Look Ma, No Hands: Part II

On May 27, 2008 Archie had his first long independent stand up sessions in his play pen and crib. I had finally decided it was time to lower the crib down for safety because he scoots around in it so much, but I was kind of surprised when I guided him to stand holding onto the crib rails and he actually stood for more than a few seconds! While he can sit up by himself pretty well now, he still can't get into the sitting position by himself. He's not able to crawl yet, either, but he more than makes up for it by rolling around the room quick as lightening. He seems to like standing in his play pen best (especially when someone else is on the outside making funny faces at him). For Look Ma, No Hands Part I, follow the link.

Curiosity in Asia Part II: Boy or Girl

While at the local market yesterday, I had something I like to refer to as an “Asia Moment.” Everybody I meet asks if the baby is a boy or girl, but two nice old ladies took it a step further. While I was distracted by the rice vendor, they must have come to the conclusion that a foreigner can’t speak the language even enough to answer a simple question. When I looked down on Archie in his stroller to check on him, I was amazed to see how they were indulging their curiosity. They were in the process of unsnapping his pajamas to check his gender for themselves. They were in for a surprise, though. Most babies here don’t wear diapers while they’re out in public. They wear pants that have been split down the middle and go to the bathroom wherever they happen to be. What a shock when the diaper hindered their quest for knowledge. I suppressed a laugh, told Archie to smile for them, and answered their questions. What would you have done?

Curiosity in Asia (Top 10 List)

Leslie’s Top 10 Most Commonly Asked Questions by Total Strangers (when out with the baby)

1. Boy or girl? (They don’t really do pink or blue here so they have to ask.)
2. How many months? (When we first came, this meant how many months pregnant was I. Now, it refers to Archie’s age.)
3. Are you Russian? (Some people don’t even bother asking. They just emphatically tell their friends: “Look at the Russians!”)
4. Is the baby too cold?
5. Do you like the food here?
6. Is his father Asian? (Does he look like he could possibly have an Asian father?)
7. What do you do for a living?
8. Have you been to the ice festival? (Our city is famous for its festival of ice sculptures. Hunt’s been but I haven’t because the baby was a little too young for the extreme cold temps this winter.)
9. How much do you make every month? (Awkward until you learn how to deal with it!)
10. Do you produce enough milk? (Not exactly the kind of question we’d ask a total stranger in America, but it’s their way of showing their care for the baby.)

All tired out!

There's nothing more precious than a sleeping baby. I was pretty surprised, though, when Hunter called me over this morning to find him sleeping on the floor. Shortly after birth, we put him on a schedule and started teaching him how to fall asleep in his own bed. As a result, he rarely takes naps anywhere besides his crib or his stroller if we are pushing it. It's been awhile since he's be so tired he just conked out while playing. Nonetheless, there have been a few other times...(I love seeing how much he's grown from picture to picture.)

Clockwise from top: approximately 3 months, 4 months, 4 months and 8 months

Here's one more favorite also from around 4 months.

All of these sleeping on mat pictures make me really glad we have it. Without a doubt, the six most useful baby toy/furniture type supplies we've bought are
1. His crib (of course)!
2. His infant seat complete with a battery operated vibrating mechanism that lulls him into a calm mood when he's upset
3. His play mat
4. His stroller (because we like to go out on the town together!)
5. His high chair
6. His bathtub

We've gotten every penny's worth out of these items. Believe it or not, I don't have a changing table, and I haven't missed one. I simply keep all the supplies (including a small mat) in a basket and change him on the sofa or bed. I like the flexibility it gives!

However, if I had it to do over again, I would have bought a different brand seat and mat because I've found the quality of Fischer Price to be pretty poor. The Velcro on the mobile that comes with the chair was not adequate, and I had to sew the toys on myself.

Yes, this picture is unrelated, but I promised the grandparents a Peach Expressions collage!

Around town

Archie has now been introduced to the world of bus transportation. We take the bus quite frequently into town. Hmm, Archie, what do you think about the bus?


After a long day in town, Archie couldn't quite stay awake in the taxi. As Grandma always says, "Life is hard for the baby!"

Archie has already discovered the joys of the ice cream store. It works great for us. He enjoys attention from the staff while we enjoy our ice cream!

Baby boy goes out for the team!

I've had fun playing with the Picasa photo editing software I just downloaded from Google. It's available free. I am really getting progressively more curious about the world of photo editing!

WAHHH!

It's finally happened. He's started crying. He's a baby, of course he's always cried. But, now he's started crying as a form of self expression. In the past, his crying was fairly limited to definite needs - hunger, a diaper change, sleep, or discomfort. Now, his crying expresses his displeasure over a variety of situations including losing a favorite toy, his beloved Mama walking out of the room or changing play activities on someone else's schedule. This morning as I was lifting him out of the bathtub (one of his favorite places) and he started wailing. After quickly assessing the situation and finding nothing out of the ordinary, it hit me. He's crying because he isn't finished playing in the water! Although no mother likes hearing her child cry and I realize this is the beginning of him manifesting little selfish characteristics, it's kind of exciting at the same time. My baby is growing up and can express his more abstract needs and desires. Now, I have the next 18 years to explain to him the more acceptable ways of self expression. Maybe we need to start teaching him sign language sooner than I thought.

The rest of my day

Archie wanted to share with you about the rest of his day (after the peaches). He's in the process of learning to crawl. He wants to so badly, but he just hasn't quite figured it out yet. When he tries, he tends to stick his bum way up in the air and wobble around then kind of roll over or just collapse back down to the floor. Afterwards, he gives up and rolls his way over to whatever toy he wants.

All the crawling efforts really wear a 7.5 month old out so after a diaper change...

It's off to bed for a nap. Sweet dreams, Archie!

An opinion on peaches!

Now, don't be fooled by the picture. While I will admit peaches may not be his favorite, after making that terrible little face, he opened up his mouth wide for some more. Evidently, he doesn't detest them too much. What a meal! Feed, scrunch up face, feed again, scrunch up face, until Mama finally mixed them with some pears...

Diapering fun!

Diapering and fun! I know, it seems like it doesn't even belong in the same sentence. Actually, it's not really that fun, either, but cloth diaper products from companies like Cotton Babies make it easier. Now, if you're not a mom of a baby or toddler, just enjoy the pictures. However, if you're one of my cloth diapering mom friends, enjoy the reviews. Recently, we just added Bum Genius 3.0 cloth diapers to our diaper stash! They come in blue, pink (which I didn't buy), yellow, green and white and are the cutest of my diapers (although also the bulkiest). Bum Genius run about $17.95 through Cotton Babies, but you only have to buy one set as they fit babies from 7-35 lbs! This means they're the biggest savings on a quality diaper in the long run if you start at the beginning.




When Archie was about six weeks old, we switched him over from disposables to cloth primarily to save some cash (as is the case with most of my cloth diapering friends). The first route I tried was cotton cloth diapers I had made from a local seamstress shop with diaper covers bought locally (native brand). These worked quite well while he was young but as he got bigger, they started leaking badly...

Archie in disposable diaper at 2.5 months

Archie in a locally bought cloth diaper around 3 months

Next, we got some Proraps Classics from the Internet. These are still my favorites as far as ease of use. These diaper covers work great and really have low leaking. I don't like prefolds and pins so I just do a simple fold and let the cover keep the diaper in place. (I also don't have to do the insert stuffing Bum Genius requires.) They run about $8.95 so they're a more affordable option for starting. Here's the drawback: if you start at the beginning, you'll probably have to buy a complete set in several different sizes which will cost more than other more expensive brands in the long run. If you're thinking about trying cloth, this is a good one for experimenting because the investment isn't too heavy. If you're baby is already in one of the upper weight categories, you might want to go with this one, too. They get excellent reviews on the Cotton Babies website.

Leslie's easy folding techniques with Proraps (using any cotton material)

What gets bad reviews in my book? The Bummis Whisper Pants. To use these covers, you have to use pins or clips and do fancy folding! I'm really not a fan!

What are the best diapering resources? I think Cotton Babies (www.cottonbabies.com) is the most comprehensive as far as reviews and product lines available.
My friend really likes Diaper Swappers (www.diaperswappers.com) because you can buy used cloth diapers for cheaper, but I find this site a little difficult to navigate. Diaper Pin (www.diaperpin.com) is one more alternative.

Health food nut? Maybe not...

Yummy! There's nothing a baby loves more than Pillsbury cake, Martha White muffins and banana pudding! Wait a minute, that's not on the 7.5 month recommend food list is it? Ok, ok, I promise I won't feed him the goodies quite yet, but Hunter and I were certainly excited when American visitors brought us some treats the other day!

Mama, will you make it for me?

On second thought, maybe I can make it myself!

Pleasr, Oh Pleasr!

Pleasr not to step the lawn!



Pleasr, pleasr not to step with your shoe

That would not be good thing to do!



OK, I'll admit I made up the little "Bad English" poem, but the sign really is outside our apartment. I get the biggest kick out of the way I see English used around here sometimes!