Another Memory for the Baby Book

Well, a little over a week ago, Samson's long, wispy baby hair, a.k.a. the sweetest mullet I have ever seen, has officially been trimmed up into a toddler hair cut. My sister-in-law, Ravelle, had the honor of attempting to trim the locks of a squirmy one year old, while simultaneously trying not to gouge his eye with the pointy end of her shears. Sounds like fun right? We started out by giving him a food pouch, which actually worked really well for about 30 seconds until he had sucked it all down. After that it was a lot of coaxing and trying to get him to watch Sesame Street on my phone until I realized I knew exactly what he would hold still for. Adam Levine. He is my child after all. So, I turned on the music video for Maroon 5-Sugar and he got in the hair cut zone. Hallelujah! I'll try to start with that one next time.

I did my best to take pictures, but Samson won't hold still for anything these days. His hair cut was so cute, I had forgotten all about how I cried at just the thought of cutting it the night before. How did he  grow up so fast?! It's amazing to me how I spent so much time memorizing every detail of him as a new baby and he's grown and changed so quickly, yet so subtly over the past year, now suddenly before me is a little boy. I swear my heart gets bigger every single day.

Favorites : Ten - Twelve

I've been meaning to post this for quite some time.. but I've officially got the first year of baby favorites covered now. 

Ubbi Tweat Snack Container - How cute is this snack container? It has a flip top lid that is easy for Samson to open, but stays shut in the diaper bag. Inside it has a removable ring of soft flaps (similar to other snack cups) that keep snacks in and Cash's nose out.

Imaginarium Stacking Rings - We got this wooden stacking ring toy for Samson for Christmas and he plays with it every day. I've had a lot of fun finding wooden alternatives to plastic toys. The bright colored rings are the perfect size for little hands. Samson loves to carry them around and stack them up.

Plan Toys Walker - Another awesome wooden toy alternative that we have found. Samson's favorite thing about this Van walker is the space for storing all his toys (future shopping cart lover here.) You can adjust the tension of the wheels and the height of the handle to accommodate your kiddos abilities.  Plan Toys is an awesome company that practices world class sustainability that you can read about here.

Boon Creatures Bath Toys - Boon makes the best bath toys! These are colorful, fun to stack,  and have fun holes that pour out water. They dry out easily, which makes them a breeze to keep clean. 

That's Not My Panda - These touch-and-feel Useborn books are still some of Samson's favorites. Samson's Great-Grandma G supplies him with these books that he loves so much. 

Old Navy Flannel Shirt - Good grief, there is nothing more cute than seeing your baby dress up like a little man. Aaron wears flannel shirts all the time and it was due time that Samson got one of his own. We got this one for him a few months ago for our family pictures and it's on sale now!

Old Navy Trapper Hat - We got this hat for Samson back in October and we love it. I mean, it's adorable. He looks like a little lumbar jack when he wears it (and it happened to work perfectly for his Halloween costume). It's one of our favorite hats because the chin strap helps keep it firmly on his head on a cold, blustery day. Also on sale now!

Playtex Sippy Cups - These were one of the first hard spout sippy cups that we purchased for Samson. I know that professionals recommend you give your baby straw cups or regular cups since sippy cups require the same sucking action as nursing from a bottle. However, you can't beat the leak-proof quality and ease of cleaning that these sippy cups allow. We save straws and regular cups for meal times and pack these sippy cups in the diaper bag etc. These are SO easy to clean with just one silicone valve and a one piece lid. These are some of the more leak-proof sippy cups we have.

Cloth Diapers : What We Really Think

Samson was about 8 weeks old, when I got brave and decided to snap on one of the cloth diapers.  We've been using cloth diapers for quite some time now and we've learned a lot along the way. People often ask me if we still use cloth diapers or they act shocked that we are still using them (often with heavily cynical voices). Bottom line: we love it or we're crazy enough to not hate it. Second bottom line: we aren't quite all in, but we're committed to what works for us. Third bottom line: we are saving loads of money.

Diaper Choice : Charlie Banana One Size Pocket Diapers. Two thumbs up. The fit is great, the style is great, they come with two sizes of inserts, the elastic on the back holds in all the poop. Zero blow outs so far... but never say never. (We've had several blow-outs in disposables). I definitely recommend them. We have 19 diapers, which cost us $215 out of pocket. I can't even begin to stress how good of a deal that is... $215 for the diapers Samson will wear for 2+ years! I'm thinking about investing in some new inserts though (not in love with microfiber, what do YOU use? Please let me know!)

Diaper Pail/Bags : At home, we keep a regular lidded trash can in the bathroom next to Samson's room with the diaper sprayer. Holds in smells okay, keeps the grossness contained & is very easy to clean. On the go, we use Planet Wise and Itzy Rizy wet bags. Both hold in smells and grossness exceptionally well. I've stashed a massively dirty diaper in the diaper bag after a mid-church diaper change and no-one was the wiser. Impressed.

Diaper Sprayer : Bumkins cloth diaper sprayer. Do you need one? Yes No. Should you get one? Yes. Definitely yes. I jumped the gun on using the cloth diapers before we actually got the sprayer installed. So for a while we dunked and swished. Honestly, it wasn't that bad, but considering that we had a sprayer just anxiously waiting to fulfill it's poop cleansing purpose, it was kind of undesirable. The spray is adjustable and easy to control. I feel like the diapers and inserts get clean much easier with a little pre-rinse.

Detergent : We started out with a bag of Rockin' Green courtesy of my cousin Jess. I ran out before I had re-ordered so I did some quick research to find an inexpensive cloth diaper safe detergent in-store near me. I bought a huge jug of ECOS Free & Clear laundry detergent from Target. I'm smitten. I use it on diapers and all of our clothes. I love that it's liquid, which for whatever reason is more appealing to me.

Wash Routine : For reference, we have this washer and this dryer, which I highly recommend. Also, I do a cycle with HOT water which isn't recommended for Charlie Banana diapers. However, ensuring that my diapers are clean with as few chemicals as possible is more important to me than voiding a warranty, so make sure you educate yourself on your own particular brand of diapers before you commit to any routine.

It took a lot of trial and error to get to this point. This is about 2 hours worth of washing and 1 hour of drying. It might seem like a lot of water, but keep in mind we have an energy efficient machine. We haven't noticed any change in our water bill because we are still using well below the minimum usage fee.

1. Rinse with Aqua Jet - Cold Water
2. Quick Wash - Heavy - Hot Water -  Line 1 ECOS Free & Clear
3. Normal Cycle - Heavy - Warm Water - Line 1 ECOS Free & Clear - 2 T OxiClean Free & Clear
4. Rinse with Aqua Jet - Cold Water
5. Timed dry - Very Low - 60 minutes, or we line dry outside when the weather is nice.

Disposables : Yep, still use them. I always have some in the diaper bag and in the back of the car. I try to pack one cloth diaper in the diaper bag, but if we are out for an extended period of time, I prefer not to carry around a bag of dirty diapers. To each his own. We use disposable diapers every night and we still using disposable wipes every diaper change. If I had to estimate we use about 2 disposable diapers a day...we use The Honest Co. diapers and wipes, and love them. I highly recommend their products and their subscription service. As a busy mom, there is nothing better. They send reminder emails to select diaper designs and adjust your delivery date as necessary. You can adjust your delivery rate (more often or less often) and a sales rep for The Honest Co, says they can even split your bundle if you think your baby is in between sizes (or uses larger diapers at night for more absorbency.) Here is my referral code for The Honest Co. if you decide to give one of their bundles a try!

Overall, we are happy with our choice. Cloth diapering wasn't even on my radar until I was pregnant and observing the mommas around me. And cloth diapering wasn't on Aaron's radar until I told him we should cloth diaper Samson. There are some days I feel a little crazy but, it feels good to spend less on monthly expenses, to produce less waste, to put something gentle on my baby's skin, and to pat that cute fluffy cloth diaper bum.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every time I make my chocolate chip cookies, someone asks for the recipe. I most recently made these to take to some of our friends and a few our neighbors and realized that this would be a great recipe to share. Now I'm not promising that this is an Emily West original, but I also can't remember where this particular recipe came from, because I don't have a written recipe that I follow. It's one of my favorites that I just keep tucked in my mind. Also, I can ensure you that this is full of gluten and dairy and sugar, because that's what good things in life are made from. While I'm definitely no food blogger, this is a recipe I feel confident sharing because I know you will love it and I know that you'll probably never want a regular chocolate chip cookie again. 

Brown Butter Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs

1 heaping cup milk chocolate chips

1 heaping cup dark chocolate chips (I use Private Selection dark chocolate chunks)

Sea Salt for topping

First, you need to brown the butter. This is the most important part. Don't screw it up. If you don't know how to brown butter, this video is helpful. After you brown the butter, pour it into a bowl to cool. Use a rubber scraper to get all the brown flecks out of the pan into the bowl (that's the best part.) Don't proceed with mixing until the butter is no longer hot to the touch.

While waiting for the butter to cool, I typically measure and sift my flour, baking soda and salt and set aside in a bowl. Then I measure out my chocolate chips and set them aside in a separate bowl. Finally, I measure the sugars and vanilla extract into my stand mixer bowl so I'm ready to go when the butter is cool. It makes a few extra dirty dishes, but it does make the cookie dough making efficient.

Once the butter is no longer hot, pour it into mixing bowl with the sugars and vanilla extract, using a rubber scraper to transfer all of the brown flecks. Mix on low speed until combined. Next, add the eggs. Then, slowly add the dry ingredients. Once the dough is thoroughly combined, add the chocolate pieces. I recommend doing this by hand to prevent the chocolate from breaking. Cover and freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate for 1+ hours.

After the dough has been chilled, preheat the oven to 375˚, scoop the dough into balls and place on to cookie sheet. The bigger the better, in my opinion. Bake for 8-11 minutes, to your liking. I always err on the side of less done, because the cookies will continue to cook a bit on the baking sheet after removed them from the oven. Just before transferring cookies to a cooling rack, sprinkle with sea salt. 

Samson : 1 year

Age : 1 year ... the fastest 12 months of my life, which is why I always have had trouble getting to these monthly updates in time. I'm not kidding guys, I'm pretty sure I've got gray hairs now. #motherhood

Height : 32" ... maybe? Samson hasn't his 13 month appointment yet, so this isn't official by any means. 

Weight : 24 lbs. Future football player, for sure. 

Clothes : 12-18 months, size 5 shoes

Diapers : Charlie Banana Cloth (Size M), Honest Diapers Size 4.

Eating : Table food and whole milk. No more bottles for this guy. We started dropping bottles as soon as he turned one and transitioned off of them pretty quickly. The last (and hardest) bottle to eliminate was the mid-afternoon one, but Samson must have decided one day that milk from a straw cup was good enough & that was that.

Sleeping : Not the greatest. We got used to Samson putting himself to sleep and soothing himself back to sleep if he woke in the middle of the night. Everything changed when tooth #1 arrived. We worked really hard to get Samson back to sleeping through the night, then tooth #2 came and messed things up again. But, he slept 7p-7a last night, so I can't seem to find any reason to complain today ;)

Pacifiers/Soothies : Still relying on MAM pacifiers and I'm not sure that any of us are willing to give those up anytime soon. He loves his mint blankie, but has recently started preferring the throw blanket we keep on the glider in his nursery, which is way too big for him to sleep through the night with. 

Milestones : 1st tooth and 2nd tooth came about 1 month apart. Tooth #1 came the same day Samson started walking (just after 11 months) and the 2nd came about a week after his birthday. Walking and/or running. Baby headstands. Can "play" the kazoo and recorder (thanks Grandma & Grandpa West). First Christmas and first birthday just weeks apart meant lots of opening presents. 

Likes : Chasing Cash, playing fetch with Cash, snuggling in between momma & daddy, watching music videos (specifically Maroon 5-Sugar and Bruno Mars-Uptown Funk), helping daddy play guitar, clapping, making noise with the kazoo and recorder, walking everywhere, hugs (the BEST hugger), applesauce, black beans and most importantly crackers.

Dislikes : Diaper changes. Getting HANGRY. Skipping nap time.

Disclaimer : Getting this one done with just days to spare before Samson is 13 months. It is next to impossible to get pictures of Samson (sitting still, without a pacifier) now that he is walking, so I've had to give up on that cute monthly montage, but I'll fill the void with a few action shots!

Last picture before his birthday!

First picture as a one year old!