9 months!

gosh. it feels like her 1st birthday is just around the corner *tear*
macie has been busy!
-her first tooth popped through on wednesday. i was surprised because i haven't felt anything underneath her gums. she is quite protective about it. if you so much as move for her mouth, she slaps her hand away.
-she has a sloppy little wave that she started doing to. i have it on video, she still won't do it for matt, though.
-all of a sudden she started clapping. she does it when someone says yay. and especially when she turns on her ball popper toy thingy. it's hilarious.
-she is trying sooo hard to talk. she chases the dog around the house yelling "daw! daw!". and when she's following matt it's "da! da!". she babbles and squeals
-she also gives kisses (aka opens her mouth wide and lunges at your face). i left her with my grandma for a few hours the other day when i had a doctors appointment. when i came back she gave me "kisses" for about 5 minutes straight. love!
-she is so much more mobile, too. she's standing all the time, for a few seconds on her own. she's walking her way around furniture. she loves to push her activity table around. oh, and stairs. she can climb stairs. great.
-we packed the hated swing away. the exersaucer has apparently become a cage.
-macie lovesssss food. anything and everything. sweet potatoes, avocados, squash, peas, green beans, apples, peaches, mango, plums, bananas. we've started more finger foods (beyond the puffs and mum mums). graham crackers are her fav. she would devour an entire box. she also likes pasta, little bits of chicken, cheese, sweet potato pancakes and cheerios. she hates yogurt, though. cries and spits it out. egg yolk isn't a big hit either.
-she drinks four 5-ounce bottles most days still. usually 7,11,3 and 7. she's missed the 7pm bottle a few times.
-she's been quite the daddy's girl when matt gets home.
-she absolutely ADORES riley. he makes her laugh harder than anyone. she follows him around allll day. sometimes he gets a little frustrated, but is really good with her. he watches to make sure she doesn't get anything she shouldn't have. he tells other people what she can't have or can't do.
-she is so much more interested in her toys lately. she's been figuring out how to move and shake them. how to turn them on. she gets so excited when she figures something out.
-naps are getting better. she sleeps between 45 min to 2ish hours at a time. usually she goes down at 9 and 3. sometimes 12 in between. most times she takes her nuk and goes to sleep. if she doesn't want to sleep, her favorite game is throwing as many nuks out of her crib as i put in. then she screams. and screams. part of the bad napping is thanks to riley. he is SO loud. not on purpose, but he has no "inside voice". it's either sleeping or yelling. i find myself constantly reminding him to be quiet because macie is sleeping. he tries hard, but then forgets and yells.
she also went to her first brewers game. she did really well. innings i think. napped, too.
-macie is in 6-12 month clothes.
-macie loves: brewer, riley, mommy and daddy, the camera, remotes, cell phones, food, standing
-macie dislikes: sleeping, yogurt, being "ignored", laying down

and what has riley been up to?
-he took a museum class about the solar system and can tell you about constellations.
-the other day he learned how to open his "child-proof" vitamins. he said he needed vitamins. i told him to bring me the bottle. he brought me an open bottle. nice.
-the things he say amaze me everyday. i don't remember what we were looking at, but he told me "i'm going to go get my other one to compare" hm..ok?
-he's been loving the museum, the zoo and swimming.
-he would stay outside all day and play baseball, soccer and basketball.
-he's finally starting to play by himself more. i love to see him "acting" out scenes with his space sets or fire station.

someday i'll get some pictures up. because my kids are pretty frickin' cute.

me? never.

if you had told me two years ago that i would cloth diaper my next child? well. i would have laughed at you. and thought you were gross.

with riley it was disposables all the way. i knew nothing different. i didn't know anyone who had gone with cloth. my idea of cloth was poop-stained pieces of cloth and plastic pants. yuck yuck and more yuck. but, really, the thought never crossed my mind with riley. actually, there are a lot of things that i didn't do with riley because i didn't know any different (another post, for another day)

macie was in disposables for the first few months. i think it was around 5 months that we (i) bought her first cloth diapers. matt was hesitant at first. but, when it comes down to it, he puts them on just like he would a disposable. if she poops, it usually can be plopped right into the toilet. we also have flushable liners that help. the messes? i deal with those. and they're really no big deal. i do the laundry. usually every other day. cold rinse. hot wash. cold rinse. usually we dry them outside.

when we first started out we did a mixture of disposables and cloth. as my stash got bigger, the disposables were fewer and farther between.

there is a lot that i love about cloth diapering:

• less waste


• one less thing on the grocery list


• soooo much softer on macie's little bum


• no chemicals, antibiotics, etc on that same little bum


• oh so many options! pockets, aoi's, side snap, aplix...


• they could not be any cuter. seriously.

cons?

• um. it might just be a bit of an addiction


• the initial cost (although i did get some good deals. read: bumgenius 3.0s: 1 free and 2 for $2.50 after purchasing other essentials like spray, doublers and liners)


• having to "defend" my decision against all the "ew" and "disgusting" comments

so, for my personal future reference (and anyone else's):

here are the diapers we've tried so far:

bumgenius: i really love how trim they are. we have the velcro. a little questionable. it seems to be wearing a little already. plus it never stays on the laundry tabs in the washing machine. we've only had one leak. and that was my fault, leaving her in it too long. macie has some chubby legs, and these never leave marks. my one complaint? they smell. yep. they come out of the wash smelling fresh. but as soon as she pees in them? gross. and not a pee smell. i can't really describe it. i've heard this from some other moms as well. plus they take forever to dry, but that's to be expected, being an aio.

fuzzibunz: had some leak problems at first with these until i adjusted the leg elastic. another good fit. pretty trim as well. these are also super soft. they're also not too tight around the waist.

gdiapers: i don't dislike these quite as much as i used to. i'm not a big fan of how these are made. they're a little thin and lined with plastic. the plastic, combined with the fact that you just lay the insert on top of the plastic, makes it difficult to get a good fit. not sure how comfortable they are, either. these were the first cd's i bought. i liked the fact that you could use a cloth insert or flushable one. these would probably work well under jeans, though.

flip: have yet to have a leak with these. they're one size. they're also nice and trim. my only complaint with these, like the gdiapers, is that the insert isn't very secure just set inside. we also haven't had a lot of luck reusing the cover. poop or pee always seems to get on it and it needs to go in the wash.

kawaii: i bought a few of these on recommendation from someone. they are suuuuppppeeerrr cheap (um 6.99ish). because of the price i was hesitant (are they going to send me a garbage bad to wrap around macie's bottom half?). so far, i am pleasantly surprised. we have one of the pockets, a nighttime diaper, and a minky one. no leaks with any. i am especially happy with the nighttime diaper. it's bulky, but definitely does the job. the fit on all of them seems to be good. a few complaints, though. none of the diapers are very trim. i also wasn't very happy with customer service. i had ordered a cow print and was sent a heart print. i was offered a $5 refund, but still. i don't think i will be ordering anymore. partly because of that, partly because of the bulkiness and mostly because of the $12.95 for shipping.

applecheeks: i love the feel of these. i also like the elastic in the front. i think they're mobile-baby friendly. i got the size 2 because macie would haev been at the tail-end of the size 1. it's a little saggy in the butt, but i'm excited for her to grow into it.

happy heinys: super cute. we have the cow print. love it so far. i like the way the velcro goes all the way across the front. i've heard they're a good brand for chunky thighs, which macie proudly rocks.

i'm in the market for some trim diapers next. i'm a little concerned about jeans and fall clothes once it's no longer summer/diaper and tshirt weather.

ughhhh

what happened to my good napper? she has been replaced with a nap-hating, screaming, hyperventilating creature.
old naps: 9 am-change diaper, lay macie down, give her her nuk, she takes it, rolls over, maybe whines a little, falls asleep.
new naps: 9 am-change diaper (so far, so good), begin to lay macie down, as soon as she feels me begin to tilt her horizontally, all hell breaks loose. lay her down, give her her nuk. she promptly spits it out, glares at me and starts shrieking. it's not a sad cry. it's a "woe is me. how dare you do this to me. i'm not having this shit. get me out of here now. i said now" kind of cry. i leave. and peek through the crack in the blinds on the door. she trashes. stands up. stands at the crib railing, stares at the door and just screams. and screams. and screams some more. eventually she lays back down (or collapses out of sheer exhaustion), locates her nuk through eyes clouded with anger and tears, and goes to sleep.
old naps were way easier. and much more quiet.
i have held my ground, though. giving in to her only makes it worse. if she cries long enough i will go in. as soon as the door handle turns, she stops, looks, and smiles. tricky baby she is. i comfort her. and turn for the door. the screaming wayyyy worse. so i try to avoid that situation.
hopefully this too shall pass.

4th of july weekend

first, i need to start by saying that my not-yet-4-year-old can ride his bike without training wheels as of last week! how cool is that?!? yay riley! i gave him one push and he was off. no looking back. he crashed into a few bushes, but sometimes i still do. he can even start himself now. not even a week later, he is riding like a maniac. sharp turns, quick stops. it's enough to make me look away. the apparent catalyst was his new helmet (with flames) that he was so proud of. as he rode up and down the alley, he looked at me and said "is this a dream?" haha!

moving on: we had a nice holiday weekend. matt is off all week which is AWESOME (no sarcasm), especially since i have been less than stellar lately. friday we went up to his parents' lakehouse (while they were in london without us). we went out on the boat and had planned to spend the night, but the mosquitos were SO bad. they were all over the house. as the day went on, the only got worse. we made a mad dash for the car, but still ended up with 2 dozen or so inside the truck. oh and a broken windshield. courtesy of matt. and his attempt to smack a mosquito. he's either that strong, or the windshield sucked. either way it needs to be fixed asap, since we are currently trying to sell it. (anyone want a 4runner?)
saturday we went to my grandparents for my grandpa's 77th birthday party. fun was had by all. saturday night i got a migraine. woot woot. sunday was the 4th. we went swimming at my aunt and uncle's. then we spent some time at our friend's (with their 5 kids 5 and under!!) and lit off some fireworks. brewer was less than thrilled. needless to say, the kids were exhausted. i'm surprised they lasted as long as they did. monday morning we went to the world's longest parade (seriously..2 hours?!?). oh and it was like 95 degrees. i didn't think i would survive. barely did. the heat and i? not friends. back sweat? not pretty. we thought about going to fireworks, but they started too late and the kids would have been batshitcrazy. so we opted out.
did i mention we're in the process of teaching macie the meaning of the word "no"? an interesting process it is. especially since her favorite pasttimes involve death-traps like lamp cords and dog food. and since she pulls herself up on anything and everything.

i have a ton more to write about (including my novel to matt's mother) and lots of pictures. now all i need to do is find time...