Parenting Left of the Middle
I found this awesome hanging storage unit at IKEA a couple of weeks ago. It is proving very handy. I especially love the pockets on the sides where wipes and diaper cream can be stored. The drawers were extra; we’re using them to store the next size up diapers.
Top to bottom pictured: prefolds, covers, doublers/inserts, a mix of pockets and all-in-ones. Our Tushies brand flushable wipes are in the side pockets. Oh, and Jack’s pirate costume is hanging beside it.
I figured we were do for a picture (or two). I can’t believe how big he’s getting, and how much he really, really likes to walk.
We aren’t taking Jack trick-or-treating this year for various reasons (too young, can’t have candy, in bed by 8pm, etc.) but when I was walking through Old Navy and saw the costumes, I knew we’d be dressing him up. I nabbed a costume and proudly showed it to Joe, who was equally excited. We weren’t sure if I got the right size, though, so last night I had Jack try it on. It fit perfectly, and I couldn’t help giggling with anticipation!
Last year he was a cheetah, quite a cute one if I do say so myself. This year, though, he is going to be one very dashing pirate! Don’t worry – there will definitely be pictures!
Jack is eating a ton of solids these days. I still feel like I’m fumbling in the dark, so I have taken the stance of, “I will offer and let him self-regulate.” I hope it works out. So far I haven’t found any useful (or dumbed-down) information on toddler nutrition so I give up. I think this is one area where I am just going to be less informed that I’d like (feel free to throw links at me if you have ‘em).
Anyway, we have found that Jack will eat solids when we are eating. Also, he prefers to feed himself but he will allow me to feed him some of the messier foods like yogurt. He’ll eat just about anything, too. I have been surprised by his willingness to eat grilled onions and roasted garlic. Since he’s over a year we’ve been slowly introducing some of the allergenic foods and so far he doesn’t have a problem with edamame (soy beans), tomatoes, or oranges. He even likes them!
We are still working on getting veggies into his diet. I’ve tried giving him zucchini and that is definitely something he doesn’t like. The move and subsequent activities have made it difficult to get a food preparation routine down, but I plan to steam large amounts of vegetables once a week, freeze them, and then try to feed them to him for dinner throughout the week. I’d also like to try V8 juice or something. He does like beets and carrots but I think those are the only vegetables he’ll go for so far other than the onions.
Oh, and Jack has discovered the wonderment that is Cheerios! I bought a box this weekend because I’d like to stop buying the Gerber puffy snacks and this is definitely going to be an easy transition. Every time Jack sees the box he about falls over with excitement. Who knew plain oat cereal would be such a hit?
I am contemplating putting my pump into semi-retirement and just breastfeeding in the mornings and evenings. My supply has been dwindling anyway and Jack is at an age where he can start drinking other things. I haven’t thought it through completely but it sure would be nice not to lug the pump around anymore!
We bought a replacement carseat. I did a ton of research and almost went for the updated version of what we owned (an Evenflo Triumph, which now lasts to 50 lbs. and no longer has the annoying double shoulder belts) but ended up going for the Britax simply because the weight limit is 65 lbs. I read a lot of good reviews but no one was able to articulate what was so great about the seat, so I was a bit doubtful going in. I am not one to buy into hype, so I had to hope I wasn’t making a mistake trying a new seat when we liked the one we had.
We bought the Britax Marathon. This thing is a monster – freaking huge! But right away I noticed that the bottom is sculpted and so would work well in the middle of our Subaru Outback, which contains a “hump.” The second awesome thing I noticed was the way the LATCH is set up – no threading it through a path under the seat; instead, there is a LATCH belt on either side permanently attached to a metal bar, and the connectors are buckles with buttons (so you don’t have to shove your hand between the seats and wiggle the buckle while depressing the “tongue” to get it on/off the anchor). When you can no longer use LATCH, there are little pockets in which to store the buckles. Joe installed the seat and was extremely satisfied that he was able to climb in and pull on the latch belts on either side of the seat to get a good, tight fit. That sucker is not moving!!!
There are also patches of velcro to hold the harness to the side but this is a pretty unnecessary feature, in my opinion, since you still have to move the buckles out of the way or stab the kid’s back. It was fairly easy to rethread the harness to the proper height, but we did manage to get a belt twisted and so we’ll need to uninstall the seat in order to fix it. This is one area where our prior seat had the Britax beat because you could literally just lift up the seat cover and slide the harness adjuster to the proper height without uninstalling anything. Oh, well.
Overall, I’d totally recommend this seat. Is it worth the extra $100 over the Evenflo Triumph? Probably, if you use it as a single seat from birth to 65 lbs. The Evenflo isn’t the greatest for the newborn stage, IMO, because it’s a difficult to get a proper recline (although that could just be our retarded Subaru issue). I don’t have experience with putting a newborn in a Britax, though.
Edited to add: I forgot the sweet harness “sleeves” that keep baby neck skin from chafing. Gotta love that.
Jack was hobbling around like a drunken sailor most of yesterday. The only thing we can attribute this extra clumsiness to is teeth. He is obviously teething, but I have no idea why this should affect his balance. He trips over AIR, people!
I was feeling around in his mouth last night, trying to determine if he had something in there that he isn’t supposed to have (turned out to be food he was apparently saving for later) and discovered that two top premolars have broken through the gum. I thought the bottom teeth would break through first since his gums are swollen and red down there, but I was wrong. Alright! That makes 10 teeth in 7 months. Poor Jack.
I find it exceedingly hard to know whether I am being overprotective with regard to Jack and daycare or if this is mommy spidey sense (leaving Jack at daycare yesterday when he was upset just felt wrong and I cried the whole way home). Obviously, I’m biased when it comes to my kid. I don’t tend to be overprotective in most cases (Joe has said to me on a number of occasions “he doesn’t hurt himself when I’m watching him”) but perhaps this is one of the instances where I see danger where there isn’t really any.
A combination of bawling upon dropping off and picking up (and also upon anyone opening the door at daycare – i.e. when other parents are dropping off their kids), small bruises on his legs and arm (and a casual mention that Jack insists on climbing chairs and fell off of one yesterday but “he was okay and didn’t even cry”), and a cat scratch from the kid-hating kitty make me nervous. Additionally, the daycare lady said that she lays him down with a bottle and he goes right to sleep. I absolutely can’t imagine Jack doing that. In fact, when my friend Sabrina tried that Jack freaked out. So it doesn’t really add up to me. I even emailed our last daycare provider to get her opinion and she also thought that was out of character.
On the other hand, it’s only been a week and he’s teething. We got in that car accident last week and that caused a mild disturbance. Maybe it’s all just an adjustment period, but how is one to know? Especially when we don’t have a great track record with daycare…
Molars are the worst. My poor guy has red, bulging gums and is a total drool machine. He has been sleeping terribly the past three days and I’m going out of my mind with exhaustion. I’m not really good for much right now…
I promised a review of pocket diapers a while back. Does anyone remember?
We bought a stash of pockets, all-in-ones (AIOs) and also have a few prefolds to complete our collection. We have had mixed results with the pocket diapers, but overall I really like them. Jack stays dry longer, which is especially fabulous at night but at the same time makes it difficult to tell when he needs a diaper change. Daycare is willing to use them since they are as easy as disposables, which is fabulous. They are so trim that Jack no longer has the “bulky diaper waddle” going on. They snap, so Jack can’t take them off of himself. Oh, and they dry super fast!
There are some significant cons, though, for those of us who don’t own a washers/dryer. Pocket diapers are very sensitive, so there are only a few detergents that can be used and you have to be careful with the amount because too much detergent equals buildup on the fleece and leads to either loss of absorption or a putrid odor. We have been fighting the latter for a couple of weeks now…I thought I was being pretty conservative with detergent (using about a table spoon of Planet) but apparently that is not conservative enough. We have odor AND Jack developed a rash all over his backside. The first time we washed the diapers someone left a dryer sheet in the dryer, which is a HUGE problem for pockets. I’ve also noticed there is fabric softener left in the washer dispenser, which I desperately tried to clean out yesterday. I have stripped the diapers (which basically means washing them in hot water without detergent) twice already and the stench does seem to be slowly receding. I also switched to Purex Free & Clear (to help Jack’s skin) and reduced the amount to about a teaspoon. It might take a couple more washes before the diapers are completely back to normal. In the mean time, it’s a huge pain! (Interestingly, the prefolds and AIOs aren’t having the same stench problems even though I’ve been washing the diapers all together. +1 for those types!)
AIOs are pretty fabulous. They are even easier to use than pockets. They tend to be pretty pricey, but not prohibitively so if you are used to the cost of pocket diapers. They do not dry as quickly as pockets, however, unless you get some like the Mommy’s Touch AIOs, which I think are technically “all-in-twos” - the doubler isn’t completely attached to the diaper, so air can circulate around it in the dryer and get it to dry more quickly. I have found them to be extremely absorbent, and have added another doubler for nighttime diapering (although it’s probably not necessary). These might win, although they are bulkier than pockets. Also, they don’t fit as trimly as pockets.
So, there ya go. I think it’s a great idea to get a variety of diapers because they all have their pros and cons. I think we’ll always prefer prefolds for young infants who aren’t moving around yet, but the ease of a one-piece system makes pockets and AIOs great for toddlers.
Is there something I didn’t cover? Ask away!
On the way to daycare this morning (yes! we found daycare! yay!), we got in a car accident. The other driver hit the rear door on my car and Jack was in the back seat. It was not a bad accident, and we are okay (just a little sore from the stress, I think, and Jack was a little freaked out but didn’t cry) but it scared the hell out of me! The other driver is clearly at fault but it’s still a huge hassle to have to get my car fixed (I suspect they’ll have to replace the door entirely) and get a new carseat for Jack.
I was so shocked that my car was hit that my jaw dropped and I just stared at the other driver for a bit before pulling over to the side of the road. I have never been in an accident while driving, never been pulled over, nothing. And I really wish Jack hadn’t been in the car when it happened!! For those of you wondering what the guidelines are for replacing a carseat after an accident, I found this nice checklist.
So my next question is, what is your favorite carseat if cost was not a concern??
We decided the nanny share was not for us. The schedule wasn’t going to quite line up and I was nervous about Jack going to their house because their kids were pretty territorial. I prefer the neutral ground of a daycare. So the search has continued and right now we have a couple good candidates, including one bilingual daycare. Jack could learn Cantonese!
I enlisted the help of our “employee assistance program” at work and they sent a great checklist to assist parents in finding quality daycare. In my opinion, these same principles apply to parenting, so I thought I’d share it here:
A good caregiver is loving and responsive. This is someone who
· hugs, rocks, cuddles, seeks eye contact, and enjoys children.
· responds to a baby’s smiles and emerging skills and interests.
· finds ways to expand upon children’s play to help them learn new skills.
· is sociable and interested in children.
· talks with babies about what they do and see.
· is a playful partner who introduces new ideas, objects, and games.
· supports children in building relationships with other children and adults.
A good caregiver respects the baby’s individuality. This is someone who
· understands and nurtures babies’ development.
· recognizes a baby’s personal rhythms, style, strengths, and limitations and tunes into these when planning the pace and time for eating, sleeping, and playing.
· is comfortable accommodating children’s special needs or conditions.
A good caregiver provides a stimulating and child friendly environment. This is an area that
· is clean and safe so babies can explore their surroundings.
· is filled with interesting and stimulating things to explore.
· is set up to promote learning through free play.
· is changed regularly to accommodate the needs of growing infants and toddlers.
· is organized to have distinct eating and diapering areas.
· is set up to be comfortable and practical for adults, allowing them to focus on the children.
Finding daycare is proving challenging, as usual. Joe met with a home daycare yesterday and was not blown away. Not only that, but the lady charges double what I have budgeted. So it’s not even a matter of whether we want to go with her even though she is technically suitable – we can’t even afford her. And while I don’t want cost to be a huge factor in our choice, that is just the way it is.
I found a couple of nanny shares and will be meeting with a family and their nanny today. This seems like the best possible option for us. The rigid rules of a lot of daycares don’t fit our style at all, and Joe’s almost-full-time-but-not-quite job means we need flexibility in the schedule. The people I’m meeting with today have a schedule nearly identical to ours, and the cost is right in line with our budget. Hopefully it’s a fit because Joe starts training on Wednesday!
I was kind of freaking out about this last night but today I feel more hopeful.
Moving is hard. Moving with a toddler is even harder! Jack needed attention, but there was so much to be done. The process was agonizingly slow but eventually we got out of Humboldt and into the San Francisco bay area. Yay!
I will do things differently the next time around. Anyone contemplating a move, and especially those with toddlers who like to unpack a freshly packed box, should do the following:
Take time off work to focus on packing
Methodically pack up a room at a time
Hire a babysitter
Hire someone else to pack and move everything!
We are attempting to get settled in now. It is mostly going well but it will take some time to get all of our ducks in a row. I am trying to come to terms with a longer, more complicated commute, and we have yet to find childcare for when Joe starts his new job (in about a week). Once we are finished unpacking, have decorated, and get a routine going, I know we’ll feel more content. For now, we are busy enjoying our lovely little guy.
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