Snow Much Fun!

Winter in the Frozen Tundra can be unbearably cold but can also be a ton of fun! Our first snowfall of the season came on November 13 and we were graced with 11 inches of sopping white slushy snow. Thankfully the temperatures were only slightly below freezing (about 30 degrees F) which is perfect snowman making weather; not too cold that it's comfortable being outside, but cold enough that the snow stays! Chloe helped Daddy shovel and the next day, she and I went outside to build her first snowgirl!

Chloe in her deer stalker

Dressed for the snow!

Mommy and Chloe building the snowgirl, complete with carrot nose

6 Month Stats

16 pounds 7 ounces (60%)
27 inches long (90 percentile)
Annie's comfortably wearing 9 month clothes and 12 month pajamas and I've had to extend two of her diapers to accommodate her growing torso.
It's difficult for me to remember all that has happened in this past month because of the sleep deprivation we're all experiencing. Every three or four nights, Annie will awake just once or twice and that is her saving grace because the rest of the week, she feels the need to be freakishly awake. The other night, after putting her down at 7, she woke up at 9:30pm and didn't go back to sleep until after 2am! Will and I tried EVERYTHING to get this child back to sleep, but she just resisted. I'm not a fan of letting babies cry-it-out to learn to put themselves to sleep but we are looking for alternative solutions so everyone can have a better night sleep.
Perhaps the latest development has been Annie's interest tn toys. She loves toys! Especially ones that sing (like her glow worm) or ones small enough to hold and chew on (like her little pink duck). She's also getting really strong and wants to learn how to move and crawl. She is still the recipient of loads of attention and admiration wherever we go.

Even after a terrible night's sleep, all she does is look at us with her big blue eyes and smile her big Annie smile and all the frustration melts.

Success

I've finally got it down.
No, not this whole parenting thing.
I'm talking about the diaper sprayer.
When we first started using cloth, I thought I was the cloth diapering queen bee. "Cloth is the easiest, most convenient, and economical system. Who wouldn't want to use cloth diapers?"

And then Annie started eating solids foods.

You see, when babies are exclusively breastfed, the poop is water soluble which means that regardless of what's in the diaper, you don't have to do anything with it. No rinsing, sloshing, or remotely touching what just came out of your baby's backside. So you throw it in the wash and the diapers come out squeaky clean.
But then around the age of 5 or 6 months, babies need a bit more in their diet besides breast milk. And of course, what goes in the mouth, must come out on the other side.
And it's gross. And stinky. And makes this mama want to gag.
So a friend of mine suggested an investment in the bumGenius diaper sprayer. It was $45 but worth every penny. My awesome and handy husband hooked it up to the toilet and it reminds me of my time in Brazil when we had bidets in our bathroom.


Here's how it works:
Baby poos in the diaper. (since Annie's poo is still a bit like clay, there's nothing to shake off into the toilet). I take the diaper to the toilet and spray off into the toilet as much yucky stuff as I can. I put the wet diaper into the diaper pail until it's ready to be washed in the machine.
Sounds easy, right? Well, the first few times using this new gadget, I had the angle all wrong and ended up getting slashback. Major yuck. But today, I finally had success! I got all the poo off without getting anything on my pants or shoes or floor or the wall!!!
I guess I can go back to being Cloth Diapering Queen Bee now.