Almost 4 Weeks Already!

Can you believe Joshua is almost 4 weeks old?

This week was going pretty well, with increased tolerance (though not full acceptance by any means) of car rides and some longer relaxed happy stretches. By that I mean up to ten minutes of just hanging out before he starts to fuss. Then Wednesday night he was restless in the night and needed about 90 minutes of bouncing to get back to sleep. Last night again he needed 2 hours and later another hour of bouncing in the predawn hours. The good news is that the tv programming is quite good in the middle of the night! I am catching up on old ERs and Greys Anatomy. I am also learning many valuable fashion lessons from Stacy, Clinton, and Tim Gunn.

I started keeping a food log. Wheat has been out of my diet for over 3 weeks now. Dairy has been out for a week or so. Today I had a bowl of yogurt so we'll see what happens. I didn't want to add either until he'd had about three really good days in a row, but I was so starving this afternoon that I caved. He's been somewhat fussy today so unless he has a dramatic reaction, I may not get a clear signal of intolerance.

I took Joshua to the pediatrician today. He weighs 10lbs 4oz (4,650g). His heart and lungs sound terrific. His abdomen looks and palpates fine. We hadn't done the heel prick test I know as "PKU" screening, and Dr. Flores recommended that we do the more exhaustive metabolic disorder screen test, so we will do that on Tuesday.

I'm still on the cloth diapering learning curve. I bought a little of this, little of that so I could figure out what I like and what works best for us and order that kind in the next size up. Well, four weeks in and I just don't know. I'm still trying to figure out how to fashion the perfect blowout-proof Poop Pocket with the prefolds. A lot of people seem to love one size pocket diapers, but they're so bulky up front right now, snapped down to the smallest size. I want to love them, because they have a nice soft liner that keeps baby feeling dry. That wasn't a priority for me because I want to do at least part time EC and I know that he is more likely to stop using diapers sooner if he doesn't get too comfortable in them. That said, I don't want him to have be too uncomfortable either! And he sleeps in such long stretches that his diapers get really soaked and I feel bad for him. His private parts get all wrinkly like he's been in the tub too long!

I found myself thinking that cloth diapers were really not very absorbent at all since they get so wet so fast. But right now he pees about every 10 minutes so of course they're going to get wet fast. And I rarely have a leak, whereas I remember needing to change Micah's leaky disposable diaper- and sleeper- in the middle of the night almost every night when he was younger than Josh is now.

I have been doing some EC. The other day we caught like 4 pees and poops. That was fun. If/when Joshua gets more relaxed I'd like to lay him out on a pile of prefolds or something and REALLY watch his cues and learn his elimination patterns better. But right now he'd last about a minute. So for the time being he's in diapers and covers all the time, with a number of potty opportunities throughout the day. And I change him as soon as I know he has pooped. At this point there's no way I can keep up with all of his pees. I'm hopeful that as he grows and his eliminations become less frequent and more regular/predictable, we'll be able to really get into an EC groove.

Joshua has already grown out of the cover I crocheted for him. I'll have to get going on the next size. I wonder if I can get two out of the wool I have left. I like the wool covers because I know they breathe, and the ones with the little legs contain blowouts better. The down side is that because the wool absorbs the wetness, a little gets wicked onto the baby's clothes. They just feel a little damp to the touch though, not wet like a leak would make them. I must say that the Bummis Whisper Wrap covers are really good. They do live up to their reputation. The Berry Plush minky cover truly is adorable and works decently over a prefold or fitted diaper, but I've had a few messes with the snap in insert so I'm not convinced of its value as an All In One diaper. I'm not sure about the Kissaluvs fitted diapers. They're great for Andrew who hasn't had a complete orientation to the cloth diapering world yet (but is putting in an excellent effort and being totally supportive), and I haven't had a leak. But then they just somehow feel even MORE wet than the prefolds when they're wet. Maybe I'm just being silly. But Joshua had some diaper rash in his first couple of weeks so I'm paranoid of anything that might cause its return.

I do like five loads of laundry a day. I don't know what has happened. I only wash diapers every two days and Joshua usually makes it through the day in a single outfit, so how has my load increased so much? Oh wait.... Could it be the copious number of "accidents" the older two are having lately? Well, this too shall pass... (and at least it's not puddle accidents, right?)

Dryer Balls

Any of you who have been to a Norwex party have already heard about the dangers of fabric softener. I quit using it right after I was enlightened, and my clothes didn't come out all stiff and static clingy like I'd been led to believe. I dabbled in fabric softener alternatives like baking soda or vinegar but found I didn't generally need them. That said, I did still have a problem or two. My front loading washer does such a good job of spinning that sheets in particular would always come out of the dryer really wrinkly. And if my dryer load was really small, the clothes would just ball up rather than tumbling, and they would come out looking terrible.

The solution to both problems? Dryer balls! This summer I ordered these dryer balls pictured above. And they are totally doing the trick. I highly recommend them.

Speaking of laundry, can someone tell me how to get stains out of clothes that are supposed to be washed only in cold water?

Sustainable Laundry Pattern

I believe I may have finally fallen into a sustainable laundry pattern!

There is two prerequisites to this working:

- A 'normal' routine. It has taken me 2 weeks to get back on track after our holidays.
- Presorting of laundry in a single location. We have three hanging baskets in our bathroom, and as we take our clothes off, they go into either the Darks, Lights, or Colours basket.

Here's the routine:

Most days I do at least one load of laundry. Some days it is the basket that is getting full- today I'm doing three loads of darks. On Thursdays Claudia changes the sheets so I do sheets on Thursdays. Other days towels are on the schedule. I don't have a special day for this and maybe I should; right now I just do them when they get grungy or stinky. Not optimal but nobody has complained so I don't sweat it. :)

I used to get bogged down with the task of sorting and not actually get to the laundry, so the presorting is really really key. Thankfully Andrew is on board. I still sometimes get bogged down with the folding and putting away, but limiting the amount of laundry done in a single day really helps with that because then it's not quite so daunting. I tend to dump it all on my bed to add motivation factor. Sure, sometimes the pile gets moved to another location, unfolded, but more often than not it actually gets folded and put away before I go to bed. I also sometimes ask Claudia to take care of folding and putting away when she is here. She is great at folding so our clothes/closets/drawers invariably look better after she's been in charge of this, but for the most part laundry is my responsibility.

I should also mention one other key factor in all of this. I generally don't iron my clothes. Andrew takes care of his own ironing. Beautiful arrangement!