It's been over a week now

We've been using the gDiapers for over a week now. We both really like them. They're very cute and easy to use. Though, I wish I had more liners because right now, I only have about enough for 2 days. Twenty-four gCloth inserts turned out to be more than enough, though I'd rather have too many than not enough. I'm thinking of buying more covers just to have more girly ones. The six from the starter pack plus the two pink ones I ordered are enough for 2-3 days, I just want more for summer, when she's going to want to crawl around in only her cute little diaper...that is, if she is crawling.

My sister's birthday is coming up this weekend. After the Christmas incident (when I spent several hundreds of dollars on her and her son then she scrambled to get a couple things the day AFTER Christmas), I swore I wouldn't get her anything for the holidays since I didn't get so much as a thank you at Christmas. But, once again, I'm planning to give her something nice. I have a netbook that I'm not using so I plan to give it to her. My father and I are going to split the cost of a memory card reader so she can upload her pictures too. We're also getting her a cake. Seeing as how the laptop cost me $300 originally, I think it's an over generous gift. However, with the memory card reader, I'll be able to see more pictures of my nephew and that's really why I'm giving it to her. The last time I saw my nephew, I barely recognized him. He's lost so much of his baby fat and has grown so tall. I don't want to miss more of his life if I can help it.

Now, I'm going to check the netbook to see if it's charged and cleared and ready to go to it's new owner.

I had meant to write about the gDiapers again today, since I washed them for the first time. In the past 2 days we used 10 gCloth inserts (one prefold the "first" night), 8 snap-in liners and 7 covers. Granted, I think I put aside the covers too soon with the first few dirty diapers. But that's not what I came to write about really.

B laughed today. Not just grunting. Not just one laugh then stopping because she got the hiccups. She laughed and she laughed and she laughed. It was the best thing in the world to hear my daughter laugh, really laugh. Last weekend, I was talking to my friend about her version of laughing. She told me about her youngest daughter. Since the day she was born, whenever she laughs, she gets the hiccups. Every time she laughs, really laughs, she gets the hiccups. Silly first time mom here, I was a little worried. I admit, I was starting to think that maybe something was wrong with her (maybe her lungs/diaphragm/stomach) and the newborn screen test was going to come back positive. I planned to talk to her doctor at our 6 month appointment. And I still plan to talk to him about it but know, I'm not as worried. I know there is at least one other child who hiccups as soon as she laughs. And I now know that B can laugh without the hiccups.

Oh, that laugh was the sweetest thing I have ever heard. She's learned how to...blow raspberries(?) with her tongue and lips. It was cute, so I started to do it back. She laughed. I did it again, she laughed again. After she started to get a little bored with it, I said "Boo!". She laughed again. I switched between "boo" and raspberries.She loved it! So many laughs. Then I tickled her. And she laughed and laughed and laughed. To a mother who has never heard more than a "ha" from her 6 month old daughter, a laugh is such a beautiful thing. I wish I had someone here, to get it on video. I want to hear that laugh for the rest of my life. I know one day, that laugh will change so I want it. And I want to show her, how she laughed, how adorable she was when she laughed.

She's laying next to me, in bed, right now. Every time I try to scoot away a bit, so I don't disturb her sleep, she scoots towards me. It's sweet. I'm running out of room on the bed but it's still sweet. So, now, I'm going to scoot towards her and cuddle the heck out of her while I still can. Six months flew by, I don't want to lose a moment of the next six.

gDiapers, day two (ish)

I received our gDiapers yesterday. After washing the covers and inserts once (all they said they needed), I used a prefold to try them out while the gCloths were still washing (6 washes!). It worked out well though I had to fiddle with how I folded it. Of course, that was when B decided she was gonna start pooping more often. So far, I have changed almost twice as many poopy diapers than just wet. Since she's still mostly nursing and only gets a jar of baby food with oatmeal twice a day, her poop is still pretty liquid. It doesn't slide off but it doesn't fall off well either. I've found the swish stick they sent for the disposables (though I didn't order any) works well for getting the excess off the insert. Haven't had a blow out and I think that's a good sign. Normally, with Pampers and Huggies, she would have had most of that mess on her onesie. The gDiaper holds it in well. It's gotten to about the edge of the liner but doesn't even get on the gPants! So far, I think we like cloth diapers. Though, I have to say, I will be happy once we're done with green beans. She's never smelled so bad!

On a less gross note, today B is 6 months. This amazes me. It does not seem like 6 months has gone by already. I can still remember curling up with her in the hospital bed, cuddling but too afraid to sleep. I had to know she was breathing, I wanted to know she was alright. I needed her to know she was safe cause Mama was holding her, all through the night. And now, 6 months later, I still hold her, all through the night. For a while, she did sleep on her own in a co-sleeper. She outgrew it about a month ago, around the time she started having bad gas. Since then, she likes to cuddle while sleeping and I'm alright with that. I miss tummy sleeping but at least this way I don't wake up every hour and check that she's breathing; I can feel her breathe against my chest. Of course, I do take the necessary precautions. One pillow, blanket never goes above my waist, hair pulled up. Once I realized this was how we were going to sleep, I researched safe co-sleeping habits; I didn't want to pose a risk when co-sleeping is supposed to be the safest way for a baby to sleep. The risk of SIDS is much lower in co-sleeping babies, breastfeeding is more successful, the bond just seems greater. I love having my daughter next to me while I sleep so I made it safe.

To be profound

I feel as though I should be profound, this is, after all, my first post. The trouble is, I've always found it hard to be profound. A few years ago, I learned a game called Profound or Profane. As you can guess, you needed to either deliver a toast with meaning or cussing. Try as I might, my profound toasts never were very good. Profanity was much easier.

As a new mother, I've learned many things about myself. For one, I don't like cussing. I don't like swear words. Simple as that. I find them tactless. I wasn't raised around that sort of language yet, for many years, I spoke it. The F word was thrown around quite a bit with my sister, as was the B word. It seemed to have become a sport to see who could use the most curse words. Looking back now, I am ashamed of my actions and my words. That is why I don't want people to cuss around my daughter. I want her to have a colorful vocabulary but not a vulgarer one. I have changed myself to be the type of person I want my daughter to be. Lead by example, as they say.

My profound statement is this: I want to be the person my father wants me to be and one day, I hope my daughter will be the person I hope she will be come.