Grubbs n Critters

March 20, 2011

Cloth Diapering

I have always been an advocate of cloth diapering ever since Spud was born in my bid to a) be more environmentally friendly and b) save money. While we attempted to cloth diaper Spud in her early days into this world, our well-intent plan went down the drain for a little while. We did try for a few days when she got home but eventually gave up because the reusable diaper were all too big for her tiny bum-bum then; making her legs spread too wide apart because of the thickness of the cloth in between her crotch. (She looked quite pathetic…a chunk of cloth protruded out and sandwiched between her crotch!) Besides, as we found out, breastfed newborns’ poo are usually extremely liquidy and mustardy, and when she did her poo, they all went splat and all over the place! Those harmless looking, but toxic smelling poo would stain the cloth liners of the diapers pretty bad. So bad that we could not get the yellowy-mustardy colour out even after several washes! (talk about being environmentally friendly in having to wash so many times!)

So we went on the disposable diaper route mainly to wait it out till she gets big enough for the reusable ones I bought off an online shop, I have to say though, when it comes to having to be out and about, travelling, emergencies and just being plain lazy, nothing beats the convenience of using those disposables.

Okay. So I know those disposables are terrible for the environment and not to mention hideously expensive. That, for me is enough a convince, to push through with cloth diapering, given my strong advocacy for being environmentally friendly. However, I’d be lying if I say I can manage cloth diapering 100% of the time despite being a very strong advocate for the greater good of planet earth. For reasons given in the previous paragraph, I think it would be unreasonable to totally write-off disposable diapers.

Enter then me, the part-time cloth diaperer in action. I have heard and researched that when it comes to the technological advances of cloth diapers, their paper counterpart fails in comparison. Apparently, when it comes to potty training, cloth diapers win hands-down. But I guess we can’t really have it all and I have got to be practical about things as it is just not realistic to push through 100% cloth diapering all the time (washing use a lot of water too, you know! So one could also argue how that can’t be as environmentally friendly). My take is, even if we manage cloth diapering only half the time, we still make that little bit of difference.

Besides, those reusable diapers are pretty funky looking. They certainly are not as boring as the disposable ones, and they come in all sorts of colours and designs. I think that alone is enough a reason to go cloth.

And trust me, since Spud turned about 6 months old, she has got quite a pretty cool looking bum to boot! (okay, at least I think so.) Just check out those funky looking bums.

Watch this space for a review of the different types and systems of cloth diapers I have tried and tested.

Busy baby

Category: Baby Milestones

I am beginning to understand the significance of when people say that babies grow up so fast.

My! My! Indeed they do and my god! It does seem like Spud is just growing right before my very eyes.

Just a few months ago she was this little red lump who would not stop crying, and wanting to be held all the time. Now she is this tiny little busy person who’d try to wriggle her way out of your arms in trying to get herself on the floor. She keeps herself real busy crawling her wobbly crawls just about anywhere clamouring over stuff and grabbing on to anything which allows her to pull herself up in to a standing position. She is also now very able to sit upright without any support when she’s had enough crawling, and has been able to keep herself occupied for a good 5 minutes at least being busy with stacking cups or just watching Animal Planet.

Spud’s a very busy little imp these days, and I feel so exhausted just watching her go! While it is indeed a little too early for a 7 month old to be walking, this little imp seems to be quite hell-bent in beating the odds. She tries all the time, and every single time she pulls herself up to a standing position, she immediately moves one of her feet forward. Sometimes I swear I think she thinks she can already walk, as right after she gets herself into a standing position, she forgets that there’s nothing for her to hold on to as she moves her other foot. Guess what happens?

Yep, this is usually the point where she loses her balance and if we are not there to catch her fall, plop! she’ll go on her side, crash to the floor and then a little pause before she wails her loudest drama-mama wail.

Sometimes it is quite hilarious to just watch her (and I mean it in a very endearing way). And each time she tries, I have to remind her that, No Spud, it is nice that you are trying but no darling, you can’t quite walk yet and neither is your body physically ready to allow you to walk at the moment. But, you can keep trying though!

Spud is certainly developing personality of her own. And, being extremely determined and strong-willed seems to be one of the few distinctive traits she has shown.

One thing we noticed though, Spud does not seem to care very much for toys. I mean she does acknowledge them and play with them for a little bit, but that’s about it and so far, she has not shown any sort of attachment to them. She loses interest in them quite quickly. She does get all intrigued with the L.A.B.E.L.S she found on her toys, though. Those labels is able to keep her occupied for quite a while. How weird is that!

Here are just some random shots of Spud doing her thing:

Share the happiness

Category: Ads

This was a really awesome campaign. I thought it was brilliantly executed as it expounded on the idea of sharing the happiness all around to truly engage their consumers. I’m not advocating consuming sweet, sugary beverage, but this is definitely one of the campaigns that makes me feel all warm and tingly inside!