Sweet Cheeks Covered in Cloth

PookaPants cloth diapers are sew easy to use and care for, you’ll start to wonder why everyone doesn’t jump on the cloth bandwagon!  I prewash the fabrics before the sewing process begins, and I live in a smoke/ pet free home; however, I recommend pre-washing them yourself before use.  They can be handled in the shop a few times before they reach your sweet baby.

Step 1:  Place baby in diaper, adjusting snaps or velcro to give your growing baby that perfect fit.

Step 2:  Cover with a pair of lanolized Wool-Agains soaker, longies, or footies.  Other conventional diaper covers will also fit over Pookapants.  (We’ve tried them all!  We just love the look and feel of cozy wool!!)

What to do when it’s time for a change?  Keep your diapers in a bin until laundry time.  We use a regular old 5 gallon bucket with a lid.  (Hardware store, $5 investment.  A bit rugged, but we’re happy with it.) No need to add water or any other liquids to the bucket.  If you must add something to keep that ammonia smell down, I’d recommend a sprinkle of pure baking soda between diaper layers.  We go through about 10 a day and usually wash that load at the end of the day.

Yeah, yeah, pee diapers are easy.  What about Poo?!  Well, get ready to learn even MORE about your tiny tot.  Nothin’ says lovin’ like leanin’ over the toilet elbows deep in pooey water.  Yes, you’ll have to swish and scrub the poo into the pot.  Just remember all the benefits that come from Cloth Diapering (did you read that blog??).  Go to your happy place, sing yourself a song, and it will soon be over.  Throw rinsed off diaper in the bucket.  Close the lid.  Flush the toilet and wash your hands (and elbows   thoroughly.  Continue singing song until you feel well again.  Seriously though, I have to say that I’ve learned a lot about what my baby can and cannot digest while cleaning out his diapers.  And I’ve learned where all those missing crayons ended up!

Wash your diapers on a hot cycle, using a baby mild detergent.  An extra rinse cycle is recommended.  Toss them in the dryer for 10 minutes to fluff, and hang on a sunny clothes line.  The sun is our cloth diapering friend because it naturally rids the diapers of bacteria and urine smells.  Not to mention, its natural bleaching powers.   On cloudy days, it may take a tumble or two in the dryer to get them completely dry.  We keep a drying rack next to the heater to save on bills.  Heat the home and dry diapers overnight!  Sun is always best, but I like to throw mine in for a tumble for a bit of time at least.  It prevents them from turning into stiff cardboard diapers.  Averie doesnt like stiff cardboard dipes!

**Never use fabric softener or dryer sheets with cloth diapers, as it prevents absorption!**

Step 1: Stop shopping.  A lot easier said than done, eh?  Try it for one day,  one week, one month.  Baby steps.  Don’t stop cold turkey or you’ll soon find yourself on a binge.  Go through your closets and throw out what you haven’t used in the past year.  Hold a clothing swap with friends around the same size as you.  It’s a great way to reuse and refresh your wardrobe.  Keep an ongoing “thrift store box” to throw things in.

Step 2: Plant a small veggie garden.  Even if you have only a flower box, you can keep fresh herbs on hand for a quick and healthy green smoothie.  Studies have shown that the closer to home your food comes from, the healthier it is for you and the environment.  Start saving the earth one parsley sprig  at a time!

Step 3: Walk or ride a bike into town.  They do it all over the world and it doesn’t kill em!  Heck, it may even make you feel better!  Save gas, save yourself a bit of road rage, save the ozone.

Even if you only can do these little steps to grow greener in your personal life…it’s better than what you’ve been doing, so pat yourself on the back–you’ve just made the world a greener place today!

Moving with Reflexes

Responding with Reflexes

When Scout was five months old, he came to my Yoga Tots class with his momma.  It was here that I took this simple photo of him lying on his back, holding his hands in fisted position.

Combining Simple Movements

Interacting with Objects in His Environment

Here is Scout at 13 months, opening and closing his hands as he is exploring the magic of nature in the park.  On this occasion, Scout came across sticks, leaves–both soft and crunchy, grass, and rocks; all of which were thoroughly gone over between both hands and his mouth.  He really took his time exploring nature with all of his senses.

Coordinating Simple Movements

Adjusts grasp to size and shape of toy

On Scout’s first birthday, he tagged along the back of this ride, grasping the fender with fists.  This reveals competence of making adjustments to different shapes and sizes of objects.

Exploring Complex Movements

Using Index Finger and Thumb

Scout pulls apart a crispy leaf and crumbles its bits between his index finger and thumb, while grasping the leaf itself between the index finger and thumb of the other hand.

Mastering Finer Motor Skills….

Scout still has a bit more to learn in the areas of making and expanding complex movements before he can move up to the next level for DRDP-R assessment.  He must learn how to manipulate objects using both fingers and wrist on one hand, while stabilizing an object with the other hand.  Pulling a zipper up, twisting a cap, or putting beads on a string require competency at this level.  The ability to do a task like these using both hands is necessary for developing the task of expanding complex movements.   When Scout can button a large button or turn both knobs on an Etch-A-Sketch, with both hands, simultaneously, he will be on his way to mastering his fine motor skills at this developmental level.

♥♥♥♥

Sand play

A sand box creates an atmosphere for discovering the senses.  Sand can be molded and shaped by hands, it is a stimulating texture, things can be hidden and dug up in it, and it can be poured over heads for even more discovery.  It is also safe to explore in the mouth, in small amounts.  A sand box is always a place to make new friends.  Modeling another child’s motions is another way for small children to learn new experiences.  When conflicts arise in the sand box (ie. not sharing, battle wounds, ect.)  conflict resolution may occur between the children all on their own, or they may need adult help.  Both methods build emotional development and set children up with the future tools of coping mechanisms.   Language skills are also learned in a sandbox.  Small children may babble, older children may sing songs while they play, others may tell little stories or make believe; all of which are picked up by other ears and become part of the individual child’s dialogue.  The interplay is simply beautiful to watch when children share kind words and mend their own little disputes.  Adding stimulating objects to the sandbox can foster cognitive development for children.  Measuring cups, blocks of wood, bowls filled with water–all add to the mysteries and joy discovered in a sandbox.  Through sifting sand, stacking blocks, and floating objects, children learn basic math and physics.

A nature hike can also be a very adventurous time for small children.  Even a short stroll through a backyard can take a half an hour or more.  Toddlers will keep their eyes to the ground before them, for the most part.  But the airplane overhead takes their spatial development to a whole new level.  Suddenly they are looking up into that bright blue sky with a slight unsteady stance about them, pointing and asking questions about the strange flying noisy object.  Insects, worms, frogs, and snails make for a science lesson within close reach.  Children can touch and feel these little critters, exploring tangible nuances and making connections between themselves other living things.  Learning to be gentle and kind are taught here, which can be used in the future when a social event occurs, requiring those kind and gentle manners to be called on once again.  Children learn language through listening to adults and other children, so a good lesson for teaching gentleness is by modeling the gentle hand gestures, at the same time using a calm, relaxed tone of voice.  Emotional development is gained through displaying these gestures and tones because the child will pick up on them and add them to their emotional tool box.  Frogs can teach us so much about ourselves!

Snacks are a must to keep those little brains ready for the next lesson in life.  Healthy, whole foods are coming back in style so what better way to learn about them then to grow them in a children’s garden?  Letting children dig in soil and be part of the growing of foods will only encourage them to eat those greens when they are on the table.  A garden is another place for learning language and developing socially and emotionally.  Working as a team can provide lessons that will reach far beyond the task at hand, fostering leadership and community skills for the future.  All the while little hands are in the rich earth, giving water to plants, and enjoying the fresh air.  Homegrown carrots are the best reward after a job well done!  Letting children help prepare snacks and meals engages their sense of ownership and

preparing the future

responsibility.  Even a small child can stand on a chair at the sink and play in soapy bubbles.  Having a set of wooden fruits and veggies allows the littlest one to participate in the event.  There is a set on the market that have velcro between the slices so that they can stick together and the child can cut them with the little wooden knife and cutting board.  This takes some practice, but little hands soon learn to coordinate with the brain and voila!  sliced bread for all!

Music can soothe the soul, but it can also activate the dendrites in little brains too!  Children can put most any two objects together and get a rhythm out of them.  When they are offered a variety of things to choose from, the choices are endless.  Metal chimes, wooden rods, kitchen equipment, fencing–I’ve even seen a child “play the grass” once.  Washboards are one of my new favorites, as well as those finger chimes found in belly dancer’s shops.  Really, anything for a good jam band can be found around the home.  Over turned pots and pans, strainers, wooden spoons, the list goes on and on.  You really

grow a gourd--make a drum

don’t even need to do the work in finding these things, the children already know where they live.  Including music in a daily routine can do wonders for the body, mind, and spirit.  Dancing creates body awareness, stimulates organs, fosters coordination, and it’s just plain fun.  Even a CD of any sort can fill a room full of laughter and chaos during the hum-drum part of the day!

Daily Learning Plan

morning:  circle time–singing a greeting song, hand rhymes, free play

mid morning:  snack, outdoor play, gardening/hike (rotate these each day)

noon: lunch, crafts and art,  story time, rest

afternoon:  music, dancing, outdoor play (sandbox, building blocks, free play)

For Scout, in particular, this daily routine may provide him with a variety of schemes for development.  He’s only a year old, so it isn’t quite appropriate to make decisions about what areas he needs improvements in.  In providing numerous objects for creative play and discovery is key at this point for his growth and development.  The most optimal environment for him is one that is full of nurturing connections and opportunities for exploration.  Below is a Child-Centered Web diagram that shows his preferences for learning on the right and goals for teaching him on the left.

Scout's Learning Web

PookaPants cloth diapers are designed for simplicity and ease.  They are made with cotton or hemp fabrics, without an outer plastic layer.  They can be covered with conventional diaper covers, or the fleece and wool diaper covers found on this site.  Wool-Agains Longies and Footies are also the latest and trendiest variation on the diaper cover scene.

STEP 1: Take one baby, place her in a side-snapping or velcro-tabbed PookaPants cloth diaper.

STEP 2: Add a set of stylish and eco-savvy  lanolized Wool-Agains  Soakers, Longies, or Footies and you’re set!

Baby is diapered and covered, and if baby is wearing Longies or Footies–they’ve got pants on too!  How about that!

All of Pookinoo’s Wool-Agains come lanolized and ready to use.  Cloth diapers should be prewashed before use to make them more available for maximum absorbency.  Diaper care and wool care instructions come with each order.

Gather up those dusty toys and place them in a big plastic bag (those new huge zip lock bags come in handy here!!)

Add a half a cup of baking soda and shake.

The static from the plastic and the baking soda interact to extract dust and dirt from the fabrics!

Voila!  Just remove the toys and shake off the excess baking soda.  You could even throw them on the clothes line afterward to let the sun naturally rid them of bacteria.

The latest craze in cloth diapering is all about wool.  Upcycled sweaters have been donning the tooshes of many little tots around the globe.  Pookinoo is excited to join the club!  For those who are new to woolies and to Wool-Agains in particular, here are some wool care tips that you might find so easy that you’ll soon find yourself addicted to wool like the rest of us crazy eco-mommas!

When it comes to cleaning wool, nature has already done half the work for you. Wool and lanolin have naturally built in anti-bacterial properties (hooray!!) so you don’t have to worry about funky smells lingering in your woolies.  In effect, you don’t have to wash them too often either.  This is the magical glory of wool!  This may sound strange but it’s true!  Unless your woolens are soiled, they only require a washing every few weeks.  And that is usually when they need a new dose of lanolin anyhow!

Washing: When to wash your woolies?  Don’t worry, with a little dedication, you’ll soon become wool-savvy.  If they feel moist–but not soaked– after a changing,  simply toss them over a dry rack (out of direct sunlight) to allow them to dry out again. The lanolin is still working, just needs a breather!  If they feel heavily soaked, they may need to be lanolized again.  (**TIP**It’s nice to have a few pair of soakers or longies to rotate  throughout the day.) Hand wash your Wool-Agains in tepid water with a mild soap. Castile soap is recommended as it is gentle and will rinse out easily.   Add 1 tsp. soap to a gallon of tepid water and let your woolies soak for about 10 minutes and swish around before rinsing.  Wring out gently and then lanolize  with fresh water.

Lanolizing: Lanolize diapers when you notice that your wool is absorbing wetness instead of wicking it away.   As mentioned in the previous step,  you’ll become accustomed to whether the outside of the garment is wet or not.  (Some dampness may occur after wetting, but you should be able to tell the difference between damp and wet.)  Lanolin comes in a few forms: a lanolin bar, a lanolin and soap bar combo (my new fave!), or liquid lanolin.  Add 1/4 teaspoon of liquid lanolin to a gallon of tepid water.  You’ll need to use your hand to swish it all around so that the lanolin will disperse in the water.  Add your Wool-Agains and allow to soak for about 15 minutes.  Do not rinse out lanolin! Gently wring out excess water and roll in a towel to remove a bit more water.  Then simply lay flat to dry out of direct sun and heat. If you are using a lanolin bar variety, fill your sink with the tepid water, wet your inside out woolies, and scrub with the bar.  Any method you use, be sure to lanolize the crotch and inner legs the best.  If you are lanolizing longies or footies, dangle the legs over the sink edge to keep them dry.

Piece of cheesecake, right?

…next time you are around a flock of sweet sheep, go ahead and give them a big smooch–they deserve it!

If one were to look over at my sewing table whilst I was working away on one of my latest projects, they would probably only see fabric, hands and a girl at a machine.  What one would not see is the love and wonder pouring right into every detail:  love for the meaningful work that I do, and wonder about the child who would be donning my latest creation.

The things I think about while sewing are many.  I think about how I can create a better product: one that can endure the rough and tumble energy of a child.  I wonder what kind of child will be wearing the diapers and wool-agains I Upcycle.  I hope that the child will become a green-thinker someday and how my little product is just the thing to start off in.  I guess in a way I believe that every thought creates.  It’s a line that I’ve heard spoken on the stages of many reggae festivals:  “Don’t forget people that every thought creates!”  Be it negative or positive, every thought is an electrical event in our brains.  Therefore, it produces an energy.  (NOTE: I’ve never taken physics.  This is just my own take on what I’ve learned in other formats…) Energy has the power to transform thoughts into action.  So, in a nutshell, I truly believe that my love and wonder is transmitted into each and every stitch that holds the fabric of my craft together.  In (my) theory, the children who are wearing my designs are not only being warmed and nurtured by the clothes on their backs and bottoms, but also by the heartfelt goodness and love that is my intention for these future hopes of our world.

Namaste

Sometimes the wild and mysterious energies of children lead us into frustration.  In this class, Wee attempt to explore that energy because sometimes Wee just have to blow with those kind of breezes to experience new lessons and possibilities.  With that in mind, this class is only lightly structured.  Plenty of fun things to Do but participation is never enforced.  When one child needs to cuddle momma one does.  If tree pose isn’t within one’s reach maybe one would rather become a flower stretching up to the warming sun.

Just getting the opportunity to get down on the floor and spend a half hour playing with a child can be difficult with the demands of the world.  This class offers the time and space for us to nourish our connection with those important to us.  The room is light and airy.  The spacious bamboo floor offers endless opportunity for creative movements.  The families you meet and play with provide the sense of community that we as human critters seek out.

If you are a resident of the Sonora area or if you will be visiting soon, come play with the friends in the neighborhood.  Wee would love to Do Yoga with you!!

***This class has evolved into a Mommas Series.  Mommas (and Poppas and other caregivers) are invited to bring along baby (up to 3 years) to this class which allows us to get back into our bodies after sharing it with our little ones for so long.  Saturday mornings from 11:45-12:30pm.***

visit www.yogaloftsonora.com for more details and class updates

It's amazing to see the joy of a child playing with simple wood shapes.

“Plastics Make ‘It’ Possible?” from the ramble bramble mind maze of Jessica Robertson

What is ‘It‘?  And what is ‘It‘ making possible?  Cancer?  Pollution?  Stupidity?  Child obesity?  What is actually possible is the depletion of the human ability to learn resourcefulness.

What I really want to talk about are children’s toys.  When I look at the assortment of toys for sale in a toy store, the majority are plastic based.  When I look around at what is usually scattered around my son’s play space, I see mostly books, wooden objects, an assortment of stuffed critters and a few plastic things: like a Lego car a young friend assembled for him, a simple hand-me-down rattle of his cousin’s, and a sippy cup.  His Johnny Jump-Up has a plastic support system and the baby-gate has its wire grate plastic coated.  So, as much as his father and I attempt to limit his exposure to the stuff, it seems to appear in small doses here and there; which is really just fine by us.  I feel that moderation is best for the consumption of anything in life.

As I recall my own childhood, I don’t remember too many plastic toys;  a few Barbie dolls and the big green frog toy box stick out in my memory.  A couple of other dolls had plastic heads, but I didn’t have much along the lines of what we see on the market today.  My brothers and I spent countless hours outdoors and in the town parks, until we heard our mother calling us home, across town, at dusk.  I am not 100% sure, but pretty positive that my parents did not play with plastic as children.  I also know that they spent the majority of their play time outdoors, in natural surroundings, as well.

So how and why has this plastic phenomenon become the latest craze?  How was a generation of children who played outdoors their entire childhoods duped into supplying their own children and grandchildren with fewer opportunities for creative play by spending precious dollars for junk plastic toys?  Have Americans become so entrenched in our workload that we cannot provide the means for adequate imaginatory stimuli for our young?  Why are we obsessed with the idea that plastic makes play more fun?  And why do we push it on our children and grandchildren?  Why have we gone from natural play objects that require one part random object and two parts imagination to the instant gratification of a plastic play toy that comes with instructions on how to play with it properly?  Does this seem weird to anyone else:  toys that leave no room for imagination and not much space left in the living room?

I suppose that plastic was a seemingly fabulous innovation in its first few years.  It really wowed the medical world, auto industry, and those Tupperware party enthusiasts.   Oh, the possibilities must have seemed endless.  But with the world facing cancers, toxic environmental hazards, and -oh yeah that oil shortage thing that is happening,  it seems that a new group of eco-minded parents and grandparents have stepped forward to make the toys of old available once more.  In effect, the children are able to experience creative play; something that should be recognized as a natural birthright.

The simplicity of natural toys and natural play has the potential to change the future mental and physical health of America’s children. This natural play movement is centered on the belief that children’s imaginations are greatly enhanced by allowing more outdoor play, keeping manufactured toys to a minimum, and by not pressing adult ideas about play on a child (ie; adult made rules or logic).  Allowing a child to play in the soil of the earth, mix up mud cakes, and build stone structures and teepees in the yard offer hours of opportunities for creative play.  Not only will a child learn about the beauty of being part of the elements of nature, but creating little private worlds of their own with their own hands is something that offers the potential for future skills and knowledge of the world around them.  It may even usher in a generation of new innovators because of the exposure to creative play at an earlier age.   How many video games can offer the lessons so sacred to humanity as those learned through natural play?

My father, in his semi-retirement, has begun a new hobby in his woodshop.  He is making sets of wooden blocks complete with a storage wagon, carved wooden trains, and treasure chests.  I myself have begun a small business creating ragdolls, cloth jingle balls, and other natural toys.  Find the toys for a revolutionary change in your little one’s play at www.pookinoo.com and link up with similar items at  www.mommaluvs2sew.etsy.com .  You can also find us at the local farmers markets, craft fairs, and at the Waldorf School Store in downtown Sonora of where a portion of the sale supports the Waldorf School in our area.