Today Musical Daddy had a birthday (I'll leave it up to him to tell you which one). I had left his presents on his side of the bed last night since he got home late from rehearsal and hanging out with the guys afterwards. The Boy had gone to sleep at 9:00 and woke up at 12:00 just as I was about to get into bed, so I brought him in with me even though I could have easily put him back to bed after a quick feeding. Musical Daddy got home around 12:30 and we all slept for quite awhile. The Boy woke up at 4:30 to nurse...not bad, going for over 4 hours overnight.
By the way...I'm on the really old laptop. It is in such bad shape. Worse so because it fell down a few days ago...and the 4 key is messed up. Among other problems. There's very little response, so you don't know what you're going to get with it. As an experiment, I pressed the 4 key 10 times and got 5 4's out of the deal. But I deleted them because you don't want to see 4's (I had to type that over again).
ANYHOW...we woke up for the morning at about 7:30. Barely awake, but we somehow managed. Musical Daddy opened his presents--an organizer for the fridge with shopping list and white board (you'd think that that was the equivalent of Marge getting a bowling ball from Homer but if you know him and us, that's a pretty good gift) and the book Tigerheart which, in all fairness, he specifically requested.
The best present, however, was when he handed the wrapping paper to The Boy, and just to watch him explore the new texture, examining it carefully in his typical multisensory fashion...and then to watch him rip it and throw it around, just shouting with glee, was SO worth the effort of wrapping the gifts and a lovely way for Musical Daddy to start his birthday.
We went out to breakfast, to a place that we hadn't gone in awhile because since the management had changed and most of the staff that we knew wasn't there, it wasn't nearly as good as it had been. I decided that since it was the middle of the week it might be a good idea to try them again. Musical Daddy was not disappointed by his raisin French toast and eggs on the side and I did enjoy my broccoli, tomato, and cheddar omelette. The Boy enjoyed breakfast as well; he ate quite a bit of both plain egg and the broccoli and tomato egg, and some potatoes.
Another aside: Musical Daddy and I have been together for nearly 8 years. For quite a long time he led me to believe that I was indecisive and needed to have a stronger voice in picking out things for myself or for us...when in reality he's the one who is indecisive and I can't believe it took me as long as it did to figure this out. Really, neither one of us has strong opinions about things like exactly where we go out to eat or what color to paint the walls but it seems as though I'm usually the tiebreaker (I rather like our walls, by the way. They are a silver color, rather than a white or a beige, and they have a satin finish).
We relaxed at home for awhile and then I exercised. This makes the third time in a week that I've exercised and I have to say, I rather like the feeling. Of course, with the way that I ate today, I'm sure glad that I have been exercising.
I also washed diapers today. The past 2 diaper washings have been more like 5 days apart instead of the more typical (and more recommended) 3 or so. I think that since we've rediscovered the prefold, thanks to the wonders of the nice covers that make it easy (like the Bummis Super Whisper Wrap), we've been using them more often. I think that we've been changing The Boy more often, especially while he's in prefolds, but it hasn't affected the amount of wash cycles. We have been setting it for large instead of medium, however. Since it was sunny and hot, it was a good day to line-dry (I would have planned the washing for a line-drying day anyway).
I went to teach lessons after lunch and, surprisingly enough, The Boy went for that entire time while I was gone without any milk (I have a stash in the freezer; if you just clicked the link and you're a person who is looking to improve athletic performance, tough luck).
We walked around a bit before dinner; we had intended to walk down the street for Soul Food but alas, they were closed because they lacked air conditioning. So we went to check out another place and to be honest, I thought that it looked too foofy to bring The Boy there. Instead, we went for dinner.
It is rare that we, being both health-conscious and cheap, will go out for more than one meal in a day unless perhaps one of those meals is a nice light sandwich from Quick-Chek. However, since it was Musical Daddy's birthday, it was a treat.
The Boy was fussier than normal at dinner. I tested the meatball theory and while he did moderately enjoy it, he also had some chicken in a sauce and quite a bit of bread. Including garlic bread, which he really enjoyed. I'm glad that we don't usually have bread in the house because white bread has so little nutritional value and The Boy doesn't need to have it become a staple of his diet.
We also had forgotten a sippy cup but The Boy did have several successful drinks from a regular cup. And several successful attempts to shove his whole face into the cup.
Chemo tomorrow, week 5. I'm not looking forward to the fact that it seems like he just got back to normal after last week and now he has to have more chemo; who knows how long it will take this time? Will he still be "not himself" for the next treatment? I'm not sure if next week will, in fact, be worse, because the Adriamycin (Doxorubicin) was 2 weeks ago and that is probably the harshest of the three drugs. It is certainly the reddest. Since chemotherapy is cumulative, maybe he was only recently feeling the effects of that drug rather than this past week's Vincristine, which is the primary drug in his treatment schedule.
Interestingly enough, as we studied the treatment schedule, The Boy will not get medicine every week once week 9 is over. Sometimes he will only require a blood draw at the center. Tomorrow we should have some more definite answers as to when more things are happening.
I do hope that Musical Daddy had a good birthday. We're not the most exciting people but we have a good time, and we love each other.
Showing posts with label cloth diapers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cloth diapers. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Free Energy!
It's not like there's this big ball up in the sky, beaming down free energy for everyone...
If anyone remembers where that quote comes from, if it is, in fact, a quote from somewhere else and not just the sharp wit of The Musical Daddy, let me know.
It's great weather to line-dry diapers! But then, every day when it's not raining or freezing is a great day to line-dry diapers. It's good for getting rid of any stains and odors (geez I sound like a commercial for The Sun).
While hanging up diapers this morning and while taking them down this evening, The Boy played with his little boat toy. I can't imagine that this big clunky thing was meant for water play. Musical Daddy got it at a yard sale so, of course, the price was right. I'd post a link but it looks like a pretty old toy that they aren't making anymore.
If anyone remembers where that quote comes from, if it is, in fact, a quote from somewhere else and not just the sharp wit of The Musical Daddy, let me know.
It's great weather to line-dry diapers! But then, every day when it's not raining or freezing is a great day to line-dry diapers. It's good for getting rid of any stains and odors (geez I sound like a commercial for The Sun).
While hanging up diapers this morning and while taking them down this evening, The Boy played with his little boat toy. I can't imagine that this big clunky thing was meant for water play. Musical Daddy got it at a yard sale so, of course, the price was right. I'd post a link but it looks like a pretty old toy that they aren't making anymore.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Bumping the gDiaper review
Hey, I may as well get some credit for it!
from TheMusicalDaddy blog (but still written by me)
I had heard about gDiapers before The Boy was born, possibly before he was even conceived, because I was discussing the family history of sensitive skin on both sides and someone recommended them as an equally convenient alternative to disposable diapers. I tabled the idea because they looked to be too expensive and still a bit too difficult. I was also unsure of Musical Daddy's willingness to put up with the extra steps. I needn't have worried.
Fast-forward...past the first 2.5 months where The Boy was constantly breaking out from disposables and we made the switch to cloth diapers. Past month 7 or so when the poop started to look like poop and we needed a way to flush it (by the way...you're really not supposed to throw poop in the trash). Here we are in cancer treatment land, and we are faced with the prospect of a baby who, every few weeks, will receive intravenous medication that will cause his urine to turn red or pink. We also noticed that for the brief time period before the surgery, when The Boy was in disposables, he was getting a rash from Pampers. So this sensitive skin stuff isn't in our head.
I purchased the starter kit for $25 at Whole Foods. The gDiapers starter kit includes 2 "little g pants", 4 snap-in liners, and 10 flushable inserts. Plus a swish stick and a little hook for hanging it. Not bad for $25, considering the cost of fancy cloth diapers. The instructions are pretty simple--shove the flushable insert into the liner (it is MUCH larger than the liner and is supposed to cause the liner to "bow" instead of being straight. Don't fold the liner.). Snap the liner/insert combo into the pants.
Put the diaper on the baby. Here's the first snag: these diapers velcro in the back instead of the front. Probably even more difficult on younger babies but not a picnic on The Boy either. I wasn't sure if I was getting a snug enough fit.
Change about as often as you would any other diaper. The insert is removed from the diaper. You tear the insert and let the insides fall out, and then you swish it a bit, and flush. The next snag: this may be gross especially if there's poo. You may want to rotate among covers to let them air-dry. Wash with normal laundry or with normal diaper laundry if you cloth-diaper. Since we were using gloves during toxic pee time, it was less gross to rip the insert. But babies are gross in general, so you get over it.
There was a poopy diaper, which was not contained very well. It didn't escape the whole diaper but it did get on the pant, rendering it unusable until the next washing. The rest of the diapering experience with these worked fine. No leaks, no other issues.
The whole process is more complicated than disposables and probably as difficult as cloth, minus laundry. However, price-wise it is somewhat expensive. The inserts run about 50¢ each, which is more than disposables, plus the cost of the pants and liners, which you'd have to buy in three sizes. That said, it costs only a little more overall and you neither have to do extra diaper laundry nor throw away a bunch of stuff that will take about a hundred years to decompose. If you throw away a gDiaper insert, it still breaks down relatively quickly.
There are also some options. Some people who use cloth diapers find it easier to use gDiapers when they travel.
Overall, I find gDiapers to be a good product for "sometimes" especially the times that we're using them. They are effective. They are cute. They are a bit difficult but not too bad...if you're looking for a part-time or full-time eco-friendly option, these work.
from TheMusicalDaddy blog (but still written by me)
I had heard about gDiapers before The Boy was born, possibly before he was even conceived, because I was discussing the family history of sensitive skin on both sides and someone recommended them as an equally convenient alternative to disposable diapers. I tabled the idea because they looked to be too expensive and still a bit too difficult. I was also unsure of Musical Daddy's willingness to put up with the extra steps. I needn't have worried.
Fast-forward...past the first 2.5 months where The Boy was constantly breaking out from disposables and we made the switch to cloth diapers. Past month 7 or so when the poop started to look like poop and we needed a way to flush it (by the way...you're really not supposed to throw poop in the trash). Here we are in cancer treatment land, and we are faced with the prospect of a baby who, every few weeks, will receive intravenous medication that will cause his urine to turn red or pink. We also noticed that for the brief time period before the surgery, when The Boy was in disposables, he was getting a rash from Pampers. So this sensitive skin stuff isn't in our head.
I purchased the starter kit for $25 at Whole Foods. The gDiapers starter kit includes 2 "little g pants", 4 snap-in liners, and 10 flushable inserts. Plus a swish stick and a little hook for hanging it. Not bad for $25, considering the cost of fancy cloth diapers. The instructions are pretty simple--shove the flushable insert into the liner (it is MUCH larger than the liner and is supposed to cause the liner to "bow" instead of being straight. Don't fold the liner.). Snap the liner/insert combo into the pants.
Put the diaper on the baby. Here's the first snag: these diapers velcro in the back instead of the front. Probably even more difficult on younger babies but not a picnic on The Boy either. I wasn't sure if I was getting a snug enough fit.
Change about as often as you would any other diaper. The insert is removed from the diaper. You tear the insert and let the insides fall out, and then you swish it a bit, and flush. The next snag: this may be gross especially if there's poo. You may want to rotate among covers to let them air-dry. Wash with normal laundry or with normal diaper laundry if you cloth-diaper. Since we were using gloves during toxic pee time, it was less gross to rip the insert. But babies are gross in general, so you get over it.
There was a poopy diaper, which was not contained very well. It didn't escape the whole diaper but it did get on the pant, rendering it unusable until the next washing. The rest of the diapering experience with these worked fine. No leaks, no other issues.
The whole process is more complicated than disposables and probably as difficult as cloth, minus laundry. However, price-wise it is somewhat expensive. The inserts run about 50¢ each, which is more than disposables, plus the cost of the pants and liners, which you'd have to buy in three sizes. That said, it costs only a little more overall and you neither have to do extra diaper laundry nor throw away a bunch of stuff that will take about a hundred years to decompose. If you throw away a gDiaper insert, it still breaks down relatively quickly.
There are also some options. Some people who use cloth diapers find it easier to use gDiapers when they travel.
Overall, I find gDiapers to be a good product for "sometimes" especially the times that we're using them. They are effective. They are cute. They are a bit difficult but not too bad...if you're looking for a part-time or full-time eco-friendly option, these work.
One of the many reasons I love my husband
Parents Magazine Rebuttal
Musical Daddy wrote this a few months ago after we read a really poorly written article in Parents Magazine. I just wanted to revisit it because it's brilliant.
Recently, my mother forwarded me a thread on the Slickdeals forums. CostCo online is now selling Bumkins All-In-Ones, fitted diapers, and diaper covers. Many people were excited about this new development, but just as many people were shocked and appalled at the idea of washable cloth diapers.
My feeling is that our dipes are more effective at holding things in there until he gets changed, so we do less clothing laundry.
Musical Daddy wrote this a few months ago after we read a really poorly written article in Parents Magazine. I just wanted to revisit it because it's brilliant.
Recently, my mother forwarded me a thread on the Slickdeals forums. CostCo online is now selling Bumkins All-In-Ones, fitted diapers, and diaper covers. Many people were excited about this new development, but just as many people were shocked and appalled at the idea of washable cloth diapers.
My feeling is that our dipes are more effective at holding things in there until he gets changed, so we do less clothing laundry.
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