Vegetable Market

This morning, Sal and I were itching to get out of the house and get some exercise. Just as I was about to load him up in the baby bjorn and hit the greenbelt for a little sweatfest, I got a text from Donna inviting us to walk with her to the vegetable market.

So, we switched gears, grabbed my wallet and passport and took the stroller instead.

We met up with Donna and walked the few block distance from our gate to the market. We can actually see the market from our balcony, I suppose that would make a good "from the 25th floor" post.

Anyways, after turning off the street, we walked through an inconspicuous dirt parking lot thingy and over the canal and into a  paved area which turned out to be "THE" veggie market. There are no signs for these things in China. No flashy billboards ( which is surprising because the Chinese LOVE their neon lights & bling) or anything. It was seriously an opening through a cement wall, which lead through a dirt lot and into a market area. I never would have known this awesomeness existed just minutes from my home, had she not shown me.

That's the sorta cool thing about China. There are surprises, both good and bad, around every corner. It's a great place for exploring, and for those who like to check out every nook and cranny, you might just find a hidden gem like the vegetable market.

For the folks back home, the best way to describe it is that it is similar to an indoor Farmer's Market.

Only, here, you can bargain--which I did not (I still struggle with their currency and coming up with the correct amount of yuan for my purchases) but still, you CAN.

And I will. In the future.

Beautiful produce

The produce looked great. Some booths looked better than others, but in general, all of the produce looked quite edible. We even found cilantro! For the equivalent of 15 cents for a huge bunch!

Awesome.

The pterodactyl shriek returns. Sal's epic meltdown.

After a half hour or so ( okay, so maybe 15 minutes) Sal had one of his epic meltdowns where he transforms from "lovely baby" to a raging pterodactyl. The ear piercing shrieks just brought more attention to his white little self and I was just dreading waiting for the paparazzi to catch that one.

I beat them to it. Out came my camera and I took a picture of the meltdown, cause, well, I didn't know what else to do. I was hoping he could laugh with me, but he didn't...and so we left.

Our poor jaloppy got a flat today.

 On our way home, we crossed paths with my beloved jaloppy, as featured in one of my "from the 25th floor" posts. And here I thought the motor would be the cause of it's broke down status....Boy was I cynical--it was a  simple flat tire. Just goes to show you, don't judge a book by it's cover. It may look ugly, but it runs like a rusty old lawnmower charm.

Wuxi walks in Wuxi.

And before I forget, we had another cutie joining us for our trip to the market. Wuxi walked almost the entire way! Not too bad for 2 inch legs!

So, now that Sal's napping, it's time for me to get to washing produce and steaming some yams.

Fun stuff.

And great discovery today.

You never know what's just beyond your front doorstep.

Cloth diapering: Money in the bank

This week, NZ and I had to purchase our second pack of disposable diapers since we've arrived here in China. And, let the truth be told, Pampers and Huggies are just as expensive here as they are back home. Some things ARE cheaper here, but diapers are not one of them.We paid $20 for a 70 pack of Huggies.

If you remember back to this post, I was considering cloth diapering. In fact, I had started a trial run with the gPant system. My trial run has turned into a way of life. I find the gPant system so easy to use, and am happy with my choice to cloth diaper.

NZ initially seemed a little hesitant about it all, reminding me that "we can afford disposables"..and he was "more than happy to pay for them". But for me, being a cheapskate, and thinking cloth diapers are like totally adorable, and do-able, had to try them for myself.

Sal in his Gpants

But, here were are five months later ( I started cloth diapering at 7 weeks), and gPants are our primary diaper source. We do buy disposables, but use them only when out and about for more than a few hours, and at bedtime.

I'd say on a typical day, we use 1 to 2 disposables, and the remaining 7 or 8 changes are with cloth. Our kid pees A LOT. I was hoping for fewer changes as he ages, but he doesn't seem to be slowing down. Right now a 70 pack of diapers lasts us a little over a month, rather than only one week.

While at the store picking up the disposables this week, NZ stole my heart by exclaiming, "We really save a lot of money using cloth, don't we?". This got us to discussing just HOW much we're saving...and we came up with the following breakdown.

 (Breakdown is based on 10 diaper changes per day)

At $20 per 70 pack, and 4 weeks in a month, we're saving $60 per month using cloth for the bulk of our changes. Multiply that by 12 months, and we've got $720 more in the bank than we would have if we used only disposables.

We did luck out on the initial investment of the gPant system. I have a trade going on with my sister-in-law who also uses the same brand, as she has loaned me her mediums and I have loaned her my smalls. Sal's grandparents also gifted us 4 large Gpants, 12 soaker pads , 6 extra rubber snap in liners, and a few boxes of disposable liners, so NZ and I are really saving almost all of that $720 per year.  I have spent about $60 on the 3 small pants, 12 soaker pads and a box of liners. So to get really technical, we're saving about $660 per year after subtracting my investment.

I'd say if someone were to go out and buy the diapering system on their own, they'd be looking in the ballpark of $200-$250 to fit a child from birth to potty training age. I get by with 4-6 gPants, and 12 soaker pads for each size.

If Sal is to potty train between two and a half & three years old, we're looking at a savings of over $1,500- $2000.

That's money in the bank.

Makes washing poop out of diapers sound a lot more appealing now, doesn't it?