Taking Cloth Diapering on the Road

In less than a month, we leave on our trip to Orlando - to 5 days and 4 nights at the Disney Dolphin Resort. Despite my reservations about plane travel with a toddler whose favorite word is "NOooooo!" I am looking forward to the change of scenery and the little getaway. Disney is my happy place!

Being the compulsive planner that I am, I've been keeping lists of things to pick up, items that need to be addressed, and just general travel-related to-dos. Initially, I put disposable diapers on my list. And they sat there on the paper for awhile, looking at me. Weeks went by and I didn't purchase any. And then I realized, I didn't want to buy disposables, I wanted to travel with cloth. Do you think I'm crazy? Hear me out.

I've been nothing but satisfied since switching to cloth diapers almost a year ago. I feel totally liberated, not having to purchase and throw away 'sposies every month, so I figured there was no reason I had to do so on vacation. Enter the hybrid diaper system. These diapers are composed of an outer cover into which you place a disposable insert that can be flushed or tossed. Then you just stick a new insert in, provided the shell isn't soiled. These are perfect for me, since I already own a bunch of the outer shells (up to now I've only used them over our fitted diapers). And? The disposable inserts are cheaper than disposable diapers, as well as easier to pack - score! Any covers that get dirty during the day can simply be rinsed out and hung to dry in the hotel room. I did have to purchase a few odds and ends to make traveling in cloth go as well as possible, but at least my purchases will hold their value and I can continue using them until Sweets' potty trains.

I currently have 7 diaper covers in my arsenal.

Left to Right: Weehuggers (Whales and Owls), Blueberry (Lemon Lime and Messy Hands), Flip (top, in Sweet), Thirsties (bottom, Blackbird), and GroVia (Planes)

Today, the UPS man brought me 2 packages of Flip Disposable inserts, 1 additional Flip cover (the color is called Mirror and I love it), and 1 package of six Osocozy birdseye flats. 

Another cloth diapering mama somewhere on the internet recommended the flats in addition to the inserts, and I never would have thought of it myself. Flats are a very thin, gauzy, but rather large piece of fabric that you can fold a bunch of different ways and put in a cover. Their advantage is that they are 100% cotton (super absorbant and breathable - a winning combo), and you can wash them and hang them to dry in no time. They'll be handy to have around both on the trip and when we get back! Can't wait to try all these goodies out and report back!

You're killin' me, Smalls

Toddlerhood is so many things - amazing, wonderful, messy, frustrating, exhausting, exhilerating...but it's nothing if not hysterical. Tonight Sweets grabbed Hubs' empty water bottle, put Hubs' boots on and announced, "I'm goin' to work!" These are the last two things Hubs does before leaving the house in the morning, and it is mind-boggling to me just how much Sweets notices and absorbs without any prompting from us. Now for the sake of confidentiality, let's say that Hubs works for a company called XYZ. When we responded to his announcement with, "You are??? Where do you work?" Sweets proudly chirped "At XYZ!" OMG. He slays me.

All ready to punch in.

On his way to the break room.

After work he throws back a cold one.

What's So Funny?

The other night at dinner, Sweets had a little cough that turned into a little gag that became quite a loud burp, the sound of which lead both of us to believe that his dinner was about to come flying up and out (gross but true). Thankfully that didn't happen, but the way we both jumped and scrambled to deal with what we thought was the impending vomit had Sweets thinking he was the funniest thing ever. He kept trying for a repeat performance using the old fake cough trick, and when that failed to get a rise out of us, he pulled out every other trick in the book and the winner was his hilarious repetition of us asking him "what's so funny?" I have NO idea where he got this level of goofiness but every time I watch this, I die laughing. Just a little preface: the first thing you'll hear him say (in case you don't speak toddler) is "ice cream and crackers," which is what he calls ice cream sandwiches. I am never going to correct him because I think it's the cutest thing ever. He can call them that until he goes to college, as far as I'm concerned!

Not So Much with the Animals

For my birthday today (31, OMG I'm old), I requested a trip to the zoo. The stage was set for a perfect outing - perfect weather? Check. Me, Hubs, and my parents all available? Check. Sunscreen and snacks? Check. Now, I'm not going to tell you the outing wasn't perfect, because it essentially was. We had a great time. Except...Sweets and the animals? Well, it went something like this:

"Sweetie, look! Look at the elephant!"
"All done!"
"But, look at him eating his hay!"
"Bye bye elephant!"
"Do you want to see the tiger?"
"No!"

Slightly less climactic than the scene that played out in my head (that scene involved us leaving the zoo and Sweets chattering on about lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Perhaps clutching a stuffed lemur we had purchased at the gift shop). As far as we could tell, his favorite parts of the zoo experience were twofold:

1. Eating snacks in his stroller.
2. Seeing the John Deere gator that the employees tool around in.

Nevertheless, we did manage to capture some memories on camera!

This playing of the wooden alligator drum lasted all of 30 seconds before the John Deere gator drove by and that was the end of that.

I make a convincing butterfly, no?

Lazy lions.

I love elephants so much. Seeing this one getting a cool bath was the highlight of the trip for me. I could not for the life of me convince my son of the same!

We snapped a photo in front of this safari background because if we got too close to any actual living, breathing animals there was lots of protesting on Sweets' part ;)

He did seem to like the tortoises. And no, I didn't let him run around at the zoo barefoot. There was an attempt to get him to play in the little water area for kids that didn't go over well.

With PaPa and GaGa.

Later in the afternoon we Facetimed with my brother and sister-in-law and when asked what animals he saw at the zoo, Sweets told them "froggies, turtles and snakes." Is he a boy or what?! I love it!

Such is toddlerhood

Sweets: "Milk? Milk please?"
Mommy: "Here's your milk cup, sweetie pie."
Sweets: "No! No milk!"
Mommy puts the offending milk cup on the counter.
Sweets: "Milk?"
Mommy: "You would like your milk back?"
Sweets: "No!"
Mommy: "Ok."
Sweets: "More milk?"
Mommy offers cup.
Sweets: "No milk!"
Mommy puts the cup out of reach and sight in the hopes of netting herself 10 minutes to prepare dinner.
Sweets (insert incessant whining here): "Milllllllllk! More millllllllllllk! More millllllllllllllllllllllllk!"
Mommy: "Sweetheart, what would you like? Mommy is confused. Do you want your milk or not?"
Sweets: "Diapy?"
Mommy: "You need a diaper?"
Sweets: "No!"
Mommy: "Then what would you like?"
Sweets: "No!"

Ok, then.

Long time, no type

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind of work craziness, spring cleaning, planting, parties (we have entered party season, after all!), dear friends, sweet family, and personal introspection. CRA.zy. The blog definitely took a neccessary backseat for awhile there. But I'm coming up for air! I hope to get back on a regular schedule, but the month of June may be a little light as I wrap up at school and get my kiddos situated for the end of the year. And then...hello, sweet summer! My favorite time of year. Sunshine and long lazy days, cicadas singing and fireflies glowing, BBQs and swimming pools and afternoon naps. Two glorious months of time with my little man!

Speaking of the little man, we are having some sleep woes that I can't explain. If you can, please chime in! For the last year or so, he's been fantastic at putting himself to sleep at night. We read stories, sing a song, have some snuggles in the rocking chair, then he goes in his crib, and up until now, he would turn on his crib soother, curl up and go to sleep. The last week or so, bedtime has been kind of a disaster. He wants "more snuggles, more, snuggles, MORE SNUGGLES!" and the minute you try and leave his room, he falls apart. We do rub his back in his crib briefly to help him settle in for the night, but the second we stop, his head pops up and he demands more, at which point we say love you, night night, and leave. I hope I don't sound cold, but I really, really do not want to create a bad habit here. If we were to stay in there rubbing his back until he's sound asleep every night, that screams "bad sleep habit" to me. After we leave the room, he cries for anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes before falling asleep. Is this just something he has to work through? A passing phase? I'm thinking of going back to our sleep training method of "checking in" at set intervals just to reassure him that we're there without touching or picking him up. What would you/have you done?