Mr. Big Guy

 He’s 2 months old and thinks he is “big stuff” when he is standing!  If he could talk, he would be saying, “Look at me Mom, I’m standing.”  I can see it in his eyes!!!

We had a great week this past week.  I really think that Amos is getting used to life outside the womb.  While he is awake, he is pretty much just taking in his surroundings.  He loves looking at the tree in the nursery while he eats, out the window, at all the wonderful things hanging from his activity and his bug.  About 4 weeks ago, I hung a bug from his car seat handle and for the last 3 weeks, he could care less.  But this week, the bug is tied for first with Daddy.

Speaking of Daddy, we were spoiled by having Daddy all to ourselves for 3 days straight!  On Saturday, we all piled into the CR-V and headed to Springfield.  I had found an armoire on craigslist that was worth the drive!!!  After FINALLY getting it into the CR-V (Jason no longer had a seat and Amos was in the front with me – I wish I had a picture) we headed to the DAV and Jason scored some pretty sweet ties.  Then we made our way to the Mall to kill some time – Jason’s parents were joining us for dinner that evening.  And while at the mall, we ran into old friends from college who also had new babies!  Amos must have been exhausted from the day because he slept 7 hours that night – the longest to date.

On Sunday and Monday, Amos and I enjoyed Daddy time.  Daddy can make Amos laugh just about every time he has him.  Jason had Amos outside more than he’s been in his entire life (aka the last 2 months) and we all went on a walk on Monday.  Amos loved his stroller so much that he promptly fell asleep.  He’s been quite the napper for Mommy.  Now that he’s sleeping and found his thumb/fingers, he pretty much goes down without a fuss!

We head to the doctor for our 2-month check up on Thursday.  We are anxious to find out how much our boy has grown!

Guess what Amos found...

That’s right, I went in to get him from one of his naps this past week and was shocked to see his thumb in his mouth!  I haven’t caught him with it in there again, but he is getting really good at sucking on his hands/fists.  I’ve been mulling over which I’d rather he grow attached too, his thumb or a pacifier!  I’ve decided that I think I’m ok with the thumb.  It seems way more natural to me for him to suck on his thumb and now he can soothe himself.  I know they say you can’t take a thumb away like you can a pacifier, but I just hate having to reinsert his pacifier again and again.  So I guess we will deal with that bridge when we get there. 

On another note, it’s week 8!

If you are like me, you’re saying, “But he was just born.”  I don’t know how it has gone by so fast!  However, he can do soooo many more things now than he could do then! 

For instance, Amos can stand by himself.  OK, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but he can hold up his own body weight, we only have to balance him.  And to be honest, I think that standing is his favorite thing to do!  If you are holding him, you better watch out, because he is sure to push himself to standing!

Secondly, he laughs!  And I love when he laughs!  Oh, and if you missed a few weeks back, laughter is always accompanied by smiling.

Also, he goes down for naps, in his own bed, with little to no crying.  I know by typing this, I’m jinxing myself for tonight!

I wish I could say that he sleeps 7-8 hours at night, but I can’t.  He maxes out at about 5, occasionally.  However, unlike when he was first born, he eats for 15-20 minutes and I put him back down and we all go back to sleep.  Thank goodness he knows it is nighttime and doesn’t stay up to play!

This week has been a good one.  Amos went to lake and hung out with his cousin!   Gramps and Grammy were glad they got to spend all day with both their grandbabies! 

Lastly and most excitingly, Mystery, our church, is popping up babies everywhere, and Amos got to be part of Baby Dedication Sunday.  It is such a blessing to be part of a church that values kids and families.  We committed to love and serve Amos like Christ loves and serves us and teach him about Jesus.  Then our church family committed themselves to helping with the task! AWESOME!

From the Baby Dedication

                               

Here's a couple of fun bathtime shots!!!

The Vance House Rejoices!

Why are we rejoicing you might ask?  Because we have completed our first week of cloth diapering and I love it.  Whew!  You never know if something that you put money into is going to be a dud!  Luckily, this wasn't it!

DISCLAIMER:  If you have no interest in cloth diapers, do not keep reading.  This post will be really boring and confusing!  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Now that I'm for sure about cloth diapering, the rest of my "stash" is on its way!  The rest of the post is essentially about how I decided what the rest of my stash was going to be.  Let me warn you again, if you don't care about cloth diapering, stop reading!

My least favorite was the BumGenius AlOs (All in One).  I’m a little surprised by this because I thought that they would be my favorite.  They’re a few reasons for this conclusion.  They are messier than the rest, they take longer to dry and the leg gussets turn inside out on themselves, which isn’t a good thing when I’m trying to contain runny poop.  They definitely aren’t a terrible diaper; they just won’t be my first choice when getting into the diaper drawer.

Here's Amos in the BumGenius AIO

 If you look closely, you can see how the leg gusset will turn inside out! 

Second place goes to the Kissaluv Marvels.  The Marvel is a lot like a pocket diaper, except you don’t have to deal with taking out a “soiled” insert and restuffing it back in every time.  Instead, the insert is sewn in and agitates partly out in the wash.  It’s a pretty handy system, BUT I chose not to get anymore because they are so bulky on.  Every time I put it one him, I want to break out into "I Like Big Butts" and Jason doesn't appreciate it.  Not a terrible thing, but still enough to keep me from buying any more.

Amos in the AIO Marvels

 Mr. BIG BOTTOM

And finally, my favorites, and what I chose to buy more of were the GroVia AIO and the Best Bottom All-In-2!  I love both of these diapers.  The Gro Via is the slimmest diaper on Amos.   He barely looks like he is wearing a cloth diaper when he has these one.  The absorbent cloth is only attached in the back, so it dries MUCH faster than the BumGenius and the leg gussets are a big improvement.  It even has the option of snapping in additional doubler for nighttime. Again, it’s basically like having a pocket diaper, with out the mess of a pocket diaper. 

Amos in the GroVia AIO.  He loves them!

 Check out those leg gussets!  Much better!

The inside of the GroVia AIO

Showing the snap in doubler for extra absorbency.

The second winner is the Best Bottoms.  What a great system.  It was actually developed by a mom who used cloth diapers and wanted to make something wonderful that everyone can afford.  It’s a shell with inserts that snap in and out.  So if the shell isn’t dirty-, which it isn’t most of the time – you don’t have to change it.  Just change the insert!  That means less wash and less money on more diapers!!!  It sounded too good to be true, that’s why I didn’t make it all my stash the first time, but it really does work!  No leaks, and pretty trim make it a winner!

Amos in the Best Bottoms!

Double leg gussets!  Can it get any better!

The inside.

With the medium insert.  

(Side note: I didn't start cloth diapers until Amos was out of the small insert size.)

And now for the deals!  That's right, I didn't pay full price for any of these diapers!!!!!!  Right now GroVia is running a special:  buy 2 AIO diapers and get the third diaper free!  So of course, I purchased three more GroVias for the price of 2.  I added three more Best Bottom shells, 12 more inserts and 4 overnight inserts to my cart at KellysCloset too.  Then I found the coupon for 10% off my entire order!  ChaChing!

Lastly, a SURPRISE!!!  I was perusing our local overstock warehouse, I found a Day Pack of the Flip Diaper system by Cotton Babies.  I’d been interested in trying these out, but hadn't.  The system is pretty much like Best Bottom’s system, where you use a shell and change out only the inserts.  They were selling the pack for half off, so I thought that I couldn’t pass up the deal. 

The Flip on my model!

The Flip cover.

The Flip with the insert.  It doesn't snap in, it just slides in and fits under the flap of the cover.

Congratulations on making it to the end of a really long cloth diaper post.  You must love cloth diapers as much as I do!  My hope is that they save our family a ton of money and we are able to spend it on other things, like car insurance!

Amos has brown eyes!

After 7 weeks its time to make it official, Amos will follow in suite with his mom and dad.  He's got their big brown eyes!  I know, I know, you're shocked!  But hey, crazier things happen!  I'm just glad he got his dad's dark features!

We've had an exciting week at home together.  Amos and I are learning what its like to stay at home during the day.  He's on a pretty good routine for naps, which gives me time to get things done.  I accomplished one of my cleaning tasks each day, which left us with nothing to do on the weekend except spend time with Dad!  We also got to hang out with some friends who were gracious enough to have us over or come over!

At the end of the week, Gramps and Grammy brought Uncle Joe over to hang out!  

Uncle Joe must of had the magic touch, because Amos is a sleep fighter!

On Saturday night, Jason and I were able to get away, thanks to the Corcoran's, for a date night.  We had fun, reminiscing about the past, and dreaming about the future Olive Garden - thanks to a gift card from one of Jason's old students!  Then we finally saw Harry Potter.  I think we may have both teared up a little!  We came back to the Corcoran Cottage to find a wide-awake little guy!  I told you, sleep fighter!

He's getting so big and smiling a lot more these days - even laughing!  Jason thinks he's already ready to wrestle!  He's a little man.  We love him more each day!

We don’t need all that stuff…

So I’m glad that I stopped myself before I got all caught up in the baby toy business!  Instead of going out and purchasing some new developmentally appropriate toys for Amos, I slowed down and thought, “I can make those things.”  I saved myself from spending $60 plus on a new toy, and used the stuff we had.  Here's our first homemade toy.  And man did he love it.