So I was just curious to see how much money we could be saving by switching to Geico using cloth diapers and wipes. Though we're not spending money on disposable diapers, there is still the cost of water and electricity for cleaning the diapers on a regular basis. Essentially the trade-off is in using up landfill space, or natural resources. I put together a quick and dirty graph, making a million assumptions on water/electricity usage, as well as the cost of these utilities, diapers and wet wipes. Your mileage may vary depending on a lot of factors, including how much your baby poops!

By going with cloth diapers, we had to make a huge initial investment as each of these Fuzzi Bunz diapers costs about $20 shipped. We bought 24 of them, which means we do laundry about once every 2-3 days. The above graph shows that we won't break even on our investment until somewhere between the 8th or 9th month.

Assuming that babies aren't potty trained till around 3 (boys take longer), our total cost at the end of three years (including utilities) should be around $1400 less than if we went with disposable diapers. Now, I didn't take into account the fact that babies use less diapers as they get older, nor did I account for any possible increases in the cost of diapers as you buy bigger sizes. All of these will change the value of the final numbers.

Ultimately, what the graph doesn't account for is the extra time that it requires to use cloth diapers. It takes time and effort to clean the diapers after each changing, and to load up the washer/dryer on a regular basis. So there's definitely trade-offs on both sides.

While we were traveling this weekend, I increased the utility of my iPhone in two ways. First, due to a rash of thefts in our area, I set up a camera system to monitor our home while we were away. Using the iCam app, the system linked to my iPhone which would notify me whenever it detected motion. I was also able to log in at anytime to check on things. Only once was I notified of camera motion, which turned out to be a false alarm due to moving light/shadows through our windows.

Secondly, I jailbroke my phone last week (now ruled legal!) and was able to use my iPhone as a mobile hotspot which gave us wireless internet access in the car during the drive to and from Houston. My cousin and I busted out our laptops to check email, chat with people and update Facebook on our laptops while Carolyn was driving. When I was driving, Carolyn updated her Yelp reviews:)

For the most part, the latest updates in the iPhone operating system, along with some jailbroken apps has really made my phone rather enjoyable at this point. The only thing that I lament not having is Flash, but a recent article on Flash-enabled Android phones has not been super positive, which makes me okay that my phone doesn't support Flash right this instant.

Current Dad Achievements

I'm moving up the charts! In the last two and a half months, we've managed to get into somewhat of a routine. We've been able to take Chloe out to restaurants where she's been very well-behaved. As long as she's fed, burped and changed, she is pretty much a content baby. Similarly, we've taken her out grocery shopping, even at some outdoor farmers markets. Though the weather has been a bit on the hot and sunny side of things, we've managed to keep her cool with the stroller shade and a thin cottony cloth on her backside... but I digress...

The most important thing is that Chloe recently started sleeping through the night! Let me emphasize: sleeping THROUGH the night! She can easily go to bed around her 7:30pm bedtime, and stay asleep till around 6am. That has been a big relief to Carolyn and I. The only downside of that is that when I get home from school, it means I only have a short time to interact with her before she goes to sleep for the night.

We were in Houston this weekend hanging out with family and friends. We ate a lot of food as usual, and showed-off our daughter to a million people. Well, it wasn't so much us doing the showing off, but rather proud grandparents. My cousin Willie came with us, which was good as we spent some good time talking with each other during some downtime. Some of our other free time was spent chilling with Derrick and Angela. We are so thankful that they are so much closer to us now than before.

Chloe is interacting well with others which hopefully means she will be an outgoing kid, ready to explore the world.

(Photo credit: Angela)