What does your 10 month old do?

You've got to love Lea. Just when you think that she's can't surprise you anymore you turn around and voilà she's doing it again!

Most babies at 10 months are busy crawling, pulling themselves up. Some like Lea walk around pushing chairs. But how many climb up slides? Look at her! Lea had been working at it for a couple of days but this evening her socks fell off and the off she went. She didn't get very far until I put a toy that I didn't want her to have at the top and then up she went, grabbed it and slid down. She thought it was so great she spent at least 10 minutes climbing up and sliding down.

We love Lea - she's always coming up with something new to keep us on our toes.

Let the sandbox be opened!

Spring is here and the kids are loving the great weather. Lucas couldn't wait to jump in to the sandbox (understandable since we don't have a swing set). Well, where Lucas is Lea is not far behind so we dressed Madame up on her rain pants and put her beside her big brother. Lea loved it! Especially the taste. I think when that there was defniately less sand in the box when I took her out.


Since then Lea seems to be "addicted" to the outdoors. Everytime I open the door to the terrace she beelines there and heads outside. Grass, leaved, pinecones... everything has to be turned over and tried out. It's going to be a fun summer. Not to mention the washing...

When they're quiet

Shh, do you hear that? Nothing. Pure silence. What a blissful noise!


Not that I don't love my kids, but sometimes one needs some peace and quiet.


I went upstairs to feed Lea and chat with a friend on the phone and she fell asleep while drinking. And then on the way downstairs I realized how quiet it was and was preparing myself for the worst (because we all know what it usually means when children are being quiet) and lo and behold I found an sleeping angel. I guess he mussed have been playing "bedtime" and actually fell asleep.


And what am I doing with this peacefull time? Nothing. I'm leaving the mess and chaos as it is, the wet laundry in the machine and am sharing this moment with you.

And the winner is...

Our package has arrived. It was just like Christmas! I am so happy to finally have full set of diapers. And the winner? Tots Bots FlexiTots for Lea and Tots Bots Bamboozles for Lucas. There are also 3 bum genius pockets for when Lea and I are out and about. And talk about perfect timing. We ran out of disposables for Lucas and the next day we were on to cloth. Lucas likes it and he's gotten used to having to wear underwear every day. I can't say it has helped him potty train (I still have to think for him) but he doesn't put up as much of a fuss when I tell him to go. He even goes by himself sometimes. And when we're out and about we have trainers (extra thick underwear), which in the case of an accident buy me a little time to get to somewhere where we can change.


Regrets? None yet.

Just an ordinary week

It's Saturday night and we just got home from having dinner at Christina's house. The children are sleeping, Ralph is watching golf and I am reflecting upon the week. Somehow I didn't manage to write this week although there were so many entries I had written in my head during the day but had forgotten by the time little people were sleeping peacefully and all was still in the house.  


Highlights in the last 7 days:


Saturday
I got to go out! It was Diana's birthday and the ladies went out for dinner. I left Princess Lea with Ralph and Lucas and she was well behaved! She even learned how to say Papa. But just to make sure that I didn't think I had been replaced, she woke up just before I came home and patiently waited with her Papa, staring out her bedroom window, waiting for me to come home.


Monday
We started out by going to the gym. Lea was sleeping when we arrived so I was optimistic that I might finally get a full workout in. Turns out Lea had other plans, after 20 minutes I got called back; the couldn't console her. Not even Lucas could help. Will I ever get any use out of this gym membership?


Lucas got his sling off. His collar bone is more or less healed. We do need to avoid activities where he might fall on his arm for at least a week or two.To Lucas' dismay this includes riding his push-bike.


Tuesday
What a long day. It rained and poured and we didn't want to go out in it. And since Lucas' arm isn't 100% we couldn't go to his gymnastics course. To help the day go by we baked a cake and Lucas helped the whole time. He is turning out to be a great helper (when he feels up to it).


Thursday
Ralph went out for the evening so I had to bring the kids to bed alone. Lucas' independence made a re-appearance. For weeks now he's been on a baby-kick (I'm a baby: change me, feed me...). But at bed time since my hands were full with Lea he actually got himself undressed, got on the toilet himself, helped get his pyjamas on, brushed his teeth and didn't throw on tantrum. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things continue this way


Friday
The weather was ice cold but so nice sunny, so we got the bike and the trailer out and took them for a spin. Spring can't be far away now.


Saturday
Correction on the spring part. This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. Anyone seen the shovel?


We went to Christina's this evening for Thai curry. During dinner Lea took the opportunity to finally start sitting. I was ecstatic (I find these little milestones very exciting). Then, while I was getting her ready for bed she decided that to avoid getting her diaper on she should make a quick getaway - on all 4s! She crawled and I have to say was pretty quick for a beginner.


Well, that was the last couple of days. Amazing what little things can help break up / brighten the monotony of the week. 

Qual der Wahl or Decisions, Decisions

I'm not sure how many people know this, but about 4 weeks ago I decided to change to cloth diapers. Please don't ask me why;  I'm not really sure myself. I just woke up one morning and decided I didn't want to deal with disposables any more. Maybe it was the fact that I have two kids in diapers (my older one actually needs more diapers some days than the baby) and I got tired of driving to the store every 2 - 3 weeks and coming out with 6 packages of diapers and pull-ups. Or maybe it was the mountain of garbage we were creating and I felt that we needed to reduce our contribution to the landfill. Or maybe I just needed try it out and see for myself what it was like to diaper "naturally".


When Lucas was born I tried to convince Ralph that we should cloth diaper but I couldn't and lots of people discouraged me from doing it. When Lea was born I entertained the idea again but decided against it. But then one day I thought - why not? It really can't be that much more work. And well, unless you try it you will never know. So I did...


Well, cloth diapering is not really all that much more work. I will never forget my friend Nathalie's answer when I asker her why she cloth diapers: Whether I walk down the stairs and throw out a bag of diapers or throw a load of laundry in the machine it doesn't really make that much of a difference (Did I mention she lives on the 4th floor with no elevator?). Well Nathalie, now that I have started I have to totally agree. I throw the diapers in when the kids go to bed and hang them up before I go to bed and by the next morning they are usually dry. Not too much more work at all.


The challenge to clothe diapering is finding the right diaper. Having tried different disposables (discount, Pampers, environmentally friendly) I know that even though they look the same there are differences. But with cloth - wow! You almost need a degree to understand the differnces. We have now tried out 9 different diapers (no. 10 should arrive tomorrow) and 6 different wraps. We have cotton, cotton lined with polyurethane, bamboo viscose, one-size, all-in-ones, pocket diapers and size diapers. Some are better suited for night, some are thick, some are slim...


It all started with 10 Kooshies that I got on ebay. They were okay but used and a little abused and we kept leeking. So I bought some boosters (extra absorbent cotton liners) from a lady in Austria who also sold me 2 other types of diapers (used). And as I still wasn't convinced that I had found the right diaper I contacted a company in Austria who sold me 4 other diapers and new wraps. Armed with those and a few from Diana we have begun the test phase. I actually have a chart upstairs beside the change table where I document what I felt about each diaper to help me make my decision.


But the fun doesn't stop there. Did I mention that I want both kids in cloth? Yup! Lucky Luke is switching too. I figure at the rate we're going with potty training that he'll be wearing diapers, at least at night, for quite some time so I can definately still save money with him too. His trainers (super padded underwear) should arrive next week and once Lea has put all of the diapers to the test and I know which one is best for nights it's his turn.


And what does Ralph think of all of this? Let's just say he just he's shaking his head.... And what do I say? Why didn't we do this all along? As the add from Kushies says "You don’t wear paper underwear. Why should your baby?"


Stay tuned for the final verdict!

Spring is in the air!

Spring is coming! At least that is what it looks like in my garden. Today I spotted the first snowdrop - a sign that spring can't be that far away. Here's hoping that it is not just a teaser and that warmer temperatures are on their way. We are all suffering from cabin fever and can hardly wait to get the bikes out of the garage and to get moving.

In my front garden the snow melted and there were pansies. I'm not quite sure if they are frozen remants from the fall or they bloomed under the snow. I do hope that the other plants faired well over the winter and that we'll soon be able to begin planting!