Day 1 of Fully Cloth Diapers!

To start with, I am thrilled to say that I have WON A CLOTH DIAPERING PRIZE!!! It was one of the pre-hunt prizes for the Green Quiz Quest I mentioned in the last post and it's 7 nice baby wipes, a travel size wetbag and some wipe solution cubes. How cool is that? I never win anything but will definitely review the new stuff when it arrives.
Today was the girls first day in completely cloth diapers after a partial day in cloth yesterday and a couple days in cloth little gpants from gdiapers with their disposable inserts. Her rash went away within just the first two days of being out of traditional disposables (other than nighttime and she was a little pink in the mornings). This makes me think she was either reacting to a chemical in the 'sposies or just the fact that they don't breathe at all! My little lions prefolds didn't arrive until yesterday morning and it took all day and all of last night to prep them so I didn't have enough cloth to get by with. :) Since a big part of our goal with cloth diapering is to save money, I didn't want to spend a huge amount on our stash but because I wanted to get the girls in fully cloth as soon as possible due to Paige's rash issues stalking the FSOT area over at diaperswappers.com wasn't really a good option either since I was needing enough to get going with ASAP! (We'd spent so much time discussing Paige's rashes recently that one day we realized Kyra was singing Paige a little song in the car about Paige's little bum-bum.) This led me to decide that prefolds and flats with covers were the right choice to make up the bulk of our cloth diapering options with a few pocket diapers thrown in for good measure in case anyone who was a little less diaper savvy ever needed to change them. I chose 4 Kawaii brand covers from theloveyourbaby.com and also 3 different styles of Kawaii pocket diapers from the same site as they were VERY affordable (and cute too!). I'm very happy with them so far! The fabric is soft and stretchy (I didn't know what PUL was like so I didn't know what to expect.) I chose all snap closures instead of Velcro/Aplix as that was what appealed to me and so far I'm happy with that. The pocket diapers each come with two microfiber inserts so you can add an extra one for nighttime wear or heavy wetters. The diapers and covers are all one size meaning they'll fit a baby from a small infant to a large toddler depending on how you adjust the rise length with the snaps. (Paige still needs the shorter rise sometimes depending on what diaper she's got underneath.) For prefolds I ordered unbleached Indian cotton seconds from littlelions.com and am so glad I went with the seconds as they were very inexpensive and the flaws that make them seconds are nearly unnoticeable. I ordered infant and preemie size to use as doublers/inserts and premium/toddler size for use as actual diapers. (Only the infants and premium are here so far, the newborn and toddler are still on the way.) They came with some free diaper pins too so eventually I might get brave and try those instead of just my Snapi closures. I also have a bunch of flannel receiving blankets, some of which I had and some of which I bought super cheap on Craigslist, to use as flat diapers and cut up for more cloth wipes. We also have 8 pairs of Gerber cotton trainers for Kyra to wear under her covers when she's feeling pottyish which sadly hasn't been very often this week. Phil has been working on installing a diaper sprayer for me too and I love it! For my diaper pail I'm just using a plain small kitchen garbage can with a flip lid and no liner so I'll just spray it out with the diaper sprayer after emptying it. One less thing to wash and I figure if I decide I want liners later, I can always get them. So THAT is my starter stash. So far I'm very happy with it except I have decided I need a few more covers since I'm using them on both girls. Oh, and we had four pooie diapers today and I still like cloth diapering so I figure that's a good sign.

After the success with the last contest, I've decided to enter another. :) This time it's at clothdiapers.blogspot.com and the grand prize is a $100 gift certificate to the Cotton Babies site! They're the people who make bumgenius, flip, econobum and hemp babies if any of that means anything to you and if it doesn't go check them out at CottonBabies.com. These are the sort of diapers I DROOL over and I think I'm going to fill out my meager cover stash with some flip covers so it would be great to get to do that for free or cheap with contest winnings and you should enter too! :D The contest is a Mother's Day contest and the entry task is to write a short bit to a special little person in your life about why you're glad they were born. I chose to write about Paige but I think I'm going to try to find time to write one up for Kyra too sometime this week and print them off for their baby books.

On a side note, Paige got another tooth (on the top, right of the middle ones so she's finally less lopsided) just over a week ago and Kyra got her 4th 2 year molar FINALLY last month but I forgot to mention it. :)

Long overdue update... and there are about 6 more saved that need posting.. :D

Today, PayPay cut another tooth (her fifth, the second to the left from center on the bottom), learned where her nose is, SAID nose, asked for Dad when shown his picture, "beeped" her belly button and helped Kyra put the cars away in the tub. Kyra taught her about her belly button, putting the cars away and where her nose was. Such big girls! Oh, and I think "Dad" is definitely her official first word for something she really knew what it meant. I was really hoping for Mama this time! At least she did SAY Mama first. :)

Oh, and at their appointment last week, Kyra was 24 lbs 2 oz 33 3/4 inches tall (she uses the big girl scale and ruler now) and Paige was 23 lbs 11 oz. 29 inches long.

Just a Quick Note

With getting ready for Phil's 30th birthday party, I just haven't had time to put up the post I've wanted to lately so I've ended up not posting at all! I need to get something up though or I'm going to forget things I need written down here. :) We've had a few firsts in the last two weeks. Paige started using a tippy cup last week (with just water in it) and LOVES it as she doesn't feel quite so left out at dinner anymore. Kyra cut her lower left canine last week also. At Kyra's appointment last week she weighed in at 21.1 lbs and was 31 3/8 inches tall. That means she's dropped from 53% on her length to weight ratio down to 19% on her length to weight because she's only growing up! It also means that she's officially 3 lbs heavier than Paige. THIS week, Paige has officially begun to sit up unassisted and hasn't looked back and Kyra cut the lower right molar. Kyra has been loving going out to Grandma and Grandpa Beebe's to pick blackberries, "'matoes", string beans, pears and blueberries. She has a blast seeing the food growing and then getting to eat it right away! She likes picking flowers too. The girls also had their first swing in a hammock out there last week.

Teeth to Chew With!

Kyra now officially has all 4 premolars through and we're just waiting on them to be ALL the way through for her to start being able to chew a little better which is a very exciting thing for me as I'm always paranoid that she's going to choke on things. Maybe now I'll settle for cutting grapes into quarters instead of eighths...
We were out at the dogpark the other night trying out the "new" from Craigslist Baby Jogger (which works great, even in the sand) and the poor girl got all bit up by mosquitos. Thankfully she doesn't seem to have noticed too much for some reason and she didn't react too badly to the bites which makes them hard to find. We apparently need to start remembering the bug lotion and order her a sun/bug net for the stroller.
Paige is really getting vocal. Last night she just sat and chattered and cooed to us for almost an hour before and through dinner!
Phil's softball team had their second to last regular season game yesterday. It was the last for us as we'll miss the final game as we'll be out at Oral Hull Camp for the Blind and Visually Impaired again with the group from church working on things. The girls were mostly very good at the game even though it was sort of cold and no where near the 70 degrees that had been predicted. Phil's team won 31 to 13. Needless to say, they had a good time. :) That's 7-2 for the season so far.. tournament is in August so we'll see how that goes!

3 Months and Counting!!!

Hard to believe, but Paige is already 3 Months old!!! We went with a muffin this month instead of an actual cake because I was feeling a little lazy and wasn't feeling up to the temptation of resisting all that sugar. :)









Paige is just so alert and strong, she loves to sit up in the corner of the couch or in one of her chairs and look around. She's still eating and growing and is pretty solidly in the 3-6 month sizes now. She had her Early Intervention Evaluation at our house on Monday and it went very well and we heard from her ENT that she'll be getting her hearing aid in a couple of weeks.













We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house last Thursday to celebrate Great-Grandma Pat's 80th birthday and it was so much fun! Kyra entertained G.G. Pat all through dinner and Paige cooed and smiled for her several times.
Kyra is listening very well now and is getting to where she can get down and play more at softball games or walk holding our hands too and from the car. She's really enjoying her newfound freedom. :)


I made Kyra some grape juice popscicles the other day and she thought those were absolutely wonderful. You have to wonder though where exactly my brain is considering that I didn't think to use white grape or apple or anything other than deep purple juice...
Kyra is really working on the teeth right now. She cut the bottom premolar on the right side two days ago and the top one right above it popped through this morning. I can tell the one opposite that isn't too far behind either. The poor thing is having a much rougher time cutting the big teeth than she did with the front ones, but at least she'll have some grinders in soon and we can start giving her some of the lettuce she's been asking for!

Firsts, Firsts and More Firsts!!!

So Kyra has been hitting firsts and new things like crazy lately! She peed in the potty for the first time last week, said her first 2 word sentence verbally ("more please") and has been giving her first closed mouth kisses (it's so nice not getting slimed.) Her first premolar came through on Saturday and the one on the other side is VERY close to being through too.

The poor baby also had her first really bloody owie when she tried to lean on my legs while I was wearing a long skirt. She forgets that I'm not shaped like the skirt underneath and leaned on a part where there wasn't any leg to lean on and fell over, biting her bottom lip pretty good. I got her calmed down in just a couple minutes but she bled pretty good and got a big gash on the inside of her lip. She seemed to forget about it completely though until about an hour later when it was time for nap, then she was holding her hand up to her mouth and wanted to be held. ;) She tasted her first feta cheese and made some pretty sour faces and also had black olives for the first time. She loves when you put them on her fingers for her. :) When we were out at Grandma and Grandpa's house last Monday, she rode along in the Ergo carrier on Dad's back and saw the horses, but I think she may have done that before, I'm not sure. She thought they were pretty entertaining at any rate.

Paige now weighs 15 lbs almost even. This is at nearly 3 months. At 4 months exactly Kyra weighed 13 lbs 2 oz. This is a somewhat frightening thing! It's odd though, Paige didn't outgrow her 0-3 clothes any earlier than Kyra did, she just fits better into the 3-6 months clothes from side to side than Kyra did at first. We'll have to see what sort of a growth curve Paige settles onto as her growth slows down.


Both girls did BEAUTIFULLY on Saturday while we were working with a group from church out at the Oral Hull Camp for the Blind. It was the first time I've worn both of them together for an extended period and they did great! Even Kyra was pretty patient in the carrier for over 2 hours straight while I was helping with some landscaping clean-up stuff. During the afternoon while Phil and some of the other guys were working on setting up the Bocce Ball courts, Kyra plaed in the grass by Angi and I for a really long time and did a very good job of listening and staying close to us. She loved rolling in the grass.



I forgot to add before, the other day I had Paige sitting up on the couch taking her picture and Kyra wanted to crawl up and get in the picture so I helped her up and she put her arm around Paige. Then she leaned over and grabbed her Elmo book and got it opened up in front of them and started babbling and pointing at things and turning the pages. She was "reading" to little sister. :)

Grandparents are Grrrrreat!!!!

So after all the waiting for them, my parents arrived on Thursday to meet Paige! They of course think both girls are adorable and the girls like them too. :) Kyra warmed up to her Papa pretty fast this time, but then, she did last time too! She decided Grandma was alright after just a few hours instead of taking 2 weeks like last time they were here to visit. Grandma brought them the cutest little matching jammies and rompers so now I have more matching clothes to dress them in. YAY! She brought a great big bag of clothes from their Aunt Heather too. Kyra was very impressed and spent a good share of the afternoon and evening repeatedly unpacking the bag of clothes as you can see in the video. Thursday afternoon after they got checked into their hotel, we went over to Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping and wait for Phil to get off work. My mom commented later that she kept wondering why all the people in the store kept looking at her, but then realized they were looking at Kyra of course who was being her cute, charming self and showing off for Papa and waving at strangers in the store. At least we did have less people actually stopping us to TALK to Kyra with all the extra adults around the cart so the shopping didn't take quite as long as it normally would have!



The girls hung out in their PJ's on Friday until after Gma and Papa got here that morning since they were wearing their new matching ones and we wanted Gma to see them. Paige's new TrueFit carseat had arrived (Yay for Wal-Mart Site-to-Store) and I left both girls with the grandparents while I ran over to get it!! So it was only a 15 or 20 minute trip right next door but I thought that was pretty good for my first time away from Paige! We LOVE the new carseat so far and it hasn't even been in the car yet other than the ride home in the box! Kyra is madly in love with Papa because he is JUST so fun to play with and she thinks he's her own personal jungle gym and sound machine. Saturday, Kyra's 8th tooth finally came through! She has a matching set again, four on top and four on the bottom. Mom and Dad went with us to meet up with Phil's mom and Curt and their dogs at the dog park this evening after dinner and Kyra got to entertain both sets of grandparents at once. I must be getting to be less anemic because we walked quite a ways and I was feeling pretty good afterwards! I'm still amazed at how well that double stroller does out on the gravel trails out there. Phil put Kyra's new cribtent in her crib when we got home and she didn't seem to mind it at all when she went to bed so let's hope she just never realizes that without it, she could eventually get out on her own! We may leave her in there until she's five if she fits since she sleeps so well in her crib... I'm afraid to mess with what works, who cares about sleeping dogs, let sleeping BABIES lie!
This morning while I was getting my shoes on and grabbing the girls bags and stuff for church, Phil took them out to the car. He got Kyra strapped in and then Paige and then ran back up to grab a bink for Paige because she was fussing and when he got back down to the car she'd already stopped and was holding Kyra's fingers and they were both quiet. How sweet is that? Of course, they weren't about to let him get the camera and take a picture. :) Mom and Dad moved over to a hotel in Cascade Locks for tonight and tomorrow night after lunch today so we headed up there for dinner and to spend the evening with them. It was a gorgeous day so we were sitting on the deck outside the pool area at the hotel and Kyra was just fascinated with the flowers in the pots there. Grandma was trying to convince her to smell them but Kyra was just sure you must be supposed to smell with your fingers/mouth. She got ahold of a pansy and a primrose and tried to eat both of them. She was quite funny at dinner, she was watching all the people around us so intently it was hard to get her to concentrate on her food! The girls were both so tired when we were ready to head home that we changed them into their jammies there and they fell asleep in the car and barely made a peep when we headed in and got them into bed.

Catching Up Again... :)

Last Monday, Kyra and I went to the zoo in the morning with a friend and the little girl she watches who is 2. Kyra and the other little girl had a blast, but the only nap Kyra decided to take was the one in the car on the way home from the zoo, so think twenty minutes or MAYBE half an hour! She was in a fairly good mood despite the lack of sleep, especially once Phil got home. Around 6:00 or so, she was playing in the exersaucer in our bedroom and Phil was laying on the bed visiting with her and I took advantage of their bonding time to come finish up some stuff on the computer and get the dishwasher going. A few minutes after I'd left the room I realized it was pretty quiet and thought, "Great! He's got her cuddling on the bed with him and she'll wind down for bedtime!" Nope, I walked past the bedroom door a couple minutes later and she was out cold in the exersaucer and he was sound asleep on the bed. :) Poor guys were both so tired! It took me three tries to wake Bean up and get her to come snuggle with me.











On Wednesday of last week, Kyra's 6th tooth came through. It just barely broke the surface to where I could feel the ridges and is taking it's sweet time about coming in the rest of the way, but once it does she'll have a matching set again. (It's the top one just to the right of her two front teeth.) She's already acting like she's working on cutting some more, bottom ones this time from the way she's behaving so maybe she'll be up for doing some real chewing before too long! She's already pretty tickled by the fact that she can bite off pieces of things pretty good now.
Yesterday, she took at least ten totally unsupported steps all in a row, which is the farthest I've ever seen her go, but she has yet to repeat that feat. We're not counting it as walking yet because she won't try to do it again, but at least she is finally willing walk with one of us holding her hand.

5 Teeth!

Sometime yesterday Kyra's 5th tooth came through! The top one just to the left of her two front teeth is finally through and seems to be coming in the rest of the way FAST! She practiced using it all day and wanted lots of things to munch on. She's getting REALLY good at taking bites of things now that she's getting used to having teeth that line up so she gets to have a lot of things whole and she really likes that.