Dancing Baby

Original Video

Just so we remember...

On the Wednesday night church service before Thanksgiving, Chase was especially sleepy and cuddled with us, even wrapped his arms around us. Since then, he's been more affectionate than he has in the past. Particularly when he wakes up (he likes to be held and nuzzled) or when he's overwhelmed (he comes for a reassuring hug).

Chase loves water and anything that has to do with water. In addition to his pool time each Tuesday, he still goes nuts over a cup of water, or a wet wash cloth. Most parents have to fuss to wipe their baby's face, but not us. Chase dives right into it and likes to suck on it.

And Chase got his 5th tooth today (or maybe last night).

First Step!

This morning Chase took his hands off the chair and took very small step towards the Christmas tree. At which point he could have both hands on the Christmas tree. And tried to eat a glass ornament.

Jitter

I recently got a Moka. It makes 6 cups of espresso. I don't really love coffee but enjoy a latte from time to time.

This morning I split it's contents with Megan and we're both very buzzed. Turns out 3 shots of espresso can do that to you.

No Title

Winter has hit Oregon with a swift kick in the booty. Our kick came yesterday when we had a pipe burst. Thankfully, it was part of the sprinkler system which has its own shutoff valve. Also, thanks to my dad and neighbor who helped me pry off the cover to the street shutoff for the house. Since we were able to shutoff the sprinkler system we won't have to worry about the water until spring, when it will be warmer to deal with.

As of tomorrow Chase will be ten months old. There are currently three teeth in his mouth, I kinda miss the toothless grin. He's a super sweet heart, always sharing a smile with me. Since he loves to laugh, he pretend laughs all the time. This can sound a bit like a cough and a grunt which makes me laugh prompting him to pretend laugh harder. It's one of the many games we play. Getting him to laugh for real is quite a challenge. I haven't yet been able to do it consistently. The best time to get him to right around bed time. Playing with him around bed time is like playing with fire though, as soon as you quit playing he'll probably start crying.

Today Megan dressed him in an outfit that was a gift. I thought it made him look like a girl, Megan said "It will let him crawl better and keep him warm." In the evening as I was holding Chase a girl made a comment "She looks like the Gerber baby." At least he is still cute.

Tomorrow is also Megan's last day at work. She's going to become Chase's full time Mamma. I'm really glad we can make this happen for our family. People always ask us if we're having another kid, we do plan too but there won't be one in the next nine months.

That's all for now. Here's a picture of Chase on Halloween...

Outdoor Fun

In addition to all our holiday and birthday (Troy's) fun, we've managed to get outside to enjoy Andrew's vacation days. On Friday, we went up to HooDoo for some skiing. Andrew and I took turns skiing and playing with Chase in the lodge. So much fun, I'm so happy to be skiing again. Today we went to Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge. We had sunny mild weather and saw 18 deer and thousands of geese. Chase slept on Andrew's back in the baby backpack as we walked.

The Decision to Stay Home

Well, after a great deal of deliberating and praying, the decision has been made! I will become a full-time mommy on December 12th (so long as I get my grades in on the 11th). The math department, and Chase's sitter have been informed, so it's very final. Why? I want to be with Chase, and I think it's best for him!

We're going to sell the Saturn, so we'll have 1 car and 1 motorcycle. Andrew will usually take a vehicle to work, so I plan to take the bus to get to the gym (Kroc Center) and a mom's group (church), and possibly for groceries. I hope to walk (with Chase in the baby backpack) to a few playdates in the neighborhood (the furthest is 2 miles).

Just a few short years ago I was completely immersed in math and research - totally career oriented. I could not have imagined wanting to be a stay-at-home-mom. So really why? It's been fun and interesting to hear what questions people have about this decision. So what are you going to do all day? Is your schedule too much for you to balance work and parenting? Are you pregnant? Are you trying to get pregnant? What about money?

Note, I had to defend my decision to go back to work as well! So, I'd like to encourage other moms and families just to figure out what's best for your family. :o)

So after Chase was born, I certainly didn't want to leave him and go back to work. But, I thought there was a strong possibility that once I went back to work and got into that routine, that I'd enjoy the time away and together all the more. And there was no way to find out, but to try it. We did try it. I still do love to teach, but I found I just want to be with Chase. I spend my days at school counting the minutes until I can pick up Chase. He's only 9-months old once!

I'm not pregnant, nor do we plan to have more kids very soon. Let's get this family caught up on sleep before we add to it! Chase still nurses once each night.

As for money, it came down to me working now so we could have more family time later. Well there are few garantees in life, so we're taking family time now.

Chase's sitter, Kasyn, is absolutely amazing. Chase has great care and lots of love during the 4 days (7 hours per day) when I'm away. He gets tons of attention and interaction with her and the other kids. He learns a lot there, imitates the older kids, and has fun. We are even planning a regular playdate when I am finished working. So quality childcare is not the issue.

How about the schedule? Well, working and parenting is crazy. But, after the first few weeks of adjusting, it's not all that much crazier than being home with Chase. And anyone who's spent a good deal of time with young kids knows being home is no vacation. Sometimes, working is easier than being home. Even during his naps, I'm doing housework (not so easy when he's awake... how does my sister manage 2 babies?!), there's always plenty to do. You don't exactly get time to yourself. Still, it is much more enjoyable to be home with Chase, rather than away from him and at work. What am I going to do all day? If you mean this when you ask this, you haven't spent a day with a baby (or you have a poor memory). I'll try to do a "24 hours" post in the future. Some othere mommies have asked me this, and I think they mean, won't you go crazy all day alone with your kid?! Yes, I think I would. That's why it's going to be so important for us to go to the Kroc Center (swimming!), mom's group, Kasyn's playdate, and a couple other regular playdates with neighbors, and I assume grandparents. On top of that we're going to cram in housework, yardwork, learning to walk/talk/read/sing/color/potty/share/count/etc.

I'm really looking forward to this time with our baby, and I'm so grateful that Andrew is giving us this time together. :o)

Friend or Foe?

First Tooth!

Chase's first tooth came in today. It's on the bottom in the front. He's been drooling quite a bit lately and we thought we felt one in the back about a week ago but the first visible one is in the front.

Cloth Diapers

Some time in the fall of 2008 we decided to use cloth diapers for our first child. We had various reasons for this the mains ones, in order of importance, are environmental, economic, and sustainability. We have all different types of cloth diapers.

Prefolds: these are the type that most people, us included, use as burp rags. They are 24"x18" and the middle third is thicker than the outside thirds. You wrap you baby in them and then cover them. These are the least expensive but also take the most work. You have to wrap the baby, fasten them and then cover them. These cost less than a dollar each and the covers are $9-$12 each.

All in ones: We were at a second hand baby clothes store asking if they had any cloth diapers and another customer volunteered that she had a few that she wasn't using anymore and gave them to us. The have a cloth section sewed to a nylon cover and usually a flap that folds in for easy drying. These are much easier to put on than the prefolds. They cost about $15-$20 each. We have about 5 of them.

Pocket diapers. These have a nylon cover with polypro lining. The lining has an opening that allows you insert an absorption cloth. These are as easy to put on as a All in one but you have to take them apart after washing to get them to dry. We have 15 of these. They cost $17 each.

Here I'd like to compare our experience with cloth and paper diapers.

Environmental:

Disposable diapers are made out of plastic and paper and are not disposable at all. They sit in land fills for a long period of time or are burnt and pollute the air. Cloth diapers, ours are actually nylon, polyester and cotton, are not perfect. Their production energy cost is substantial but the main problem is the amount of water that is used when cleaning them. We have a front loading washer that when run on the fastest cycle probably uses about 15 gallons of water. The electricy cost is fairly negliable, our electric bill didn't go up when we started doing them (308 kWh, 309 kWh and 296 kWh for Jan, Feb and March of 2009), but our water bill didn't either. Originally I thought that cloth diapers where near perfect but there is quite a bit of research saying that they have as much environmental impact as their paper cousins. In practice however I think the assumptions they took are skewed (one such research project was funded by Procter and Gamble which has a large portion of the $3.2 billion dollar paper diaper market).For one, we always air dry the diapers. They easily dry in six hours. Second, the water usage is for top loading washers, these use forty gallons of water or more per load. In addition the diapers we got supposedly fit 8-35 pound babies so we won't have to buy new ones every 6 to 9 months as some of the studies assume.

Winner: Cloth

Economics:

The upfront cost of cloth diapers is steep. Especially if you have a large hospital bill to pay. We spent about $250 on these diapers and had 5 or 6 given to us. But over time they easily pay for themselves. The cheapest I've seen paper diapers go for is $.14 each. When Chase was first born he went through 12-16 diapers a day ( I know, I washed them). At that price in eight weeks we would have spent as much as $125. Now he goes through 6-8 per day but even at that amount after 8 months we would have spent $260. Cloth diapers don't last forever. They have velcro closures that will wear out someday but after eight months they look good as new. We will really come ahead if we can use them for our next child.

Winner: Cloth

Convience:

This is why most people use paper diapers. It is easier and quicker to go to the store and pick up package of diapers then to wash them and hang them to dry. We use paper diapers anytime we travel. Anything longer than one overnight, we don't want to be carry around soiled diapers. Cleaning diapers takes me about 10 minutes every other night. Although until Chase was about 4 months old this was every night. The main time that it's inconvenient is when we're gone all day and get home to dirty diapers that need to be washed. For this reason we always have a package of paper diapers in the house. Paper diapers aren't perfect either. You do run out them and when you do you can't just wash them and go to bed.

Winner: Paper

Absorption:

When Chase was younger this would have been a hands down victory for cloth. The paper diapers always left him with poo on his back. Now that he's older I'd say they both do.

Winner: Draw

Since we did invest the money (and are very happy we did) I'm going to stop while cloth is winning :) Actually I have lots more to say but am not sure anyone will be interested. If you have any questions leave a comment and I'd be happy to answer it. I'm also going to plug the kind of diapers we like best. If you are going to get some cloth diapers don't bother getting all different kinds and seeing what you like. Get the Bum Genius 3.0. It's the best. And get them from Wee Bunz in Corvallis Oregon they have free shipping!