We love watermelon around here.
We also love Dr. Pepper.

But, this is about the watermelon.

Maybe even a little rind.

Mostly flesh, though.

Small bites work.

Big bites are even better.

It was my intent to exclusively cloth diaper on vacation.  I did not.  However, I did not exclusively use disposables, either.

I had only six pocket diapers and I'm still not comfortable enough with wool (nor did all my cute little outfits allot for wool)...

We started out on the trip with a BumGenius.  And, if I knew I wanted him to wear it for a while, I'd stuff it with an Indian Prefold.  But, most of the time, I just used the BG inserts.

In the hotel, our shower head was not detachable, nor was the water pressure very strong.  I'm a diaper sprayer, so I wasn't too wild about this.

Also, it took me forever to find the laundry facilities and I couldn't stomach the idea of putting his little diapers in those "nasty" machines.  It was only for 2.5 days and then we'd be at Mom's so when I was in the room for a while, we used IPFs and wool.  When I was out and about, he had on BG and I had 'sposies in the diaper bag, just in case.

I was fortunate enough to only have one poopy cloth diaper and that was on the last day.  I had to do a toilet shake and I was glad it was the only one.  (except for at Mom's where she also had poor water pressure for spraying the diaper)...  He managed to poop in the 'sposies, every time.

When his BGs were wet, I'd double rinse and wring with a hotel handtowel and let them air dry (which didn't take long at all).  I'd smell them before using (we're talking nose in the diaper) and they smelled fine, so we reused.

I really brought way too many diapers, but I'm glad I brought too many than not-enough.
I didn't even have to buy more disposables.  I had some left over when I last bought diapers on March 19. (I found the receipt the other day.)

When I got to Mom's I was able to wash all the dirty diapers and I was good-to-go until we got home.

So, I have to say that after only a month of cloth diapering, my first time away from home was pretty successful!

To quote London Tipton, "Yay me!"

Make your own recycled wool longies from a sweater
Remember the sweater? We left the top.

I cut the arms off and I made wool longies. (diaper cover/clothes)
Cut along the inside seam of the sleeve to reach desired length.  You have to measure your child's rise and measure accordingly on the sleeves making sure to leave room for an elastic casing (...something I seem to forget EVERYTIME).

I used a pair of roomy sweats, and obviously, I didn't leave enough room for an elastic casing.  But, either use measure tape to measure your child or match it up to a pair of pants that fit to your satisfaction.

I used this for extra material for the elastic casing.  It's basically scraps at this point.

This is how I pinned the sleeves together to make the pants.
 

Pinned together, you can see the pants, now.

Turned back right-side out.

Made a casing (forgot to take pictures of it.  You just want something wide enough to hold your elastic.
Pinned to the waist.

Sewed on.

Voila!  Longies!
 

Make your own recycled wool shorties from a sweater
This was the rest of the turtleneck, I just cut it in half.

Then, I cut the half in half.

I pinned the uncut half of the turtleneck to these shorties.
They look the same as the navy blue shorties I posted in the first part.
I made these shorties without taking pix, so this site explains roughly how I made them.  I actually pieced two pieces from a sweater to make the big triangle.  http://www.borntolove.com/frugal-column2.html

Stitched that and then pinned the two pieces to the leg holes after stitching them along where they were cut.

Voila!  Shorties!

Make your own recycled wool wetbag

I bought this J Crew sweatervest and didn't really know what I wanted to do with it.  I like the colors and so I just got it.  Besides, it was $1.55.

So, this is a thicker sweater, and I've been reading that you should use the thicker sweaters for wetbags.  So, that's what we're doing with this.
I cut just under the arms where the sweater stops being the same length across.

And, just for kicks, I cut off the ribbing from the armholes and neck.  That ribbing is excellent for waistbands and legholes, alike.

All gone, and for kicks, I took off the seam connecting the front to the back.

I cut the sides and top off the back piece to make it straight-edged all around.  Just for kicks (it's easier to work with, that way)... and the scrappage was in minute amounts.

Ok, so what I did with the big piece I cut off was to turn it inside out, stitch along the orange edge.  Turned it inside out and then folded it in half and stitched around three sides.

This created a three-pocket bag.

Now, all it needs is some shoestrings for a drawstring.

I plan on posting a part 2 for my 2 latest posts... just wanted to keep you updated that there's more to be done with those 2 items.

But, this isn't about that.  This is about EC= Elimination Communication.

I have toyed with this idea for a while and I could have started from birth with Tucker.  I let questions and lack of knowledge hold me back.  I was over-complicating it.  It isn't complex at all... I don't think.

But, I want Tucker potty trained soon.  And, I realize he is only 17 months old, but the less poop I have to deal with, the better my life is.

So, the switch to cloth diapers was a half-step backward, in that I have to deal with poop more when cloth diapering.  More poop is ok with me, though, as long as I am no longer exposing his sensitive parts to toxins that are in disposable diapers.  And, there are toxins in there.

So, cloth diapering means that I have to clean poop off the diapers because he is no longer exclusively breastfed and I don't want that stuff lingering in my washer.  I spray it off with my high pressure shower head and it goes down the bathtub drain.  And, I do a hot water rinse in the tub and spray with peroxide for sterilizing... and what have you.

Cloth diapering also means it is more uncomfortable to sit in your own soil.  Who wants that, anyway?  I can tell when he's wet/poopy right away and we deal with it right away to get him used to always being dry.

He has gotten to the point that he pees during a diaper change.  And, we've progressed to automatically sitting on the potty after a change.  So, he has peed in the potty a time or two.

To take that up a notch, I have a foldable potty seat that sits on the actual toilet.  Like I said, the less I have to deal with, the better.  So, that means no potty chair, please.  It took me a few times to get him used to sitting up there and how I did was start him sitting on the lid with his diaper on while I was rinsing poop in the tub.  And then, I would sit him on the foldable seat in his diaper with the lid up, and then no diaper and directly over the hole.  Then, I wouldn't even know if he was using it, but he was sitting there and not crying... so he could relax, eventually.

Now, we take him to the potty after changes.  And, by "we"  I mean "me" because Sid no longer changes diapers.  I think he likes it that way and I'm fine with it, also.  But, I do want him knowing how to use the Bum Genius for when I'm not around.  The Bum Genius is the closest thing to 'sposies because they work very similar in operation.  The difference is, you wash the Bum Genius.  But, all Sid has to do is stick it in the wool wetbag and he's good to go.  I do the washing.

So, he pees on the potty and he went a full day Saturday of no poopies.  Which, had me worried, but that was fine, because during one of his pee-pee times on the toilet yesteday, he emptied out and we really praised him and told him what he was doing.  Names with actions is very important.

I actually think this is potty learning?  I'm not sure.  There are many different terms for potty using vs. diapers when baby is not fully potty trained.

I want to say that I don't feel that "I'm being trained" more than Tucker is.  He knows what pee-pee is and can do it when I say it.  I can tell even if he doesn't have to go, he is grunting and doing the 'action'.  Also, I don't think I'm being trained anymore so than I am trained to respond to a cry for food or pain or anything else.  Plus, Tucker is now old enough that he can actually talk some.  So, he isn't always crying for what he wants.  He points and feels his diaper when he pees in it.

And, this is not something we punish for or get upset over.  We are simply putting (hopefully soon) the majority of bodily waste where it needs to go.  Which is, not in his diaper.  There are far less diaper changes for me and that's less laundry. LOL  And, less money I'm throwing down the drain on disposable diapers that I'm never going to see again and hopefully we waste even less money on pull-ups.  Those things are more expensive than diapers, but they essentially serve the same purpose. 

So, hopefully, no more 'sposies at all and less work for me.

And, with what I'm learning on Tucker, I can hopefully take it and apply to any and all future babies from birth.  Yay!!

I bought this wool sweater at Goodwill today for $2.50.  You can buy custom made wool longies or shorties online for as much or more than $80.  $2.50 or $80?  I chose the previous.  (FWIW, the wool longies are well worth the money if you have it to spend... which I do not.  So, there are options for everyone. )

If you take a wool sweater and cut it straight across under the arms, sew up the cut edge to make a 'bag' with the bottom of the sweater becoming the top of the bag, and then loop a shoestring through the knitting...

You may end up with a wool wet bag for your cloth diapers.  And, you could do it with some scrap material from another sweater and make a small one for the diaper bag.
 

Then, if you take the arms, cut them off on the sweater side of the seam, and then cut the cuffs off about a half to an inch from the ribbing and then cut the turtle neck off (turtle neck was a bonus feature for this sweater)...

Then, you could take some shorties you made from another sweater and felted and pin the cuffs to the leg holes...

And, cut 2 inches off the top of the turtle neck and pin it to the waistband...

*insert picture of the shorties pinned to the cuffs and waistband that I was certain I photographed before sewing*

You would get a wool bum sweater for your son (or daughter)

And, since he's too busy to be photographed...

...playing with his belly button...

...you would need to wait until he's sawing logs to get a good picture of how they look on your son (or daughter).