It is now 2008, and I haven't blogged in over a year. I know that for sure since my baby Alexander just had his 1 year birthday and the last post was the annoucement of his birth.
It is difficult to top a blog post like that, but I thought I would share some of the things I have learned over the past year.
Chris and I have been doing what I like to call "Green Parenting". (doh, I just looked it up and the term exists already).
We realize that during Xander's life time this planet is going to be in crisis, so we are doing what we can to try to minimize Xander's impact on the environment. We are also reducing our own impact, but we want to especially make sure we start Xander off on the right track.
Here are some of the things we are doing

Cloth Diapers

We picked up some unbleached prefolds, and Bummis wrappers from ParentingByNature and we wash them ourselves. (ok, the laundry machine still uses water & power, but the completely diaperfree concept was just not going to happen). It is really not that bad, especially for the first 6 months when all he was drinking was breast milk and the poop wasn't stinky at all).

No new stuff

Everything that is manufactured hurts the environment

Everything that is shipped hurts the environment

Everything that is thrown away hurts the environment

You actually don't need much stuff for a baby (although the stores and the media are constantly trying to convince you otherwise). All you need is warm clothing, a diaper system, and somewhere safe for the baby to sleep.
There is a great second-hand shop near my parents called RoundAbout Kids run by Moms and Grannys. They have been so helpful every time I have visited. They even helped me try on many backpack carriers until I found one that sat just right.

Minimize Driving

We live on the subway and take the subway almost everywhere. We even took Xander on the subway when he was only a few weeks old.

It hasn't been easy, especially since people keep wanting to give us stuff, and it is difficult to balance our desires to be product-free and to be thankful for everyone's kind wishes. However, I think our friends and family have started to understand and we really appreciate that.