Who Needs Toys??

I am continuously amazed at the way Miss loves to play with things that are not her toys. In fact, she often seems to prefer these random non-toy things over her well-researched and carefully selected baby toys. What types of things? Oh, her socks, that she repeatedly pulls off her feet in some sort of private lets-see-how crazy-I-can-make-my-mommy game. It's not a big deal of course, except that it's cold here, and I don't want her little tootsies to get cold. So she pulls them off, chews on them for a bit, and then I put them back on. Round and round we go. Why don't I just give her an extra sock to play with, you ask? Tried it. No good. I think it's the act of pulling it off her foot that is part of the fun!

Other items Miss loves to play with include the drawstring of my hubby's old scrub pants that I typically wear when just around the house, her daddy's feet (ewww!), her nail clippers, plastic bags (no, I don't let her play with these!), junk mail (catalogs especially, so shiny!), the rug, the floor, and any random bit of grass/leaf/stick that she might find on the floor (I vacuum like mad, but cut me a break, we have two dogs!!). The other day she entertained herself for the longest time with a plastic cup and the metal lid to one of my small saucepans (video of this below, notice how she almost got distracted by the sock). And of course, the best part of anything, including her toys, is the tag.

Now, I know this is not unusual. Miss is not the first baby to love to play with all-things-not-a-toy. I have just thoroughly enjoyed watching her do this. It's as though the most mundane things that we don't even notice in every day are so fascinating to her. She can become so focused on something so small. I love watching her and trying to make myself see the world through her eyes. The joy and wonder of looking at things in that way is so simple and pure, as babies are of course. Maybe Santa should bring her the boxes for the toys at Christmas time. I'm sure she'd love that!

The Plague has Descended upon our Home

Okay, obviously not really the Plague. It's not the dreaded H1N1 either. All right, it's not even the good old seasonal flu (formerly known as just the plain old flu). Really it's just your garden variety cold. And it hasn't really descended upon our whole house. Just me. Well, that's anticlimactic, eh? I have had the sneezing and stuffy/runny nose. I haven't been able to sleep because my nose is stuffed up, always at least on one side. And I haven't taken any cold medications because I'm breast feeding and don't want 1. Any medications to pass to Miss and 2. My milk supply to decrease (apparently some of the decongestants can cause this). Feeling sorry for me yet??

A couple of days ago I shifted to the coughing mode of the cold. This started to really irritate my throat. Then I was making animal sounds with Miss, and the next thing I knew, my voice was gone. I think it was the lion that did me in. Rrraaaawwrrr! So now I have had laryngitis for two days. Miss seems to think this is funny. She has started making whispering sounds at me in response to my whispers, and she gives me some pretty funny looks when my voice cracks/croaks/squeaks. I have barely been able to get out the reading of "I Love You Stinky Face" and other books before nap time. And the final nap time ritual before I put her down? I sing "You Are My Sunshine." The past two days I have whispered the song to her, and only the first verse instead of the whole song. There is no way anything resembling a tune is coming out of this mouth right now!

On a positive note, my hubby hasn't gotten sick and neither has Miss. I attribute this to my heroic hand-washing efforts and the fantastic immunity boost breast milk provides. Um, that last part is just for Miss, of course. So my hands are dry and cracked, my voice is gone, and my supply of tissue and hand sanitizer are out and nearly out, respectively, but life is still good in our humble home. I just can't wait to smother my Miss with kisses again!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Fluffy prints!

As promised - How cute is Miss in these printed diapers??

Rump-a-Rooz "Gumball"

The Goodmama "Supergirl" (looks like a comic strip)

Wild Child for Babies "Chillin' with my Gnomies"

The Goodmama "50s Diner"

Wild Child for Babies "Flower Power"

My Cloth Story, Part 3

So, I've told you how I came to love cloth (see My Cloth Story, Part 1 and My Cloth Story, Part 2). How I overcame my fear of things fluffy and jumped in with both feet to cover my Miss's cheeks in nothing but snuggly softness. Well, I thought I'd round out the story by telling you where I am now in my cloth journey.

I currently love my "stash". For those of you not familiar with cloth diapering lingo, this is what we cloth-diapering-mommas call our stock of diapers. It sounds illicit and edgy. It's just diapers. In my stash, I have mostly pocket diapers, including HuggaBuns, FuzziBuns perfect fit, Bum Genius, Green Acres Designs, Blueberry (minky and non-minky), Diaper Change, Tiny Tush, Rump-a-Rooz, and Tweedlebugs. I also have three sets of SoftBums All-in-twos and two All-in-ones (a Drybees and a Monkeez, which is locally made by a WAHM). I have recently acquired, but not yet tried a FuzziBuns One-Size, a Rocky Mountain Diaper, and two Wild Child for Babies custom diapers in the most adorable prints. I actually have a diaper for Miss with "Chillin' with my Gnomies" fabric!! I love it. I have a few fitteds that I use occasionally, BumGenius bamboo and GoodMamas. I don't use prefolds at all anymore, but I'm keeping them for potential use later.

My latest thing is getting pocket diapers with cute prints on them. I have gotten rid of or am getting rid of some of my solid-color diapers that weren't favorites. I am also moving more and more toward natural-fiber diapers with cotton, hemp, and bamboo, rather than microfiber and other synthetic fabrics. I have also really started to get into looking for more obscure diaper brands. Many of these are found on Etsy and/or are made by WAHMs, like the Wild Child for Babies diapers that I bought recently. Some are larger companies, but just not ones that are really prominent in the CD world as BumGenius, Happy Heinys, and FuzziBunz are for example. Some other brands I've become interested in but have not yet purchased are Prairie Tales, Blue Penguin, and Nifty Nappy. I have actually found out about these diaper brands by reading the blog Happily Domestic and entering giveaways on the blog for each of these items (the giveaways are still gong on so I'm hoping I'll win!!).

The other way in which my cloth diapering has evolved is in the way I do my laundry. I started doing just a cold rinse/full hot wash cycle/cold rinse. I used Seventh Generation Free and Clear at first, but quickly switched to Allen's Naturally. I learned that I need to use Calgon water softener because we have hard water. Then I experimented with a mixture of washing soda and OxyClean that I read some moms said worked wonders for their stink issues. I didn't really care for that though and decided to try Rockin' Green instead. This is a laundry detergent specially made for use with cloth diapers that comes in several amazing scents. So I tried some of that, and it's what I'm currently using, occasionally using the soap nuts I just got instead. I've also been experimenting with different wash cycles also. Right now I'm doing a short cycle cold wash with detergent/long cycle hot wash with detergent/extra cold rinse. I'm having lots of success with my current wash routine. I have always enjoyed washing my cloth diapers. Now that there are different detergents to experiment with, it's even more fun. And I know I'm not crazy, because I'm not the only momma who enjoys washing cloth diapers. I'm friends with a mom who raised her kids back when cloth diapers were the only option and weren't nearly as cute and fun as they are today, and she confessed that she used to love washing her kids' cloth diapers too! There's just something satisfying about getting them clean, stuffed, folded, and back in the stash for the next use. I will post some photos of Miss in her newest diaper couture as soon as I get them dried, stuffed, and into the rotation!

Diaper Swap

Recently, I participated in a diaper swap. Megan, who has the blog Newly Wed, Newly Bred, came up with the fun idea to get some cloth diapering mommas together to do a diaper swap. Mommas who signed up were assigned someone to buy for, with a spending limit, and got to shop and pick fluff for her and her baby. The momma you bought diapers for and the momma you received diapers from were not the same person, and the swap partners were kept secret. So, not only would we get to shop for a fun gift for another mom, but we got to receive surprise fluff mail. I love fluff mail, and I love surprises, so what could be better?? I received my swap fluff about a week ago. The momma who bought for me in the swap is Kelli. Her blog is called Betters Days Ahead. She has a sweet little baby named Landyn and is expecting baby #2 (jealous!!), which is a baby girl! She sent me such a fun package. It came from RG Natural Babies. including a One-size Tweedle Bugs Diaper in yellow, some matching Leg Huggers baby leg warmers in the Butterfly Dance pattern, some soap nuts, and a cube of wipes solution. I was really hoping to receive some items I had never tried before, since that seems to be part of the fun of doing a swap (to me anyway). It turns out all the things Kelli sent me are new to me! I immediately got to washing the diaper and the leg warmers so Miss could try them out. Below is a picture of her in them. I love how they match!!

Here's what I love about the stuff I got: The Tweedle Bugs is an OS diaper, so it will grow with Miss. I love the color and that it matches her new Leg Huggers. And, as you know if you've read any of my CD posts on here, I love pocket diapers!! They are absolutely my favorite. Miss seemed to like the diaper too. She at least felt comfortable in it. After she posed for the cute pic, she promptly proceeded to poo in it :) So she didn't get to wear it for long, but for the time she did have it on it fit great and didn't leak. It is now clean again and waiting it's turn in my stash to be worn again. The Leg Huggers are wonderful for several reasons. First of all, take a look at the photo, and you'll see that they come all the way up to the bottom of the diaper. My Miss has super chunky thighs, and some other brands of baby leg warmers are too tight to fit all the way up her leg. That's not a big deal during the summer, but it's getting quite cold here, so I don't want her to have half of her thigh hanging out when I put her in warmers. Plus I love the warmers because I'm getting more and more cute printed diapers, and I like to be able to show them off. And finally, the Leg Huggers are made from bamboo!! As I have mentioned on here before, I love me some bamboo. I haven't yet tried the soap nuts (I got a bag of Rockin' Green that I ordered right at the same time that this package came), but I'm quite intrigued by them and will be trying them with the next load of diaper wash (going in tonight). Also haven't yet mixed up the wipes solution. Kelli sent me enough for two batches, but I still have some that I need to finish up before I mix more. Overall, I love the package. Thanks Kelli! Also thanks to Megan for organizing the whole thing. It was fun!

The Next Iron Chef?

In our house, we really don't watch much TV. In fact, when we moved a few months ago, we didn't even get our TV hooked up to the satellite/cable. It wasn't until just recently that we did give in and get Dish. We did this primarily to be able to watch college football and Duke basketball in a few months. And my hubby likes to watch hunting and fishing shows on Sunday mornings. We really don't watch much TV.

Recently, however, I was flipping through some channels on a Tuesday night and caught just the end of "The Next Iron Chef" on the Food Network. It was very interesting to me, so I made a point to tune in the next time a new episode aired. That occurred this past Sunday night. Ben and I sat down to watch the show and were immediately hooked. The "challenge" this week was for the chefs to "reinterpret" some classic culinary creations from either French, Italian, or Greek cuisines. There were nine altogether, one for each remaining chef contestant, including bouillabaisse, pasta puttanesca, and spanakopita.

I love to cook. So Ben came up with the idea that maybe it would be fun to try to cook some of the classic dishes featured on the show. The only one of them I had ever made before was ratatouille. So, I decided to get out the Mother of all cookbooks ("The New Best Recipe"*) and see what I could come up with. One of the first ones I found was a recipe for Coq au Vin. Even though it features mushrooms, it sounded good, so I decided to try it. I went to the grocery store and got the items I would need, and last night I gave it a whirl. I got to use some kitchen implements I own but have never used before, like my meat cleaver, enormous stock pot, and mesh strainer. I also used a few techniques I had never done before, like making a bouquet garni (packet of seasonings wrapped in cheesecloth and tied with a string) and a beurre manie (mash of butter and flour for thickening sauce). The recipe took about two and a half to three hours to make (much of this time while watching an 8-month-old, mind you). It. Was. Fantastic. If I do say so myself. My husband said it was one of the best dishes he has ever eaten, even from a restaurant. Seriously! I think the plan is to try either moussaka or dolmas next. Maybe I could be the next Iron Chef!!

*Editors of Cooks Illustrated. (2004). The new best recipe All-new edition. Brookline, MA, America's Test Kitchen.

"Miss"-cellany

Miss is nearly 8 months old now. She gets funnier every day. She is able to sit up by herself now, and does this over and over and over. She seems so pleased with herself! She isn't crawling yet, but she sure is trying hard. She can't seem to decide if she wants to crawl on hands and knees or in more of a bear-crawl position on her feet instead of her knees. She goes back and forth between these two positions, rocking back and forth, and balancing with one arm forward and the opposite leg sticking out behind her. This inevitably ends in a face plant, and then she just pushes herself up onto her little butt and plays for a few seconds before starting the whole process over again. She is also working on pulling herself up to standing, and will walk if we hold her hands. She loves to bob up and down if we hold her upright, and jumps like crazy when we put her in her Jumperoo.

She has three teeth. The two middle bottom teeth and the top tooth just to the left of the middle. She looks a bit snaggle-toothed, but in an adorable kind of way. She loves to eat solid foods and eats three meals a day now. Her favorites are squash (winter and summer varieties) and sweet potatoes. She also likes apples, pears, and prunes. She doesn't really like peas or carrots, though I did get her to eat peas for lunch today by mixing them with prunes. I know, gross, right? But she liked it! She loves to eat Cheerios and her pincer grasp is rapidly improving. I have started trying to teach her sign language. In particular we're working on words/signs like "more," "eat," "drink," "water," and "milk." Of course she's not signing yet, but she at least looks at me now when I do it.

She is also developing quite a fun little personality. She makes the funniest faces and has very expressive eyebrows. She has also learned that if she makes a grunt-yell noise she can get her dad and me to respond to her in some way that she seems to find enjoyable. Last night I listened to her making this noise and her daddy tickling her in response, back and forth, for almost 10 minutes. She laughs a lot and has learned to wave. She is quite entertaining on flights, as she loves to flirt with strangers. Occasionally we can get her to give a kiss. She is also experimenting with tantrums and various other ways of expressing her displeasure about things. It is really quite adorable and kind of hard not to laugh at her.

Overall, I am having an absolute blast being her mom. She makes me laugh multiple times every day. I have never had a harder, more rewarding, or better job than this one.

Mommy Brain

Sometimes I just have one of those days when the sleep deprivation and seemingly endless list of things to do just makes me feel a little, um, stupid. Well, okay realistically I probably have those days most of the time. Or maybe every day. But today I have been especially moronic I think. I am amazed by how forgetful I can be now. This started when I was pregnant. The psychological research has actually identified "Pregnancy Brain" as a real phenomenon where pregnant women get more dumb. Their brains actually shrink a bit (listen to me saying "they" as if this didn't happen to me too). However, the research also showed that this dummy phase is supposed to be just that, a phase, lasting only until shortly after the pregnancy is over. Evolutionarily speaking, it wouldn't make sense to have a bunch of stupid chicks running around trying to raise babies, right? So, the Pregnancy Brain is supposed to resolve after the baby is born, and women have actually been shown to perform better on certain tasks after "recovering" from it. So, even though being pregnant makes us gals temporarily ditsy, we are supposed to come out of the deal even smarter and sharper than we were before. So how come I nearly walked out of the house with mismatched shoes on today? I was very close to going to a meeting with one brown and one black shoe on. It is only the fact that these shoes, though similar in style, have a slightly different shape and heel height on them such that I looked down to see what the problem was when my feet felt different, that saved me from this error. And though my daughter was dressed impeccably in an adorable outfit, with everything she could ever possibly need carefully packed in her beautiful diaper bag and enough warmth on her body to protect her in an arctic blizzard, I proceeded to leave the house without a coat on. Not even a sweater or fully long-sleeved shirt. I live in Wisconsin and it's getting cold here!

I think the psychological research failed to mention that Pregnancy Brain segues directly into "Mommy Brain". So, although women may perform better on some tasks after giving birth, a permanent condition of semi-frazzledness persists that will never go away (okay, maybe after putting kids through college, but by then dementia is setting in anyway). This condition leads to increased forgetfulness and selective stupidity. However, there are also the areas where the Mommy Brain is a finely tuned instrument, capable of executing amazing feats, like the above mentioned ability to remember every single thing that needs to be in the diaper bag while simultaneously forgetting my coat. Or having the sixth-sense ability to just know that your child is about to put something in her mouth that you really don't want her to have in her mouth, and looking just in time to prevent this thing from entering her mouth. Or being able to keep nursing, naps, meals and bedtime perfectly on schedule, but not being able to fit in a shower or remember to call for an oil change (oh, that reminds me!). I could go on and on, but you know what I mean. Now, I really do have to go schedule that oil change before I forget again. . .

Some Random Thoughts for a Tuesday

1. Why can't someone make baby socks and shoes that actually stay on? I know this is not easy, when the baby wearing them inevitably grabs them and/or bites on them and tries to pull them off. But couldn't they at least stay on otherwise? Some of Miss's socks fall off if she just kicks her feet and they happen to hit each other. Oi. The person who could invent the true stay-on baby sock would (and should) be a bajillionaire.

2. I know babies are supposed to be ambidextrous, so I'm probably making something out of nothing. But I think Miss may be a southpaw. She seems to strongly prefer to use her left hand when picking up Cheerios, trying to hold her sippy cup (she hasn't quite realized she needs both hands for this one yet), etc. Both of her grandmothers are lefties. I know it's early, but I'm making a prediction anyway.

3. Ah, the dreaded minivan. Before becoming pregnant, my hubby used to tease me that someday I would be a minivan-driving mommy. I swore over and over again that I would never, ever drive such a vehicle. I drove my mom's minivan in high school quite a bit, and while it was convenient to be able to pile lots of friends in the car, I still kind of felt like a dork driving a minivan, and really had no desire to ever do it again. Plus, I believed that there were many other vehicles out there that are large enough to handle kids, dogs, gear, etc. Some with even more room than a minivan, so why would anyone ever get one of those things?? Fast forward a few years to last fall. I was pregnant and realized that my good old Ford Escape would not be big enough to tote Baby and two dogs. So, we were car shopping. I gave in and actually test drove a minivan. Worse, I even liked it. *gasp* However, I managed to find a vehicle that I liked better, that was big enough for baby and dogs and future babies (so we thought), and would work perfectly all around. I got a Ford Flex, and I love it. It is big enough for Miss and our two pups and all the necessary gear for the many travels we have taken. It's a tight squeeze, but we can make it all fit. I can even get from the back seat to the front while the car is in motion, which is a great thing on long road trips. Granted, this move entails quite a feat of flexibility as I have to go over the front seat when it is laid fully flat forward, but thanks to a lot of pilates, I am still flexible enough to make it happen. I have been extremely happy with my Flex, and have just tried really hard not to think about how we would fit another baby in it, should we be lucky enough to have one. Fast forward again to this past weekend. We went to New Jersey for the wedding of some of our great friends. We needed to rent a car and Ben said, "Why don't you get a minivan and we can see how we like it?" I chuckled at this, but secretly loved the idea, so we did it. We got a Kia minivan to drive for one day in New Jersey. Here's what amazed me about it: I could actually see Miss from the front seat (without the use of a mirror) and there was easily room for me to move back and forth from the front seat to the back seat if necessary without contorting myself. It rode smoothly and didn't seem overly big but had tons of room. How is all that possible? We loved it, and we didn't even have the one with all the bells and whistles. It seems I may end up joining the Minivan-Mommy Club after all. At least until my kids are old enough to climb in, get seated and buckle themselves in without needing a carseat. Which I think happens when they're about ready to start driving themselves.

Okay, that last random thought could have been a long post by itself. It's amazing how much the idea of a minivan can get me going! I'll just stop there then.

Big Fuzzi City

FuzziBunz has come out with a new one-size pocket diaper. My friend is giving some away on her blog Big City! Baby. I am telling you about this so that I may get another chance to win the dipes for myself. I really want to win them.

Throwback Thursday - Dancing Queens

This is me (on the left) and my Cousin one year at Christmas time (I'm sure you can tell by the clothing this was in the 70s. Yep, I'm that old). Dontcha love the unselfconsciousness of kids? I think I might have been using that hairbrush (?) as a microphone too. I still can't dance worth a darn (I can keep a beat but don't really have the moves!) but I do it anyway. Especially with Miss, who LOVES music and dancing. Her favorite song? "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes.

I'm Eating Pasta Again!! I mean Squash...

I have just learned of the wonders of spaghetti squash. Last week we got a spaghetti squash in our box from the CSA, along with a recipe for a spaghetti squash casserole. I had heard before that spaghetti squash is a great substitute for spaghetti pasta. I must admit, I didn't really believe this. Having eaten many different kinds of squash before, I couldn't see how it would be anything like pasta. So, I never bothered to pick one up at the grocery store and thus had never tried it. Well, lo and behold, I ended up with one in my produce box last week, along with a recipe, and decided to give it a whirl.

To back up just a little, my hubby and I have been adhering loosely to the Zone diet (developed by Dr. Barry Sears) for about a year and a half. When I say "loosely" I just mean that we don't really count blocks TOO strictly. Basically, we try to get the correct proportion of protein, fat, and good carbs. We also try to eat whole foods, rather than processed items, thanks to having read the wonderful book "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto." * In trying to get good carbs, we try not to eat foods with a high glycemic index, so no potatoes, pasta, breads, etc. I've sort of missed these things, though less so over time. The discovery of the spaghetti squash, however, has opened my eyes to the possibility of eating "pasta" again. It really is quite like spaghetti in texture when you cook it and scoop it out of the skin! And it actually has an even better flavor. Just for reference, the glycemic index number for white spaghetti is 59, while the glycemic index number for spaghetti squash is less than 20 (the lower the better!). The following is the recipe we got in our box this week from Good Earth Farm. I happened to have all the ingredients on hand except for mushrooms (hate these so never have them in my house), which I left out, and the full 2 cups of mozzarella, which I supplemented with parmesan. I made it two nights ago and it was fantastic! Even better last night for leftovers.

Baked Spaghetti Squash Casserole (6 servings)

Spaghetti squash (1 medium, 1/2 large, or 2 small)
2 T. Olive oil
1 lb. ground Italian sausage (we used venison Italian sausage, but any ground meat works)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 bell pepper any color, cored, seeded, and diced
1 small onion or 3 scallions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning or dried or chopped fresh oregano, basil, and thyme
1/2 to 1 tsp. salt (to taste)
freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 to 2 lbs. tomoatoes, chopped (approximately 5-6 tomatoes, depending on size)
1 T. sugar
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese or mozzarella
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped (optional)
1-2 scallions, thinly sliced for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Poke the squash several times with a sharp knife to create holes to let the steam out and prevent squash from exploding while baking. Bake whole squash for 45-60 minutes, until a fork easily penetrates the flesh. Remove from oven and let cool until it can be handled. Slice it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and fibers that hold them in the middle. Discard these. Then scrape the spaghetti fibers from each half into a large bowl. Fluff up and separate strands with a fork if necessary and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium. Add Italian sausage and cook, breaking up the sausage into even pieces. Add mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning, and S&P, and continue cooking until the sausage is browned and veggies soften (about 8-10 minutes). Add chopped tomatoes and sugar to meat mixture. Cook to thicken, 15-20 minutes. Stir in spaghetti squash.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Rub a 9x13 casserole dish with a little olive oil. Pour squash/meat mixture into dish. Top with cheese and bake 30-45 minutes. If you like the top browned and crispy, turn on the broiler for the last few minutes. Sprinkle with olives and scallions if desired and serve!

One last thought. I have found that the thing I miss the most about eating pasta is the ease and speed of preparation. Pasta was always one of my go-to dishes when I didn't feel like cooking anything fancy. I mean, how easy is it to throw some noodles in boiling water and add sauce of some sort, or even just a little EVOO and parm? Over time I've come up with other quick and easy Zone-friendly recipes to replace pasta in this way (tuna, chicken, etc). This is good, because I have to say the spaghetti squash can't quite match the speed of preparation of the pasta. As you can see, it takes about an hour to cook it before it's ready to eat. But, cooking it whole is super easy and not messy (doesn't leave much on the dish to clean after) and it is passive preparation, in that you just wash it, poke it, and throw it in the oven for a while. So I would say that it is as EASY as pasta, just not as fast. The flavor and texture make a terrific substitute in other ways! I'm going to try it in some other pasta recipes too.

Next up - Kholrabi puree as a substitute for mashed potatoes. Mmmmm!!


*Pollan, M. (2008). In defense of food: An eater's manifesto. New York, Penguin Press.

I Jinxed Myself

I knew I would. All this talk about how Miss is sleeping so well now. Yesterday she took two half-hour naps. Not two and a half hours, but two naps, each for one half hour. Oi. Today was a little better, but I swear that little stinker has some sort of sensor, such that she wakes as soon as I sit down to get on my computer. She was snoozing away while I was doing dishes. Fortunately, she didn't wake while I was taking a shower and drying my hair. But once I sat down to enjoy some coffee and a little blogging, I heard the monitor begin to crackle, signifying the rousing of the Little Miss. This is truly my second attempt at typing this same post about lack of sleep. Ironically of course, the first attempt was aborted when Miss woke up prematurely from her morning nap.

Ah well, at least her sleep at night is still good. Oh wait, no. I jinxed myself there too. Sleeping through the night? Well, sort of. She is now waking once per night, at a different time every night so far, and fussing for approximately 20 minutes. This isn't so bad, because she's not really crying. I'm able to let her put herself back to sleep, but of course I'm awake the whole time too. And if you know me, you know I have had problems with insomnia anyway, and unfortunately, if I wake up for that length of time in the middle of the night it is nearly impossible for me to get back to sleep. I think I was getting more sleep when I just got up twice and nursed her back to sleep real quick. But we won't go down that road again. I'm hoping the sleep all night thing will take pretty soon for good. Until then, early to bed for me. And no more bragging about how beautifully my daughter is sleeping :)

GAD Cloth Diaper Giveaway on LHDH

As I mentioned a few days ago, my friend who has the blog Life Happens During Naptime is giving away tons of great stuff for moms and babies in honor of her son's first birthday coming up. Yesterday the giveaway she posted was for a GAD diaper. I have one of these for Miss and would love to win another, so I'm blogging about the giveaway to get myself another entry :) Above is a pic of her in her GAD.

BTW, I won the Softbums giveaway I blogged about the other day!! Yay for free stuff!