Well, our trial set of cloth diapers arrived this week (from www.jilliansdrawers.com), so we've been learning all about them and trying to figure out if we want to make the switch. The upfront cost is high (the diapers are about $15 a piece and you need about 16-20 diapers to do full-time cloth diapering), but the long term savings is pretty significant. And, of course, they are so much better for the environment.

But the real question is, "How big of a hassle are they to keep clean?" (Especially for some one who doesn't like to do laundry a lot.) Really, they aren't a big deal to keep clean (we've even had a poopy diaper). I just put them in a bag when they are soiled, and at the end of the day they go in the washer on a cold wash with no detergent (this is if there is a dirty diaper, otherwise I skip this step), then I do a warm wash with a fourth of a cup of detergent. After that, put them in the dryer and that's it. And the cloth diapers we got are so cute and easy to put on. We got a couple of pre-folds with the trial set (these are the white rectangles of cloth that our moms used) and I can't really figure them out. So far the Bumgenius diapers are our faves, but we still have two more weeks to try them out, so we'll see if they stay on top.

Here's a picture of Laurel in a Thirsties diaper.
And here's an extra piece of fluff that doesn't have anything to do with cloth diapering, but I just think it's adorable. She loves to sit with her daddy in the evening and jabber at the computer screen. And if you can see her hand, she has discovered her toes and loves to hold on to them.

Yesterday Laurel took her first dip in the swimming pool. Next Saturday is her cousin Eli's first birthday party and it is going to be a swim party so we decided to try out a few water floats that Aunt Mimi (Amy) had. We weren't sure how she would do, but she did great! She was a little small for the float, but she loved when Tim or me held her and took her around in the water.

Amy had the most adorable swimsuit for her to wear. It was a size six months, and bless her heart, we could barely get it over her chunky little thighs.

Here's the baby float. She did pretty well in it when Tim held her feet underneath and pushed her up a little.

And here Laurel is afterwards with her cousin Emily.

With parenthood, you quickly discover that your baby will absolutely keep you on your toes beyond anything you imagined. We established a bedtime sleep routine fairly quickly. New diaper, change into a onesie, swaddle and nurse to sleep. Well, obviously nursing to sleep for naps isn't an option during the work week, so my mom and mother-in-law discovered she liked to go to sleep in her swing or bouncy seat for the first morning nap. But in the afternoons she doesn't like those options, so for that nap she wants to be held and rocked to sleep. Then in the evenings she usually falls asleep in her carseat on our way home.

Since she was born, I've never tried to put her on a schedule with the belief that babies' needs change very quickly and I didn't want to become dependent on a clock to tell me what she needed rather than watching for her cues and relying on my own, God-given intuition. That strategy has worked so well because she has formed her own routine, one that she is thriving with and one that myself, my mom and my mother-in-law are able to meet her needs with by paying attention to her cues without the need for much crying or frustration. Therefore, we are all happy to accomodate her needs for sleep (as varied as they may be) because she has no capacity to manipulate - she simply knows when she's content and when she's not. It is our responsibility as her caretakers to keep her content as best we can.

Tim and I are waiting on Laurel to wake up so I can feed her and we can go on the hunt for cloth diapers. We've been considering using them since before Laurel was born, but we just aren't sure how they'd work and there are so many choices. The good thing is, it looks like several companies have "try it out" programs where you can get lots of different kinds and then return the ones you don't want with a month or so for full refunds. Cloth diapers have come such a long way from the days of rubber pants and safety pins. And I know they are better for babies' behinds and for the environment. The initial investment is high, but in the long run you save so much money over disposables.

If anyone out there has used them before, we'd love to hear your feedback!

Laurel had her four month checkup today (she won't actually be four months until next week, but her doctor is going out of town). She did great and was in a really good mood. She now weighs 14 pounds (75th percentile) and is 23 3/4 inches tall (40th percentile)! The girl can definitely eat ;) This time we gave her Tylenol about an hour before her shots and then as soon as they were over I nursed her. Between those two things she did SO much better this time. She only cried for about 20 seconds and then she dozed off while nursing. In fact, she had a much harder time taking the oral vaccine than the shots. Afterwards Tim and I were even able to go get breakfast at Cracker Barrel and she woke up and was in a good mood then.

She is definitely a morning baby (although she is happy pretty much all the time). The nurses and doctor were just eating her up. Dr. Bischoff kept commenting on how social and happy she seems and that he would take her home in a second. Tim and I were joking that she sets the bar really high for any other future kids we might have and maybe we should quit while we're ahead.

Tim and I went on a walk with Laurel tonight. As usual, I carried her in the Moby Wrap. About halfway through the walk she started fidgeting, so I turned her facing outwards instead of inwards (she has just recently gotten good enough head control to be able to do this.) She was happy, but she couldn't get to her fingers to suck on them. In steps mommy and her thumb to save the day :) It was hilarious, she sucked on my thumb for more than three blocks.
Poor thing has her four month checkup and vaccinations tomorrow - hopefully she will handle them as well this time as she did last time.

Tim and I are so in love with our sweet girl. We usually spend our evenings just playing with her and laughing at all of her silly faces. She is such a sweet, happy baby! Love it!

Here she is getting kisses from Daddy.

And her favorite thing - sitting up or standing up. Now that she is such a "big girl" she doesn't want to be lying down unless she's eating or sleeping!