Raves & Faves

And now for some products we've loved since Carter's birth (please forgive me if I've listed any of these before, because I'm far too lazy to review any prior posts and check):

Fisher-Price Rainforest Playgym - he has loved this since he was just a little guy, although now that he's more active it might be losing its luster somewhat, since he just rolls out from under it half the time. However, he still loves grabbing the hanging toys and grappling with them, and it provides me with a short break to, say, use the bathroom, or put on non-gross, wearable-in-public clothes (fancy that).

California Baby Calendula Cream - incredible at clearing up skin irritations. On the few occasions that he's begun to get a bit of diaper rash, this miracle cream nips it in the bud. Safe for cloth diapers, too. Pricey, but worth it.

Ambajam blanket - although every new mother is innundated with blankets, this incredibly soft nubbly one is perhaps Carter's favorite. Every day before we leave for baby school, we put it over his legs in his car seat and tuck him in while cooing "tuck-tuck-tuck-tuck-tuck-tuck" (you get the idea). This never fails to elicit big grins, and it keeps him snuggly warm all the way to daycare. He has it in blue. Note: I would never pay $67 for a baby blanket - this was a prize when I went on the Ellen Mother's Day Show. Thank you, Ms. DeGeneres. And congratulations on your renewal, and all that American Idol hoopla (spoken like a good industry career woman).

g-Diapers - Carter has been wearing these since he was first able to fit into them, at about four weeks old. We don't use the disposable inserts - although they work wonderfully, they are pricey. Instead I use Green Mountain Diapers cloth prefolds tri-folded into the liner of the g-Diaper. In the months that I've been using them, I have had one leak (the daycare forgot to point his boy bits downward so he sprayed out the top) and maybe two poop explosions (when we still used them at nighttime). Otherwise, they contain even the largest messes well. We can't use them at night - our boy is a heavy wetter and they'd never make it through, so we use disposables for sleepytime. However, for daytime these work well and even the daycare uses them without issue. The only downside is that runny breastmilk poo occasionally gets on the diaper liner (though rarely on the outer cloth portion) so I have to scrub it out and air-dry it. This doesn't really bother me, and it should get better when he starts consuming solids regularly and the poop solidifies. I wash the prefolds myself at home (god bless my high-efficiency frontloading washer) and they come out perfectly clean every time. Any stains get hung in the sun and are quickly bleached out. Excellent - and his little bum just looks so cute in them.