Tomorrow Madelyn will be four months old. Last Friday she got her second round of immunizations, measurements, etc. She weighs 15.3 lbs and is 26 1/4" long. That’s 90th and 97th percentile, respectively—quite a big girl!
Madelyn is now rolling over from her stomach to her back, pushing herself up, making serious attempts to crawl, and investigating everything she can touch by cramming it in her mouth. Soon the babyproofing shall begin. She’s not sleeping as much as she used to during the night, because she’s waking up fairly often to nurse. Watch me grow! Thankfully, Madelyn remains very even-tempered, quick to laugh and seldom cries for longer than a few minutes. She loves to look at books, play peek-a-boo, and snuggle with us.
We’ve been very lucky to get a lot of hand-me-down stuff—cloth diapers, a crib, a baby backpack, and other things. Obviously, this saves us a few bucks, but I’m also glad we’re breaking the buy-and-trash cycle. (Using cloth diapers and wipes alone prevents a mountain of waste.) And we’ve already taken two packages of diapers and clothes Madelyn has outgrown to some friends who just had a baby.
Soon it will be warm enough, and Madelyn will be big enough, for me to push her out in the boonies on long runs. That should be fun, although I’ll have to get creative about diaper changes…
Can we trade babies? Just kidding (mostly)! Glad to hear everything continues to go well. I wish you, Erin and Madelyn continued peace, love, and fun!
Hey Brad, you may want to check out freecycle.org. It’s a free stuff exchange mb or mailing list for the people in your town. Great way to find new homes for odds and ends and, who knows, you might find something for yourself.
We have a freecycle thingee here, but it’s not very active. The university has a bulletin board which is very well used and does similar stuff. And we’re such a small town, that word just gets around. For example, a friend heard I was doing window replacement, and he told a friend who was renovating an old house, and pow, I’ve found a home for the 16 sashes and 8 storm windows I no longer need.
The funniest thing, though, is the twice-a-year “throw anything out” week. Folks really do it with reuse in mind, covering the stuff they put out with tarps so it won’t get wet, etc. Last year I helped a lady load up a bunch of pots I was getting rid of; she told me she makes about $500 a month selling crap she picks out of the trash.
I put out a ton of stuff last year, most left from the previous occupants of our house. By the time the trash dudes actually showed up, only actual trash (broken stuff, old paint, etc) was left.
http://www.garbagescout.com/
One man’s trash is another man’s web 2.0 mashup.
That’s how I got my microwave, my two “lawn” chairs. Myfurniture was given, and my bed was here in my trailer when I moved in, and I figured I’m not too good to sleep on a dorm bed, NOR a bed used by someone that isn’t a college student. Might have gotten LESS nasties! LOL!!!