Cloth diaper contest

Cotton Babies is having a contest and I would really like to win, because in the beginnging I wanted to go the clothe diaper route. I researched a bunch of brands and decided to go with Bum Genius as most people I talked to were happy with them. I went ahead and ordered 12 of them and was so excited to get started when Andrew found the email order and put his foot down. He said that I can do cloth diapers when we have a home bigger than our 1 bedroom apartment (he is very concerned about the odor). We had quite a fight over this and anyways I have let it go, but I would still like to try the diapers out, plus these new ones are sooo cute.

To enter the contest I have to answer the following question:

How do you encourage a creative, artistic spirit in your baby, toddler or young child?

My first thought was "I don't know, and what if I am doing things that discourage it?", I have been so busy just trying to manage the basics of parenting I don't know if I have even thought about his artisitc spirit. So let me reflect on what I now to that probably falls into this category, and then maybe I can list some improvements.

• I take him to the library once a week to get books out-I mostly go with very little agenda and I let him wander around and explore while just following him
• Each night I read these books to him. When Andrew asked why, at 15 months, he needed books from the library in addition to all the ones we have at home (I had a book shower when he was born, so we do have a good collection), I stated that the "variety" was not for the listener of the stories
• Whenever I buy toys (which is rare) I choose musical instruments; he has a drum, a xylophone, and various types of shakers
• I sing to him often, usually as a distraction when I am trying to get him to hold still or let me put him in his car seat. He often hums and we make new funny noises together-I encourage him to dance to music
• We also listen to music in the car and I have taken him to story time at the library since he was about 3 months old

Now that I am listing these things I am actually not doing too badly. Andrew and I are both quite creative so I am sure that we will encourage him to explore outlets such as building, sewing and art.