Music & Mama

I thought I would give a quick update on the latest things happening with the boys.  Thomas will be three next month and I honestly can't believe it!  He is getting so big (and he tells me all the time, "Mama, I'm getting tall.").  When I tell him that he is still my baby, he says, "Mama, I not your baby.  I'm a boy."  *sniff, sniff*

Anyway, on to what this post is really about!  In the last couple of months we have really noticed his love for music.  As I type this, he is playing with a book that plays classical music.  Thomas enjoys all kinds of music and even loves to sing now.  He knows all the songs to Josiah's toys and has picked up many of the children's songs we have taught him as well as some hymns.  Currently, we are working on "Holy, Holy, Holy."  I need to record him singing it, because it is so precious.  Josh found an old book of nursery rhymes at his parents house (with sheet music) and plays it often.  Thomas loves to sit with him at the piano and sing along.  On a side note, he also likes to dance to music now and I think that has much to do with his friend Savannah - she has demonstrated some moves to him! 

Josiah also loves music and as soon as he hears it, he begins to move his head.  Of course he can't sing along yet, but he looks so cute bobbing his little head to the beat! 

The biggest difference with Josiah is his recent attachment to me.  Yes, he has always been attached, but now he is going through a hard phase of separation anxiety.  Anytime I leave him in the nursery now, he cries.  And it is a sad, hold your breath, kind of cry.  They tell me that he stops crying after a few minutes, but it is still hard to leave him.  Even when I worked in the nursery a couple of weeks ago, he would not let me put him down.  Therefore, I was of no help to any other child, because I was busy holding my baby.  Thomas never really cried after me and he preferred Josh and I equally, whereas Josiah really prefers me over Josh.  Maybe it is the difference in being the second born?  I don't feel like I treat Josiah any different than Thomas, although I do have to comfort him a bit more when Thomas pushes, pulls, or hits him (that is another blog post!). 

Our hope is that Thomas & Josiah both will continue to love music and they will desire to play the piano like their daddy one day!

Potty Training Update

Three months ago (exactly!), I wrote about my struggle to potty train Thomas.  While things aren't perfect, they have improved!  He does great telling me when he has to pee-pee and very rarely has an accident (even at night).  His favorite place to potty is on the grass!  This is actually very convenient when we are running errands.  More than once, I've stopped at a church or an empty parking lot and let him go to the potty.  You don't have to worry about finding a potty indoors when you have a little boy and you don't have to worry about aim when he is outside!  :-) 

Unfortunately, our struggle isn't over with the other part of potty training.  He would still rather go in his pants than in the potty!  Is this frustrating?!  Absolutely!!  He has been wearing underwear since my last post and we talk everyday about how he needs to go in the potty and not in his pants, but he still won't do it.  And yes, he is very aware of when he has to go.  He never does it in public or in front of us.  Normally, he goes into his room and comes back out a few minutes later to tell me what he did. 

I really don't think he is scared to go in the potty, because he has went a couple of times.  He did it last week because I found him right before he went in his pants.  While he didn't want to go in the potty, he did with no problem.  I often wonder if this has become an issue of disobedience or if he just isn't ready yet.  The big three-year-old birthday comes next month and I really would like him to be completely potty trained! 

Any advise from my blog readers? 

Josiah's One Year Picture

We went a couple of weeks ago and had Josiah's picture made.  And of course, they turned out wonderful!  One of the many things I like about our photographer is how he can take the mosquito bites and the runny noses out of the pictures! 

The photographer took us to the same spot where we took Thomas' one year picture. It is neat to compare their pictures and to see their similarities and their differences.  Thomas looks so much like Josh (and everyone tells me how much), while I think Josiah favors my side of the family more.  Josiah also is a little more plump than Thomas was at this age; I'm sure it has to do with Josiah eating everything that is put before him while Thomas is such a picky eater. 

Here are the pictures of my precious baby! 

Cloth Diapers...Again

A couple of years ago, I decided to try cloth diapers.  They sounded like a great idea and so I took the plunge and bought 3 Bumgenius diapers and 6 pre-folds, 2 covers, and a snappi.  If you know anything about cloth diapers, then you know that is not nearly enough to last for more than a day.  I used the Bumgenius at night and a pre-fold during the day along with disposable diapers.  To order a complete supply of Bumgenius pocket diapers would have cost a little over $200 and I just wasn't willing to invest that much money.  When I became pregnant with Josiah in the fall of '08, my nose was so sensitive and my stomach so queasy, that I dropped cloth diapering all together. 

I have thought about going back to cloth, but dismissed it because I just didn't want to spent so much money, and I can get disposables pretty cheap with sales and coupons.  Recently, some blogs I normally read have talked about cloth diapering all around the same time.  One of my friends, Meggan, even did some follow up posts after I asked her some questions about cloth diapering.  Two coupon sites I visit, Southern Savers & Money Saving Mom, both had posts about the difference between cloth and disposables and a parenting site I visit had a guest post about cloth diapers as well.  It was actually through reading the comments on the parenting site, that I decided to take the plunge into cloth again! 

One of the comments gave a link to Kawaii Baby diapers.  I went to the website and discovered they had pocket, cloth diapers for $6.99 each!  Bumgenius diapers are $17.99 - what a huge difference!  After talking (and beginning an email chat) with the lady who left the comment on the parenting site, I decided to buy 10 cloth diapers and it was only $67 (shipping was free).  And you know what?  I love them!  The 3 Bumgenius diapers are velcro, but I chose to go with snaps this time and I'm really glad.  They are super easy to use and I have even taken them to church.  Josiah is now exclusively cloth diapered and we are saving more money! 

I do plan to buy 10 more, because that would give me 23 pocket diapers and I need them.  Josiah usually goes through 6 diapers a day right now and that means washing diapers every other day.  I would like to have enough diapers to wash every three days.  Many people have also told me that cloth diapering promotes earlier potty training; I sure hope that is the case!