Rainbow Rocker

I finished my first full on punked-out sock monkey today. I'm calling him my "Rainbow Rocker."

To date, he's been my test monkey for things like embroidering techniques, how to make a guitar, how to give a monkey a mohawk, best methods for piercings, and other such fun.

What I've learned. Embroidered silver studs don't show up well on gray, the crocheted black hoop (in the hidden ear) looks more dramatic, I want to put something rigid in the guitar next time, and I was going about the embroidering all wrong. Subsequent punkies will reflect these changes. Nonetheless, I'm really quite pleased with the way he turned out, and I am going to miss him when he finds his new home, but I suspect it'll be a good home.

Any other suggestions on what I should do different in the future, or is he just too cute the way he is?

Lullaby for the Geekling.

Hush little baby, don't you cry, mama's gonna sing you a lullaby,

and if that lullaby's off key, mama's gonna make you a Sock Monkey,

and if that monkey falls apart, mama's gonna give you a Candy Heart,

and if that candy hurts your tooth, mama's gonna give you a Blue Phone Booth,

and if that booth goes back in time, mama's gonna start over with her rhyme.

Hush little baby, don't you cry, mama's gonna sing you a lullaby,

and if that lullaby's off key, mama's gonna make you a Sock Monkey,

and if that monkey falls apart, mama's gonna give you a Candy Heart,

and if that candy hurts your tooth, mama's gonna give you a Blue Phone Booth,

and if that booth flies off to space, mama's gonna give you kissy face.

The Great Fluffy Review: Apple Cheeks!

First off, I want to apologize. This picture doesn't do the cuteness justice. I had grandiose plans of a photoshoot with my mother, who is quite talented at staging for pictures and that whole camera angle thing, but she was sick, and so I decided to go with what I could do at home.

Secondly, I must apologize that I know you're looking at the Raspberry Sorbet cuteness on Snapdragon's hiney and thinking "why didn't I think to put my son in Raspberry Sorbet?" Face it, Raspberry Sorbet is the new blue. Don't believe me? Too bad. It is. I've been saying it for months.

This is our second Apple Cheeks Diaper. This summer I got a really cute blue one in their size 1. This is size 2. Sadly, Snapdragon rapidly outgrew the first diaper, and so I was really excited to have a chance to review this one.

Apple Cheeks are more or less a pocket diaper system, but also are intended to be happily used as a shell, because Apple Cheeks forgo the drying and unpleasant to touch microfiber and utilize bamboo and hemp inserts. They have two rows of adjustable snap closures, front snapping, on a layer of waterproof PUL lined polyester outer, with a soft microfleece lining. I like the inserts they use because they are two layers which are then tri-folded to fit in the dipe, so if you are hang drying, they're comparable to a prefold in terms of time. The diaper we were sent to review also came with a booster, which was very convenient since Snapdragon does this whole early morning fire hose peeing routine that leaks out of most of his pocket diapers.

I prefer to use our Apple Cheeks like a cover to using as a pocket, because then I can get about three changes out of it (barring poo-tastrophes) before having to switch to another diaper altogether. This means that I can use all of my Apple Cheeks inserts, or I can use some of my copious prefold stash with it, and still have the cuteness.

The Great:

Did I mention the cuteness?

The diapers are cute on baby, and the colors have great names, like "Mrs. Robinson" which is just such a fun blue.

I love the fit. While snapdragon *did* outgrow the size one before hitting the end of the weight recommendations, I am going to also point out that he inherited my thighs of chunkitude. Now, the size two is just perfect for him. It has elastic in the waist as well as in the legs, so the fit is more snug and less likely to let earlier mentioned poo-tastrophes wreck your day by having them coming out the legs or top of the diaper. Also, the leg elastic doesn't leave gaps for leaks the way some of my other diapers do.

They're dang absorbent. This is yet another diaper I trust to put Snapdragon in and hand him to someone well dressed. Would I let a bride hold him in her wedding gown in this diaper? Yes. I would. Even a bride I like.

The troubleshooting and laundry explanation goodness. Apple Cheeks does a great job of answering those questions that some of us cloth diapering moms have been known to lay awake during naptime pondering. Their FAQ and Care Instruction pages are quite thorough.

Still have questions about their products after reading there? Apple Cheeks' founder woman of niceness, Ilana Grostern, is often on Twitter, where she can answer your questions or just talk fluff or motherhood for a while. The accessibility of the people behind the product means a lot to me, because I know if I have a question or run into a problem, I'm not going to be let trying to guess my way through an issue. Apple Cheeks is also on Facebook. (She has some great recipes, for the record.)

The Good:

I think I already mentioned they wash up easy and the inserts dry faster than most, right? Well, they do. The pocket for stuffing them is in the middle and feels roomier than your average pocket diaper, and I like that it's easy to stuff.

As a two size system, Apple Cheeks don't have you running to get the next size up as often as traditional sizing systems which can involve new investments for newborn, small, medium, and large diapers. Half the reinvestment for the win!

Apple Cheeks are designed and manufactured in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This would qualify as a GREAT, except, you know, I'm all from the US, so made in Canada is only my second favorite thing to read on a tag.

The Not So Good:

I am a queen of multi-tasking and I like it when I can use my diapers as many ways as possible. The shells just aren't quite big enough to use as a cover over a fitted. I know, they're not intended to be covers, but it's always a nice bonus when they can be.

Pictured: Apple Cheeks size two shell on top of an AMP OS Duo.

See in the middle of the bottom row? That was our lovely Mrs. Robinson size 1. It has gone to live with another family who needed it more after Snapdragon outgrew it.

Bottom line: I do like this diaper. It fits trimly, holds the wet in, and is easy to use.

Want one?

Apple Cheeks diapers are available all over, but you can buy them from Apple Cheeks, located in Canada, but more than happy to ship to where you are. Apple Cheeks offers flat rate shipping, so feel free to order more than one.

Apple Cheeks sent me one diaper for free so that I could review it. I have not been otherwise compensated for this review. My opinions remain my own.

Pink Saturday: Goofing Off

Lately I've been busing Monkeying Around instead of blogging. Some people might even call this "goofing off." But I promise, more diaper reviews and quasi-deep posts on babies, sustainability, parenting, and the like are not far off.

For more Pink Saturday (and less having someone stick their tongue out at you) check out Beverly's Pink Saturday. There are always some of the prettiest pictures linked up!

The Great Fluffy Review: Kissaluvs Marvel

I still remember the day we got our first fitted, this Kissaluvs Marvel in the mail. My very first thought was that it was too cute for words, and my second thought was that the soft fuzzy layer against Snadragon's skin was quite soft, and I liked that.

My third thought was "gee, that's a heck of a lot of snaps."

The Kissaluvs Marvel has a line of female snaps on the inside and the outside of the diaper across the top of the front. That way you can fold it down and use the inside ones to fasten it to the male snaps on the wings to make it smaller. This is a really easy and convenient way to make the diaper smaller for a smaller baby. This only works because it is a fitted and requires another cover to go over it, and is the same method of size adjustment used by Goodmama diapers.

You did catch that, it's a fitted. It needs a cover.

Because this is a fitted diaper, we almost never used it for a while, because the only diaper covers I had were the Gerber plastic pants and I hate the red lines they leave on Snapdragon's legs. That, and they're noisy. However, we later got a large FuzziBunz pocket diaper, and it fit over the Marvel quite marvelously, so I could then find out if I really loved this diaper or not. I also found that the AMP Duo one size pocket diaper shell also fit well as a cover for this diaper. The GroBaby shells (of the current production run, not the first production run) also do a passable job as functioning as a cover, and WonderWraps (actual covers) make covering Marvels easy peasy.

The Good:

Absorbant as all get out. I trust our Kissaluvs Marvels when we go out and about and for overnight. We now have two of them.

Adjustable. It has grown with Snapdragon since he was a little bitty 14 or 15 lb baby (above) to the hulking 21lb behemoth he is today without any sign of being too small.

They're cute. They come in three prints of absolute "I want-itude."

You can put this on your baby without a cover for a while around the house for extra baby bottom air circulation.

The Mediocre:

I sew, so I am, at times, a seam-snob. There were some loose threads on the one pictured above, which just seemed a little lackluster. Nothing wrong with the diaper, and I trimmed them off without any trouble, but it wasn't perfection.

They take a long time to dry if you're hang drying them. Yes, that's the nature of a fitted, but they take longer than all my other fitteds. This is because they are a one piece fitted, with no snapping in (like ES Baby or Goodmama) absorbency, or lay in layers (like Nifty Nappy). Because the one piece-ness is convenient though, I'll call it a wash.

The Not So Good.

I am not in love with the snap layout. Because the snaps on the wings are male and set precisely the way they are, if your baby's thighs are uber chunky and your spouse is putting the diaper on baby, there is a very good chance that one of those male snaps will end up not getting fastened, but rather pressing into baby's soft hip flesh. You know, the soft hip flesh that's against your leg when you're nursing him, or that he sleeps on? So I find I have to be extra careful about those snaps, and not leaving this style of diaper out for daddy changes (however few they may be.)

Point the second- I am not in love with the snap layout. Because the line of snaps across the top has female snaps on the inside and outside to allow for simple adjustment, it means baby is liable to have a funny pattern on his belly when I take this diaper off (which doesn't bother me, but is weird) or if I fold it down to make it smaller, it creates a lot of bulk that I can't imagine being particularly comfortable for tummy time.

I'm not saying the snap layout is bad, just that it hasn't been my favorite.

The bottom line: I like these for going out, I trust them not to leak. They don't build up stench like microfiber diapers do, but they are not my absolute favorite.

Kissaluvs Marvels run about $25, so they are a little pricier than some OS fitteds, but not outrageously priced.

Disclosure- I was not compensated in any manner for this review. Should someone want to compensate me though, feel free. :-) All snark expressed in this review is my unbought opinion.

Wordless Wednesday: Sock Punky!

Wordless Wednesday

Sock Punky!!!

Pink Saturday: Love

The best Valentine, for me, is spending cuddly time with the people who mean the most to me, and some of them come in small, pink, and paisley packages.

If you haven't noticed, I LOVE babywearing.

In this case, Snapdragon and I are snuggling up in our Bohemian Bubblegum Mei Tai. I only mention the name of the Mei Tai, because I named it, and that makes me giggly happy.

Happy Valentine's Day

For more Pink Saturday, head on over to How Sweet The Sound.

Wordless Wednesday: Elephant Rider

Wordless Wednesday

for your own punky Pachyderm.

In Just Nine Months

Dear Snapdragon,

It seems like only yesterday I was staring at your sweet and tiny face, and wondering just who you would be. I was counting the little white spots on your nose and inwardly giggling that you came into this world red, screaming, and covered in blemishes and I couldn't remember seeing anything quite so beautiful in my life.

But it wasn't yesterday. It was just over nine months ago. And now, well, now you've grown so much. You're over twice the baby you were then. You've put on over 12 pounds, and sprouted up over 8 inches. You're eating fruits and vegetables, and pulling my breast to you in the night when you want to nurse. The days of coaxing your sweet little mouth open as wide as possible in the hopes of a decent latch are long since gone. Now you've mastered the art of nursing and have moved on to trying to master giggling while nursing.

In just nine months, you've changed so much. You say "mama" and "dada" and "mamamamama" and "da!" and "nom nom." You squeal with delight when you see cats, you wave "bye bye" and pat my breast to make the milk flow faster, just like you pat the table when you want more "nom noms." Now, you reach for me when you want me to hold you. You scoot backwards across the room. You sit up and play with toys. You clap and patty cake.

Every day I am amazed at how you think and learn and grow and do.

I love you, Snapdragon, and I wouldn't change a moment of the last 9 months of nursing you and cuddling you, and nourishing your growth.

Love,

Mommy