By Heidi on August 30, 2010
Eden has been really interested in letters and words lately. She loves to ask what letter words start with and how to spell things. She loves puzzles and building things with her tinker toys now (and is not obsessed with babies as much anymore at all). She gets very excited about camping and biking and visiting friends.
Harper is getting into everything. He can crawl very quickly now, pull to a stand, climb stairs, open cupboards and drawers etc. He’s a busy little guy. He also likes to laugh when we say “no” and crawl faster if he’s going somewhere he’s not supposed to go (ex. to the plant to pull off leaves). He’s waving, signing a few words, and ‘talking’ in a conversational way. I just love watching him explore and develop.
The best thing recently about these two is that they are starting to play together which is so cute. Most of the time it ends in Harper pulling hair or grabbing at a toy Eden has and Eden escaping to the couch or bed.
Posted in Random |
By Heidi on June 11, 2010
If I were to drape myself completely in one fabric, it wouldn’t be velvet like George Costanza; I would choose merino wool. Smartwool socks in my stocking for Christmas (thanks mom and dad!) a few years ago were my introduction to merino wool and I’ve been in love with merino wool ever since. So when Anj at Re-diaper gave me a pair of Little Beetle merino wool nursing pads to try out, I enthusiastically volunteered.
Wool – isn’t that supposed to be itchy and difficult to wash? Not with merino wool. Traditional wool has a much thicker fibre which causes the itchiness. Merino wool has a fine fibre – no itch. It is probably the most environmentally responsible fabric – it’s equivalent to borrowing a natural resource instead of exploiting it. Plus it is also recyclable and biodegradable. Wool is comfortable – it absorbs moisture by wicking it off the skin immediately in its vapour state which keeps you comfortable and the fibre also retains warmth while wet. It regulates temperature and repels odour (it’s antimicrobial) – so pretty much the perfect fibre for a lot of baby stuff including nursing pads.
Pro’s of Little Beetle’s nursing pads:
- thin – could not see them through my shirts like cotton ones (which are thicker)
- moulded to me – I didn’t need to spend time smoothing them out in order to prevent wrinkles which were visible through my shirt
- long-lasting – I’m on day 10 of using this pair during the days (letting them dry out at night if needed) and there is no smell at all. I will have to wash them once a month or so.
- so soft and comfortable, it never feels like I’m wearing a nursing pad.
- all you need are 2 pairs – no other nursing pads required!
Con’s:
- they do need to be hand-washed but only once a month or so. Best to have 2 pairs so you can wear one while the other is drying
- some are dyed a flashy colour on the one side which makes them fun but the dye leaked through to my bra and stained it so it’s not colourfast (and also not necessary). I would recommend the un-dyed version.
- they didn’t last all night. Nothing for me seems to last a full 12 hours without breastfeeding. However, I layered a cotton and wool one and that was enough coverage for night time use.
- they are more expensive than other pads, but again, you only need two pairs. The cost will still be considerably cheaper than disposable nursing pads.
Posted in Random |
By Heidi on June 7, 2010
So many things have been happening around our house the last few weeks. Along with the normal routine of life, we’ve been:
- Hosting two warmshowers guests. For anyone not familiar with warm showers or couchsurfing these are online networks that connect travelers with locals willing to host them in many countries. Warmshowers services touring cyclists. We’ve had such positive experiences every time we’ve hosted someone. This time we hosted 2 at the same time. Lily is biking to the West Coast and Leon is biking to Hong Kong. You can follow Leon on his travels on his website. Reuben was able to bike with both of them to Burlington on his way to work the next morning.
- We went on our first bike ride with all four of us. Eden sat on her kids seat on Reuben’s big dummy bike and Harper sat on a little kid’s seat on the front of my bike. We didn’t go too far from home but we had a blast.
- It has been raining a lot here recently (which my garden loves) and Eden has also been playing a lot more with her neighbour friends. Last week, when it started to pour, Eden and Madison played outside in the rain and the puddles.
- What has been taking up some of my time recently has been sewing. I’ve been making some birthday gifts for some family members (which I will post after the gifts have been given) but I’ve also been consumed with a compassionate project. It came to my attention in the last few months that many women in developing countries don’t have any sanitary products and so they miss school, miss their jobs, can’t continue with their ordinary life while they are menstruating. A friend of mine was really passionate about doing something about this and approached me about making some cloth pads. After doing some research into fabrics and a pattern, I contacted several companies to see if they would donate the required materials. I was overwhelmed with the response! All of the materials have been donated and a “Pad Party”, a night to sew all the materials together, is taking place on June 17 at Little Bird and re-diaper, a local storefront in Hamilton that sells consignment kids clothes and cloth diapers. I’ll be posting pictures of the event along with all the details. Each woman will receive 10 cloth pads and a wet/dry bag to hold the clean and soiled pads in. The pads will be delivered to Home of Grace Care Centre in Kenya this summer. Here are some pictures of the samples I have sewn together:
It’s been a fun and rewarding project. There are so many people interested in helping. The event has about 18 people already committed to come and help sew these products together.
- Reuben has been very busy in his spare time developing a website with some very interesting family information – will be launched soon!
- And just for fun, here’s a picture of Eden with straight hair. She saw me straightening my hair the other day and wanted hers done too:
And to add to the randomness of this post, here’s one of my new favourite quotes from Eden:
Eden: Mommy, is Harper dirty?
Me: No. Daddy just changed his diaper and he had a bath the other day.
Eden: Then why are we going to a baby shower?
Posted in Random |
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