Photos of the boys...

Happy 3rd Birthday Arthur!

Mickey is not cute in real life.....

He eludes cats, poops all over the place, wakes you up at night by scratching in the radiator, and steals matches to make a nice but hopefully non-flammable nest somewhere in the bowels of your house that you will never reach. And I highly suspect that he is responsible for my middle track light that only sometimes works.

Oh, and apparently he might also inflict the deadly hantavirus on you and your family...

I have respect for all life and harming another mammal that I don't intend to eat really saddens me..and I tried the nice way with only those cute humane traps, plus some crunchy homeade set-ups that were sworn to have great succuss (yeah right)..but after learning of this hantavirus thing (which kills a surprisingly large number of mouse inflicted people), I decided it had to be us or them. More specifically, I chose my children's health and well being and am trying my best to put aside my guilt in the name of not having a potentially mouse paw ridden, hantavirus filled carpet that Robin crawls on and usually eats stuff off of.

I've given them options though...there are 5 different kinds of peanut butter loaded traps in my basement. I'm hoping every last one will choose some version of the humane traps, but if they don't....I will most definitely feel bad but I will do what needs to be done.

Goodbye Corolla...Hello, minivan!

Through about six months of research, there were five words that sold us on the Kia minivan....safest minivan in it's class.

Sure, Kias don't have the history of dependable cars...about 15 years ago I had some pretty negative impressions of the brand. But several years of negative publicity can do two things to a company. It can make them go under, or it can make them come back determined to prove the publicity wrong. Kia took the latter approach and 15 years after the worst of their sorrows, they've come out with a line of safe, dependable, inexpensive cars.

Toyota started exactly the same way. And I'm a Toyota lover. So for me to choose another brand means there has got to be a good reason. The Sienna just wasn't rated as safe and it's a wee bit more out of our budget.

It's more fuel efficient than I could have hoped for a car this size. It's no 38 mpg Toyota Corolla (which we've sadly traded in..sniff sniff)...but it's a lot better than many of its counterparts.

But yeah, I watched a bunch of crash test videos. Read reviews. Read consumer reports...there's still people who have carried the negative image from 10 years ago into today's market. But most people I've read are loving their Kias. The safety is just so important to us, and we couldn't find one rated safer.

So here it is...our new family car. As well as a tribute to the Corolla and Arthur saying goodbye to our "Mickey Mouse" car.

Arthur hugging the car goodbye:



Another hug for the car:



Shouting "Goodbye Mickey Mouse Car!":



Our new van:

Finding a good playground.

There is a mama who lives on our street who we've met a couple of times who has two boys (4 and 18 months). She invited us yesterday out to the playground and it turned out to be a really nice play space. We have a park near us that we've deemed slightly unsuitable for three-year-olds. Aside from the cigarette butt and glass filled sand that covers the park, there's the drop off over the sea wall and the heavily vandalized park equipment that bugs us too. It's o.k to play in, and not inherantly unsafe. It's just not our first choice of parks when there are safer, cleaner options close by.

There's one park close to Joanne's work that is geared towards children 5 and under. It has a bark mulch covering which has been deemed the safest playground covering by a mile and the whole area is fenced and gated in which greatly reduces the chance of one running off into the marina. This has been the playground of choice since we discovered it.

Now I'm glad we have another option because this one turned out to be excellent as well. Again with the safest bark mulch landing pad, there's a very large fenced in grassy area to run and play ball. There are picnic tables and right across the circle are some nice walking trails. You can definitely make it a half-day trip. It's away from any main roads and in a quiet, safe area. I had a nice time with my neighbor and met some other local moms too. They all knew each other so I felt a little like a fourth wheel but it was nice to have all of the kids playing together.

We decided to go out after dinner tonight being that it was so nice and I recommended to Joanne that I bring her down to this park since she didn't know where it was. We had a nice time before bringing the boys home for bed and we got some cute pictures too.

Bark mulch (and sand) are not good play spaces for crawlers. Especially for crawlers who like to eat random specks off of floors. But wearing Robin solved the problem. It gave me two free hands to attend to Arthur and Robin was quite happy and entertained. Whichever pre-historic mama who invented the baby sling should be forever congratulated.

Here's some photos from our after dinner excursion.

Oh, and since I feel badly so quickly bumping my welcome post for the twins...if you haven't had a chance to see our friend's new additions here is the link: (Rohan and Ian)

Welcome to the world, Rohan and Ian!

Our friend Mary had her twins on Thursday and it's been the highlight of our week! We're so happy for their safe and happy arrival. The boys are adorable and they are all home now, adjusting to a new life with not one, but two little babies to cuddle, and nurse, and change. Congratulations Mary and Dave and big sister Anjali!

Diaper attempt #2

I had much better success this time and I'm starting to get into a system now. I bought some french terry tonight on a whim because I know that it is used to make diapers sometimes and I found that I loved it so much more than the fleece. It's softer and seems more sturdy. It seems like it will be absorbant on it's own accord. I did two layers of french terry on the inside of a pretty cotton pattern I found (If anyone can read the characters, please let me know what it means). The soaker pad is two layers of flannel sandwiched around two layers of microterry (those things will soak up anything).

I used the hook and loop closure because I don't have any plastic snaps, although at about 2 cents a piece, I think I'm just going to order a bunch online.

I tried a zig-zag elastic this time and I think if I can get it right, I prefer the feed method instead. I just didn't like sewing on top of the elastic, although I think maybe for the back of the diaper it might work nicer. Maybe zig-zag for the back and feed through the legs.

In any case, I love this one. I might even try it on Robin for size however, although he is still in the small fuzzibunz, this one seems just a hair smaller than a "small" and I'm not sure it would fit him. The whole thing overall, front and back is just so darn soft. I can't wait to use it in August!

Diaper Attempt #1

I found an old skirt that I just can't quite squeeze into anymore and I had some fleece and microterry hanging around from making my diaper liners so I thought I would try to take on a more challenging project. It only took about two hours, which I don't think is so bad for a first attempt. A lot of that was just figuring out a pattern I wanted to use by tracing and cutting out a form for the diaper and the hidden insert.

I had a rough time with the elastics and I'm not quite sure they will hold. I think next time I'll try the zig-zag method I've seen becaue I think I'll have better luck with that and it will take me less time.


I also don't have any plastic snaps, which I think work better for cloth diapers. I've never seen a professional diaper made with metal snaps, but these were all I had so they'll do. I'm pretty pleased with my first attempt and I have some ideas of how to improve as August gets closer!

Arthur's First Theater Movie

Last week, Arthur was having a "difficult" time going to bed. He was being very fresh and testy. So we (well really Joanne) decided to try some of our mama friend's ideas and do a sticker chart with a reward for a set amount of stickers. The first couple of nights were a teeny bit better but not really enough to get that full sticker...but we worked on it. A few days later the idea "sunk in" with him and we had some really good nights. He still has moments but overall, the past week has been a lot better.

His reward for filling his sticker chart was to go see "Horton hears a who". I had to work this morning and since our schedules have been overlapping so much, this afternoon seemed the best time to try. We figured around 4:00PM on a Sunday, the theater would be less crowded so if either boy threw a fit, we could get up with them and step outside without disturbing too many people.

We went armed with snacks and when we arrived, I nursed Robin to his heart's content about the time that the previews started. Only one other couple arrived so we breathed a sigh of relief that at least we didn't have to work within the confines of a crowded theater. It was us, and a young couple sitting about 6 rows behind us.

Both boys were gloriously behaved. Robin maybe made two "peeps" in the whole movie and when I say "peep" that's pretty much what I mean...And Arthur and I had been practicing how to talk in a theater the whole ride there so he was already whispering even before we bought the tickets. He had a couple of louder "What's that Mum? What's he doing" but gentle reminders did the trick. He really did so well. I couldn't have asked for them to have been any better. It was an enjoyable experience for all of us. I was nervous about the baby but he was so content the whole time.

The best though, was the absolute giggles and glee from Arthur when he laughed at the funny parts of the movie. We'd been to the drive-in before, but this was an entirely new experience for him and it was great to see. It's definitely something we'll consider doing again in the future and I think we should aim for this most perfect time slot again. It was great.

Robin's 9 Month Well Baby Visit

We had our well baby visit today for Robin. I was hoping he would have gained more but I'm not surprised that he only gained what he did because he's been crawling for a month now and before that he was still pretty mobile and speedy. I call this "activity related minimal gain" ha ha ha. The doctor agrees.

Weight: 13 lbs 8 oz
Height: 26 3/4 inches
Head: 17 something...I can't remember what was on the sheet but it definitely grew enough to make them happy.

We discussed diet and they recommended to get as much breastmilk in him as possible and to not let food take the place of my milk. She actually said this to me first and I was so happy because I'm 100% in line with how she is thinking. Basically, keep nursing him and use food in addition. And try to get the foods as calorie dense as possible. Avocados, some egg yolks in a month or two, some olive oil mixed in his cereal...

She said I could try adding a little plain whole milk yogurt. No liquid cow's milk. Not until a year, and even then if he's still nursing it's better to keep him on the breastmilk. It has a lot more fat and calories than even whole cow's milk. This is stuff we knew already, though. For whatever reason, the plain yogurt doesn't have the tummy concerns that liquid cow's milk has. I think I might give him a small spoonful and see how his tummy does. We usually have plain yogurt in the house.

His iron was excellent. He's doing great with table foods. He can eat lots of things cubed (plain veggies and soft fruits mostly). She was very impressed that he could eat with his hands already and that he was so mobile.

She said that because his head size and his height were going up along a nice curve, that's really the biggest indicator of nutrition and health. His weight may just hit a spurt one of these days. But if not, he's still healthy and growing as a baby his size should.

The best thing is that it looks like his ear infection has almost nearly cleared up. Which is great because I didn't want to have to put him on more antibiotic. He's so miserable on it.

We discussed vaccines again because some of the ones that concern me are coming up at his next appointment. She's going to give some of my research to one of his pediatricians, who is also doing his own research on the issue. I'm hoping they can order one of the alternative MMR vaxes for us. At the very least, I know I'll be going into the appointment having done everything I could in terms of finding an alternative.

Happy Easter! 2008

Speedy Baby...

On March 9th I posted a video of Robin just learning to crawl. 9 days later and he's all over the house, crawling faster than I can catch him....kneeling, lifting himself up against things, and causing general mischief. I don't remember it all happening this fast with Arthur. I'll have to go back and read some of my older blog to see if I can jog my memory!

Oh, and I swapped out for an adorable new diaper today. I love the GADs diapers but Joanne isn't much of a fan so I compromised and swapped two (I kept our gorgeous embroidered ones with the dragon and lion). In exchange I got this one, and a cute print from Spooky Kitty!

Our name quest is over.....

...because it's a girl! And she looks great!

Arthur's Haircut

The first thing he said to me after we left Snip-its was "Mum, I don't look like a gorilla anymore!"

You can see the video "bananas and cheese" I posted for a reference of how shaggy he was.

9 Months Old Today

I can't believe it's been nine months!

Two Videos for Today - Part Two - Bananas and "Cheese"

Two Videos for Today - Part One - Robin Crawling

Moving along...

I think Robin may have crawled forward today for the first time. He's been mobile for about a month but mostly it's been a combination of skootching, rolling, and crawling backwards that has gotten him where he needs to be. He's also recently been moving from the hands and knees position to sitting up. He's been doing that a lot (unfortunately, also in his crib..which makes it harder to get him to settle down for the night).



But tonight he made his way forward a couple of feet. I wasn't really expecting it. I'm wondering if he's done it before but I just haven't seen it because there have been a few times when I've left the room only to return to find him across on the other side.



I'll count today as the first time though because I actually witnessed it this time.