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My 3 Month Old!!!

Sammy is 3 months old now!! I can't believe how fast she is growing up! She has changed so much this past month and I've been too busy to post about it so this might be a long post!


On the EC front, things are still going great! We have been having a lot more diaper free time and Sammy loves the freedom to move her legs around without any hindrance from a diaper. She is cuing a little different now. It used to be  mostly grunts but now she gives a quick fuss and waits for me to place her on the potty. If I miss the first fuss (or just am not paying attention) she will usually give another as long as she is not maxing out her holding capacity. When she first starting transitioning to this cuing instead of grunting it took me a couple of days to realize and we missed a few more time than normal. But now its usually very easy to tell because she's not a fussy baby. When I hear a fuss I know something is up and its usually that she has to pee!

Her holding capacity has gotten longer. I haven't timed exactly how long she will go but it is definitely longer than before. Sometimes when we are out running errands I am usually quite surprised to find a dry baby! And pottying in public is becoming easier for that reason. I did notice however that she stopped responding to the "psst" cue. I think its because at home we don't really say it anymore because she goes once we set her on the potty. But in public she doesn't sit on the potty so it takes her a little longer to realize she can release. So to remedy that I started using the cue again at home and it seems to be working. I just started this this week so not too opportunities to test have come up yet.

Night time is still the same. Still missing most of the pees. I just can't wake up fast enough and I am even making myself get up the first time i hear her but it apparently isn't the first time she fusses. Occasionally I wake up to a dry baby but not as often as I would like. Nights are when we use most of our diapers. As she gets older and her bladder gets bigger I am sure we will have more success.

I think I figured out nap times though! During naps she stirs but doesn't actually wake up (just like at night). Well I used to just let her stay down and sleep but she would just keep stirring and eventually wake up wet and upset. But one day I tested something new. I gently and quietly got her up to potty and then laid her back down and to my surprise she stayed asleep the entire time! Once she started looking for the boob after I laid her down so I fed her and then back to sleep she went! She had a 3 hour nap which was one of the longest she had ever had! It was awesome! So since doing that she has been napping much better and it hasn't affected her night sleeping. (She still sleeps around 6 hours straight at night!)

She has just gotten so big this month! She just turned 3 months but is about to outgrow her 3 months clothes. So sad! I am not sure how much she weighs because she hasn't been to a doctor. The last time we weighed her on the wii she was 13.8 pounds and that was a few weeks ago right before a growth spurt! She is so much more aware now and she was super aware before! Her face look older and she laughs at things now. She is so curious about what going on around her and she found her voice! Oh boy she loves to talk! But we think she might be shy because she talks almost constantly at home but when we around a lot of people or noise she is pretty quiet and just takes everything in.

 And she is rolling over! It is so much fun, I love it! Here are some pics of her first roll. Enjoy!

And she begins

Lifts her legs

Now to Roll

Bottom is turned.

But my arm is stuck!

Got to get that bag!

SUCCESS!!!

Woo Hoo!

And then she peed from all the belly pressure!

Cost Break Down

So I thought I'd give you all a cost break down of EC (with cloth diapers) vs. Exclusive Cloth Diapering vs. Disposables. Obviously everyone does diapering differently especially in the cloth diapering realm where there are so many different types of diapers. And even with disposables some people buy organic diapers that are probably the most expensive vs. store brand which are probably the cheapest, so keep in mind this is just a general estimate of costs. ( I got these estimates from http://www.diaperdecisions.com/pages/cost_of_cloth_diapers.php)

Disposables:
Average cost of diapers per child up to size 6 training pants costs $2,577.35 not including the cost of wipes, or diaper pail.


Cloth Diapering: (all not including the cost of wipes or diaper pails/wet bags)
Average cost using all sizes of prefolds, diaper covers, and the energy costs from washing $381.00

Average cost using all sizes of fitted diapers, diaper covers, and the energy costs from washing $1264.84

Average cost using all sizes of All-in-one (AIO) diapers and the energy costs from washing $1413.48

Average cost using all sizes of Pocket diapers and the energy costs from washing $1677.66

Average cost using combination of all sizes of prefolds, diaper covers, fitted diapers, AIO's and Pocket diapers and energy costs from washing $1468.74

Elimination Communication (for us):
Prefold package from https://www.sweetbottomsbaby.com/ (given as a gift) $255.00      
Included:

• 36 infant 4x8x4 unbleached OsoCozy prefolds, 12" x 16", up to 15 lbs
• 24 regular 4x6x4 unbleached OsoCozy prefolds, 14" x 21", 12-30 lbs
• 4 size small Bummis Super Brite or Super Whisper Wrap Covers, 8-16 lbs
• 4 size medium Bummis Super Brite or Super Whisper Wrap Covers, 15-30 lbs
• 1 roll OsoCozy Flushable Diaper Liners (which I don't use)

 Baby Bjorn Smart Potty (from Target) $14.99

Disposable wipes: Seventh Generation refill packages $3.99 (using one package a week) X 52 (weeks in a year, which is when I am guessing we won't need them anymore.) = $207.48

Large wet bag $9.99 (from Babies R' Us)

Small Travel size Wet Bag from https://www.sweetbottomsbaby.com/ $9.50

Laundry Mat Washing Costs (We don't have a washer or dryer so our washing costs are more expensive than  most) Average $5 once a week X  78 (a year and a half, I am suspecting that I probably won't be done doing laundry at exactly a year so I am giving a year and half for accidents) = $390.00 (This is an overestimate because we have been line drying a lot lately and don't always go once a week since we catch a lot of pees in the potty and we will gradually catch more and more)

Grand Total: $886.96

Keeping in mind that are laundry bill is pretty expensive at the moment and that I included a lot more into my cost analysis that the prefold diaper costs, Elimination Communication for us is WAY cheaper than just using cloth diapers or disposables. I am not sure if i said this before but the first reason we decided to go ahead and start Potty Training was because we can't afford not to. We needed the most cost effective option. Of course I had always wanted to anyways but the big deciding factor was the cost.

Just for kicks and giggles let's see how much we would have spent using even the cheapest cloth diapering method of prefolds.

Cost of the same prefold package we got as a gift: $255.00
Cost of Large Wet bag: $9.99
Cost of 3 Small Wet bags (Because we would need more without EC): $28.50
Cost of Wipes for up to 3 years using 3 per week (We would use WAY more wipes without EC...are you kidding me! Have you seen the poop smear!): $622.44
Cost of Laundry for 3 years washing 3 times a week due to all potty going in the diapers (the 3 years is the average age American children are potty trained): $2340.00

Total Cost: $3255.93!!! And that is just using prefolds!!!

So doing this price comparison has made me realize that our laundry is stinking expensive!!! I really hope we can move soon to a place with a washer and dryer! Which by the way, Chris just got a new job and it requires him to move to different job sites so we are going to become a gypsy family lol! Yay for getting to experience a bunch of new places!!! Sad for having to be all alone in a strange city with no friends or family. But yay that Chris got a new job!!!

Also I thought I would throw in another picture for you of another poop explosion miss : ( And this was done while sitting in my lap! I was clearly not paying attention to my fussy wiggly baby!!!

The Boob and the Beard...or used to be the Beard!

So my dear Samantha's little personality is starting to show a little more each day. One thing she does that is hilarious but also frustrating to those she does it to is she will occasionally not make eye contact for anything! When she is not in the mood she will avoid your eyes like the plague and will look everywhere except at you! Unless you are the Boob or the Beard as my mom likes to say! The reason is because during her little eye escapism she will usually always look at me or Chris instead of whoever is trying to steal her gaze. I am the Boob and my husband is was the Beard. He shaved his beard this morning...sad day! I would post pictures of the before and after but he did it while I was still in bed!

Anyways, yesterday was day 3 of no poop! Chris and I made a bet for when it would come... and i won! Woo hoo! The prize is a foot massage, YUM! But the even better prize was that we caught it! It was an icky lava poo too that I am sure would have spread everywhere if it was in the diaper! Another reason to be glad it came when it did was intern theater was last night and I really didn't want to either be pottying her or cleaning up a poo explosion during the play! Which by the way it was really funny! If you live near Roseville you should see their next showing at the Rock of Roseville this Friday at 6:30!

As you can see in the pictures I have been pretty daring lately and have been going diaperless at home and occasionally even out of the house. I am not fully ready to ditch the diapers completely but we have been very successful thus far without them. Diapers are like a security net and without them I have to be on  my game or else poop and pee will be everywhere. When she is wearing a diaper and I am doing something, occasionally I will knowingly let her pee in her diaper. It isn't wrong since she understands that the place to go is the potty but when the diaper is off my catch to miss ratio looks way better which means less laundry, less money spent and a way happier baby! (Not to mention, her outfits look and fit way better without a diaper!)

So I was digging in my underwear drawer the other day and found one of my pre-pregnancy bras, oh my goodness! I can't believe how small I used to be!!! It looks like a training bra now and I wasn't that tiny to begin with. Oh breastfeeding! When my milk first came in days after she was born I cried! I couldn't believe how gigantic my boobs were all of a sudden! I felt so unproportional and weird looking and NONE of my bras fit! (Of course now I hate bras and don't wear them) But eventually i got used to the new aliens attached to my chest and now its weird to look back at what I used to be! The amount of bodily changes I have gone through this past year are crazy! I literally feel like I have a completely different body than before and it doesn't just look different, it feels different too. And now that I have a normal we will see how long until it changes again! I am already starting to not fit into the jeans I bought weeks after Sammy was born Ha! All worth it!





Another note I am having a REALLY hard time with baby wearing Sam on my back. And I mean a REALLY hard time. I have been at it now for a little over a week and occasionally I can get her on correctly but not consistently and I don't know what it is that I am doing wrong. I found a baby wearing group on facebook in Sacramento and am hopefully going to get some help because this is one thing I just cannot figure out on my own! I really want to get it right because I want her to be involved in what I am doing and the front wrap just isn't always practical. So Chris has advised me to take a break from trying and try to get some help then try again after a little while which is very good advice! I was getting so very frustrated that it was causing me to not think rationally about which just makes the problem worse. So for now we will stick to the front wraps until I can get some help!