A Rash Decision

So, Liam had his first ever diaper rash. More than just redness. Poor little guy... But I must be doing something right if this is the only one he has had in 8.5 months!

But as I watched his little bum get redder and redder, and the wipes made him cry I realized that the Butt Paste we had been using was not enough. While it works for the day to day redness it does not work QUICKLY on the bigger rash. It would have done fine over time, but I didn't want to make Liam live with a ouchy bum any longer than I had too.

So I ran out to the store to see what my options were. I found one that had a higher percentage of the stuff that fixes the rash and said Hey, this should be great! I bought it without reading more than the active ingredients.

I got home, and opened the tube of Desitin. You know, the one you see the commercials for, the one that is really popular... well, I open the tube and am struck by a horrible stench. The kind that makes me wrinkle my nose and press my lips together with disgust. Cod Liver Oil. 

One of the inactive ingredients is COD LIVER OIL! Now not only does my baby have a red and ouchy butt, he has FISH BUTT.

WHY oh why did they have to put cod liver oil in there? 

For the three days I used it the fishy smell even covered up a poopy smell! And actually changing him with fish butt.... ugh. That was a smell that would gag a maggot.

So, I think I may need to cross that particular brand off of my list for any future diaper rashes, and learn an important lesson... Read the inactive ingredient list!

But thankfully, his bum is on the mend and I can put the tube of Fishy Paste away and go back to the still odd but not unpleasant smelling Butt Paste.

Fish butt... bah!

The Naked Baby, revisited

I got over my worry about taking pictures of my little guy in the nude.

And as it gets warm in the house in the middle of the day I am starting to let him romp around in his diaper, or even without it when I think we have a little bit of time without a high chance of puddles.

He is so happy running around naked.


I just feel weird about posting pictures of him, even with his boy parts covered.

It will be fun once summer comes and the little guy can run about in the yard, running through the sprinklers.... sitting in the grass. Naked or not.

Loved

Another Valentines Day,

I had to babysit last night, but after the kids left Dan and I got a little bit of couple time.

Even with it being a Hallmark Holiday, it still is fun to have a day to be extra nice to the one you love. And if you are single, use it to reflect on what you DO want in love, and the things you have in your life that help make you feel loved, even without a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Liam is spending the last few days, and however many days to come teething. But even when he is whimpery and whiney he has moments when I can feel how much he loves me. He is starting to cling when he feels the need to be close, I hate that he is sad when he feels the need to cling, but I love how much it feels like a hug.

It can be hard each day to make the time to feel love. We all get so busy that we can end up taking the people around us for granted.

Maybe each day we should try to take just 5 minutes to hug the person we love. To dance to the music that only we can hear.

Everyone is loved!

Work, Play, Love

I got a babysitting job!   Two sweet boys, 5 and 9, who I watch in my home about 5 days a week in the evenings for now and possibly more later on. I am excited! I like having them here, even if they were a bit hyper the first time. I think they will be more calm now that they know the place.

I officially joined a moms group. They do fun things like go stroller-skating and have play groups and go to a cafe with a place for babies to play and toddlers as well. I like the people a lot. They seem to be pretty decent people who love their kids, but also have a life outside being a stay at home mom.

Liam has perfected making the "brrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmm" noise, he says "ma ma ma ma ma ma"  and "da da da da da" More often the "ma ma" noise. I repeat his sounds to him, I respond to them, I imitate them, then give him new ones to make.  He seems almost self conscious about making sounds, so he rarely makes them when he is interacting with people, but he will sometimes. Mostly he makes them when he is playing by himself. I have yet to capture the "mamamama" noise on video, but I got the "brrrrmmmm" one today!

He also will stand on his tippy toes, holding onto something of course... he can't stand alone yet. But he will stand there and streeeeetch up and YELL! He will holler and shriek and just be as loud as he can.

I love watching him learn new things. And how he will perfect and then modify the older skills. He is starting to cruise now too. Moving along holding onto things. We don't have much for him to cruise on right now. I don't want a coffee table because it is not only a giant head bonking hazard, but it takes up too much space for the living room. We have this room pretty full, and Liam spends a lot of time in here.

The boys should be here soon, and I need to go finish getting some stuff ready. I am going to try and keep the insanity low tonight. I am getting over a stomach flu thing, and I think I would rather spend the evening getting them to draw pictures than holler and yell over video games!

Oh, and if you have any ideas for fun things to do with a 5 year old and a 9 year old, let me know!!!!! I need all the ideas I can get!

Wanting...

At my cousin's house for a birthday for some of the girls, Liam got to play with their Learning Tower.

I have been trying to figure out how to have such a thing in our own house. I would buy one, but I just do not have the money for it.  Liam really liked standing use it, and I think that it would be great as he got a little older.

The other day he wanted to look out the window. I moved his bouncer and put him in front of the window and opened the storm window part so he had more of an edge to hold onto. He was just about 5 inches too short to get the view he wanted.

I wonder how hard it would be to build a learning tower.

I find that as he grows I keep wanting more for him. I stare longingly at Slides and Pools for when summer comes, Pool toys for the day we first go to the swimming pool at the community center... 

We have a saving jar for these things... a few dollars here and there.

Oh, and I should be having a job doing some child care soon! So I can use some of that money to get him all those fun toys that somehow I think he wants. I just know that it would be so much fun to see him play in all those neat toys!