From baby to boy...

It's hard to believe, but in just one week, Kaiden will be 18 months old! Can it really be true? It seems like he's been here forever, yet at the same time, seems like he was just born yesterday. That little jaundiced newborn is new a full fledged toddler, clamoring up the stairs, eating everything in sight, and talking more than I thought one person ever could!

His distinct personality and tastes shine through every day, and each moment he becomes more and more his own being, a little boy no longer reliant on his Mommy for every nourishment and comfort. Heartbreaking and a blessing, all in one.

His language skills have exploded in the past couple months, and now sports a vocabulary of well over 60 words, not to mention the assortment of animal sounds and made up noises! He is (usually) wonderful about communicating his wants, though he's not a very patient boy, and can't stand it when you take"too long" to get something!

Reading books is a favorite with him. It's amazing just HOW much he enjoys them! He has his own bookshelf, and daily he pulls every book down, sorting through them to find just the right one. Then it's over to Mommy or Daddy, with a plea of "book?", at which point commences reading the same book as many as 20 times in a single day. Some of his current favorites include "It's Not Easy Being Big", "Maisy's Big Flap Book", and "Mr. Brown Can Moo".

He loves animals, of course! He is his mother's son, after all! Snuggling, harassing, and kissing "Kitty" (otherwise known as Oliver) are common sports around here, and he LOVES helping feed the rats, getting kissed by them, and being tickled by their whiskers. Oftentimes he'll go over to the cage, and ask "wats?", while giving you the biggest puppy dog eyes he can muster.

He's a very smart boy, if I do say so myself! I'm quite proud to say, we still have a very successful nursing relationship. He's learned manners, and to ask when he wants milk, and when he's finished he'll proudly state "Aw dun!", and pull my shirt back down! haha He loves table food as well, it's absolutely amazing how much food this boy can pack away! I swear, there are days he eats more than I do!

Last but not least, he's already showing some interest in potty learning! It's a bit bittersweet, and the thought of not having any cute cloth diapered bum in the house makes me a bit melancholy. Hopefully he doesn't learn *too* quickly! ;) He was doing amazingly well last week, and had one day where he didn't have a single wet diaper while he was awake! Unfortunately, he's a bit under the weather this week, so the potty has taken a back seat for the moment. I'm sure having those four new molars isn't making him feel cheery either, but hopefully he'll feel better soon and be back to his normal crazy self. In the meantime, there's lots of snuggling and cuddling going on, which is quite a nice change!

Haven't done this in a while...

Time for stash pics again! All the diapers but one are clean, so why not, right? ;) The stash has gotten so much smaller since I last blogged it, about half the size it used to be!

First up are my fitted diapers. The left row and the ABC print diaper are ones I made from my own pattern. The two middle rows (except the striped diaper) are diapers I made from the Fattycakes pattern. The striped diaper is a First Class Baby. The right row is a Pattynaps (cow print) and a Hidden Pearl Creations.


Next up are my AIOs and pockets. On the left are two Dream-Eze AIOs and a medium Robin's Fanny Fluff fleece AIO. The other diapers are all GADs (Green Acre Designs). These are by far my favorite pocket. They are built well, fit great, and the business is run by a wonderful WAHM! What more can you ask for?





We are currently using Pocket Change pockets for our night diapering system, but plan on switching back to fitteds and wool once I get some decent night-worthy diapers sewn up. These are a decent diaper, and fit forever, but aren't a favorite here.







These are our poor, neglected covers. We don't use these ones much anymore since we use wool covers at home, and use pocket diapers when we're out. We keep these on hand for times when the pockets are dirty and we've got to go out but don't want to use wool. There are two Bummis Super Whisper Wraps, and one Bumkins cover.





Last but not least... All our wool! We have two pair of knit longies (blue and camo pairs, knit by me), a pair of recycled longies, two pair of shorts (blue/green pair and orange/brown pair both knit by me), and a camo colored soaker knit by me. Our "night wool" consists of a babyology soaker, babyology longies and an aristocrat soaker.





Not pictured are the prefolds, as well as one of the Pocket Change diapers.

Big News!

Kaiden took his first independent step today!! Hooray!! We've even had a couple repeat performances! Way to go Kaiden! It's hilarious to watch too... He'll take the first step, then lets himself plunge forward into your arms instead of taking a second step. Silly guy! Video will come if he'll stop trying to grab the camera every time he sees it! ;)

In other news... We went up to Greenville again last weekend for the International Seaplane Fly-In. It ROCKED! Kaiden LOVED the planes! We also went out hiking the gorge up by Rip Dam. Beautiful! I *will* eventually get around to uploading and sharing the photos! We saw a bunch of moose while up there, of course! Even got a video of one cow and her calf!

I also got my invite to Ravelry this past week! I love it! Imagine your a knitter, and the internet is ALL knitting. You can find any pattern you need easily, see what other people are making with different yarns, keep track of your stash and projects, see photos of everything, and have message boards and groups where you can find other people with similar interests as you. All in one place! Did I mention I LOVE it?! If you're a knitter and haven't signed up yet, what are you waiting for? I will warn you though, it's addicting!



----------------
Listening to: Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline
via FoxyTunes

See Kaiden! See Kaiden Crawl!

I mentioned in my last blog that Kaiden had started crawling. In just a few short days, he has completely mastered it! He's now getting into EVERYTHING, and just today got himself stuck under the couch. Time to get a baby gate before he figures out those stairs!


May 2nd, his first attempts at crawling!


Yesterday, he's mastered it!