Bum Genius!

After having that one bad day of sickness, I've been great! Just a little exhaustion here and there easily fixed by a 15 minute nap during Eli's nap. It was so precious last night because I asked Eli..."Where's the baby?" and he pulled my shirt up to point at my belly button (ha ha) and then reached down and kissed my stomach. It was so precious because I didn't prompt him to do it. He just decided to on his own. I'm extremely excited because our friends/guitar player in our band's wife Amy Racchini is pregnant too. We litereally are going to have the same due date! She has Eli's friend Ethan who is only a few months older than Eli. Perfect! I got a few Bum Genius organic cotton diapers to try out on Eli to see if I like them. I REALLY like them. I don't want to only use cloth diapers, but they would save some money/landfill space if I used them while I'm home. The other reason I thought it might be good is to transition into potty training in them. Kids in cloth diapers are potty trained 18 months sooner than kids in disposables because the disposables do such a good job of pulling the urine away that kids can't tell when they've peed. It's really true with Eli. When he doesn't have a diaper on he can show me that he's going to pee (like in the bathtub etc.), but I can tell he has no clue when he has a diaper on. If you're wondering about the grossness of dealing with poop....newborn poop is just washed in the washing machine like normal. Once they're Eli's age, you put these little thin liners in (like dryer sheets) and when they poop you just pull that little liner off and throw it in the toilet/trash and it's gone. You don't have to deal with a nasty diaper. I went ahead and ordered two more in a light green. Notice how I'm going gender neutral, so they can be used for the next baby! This diaper costs $25 and lasts from newborn to 35 lbs (Eli's only 22 lbs). If you notice all the snaps on the front you can see that it can snap into a really small diaper for a newborn. Of couse I wouldn't use these for a newborn until they were around 3 months and diaper changes are slowing down. This diaper doesn't have a liner or anything. It's all in one, so basically like a disposable you just wash instead. I did have to buy a different kind of organic detergent that was suitable for cloth diapers (free of all fragrance/additives etc.). The only annoying part of cloth diapers to me is that I have to wash them twice (once in cold and once in hot) and these diapers because they have built in liners take two cycles through the dryer to get them dry. I just try to put it on extra small load so it's not wasting water.

This morning we took Eli to play at the mall and then off to Bradley Fair to shop. We FINALLY found Eli a Halloween costume. Good luck finding a costume for kids who don't like wearing hoods/hats. I've looked everywhere and couldn't really find anything that didn't have a hood. At Gymboree they had a pair of glow in the dark skeleton pajamas that Brandon thought would be so cute for a costume. I totally agreed. Comfortable but cute! I hope they still fit him by Halloween. If not, he has a super cute pair of pajamas! We at at Jason's Deli. I was super impressed with their kids meal. Eli got a grilled cheese on whole wheat, fresh pinapple/strawberries/cantaloupe, and organic whole milk. He also shared my broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. He scarfed it down! I always like to find places that Brandon and I like with healthy kids menus. Looking forward to talking to my OB tomorrow at church!