Birthing, Babies and Beyond: March 2012

Written by G.A.C, JR

Let me start off by saying that my wife only asked me to do this once. Not because it is a subject that I am overly excited to talk about, but because I think it is something that many men have a hard time agreeing to. I know this because I too was one of those men. The last months leading up to our sons birth were filled with discussion. Fears, hopes, dreams, name ideas, and poop. I myself thought "why the hell can't we just throw it away like normal people?" Needless to say my entire view on the subject of cloth diapering has changed. Having used disposables on family trips and emergency situations while out shopping I can honestly say I have been converted.

The most common misconception among my male friends when they heard we would be cloth diapering was that our house would suddenly smell like our son was using a litter box. The truth is, the only time I have ever been able to smell the putrid bum brownies after a diaper change has been with disposables. When using a cloth diaper most of the doo doo (said in a Bill Cosby voice for comedic effect) is either flushed down the toilet, or rinsed off with cold water. That to me is much nicer than having the disposables festering in a trash can until they are taken outside for the flies to feast upon.

The rinsing of the diapers brings me to my next cloth diapering myth I aim to dispel. "Using cloth diapers will fill your washing machine so full of crap that all of your clothes will turn brown (or green, yellow, and sometimes slightly orangish depending on the stage) and smell like rotting deer carcasses." If you are lazy and just toss them in the washing machine I am sure you would have some issues with a single cycle. The trick is proper prep prior to washing. When we first began using them our son was still on a liquid diet. Because of that the only prep needed was a quick rinse in the sink and they were ready for washing. Now that he is on a solid/semi solid diet the only added step is to dispose of any larger solid waste first, followed by a good rinse. My wife purchased a small wand sprayer that hooks directly up to the toilet to simplify the rinsing process. These can easily be made with a few water fittings and some PVC. The waste is then flushed down the toilet never to return (hopefully).

I'd also like to point out some of the obvious benefits to cloth diapering. The first one being that you never have to make midnight trips to the store for a case of diapers. Sure you may need to do a little more laundry, but the cost of water (sorry hippies) is far cheaper than that of disposable diapers. I have heard some people argue that the diapers themselves are expensive, which is not entirely false. Your wife may become addicted to collecting the fancy prints much like my own has. The plus side of this is that she has managed to break even on every diaper she has ever purchased by reselling them as our son outgrows them. Try reselling a disposable after it has been used. It doesn't work well.

Now I will admit, I am not the most green person in the world (although there is some green on me somewhere) but I do like that we are not adding to the massive amount of diapers being sent to landfills every year. This seems to be a huge selling point for most people cloth diapering, but for us it has just been a little icing on the cake.

Although I can't say for sure because we have never used disposables for more than a few hours at a time there seems to be some health benefits. Our son has never had any serious diaper rash. I contribute this to the cloth being far more absorbent than the disposable materials that tend to wick moisture away from themselves like a windbreaker in the rain. Because of the absorbency they seem to stay comfortable before being changed. It is always nice avoiding a meltdown whenever possible.

Hopefully this will help some men change their mind about the idea of cloth diapering. I know that with our next child and any thereafter we will surely continue the practice. We have had many ups and downs but overall the experience has been extremely positive. From massive blowouts being avoided to the overall comfort our sons backside, the benefits have been well worth the extra work. There are many brands out there, all with their own pros and cons. Experiment and see what fits your little tike best, you will certainly find the right fit and never go back to filling your trash can with perfume scented Sesame Street characters again.

Seven Months

Wyatt has really blossomed in both personality and physical ability this month. I know I say this every month, but I just can’t believe how fast he’s growing.

His month started out with a doctor’s appointment at 6 months and 1 week. He weighed 14 pounds (3^rd %) and was 27.5 inches in length (75^th %). He’s very healthy and doing great! We got the go-ahead to introduce more foods into his diet including meats and yogurt. The pediatrician also ask that I read more to Wyatt to help develop his language skills, which I have been incorporating more into our daily routine.

I really wanted to concentrate on making foods a little thicker this month by not completely pureeing food to liquid consistency. I’ve made some chunkier foods for Wyatt such as chicken, quinoa, orzo, carrots, and green beans. He also started on snacks such as baby rice cakes and fruity yogurt melts. We did have a backfire on the quinoa (a self-induced gag with vomit resulting in a bath and new outfit) so we’re holding off a little while on that. He loves apples, pears, oatmeal sweet potato and the baby rice cakes. He will eat the chicken on his terms (meaning that I crumble the chicken and place on his tray for him to pick up and eat himself). He’s also reaching for my food more often. This past weekend he was reaching for my cup and plate at the Atlanta Bread Company during a play date. I ended up letting him sip from my cup and eat very small pieces of fresh made bread. He loved it! He’s still not crazy about the sippy cup but he does love drinking from a cup or straw. Every time I get a cup out of the cupboard, he goes crazy trying to hold it. I’ve been pouring myself more water lately so that we can share.

On exactly 6 months and 1 week, Wyatt sat for 17 minutes and played by himself on the carpet while I folded laundry. This day marks the first time he’s ever sat by himself for an extended period of time. He started off the month being a little wobbly and now, at the end of the month, he’s a professional sitter. He will sit anywhere without toppling over, which makes life a little easier. We packed away the bouncers because they recline too much for him and we encourage more floor play. In addition to sitting, he’s now moving all over the place! He’s rolling, army crawling, pushing back, rocking and stretching to his location of choice and on his 7 month birthday, he took 3 actual crawling steps forward. He’s also grabbing things that are up high and trying to lift up, although hasn’t been quite successful in that department.

My son is obsessed with our fireplace and gravitates towards it. I swear, if I had a giant, padded room filled with amazing, fun toys and a chain saw in the corner, he’d crawl to the chainsaw. I think they much know where the dangerous things in the room are and are compelled to touch them. The very first time it happened was when he nonchalantly rolled across the living room to the corner of the fire place, lifted himself up on all fours, and chomped on the stone covered, pointy corner. Ever since, we tend to barricade that area with blankets and pillows.

Bath time has really changed for us and now Wyatt is fully sitting up in the bathtub for his baths. He likes to play with the bubbles and splash the water. He also loves sucking on the washcloth while I bath him. He coos and talks to his ducky as he inserts the poor ducky head into his mouth and splashes so hard that he has to close his eyes from the splash back. Yup! I think I’m going to have a water loving fish on my hands!

One last incredibly cool milestone that I wanted to share was Wyatt’s very first word! Yes, it’s official, he said a word and I have three witnesses to prove it. While we were having some play time on Thursday evening, Wyatt went from the all fours position to a sitting position and out of excitement, I said “YAYYYYYYYYY” and clapped my hands. Wyatt then looked at me and said “YAYYYYYYYY” right back. We then went back and forth saying Yay to each other several times. Wyatt seemed so happy and proud of himself and was just overcome with excitement. This was such a special milestone and I’m so happy that I was there to witness it.

Wyatt’s personality has really blossomed. He’s a very social, happy baby. He smiles and laughs at people and is a total flirt to old ladies who stop to ohhhh and awwww at him. I don’t know any baby his age that smiles quite as much as he does. He likes to be held, especially in new surroundings where he may be unsure. He does tend to get startled by large noises or strangers if they get too close. He might get upset or get jumpy around new people from time to time. He’s also very sensitive. When he sees another baby cry, he always gets upset too. I think he feels sad when they are crying. He loves music and one-on-one playing.

In other news, I’m booking photography shoots left and right and working on building my children and babies photography portfolio. Shooting adults who can fake a smile and stand still is a completely different experience that shooting children who are not always happy and are running around everywhere. I’m getting in as much practice as possible and starting to become the type of photographer that I want to be. Hopefully with practicing and opportunities I can continue to grow and hopefully someday I’ll be more satisfied with my art.

I’m also really changing from a party girl into a domesticated, crunchy house Mom. This change has really happened over the past three years but I haven’t really noticed until it was brought to my attention recently. I love to cook and bake and make almost every meal from scratch, I love to clean and keep things tidy (other than my car, that’s a totally different story). I’m a smart shopper and use couponing, ebay, craigslist, consignment, and swaps. I’ve also turned somewhat crunchy, which means that I make a lot of natural decisions on behalf of my child. Think of the term crunchy like granola/hippie Mom. It’s questioning everything you do instead of what you’re told to do and doing things a little more natural such as breastfeeding, cloth diapering, buying organics, co-sleeping, etc. I’m not quite sure when I made this switch. I have never really been environmentally aware or concerned so much about another person in my life. I’m not sure how to explain it, and hopefully this doesn’t offend my readers, but if I had the choice to hang out and drink or spend time with my son, I’d pick my son over drinking and partying any day. I genuinely find it more enjoyable. Also, I may be more inclined to decline an invitation somewhere if I can’t bring my son (unless he’s in bed for the night). My new life may seem pretty ho-hum to most people but I’m having the time of my life.

Even though I love to spend all of my extra time at home with the baby, I am really looking forward to a June beach trip without the baby. I’m working extra hard and even on the weekends to save up for a really fun trip with my girlfriends. I plan on going all out with a new bikini and pedicure (which under normal circumstances would never purchase). This will be my one and only opportunity this year to get crazy and have loads of baby-free fun.

My sister is now living on the East Coast and has been sharing her free weekends with us. I helped her go shopping for civilian clothes (aka normal clothes to me) and we got to spend lots of sisterly bonding time together. We then took care of her sweet puppy, Lizzie, while she was getting her new DC life in order. She even stayed home with the baby one night after he went to bed and allowed us to go bowling. We plan on meeting her at the end of March in DC. It’s really nice having her so close to us.

We also had a nice visit from my Dad and Step Mom this past month. They came down and spent the day with us and took us out to lunch. Wyatt loved spending time with them and he was all smiles. Here are some photos from that day.

The time has finally come when my Mom will no longer be watching Wyatt and he will be attending daycare. Although we are sad to see her go (and I’m extra sad that I’m losing my live-in maid) we are so ready for this daycare adventure to begin. I really think that Wyatt will excel at daycare socially and physically. We can’t thank my Mom enough for watching him over the last few months. She’s been an unbelievably big help and we wouldn’t have been able to manage without her. Wyatt will definitely miss his Grammy, but it’ll just mean that the time they do get to spend together will be even more special.

Mmm, Blueberries