1. El Grande chose my new colors for me. I like 'em. He wants to do a crazy flashy banner for me, but I'm happy with my apple photo and the new colors.
2. I was subjected (trapped under a nursing baby and couldn't reach the remote) to a new Jenny Craig commercial yesterday starring everyone's fourth-favorite Scientologist (after Tom Cruise, Rob Thomas [see update], and Beck, of course). In it, Kirstie Alley is talking to a friend on her cell phone (we don't know the friend--they met at summer camp and she lives in Canada). KA gleefully squeals about how much weight she's lost--"I'm almost invisible!" Am I the only one who thinks this is really, really creepy and sad?
3. Does anyone know why talking Lofty is so much more in-demand than any of the other Bob the Builder trucks, including the vastly superior Scoop? I've been getting outbid on Lofties left and right on Ebay, and they've consistently been going for two or three times as much as the other character trucks.
4. We finally switched El Pequeno into cloth diapers. We started with disposables because of the meconium, and when I tried cloth a few weeks after he was born they were too big for him and he couldn't kick his legs. But yesterday, I realized he was literally pissing away his college fund in the disposables, so I gave the cloth ones a try and they fit. Hooray. Virtually free diapering makes me veeery happy. Every time I chuck a cloth diaper into my awesome PUL diaper pail liner I get a little miserly thrill.
5. A few nights ago, El Chico woke up in the middle of the night and started screaming "Daddy! DAAAAADDYY!" in a scared, panicked voice. El Grande hightailed it into his room to find that in the night El Chico had flipped 180 degrees in his bed, then fallen out of bed and gotten his legs wedged under his dresser. He woke up and was out of bed, facing the wrong direction, with his feet trapped. We were at a loss for words.
Updates:
2. Boxing Octopus reports that imdb.com reports that Rob Thomas denies being a Scientologist. He also denies being gay, but that's not the part of the rumor that offended him. "He says, 'If I were gay, Tom wouldn't be on the top of my list...It would be Brad Pitt. I'm more offended by the rumors saying I'm Scientologist.'" TC wouldn't be at the top of my list, either, Rob.
3. I hate Lofty. Despite working at the most nurturing contracting company in the world, he persists in having zero self-esteem, and we never hear anything about his being in therapy. But El Chico is obsessed with Lofty right now, asking me every day, "Did Lofty come yet?" So I gave in and ordered one from a store on Ebay. When it comes I just won't put any batteries in it--there are no batteries in our Scoop and El Chico hasn't noticed. I hope that lasts.
4. Emma, we had the whole load of cloth diapers from when El Chico was a baby, so really have no costs in diapering except for laundry costs. I, personally, use unbleached cotton prefolds inside velcro or snap wraps, and find it an easy and effective system (way fewer blowouts than with disposibles, IME). My husband finds it easy, too. If you want details of my actual system I'll have to put them in a separate post.
4. i fucking love cloth diapers. i'm building a site for a woman who is starting up a cloth diapering business here in austin. i don't think i've ever been as excited about a site that isn't my own before.
5. that's just odd. i woulda screamed bloody murder, too!
Posted by: wix | July 13, 2005 at 10:29 AM
I don't have a baby yet, but I've always thought cloth diapers were too much hassle. Where do you get them from and are they really that easy?
Posted by: emma | July 13, 2005 at 10:54 AM
VERY creepy... saw that one yesterday too.
Posted by: CathyY | July 13, 2005 at 11:19 AM
I'm with you and Wix, cloth diapers rule. Even though I'm not currently cloth diapering, I read enough questions about it on other blogs I'm considering putting up a post on mine about the very simple, very cheap, very effective method I used with Dorian. There are just so many options for cloth diapers, I think women get overwhelmed, so perhaps it would be useful to write about my experience with lowest-common-denominator cloth diapering. (Though I never used a plastic bread bag for a diaper cover, like the Frugal Zealot who wrote the Cheapskates Gazette... I'm not quite that bad.)
Perhaps Lofty is so popular because kids relate to his fretfulness. Otherwise, I can't figure out why. I like Muck, personally.
Posted by: Summer | July 13, 2005 at 11:22 AM
I will mail you a talking Lofty. Heck, I will pay you to take him. He drives me NUTS.
I also just returned to cloth diapers, after I figured out that I am a pins and plastic pants kind of cloth diaperer, and all the little velcro covers were driving me nuts.
Huh. Two consecutive paragraphs end with announcements of my impending insanity. Maybe it's time for a nice iced coffee. Or perhaps a beer.
Posted by: Jamie | July 13, 2005 at 07:16 PM
Lofty? Really? We found Lofty in a thrift store and I can understand why it was dropped off.
These are the things he says:
"I don't like it. IIIIII don't like it!"
"Oh, Mmmmmmmy!"
"Um yeah... I think so"
"I. Can. Lift. It."
I find him needy. I like more positive words coming out of my action figures, I suppose.
Posted by: Ada | July 13, 2005 at 10:19 PM
LOL, I am a miser about certain things...diapers are one of them. She isn't even here yet and has an assortment of cloth diapers. I plan on using disposables for traveling and while a newborn but other than that her fanny is in cloth. I have the maid to wash and hang dry. :)
Posted by: Glenna | July 14, 2005 at 02:19 AM
Yeah - I had the same reaction to the JC commercial. Very weird choice of words.
Posted by: Rachael | July 14, 2005 at 03:37 AM
all i'm saying is that kirstie alley has a looooong way to go before she's invisible.
and rob thomas is denying being a scientologist: http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2005-07-13#celeb7
Posted by: boxing octopus | July 14, 2005 at 12:37 PM
I just recently started using cloth on my son (he just turned two), and I am so very sorry I didn't use them from the beginning. He has sensitive skin, and was always red in the diaper area with disposables. Now, the skin on his bottom looks like the skin on his arm. Same color.
I don't think I've saved any money -- I'm just getting into it and trying to find the best fit for us, BUT after using them you can often sell them on Ebay for a significant chunk of money!
Cloth diapers are awesome.
Posted by: Lisa C. | July 15, 2005 at 07:13 PM
I'll have to look into the e-bay thing. I guess that way I'd get the whole system in one go. Just hope they're well cleaned!
When it's nearer the time (i.e. if I actually get pregnant!) I'll look into this more - so I might ask a few more questions!
Posted by: emma | July 18, 2005 at 10:35 AM
Add me to the list of those greatly disappointed that Beck is a Scientologist. I love that little feller, but geez! Bummer.
Cloth diaper question: do they still require rubber pants, and how breathable are they, with whatever barrier used with them? Seems my third fella here has him some sensitive privates, poor bunny.
Posted by: Toni | July 23, 2005 at 05:06 PM
As a mommy of a green baby , I have become obessesd with cloth diapers (and making my own baby food, but I'll have to wait for your blog on that one)! I love them and have done my best to explore the ins and outs of everything out there! I'm all for buying local, but, here in Richmond, VA, there isn't much as far as cloth diapering goes. The only people I know who use a cloth diaper cleaning service here use one out of Charlottesville. Personally, I've found it super-easy to wash at home once you get in the routine. Anyway, Green Mountain Diapers (greenmountaindiapers.com) has a great website super informative. They also sell wonderful ORGANIC unbleached cloth diapers. I also like diaperpin.com's reviews for various cloth diapering products.Regarding dunking and swishing Emerson (my daughter) is 8 months old (today!) and we went through the transition from breastmilk poop to solid poop (stinky!!) in the last few months. I highly recommend disposable, flushable liners (specifically made for cloth diapering). They are cheap (maybe $0.05/each), biodegradeable, and can actually be reused (well, not according the instructions, but I throw the only-wet ones in the wash with the diapers and they come out of the dryer even softer than before keep using and washing until a poop or until they finally fall apart I usually get at least 4 or so rounds).Hope this is helpful.
Posted by: Dorin | July 02, 2012 at 11:07 AM
or flat diapers are very eiocomcnal and offer good absorbency with a lot of flexibility. That is why they are still my top-selling diaper package. You can get 24 diapers and 4 covers in my prefold deal for under $100. Thirsties and Bummis covers both work great, as do other brands I carry. With prefolds it is also very easy to add a hemp insert or other diaper doubler for extra absorbency.With twins, you are going to be doing a lot of diaper changes, so you might consider a more convenient option that still saves a lot of money. We like the Kissaluvs hybrid contour since it is a one size and doesn't require any fancy folding to get it on the baby. They fit well under Kissaluvs one size diaper covers or Thirsties covers. It is also a good idea to have at least a few pocket diapers or all in ones for the diaper bag.Once you get used to cloth diapering you'll find it is very convenient and easy to do. My little girl is almost 2 and we have cloth diapered from when she was still in the hospital at birth. We love that we never have to buy new diapers, we never run out of diapers (just run a quick wash load) and that they actually leak LESS often than when we have tried disposables.
Posted by: Sadiya | July 02, 2012 at 11:37 PM
I've been quite impressed with the Target name brand diarpes. They are a fraction of the cost of Pampers and Huggies. Buy a small pack and see what you think. I also LOVE their wipes too. For the price, you can't beat them. They are twice as many as the Pampers/Huggies wipes and half the price.Good luck and congats on your growing family!
Posted by: Morad | July 04, 2012 at 02:29 AM
the ones are the cheapest and eaessit to wash and dry.You can find instructions for folding them here: when i , instead of folding them as i needed them, or in squares to store, i prefolded each one ready to go on babys bottom complete with a , and had them ready to go so they were just as easy to use as disposables.
Posted by: Javi | July 04, 2012 at 02:40 AM
I agree with Roberta on that last comment, Karen-you crack me up! Good tuhoghts though, everyone has good imput though! I was planning on waiting until this baby is a few weeks old to try them to see if her skin is sensative/and for her to fatten up a bit. But if she takes after her brother Eamon who was 10 lbs on his five day appointment (yes, he weighed 9 lb 5 oz at birth, my babies never lose!) we shouldn't have a problem with the chubby legs thing!I can see your point about the laundry, but I guess I will see how it goes. I've been doing much better with keeping up on my laundry lately (but then again I felt like that right before Eamon was born-I will probably go through about 5 or 6 months of feeling behind and then get pregnant again! :)Thanks everyone!
Posted by: Rosa | July 04, 2012 at 02:59 AM