An Open Letter to Dr. Sears

Dear Dr. Sears,
I would like to take issue with you about a suggestion you put in your book about babies-- appropriately, if laconically, titled The Baby Book.

Alternately titled: BUTTS!!!

I love your book and am thankful for all the times it saved my new-parent self from having full-blown panic attacks about completely normal occurrences. It's a valuable parenting resource, chock-full of wisdom!

Unfortunately, Dr. Sears, there is one piece of advice I don't consider to be very wise. In the 6-9 month chapter, you suggest in several places that a great way to stimulate baby's brain is to give them a bowl or tray of cooked spaghetti noodles and let them smoosh and poke and pinch and revel in the sensory stimulation to their heart's delight.

A food and a toy? Happy Meals will have one tough act to follow. 

Recently, I decided to give this a go. This was going to be fun! This would be new! And most of all, this would make my child a genius. I could just see him, crawling up to his baby friends. All the other babies would look at him and say, "Dude! Nice brain cells!" After which my son would adjust his monocle, harrumph, "Indubitably!" and impress the crowd with a dazzling display of pincer grasp maneuvers.

So what is my problem with this piece of advice? Well, Dr. Sears, it seems that you, and the editors, and I overlooked a little fact.

Eight-month-old babies love to put things in their mouth. And possibly eat these things.

I cooked up some noodles, placed them in a bowl before my kid, and waited for this sensory safari to begin. No sooner was the bowl on the ground, then he grabbed a giant handful and stuck it in his mouth. Okaaaaaaaay, I thought, maybe he's just mouthing it--  and then he shoveled in another handful with a giant slurp. This was no finger play! No poking and pinching and reveling in the sensory part! No, the only thing he was reveling in was the fact that his Italian genes kicked in at that moment and he couldn't shovel pasta into his little body fast enough.

We won't say which side he got that from.

I tried to get the noodles out of his mouth, but there was no way he was giving up his beloved pasta. He had already swallowed a handful of noodles, and the damage had been done. So I referenced your Baby Book to see when babies could safely start eating pasta.... 

Twelve to eighteen months?! 

So, Dr. Sears, I think you are awesome, but I'm trying to figure out how exactly it's a good idea to suggest letting grabby, chewing babies play with food- food!- that they're not even supposed to be eating for another half a year. That's like giving a ten-year-old a cigar to play with. Or a teenager a margarita. 

A sensory experience of an entirely different sort

Of course, it's ultimately my fault for blindly letting my baby play with food without bothering to check if it's actually safe for him to eat, but I'm a bit surprised that you, a seasoned health professional, would suggest an activity like this. Oh well, it turns out that Oscar didn't suffer any ill effects, and we all lived happily ever after. But I'm on to you, Dr. Sears, and your dealings with Big Noodle Companies. Now please excuse me, I have to go chase that child in the linguine bag.

Linked to Works for Me Wednesday.

Diapers, Diapers Everywhere!

Miriam over at My Country Cupboard asked if I've been sewing anything lately. I haven't been intensely working on any projects, but when I have a few minutes to spare, I make... DIAPERS!

These are fitteds, so they're not waterproof, which is perfect for EC! My mother-in-law bought me a ton of flannel on Black Friday, so I've been having a field day with all the patterns.

I made the leg warmers, too! Elizabeth at That Married Couple has a great tutorial.

These diapers are constructed with two outer layers of flannel, with an inner layer of terry cloth (old bath towels) and flannel sewn in. It's actually very absorbent!

I've been experimenting with sewing strips of terry cloth on the outside for Snappis, since flannel doesn't hold a Snappi very well. :-(

Ohhhhhh, I love all these fabrics! My personal favorite:

This next one is cool because it's reversible! The layer touching Baby D's skin is polar fleece, and there is an additional terry cloth/flannel layer inside. So he can wear it as pictured, as a fitted with a stay-dry inner layer; or he can wear it as an AIO with the polar fleece on the outside. I've always been skeptical about how well fleece works as a waterproof layer, but so far, I'm pretty impressed!

Here's the original diaper I made-- it's reversible, as well, but this is before I started adding terry cloth, so it's not that absorbent.

These have been very good at holding in the blowouts. Not a leak yet-- and Baby D has made some doozies! One thing I'm not crazy about is the fastening. These are actually one-size, with the top open for stuffing the diaper inside itself until I have a good rise length. This means that my only fastening options are pins or Snappis. If I had a plastic snap press, I'd make the rise adjustable a la bumGenius! and add some velcro.

This is a very economical way to diaper Baby D at home, but alas, I still need some diapers that won't make babysitters run screaming in the other direction-- I'd love to just hand them a stack of pockets or AIOs.  As soon as I can figure out how to do rise snaps, I'd like to try my hand at making pocket diapers. (confused by all this diaper lingo? Rachel at Silver Spoons, Paper Plates has a nice explanation of all the different diaper types)

These are pretty easy to whip up-- if Baby D allows, I can finish one in a day! So you might see more popping up here and there, because now I can never rest now until I have every single flannel print in the world. Whoops.

A Solid Approach to Solids?

On the cusp of celebrating six months with Baby D, I am increasingly asked the million-dollar question:

"Has he started solids yet?"

Short answer: No.

Long answer: I am a very lazy mother. I'm really digging this period of perpetually carrying around Baby MRE's.

Perhaps Le Petit Monsieur would like to try the Milk this evening?
Prepared fresh from the finest ingredients, and served by the chef herself! Ooh la la!

Meal planning is not my strong suit, and I'm not looking forward to actually coming up with nutritious dishes for the little guy! Also, I have better things to do than sit there and shove stuff in his mouth. I saw enough of my baby being force-fed at the NICU, thankyouverymuch.

So ideally, I don't want to start him on solids until he's ready to feed himself.

This will require

-Sitting up independently 

-Having some teeth already!!!

-Using the finger-thumb pincer grasp

 There are few other factors to the delay, as well. The diaper sprayer fell apart last week, so I'm not adequately prepared to deal with the solid poop. (The great thing about breast-fed poop [not that there's ever anything great about poop, lol]  is that it's water-soluble, so you can just throw those cloth diapers straight into the washing machine-- talk about easy! Once you start solids, however, you have to use flushable liners or spray the diapers down before washing. Sad face!) We're also moving across the country sometime next month, so the less complicated feeding Baby D is, the better! He is still growing at a ridiculous rate on milk alone, so I'm not worried about nutrition. I will not buy commercial baby food, and I hate cleaning blenders, so Baby D will need a set of chompers to puree his own food!

But when I DO start feeding him solids, I don't want to wean him completely yet. The goal is to breastfeed Baby D until at least his first birthday. However much further beyond one year is something we'll play by ear! I used to be that person that was so grossed out by the idea of toddler breastfeeding, but the more I find out about the wonderful properties of breastmilk, the more I'm in favor of keeping it in his diet as long as possible.

So that is [hopefully] my plan. I'm curious to hear other experiences or plans on introducing solids! When did/do you plan to start? It is easier with teeth? For you CDing moms: did it instantly get harder to wash those diapers?

For Your Saturday Reading Pleasure

Here are some of the great reads I've seen this week!



How to speed-peel a potato. I love it because of the hilarious background music.


Why Having a Toddler is Like Being at a Frat Party. I don't have a toddler, and I've never been to a frat party, but this made me chuckle. Be sure to check out the comments, as well!


Make homemade air fresheners!


How do coffee-shop baristas make all those swirly designs in the coffee? Here are the secrets!


You can see more good reads at Simply Staci!

Convert a short-sleeve onesie into a long-sleeve T-shirt!

I discovered a curious thing about the children's clothing industry: apparently, babies age 3-12 months aren't allowed to wear T-shirts, unless they are purchased with the coordinating pants and hoodie ensemble. I discovered this as I combed through several large stores, thinking,  I just want a dang shirt! and finding that I had three options: squeeze Baby D into a 0-3 month shirt, let him swim in a 12-month shirt, or buy the shirt/pant combo and let the pants languish in a drawer somewhere.


I chose none of the above. And you don't have to, either! You can transform a short-sleeve onesie from this:

To this:

Here's what you'll need:

-Short-sleeved onesie
-Material for the sleeves. You can use any kind of knitted material: an old t-shirt, another onesie. I just happened to have some leftover knit fabric from another project. be sure the material is stretchy. Otherwise, it will fit really weird and Junior won't be able to bend his arms!
-Long-sleeved shirt or onesie to use as a pattern


(Sorry the pictures are such poor quality. My camera is currently broken, so I'm having to take photos with my cell phone! I hope to replace these pictures eventually.)


1. Lay the long-sleeved onesie out. Lay the short-sleeved onesie on top, with the shoulder seams matching. Measure the length difference in the sleeves. Also measure the width at the top of the sleeve, and the bottom. Add one inch to the length, and 1/4 inch to both widths.

For my six-month onesie, the dimensions (after adding the additional lengths) were seven inches long by 3-3/4 inches wide, tapering down to 3-1/2 inches. 

2. Fold your sleeve material in half. You want the knitting to be running up and down the fold, not across it. That way, the sleeves will stretch the right way. Cut two sleeves on the fold using your measurements. So, after cutting, my sleeves were 7 inches long by 7-1/2 inches wide, tapering to 7 inches.

3. On the short tapered end, fold up 1/4 inch onto the wrong side and sew with a zigzag stitch. This will be the end of the sleeve.

4. Fold in half, right sides together, and sew a 1/4 inch seam with a plain old running stitch. You now have a sleeve!

5. Turn the onesie inside-out. Pin the new sleeve, inside out, onto the onesie, matching seams. (As you can see, I like to use lots of pins!) You want the new sleeve to extend past the onesie sleeve hem stitching.

6. This was hard to photograph, so bear with me! You are going to be stitching on the outside of the onesie sleeve. Position the onesie on the sewing machine just so you are stitching through the neckhole onto the right side of the sleeve, but the rest of the onesie is inside-out. Using a zigzag stitch, sew over the hem stitching on the onesie sleeve.

All right! The hard part is over! You can stop here, if you just wanted long sleeves on your onesie. But if you still want a shirt, keep reading...

7. Cut across the onesie, just above the leg holes. This may seem like a long length for a shirt, but if you cut much shorter, you'll end up with a belly shirt-- especially if your baby has a longer torso. Trust me! If you still think it's too long after it's finished, you can just fold it up once more and sew that.

8. Fold up the bottom of the shirt about 5/8 inch onto the wrong side. Sew all around with a zigzag stitch.

Congratulations, you have a new shirt!

Evidently, Baby D doesn't like orange

This is a participating post on Works for Me Wednesday. Be sure to check out all the other great ideas floating around cyberspace!

Inspired by Finn Amber Necklace Review

Watching your child is pain is NOT. FUN. And when your child starts growing teeth, you feel like you are growing them right along with him. So when you hear about a device that might possibly ease the pain naturally, and then you find an online store that loves to collaborate with bloggers...

Then you buy an amber teething necklace from Inspired by Finn.


The Store

Look at that beautiful nursing necklace!

Inspired by Finn is an online store that specializes in Baltic amber and Hazelwood jewelry. Baltic amber is a traditional European pain reliever, and Hazelwood is thought to help ailments of an acidic nature (acid reflux, ulcers, skin problems). I first ran across Inspired by Finn in November. I was so impressed by their selection and their in-depth knowledge about amber, that two months later, when I had some questions about amber jewelry, I searched high and low to find this site again! Even if you're not in the market for teething help right now, you should check them out anyways for a very informational read about the benefits of amber. They also sell amber jewelry for adults, including special pieces to help deal with knee or back pain, and a risk-free trial for those suffering from arthritis or carpal tunnel!

It was quite easy to purchase the necklace online. Each necklace is offered in a variety of lengths (and I recommend getting one a couple inches longer than you think your baby needs, because those fat rolls will swallow up the necklace! :-P). It took about a week from placing the order to having it arrive on my doorstep. That may have been because this was a special-order review, because I've seen other reports of necklaces arriving within 48 hours after ordering. The shipping is a flat rate of $1.95, which is very reasonable!

So the store is great, but how is the necklace working?


The Necklace

I chose a semi-polished necklace in Lemonade. According to Inspired by Finn, the lighter the amber is, the more healing succinic acid it contains; and let me tell you, after a month of teething woes, I wanted the strongest they had to offer! It came with a little tag stating that this particular necklace was handmade in Lithuania on November 5, 2010. The necklace attaches with an interesting plastic screw clasp that is embedded in an amber bead, so that the only thing touching the wearer is amber all around. The beads are all separated by individual knots, so that if the necklace ever does break, you won't have beads all over the floor. Whoever invented these must have been a parent! :-D

Adam can ALWAYS get Baby D to smile! I'm so jealous!

I didn't really notice any difference until the third day after putting it on Baby D. Ever since then, he has been considerably less cranky! He still has pain, but I can tell that it's significantly diminished. His mood is overall better, and he's not tugging on his ears as much. Another really interesting side-effect: every day since Baby D came home from the hospital, he gets a couple episodes of waking from his naps, wailing and crying to break your heart. I don't know if he has bad dreams or what the deal is, but it freaks me out. After he started wearing the necklace, though, his episodes have greatly decreased! That right there is worth getting the necklace!



So, to recap:

For us, this wasn't the end-all end to teething pain, but it definitely helps. I just found out from my mom that I had teething pain for TWO (!!!!!) months before cutting my first teeth, so if Baby D did indeed inherent my horrible teething genes, then this was definitely a good investment. And I'm so glad I got it, if only to cut out those weird naptime wailing episodes! It's a nice, drug-free way to help out the little guy.

If you ever decide to buy amber jewelry, I definitely recommend Inspired by Finn for a few reasons:

-Quality of merchandise
-Variety. They offer all sorts of shades and finishes and sizes for every age!
-Knowledge and experience

Mmmm, I just want to eat those little cheeks!

*Full disclosure: I received a 50% discount off my necklace of choice from Inspired By Finn in exchange for writing a review on this blog. The opinions and experiences expressed on this review are completely my own, and I was not compensated to tell you how awesome the necklace was. :-P

Birth Control: how having a baby changed my opinion

Imagine this: one day, someone very dear to you comes up one day, and says, "Look! I have a gift for you!" You take one look at it and say, "I don't want it. Give it to me later." But it doesn't stop there. You glue up your mailbox so he can't mail it, and you purposely time things so that you avoid opportunities to receive it. You arm yourself with chemicals that will destroy that gift, should it come near. You also load up on excuses, like, "I can't afford the upkeep on your present." "First, I want to do XYZ before I enjoy your gift." "What if I'm not a good recipient?" Then, one day, maybe years later, you call your friend up and tell him you will accept his present now. You open it up, and OMG!!!!! It is the best thing that has ever happened to you in your life!!!!! You sit there, holding your gift, and think to yourself, Why on earth didn't I accept this gift sooner?


This was my experience with birth control.

It was all too easy for me to spout off, "CHILDREN ARE A GIFT OF THE LORD, PSALM ONE-TWENTY-SEVEN THREE!" and "GOD PROVIDES!" But you know what? We delayed starting a family mainly out of fear. What if I can't finish school? What if we have to move? What if insurance doesn't cover the birth? (it didn't, and we lived to tell about it) What if? What if? What if? We practiced NFP, which is by far the least aggressive way to control fertility, but the truth remains: we actively avoided pregnancy for nearly two years.

Now, on the other side of things, I tremble a little to see what we did. It's easy to deny life to a theoretical baby, but now that I see he is a real, breathing child with a little personality and a unique face, I realize that we were playing god with a human life.

We were also in effect telling God, "We know best when we should receive our blessings." I'm not going to lie; having a baby is AWESOME. Baby D is a sweet little person who has stretched me in a zillion ways and provided so many smiles and wow moments. Now, when Baby D looks at me and just breaks out into the biggest, happiest grin that says, "You're the world to me!" the thought hits me between the eyes: I actually purposely cheated myself out of this blessing for years?

Choosing to be open to life is a SCARY thing. Even with all the NICU drama and the financial woes, the most terrifying part of this parenthood journey has been choosing to leave our fertility to God. Actually, do you know the catalyst for our change of heart? It was realizing that material happiness might be a long time coming for us. Buying a house, traveling the world, completely repaying student loans, owning a car with a working gas gauge (LOL!)-- it could take years for all that to happen, if they happen at all. So why lose this decade, always looking ahead to when things will get better-- when we can have what really matters and enjoy the time that we are in right now?


So now, I'm trying to figure out where this leaves us. There are signs that my fertility might be returning soon (thanks for nothing, Ecological Breastfeeding! Hmph.), so I have to take a long, hard look at where we go from here. All I know is, even after actually knowing all the pain and work that children bring, I am even less sympathetic to the desire to avoid creating a human being than before.

Not so fast with that Christmas trash!

Remember all that cellophane packaging on your gifts? Well, when you sew a few layers onto a piece of terry cloth...

... add ribbon loops and a flannel backing, and then zigzag the edges...

...you have a texture toy that makes a pleasant crinkle crinkle sound. A visual, aural, and tactile delight!

Apparently, it's also delicious. Look at those little fingers entwined in the loops!

Just What I Needed

I'm certain that the people you meet are not accidental. Every meeting, even the small, random conversations with total strangers, are orchestrated by God, I've always thought.  Most times, I can't understand why and maybe never will, but no exchange is meaningless. Anyway, I've been a bit blue lately. Not a day goes by that I'm not struck with sadness about the events surrounding Baby D's birth; and some days, it's a little more than that. A birth story, an article, news that someone's in labor, or even sometimes just looking at Baby D will set me into a deep funk for days. Mainly I harbor a deep bitterness against the current medical system and worry quite a bit about the next pregnancy, and I'm trying to work through all that. Doing some research a couple evenings ago, I wasn't too surprised to learn that oftentimes NICU parents suffer Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and I also would not be surprised to learn that I have a mild case.

Anyways, I went to church this morning. Baby D, who normally loves the opening music, inexplicably started wailing halfway through, so I carted him off to the nursing room to calm him down. After I got him all sorted out, I went to wait the foyer waiting to go back in the sanctuary, and met another woman sitting there. Baby D is a conversation magnet, so before long, I found out that this lady had gone through three C-sections, starting with her oldest, who was unexpectedly born a month early. And she was so... normal. Happy, even. It was just nice to see someone a few years on the other side of the trauma of an unexpected birth, a C-section, and a probable NICU stay (I'm just guessing, the baby being a preemie and all). She even went on to have more C-section births, and guess what? Her life went on.

It was a few minute's exchange, but I found it healing. 

Did the lady know? Probably not.

Was it random chance that I left the sanctuary and met her? Probably not.

In Praise of the Humble Flat

No, I am not talking about my apartment. The flat of which I speak is often the subject of scorn in its circle, frowned upon as a last-ditch effort of the destitute, and not well-publicized at that. Of course, I am referring to the flat diaper.

You won't hear much about the flat diaper. The overall vibe I get from the cloth diapering community is that the only people who use flats are either too poor to afford anything else or are embarking to a third-world country. No joke!  When I was first trying to make an informed decision about getting flats, there was little information to be found. Any list of the various diaper types I would come across would just barely mention flat diapers before elaborating on ALL the OTHER types of diapers-- as if flats aren't a real option.

Well, here is one person to tell you that not only are flats an option, but they are a great option! My current stash is a dozen prefolds and a dozen flats, but I much prefer the flats. Here are the reasons:

• Versatility. Flats are only as hard as you want to make them. If you want to feel like an origami master, you most certainly can find all sorts of elaborate diaper folds. Or, if you're feeling lazy, just fold it in halves or thirds until you can stick it in a diaper cover. You can make it fit however you want. These make wonderful gDiaper inserts!
• Drying time. Flats air dry beautifully! This is important to me, since I don't feel like paying $1.25 every time I want something dry around here. If I'm running low on diapers, I can count on having dry diapers about an hour after they're washed!
• Washability. Since they're so thin, they wash beautifully; I've heard that they almost never need to be stripped. They rinse out better, too. Oftentimes, between spraying the diaper and throwing it in the wash, I'll give it an extra rinse in the sink. Guess which ones don't release a whole lot of soap residue? You guessed it-- the flats!
• Size. Flats are the original one-size diaper. They can be folded to fit a baby from birth through potty training! My prefolds are already too small for Baby D, and if they didn't fit so well in the gDiaper, I'd have to buy more in a different size (or maybe more flats instead, ha!).
• Price. Okay, it's true that I'm fairly penniless, so I know all about diapering on a budget. If you are looking for a way to do cloth with the least damage to your wallet, look no further! I bought one dozen for $15. So theoretically, you could start a stash for about $70 (two dozen flats and three $13 diaper covers, which is what I used for the first two months)!

And what are the cons? Well, they are absolutely NOT dad- or babysitter-friendly. But, since I do 99% of the diaper changes anyways, it doesn't really matter. Getting the folds right takes some practice, but you are sure to wow the relatives when you whip one of those out and make some origami! :-D It takes a little more time to fold, which is not fun to do with a wriggly baby (I fold them to be diaper-ready as soon as they're done drying, so I don't have to wrestle Baby D come changing time). I also think they're slightly more difficult to spray than prefolds.

So. I love flats. If I think Baby D needs to go coverless to air out for a while, I reach for a flat first-- I know a fold that puts a gazillion layers between Baby D and the floor. You would think that a flat wouldn't be very absorbent because it's so thin, but once you get a few layers going, it's just as absorbent if not more than a prefold! So that's why I love my flat diapers. As does Baby D:

Many thanks to my cute little model!

Sewing Away

Hmmm, it's been a while since I've made a real post. The main reason is because I've been a busy bee, working on some projects. Ready for some show-and-tell?


First off is a ring sling that an acquaintance commissioned me to make. She showed me a picture of the colors in her nursery and left me to my own devices. :-D It took me a while to make, because I KNEW that I wanted brown and white polka-dot fabric, and evidently that stuff is the Atlantis of fabric. It just can't be found! Finally, after repeatedly combing through every fabric store in town, I found what I wanted online.

A week later, it came to me, and it was the wrong weight! I had overlooked the fact that it was a duck canvas instead of cotton apparel fabric. Grrr! So I ended up buying a much larger polka-dot print at Hobby Lobby, which, after the fact, actually looks better than the smaller print. Tell me what you think:

She wanted pleats in the shoulder. For extra extra security, I triple-stitched the shoulder seam.

And, of course, it needed a pocket!

 Let me tell you, a lot of blood and sweat and tears went into this sling!

So what did I do with all that duck canvas? Make a nursing cover, of course!

Here's a closer look at the heart applique and rick-rack trim. I bought that rick-rack on clearance several weeks ago, and I was just waiting for something to use it on!

And, of course, it has a stiff neckline so I can what the heck is going on.

I still have a bunch of that fabric left, so I may just sew a couple more nursing covers and try to sell it on Etsy. So that's what I've been up to! Anybody else working on anything fun?

WFMW: Cheap, Cheap Art for Baby's Brain

As a new parent, I keep hearing from all sides how babies really benefit from visual stimulation in the early months. According to experts, the best artwork for baby's brain is black-and-white patterns: broad stripes, checkerboards, bulls-eyes, et cetera.

As a young parent, I am flat broke. As much as I would love to buy up all the art that will certainly make my kid a genius, all of my money has to go towards other things, like, you know, rent and stuff!

There is a whiteboard hanging above our desk-- I mean, changing station, for those To-Do lists I love to make. Tonight, in a flash of inspiration, I grabbed a black marker and drew a pattern. Voila, instant art!

Baby D loves checking it out!

Cheap ways to grow baby's brain: that definitely Works For Me!