Cute video of John playing ball with Daddy:
Twenty months is a fun age--a newly negative age with many behavioral challenges, but toddlers this age can be so darned cute. Here are some things John likes to do these days:
- Singing "no, no, no" all day, all over the house, in response to nothing.
- Having Mama count his fingers and toes. All I do is count them, "one, two, three, four, five!" in a sing-songy voice. Then he hands me another foot or hand and signs MORE.
- Having his daddy rub his ear, which makes John lie still limply and sign for MORE if Chris stops. I have tried to duplicate the special ear-rubbing, but it's just not the same.
- Wagon rides.
- Reading books all the time, to the exclusion of most toys.
- When daddy "steals his nose." We're surprised John is old enough to get the joke, but he thinks it is hilarious and asks for it again and again.
- Watching videos of babies (including himself).
I have a question for experienced moms: What do you do with your diaper changing table(s)? I have one upstairs in the nursery and one downstairs. The one upstairs is bureau-style with drawers where I store all my diapering supplies, although I actually change John on the bed now. I'm not using the downstairs one at all right now, but I remember those newborn days when the baby needs a dozen or more changes per day. I'm thinking it sure would be nice to have a secondary changing area on the ground floor so I don't always have to haul a newborn (and possibly two-year-old John) upstairs with me. But there's no good spot in this house for a changing table downstairs. I've heard that a lot of experienced moms end up getting rid of changing tables altogether, considering them big and clunky. My question is: Then where do you keep your diaper changing supplies? This question is especially for mothers who use cloth diapers, as we do.
We have a changer/dresser. For both babies, we've had it upstairs in either baby's "bedroom" or ours. It's my only station. Yes, I run up and down a fair amount during the day but I don't really mind it. It makes sense to me because then all our dirty diapers are stored in the same place (upstairs bathroom). I don't have to remember to empty several pails or to carry dirty diapers downstairs to a pail in the laundry room (where there really isn't space anyway), etc. Sometimes DS1 comes with baby and I and sometimes he stays downstairs. It's a quick trip and our playroom is toddler-proofed and he can't get outside, so I don't worry about leaving him for a minute.
ReplyDeleteI have a small caddy from Pottery Barn Kids. It holds what I need for at least a day before I need to refill it. I keep it near the sofa but in an obscure place so it isn't viewed by everyone. The dirty sack is in the bathroom.
ReplyDeleteashley
I have only one level now, so I go to my master bathroom every time. When I was in a 2 story house with a basement, I did all the changing on the first level where I spent most of my day. I would leave a couple of diapers/wipes in the upstairs bathroom for nighttime changes and just in case.
ReplyDeleteI would keep the bulk of your supplies where you expect to do the most changing (where you spend your day) and have a satellite station on one other floor. If your laundry room is downstairs, you can just keep a pail or bag in there, and store clean diapers somewhere downstairs (a box in the pantry?). That way it should be easy to remember to incorporate the dirty ones in the diaper washes. I would keep a roll-up changing pad in one of your kitchen desk drawers so you can be close enough to a sink to wet your wipes (i wet mine as needed) and just walk the dirty diaper to the laundry room pail when done. I say kitchen rather than bathroom b/c most bathrooms don't have counter space so you would have to get on the floor to change! Ugh. But if your downstairs bathroom has a nice counter by all means use that.
Changing tables are annoying to me not just b/c they get in the way and are usually single-purpose, but also don't forget, John is going to be even more of a curious toddler than he already is, and it is better to keep the supplies where he can't easily get to them rather than at a changing table where the underneath-shelves or drawers just beckon to him! Guess most moms have learned this the hard way and had a Desitin mess on our hands because we kept the diaper supplies within reach. :-)
well - ahem - our master is on the main, and *my* dresser was my secondary-main-floor-changing area. it worked out well :o)
ReplyDeleteHonestly I ditched the changing table after baby #1... the other 2 I just change on a waterproof pad on the floor and keep cloth diapers in a laundry basket :)
ReplyDeleteCourtney: Congratulations on the birth of your baby! I'd love for you to email me a photo. I don't even know if you had a boy or girl and when!
ReplyDeleteLadies: Thanks for your input. I remember when I was pregnant with John and asking mothers what equipment I truly needed, so many advised me not to bother with a changing table. Instead, I obtained two changing tables--both from moms getting rid of theirs because they didn't use them! As Sarah said, I increasingly dislike single-purpose items, be they furniture or toys or anything. I want general purpose, multi-use! We've decided to find a new home for our downstairs changing table and probably for the upstairs one too.
ReplyDelete