On location with Jess and James: life on the water.
You can’t control the waves of the ocean, but you can certainly learn to ride them. Few experiences ever turn out exactly as you plan them, a lesson Jess and James have learned early. From Rocket making her debut ahead of schedule while in port in Mexico, to a quick trip to Mexico City to secure vital travel documents for a brand new baby, to hopping a flight to Canada to introduce her to family, it has been one wave after the next. Which, of course, is what waves do. They just keep coming.
I got the pleasure of catching up with Jess, James and Rocket via Skype. It was a my-face-hurts-from-smiling interaction, and if we only had Wonkavision, I would’ve reached right in through the monitor and scooped up that beautiful baby girl and given her a squeeze. Yet despite the magic of modern communication technology, we still hit some bumps in our connection, so Jess kindly caught me up on details over email.
Rocket is now in between sizes with the newborn gPants and the size small, as evidenced by “a big poo event (which) showed some signs of escaping”, so they were sure to load up both sizes, just in case, for their trip to Canada.
Changes happen everywhere.
Jess, James and Rocket have been staying on Lake Shuswap in British Columbia to spend time with family and friends before heading back to Mexico where they will re-engage with a life on the water.
“We’ve mastered the art of changing and feeding her literally anywhere and everywhere as we decided quite early on that it would make it easier on all three of us the more relaxed we could be about attending to her needs impromptu. So I’ve fed her while walking through Mexico City’s airport, and on a plane, a speedboat, in the woods, at an IHOP, on a beach and in the bath. We’ve changed her at strangers’ houses, on the back of a pick-up truck and in a makeshift beach tent. I think that this attitude has made these first two months really very easy for us as she’s clearly happy to be in all these different environments. It must make things so much simpler for us as we can both be full-time parents and that’s the real bonus of our situation that we’re both acutely aware of; being able to tag-team and support each other when hit by waves of tiredness or just needing an extra pair of hands.”
Far away and in between.
Though they packed both the newborn and small gPants for the excursion to BC, at 2 months and 9 lbs, the newborn size is still proving to be the most effective for Rocket. Weight ranges and age guidelines are not hard and fast rules. So parents simply need to be mindful of how the fit is corresponding with the function (in other words, keeping the mess IN the gPant and not all over everything else). If baby still seems to be comfy in the newborn size and they’re doing their job, there’s no need to rush. The smalls will be there when she’s ready for them. But as Rocket is still in the newborn gPants, Jess and James needed to find a way to get more disposable inserts, since we don’t recommend using the cloth inserts inside the newborn gPants due to their unique design. The size small cloth inserts are prepped and ready, but they will wait and use them when Rocket is solidly in the small gPants. The disposable inserts have been working beautifully, and as a bonus, are well on their way to becoming usable compost (wet ones only).
“We bagged up Rocket’s used inserts into biodegradable baggies while we were staying on Lake Shuswap. The family that we were staying with has a huge thriving vegetable garden and they were super happy to add them to their compost (wet ones only) and will keep us posted on how long they take to break down.”
gDiapers are distributed in Canada, and we have an online shop specific to orders within Canada. The timing, however, wouldn’t be soon enough to get the inserts ordered, shipped and delivered to BC before Jess and James pack it in and head back to Mexico. Since gDiapers are not yet distributed in Mexico, we went ahead and accommodated the need with a shipment straight from my desk at gHQ to their home in the marina. We are hopeful that distribution directly within Mexico is in our future. But the timeline as of today is still unknown. One more wave to ride … when it gets here.
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