Cloth Diapering 101

For those interested in learning more about cloth diapering, this is a really great blog. (Scroll down past the nursing stuff and you'll see it, I promise.) The author is what I would call "normal" and really knows her stuff. She certainly taught me a lot - and made me wish I'd seen this a year ago. It's really nice to learn from someone else's trial & error rather than your own (really messy) T & E.

Erich Speak

(I should probably just go ahead and rename this blog to "The Erich Days" since that's all I write about lately...)

To track Erich's progress in learning German (and hopefully to translate at least a little bit of his gibberish for everyone else), I've documented all of his current vocabulary. As you can see a few English words have slipped in there - 'no' being his favorite. I only wish I could include some recording of him saying these words, but this kid simply refuses to be a trained monkey. So I just wrote the phonetically spelled version of how Erich says the word, then the correct German word and the English translation in parenthesis.

1. Mama
2. Papa
3. Opa (Grandpa)
4. Oma (Grandma)
5. Mimi (other grandma)
6. Nummy: Yummy
   
7. Eye: Eier (eggs)
8. NEIN!
9. NO!
   
10. Uh-oh
    
11. Mehr (more)
    
12. Buh-bye
    
13. Oosh: Tschuss (bye)
14. Ball (same in German)
15. Baby (same)
    
16. Koo: Kuh (cow)
17. Eckie: Eklig (yucky)
18. Po (bum - he says this and "eklig" when he poos)
19. Weevee: Revie (his friend)
20. Zah: Saft (juice) or Wasser (water)... He doesn't seem to distinguish between the two but that could be because cup is "Tasse" and he's just saying that.
21. Ahssee: Kashi (as in Kashi's Heart to Heart cereal, his favorite)
22. Ooo-cow-bah: Hubschrauber (Helicopter - TONS fly over our house)
23. Duh-kah: Danke (Thank you)
24. Entee: Ente (duck)
25. Ah-pee: Affe (monkey)
26. Nana: Banana (banana)
27. Bah-dee: Bade (Bath)
28. Shauw - Schau (look)
29. Yay-gah: Jaeger (our dog, not the drink. Also his first word.)
30. doo, dee, die: (combo of one, two, three & eins, zwei, drei)
31. Auf (up)
32. Aus (out)
33. Auto (car)
34. Kop: Klopf (knocking on a door)
35. Ahn-dee: Handy (cell phone)
36. Bibi (his Aunt Rebecca)
    
37. Zee: Ziehen (pull)
38. Shoo: Schuh (shoe)
39. Bauw: Bauch (Tummy) or Baum (tree) -- Depending on what he's pointing at...
40. Neh-mo: Nemo (yes, THAT Nemo. And this is to describe every fish of every color and size, by the way.)

Just yesterday, he said: Pipi (yes, as in 'peepee'), Tiger and Erdbeere (strawberry). We'll see if they stick!

And finally, he makes these noises with the corresponding animals:
Dog: Arf
Cat: Meow
Cow: Moo
Rooster: Ar-OO-oo-ar-Aroo
Chick: Peep, peep
Pig: back of the nose snort
Bear, Tiger, Lion, Crocodile, Giraffe, Bunny, Frog: Grrrrrroaawwrrr!
(We're still trying to teach him that the last few don't actually roar. He prefers things his way.)

I was so surprised while putting this together how many words he actually says! I've been telling everyone he says a dozen but apparently I've been a stinking liar. I'm thinking now I should print out copies and pass them out to all his friends, neighbors and nursery teachers. By memorizing this list, you could probably have an entire conversation with Erich and he'd be your best friend forever.

The pressures on, though.. I'm going to have to up my studying - this kid is catching up to me quicker than I thought.

Binkie Boot Camp

Much to my chagrin, today marks the beginning of the end of binky use in our house. No binkies will ever be allowed in Erich's mouth again. My once beloved and trusted soother and scream stopper has slowly been doing it's dirty work on my son. I felt so betrayed by my little assistants when the pediatrician told me today that they have given E a pretty significant overbite. Ah!! Stupid me - of all people, as someone who wore braces for 3 years to repair the damage of my own finger-sucking, I should have known better. But he is so young and it's something that I never really considered, especially since he really only uses them at night (and occasionally as the previously mentioned screecher plug).

So that's it: I say they're OUT! Wish me luck, though, because this could be a looong couple of nights. And because I'm going to try to (gently) nudge Erich's teeth back every chance I get. (He'll thank me in 12 years when he doesn't have to wear head gear to school and be teased by his siblings.)

Erich's New Trick

Sorry everyone for being away the past few weeks. Every once and a while I have to go anti-internet and focus my energies elsewhere. Just something that keeps me sane.

Hoping you'll forgive me, here is one of the latest things my adorably awesome kid has been doing. Regularly, I might add. I seriously doubt anyone else's child does this and I couldn't be more proud.