I love you (said to her mama).

Veronica had her 15-month pediatrician visit today. She has graduated to arm shots, so she now has two sore arms and one sore thigh to boot but that’s better than chickenpox, MMR or polio.

On the stats side, V weighed in at 19 pounds, 2 ounces. At her 12-month visit, she was 18 pounds, 10 ounces. At her 9-month visit, she was 17 pounds, 13 ounces. She dropped from the 32nd percentile to the 13th to the 4th. (I thought the doc said that she’d gained four ounces but I’m counting 8 ounces. Still not great, but better than I thought earlier.)

Her head size is in the 3rd percentile and she’s 30 inches long (37th percentile).

Apparently the cheese, whole milk, avocado and peanut butter we feed her is not keeping up with all her running, walking, stair-climbing, and Duplo-building. The doc said she may have Ted’s metabolism (which means she can eat everything in sight and not gain an ounce, and is entirely counterproductive at the moment).

This evening, I killed the grocery budget and purchased:

• almond butter
• cashew macadamia nut butter
• flaxseed oil (to add in very small doses to other foods)
• whole milk yogurt (which she rejected the last two times I tried, but we’re going to try again)
• every high-fat vegefood product I could find
• Carnation instant breakfast (Dr. Wren recommended this to double up her milk calories)
• H?agen-Dazs (highest fat ice cream I saw, in containers small enough I won’t be tempted to eat it)

Dr. Wren also said we need to wean her off the binky, so as of tonight, she’s sleeping binky-free. She still has her monkey, so she has something to cuddle with, and I’m hoping she’ll adjust quickly. (For the mental health of all in the house, tonight’s hour-long “I’m not tired, daddy” session should not be repeated long-term.)

I’ve been talking to a couple of other mothers in the area who are considering cloth diapering. We gave a little demonstration this evening (and Veronica was very patient and let me change her dry diaper multiple times with absolutely no complaint). Talking cost, these mothers indicated it costs $100 per month for disposables. For those of you who use disposables, does that seem about right? I’m curious what the range is, say depending on the brand or whether you buy in bulk at Costco.

When I first researched cloth diapers, I remember reading the debate over how much money you can really save with cloth since you have to pay for the water and electricity to wash them. With the $100 per month figure in mind, I went back over all the money I’ve spent on cloth diapers. Grand total: $400. And if I’d known exactly what I was looking for and done no experimentation, I could have done it with about $100-$150.

Of course, I love to experiment and there are always interesting new inserts for my bumGenius diapers to try (Hemp is my favorite). And I saved money because family members (you’re awesome, Krista) sent us some pockets (HappyHeiny’s) and a wool cover to boot.

So here’s the low down on cloth diapering, just because it’s on my mind.

I have 24 prefolds in the smaller size and now I have 21 in the larger size. I counted cost as well and I’ve spent under $400 on everything and we did a lot of experimenting. If you went for straight up prefolds, it would be about $50 for the refolds (that’s 24 of the premium 4 x 8 x 4 on NickisDiapers) and then about $12 per cover (I’d recommend having 4). And I’d get 3-4 Snappis just to keep around (diaper bag, etc.). So that’s about $100 altogether.

For starters, go with the “Try It” Kit: $34.89 for 6 prefolds, 2 covers and one Snappi.?Then you can buy extras depending on what you like.

The BGs are $17.95 each. You can always try one and see if you like it. (There is a 30-day guarantee.) ?I found mine on sale.

Cloth diaper FAQ on Cotton Babies:

Washing Instructions:

Detergents: I use Country Save.?You won’t need as much detergent when you wash cloth diapers. Use about half of the normal amount. I use a front loader HE washer, so I use a quarter of the usual amount.

If you want to go the pocket route (BumGenius) and want something extra absorbent for inserts, try these. hemp inserts. There are three sizes; this is the middle one. I have all three sizes and use them for stuffing and even as a stand-alone prefold-style diaper with a cover.

Covers: The try it kit comes with two Bummis Whisper Wraps (which I have and love). Here’s another Bummis cover I like (it has an extra leg gusset so if you have blowouts, this provides a little extra coverage around the legs, too).

If throwing the poopy diapers straight in the wash grosses you out, you can buy liners to go inside the diaper. They’re biodegradable, so you can just pick up the liner and the poopy, flush it down the toilet and the ick factor is reduced. I bought some liners but haven’t used them since the very beginning, when they weren’t necessary. Here are some liner options. (I have the Imse Vimse, which I don’t recommend.)

Update: If you’re looking for a way to transport your dirty cloth diapers while you’re out running errands, check out these bags. Not only can you use them for dirty diapers, you can also use them for wet towels and swimwear (though probably not at the same time as the diapers). We have a medium size bag and a large one. They keep odor down but don’t cut it completely. In a pinch, you can use a regular plastic bag like a grocery sack, though they trap odors so I wouldn’t recommend reusing the same bag for multiple diapers.

In the nursery, we use a dry pail to store dirty diapers between washes. I recommend a regular trash can with a lid (if it has a handy foot pedal for ?easy opening, that would be even better). We have the Diaper Champ, but the cloth diapers are just big enough that they get caught in the handy-dandy turn mechanism, so I usually have to open the diaper pail to stuff the diaper in anyway.

If you have a particularly special poopy diaper and you don’t want to toss it in the pail or the wash that way, you can get a sprayer that attaches to the toilet to hose down the yuck and flush it away. Or you can go old school and swish it in the toilet to get rid of the mess.

Took Veronica to her 1-year pediatrician visit today.

The big news of the day: her head size is now smaller than 99% of other babies at her age. Seriously, she is in the 1st percentile for head circumference. Since she’s actually above average on her babbling, number of words, and superhero skills (she can after, use her blades, claws, fangs to obliterate her foes and she has leap/climb on her dial as well), the doctor says that’s OK.

She’s in the 64th percentile for length at 29.5 inches.

Her weight has increased less than a pound since her 9-month visit to 18 pounds, 10 ounces, the 13th percentile. Doctor said that her weight is still fine, but I stocked up on whole milk yogurt, cheese and whole milk at the store tonight so that we can get her some good, fatty brain food that will also give her a little extra padding. All that crawling and cruising has turned her chubby thighs and arms into slender muscle.

Finally, Dr. Wren said she’s working on four teeth: molars. That explains the extra teething crankiness.

In other Veronica news, she’s spending more time “walking” with help. She still lasts only about three steps on her own before the inevitable crash. Her cheek is still sporting an ugly bruise from her crash into her drum on Sunday.

A quick update:

Got to see three adorable munchkins this weekend. They’re growing up so quickly!

Veronica is fascinated by the snow that’s covering our world at the moment.

We have no heat in our car (despite the heroic efforts of a Matt and a Walter in the below freezing temperatures.) We do, however, have an appointment at the mechanic Tuesday morning. I voted for a new car today instead. I was vetoed. (I thought the budget committee was the only one with veto power, but apparently I was wrong.)

I made delicious chocolate chip scones tonight. I’m definitely going to repeat the experience.

We have finished the Christmas shopping.

I have to go back to work tomorrow.

Vacations always disappear too quickly.

It’s past my bedtime.

Thanksgiving day highlights:

Sleep in (thank you to the husband, who played with V when she woke up before 6 a.m.)

Eat a lazy breakfast (waffles!)

Play with Veronica while Ted takes a nap

Go to parents’ and eat lots and lots of yummy food (stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, apple pie, pumpkin roll, yum) with family and lots of grandparents

Video chat with in-laws

Take V home when she gets overtired from all the excitement

Relaxing evening: husband listing items on ebay, I unboxing winter clothes I haven’t seen in 22-ish months. It’s like a whole new wardrobe.

I am thankful for my family: husband, baby girl, Percy cat.

Friday night: friends, food and games. Need I say more?

Sabbath: got to see my stepbrother, his wife (who made awesome Thai food) and my stepsister. Also, went to the park with Burtmiah and his adorable daughters. Saturday night, I went hot tubbing with the husband.

Sunday: Slept in until 8 a.m. Ate waffles, took V to Petco to look at the animals (and got Percy an awesome raised X-shaped cat scratcher). Husband grilled us burgers for lunch, then I raked leaves and we headed for the park with V. Hung out with Brooke, Mike and Madeline and got a (decaf) mocha at the Patisserie to boot. (OK, so I stole some of the spouse’s gelato, too.) After that, scored two pairs of shoes for me and a sweater for V at Goodwill.

All in all, an awesome weekend, though it would be even more awesome if I had tomorrow off work so we could spend another day hanging out, going for walks, and building block towers for the baby girl to knock down.

Awake far too early. V woke up an hour ago and refused to go back to sleep without some mama time. It’s still amazing to me sometimes, lying next to her, listening to her breathing, feeling her reach out to touch my face in her sleep, that this beautiful little girl is all mine. (I guess I do have to share her with her daddy and all her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, but I think I can do that.)

Dedicating Veronica today: University Church, 9:30 a.m.

Since Veronica has officially outgrown all her 6-month pajamas, we went shopping tonight for some new ones. And once again I was reminded of the awesomeness of the Ted. Proof positive that he is an amazing dad: he likes shopping for clothes for his daughter.

We hit Shopko and he scoped out the hoodies with Veronica (though, yes, technically, we were shopping for pj’s). We didn’t find pajamas, but somehow ended up with a couple of dinosaur onesies with matching shorts; then we went to the only other store still in the wreck of a mall: Sears. And there dithered for several minutes over which pajamas to get. The end result: dinosaurs, duckies and monkeys. (There was quite a discussion over the frog ones, but we ended up with the monkeys.)

The whole fashion side of this expedition is somewhat superfluous since we’re the only one to see her in her pajamas. But the spouse has a solution: pictures. Always the pictures. But I’m OK with lots of pictures of V.

Now we just have to find her a life jacket before we head to the river for boating this weekend. Any suggestions? We’ve tried kmart, Shopko and Big5. No one has the size 1 infant jacket in stock.

Tomorrow: V goes to her first swimming class at the Y. Ted has an underwater camera to capture all the action.