Silly Dance

(17 months old)

Drummer Boys

Saver

Cloth Diapers: Part 1

Over the past couple months I've had 3 people ask me "I know you use cloth diapers. We are thinking of using them with our baby. Do you like them? What kind do you use?" and other questions. I thought it would be helpful to write up a little information about it so that I can include some pictures for those people, and perhaps it will prove helpful to others as well.

Why?

We have saved a lot of money compared to full-time disposable diaper use. I've spent about $250 on diapers. That includes having a small set at both sets of grandparents' houses. Even if I add in detergent and water/electric costs, I am coming out ahead. They work better; I have never had poop leak out onto his clothing, and only rarely a pee leak. I also keep the environmental and health costs of disposable diapers in mind. It just makes sense that re-useable diapers use less resources (money and natural resources), just like re-useable clothing, dishes, and towels do. We line-dry when possible and plan to save the diapers for future children, which increases our cost savings and lowers the amount of energy and resources used.

What kind(s)?

We use mostly prefolds and covers. Everyone has different preferences on what type or brand of cloth diaper works best. There are lots of amazing new types of diapers out there, many of which go on like a disposable. These pocket diapers and all-in-ones are great for on the go changes, wiggly babies, or caregivers who may not be familiar or comfortable with cloth diapers. Many people have a whole stash of these types of diapers. However, they are a bit pricey for me and I actually prefer being able to use the outer waterproof cover for several changes. You only need 4-8 covers (and 2-3 dozen diapers to put in them), whereas with pocket diapers or all-in-ones you can be spending $15+ per diaper because the waterproof outer layer is part of each diaper. The prefolds aren't as picky about what kind of detergent they're washed in (wrong detergent + synthetic fabric pocket diaper = rash for Tobias), and there is no elastic or velcro in the diaper to wear out so they are supposed to last through several kids. Another benefit of prefolds is that you can use them for other purposes in a pinch, such as a changing pad, towel, or burp cloth. There are many occasions that I have been glad to have an extra in my diaper bag.

When Toby was little, we would use a snappi fastener to hold the diaper closed, and then velcro the cover on over top. This held in the poop better. Now we just fold the diaper in thirds and lay it in the cover and velcro (or snap) it on.

For overnight I use some longer prefolds. I fold them to make them fit into the cover, and to put the extra absorbency in the front. There are other folds but I like this one because I can do it ahead of time and it stays folded up well (when I fold the second side in, I tuck it into the slot made by the first side, so it can't unfold itself).

Here (click to see it) is a picture of my changing table and the diapers on it.

In Part II, I plan to talk about wipes, washing, and short and long trips out of the house with cloth diapers. If you have other questions or things I forgot, please post and I will try to answer your questions in part II.

He's still so little

Tobias at Grove of the Patriarchs in Mt. Rainier National Park

A "From the Wild" Road Trip

Tobias loved having a few days with his Grandpa VW at home, "helping" with oil changes and other outdoor chores. We really liked seeing DadVW too, and appreciated the help he gave us towards being ready to move. For the weekend we packed up and headed to Lynden to meet Jenna and celebrate her baptism! On Saturday we went to Semiahmoo beach at low tide. In the video you can't see it so well but Tobias and his Grandpa made it a long ways out! Tobias spontaneously fell asleep while sitting up on Grandpa's shoulders, so it must have been pretty peaceful out there. Later the kids (maybe the adults too) had lots of fun with streamers. We were blessed to be reminded through baptism of God's love for us, and also blessed to spend time relaxing and enjoying family!

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. -1 John 4:10

Fork lifter

We didn't deliberately teach Tobias to use a fork (although I believe he got a short tutorial from some of Rebecca's friends?). One evening he swiped one off the table and proceeded to stab his food with it. I guess it is one of those examples of how much kids absorb just from watching! It is fun and pretty amazing to see him learn so many new things.

The Great Outdoors....and Associated Equipment

1st year by the numbers

To Tobias:

In the past year,

you have slept all the way through the night, bedtime until morning, 0 times

you have overrode 1 anniversary supper

you have gained 2 uncles

you have summited 2 mountains

I have spent $7 on disposable diapers and wipes

you have sprouted 8 teeth

you have stayed fairly calm through 9 airplane takeoffs

we have traveled to or through 10 states (IA, NE, SD, WA, WY, ID, MT, CO, OR, UT)

you have starred in 11 videos

you have charmed 65 ladies of varying ages (Ok, that one's an estimate)

You have caused 146 laundry loads worth of cloth diapers

I have spent $250 on cloth diapers
I have put 1296 miles on the car coming home on my lunch breaks to feed you

It would be difficult to measure or even estimate other things, such as the number of times you spit up, the number of Cheerios you've eaten, the number of times you've fallen down while learning to walk, the number of times we've said "No, Tobias", or the number of times I've thought "for not liking babies, Nate makes a pretty good dad". It has been a great year and we can't wait to see you grow and learn more in the coming years! Love you!

Happy Birthday-(coming)-(up)-(yet)-(this)-(Friday) Tobias!

Toddling

Buddies

At times I suspected that Tobias's Grandma VW had gone overboard when she bought so many baby items, but I wanted to post this picture so she could see we're putting stuff to good use. This picture is from a few weeks back (April Fool's Day, I believe) when we took one of our first walks of spring (Jayna and her mom came along!).

Strolling Musician

OK, so he's not quite a strolling musician yet, but he's improving on both fronts! I did include some video of him trying to play the wrong end of the recorder, and falling over, just so you all know that he's only a little bit of a genius baby. He's 9 months old in a few days!

8 months

Tobias changes so much each week that it seems these video clips are out of date by the time I post them! He's getting to be much more of a talker- imitating sounds and babbling. He also loves to make fishy faces and/or kissy sounds (maybe Holly can post her video of that). His other new tricks are "give me five", turning book pages, and turning off light switches (although he needs some help to reach them, of course). He is getting to be a speedy crawler and has mostly left the army crawl behind. We all had a lot of fun on Holly's spring break visit enjoying the spring weather, good food, and just hanging out!

Baby Buxtehude?

We caught some of the very first "real" crawling on video, as well one of the first organ solos.

Around the house with Dad and Grandpa

We all enjoyed a visit from this video's guest star, known to Tobias as "Grandpa Vander Wilt". He is a man of many skills including stopping the organ squeak and rocking a crabby teething baby!

Sit-ups and Squash

Tobias is 6 months old so we're letting him try a few bites of food that hasn't been pre-processed by mom. And I know, rice cereal is the traditional first food, and probably not a bad one, but for a variety of reasons, I picked squash. (One of the reasons being that Walmart was all out of my first choice of pears.) It has been fun and quite messy. You will notice that in the first food clip, he is wearing clothes, and by today he is eating in diaper and bib only. We're all learning. What do you think he should he taste next?