Why I Don’t Want Anymore Children, Ever

Last night was rough. Currently, I’d rank it as the second worse day of my life since bringing Monster home from the hospital.

Monster woke up at 3:00am crying. No amount of cuddling, walking, or feeding could calm him down. He was having none of it. Finally, I began to suspect that Monster was in need of a diaper change. It wasn’t really wet, but there was a little bit of poop in it – I figured that was the culprit. I was just putting the a diaper on when Monster unleashed a horrible gush of explosive diarrhea. Somehow, all of it managed to end up in the diaper, but Monster began wriggling around and managed to get his feet in it. Yuck. Luckily/unluckily he had socks on, so the *immediate* clean-up was quick and easy. Monster soon settled back down to sleep.

This episode however, was just the beginning. Monster continued to have these hurl inducing BMs half the morning. After several uneventful hours, I thought we were finally in the clear, so Monster and I ventured out to the mall to make some returns. Monster loved our outing, but unfortunately the diarrhea returned. YUCK!

Finger crossed that was the end of it and we don’t have a replay of it tonight!

Note to future self – one child is plenty. Don’t want to repeat a night like this!!

Monster's expression sums up my emotions last night

 

Puddle Splashing

This past Monday, we had unseasonably warm and sunny weather. Monster and I tried to take advantage of it, unfortunately, we were only outside for about 10 minutes before it began raining. He was so excited to be outside, after being cooped up inside for so long, that I felt terrible about taking him back inside.

So, we hung out under an overhang, waiting to see if the rain would pass through quickly. We were momentarily joined by some of our neighbors, who were out taking a walk. Monster was so excited to see them! Before it got cold out, Monster and I would “play” with the other neighborhood kids outside about 2 or 3 times a week. It’s been a while since we’ve seen any of them though and lately “stranger danger” has been in full effect for Monster. These days he’s much more likely to give you a dirty look rather than a smile.

The rain moved though quickly, and we were back out playing in no time. There were puddles everywhere, in part due to the rain, as well as snow melting. Monster could not get enough of splashing in the puddles! It was icy cold, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Eventually though, we had to go back inside. Monster was not happy, but he was in dire need of a nice warm bath after all his playing in the puddles.

The face Monster made when we had to go inside

 

So now, I’m thinking that Monster will be getting a pair of galoshes for his first birthday. If this year is anything like last year, he’ll have lots of puddles to play in!

These are adorable!!!

Foto Friday

When Monster eats chicken

he leaves nothing

but bone!

 

Monster Terrorizes the Monster Next Door

Ever since we moved in to our current abode, P has been talking about the “Monster Next Door.” This monster is nothing less than a house cat. It seemed whenever P was home alone, this cat would inevitably escape and scratch at our door. P would answer the door and be greeted by this large, furry cat who would then proceed to try to make his way into our apartment. Every time this happened P would rant and rave about this monstrous cat. Except for a quick glance here and there through the window, I never saw this cat and would tease P that he was having delusions.

Well, a couple of nights ago, Monster and I finally encountered P’s nemesis. And our little Monster won (sort of). The encounter went something like this: Monster looks at monstrous cat, monstrous cat looks at Monster. Monster squeals with delight and begins running towards the cat as fast as his little legs will go (with some assistance from Momma, of course). Monstrous cat hightails it back instead. Neighbor laughs chuckles gleefully (I get the impression he doesn’t like the cat).

It was so cute! The down side though is that now Monster knows there is a cat next door. And he wants to play with him, so he tries to knock on their door every to we go for a walk now.

Dragon Breath

Tonight we discovered Monster actually like onions. Apparently, P was preparing dinner and Monster, as usual, was trying to grab everything. P figured he’d let Monster have a taste, and he loved it! When I got home I was greeted by one happy little boy who smelled of onions. 🙂

Apparently Monster Speaks British?

Yesterday, Monster and I were playing our usual morning game of chase Momma’s coffee cup around the table. We’ve been trying to teach him not to touch hot things – so every time I moved the cup away from him I would touch and say “Ouch! Hot!”

He thought it was funny, and started saying “‘ ‘ot! ‘ot!” whenever he saw the coffee cup. So I guess that means he’s working on mastering British before he tackles American English. 🙂

I tested him again this morning and he’s still calling the coffee cup ” ‘ot!” – Monster learning to talk is going to be hysterical.

Rocking the Hugh Grant/Robert Pattinson 'do

More Snow!

A couple of weeks ago we finally got our first snowfall of the season here in Pittsburgh. We’ve gotten snow a few times since then, but overnight on Friday we got a TON more snow – about 6-8 inches, in fact!

I was planning on running a bunch of errands with Monster yesterday, but the snow changed our plans. Instead, we spent the day indoors – it was too cold/snowy to take Monster outside. He did love looking at the snow though the window though! I have a feeling we’ll be spending lots of time outside next winter – building snowmen, making snow angels, etc.

To break up the monotony of being inside so much as of late, we had a little photo shoot to change things up a bit:

Can we go play in the snow!?!?

Monster with his favorite light/ceiling fan

All smiles 🙂

Nighttime Cloth Diapering Update

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my latest attempts at nighttime cloth diapering.  Since our local cloth diaper store is having a storewide sale today, now seemed like a good time to share an update on how it’s been going.

Sadly, the Bummis Fleece Liners I purchased have not been as successful in keeping Monster feeling dry throughout the night as I was hoping they would be. The fleece liners unfortunately only cover the middle section of the prefolds, and are also shorter than the prefolds, so at about 2:00 am or 3:00 am every night, Monster usually wakes up crying because his little bum cheeks are wet. These liners would probably work well in the bumGenius 4.0 diapers I use, but I’ve stopped using these at night because I inevitably end up soaked during a night nursing session, due to leakage. Monster has a skinny waist and chubby thighs right now, and I just can’t seem to get the legs AND waist to fit him well. I love these diapers during the day though when Monster is having more frequent diaper changes. Now that Monster is walking, maybe we’ll be able to use the bumGenius 4.0’s again at night in a couple of months, when his thighs have “slimmed” down, haha.

As disappointed as I am in the fleece liners, I could not be more happy with the Thristies Duo Wrap! The double leg gussets are fantastic and really hold everything in. I got the style with the velcro instead of the snaps – I like the velcro better because you’re able to get a more “true” fit around the waist. Also, this feels like it will hold up for a while – this cover feels “studier” compared to the covers I have been using. I’m definitely going to add a couple more to my stash, since they’re currently on sale. 😉

Monster Styling His Latest Diaper Cover

He Didn't Want To Sit Still

"I've Had Enough - I'm Outta Here!"

My next step for nighttime diapering is to make my own fleece liners. I’m thinking I can get some fleece from Joann and cut it to size. Just need to make it to a J0anns!

Any suggestions for nighttime cloth diapering?

Foto Friday

To make up for the lack of photos this week – here are some pictures from Monster’s day today:

Come here often?

Spatula go down the hole

Taking a nap, finally

TGIF everyone! Enjoy your weekend!

Am I Creating a Monster?

I’m not sure if it’s Monster’s age right now or just the fact that we’ve been cooped up inside so long lately, but he has been doing some really funny things!

Tonight he discovered that he could make lots of noise by opening and banging shut the kitchen cabinet doors. Then he realized he could make even more noise by opening and shutting TWO cabinet doors at the same time. Imagine his glee when he realized how much noise he could make by slamming two cabinet doors shut and happily yelling at the same time! I’ll admit, when he got to that point I couldn’t help but laugh! He spent a lot of time tonight in this activity. He has  surprisingly good rhythm – he slammed both doors shut at pretty much the same time, every time. In the very near future, I’m probably going to regret letting him do this with the doors.

I’ve already mentioned his love affair with lights. Some days, when we need a break from being inside, we walk up to the third floor of our apartment building so we can look out the window to the parking lot below – and also stare at the mesmerizing chandelier that is suspended from the ceiling. He gets so excited…even though we are many feet away from the chandelier, he puts his hand out and tries to reach it. Most of the time he also wants to walk up the stairs himself, so I help him “climb” up the stairs.

Sometimes I think I shouldn’t let him do these things. For starters – what if he gets loose, climbs the stairs and takes a horrible tumble? Not to mention the temper tantrum he throws when we don’t spend long enough on either of these activities.

Right now, I justify these activities with the fact that soon the cabinet doors will be “child-proofed” with safety locks…and Monster is too short right now to reach the door knobs, so he can’t get to the third floor without my help. Hopefully by the time he figures out how to remove the safety lock and can open doors, these activities will no longer hold the allure for him that they currently do.

 

P.S. Sorry for the lack of pictures lately! Hope to update this weekend with some more posts/pictures. 🙂