Friday update

Today, the CEO of my company decided to give all employees the afternoon off - which means a very light work day for me, and the chance to actually enjoy both of LW's naps instead of having to work through them. And the weather is even beautiful, to boot!

A few things that I've found or been pondering lately:

1)  We've officially, I think, found a laundry detergent that I like - eco-friendly, no enzymes or brighteners or dyes or things bad for us or the environment, and gosh, it actually *works* as well:  Planet.  We tried soap nuts, and they did an ok job getting smells out of clothing, but just didn't have the cleaning power for things like food stains or my husband's work socks (that he wears to the cemetery, and somehow grinds copious amounts of dirt into - literally - they come home brown instead of white).  But I actually think Planet works better than Tide, and leaves no residue - everything is just soft and *clean*.  So we'll see how it performs in the future, but for now it's working good.  I'm really happy because I was desperate to find one thing that would work on all our laundry, from work clothes, to baby clothes, to cloth diapers.

2)  On the subject of cloth diapers:  the BumGenius report!  So far, I really, really like them.  They fit well, are soft, really do a fairly decent (though not 100%) job of wicking away moisture, and are really easy to clean (especially with the diaper sprayer that we bought back in the beginning and haven't gotten to really use due to the rash saga).  However - LW's bottom hasn't seemed to like them as well as I have; she had a rash starting after the first day.  I should note that we only bought three to try, so I've been washing them once or twice a day to be able to keep her in them as a trial, and then using a disposable at night.

3)  But!  I think I may have stumbled on a rash solution!  I am really excited about this, because it seems to actually be working, the first thing that has made any dent in the rash while she's in cloth, and it's such a silly and cheap solution.  I bought a $4 bottle of acidophilus capsules at the grocery store, and split one open, mix with some breastmilk to form a paste, and put that on at each diaper change.  The redness, so far, seems to be disappearing...  if this actually works, it confirms my suspicion that she actually had an underlying yeast overgrowth going on, which the cloth diapers caused to flare.  In which case, it would be good to get it cleared up and her skin back into balance, rather than using the sposies just to keep it at bay.  For now though, only time will tell.  I'm cautiously optimistic that maybe, just maybe, I've found the answer, but I've been thwarted enough times on this journey to know that there's a huge possibility of this strategy failing as well.  Still, it's the first glimmer of hope we've had in cloth diapering land since we started the whole process.  Plus, the BG's are just too darn nice to not be able to use!

4)  I'm reading an awesome book that my mom dropped off for me, which many of you would probably like as well: Radical Homemakers, by Shannon Hayes.  It's a really uplifting, thoughtful read, and makes you think about (and want to put into action) a lot of her suggestions for changing our lives and communities.  I'm also finding it a great antidote for those moments when I'm tempted to try and keep up with the Joneses.  She really stresses the idea, which I've found very true lately, that happiness isn't found in things, but in people, community, ideas, abilities, productive work, etc.  I also really like her take on self-sufficiency versus community - that we shouldn't strive to be self-sufficient in ourselves (i.e. as isolated persons or nuclear families, trying to go it all on our own in defiance and separation from the world), but rather seek to make our communities self-sufficient, so that neighbor helps neighbor, and the community as a whole can be more self-reliant, and thus less reliant on corporations, etc.  This idea answers a need that I've felt for a long time, to be more a part of an actual neighborhood and community; I really dislike the isolation of living in a house surrounded by other houses, but never getting to know your neighbors as people.  Yet I've found it hard to overcome that prevailing model... so often, my neighbors have seemed to simply not want to be known.

Not too much else going on in my brain at the moment, and LW will wake up soon, so happy Friday everyone!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.