Updates!

Since I've just had one post on LOTS of topics, I thought I would just have a quick update post on status:

MARCH

Amber teething necklace - Yup, still using them and still swear by them. Now that Isabelle is getting her two-year molars, I've found some days when they are really bothering her, she needs 2 necklaces and her anklet all on before she seems comfortable.

Cloth diapering - Yep, still doing it. My pocket diapers kept getting compression leaks and were driving me CRAZY, so I've switched to using gDiapers (a brand; a special hybrid system) and fitted diapers w/ covers. Still loving it.

Extended Rear-Facing - Yep, she's still rear facing. Yes, I still get a hard time for it from friends and family, but I feel strongly that she is safest this way and plan on keeping her there as long as I can!

APRIL

Baby-Led Weaning - This doesn't really apply much, but yes, Isabelle does still always feed herself and I would still consider her a pretty good eater, especially for a toddler.

Signs (ASL) - Isabelle is still signing, but it has slowed down since she began talking more. She is maybe sightly behind average on talking, but way above average on communication, so I figure we're still ahead of the game. Now, she'll often sign and speak, which has made it so much easier figuring out what she is saying. If she weren't signing, there are many words I am certain I wouldn't have recognized as early. She knows over 80 signs now (WOW!) and says: Mama, Dada (and Daddy), Nana, PaPaw, Nate, Ball, Milk, More, Done, This, That, Peas, Please, Up, No, Book, Apple, Apple Sauce, Shoes, Hat, O's (as in Cheerios), Dog, Cat, Bowl, Hot, Water, can recognize and say "A", "E", "O", "S", "N", "B", "M", "I". . . I think that's most of them.

MAY

Extended Breastfeeding - Isabelle is still happily nursing, although our nursing relationship has changed a lot recently due to September being a crazy month. We took a vacation, she got sick, and I become pregnant. So we're currently working through "something" and she oftentimes doesn't want to nurse before nap and before bed, but has begun nursing more frequently during the day. I was really hoping to make it to 2 years, as the World Health Organization and UNICEF recommends, but I'm not sure how things will go once my colostrum comes in in the second trimester. If we make it through that, I've got to decide if I want to go with a slow and gentle weaning in February or start looking into tandem nursing (nursing 2). Right now, we're just taking it one day at a time. I'm sure I'll have a post on either weaning and/or tandem nursing and nursing while pregnant soon!

Discipline related posts - It's probably repetitive to say but yes, we still are going with positive parenting and it's going great.

JUNE

Do overs - Obviously, now that we're expecting #2 I'll get to put this into full-effect! I'm buying my ring sling sometime in the next 7 months and have been making arrangements to have baby bedded close-by.

AUGUST -

Organic - Same status; we buy whatever organic we can! Honestly, it's expensive, so I can't do organic 100% all of the time, so I often save the good stuff for Isabelle and Lee and I eat/drink the crappy stuff. I've probably only purchased maybe 2 lbs of non-organic meat the last 2 months and instead of eating lots of meat, we fill our diet with healthier alternatives. We still have some work to do, for sure.