Happy Halloween!

From the cutest bear on the planet :)

Ten Months

Ten Month Stats:

Weight: My best guess is about 18lbs

Height:  29"ish, maybe 30"

Clothing: 6-9 month, borderline 9 month sleepers. He'll probably be in 12 month sleepers soon.

Diapers: Cloth at home, Size 2 or 3 in disposables at daycare

Eating

This kid LOVES to feed himself. We've made the switch to mostly finger foods now. He'll still eat purees, but seems to prefer the independence of doing it himself.

Snack time!

I'm completely ok with that! He has his new freedom, and therefore so does Mom :) While he's eating his dinner (between 5/530), I can park his high chair in the kitchen right next to me while I make up his bottles for the next day, make dinner and "chat" with him.

I've noticed that he doesn't seem to be a big "breakfast person", he eats very little in the way of solids for breakfast. Usually just a little fruit and maybe some Cheerios or raisins. However, at the other meals? Look out! This kid eats like a horse!

(I'm going to *knock on wood* for this next statement)... I haven't had to nurse him overnight for a little over a week now!! So now we're down to 6 nursing sessions and/or bottles per day. Once he started with 3 meals and 2 snacks per day, he seemed ready to drop that overnight feed.

Sleep

It seems that the last month may have been a phase. He was going through a lot of developmental changes, so that may have been the reason behind all the night waking. The last few weeks have been great!

His naps are still crap most days, but I'm trying to figure out a solution to that.

We've had an issue with him being a super early riser as of late. This makes me nervous for Daylight Savings Time!! Those 5:30 wake ups could easily become 4:30 wake ups... YIKES. I'm wondering if trying to push back his bedtime a bit (maybe by 30 minutes or so) might help him sleep a little later? We may give it a shot.

Playing
Gogogogogogo.... this seems to be the theme over the last month :) Charlie is a champion speed crawler and is always up for a rousing game of "I'm Gonna Get You!!".

And he's off!!

He's at such a fun age. You can just see the little wheels turning all the time. If you show him how to do something, he usually will try to imitate what you've shown him. It's really neat to watch him learn new things all the time.

I scored a great deal on the Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Farm at a rummage sale a few weeks ago, he LOVES this thing. LOVES.

Exciting eggs!

For whatever reason, his favorite part seems to be the plain white eggs that came with it. Not sure why, but whatever!

Other Things
Charlie can pull himself up on pretty much anything now. Once in a while he will shuffle his feet and walk a little, but it doesn't happen too often (yet!).

So proud of himself :)

He has tooth number 2!!! The second one just kind of popped out over night. So now he has his two middle teeth on the bottom. It's pretty cute :)

We're in the process of planning Charlies first birthday party! I can't believe in less than two months we will have a ONE YEAR OLD. Time certainly has flown!

Cloth Diapers

I've mentioned a few times in Charlies monthly updates that we've been using cloth diapers. So I figured I should show of the stash!!

The stash!

I think there are A LOT of misconceptions about cloth diapers. It's not all pins, complicated folds and rubber pants anymore. They've evolved quite a bit over the years. There are so many options out there it's almost ridiculous, you really need to do your research to figure out what option is best for your baby and your family.

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A lot of people get caught up in the vanity aspect of cloth diapering and end up spending a ton of money - more than they would spend on disposables in babies diapering lifetime. But this doesn't need to be the case at all! With a little research, great sales and help from some ladies with experience, I was able to complete our stash for about $380.00.

How much do you spend on disposables from birth to age two? Using a rough average of 25cents per diaper, and a guess of 6,000 diapers used in the first two years of life - that adds up to about $1,600 for diapers. That you THROW AWAY. Diapers that sit in a landfill. It's kind of crazy when you think about it.

I feel like I should tell you that we don't use cloth full-time. Charlie is in daycare 3 days a week, where he's in disposables. But still, the overall savings is pretty amazing when you really look at it. Only buying one pack of diapers MAYBE once a month is great! He generally goes through about a dozen disposables a week at daycare, which is very little in the grand scheme of things.

We did get a late start in the cloth game, starting at about 7 months. But the savings is still there and I think it's still worth it. Especially considering they can be used for more than one child.

If you're looking for more information, Lindsey at The Accidental Wallflower did an entire month devoted to cloth diapers. She did a great job covering everything - Go Here To Read More!

Ok... so here's the breakdown on what I have!

Wet Bags 
These are used in the diaper bag and on the go. Basically they're lined, zippered bags that contain the dirty diapers. I also have two pail liners (Cloth Diaper Clearance) - same concept, except they don't zip and fit in a 13 gallon diaper pail.

Left: Swaddlebees (Owl) Wet Bag (Amazon) - Right: Planet Wise Wet Bag (Cloth Diaper Clearance)

Now on to the diapers! I'll start in the upper left of the stash picture...

FLIP Covers (Cotton Babies)

Flip Covers in Grasshopper, Moonbeam & Ribbit

These are the only cover type diapers we have. They were the first ones that I bought because there was a Buy 2, Get 1 Free sale going on. These fit my long, skinny baby fairly well. They have a Stay Dry Insert that lays inside the cover. You can swap out the insert when it's wet and reuse the cover.

TotsBots Easyfit (TotsBots)

TotBots Easyfits in Chicken Little & Enormous Turnip

TotsBots are quickly becoming my favorite diaper! They are technically an "All-In-One" diaper, meaning that there is no insert to stuff. The only downside to that is that they take a little longer to line-dry. These are currently the only APLIX (velcro) diapers we have. I'm considering selling a few that don't get used often to fund a few more of these. While they are my current favorites, they are unfortunately the most expensive and hard to find here in the US (they are UK based).

FuzziBunz One Size Elite Pocket (FuzziBunz)

FuzziBunz in Kumquat

If I had to choose a least favorite diaper, this would be it. I can't seem to get a good fit on Charlie with this one. The sizing is a bit different as well. While it's still a one size, you re-size it by adjusting the leg and waist elastic rather than snapping it up or down. The plus is that if the elastic wears out, it's super easy to replace. I purchased this one used for about $7.00.

Swaddlebees Simplex 2.0 (Swaddlebees)

Swaddlebees Simplex 2.0 in Owls

I won't lie - I bought this one just for the print!! This is a sized all-in-one diaper. The one I have is a size Medium, which fits approximately 12 to 25 pounds. It's not my favorite, but it fits Charlie fairly well. This is another one I purchased used from a diaper swap, I think it was $12.00.

Sunbaby Pockets (Sunbaby)

Sunbaby in (top L to R): Red, Brown x2, Blue Dot, Shapes, Yellow Car (bottom L to R): Cream Zoo, Paint, Blue Car, Blue Star, Yellow Strips

For an inexpensive diaper (around $5 each) these are GREAT quality. They come in two "sizes" - Size 1 and Size 2. Technically they are "one-size" (I know, it doesn't make much sense), but the sizes are designed to fit differently "shaped" little ones. They are essentially the same, but the Size 1's are supposedly better for smaller/skinny babies, while the Size 2's are better for bigger/chunky babies. Honestly I don't even know what I have - I think I have some of each. Sunbaby diapers ship from China, so I purchased all of mind through swaps and co-ops. They make up the majority of my stash - we have 11 of them! These are a wonderful option for cloth diapering on a tight budget!

Kawaii Cross-Over Square Tab Pockets (Kawaii)

Kawaii in Green, Baby Blue, Sapphire, Sky Blue & Light Yellow

Considering these are cheap diapers, they are pretty great! I was able to buy these for about $5.00 a piece through diaper swaps. They are pockets, meaning they need to be stuffed with an insert (or two). I love the solid colors on these as well, the colors are bright and the material is very soft to the touch.

Kawaii Goodnight Heavy Wetters (Kawaii)

Kawaii GNHW in Green and White Animal Print

These are wonderful for overnights. The outer layer is a bit thicker, so it's built to hold a lot more for a longer period of time. Charlie wears one for about 11 hours overnight with no leaks so far! They are a bit bulky (ok, A LOT bulky), but at night that doesn't really matter since he's just sleeping anyway and it doesn't deter his movement at all. I stuff them with two microfiber inserts and they work great! I purchased these through the same swap I used for the other Kawaiis.

Whew! That's all I have! Sorry that got a little long :)

I think variety is important. If you are just getting started and buy all one type, how will you truly know what works best for your baby? Every little one is shaped a little differently, as is every cloth diaper. What works for your friends baby, might not be so great for yours!


If you're interested in cloth but not sure where to start, there are a number of "Trial" programs out there. Here are links to just a few:

Jillian's Drawers Cloth Diaper Trial
Moms Milk Boutique Cloth Diaper Trial
Diaper Daisy Cloth Diaper Trial

The internet has a wealth of cloth diaper knowledge and it can be overwhelming. I encourage new parents to at least consider it!

Nine Months

I suppose I should get this posted... seeing as he'll be 10 (10!!) months in only 6 days!

Nine Month Stats:

Weight: Still a peanut at 16lbs 15oz (10th%)

Height:  28.5" (63rd%)

Clothing: All 6-9 month. 9 month footed sleepers for sure, he has a long torso and legs just like Mama.

Diapers: Cloth at home, still size 2 swaddlers/baby dry at daycare.

Eating: While his milk intake never fully recovered after that ear infection, he's doing GREAT with solids.

He's still nursing an average of 7x per day. Sometimes more if he's having a particularly rough night. For bottles he generally doesn't take more than 4oz at a time, more like 3oz actually. Over the course of 5 bottles on a typical day away from me, he will take about 18oz (on a good day).

He's a champ when it comes to solids. With as much as he eats, you'd think he would weigh 30 pounds. I don't know where he puts it all! We're doing a mix of purees and finger foods right now. I'm just trying to figure out what to give him for finger foods! I got a suggestion of grilled cheese... I LOVE grilled cheese, so I think that might be the next thing we try. Then maybe jelly and cream cheese on toast!

Sleep: Sleep... what's sleep? We're really all over the map here. Some nights he has a great night, with maybe one wake up. Then the next night he's up every hour it seems. I really kind of miss my good sleeper!

Naps are slowly getting better. On daycare days, he usually takes a decent nap in the morning then he'll stay awake allll day only to take a late afternoon nap (about 30-60 minutes) from about 4:45 to 5:30. Then he'll be in bed between 7:30 and 8.

The negative of the early bed time is that he gets up really stinkin' early! The only way he seems to sleep past 6am is if we bring him to bed with us. It's a bad habit to get into, but for that extra hour + of sleep? I'll deal with awkward sleeping positions and lack of space. Although my husband is usually the one that has to share the bed, since I leave for work pretty early.

Playing: This kid... he's gets into EVERYTHING! His new favorite things include: The Dog (poor Oscar), The Dogs food and water, our shoes... and pretty much anything else that isn't actually a toy!

Hurricane Charlie!

The other night he spent a good 10 minutes just chasing the dog around the living room. Oscar doesn't know what to think.

Other favorites include cars, blocks and pretty much anything noisy and loud!

Other Things: Charlie is now a crawling machine! He started crawling about a month ago (August 20th) and gains speed everyday.

Exploring!

You know the first thing he went after? Oscars dirty, gross stuffed duck. They race for that stinky duck on a regular basis.  All those nice baby toys are over rated anyway :P

We made our first trip to Urgent Care - diagnosis: ear infection #2 and pink eye :( My poor peanut. We went because he woke up with his eye all crusted shut, not having any idea about the ear infection. He wasn't running a fever at all, unlike last time where his fever was scary high.

He had to be on two different kinds of antibiotics. One of those is eye drops - baby eye drops are just cruel in my opinion! This coming from a grown woman who can't put anything even remotely near her eye... yes, cruel.

Charlie has a TOOTH!! His very first one. It started poking it's way through shortly after he got sick. Just the one so far, but I'm sure there will be more on the way soon.

Here are a few shots from his 9 Month photo shoot: