P is for Piper

I decided to start a blog so family and friends can stay informed with Piper. Some of her family does not get to see her very often so I thought it would be fun to update them by blogging. She is growing so fast and I feel like she accomplishes something new everyday. Here is how a typical

day goes for Piper...

wake up and nurse 7:00

activity 7:30

read 8:45

nap 9:00

wake up and nurse 11:00

activity 11:30

read 12:45

nap 1:00

wake up 2:30

nurse 3:00

activity 3:30

nap 4:30

wake up 5:30

activity including, bath, massage(yes Leo is jealous), read, and nurse 6:00

bedtime kisses 7:00

We feel it is very important to have her on a structured routine and it makes all of us a lot happier when we know what to expect. I had a little help from, The Baby Whisperer and Baby Wise! The first few months were difficult because I was nursing on demand, but I soon became tired of being a human pacifier and decided to take a different approach. We are all glad I did!

It is so amazing how Piper's personality shines through a little more as each day passes. She loves to have conversations with Leo and I. Lately they come in the form of raspberries; it is quite entertaining for all of us. After she is finished telling us a story, she is completely soaked with drool. We are so glad we received those 60 bibs at the baby shower because we go through them like crazy.

I started signing to Piper a couple of months ago and am still anxious to learn more! I have watched a few videos and read some books, but I can't wait to start taking sign classes with her at St. Dominics. She already shows great interest when I sign which excites me to know she will soon understand and hopefully start responding in a few months.

I know the majority of people think its crazy, but we bought a potty for Piper and have started some training. I am in full agreement with the concept that it is unsanitary to allow babies to sit in their waste. A friend of mine introduced me to a great book about potty training early, Early Start Potty Training by Linda Sonna. Here are a few facts from the book that I think are important to share:

-Diaper rash used to be a sign of parental neglect; before disposable diapers only 7% of babies were affected. Now 94% of children wear disposables and 78% are affected with diaper rash.

-Chemicals from disposable diapers are absorbed through the skin.

-Hundreds of thousands of trees are used to make billions of diapers kids in the us use each year.

-Disposable diapers are the 3rd leading component of the nation's landfills

- Delaying toilet training has been pushed by pediatric spokesmen for disposable diaper industry since the 1960's

-Before disposable diapers 90% of kids were trained by age 2 1/2, in 1998 that dropped to 22%

Contrary to popular belief, babies can control their sphincter muscles; med school students are not taught this information. Americans are the only people who do not think about early potty training. I decided before I was introduced to the early training concept to use cloth diapers. I purchased the bum genius diapers from target by a friend's recommendation. I was really excited to stop using disposable diapers but we started having a few problems. It wasn't the cloth diapers, they work great!! Piper has a case of infantile eczema which is very severe on the region below her belly button; the polyester from the fabric started becoming irritating. We now switch up between the cloth diapers and seventh generation disposable diapers(which contain no chlorine or toxins). She wears the disposables during naps and night, I change the cloth diapers every hour and she uses the potty every hour. Sounds exhausting! Seventh Generation also carries other green products.http://www.seventhgeneration.com/Natural-Baby

Her feet almost touch the ground! HAHA! We ordered a smaller potty!