Here we go again...

The temp right now is -7 with a -23 windchill. Apparently, we reached our coldest temps overnight and I think the windchill was somewhere around -35. This is the coldest winter in Chicago since 1983-84 when I was just a year old. We'll definitely have stories to tell Jake about this...

Our house is slightly warmer for polar vortex #2... We're holding steady at 62 degrees right now. I hate to be cold so I think I'm going to hang out with Jake in the cozy bedroom as much as possible this morning. 

We have the bassinet mobile to keep us entertained. Those bears (lambs?) are pretty cute and the chime sound that it makes is really interesting to Jake. For now... 

When that fails, we have little blankies that Jake is loving right now- his taggie & his Aden & Anais lovey. He likes to hug them and bring them to his mouth. And there's always the ceiling fan and window that we can stare at for a while...

I'll be daydreaming about spring and cursing Grandpa Art & Grandma Cindy who are in AZ right now ;)

I have feet!

In the past few days, Jacob realized that he has feet. When he's sitting up, he'll stare at them and watch them move. He seems very amused by them but every now and then he'll let out a frustrated cry... Maybe because he can't figure out how to grab them yet? 

2 months!

Jacob was 2 months old yesterday! 

He is 11 lbs 7 oz and 22.25 inches long (25-50th percentile).

Poor little guy had a rough day yesterday. He missed his morning nap since we were getting ready to leave the house and he fell sound asleep in the car on the way to the Dr. 

He woke up (unhappily) in the exam room while I was stripping him down to his diaper for his check-up. He had to get two shots- one in each thigh- and an oral vaccine. He cried for a few minutes afterwards and then about a half hour after we got home he was inconsolable for a good 40 minutes. I finally gave him some infant tylenol since he was so miserable and nothing else was making him feel better.  The tylenol helped, but he was still pretty grumpy for the rest of the day. 

I did manage to take his 2 month pictures before his little meltdown... but he wouldn't give me a smile!

Adventures in cloth diapering - part one

When I was pregnant, I was introduced to cloth diapers by a friend. She's on baby #2 and both her & her husband had great things to say about cloth diapering. Over time, cloth diapering is cheaper than disposable diapers (even when you factor in the extra laundry you have to do) and it's better for the environment. Some even claim that cloth diapers help to potty train faster. 

I was skeptical since all I had known of cloth diapers were the old fashioned kind that were used with big ol' diaper pins, but I did some research and realized that cloth diapers have completely changed. There are several different types and most are made to grow with baby and fit from about 8 to 35 lbs. 

I decided that we would try to use cloth most of the time but that we would also use disposable diapers when we were away from home. So, I added some pocket diapers to my baby registry. Pocket diapers have a diaper cover and an absorbent insert that is "stuffed" inside. 

We have been using disposable diapers with Jake since we came home from the hospital. He was a little small for the cloth diapers that I was gifted (and in the beginning disposables are easier with the umbilical cord stump that needs to heal). Plus, newborns tend to need about 10 diaper changes per day, so that would have been way too much laundry for me to handle in the early weeks. The first 6 weeks are hard enough as it is... I didn't need to add extra laundry into the mix. 

Now that Jake is getting bigger and my mind isn't in such a fog anymore, I decided that it was time to start to switch to cloth.

Here is my stash of CD before washing- you can see the separate inserts that will get stuffed inside

Line drying the covers. In better weather, we'll dry them outside in the sun to keep the insides free of stains. 

Stuffed and ready to use!

Trying one on. This one is still a bit big (and I don't think I snapped it tight enough), but he will grow into them soon.

We're not quite ready to go full-on cloth diapering just yet. I'm waiting for a wet bag that I ordered to store the dirty diapers in before washing them and some disposable liners. The liners are biodegradable and flushable and they must be used if you are going to use any type of rash ointment. I figured that having liners to use in the diapers would make the transition to cloth easier for us since we can flush most of the mess away.

Stay tuned for when we actually USE the cloth diapers. I'm a little nervous about it!

-V

I have hands!!

Jake is trying REALLY hard to control his hands so he can suck on a finger or two. He hasn't had much luck yet, but he is getting better and better at it. He's spending all of his "downtime" working on it. 

We survived the Polar Vortex!

We survived the arctic weather now known as Chiberia. Let me tell you, it was not fun. Our heat could not keep up with the frigid temps and it was 60 degrees in every room except the master bedroom. So, we basically camped out in bed for a day & a half. We watched a lot of DVDs and napped. 

And when we did venture out into the living room we were bundled up! 

Baby, it's COLD outside!

Our forecast today is around -14 degrees with a windchill that makes it feel like nearly 40 below! Needless to say, we are in hibernation. We'll all be camped out in bed all day watching Friends on DVD and hopefully taking a nap or two. 

Happy New Year!

2013 was an exciting year for Chris & I! We look forward to the New Year and watching Jake grow. He is starting to give us big, goofy open mouth smiles and is starting to coo. It's amazing to think of everything he will learn to do in 2014.

Jake slept peacefully last night and so I'm feeling very rested today compared to New Year's Day of past years... My party days are over, for now. And I'm perfectly happy with that. 

Click here for a video of our past year!

We wish everybody a happy & healthy 2014!