Thank You!!

This is the first year Nolan has been able to help me with his Thank You cards after his birthday. As usual, I'm running late but they are finally all done. No I just need to get them to everyone! Each and every card has "Nolan" written in it by my little boy too. 

This is a big deal for us because up until a few months ago Nolan did not want to try and trace anything or hold a crayon/pencil correctly. He's now tracing like a pro and enjoying it. I try not to push him as with most things he'll master is quickly once he's ready. Now, we're working on writing and tracing!!

Look at the concentration!

We got his first progress report at school today and he is doing great in everything except "coloring between the lines" which could use some practice. It's such an adorable little report and it's going in the memory box!

Buttons brand cloth diaper review

 

I recently received a Buttons brand one-size all-in-two cloth diaper to test out. I had not heard of this brand before receiving it to try but was excited to give an all-in-two a shot.

These diapers consist of a wipe-able PUL shell with a snap-in insert. The shell of the diaper can be reused numerous times in a row without washing by simply removing the soiled snapped in insert and replacing it. This allows the user to purchase less of the more expensive part (cover) and still haev a complete stash. The insert itself is microfiber with a soft fleece lining. For nighttime or heavy wetters they have a snap in doubler option as well. I received the diaper in bright green Apple, insert in large, and a nighttime doubler.

My first impressions were very positive. The PUL shell is very thick, two layer in fact, and feels as if it will stand up to long term wear and use. The nighttime doubler is extra thick. It was surprisingly thick and equal to two or three of other inserts we have!! My only wish for it is that it also has a fleece liner so when not needed it could double as a regular insert. With just the microfiber on top it can't be used stand alone and always has to go under the regular insert since microfiber against a baby's delicate skin is not good.

I prepped the diaper according to instructions and gave it a go. Our first use was a simple daytime outing but as most do it went a little hectic. In the end, Carter was in this diaper longer than I would have liked (almost three hours) and after having finished off his sippy cup. NO LEAKS! For my tiny baby the leg gussets were perfect! He decided to christen the diaper the first time out and I can say that the microfleece seemed to repel the poo and it easily fell into the toilet. I didn't have to scrape as can sometimes happen.

Our second time out with the diaper, I decided to be brave and use it in place of our regular nighttime routine. Now for those of you who cloth diaper you know what a worry this is. After you finally find the perfect nighttime combination messing it up at all can lead to a wet, cranky, awake baby in the middle of the night. I put away our heavy wetter diapers and pulled out the Buttons AI2! Carter slept his usual 12 hours and woke up with no leaks! It's definitely bulky with both inserts snapped in but all nighttime diapers are.

We've also tried using the nighttime doubler inside of another brand's pocket to see how flexible the system is. I am a lazy cloth diaperer and hate sorting through a huge clothes basket for the exact right insert. If I were to add more Buttons to my stash, I'd definitely want to be sure that in a pinch the inserts would work out okay in other diapers. They definitely do and this way the nighttime double can be used without also using a regular insert!!

All in all I was pleasantly surprised. In the past I've not been a huge fan of snap in inserts or AIO or AI2 systems. This one was comfy on baby (my biggest complaint against GroVia system), easy to assemble and disassemble should the diaper be pooped in, and heavy duty enough to last through many many washes!! You can get a Buttons cover/shell for just $11.50/ea on Amazon and inserts are around $4 a piece. (I just saw that Buttons website (link above) has a sale on the covers for $9.35. I'm not sure if it's Cyber Monday deal or not but worth checking out!!) That's pretty impressive considering you'd only need a few covers total to last an entire day.

The diaper is currently in the wash and ready to go back on Carter. I swear this time I'll remember to actually grab a picture of it on him and I'll come back and update this post!! I always remember after I've changed him out of it already.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Getting ready for Christmas!

This is going to be a picture heavy post so I won't bore you with the intro!! Our tree went up this weekend right after Thanksgiving. Carter has been amazed at all the lights and fun. He wasn't too thrilled with Santa as you can see and neither was brother. Nolan got a little brave and eventually took a candy cane from him but nothing more. We took a fun family trolley ride to check out the lights' of St. Augustine.

I Caught Santa

Do you want to make the magic of Santa even more personal this year? I recently was given the opportunity to offer my blog readers the opportunity to get free ICaughtSanta.com pictures now through December 10th. Just use the code #SantaShare at http://iCaughtSanta.com and you can have fun personalized family photos with Santa in the middle of them! Be sure to grab a picture of your living room and Christmas tree and add Santa to the mix. I know Nolan will be so excited to see the picture I capture!!  As soon as our tree is up this Friday I'll post back with the pictures! Maybe our little Elf on a Shelf will get in on the fun too.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Lil Peanut

Carter had his 15mo checkup yesterday. He made it to 18#4oz if you take the highest weight shown on the scale as he bounced around. Yep, we'll cheat and take those few extra ounces!! He's almost 30" long now too. We're going to explore food allergies a bit more thanks to diarrhea, upset tummy, and a few other signs. I'm pretty sure he's not tolerating cow's milk and thus have been keeping him off of it but wasn't sure if it was a true food allergy or if he was okay with small amounts of dairy like yogurt or cheese. The tests should helpfully tell us that.

C is in a very clingy phase which is kind of cute. He's easily overwhelmed in big groups. Brother takes off running and playing and little guy hangs by mom. Here I am wearing him at a birthday party. the awesome bounce houses and trampolines were a bit too much. Eventually he got brave enough to try it out once though!! Check out his moves here. While you're there be sure to follow us on YouTube so you can see any new videos I post!!

Nolan didn't want his dancing to be forgotten so here is his take on break dancing.... in slow motion. The iPhones new slow motion video option is pretty hilarious when you video tape kids!

Carter hangs out with me at the local grade school twice a week while Nolan goes to speech therapy. It's not the most exciting adventure but he has fun. Today he practiced with his first backpack. He was so excited to wear it and was all giggly.

Pics of the week

Here are a few fun pics from our week.

Dress Up - CC found Nolan's dress up box and tried to put on Ironman goggles.

Mr. Rico Suave poses with his sippy. 

About the best joint picture I can get these days. Nol gets tired of sitting and C is always on the go!

... and then they are goofy!

..and so serious!

Children Learning Reading

I recently was chosen to try out Jim Yang's e-book lessons Children Learning Reading. It's a program designed to instill early reading skills for children that can be started at an early age or used once they are school aged. Nolan and I have been trying it out learning basic letter sounds and phonics. I'm not in any rush to teach Nolan but like to explore whatever he is most interested in at the time. He loves books and asks questions so we thought this was a great time to start! I grew up loving reading (still do) and can't wait for both kids to find the joy of books too.

We've been trying it out for a few weeks now and while Nolan isn't suddenly reading Shakespeare, he is now more interested in letter sounds which is a start. He's gone through the first few lessons so far and we're working on putting together and blending a few letter sounds at a time. This program is .pdf file based so the tools you use (flashcards or letter drawings) need to be created by you the parent. There are .mp3 clips of appropriate sounds to help you out and also to use with your child. It's a hands on program that starts with you reading a pretty intensive description and instruction file. I've used an early reading program in the past that mainly involved videos and this is definitely not that. I loved that it gave me reasoning for each of the steps we were doing and was very thorough in describing what I should be doing. They recommend doing the short lessons a few times a day and only moving on once your child has mastered each step. This program is a time commitment but anything that has a chance of working likely is! 

Children Learning Reading focuses on phonics and Phonemic Awareness (PA). I wasn't familiar with what that actually entailed and really only remember phonics from grade school so I was hesitant as I started reading. Basically though, PA entails blending letter sounds and teaching the children to sound out words. No sight word memorization or rote memorization which is a plus.

If you're interested in starting a basic phonics approach to teaching your child to read, you should definitely check out Children Learning Reading!! You can see videos of children who have used the program here too. I'll post back as we continue trying out this program!!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.