Our first Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all!

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Noah (and Grandma and Grandpa W.). Noah slept through half of the gift opening. Noah got some fun toys; we're excited for him to start playing with them. Right now he's just staring at them. It's still kind of fun to make the toys move or make noises or whatever and watch Noah really concentrate on it. It's cute. =)

So he's a little over 3 months old now. This is bizarre. He's about to outgrow 6 month clothes very soon (like... now?).

He's still not rolling all the way over, but he rolls onto his side like crazy (he's been doing that since he was 3 weeks old, though). There was one time a few weeks ago where he rolled from his back to his front and looked excited for a second, but then he realized he was on his tummy (which he HATES) and freaked out. He hasn't done it since. But he's super content to go from his back to either side.

Noah keeps trying to sit up, too. We'll be holding him, having him leaning back against us, and he'll try and pull himself up to a sitting position (he gets about half way up, too). He's really loving sitting up. We were thinking about getting a Bumbo seat for him so he could sit up, but he was really close to the weight limit on it (I think it goes to 20-25 pounds). So instead we got him a little booster seat for Christmas that will work up until toddlerhood. We put him in it while we ate dinner today and gave him some toys and he was happy as a clam, sitting up and banging some toys around. =)

Oh, that's another thing- if he can get it in his hand, it WILL be in his mouth. It's so funny to watch him. He stares at the toy, grabs it, and right into his mouth it goes. He's also fairly constantly covered in drool these days (as am I). Slobber, slobber, slobber.

I tried to measure him the other day. He was wiggling a lot, so it was hard to tell what it was exactly, but he's between 27-28 inches. He hasn't been weighed since he was 7 weeks... but I'm sure he's around 20 pounds. He's definitely a sturdy kid.

He laughs a lot now. Oh my goodness, it's adorable. I was holding him facing me last week and he just started cracking up. I wasn't doing anything particularly funny, but he seemed to find me hilarious (I guess he thinks I'm funny looking). He just went on and on laughing! Music to my ears. =)

His hair is blonde. It's cute. And his eyes are still blue- I think they're going to stay blue. And his cheeks? Squishy and kissable. =)

I keep trying to take pictures of him smiling with my actual camera instead of my iPod (iPod pictures are grainy... but it's more convenient to use), but the flash throws him off and by the time it actually takes the picture, he's mesmerized by the flash and not smiling anymore.

Pictures of my cutie. 

 

Cloth diaper review!

We've been using our cloth diapers for almost 3 months now, so I thought I'd write up what I think about them for those of you who are interested. =)

We're using 2 brands of diapers- Econobum during the day, and Kissa's hybrid one size contour at night.

Econobum

Fit-
     Covers for Econobum have different snap settings, so you can adjust them to fit properly as your baby grows. They're one size diapers, which means that with the different settings, you can have your baby wear them from birth until potty training. They've always fit Noah well.

     The prefolds are very easy. They can be folded into thirds to different ways- either long or wide. It's really nice, I fold them up after I take them out of the dryer and all I need to do to put it on Noah is place a prefold in the cover and put it on him. Easy. We've only used the wide fold for Noah so far. The long was much too big for him in the beginning, but we're getting to the point where we'll need to switch to the longer fold, since he's so massively big.

The only downside to the fit is that they're very bulky. Before we moved, Noah was in 0-3 size clothes and they fit him perfectly length-wise in his Econobums. When we actually moved, I used disposables and was pretty surprised when I first put one on him because his clothes had a couple extra inches of room. But that's not a big deal.

Maintenance- I wait until we get down to 6 prefolds to wash them, which usually happens every other day. I do a cold rinse, cold wash, and hot wash (cold is to help prevent stains, hot is to help with absorbency). The covers have to be line dried, but the prefolds are fine to go in the dryer. They do get stains, but laying them out in the sunshine is all that it takes to get rid of the stains.

Performance- They do well when they're changed regularly (every 2-3 hours). The covers are snug enough around his legs that even when he has massively large poops, they contain it. We've only had 2 or 3 blowouts. We have a few leaks every now and then, but that seems to be more due to user error (not getting things positioned properly, not changing as often as we should) than failure on the diaper's part. I don't use these for overnights anymore. I did in the beginning, when Noah was waking to eat every 2 or 3 hours, but now he's regularly sleeping 6 hours straight through, and that seems to be too long for Econobums.

Ease of use- Econobums are very easy to use. Just plop the insert on the cover and fasten it all on and you're done. They're a lot easier than I originally thought they'd be.

Cost- uh, no complaints here. We bought 2 kits (6 covers, 24 prefolds), which is all we need to diaper Noah, for $100. I LOVE that part. $100 for all the diapers he really needs. Awesome.

And a picture of Mr. Noah in his Econobum:

Kissa's Hybrid One Size Contour

Fit- These diapers have no snaps or velcro- you just fold it to fit and use either pins or a Snappi to hold it all together. Noah's a very big 3 month old (26 1/2" and around 20 pounds, I think), and they look like they're getting small. They're supposed to fit until 35 pounds. They're still going to fit Noah for a while, there's some room, but I'm not sure if they'll last him until 35 pounds (although with the rate that he's growing, that'll be in 3 months...) These are also pretty bulky. They do need covers (you can go without, but have to be more diligent in changing- they'll soak through eventually). We just use our Econobum covers over it and that works well for us.

Maintenance- Same as Econobum. These have a microfiber soaker sewn in at the back (and not in the front), which allows it to dry faster than it would if it were all together.

Performance- these work really well for us overnight. They're VERY absorbent. They're very full by the time Noah wakes up, but they don't leak through his clothes (unless the cover isn't entirely covering the diaper, particularly at the leg gussets).

Ease of use- not quite as easy as the Econobums, simply because you have to use something to hold the diaper together. But still really easy.

Cost- These are $10.95 for one on Amazon right now, not including any sort of cover. Even though they're a little more than Econobum, they're still a fairly inexpensive option.


Overall, I really like both kinds of diapers we have right now. I want to try other brands, too, because cloth diapers are fun. I know that sounds weird... but they really are fun. =)

The past few weeks...

It's been a while since I last posted... we've been busy! Noah's adorable. Not that that needed to be said...

He's also growing like crazy. I had to go through his dresser the other day and pull out a ton of clothes that were too small for him. It's amazing to look at the clothes he used to wear and think he used to fit in that. I told Zach afterword that sorting through baby clothes is a very dangerous thing to do- makes me all emotional and makes me want another little one. 

Noah's been working on rolling over. He's rolled onto his side a few times, but not regularly. He squirms a lot when he's laying on his back; it's really cute.

He also really enjoys slobbering on anything he can get near his mouth. His fingers, my fingers, toys, my clothes.... These days he usually has slobber all down his chin and cheeks. =)

He's becoming more independent, too. He's content playing in his bouncer for longer periods of time now, and he's sometimes tolerating tummy time for longer stretches, too.

We decorated our Christmas tree this past week and Noah was quite fascinated with the lights. =)

He's 11 weeks old today... crazy. =)