Letters from Pemberley

Tommy has RSV, according to the doctor this morning.  We are so tired of being sick. 

(UPDATE:  Tommy did NOT have RSV.  Thanks a lot, crazy doctor, for nearly giving me a heart attack!  I can’t wait to get a new, COMPETANT, pediatrician in Chicago.)

I can pretty much determine if it’s a good day or not by how many compliments I get on Tommy while out and about in the morning.  If no one, even the cashiers, notices how cute he is or how he’s flirting with them, it’s pretty much going to be a downer of  a day.  If I’m in the produce aisle and a cute little old lady with a British accent tells me, “Your son is lovely–simply lovely.  Is he always this sweet?” then I know we’re going to have a pretty good afternoon.  I always enjoy shopping at our local Aldi, because all the girls there love Tommy.  One of them always says how he looks like her nephew.  Another always says she loves the name Tommy.  The darkhaired one always lets him play with the EBT/Debit machine while she rings up our groceries.  Tommy loves them all and flirts indiscriminately.  If I go to Trader Joe’s, the effeminate guy who does the samples in the back will usually compliment us.  One time I went in there with Tommy wearing a bright orange romper, and he said, “She’s beautiful.”  Taking the way his gate swings into the equation, I think it was still a compliment.  But I’ve made sure to put Tommy in ultra-boy gear every time since. 

I recently went into baby Gap and Gymboree to search the sale racks for a shower gift.  At both stores, the clerks flirted outrageously with Tommy and told me he’s just the cutest boy they’ve ever seen.  Do they train their clerks to do this at upscale baby stores?  The next day, when Tommy and I were having a rough morning, I seriously considered going back to baby Gap just to have someone tell me my child was charming (and to see if those cute polo shirts had gone on sale yet). 

Today we went to the art museum with my mom to see a special quilting exhibit.  Tommy wasn’t too keen on the quilts, but he did put on quite a show for the docents and the little old ladies.  He acts like he doesn’t understand, “No, Tommy!  Do NOT take that banana peel out of the trash can!” but he certainly understands, “Is he ALWAYS this good?”  He does the whole cock the head on one side and batt the eyelashes routine and convinces everyone except his mother that he is a perfect little angel.  He also loves making any woman over the age of 14 play “peekaboo” with him.  I’m not sure this is good for his ego.  He already kisses his reflection in the mirror, so he’s on the way to becoming a narcissist.

So reader poll:  Should I keep choosing the lanes with the nice cashiers to tell me that my child is wonderful (and unfortunately puff up his ego in the process), or should I give up the bright spot of my day and go in teenage male cashier lanes in order to keep Tommy from being too conceited?  As for me being too conceited, I know those tantrum-in-the-middle-of-the-public-library days are just around the corner, so I’m not too worried about needing to keep myself humble. 

Well, Derek is still sick (though no longer delirious), so Tommy and I have been taking lots of adventures out of the house.  Today we decided to check out the Cotton Babies store in town!  It was AMAZING.  I knew I liked them the moment we walked in the door–they were playing Christian music (the good kind, not the annoying Christian muzak that you hear at Hobby Lobby), and they were so friendly and helpful.  Tommy loved the little toy area for kids, and I looked and looked and looked.  I started cloth diapering with very little knowledge of what is out there–I had just seen Kathy’s Fuzzi Bunz and loved them.  This store had a little of everything I was interested in!  Tons of Mommy stuff and breastfeeding resources, hundreds of Bum Geniuses (of course!), a great selection of other quality diapers (fitted diapers, diaper covers, inserts, doublers, and prefolds), the Bumkins wraps that we use when we’re out of pocket diapers, and even the amazing Bumkins sleeved bibs! 

 After drinking in the general splendor, I got down to the gently used bins in the corner.  I know it sounds gross to buy a used cloth diaper, but the makers of Bum Genius have an offer where you can buy a diaper and use it, and if you’re not satisfied, they’ll give you a complete refund.  I think these were the returned ones.  They were perfectly clean and had no defects, but they were half the price of a brand new one!  Tommy and I picked out five.  I wondered if I should buy some used inserts to stuff into the diapers, but I recollected that I had 11 Fuzzi Bunz inserts at home.  I asked the girls at the desk if I could use medium FB inserts with all sizes of BGs, and they said, “of course!”  I think I was more impressed by that than anything else.  They could have told me that I needed to buy their product to do it “right,” but instead, they understand that many moms cloth diaper for financial reasons and don’t want to buy extra supplies that they won’t use.  I love this store!  (Can you tell?)

 In the end, I decided to pick up the five excellent used diapers, another bib, another Bumkins wrap since they had the Green Eggs and Ham print that my usual store, Nicki’s Diapers, doesn’t carry, and some wipe solution.  (Of course we use cloth wipes instead of the flimsy disposable ones–they just go in the diaper pail with the diapers.)  I wanted to buy a lot more stuff, but I knew that Derek wanted to spend most of our economic stimulus package check on a new digital camera, not diapering supplies.  There’s always next time!

Tommy enjoys his new diapers


Tommy shows off his teeth (the top right one FINALLY poked through today, though you can’t see it)

Doesn’t this Dr Seuss diaper cover look so much cuter than a disposable?

Well, after 11 months of use, I’m retiring Tommy’s medium sized Fuzzi Bunz after this load of diapers. He has a lot of grow room width-wise, but his torso is getting long enough that they’re starting to leak out the top. (Note how much of his belly you can see in this picture from yesterday.) A few days of three or four outfits a day has made me face the facts.

It’s sad, really. I have been a firm Fuzzi Bunz fan ever since my friend Kathy and I discovered a common intention to cloth diaper our babies. I was vaguely thinking of the prefolds, diaper pins, and rubber pants of my childhood, but Kathy (6 months ahead of me with this baby thing) did the research and discovered the amazing new breakthrough of cloth diapers: Fuzzi Bunz! At $17 apiece, they seemed prohibitively expensive to our law school budgets, but friends and family came through to help. Through the generosity of my family, we started cloth diapering with 18 prefolds and two Bumkins wrap covers, rubber pants (only ever used as a last resort), and 11 beautiful size medium Fuzzi Bunz. According to the manufacturer’s website, they have been known to fit kids from 6-30 months. Tommy started them at two and a half months, and we have basically never had complaints. Their innovative waterproof cover and fleece lining to wick away moisture into the microfiber insert worked great! At one year, he was going strong in the original 11, plus a couple more one-size-fits-alls of other brands that I’d picked up along the way. I was so pleased!

Besides the fact that his diapers are adorable and can even match his outfits (I always used his orange one when he had Detroit Tigers gear on), they have saved us SO much money. Only having to buy disposables for trips, church nursery, and–lately–overnight, we can afford to treat ourselves to the top of the line: Pampers Cruisers. Over the months, I tested every other kind of diaper possible at Walmart, Target, and Walgreens, and the Cruisers were clearly the best. If I’d disposable diped him with those, we’d be out thousands by now. Even assuming that I’d bought the ineffective cheapo brands, I figure we’re several hundred dollars ahead. And we didn’t fill up landfills. And we have the Fuzzis for the next baby!

After nearly a year of constant use, our Fuzzi Bunz do show wear. Despite being air dryed, the elastic is giving out, and the soft white fleece is a little dingy. After I redo the elastic, I’ll pack them away until a sunny spring day when I’ll sun bleach them before packing them away for the next baby.

This post is not all sad news, however, because we have new diapers to take up the mantle. I’ve experimented with three kinds of one-size-fits-all pocket diapers, and Derek and I agree that the Bum Genius and Haute Pockets are quality work! Note how much more of Tommy’s tummy is covered in this brand new BG. When we have another baby, we can snap these down to make them smaller. We currently own two BGs, two HPs, and another less cool one-size diaper. We’ll alternate those with his good ol’ prefolds with Bumkins wrap until I get a chance to visit the Bum Genius store here in St Louis! I’ve discovered that the folks who make BGs donate diapers to missionaries working to share the gospel with unreached people groups. How cool is that?! Bum Genius has won my loyalty by their quality worksmanship and great Christian values. I’ll be buying them from here on out. They’re even better value than the Fuzzis because you can literally use them from birth to potty training.

So while I’m sad to see the Fuzzi Bunz go, I’m excited about the next stage of cloth diapering.