Happy Birthday, Kathy!

Today is your day!

Happy birthday, Kathy! I hope you're having a wonderful day and a wonderful week.

Elimination Communication

Elimination communication (EC) is something I first heard about not too long ago. Monday I checked a book out from our library because I wanted to know more. It's "The Diaper Free Baby" by Christine Gross-Loh. The general idea is that babies are born with the instinct not to soil themselves and we can learn to communicate with them about their toileting needs, like reading their hunger cues.

EC involves observing your baby's body language and patterns, cueing your baby (holding your baby in a certain position and making a certain sound that she associates with peeing or pooping), and changing her as soon as possible after a miss so she doesn't get used to sitting in a wet or dirty diaper. Some people start EC at birth, while many start at around three to eight months.

If EC sounds interesting to you, I encourage you to read this book and read it now. I enjoyed it and it made a lot of sense. I only wish I'd heard about this when Jesse was younger. He just turned 2, so it's a little late to start EC (at least as described in the book). I'm planning to try a modified version tomorrow. I was telling hubby about EC the other night when he interrupted me and said "Before you go any further, we're not having another baby just so you can try this." I laughed and told him that's not why I want another one!

What a Week!

I'm sooo tired. I've been really busy this week. Monday I took the kids to my parents' house. My sister and brother-in-law were visiting from California so we spent a couple of nights with them. My other sister and her daughter spent Monday night there, too. We were planning to go to the zoo Tuesday, but 4 out of 9 of us were sick so we just hung around the house. We got home late Wednesday night.

Thursday was full of the usual post-trip chores like unpacking and washing clothes, as well as menu planning and grocery shopping for Jesse's birthday party. I bought groceries to feed close to 20 people. My refrigerator was so full I wondered whether I'd be able to close the door. I also did some cleaning.

Friday I cooked. I made 2 batches of bread, fruit dip, veggie/cracker dip, strawberry salad, 2 cakes, and icing. I put together a fruit platter and a veggie platter. I cut and stacked the cakes to make a dump truck. Yes, a dump truck. My little birthday boy loves cars and trucks and his dump truck is his favorite. I also embroidered a dump truck on a t-shirt for him.

This morning I made another batch of bread, deviled eggs, cheesy bean dip, and ice cream. (Ok, hubby kept the ice cream maker iced and salted.) We then had a great party with wonderful family and friends. It was a nice way to end this crazy week.


I had to include a picture of the dump truck cake. I worked hard on this! I needed a little more time to make it nicer, but it's not too bad. Jesse liked it! I can't believe my baby is 2.

Green Period, Revisited

Ladies, this is mostly a reminder prompted by the fact that it's about time to hit the pool, lake, or beach. If you didn't read my earlier post about reusable menstrual products, you can read it here. It's an overview of what's out there. I mentioned some of the advantages of reusable products (less waste in landfills, no risk of TSS, money savings), but I thought of another last week. I somehow neglected to mention "wicking" in my other post. When you wear a tampon, any moisture present outside your body wicks up the removal string. Chlorine-laden pool water, for example. A menstrual cup doesn't absorb, so there's no wicking. Just another thing to recommend the Diva Cup (or other brand of your choice).

Please see my other post for links to more information, or just search the internet.

Am I a Sacking Snob?

This evening I ran into town for groceries at two different stores. I'm a little particular, some might say neurotic, about the way my stuff is sacked. I've had sackers put large cans of pineapple juice on top of my bananas. If I'd wanted bruised bananas, I'd have gotten the black ones to begin with. I also like to keep refrigerated items together, especially when it's 80 or 90 degrees outside. I figure the cold stuff will stay cold longer if it's all huddled together. Also, when I get home I let the toilet paper and soap loiter in the trunk until I get the milk and butter safely stowed in the fridge. It's easier to do this if it's not mingled with non-refrigerated items. I rarely have too few shopping bags (I always take reusable ones), but just in case I were to have a shortage, I place those items on the belt last that are easiest to carry without a bag, like milk or bags of potatoes.

Because of my idiosyncrasy and my skepticism of the intelligence of some cashiers, I have a habit of placing my purchases on the conveyor belt in the order in which I want them bagged. I always leave eggs and produce for the end so they aren't crushed by heavier items, unless I anticipate a bag shortage (as mentioned previously), in which case the milk and potatoes are banished to the end of the line. I put all the refrigerated/frozen stuff together. I group things like soap, toilet paper, and tooth paste. This usually works well. The typical cashier scans the item closest to hand, bags it, then repeats. However, tonight I did not have the typical cashier. In fact, I had two atypical cashiers.

I spent some time in the parking lot of the first store rearranging my purchases because the cashier had desegregated my cold items and bath products. One bag held butter, tooth paste, and soap. Another held butter, cream, and apples. While I loaded my groceries from the second store I noticed the sacker had bagged my 3 gallons of milk (which were at the end of the line!) and put all my produce in one bag - lettuce, tomatoes, two avocadoes, bananas, two containers of strawberries, and two containers of raspberries.

Maybe next time I'll separate my purchases with bags so the cashier can fill up the first bag until she gets to the second one. Then she can fill up the second until she gets to the third, and so on. To be fair, I should mention that some sackers are excellent. If only I could tell by looking at them...