fitteds’ would replace the pre-folds in my existing system, the difference is they also have snaps and fit around the baby like a disposable would, they’re just not water proof so they would need to be used in conjunction with a cover.  If we had went this route, we could still reuse the covers like in the ‘Flip’ system, but I think they would be a little easier to use since you wouldn’t be fighting to keep the absorbent part in place while getting the diaper on your little wriggler!  They would also completely prevent the occasion leaks we have experienced due to misplacement of the pre-fold.  I have recently purchased a few of these and am looking forward to their arrival since I am hoping they will extend the period of time we can cloth diaper Eb (in the event he out-grows the current diaper as soon as I fear).

I honestly should have gotten a sample pack of some kind to try before committing to and investing in a single method… but I was in a hurry and thought I could learn enough through my research.  Live and learn, right?

Aside from these small issues we are very pleased with the cloth diapers.  They wash well and the covers are wiping clean as we hoped.  They are also holding in poops that were starting to explode out of the disposables!  Since it is not as easy to tell when he is wet it has taken some retraining to change him more often than I would with disposables – but if he’s dry the diaper just goes back on!  I have been disappointed with their terry insert.  It is trimmer than the traditional pre-fold, and supposed to be just as absorbent, but every time I have had a leak with my cloth dipes it has been with this insert.  I don’t think they are necessarily less absorbent, they just aren’t as wide as the pre-folds, thereby exposing more room for the urine to run before soaking in.  Ultimately that is okay since those are not organic and my pre-folds are (which I’m quite excited about!) so if one couldn’t work I’d prefer it the way it is.

I’m sure several of you are thinking ‘sure, cloth is fine and dandy with a wet, but I’m not touching those dirties!’ – admit it, I know you were thinking it because I was too!  Honestly dirties haven’t been as bad as I feared for two reasons – 1.) Eb doesn’t do number two as often now and 2.) my handy, dandy diaper sprayer!

I use the diaper sprayer, which is attached to the toilet, to spray out the solids.  This helps prevent staining and keeps most of the nasties out of the washing machine.

While we are going to probably need to find something different before potty training just because Eb is growing so fast, I am still super pleased with our choice to go cloth!

You might be a Momma if...

You want to hold on to moments like this forever...