Cloth Diapers - what am I missing?

It seems that everyone is talking about cloth diapers these days.  And when they talk, they are speaking a foreign language.  Bum Genius, FuzziBunz, G Diapers, Bummis and on and on.  There are soakers and scrubbers and it all seems so complicated.

I get the appeal.  They are eco friendly and safe on your baby's skin {especially after all of the Pamper's Dry Max scandal}.  But then there is the gross part.  Cleaning poop.  Rolling up the poopy disposable diaper and running it to the nearest trash bag is enough for me.  But to scrub?  No thanks.

It's also an investment.  Which wouldn't have been an issue 3.5 years ago but this late in the game doesn't seem worth it.

So cloth diapering mamas, what am I missing?  Is there a sense of accomplishment like you get when making baby purees?  There has to be something that makes scrubbing poop appealing!

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe...

We moved to our home in the suburbs from a two bedroom, one bath city condo.  Our three bedroom, three bathroom house was HUGE to us.  Double the square footage huge.  We even had a guest room.

Now?  Well, now all of our rooms are taken.  And Ryan's twin has two kids now.  They are coming for a visit for the first time since our nephew was born and I have to say, I was feeling at little bit like the old woman ling in a shoe at first. 

Here's what we've got:

Image Credit

• a 3.5 year old who sleeps in a bed
• a 2.5 year old who sleeps in a crib
• a 13 month old who sleeps in a crib
• a 4 month old who sleeps in a crib
• 2 thirty year old couples who will sleep just about anywhere

and

• one master bedroom with a queen
• a nursery with a crib
• a big girl room with a double bed
• an air mattress in a playroom
• a pack n play
• a co sleeper/bassinet

The first time we were traveling to a hotel, a friend gave me a piece of advice:  turn that bathroom into a bedroom.  Brilliant.  Ever since that first trip, we have put the pack n play in the bathroom while traveling and poof! the parents no longer have to sit in the dark with the tv on mute once the sun goes down.

So that is some puzzle I presented above, right?  Here's our solution:

Brother and Sister In Law will sleep in the master bedroom with the four month old baby in the bassinet in the room.  2.5 year old niece will sleep in the pack n play in the {large} attached bathroom.  Madeline will sleep in her crib, Ellie will sleep in her bed, Ryan and I will be on the air mattress in the play room.

Once there are less cribs involved and sleeping bags come into play, this will be much more simple.  Until then we're shacking up like the old woman who lived in a shoe on visits.  And that's fine with us.  There were mutters of staying in a hotel but that would spoil the fun.  {and the late night wine drinking ;)  }

How did we do?  What would your sleep solution be?  They don't arrive until Friday so I'm open to suggestions!

What we already knew.

We met with our Early Intervention case coordinator.  She gave us the huge packet that contained all of the information about our Madeline Claire.  The good and the bad. 

None of it was a surprise because the occupational and physical therapists that did the evaluation were excellent at communicating every little detail to us.  So we knew what to expect.



Our "Sneak Peek" from this weekend's photo shoot.



And yet, when you are sitting across the table from a virtual stranger and everything is in front of you in black and white, well I don't think it is something you can be prepared for. 

It took a minute to realize what the numbers meant.  The standard deviations and numerical values that score the areas - social, adaptive, cognitive, gross and fine motor skills - were all a little jumbled until the case coordinator began explaining the data. 

The good news is that Madeline is a smarty pants. But we already knew that.  The bad news is she has a gross motor delay.  We knew that, too.

According to the official Early Intervention report, Madeline's gross motor delay qualifies for one hour of physical therapy a week. She is automatically enrolled in the Early Intervention program for a year but we will reevaluate in six months.

There was talk of goals and objectives.  I kept reiterating the point that we weren't worried that Madeline wasn't walking at one.  And our goal isn't for her to walk.  Our goal is to make sure she walks well, without a limp or any abnormality.  Our goal is for her to run.  To jump, skip, hop and play just like everyone else her age.

We've known that Madeline is a smarty pants.  When she couldn't crawl she invented her own way of scooting to get around.  You can't underestimate our baby.  You can't count her out.  And while seeing everything we already knew in black and white made it official, I'm thrilled that she will get the extra help she needs to catch up.  I know she will achieve the goals we have set before her.