Tuesday, December 22, 2009
A Lesson in Patience
Monday, December 21, 2009
Do You Know How to Spell?
Finn: Do you know how to spell Finn? F-I-N-N Finn.
Me : Good job spelling. Now go to sleep.
Finn: Do you know how to spell wall? M-O-O-O wall.
Me: Finn, please go to sleep.
Finn: Do you know how to spell rocking chair? M-O-O-O rocking chair.
He continued spelling "gates", "curtains", "that" and "covers" and laughed hysterically after spelling each one like M-O-O-O.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
A Typical Day
7:10 am: Finn is downstairs and dressed. I remind him to take off his diaper so I can put a clean one on his bum. I have to remind him several more times before he actually does it.
7:12 am: Animals are fed, dishwasher unloaded, laundry started, Oren is getting sleepy and the oldest two are watching Word World so I can have a bit of peace first thing in the morning
7:30 am: We do some sort of learning
9:30 am: We are getting ready to run errands. The following phrases are spoken,
"AHHHHH...Bridget ate my toast!!!!"
"Finn take your diaper off and go get a new one. Finn, did you hear me?"
"Maeve, please go in and go potty. Don't forget to wipe this time."
"Did you really pee that fast? Did you wipe? Get back in there."
"Bridget stop drinking out of the toilet."
"I need a snack"
"Did you take off your diaper and get a new one?"
"No. I need a snack."
"You can pick something out when you have on a clean diaper."
"Mom, can I have some milk?"
"Maeve, you didn't finish your milk from breakfast. Please close the fridge and go get your shoes on."
"Finn, where are your shoes?"
"I can't find my SHOES!"
"Maeve there's snow on the ground. You are not leaving the house in flip flops."
"WAHHHHHAAAHH"
"MOOOOMMMMM"
"AHHHHAAHHHH"
10:15 am: We are ready to leave, but only after I run back into the house twice to get things that I forgot.
I won't torture you by writing out the details of an entire day. The kids definitely keep me on my toes.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Going to the Chapel
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Tree
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Pieces of Home
Sunday, December 6, 2009
I am Dum
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Holiday Wish List Meme
--I am hoping that my dear husband will take my thumb ring somewhere to be fixed
My grandpa made me a doll bed and my grandma made a quilt for the bedding. I wish I still had it. I also wish I had one of my grandma's quilts, but I'm not sure what happened to them after she passed away.
I really want to make quiet books for the kids. I've been gathering felt, but I still need to find time to go them.
4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?
The most memorable Christmas gift was when I thought I was getting a horse. I was so excited to open what I thought was a saddle under the tree. Nope. I it was a lousy computer. It was actually a very nice computer, but I was slightly disappointed because a horse would have been fabulous.
5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?
Maeve wants pretty things. She has also requested more skirts and has several different costumes (rabbit, Christmas tree and Rudolph) she wants me to sew. Finn said he wants a baby, but I consider that request fulfilled. Oren just wants breastmilk.
I like all of the little sweet treats my mother-in-law makes. Chocolate covered pretzels and round pretzels with a slightly melted rolo in the middle are my favorites. I also like the Italian cookies my mom makes because they remind me of my Sicilian great grandmother.
7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?
Skirts, golf tees/flags, a couple of kid games, crowns, baby rings, a dress or two and car seat ponchos (I did say "poncho" and am hoping they make getting the kids in and out of their car seats easier this winter). There are lots of other things on my list, but there are some I can't remember and some I can't share.
8. What is your favorite holiday movie?
Christmas Vacation
9. Favorite holiday song?
I love "O Holy Night". It makes me want to go to midnight mass at a church I attended when I was younger.
10. Favorite holiday pastime?
I love everything about Christmas. I especially love celebrating Christmas now that I have kids. Seeing the joy in their faces as we decorate the house and the tree makes me grateful for such a beautiful life.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
December Goals
Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Curtains?
Everyday Deserves a Party
Friday, November 20, 2009
Life Update
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Beach Bound
Monday, November 2, 2009
10 Weeks
Oren is doing really well. He weighed a little over 13 lbs at his two month well baby visit and was around 23 inches long. Sadly, I was too busy keeping the other kids from destroying the doctor's exam room to really pay attention. And if you don't already think I'm a terrible mother, I'm not even sure if he's 10 weeks old. At least I love them all the same.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Monthly Goals: November
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Halloween Craft, Take 3
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Halloween Craft, Take 2
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Halloween Craft, Take 1
We made these ghosts to represent everyone in our family. From left to right: Finn, Oren, Daddy, Maeve and Mama. Maeve hates my ghost because it doesn't have a smile.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Defrosting the Freezer
Monday, October 19, 2009
Reading
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Baby Got Back
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Rabbits
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Learning Links
Monthly Goals: October
Saturday, October 3, 2009
I'm Not Just a Mom
NICU Visit
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
One Month
I'm a Model, You Know What I Mean...
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Oren's Birth Story
Friday, August 7, 2009
The Inevitable
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Life Update
Saturday, July 25, 2009
A Homemade Christmas
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Maeve's Parenting Guide
Halloween in July
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Life With a Newborn
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Song for a Fifth Child
Song for a Fifth Child
Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Bare Books
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Wheels are Turning
Friday, July 3, 2009
Baby Magazine Blunders
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Wool Longies
I have been wanting to make wool longies for awhile, but never remember to look at sweaters when we're out and about. I found a nice wool sweater for 50 cents at a garage sale today and turned it into these.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
A Funny Observation
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Craftiness
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Finished Projects
Baby Boy's name will be on the left of the curtain and will match Finn's name.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Interesting Reads
Ah, yes...
I have often told people that I have a twisted view of parenting.
Well, here it is, in all its glory.
What is a normal term human infant supposed to do?
First of all, a human baby is supposed to be born vaginally. Yes, I
know that doesn't always happen, but we're just going to talk ideal,
normal circumstance for now. We are supposed to be born vaginally
because we need good bacteria. Human babies are sterile, without
bacteria, at birth. It's no accident that we are born near the anus,
an area that has lots of bacteria, most of which are good and
necessary for normal gut health and development of the immune system.
And the bacteria that are there are mom's bacteria, bacteria that she
can provide antibodies against if the bacteria there aren't nice.
Then the baby is born and is supposed to go to mom. Right to her
chest. The chest, right in between the breasts is the natural habitat
of the newborn baby. Our cardiac output, which is how much blood we
circulate in a given minute, is distributed to places that are
important. Lots goes to the kidneys every minute, about 10% or so,
and 20% goes to your brain. In a new mom, 23% goes to her chest -
more than to her brain. The body thinks that place is important, and
rightfully so.
The chest area gives heat. The baby has been using mom's body for
temperature regulation for nine months. Why would they stop now, and
what other option do they have? With all that blood flow, it's going
to be warm. The baby can use mom to get warm. When I was in my
residency, we would put a cold baby "under the warmer" which meant a
heater thingy next to mom. Now, if a baby is "under the warmer," the
kid feels as if it is under the mom. I wouldn't like that. I like
the kids on top of mom, snuggled.
Now we have a brand new baby on the warmer. That child is not hungry.
Bringing a hungry baby into the world is a bad plan. And really, if
they were hungry, can you please explain to me why my kids sucked the
life force out of me in those last few weeks of pregnancy? They
better have been getting food, or that would have been annoying and
painful for nothing.
Every species has instinctual behaviors that allow the little ones to
grow up to be big ones and keep the species going. Our kids are born
into the world needing protection. Protection from disease and from
predators. Yes, predators. Our kids don't know they've been born
into a loving family in the 21st century - for all they know it's the
2nd century and they are in a cave surrounded by tigers. Our
instinctive behaviors as baby humans need to help us stay protected.
Babies get both disease protection and tiger protection from being on
mom's chest. Presumably, we gave the baby some good bacteria when
they arrived through the birth canal. That's the first step in
disease protection. The next step is getting colostrum.
A newborn baby on mom's chest will pick their head up, lick their
hands, maybe nuzzle mom, and start to slide towards the breast. The
kids have a preference for contrasts between light and dark, and for
circles over other shapes. Think about that. There's a dark circle
not too far away.
Mom's sweat smells like amniotic fluid, and that smell is on the
child's hands (because there's been no bath yet) and the baby uses
that taste on their hands to follow mom's smell. The secretions
coming from the glands on the aureole (that dark circle) smell
familiar and help the baby get to the breast to get the colostrum
which is going to feed the good bacteria and keep the baby protected
from infection. The kids can attach by themselves. Watch for
yourself if you need further proof. And if you just need colostrum to
feed bacteria and not yourself, well, there doesn't have to be much.
And there isn't much because the newborn isn't hungry and does not
need immediate sustenance.
We're talking normal babies. Breastfeeding is normal. It's what
babies are hardwired to do. 2009 or 209, the kids would all do the
same thing: try to find the breast. Breastfeeding isn't a magic
potion. It's not "best". It's normal. Just normal. Designed for
the needs of a vulnerable human infant. And nothing else designed to
replace it is normal.
Colostrum also activates things in the baby's gut that then go on to
make the thymus grow. The thymus is part of the immune system.
Growing your thymus is important. Breast milk equals a big thymus and
therefore, a good immune system. Colostrum also has a bunch of
something called Secretory Immunoglobulin A (SIgA). SIgA is made in
the first few days of life and is infection protection given
specifically to the infant from mom. Cells in mom's gut watch what is
coming through and if there's an infectious agent, a special cell in
mom's gut called a plasma cell heads to the breast and helps the
breast make SIgA in the milk to protect the baby. If mom and baby are
together and breast feeding, then the baby is protected from what the
two of them may be exposed to. Again, babies should be with mom.
And the tigers. What about them? Define "tiger" however you want.
But if you are a baby with no skills in self-protection, beyond
wanting to stay with your mother at all times - having a grasp reflex,
and a startle reflex that helps you grab onto your mom, especially if
she's hairy, makes sense. Babies know the difference between a
bassinet and a human chest. When infants are separated from their
mothers, they have a "despair-withdrawal" response. The despair part
comes when they alone, separated. The kids are vocally expressing
their desire not to be tiger food. When they are picked up, they stop
crying. They are protected, warm and safe. If that despair cry is
not answered, they withdraw. They get cold, have massive amounts of
stress hormones released, drop their heart rate and get quiet. That's
not a good baby. That's one who is beyond despair. Normal babies
want to be held, all the time.
And when do tigers hunt? At night. It makes no sense at all for our
kids to sleep at night, or alone. They may be eaten. Imagine the ape
who sets a newborn baby in a nest, and then retires to another tree
for a good nights sleep. There's nothing really all that great about
kids sleeping through the night. They should wake up and find their
body guard. There are not as many threats in the daytime. They sleep
better during the day. (Think about our response to our tigers -
sleep problems are a result of stress, depression and anxiety).
I go on and on about sleep on this site, so maybe I'll gloss over it
here. But everybody sleeps with their kids - whether they choose to
or not and whether they admit to it or not. It's silly of us as
health care providers to say "don't sleep with your baby" because we
all do it. Sometimes accidentally. Sometimes intentionally. The
kids are snugly, it feels right and you are tired. So, normal babies
breastfeed, stay at the breast, want to be held and sleep better when
they are with their parents. Seems normal to me. But there is a
difference between a normal mother and one that isn't. Safe sleep
means that we are sober, not smoking, not on a couch or a recliner,
but in bed, breastfeeding. Being normal. If the circumstances are
not normal, then sleeping with the baby is not safe.
That chest to chest contact is also brain development. Our kids have
as many brain cells as they will ever have at 28 weeks of gestation.
It's a jungle of waiting to be connected cells. We have like 8
nipples, a tail and webbed hands in the womb. If all goes well, we
don't have those at birth. What we do as humans is create too much
and then get rid of what we aren't using. So, as you are snuggling,
your child is hooking up happy brain cells and hopefully getting rid
of the "eek" brain cells. Breastfeeding, skin-to-skin, is brain
wiring. Not just food.
Why go on and on about this? Because more mothers are choosing to
breastfeed, and I want to encourage that. But most women don't
believe that the body that created this beautiful baby is capable of
feeding that same child and we are supplementing more and more with
infant formulas designed to be food. Why don't we trust our bodies
postpartum? I don't know. But I hear over and over that the formula
is used because "I am just not satisfying him." Of course you are.
Babies don't need to "eat" all the time - they need to be with you all
the time - that's the ultimate satisfaction.
A baby at the breast is getting their immune system developed,
activating their thymus, staying warm, feeling safe from predators,
having normal sleep patterns and wiring their brain, and (oh by the
way) getting some food in the process. They are not "hungry" - they
are obeying instinct. The instinct that allows us to survive and make
more of us.