The Booby Trap

 

My dear friend Trisha from Intoxicated on Life is preparing to do a fantastic series on breastfeeding!  Guess what, I get to guest post on her blog.  Check out the preview and keep your eyes open for some excellent posts from an incredible group of bloggers! 

Trisha and Luke, writers on Intoxicated on Life

The Problem Fingers

 

My sweet finger sucker is 14 months old now.  I love how easily this precious boy lulls himself to sleep when he is tired.  I love that he lets me know he needs to rest.  Upon being set into his crib with his blanket, he clenches is in the right hand gently rubbing his face.  The first two fingers of his left hand slip into his mouth.  He is asleep in just moments.

I have never had a finger sucker before.  Manasseh was always bad at soothing himself.  Cassius loved to be swaddled until he was 10 months old, and a pacifier helped to soothe him to sleep more quickly.  It was easy to break him of the pacifier.  I simply took it away.  I stopped giving it to him.  He learned to go to sleep without it.

The problem?  I can not take the fingers away.  I've heard that protective services frown on that anyhow.  I know that they used to make yucky tasting nail paints that people used to help with finger sucking.  I'm not sure it is my favorite idea.  I do not want to just make him stop.  I want to help him find a better way to soothe himself when he is tired.  I have no idea what to do.

Please, share advice in the comment box below!  Tell me a story about helping your young one stop finger sucking.  Who was it hardest for, you or your child?  What crazy things did other people tell you?  What actually worked.  What soothing techniques do you use with your toddler at bed time that help eliminate the fingers?

Changing Diapers Book: Review & Diaper Giveaway

I really wish this book had been written (and I had known about it) 3.5 years ago, when Monkey was an infant.  I wanted to cloth diaper so badly, but had no idea what my options were.  I didn't know how to get the best use out of the diapers I had, and I did not know how to care for cloth!

The result?  Frustration.  My diapers leaked and I did not like them very well.  I ended up ditching cloth very quickly and settling for disposable diapers.  

Changing Diapers is a fantastic resource for families who are interested in using cloth.  Kelly Wels takes the reader by the hand and walks step by step through a wide world of information!  She helps with understanding types of diapers, caring for cloth, figuring out what you prefer, where to find more information, how to use cloth diapers effectively, and so much more in her nicely illustrated book.

Baby #3 in his first cloth diaper

Who is this book for?  Well, I loved it.  I think the people who will benefit from it the most are those who are struggling with using cloth diapers, are just getting started, or are really just starting to consider diapering options.  This book would be an excellent gift for congratulating a family who has just discovered they are pregnant, or a baby shower... or a new baby gift.

Seriously.. it's that good.  I read my copy and have enjoyed some refreshers and some new information.  I plan to pass it on to my sister in law who is considering cloth.  (I hope she reads it and feels encouraged... I also hope she uses cloth.)

Kelly Wels wants to give one of my readers a cloth diaper!  Yep, for real!  (She would also love it if you took some time to check out her book).  The book is $17.95 - less than a package of disposable diapers!  Any book that saves me money and frustration is definitely worth it!  Don't forget to visit the Changing Diapers webpage.

Seeds

Seeds Seeds everywhere.  Oh, and seed catalogs too.

A tiny pepper plant, grown from seed.  It didn't make it.

If you don't know, my husband loves seeds.  Last year we must have collected at least 100 seed packets for our garden.  Note I didn't say we bought them all, we found lots of free ones, and bought a few.  We also rented a 20x40 foot garden plot from the city parks department.  A great deal at $8 for the year, we made fantastic plans for our garden.  We took care to plant and water and weed it.  Then we got busy with moving all of our things from one house to another and well, the garden was across town.  It was not entirely prosperous.  In fact, the only thing we actually harvested was onions, and not $8 worth.  We did have a lot of fun when we were in our garden space though.

Monkey "helping" in the garden.

We (I) decided that we would not rent the garden space again this year.  Though our yard is fairly small, I think we will do much better at gardening if we do not have to drive 15 minutes to get to our plot.  Did I mention that we had to take our own water with us, there is no water source at the community garden.  So from our house we can carry water all the way to the yard, that is a much shorter walk.  We've already decided just exactly where our 2 small garden plots will be, and what we'll put in pots on the front stoop.  Now, how do we ensure a successful garden?

Daddy Crum planting something

I have no idea.  We did a great job growing about 100 onions 2 years ago, and some radishes in another garden the same year.  This year our list is big.  We want onions, garlic, peppers, peppers, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, spinach, watermelon, pumpkins... and some herbs. 

What are you growing this year?  Do you have any suggestions about how to grow a healthy, vibrant garden?  We're not good at this yet, but we want to succeed so badly!