While this was a couple weeks ago, we still wanted to post the photos and comments of Luke's first bath. We waited until his umbilical cord stump fell off to give him a proper bath. As it turns out, Luke loves his baths! See below....
Luke is getting his hair washed with Burt's Bees baby shampoo and wash. It smells so nice and he loves it!
More hair washing... see the frog covering him? We found this treasure at Babies R Us when we were registering. It is a Bath Luve Frog, a specially shaped wash cloth to dip in warm water and cover baby to keep him warm when he's in the bath. We were lucky to get this item as a gift. It really works, and Luke is not at all cold in his bath!
Luke getting warmed up after the bath
Getting warmer in Daddy's arms!
Getting a mommy kiss in his robe and slippers
He's really cute! Love the robe!
We know that he doesn't really get dirty, and so he doesn't need a bath every night, but he loves it so much, we have made this a part of his bedtime routine. Bath, lotion, diaper change, pajamas, swaddle, feed, then hopefully sleepy time. Since establishing this routine, Luke has responded really well, drifting off to nighttime sleep within two hours of his bath. He also seems to sleep for longer stretches since starting this bedtime ritual. A happy and sleepy baby makes happy parents!
On Saturday, March 27, Tricia Ebarvia came to take some family photos of our new little family. We had a great time, and here are some of my favorites....
Okay, so I never thought I'd be able to smile with someone else's poop and pee all over me, but it happened today....
Our doula, Brittany, came for a visit this afternoon, and after, I decided to change Luke's diaper. He was wearing a disposable, and I wanted to switch him to a cloth for the afternoon. I carefully folded it and used a cover (see post below for more cloth info...) and dressed him again. I sat him next to me on the couch as I began to look at our blog on the laptop.
After no more than two minutes, I heard a farting sound come out of Luke, and I thought I would try him on the potty quickly before re-diapering him (more on baby potty-training in a later post). I carried him upstairs to get the potty, and brought it back downstairs. I put Luke on the changing table to take off his diaper, only to find he had already gone... a lot! Luke was so squirmy, he got his foot right in the messy diaper. UGH!
I determined the best way to clean him would be to run him under the faucet in the kitchen sink. I hastily undressed Luke and carried him to the kitchen to find a sink full of clean dishes in the in-sink drainboard. I one-handedly emptied the drainboard while Luke hung limp, naked, and very poopy over the other arm.
Luke decided to take this opportunity in the open air to pee while elevated four feet in the air. Unfortunately for me, those four feet began at the top of my legs! I walked away from the experience with my right pant-leg completely covered in newborn urine. Of course, I got Luke dry and warm, then changed him first before taking care of my own clothing situation.
Throughout our experience, I smiled and laughed. My own child's bodily functions do not gross me out in any way. What can I say? I guess I'm just a mom!
Chris and I committed to using cloth diapers before Luke was born. We attended a wonderful workshop on cloth diapering at the Maternal Wellness Center in Mount Airy. We learned a lot, and were honestly baffled at why more people don't chose cloth. It's so much better for the environment and so much less expensive for parents than disposables. The extra laundry hardly seemed like too much for us to handle.
I also spent some time with Stacy Klein, who came to our house to review cloth diapering options with us. This was a private visit, and was very informative. We reviewed the different kinds and brands of cloth diapers that she and other cloth-moms really like. She also showed me some accessories that are essential to using cloth. We reviewed how to handle and care for the cloth diapers. Between our workshop and private visit, we felt prepared to enter into the cloth world! And so the purchases began...
I started by looking at brands that came recommended. BumGenius and Thirsties seemed to be the best rated among cloth-parents. We liked the idea of all-in-one diapers (shaped just like a disposable, but made entirely of cloth, which can be easily washed and re-used), but they are more expensive, running between $10-20 per diaper depending on the brand. Some all-in-ones can get a baby through all his diapering years once he's 12 pounds or so, making the initial investment a little less of a financial blow. The trouble is, babies are rarely born at 12 pounds (even though Luke was close!), and so cloth-parents need to have a system in place for that newborn-12 pound time frame.
My solution to this problem was to purchase only a few newborn size all-in-one diapers, and to invest mainly in Chinese prefolds and cloth diaper covers. The prefolds are the good, old-fashioned type of cloth diaper that we wore as babies. They are cheap and last forever! (I think all moms still have some of these left-over from the 80s and now use them as cleaning rags.) Cloth covers are pretty inexpensive also, making these the bulk of our newborn stock of cloth diapers.
The only problem is that I am a terrible folder. Being so new to constant diaper changes, and being kind of slow at the changes at this point, makes me reluctant to use cloth when a disposable is handy. Now that we have our breastfeeding issues under control, I am making a real effort to focus on using cloth. I have determined to save my "fancy" all-in-one diapers for going out or perhaps nighttime. When I am home during the day, my plan is to continue to fold (and hopefully get better with practice) until Luke reaches 12 pounds or so. At that point, I believe we may look out for diaper sales and purchase one-size all-in-ones for the remainder of Luke's diapering years.
See how far cloth diapers have come...
Good, old-fashioned prefold diapers - we wore these with pull-up plastic pants.
And here is the more modern version of "plastic pants".... We have about four of these in newborn size for Luke. Note the velcro feature makes this easier to fit on baby than pull-up covers.
The much-desired all-in-one! How I love these!
A better view of the features of my favorite all-in-one diaper. (Click on picture to enlarge.)
Baby wearing is a great way to spend more quality time with Luke. I can put him in this home-made Moby wrap and load the dishwasher, work on the computer, fold laundry, or even eat (as shown in the photo below). It's nice that we can still be close while I attend to our daily household chores and other personal duties.
This evening, Luke and I took a walk around the neighborhood in the Moby. Considering recent news about baby slings, I was extra conscious of his posture while in the wrap. I noticed that the cradle hold allows him to put chin to chest more easily than the hug hold - the major difference is that Luke faces outward in cradle, and faces me in hug hold. Halfway through our walk, I flipped Luke around to face me, and he went to sleep almost immediately.
Wearing little Luke makes me feel like a good mommy, and he really seems to enjoy being close to me, too. Daddy wears Luke when he can, and Luke also likes having one-on-one Daddy time in the Moby. Wearing our son gives us a great opportunity to be with him when we might otherwise put him down or spend time apart, and it truly calms Luke and makes him a more pleasant baby to be around.
I am well aware that Luke looks very much like his daddy; however, he did get some of my attributes. one obvious trait he got from mama is that hairline! see photo on the left circa 1981, compared with Luke's from just 2 days ago... eddie munster hair!
On Friday, March 12, we went back to Luke's pediatrician to get a weight check. During this third car ride of his, it was dreary and rainy outside, which meant he finally got to see a bit of the world. (I was hiding his eyes from the sun during our first doctor visit, and he was sleeping on the way home from the hospital.) I took this photo on my phone to capture just how alert he can be. I love this face!
Today was Luke's first six nations game. Although the game itself was a little poor, at least we can affirm that Scotland remains unbeaten during Luke's entire lifetime (ahem...).
Here is a picture of Luke considering the subtle differences between a ruck and a maul...maybe.
Today we had a check up with the doc to see if Luke was packing on the pounds (or at least not losing anymore). Nancy had been fattening him up like the Thanksgiving turkey all week, and it showed. The boy had put on 7oz in three days. By my reckoning, that is equivalent to me chowing down enough to bulk up by over 2lb a day. Even with some good HGH that would be a stretch, literally and figuratively. Anyway, the doc seemed happy, and so did Luke, although he was on some sort of "milk-high" after the three day binge-fest so who knows what was going through his head.
First warm day in ages and we thought we would take advantage by heading down to Penn Treaty. Luke registered his enjoyment by pretty much just sleeping, as you can see. Kept him out of the sun, vampire style.
All babies are meant to lose weight right after birth. Something about water weight. Trouble is, Luke lost a little more by his four day checkup at the doctors. No-one was too concerned yet, but the doc wanted another weigh in on Friday.
Luke probably doesn't know that song, but we think he was equally as happy as us to be getting out of hospital and back to fishtown.
To celebrate the occasion, Luke got dressed in his own clothes for the first time. Well, he didn't get dressed himself, but you get the picture. To show his appreciation, he withheld from defecating or peeing on himself the whole way home!
