A whole lot of updates.

I seem to spend most of my time outside these days, which can't be bad. We are loving our new deck, with baby gate. Diego is loving his sand box and running around outside. The nice thing about our schedule is that we get back around 3:30 and have time for some good outside time before the dinner, bath, bed routine.

A couple of weeks ago my mom and rest of family headed off to my Aunt's surprise birthday party. Here is a picture of them having fun.

We stayed home sick which led to lots of cuddling on the couch and watching TV.

 He got over diarrhea, went back to school for a couple of days and then was down again with a bad cough. This time he took me with him. I managed to keep standing long enough to sing in in "Afternoon at the Opera" with the Kingston Symphony, which my mother came to.She stayed over for a visit and then went home the next day.

We were all home sick on Tuesday, lots more cuddling and watching movies. I did manage to get the baby seat on the bike installed amongst all that sickness. We tried it out today, with the new aviator pigs helmet. A big hit!!

Cloth Diapers

Why I am glad I have used cloth diapers.

1. It turns a necessary evil into a thing of beauty. My new favorite, made by me, cloth diapers are made with fun colors and patterns and soft, bright fabrics. I proudly display them on my clothes line.
2. I get to walk by the baby isle in the grocery store which, besides making me feel very righteous and  saving me money also keeps me from making all kinds of other spontaneous baby purchases because I just never see all the crap they try and sell you for kids.
3. When my son, the environmental engineer/archeologist/recycler/miner is given the job of  digging out a garbage dump for it's great natural resources I can show him these pictures and assuage some of his guilt, and mine.
4. Some of the diapers that we used with Diego had been through 2 babies by the time they came to us, they are on to numbers 3 and 4 and then will come back to us. That's right, count them, 5 babies and still going strong.
5. Our household waste has not increased with a child. Every time I wash diapers (every three days or so) I am amazed by the size of the pile, and am so glad that I am not throwing out that much extra garbage.
6. Babies that use cloth diapers have less rashes, certainly our experience. Babies that use cloth diapers tend to potty train faster, our hope.
7. Because I get to cheat in other ways and not feel at all guilty. See Jenn's post on long, hot, showers.

A Whole lot of Things

Bare with me because I have a whole lot of random things to catch you up on. Diego is asleep early and I am blogging and drinking a nice glass of wine.

First story: about a month ago I was cleaning out my diaper making basket and with the help of a rotary cutter discovered these...

Which, this weekend thanks to Diego being sick and sleeping a lot turned into this...

I tried Jenn's technique with the interfacing which simplified some things and complicated others. One of the problems was that the fleece that I used didn't stick except with nice, direct contact from the iron which tended to also melt the fleece. I think I will go back to good old piecing, but I find I am often a purist like that.

I remember once Kendra saying that a sick baby isn't such a bad thing (besides the added laundry) because you get lots of extra cuddles. That was us this weekend, cuddle central. Diego was home today because the daycare asks you to wait 48 hours after your last 'explosion' to come back and D's was yesterday morning. He'll probably be back in the thick of it tomorrow. In the mean time, he and Dad has a nice day together.

We've been having all kinds of fun in the sun and with our new deck. Last week Melanie and Landen came to visit.

We've been in the hammock....

and Diego has been enjoying his rocking horse, which was a gift from a co-worker at Loyalist Township.

This weekend Diego ventured out on his own into the back yard. After making sure he was safely down the stairs and the sandbox was open Rafa came back into the kitchen. From our patio door and thanks to the lower railing on the new deck we were able to see him as he wandered around, playing in the sand, talking to the neighbor's dog and generally exploring. One of the few times he thought to look up to see if we were around I waved, he blithely waved back and continued playing.

I wonder when our baby was switched with this little boy. A question I am sure I will continue to ask myself.

Easter Weekend - so far.

Well, we couldn't have asked for a better one could we? Our weekend started with a deck renovation.

With a baby gate for hours of semi-supervised fun.

Today we went to a community egg hunt - which Diego was sceptical about at the beginning.

 The idea grew on him as he figured out what the whole thing was about. 60 kids and 700 eggs and 3 city blocks of field. Perfect really.

Now, lots of relaxing and enjoying our new deck. I might get up the energy to build a play house on Monday with left over materials. ...Keep posted for that fantasticness.

Talking

It's amazing what you can say with small syllables. What follows is a new list of new vocabulary in bold - in English and Spanish with attached translation - and sign. This is our world.

Bye Bye - in English, with wave.
Mama - the same in both languages, handy. Refers to mom and dad interchangably.
Papa - usually only when reminded, definitely refers to Rafa
Da! - this is both of us when mad, upset, hungry, tired, etc.
Pa pa - with sign, to distinguish from papa, Pajaro=Bird
ato - Zapato = shoe
eta - Galleta = cracker
New sign: fish thanks to Brown Bear Brown Bear. We also get a pretty reliable growl for just about all animals and a bit of akaka for monkeys.

As I said, it's amazing what conversations you can have with such small, simple syllables. Little man - you are so smart. Just for the record.