Adventures in Cloth

We are in week 4 of cloth diapering Mariella. It has been going really well! We had one bout of diaper rash in the second week, but as soon as I figured out the cause*, it was smooth sailing. I have to admit that even though I was really excited to switch to cloth, I was a little afraid that I wouldn't like it. That hasn't been the case. It's been very easy, and I don't find myself at all wishing I could just use the disposables. We even use the cloth at night, with an extra insert, and she hasn't leaked once. I haven't heard any real complaining from Tom either, even though I know he was skeptical when I said I wanted to do this. He doesn't typically have to change her very often, but he concedes that it isn't a whole lot different than disposables. I got some very user-friendly diapers that look just like disposables, with velcro closures. It doesn't get much easier than that!

I've had to get some bigger pants for her, since the bulkier cloth doesn't fit into clothes that are made for a trim diaper. It's been a challenge to find 18-24 mo pants that aren't too long, or need to be rolled several times. If it would just hurry up and warm up, we wouldn't have to deal with pants anymore!

*There were 2 things: first, I use what is apparently a very harsh soap on our laundry and need to rinse the machine really well after doing our clothes. That soap is on its way out--too much hassle to worry about more red bottoms. Second, I was using a bit too much (different, non-harsh) detergent on the diapers and therefore they weren't rinsing completely. Live and learn.

I'm not a huge fan of putting topless pictures online, but she's still a baby. I hope she's OK with it. We'll be sure to take it down if she ever runs for public office.

1 Year Photos

I was really excited to have Mariella's photos taken by a mom friend. She gave permission to share the proofs, and I forgot to put them up here. There were so many that I liked! We think she did a great job of capturing what Mariella is like right now, who went through a range of emotions during the session. She was a tough smile, but that's kind of how she is.

Easter 2010

Mariella (not enjoying) trying on Easter dresses. I got 3 of them to compare, and the decision wasn't easy. There are too many cute dresses out there!

This is the one we went with. The 3rd one was a sage green with a purple ribbon, but I didn't get a picture of it because she was very unhappy.

Running around at the MOMS Club Easter egg hunt

Jacob had a lot of fun finding eggs



Peek!

Jacob climbing up to the tree house. You can see the wound and bruise he got above his eye from a run-in with our wood trim in our doorway. Poor guy!

Easter Saturday in Iowa. Mariella found her way into the toy chest.

Mariella with Daddy and an egg, pre-coloring

Jacob was very excited to color eggs, and did great this year

Examining a nice green colored egg

Egg colorists busy at work

15 dozen colored eggs in all!

Jacob got tired of coloring after we had done about 10 dozen, and he was nowhere to be found when it was all finished. So Mariella stood in for a photo with the eggs.

The little kids did an egg hunt that afternoon. Jacob is checking out the coins inside his eggs. He had 70 cents.

Easter Sunday at Schoenbauers. We actually got a picture of Jacob and Mariella together! And no one was crying!

The kids with grandparents

Jacob holding his youngest cousin, James (11 weeks old). James is a big boy!

Jacob got a new truck that makes sounds

Time for another egg hunt! Jacob was well-practiced at this point.

Mariella was more interested in checking things out than collecting eggs, so Jacob did that for her.

Freedom!

Here she is adding an egg to her basket

Mariella really liked this little bench. She climbed up, got down, climbed up, got down