Leaps and bounds on the developmental landscape

It's been a big week for our little man. Lots of new baby tricks:

• He reached out and (intentionally!) grabbed something. Ever since, he's been having batting practice with anything remotely dangly and in reach.

• After much staring and contemplating, he's realized his feet are his.

• So now he's began kicking said dangly objects. So cute to see him line himself... then KICK!... then (as the object swings from impact) he squirms and wiggles in delight!! Between batting and kicking, he shows no mercy on his play mat.
  

• The little man is starting to use gravity and his heavy noggin to his advantage to turn from tummy to back. The little trickster!
  

It's been amazing to see all these little baby steps in such a short period of time. Seriously, he was knocking them down one a day!

The world is becoming a much more exciting place for him... Unfortunately (for mommy), that means he's finding sleeping to be a bit boring. I kissed my long (well, 6 hours of) uninterrupted sleep goodbye last Thursday with the start of a growth spurt. Maybe we should head back to Manitoba for some more slumber?!?

I think so!!

Jonathan and I will be in Winnipeg from June 5th to the 11th, and Dauphin from the 11th to 18th. Although we will both miss daddy like CRAZY, we're looking forward to the family seeing Jonathan again. And we will be sure to be back home for Daddy's Day ;)

Stateside

We celebrated Baby J receiving his first passport by heading to New York state this past weekend.

I just love shopping in the states, especially when sales are on, our dollar is above par, and the difference in gas prices nearly pays for the trip itself. The day trip went really well; Baby J is an excellent traveler... Which is fantastic because not only was this trip a fun outing, but also a practice run for a longer road trip we're planning to make later this spring.

Yay for being internationally mobile again!

OCDing

Obsessive Cloth Diapering, that is!!


I explained in this post how I was excited to try cloth, and I'm happy to report that I really am enjoying it! I'm not die-hard though, we do use disposables for overnight (the absorbancy is unbeatable!) and while visiting family (I can't bring myself to ask to put *that* in someone else' washing machine!), but during the day at home or out on short trips we opt for cloth, for longer-haul outings we go with the gDipaer system with biodegradable/disposible liners.

There are pros and cons to each type (gDiapers vs Flips! vs pocket diapers vs all-in-ones vs pre-folds, etc) and the cloth diapering world is unbelievably huge! So far my favorites are definitely the gDiapers with disposable inserts for outings and the Flip! system with microfiber inserts while at home.

Has is been a pain at all? Surprisingly, not really! At the beginning we struggled with leaks, but as my baby's bottom grew into them a bit better (and we learned how to put them on properly ;) it hasn't been an issue. The extra laundry to wash the diapers is barely noticed considering how much laundry babies create anyway, and I've even been so crunchy as to hang the diapers and liners to dry in the sunshine (not only save on drying cost but also to bust out stubborn stains).

I'm proud to report that I haven't paid full price for any of it either. Most everything has been pre-owned, some it is pre-used, but all of it steeply discounted. The problem? It's quite addicting!! I love hunting for bargains, bidding, bartering... This is where the 'OCDing' really comes in. I've come so many new styles and patterns I'd just love to try...

Yay for making diapering fun, cute, and cost-effective!

"Are you ever going to blog again?"

I suppose it was a pretty fair question, seeing as I've only posted once this month and twice last month... But YES, absolutely! (There's blog fodder everyday!) Just have patience, we're finding our new normal...

Best Mother's Day gift EVER!

And it came early... On April 22nd, to be exact. During the last night at my mom's house Jonathan slept through the night!!!!!!!!!!!

Although I loved it (even if I was shocked when I woke, looked at the clock and realized it had been over 5 hours since we went to sleep!) I didn't want to get too excited. It could have been a fluke. Or the excitement of the shower that day... But when he repeated the feat the following night (at Tom's parents'), and continued to do so the following night (back at our place in Montreal), I started to get excited!! Its now been a 10 day stretch... Involving 4 different beds, 2 time zones, and no real set schedule during the day. He's only woken one night and that was due to gas.

I realize this may not last, but I'm basking in it right now!!