Luke's new swim diapers

As I have already blogged about a few times now we have been using cloth diapers rather than disposables. So now that summertime has rolled around it seems only natural to also use reusable diapers for Luke to play in the water rather than disposable swim diapers.

Last summer even before I had considered cloth diapering I knew I wanted a better solution to the heavy and hard to get on disposable swim diapers we were using. They seemed so uncomfortable and held so much water I would have to take the diaper off every time he came out of the water so he wasn't sitting in all that wetness and then put another one on when it was time to go back in the water. Way too much trouble in my opinion. I know a lot of people use these disposable swim diapers and most just keep their babies in them the whole time and all I could think about is diaper rash! from sitting in such a wet diaper!!

Now that I have been formally introduced to the world (and ease) of cloth diapering I realized they also make reusable diapers for swimming. I was a little skeptical about this also because in my mind they would hold water and then I would have the same problem I did with disposables. But when we went to Luke's 15 month check up at Dr. Punger's and we got our first Swimmies swim diaper I was very pleased to see that it was more of a cover. I was excited to try it out!

So we went for a swim at my folks house and gave them a go. They work GREAT!! They don't have a whole bunch of absorbent liners but who needs that? When the kids are swimming around and getting wet why do you need these layers anyway? We can all admit we have pee'd in the pool at least once and it didn't hurt anyone.

Luke really put these diapers to the test when he pooped while we were swimming and this diaper contained the poop way better than a disposable which gets saggy and falls away from his legs once heavy with water. I just treated the diaper like I would any other cloth... held it over the toilet to get rid of any solid poo and then I rinsed it in the sink and let it hang until time for laundry. It is super easy.

Luke liked it so much he gave one to his friend Caleb for his first birthday. Caleb also likes to be earth-friendly with his diapers.

These diapers are very inexpensive and very useful especially for those of you who do lots of water activities like we do in the summer. You can order through twofloridadocs.com or stop by Dr. Pungers office in Fort Pierce and pick one up.

Finally! a funny signing story of my own

I have followed a great book that has guided me through teaching Luke signing ("Sign Language for Hearing Babies" by Karyn Warburton). When I read this book I really enjoy the cute letters found throughout the book that families have written to the author about memorable or significant experiences they have had with their toddler communicating through sign language. I always looked forward to a memorable story of my own when my toddler would communicate with me through sign language in an instance when communication might not otherwise have been possible... or at least not as memorable!
Finally my day arrived!
It was a lazy day yesterday around the Cuti house. Dave had been on call all week and through the weekend and we were all tired from our nights of interrupted sleep by the phone that seemed to ring the second his head hit the pillow. The night before he was called out at 12:30, then when he got home at 2:30 his phone rang again just as we were all settling back in to sleep, and of course again at 5am the phone once again roused us from sleep. I was laying on the couch yesterday morning while the baby played on the living room floor with his toys. He came over to me and started to sign "animal". This used to be the sign he used for "dog" but he has been using this sign for any kind of animal and changed his "dog" sign to be the "animal" sign while also panting or barking like a dog. (side brag note: he progressed all this on his own... pretty impresive for a 15 month old in my opinion!) So back to the story... Luke is looking at me laying on the couch and while gazing at my shirt (or the back of the couch... I couldn't figure which) he was signing "animal". I was very tired and kind of ignored him at first. I asked him where the animal was? and simultaneously thinking in my head if I had worn a shirt with an animal's picture on it. I finally gave in and looked down at my shirt and wouldn't you know there was a beetle perched near the shoulder of my shirt! Of course my natural reaction was to jump up and flick the beetle of my shirt. Then I just had to laugh because this is what Luke was trying to tell me! He walked over to where I had flicked the beetle and signed "animal" a few more times. I quickly tried to think of a sign for "bug" and did this with him a few times for picking up the beetle and putting him back outside. I guess next time I will pay closer attention when Luke is trying to "tell" me something! ;)

A fun little foursome

So I saw this post on another blog and thought it was fun and cute... and quick and easy.
Although my in-laws left a few days ago so I have my nightime computer time back (but not without a loss because I am very lonely without them here... my m-i-l has been staying with us for a month and that doesn't include the two weeks we spent up north with her before... so I am missing her now!) I am still working on getting back into my swing of blogs. But I will!
In the meantime thanks to Danielle for lending me this post ;)...
"Four Things Tag"
Four Jobs You've Had in Your Life
Runner in my un-airconditioned VW Bug in the middle of Florida summer!
Marketing Specialist for an online learning dotcom
Motorcycle and Watercraft mechanic
Bartender
Four Movies You've Watched More Than Once
because I have two movie moods:
seriously:
Adaptation
The Fastest Indian
Lady in the Water
Shawshank Redemption
and not so seriously:
Home Alone 1 and 2 (I watch at least weekly during holidays!)
Adventures in Babysitting
Can't Buy Me Love
Spaceballs
Four Places You've Lived
Fort Pierce, FL (born and raised)
Tallahassee, FL
Daytona, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Four TV Shows You're Watching
Thomas the Train (I am not much for tv for the tyke but once he saw this at a friends it was all down hill!)
American Idol (sucked in what can I say... but if your a fan David Cook rocks!)
Big Love (on showtime... should be back on soon!)
?? I don't get much tv time... I am struggling in this category
Four Places You've Been on Vacation
New Hampshire
Las Vegas (there is actually a lot to see beyond the booze and boobs)
Western Pennsylvania (family here but also beautiful on the eyes)
Long Island, NY (been here a few times but refuse to go to NYCity until we go at christmas time!)
Four Things You Love to Eat
Sushi!
my cooking... especially when it is experimental! ;)
my mom's cooking (always yummy)
chocolate
Four Things You're Looking Forward ToWatching
the snow falling while nuzzling up by the fire
what kind of people my children will grow up to become
Luke riding his first motorcycle!
video clips that we are taking with our new camcorder twenty years from now
Four Places You Love to Shop
the Internet
ebay (does this fall into the Internet?)
antique shops
TJMax

An Intense Day at the Beach

It was supposed to be a nice relaxing day to enjoy each others company and watch the baby play in the water. We headed out to the new pool area in Lakewood Park where we planned on meeting up with my folks and a few good friends. Such is my luck, the pool was closed! So we decided to venture on to the beach in North Fort Pierce. It was a nice day and we didn't want it to go to waste.

Once we got to the beach we settled in a nice spot near the inlet. I played in the sand with the baby until he got up and started to make his way down to the water. The conditions were good for him: low tide and plenty of area for him to play in barely ankle deep water. He was having a great time. After a short time our good friends found us and we settled into a few chairs at the edge of the water. Shortly after my folks also arrived.

We were all enjoying a nice day together. The water was nice and warm with some small cooler waves making their way towards the shore. I waded out in the water and couldn't believe how far I could while still standing in waist level water. I was fairly close to a few surfers and body borders waiting for a wave (which were small and gentle, coming at a pretty consistent pace) and decided to bend down to wet my hair and head back up to the beach.

The baby was having a ball wandering around at the waters edge and his gradma was enjoying following him around.

Towards the end of the day a friend of our good friends showed up to finish out the beach day with us. She positioned her chair next to ours and after introductions were made and small talk was done she decided to go for a swim with one of our good friends and my father. She said how much she enjoyed the water and swimming in the ocean.

The rest of us stayed near the waters edge chatting and soaking up the sun. Then the alarms went off...

I was standing facing the water when I noticed a woman quickly coming towards us with an alarmed expression pointing towards the water. When I finally heard her say she didn't have her phone and to call 9-1-1 I quickly realized the day just went from good to bad. I motioned for Dave to get up and get his phone. We scanned the water and saw our friend out in waist deep water supporting another person floating in the water. Dave started to reach for his phone and call 9-1-1 and then like a switch went off I realized not only was this the woman who had just recently joined us at the beach but she was in big trouble.

I rushed out to the water to help the others pull her to shore while Dave was conveying our emergency to the dispatcher on the phone. Once we got her on shore we realized the seriousness of the situation. We were feeling around for a pulse and turning her to the side in an effort to clear the salt water from her mouth and airway. Time was standing still.

I kept saying over and over "should I do some rescue breaths? let's start CPR!". There was concern from others and (what felt like finally) when everyone realized it would take paramedics some time to get here and we needed to react we moved into CPR mode. I kept asking if anyone was a nurse. It had been three years since I took CPR certification classes and in all the hustle I couldn't remember the compression to breathing ratio.

My husband, a police officer and a former paramedic knelt down next to me to start compressions while I waited for my que to "breath". Eventually a woman came over identifying herself as a nurse and helped talk us through CPR. After a while when Dave was fatiguing another man kindly took over chest compressions while I continued mouth to mouth.
We continued CPR for what seemed like forever until the paramedics arrived and took over.

The purpose of my posting this experience is two-fold:
1: Please keep this woman in your prayers as she continues to fight for her life.
2: Please consider taking a CPR class

Once the woman had been transported and things were calming down a few people approached to say good-job to us but my first response was that I felt it my duty as a fellow human being to help this woman and I would hope someone would do the same for me and my loved ones. This woman was somebody's daugher, sister, mother, friend and if it were my daughter, sister, mother, friend I would hope others would offer the same unquestioning help.
I can tell you for sure without having ever taken a CPR class I definitely wouldn't have been as prepared to help. In fact one of the first things I did this morning was register to take another CPR class (which by the way not only gives you instruction on how to perform CPR but also how to help someone in any type of first-responder situation) and from now on I plan on keeping up-to-date with this.

I strongly encourage everyone to do the same. Things can happen in an instant when you are least expecting it. I know for me, I would like to walk away from the situation knowing I did everything in my power that I could to help this person, including being prepared for a situation like this as much as one can be.

Some quick pics of my little buddy!

My beach buddy is also a comedian!!

Two of his favorite things in one - water and a gadget to operate! It doesn't get better than this!

Here's Luke helping me and Nana get the ground ready for some flowers. He's great with a rake!!