Hoping No One Saw Me

Sweet Pea is in the midst of a possible Nap Schedule Transition, AND her First Illness (a cold). After three attempts at laying her down to sleep for a nap today, I finally gave up when it got WAY past her normal time for a first nap and got her to fall asleep in the ERGO. So, I had been sitting and reading blogs while she slept and occasionally snored. She had been resting for a while, when I noticed the time. I knew the mail-person would be coming soon and there was a bill that I needed to mail today, so I decided to slip on some warmer clothes and walk the block to the mailbox with Sweet Pea in the carrier. The clothes that I could find that I could add to my outfit without disturbing her were: my husband's black fleece vest, a large green knitted blanket, my heeled clogs, and a red baseball cap. This was over a pair of jeans, rolled up at the cuff, and a bright pink t-shirt. I tucked the blanket around myself and Sweet Pea and into the ERGO to keep her arms and bare feet warm. I was about halfway back down our block (in the rain) when Sweet Pea stirred, and I looked down and realized the blanket had fallen and was hanging from only my waist now, looking like a ridiculous skirt. I don't know how long it was like that, and even when it was properly positioned I'm pretty sure I looked like a crazy person with a giant growth on my front. I'm just glad no one else was at the mailbox at the same time.

Clothesline Weather

I finally finished a little project that I'd had in process all summer long — a clothespin bag. Just in time for the rainy season. I did get to use it once before rolling our line up for the year, but the clothes still had to go into the dryer for a few minutes to get totally dry.

I found the pattern online here. The directions were pretty good, and have nice little thumbnail photos to go with them. The only difficult part to understand was which side you sew the seam on before folding over to the button part, but that part is hidden so I decided it didn't really matter. I used a fabric square that I had bought about a year ago because I liked the colors. The buttons were ones I had in my button box already, and the ribbon was left over from a gift that was nicely wrapped. In August, I embroidered this little design on the front, although it's hard to see in the photo. About a week or two ago, I finally finished it. I currently have the bag hanging from a clothes hanger, but it can also hang directly on the line, which is one reason I chose this pattern. I like the look of this one too, though.

I'm so excited for clothesline weather to come back! I do enjoy the fall for the lovely leaves, and winter for the holidays and snow activities, but spring and summer are really my favorite because I hate being cold, which I am all the time, and I love being outside. It just feels so nice to hang the laundry out to dry on the line and get that sunshiney smell, and know that you are saving electricity and money. I think this clothespin bag is going to make hanging my laundry out even more enjoyable than before. This may be my favorite trick for making chores fun: making something cute to use with them.

Lessons of Parenting

A few things that being a parent has taught me:

• Never pass up an opportunity for a nap.
• Take time to play.
• Don't stress about your to-do list. There's always tomorrow.
• All babies are different. They will all sit up, eat, crawl, sleep through the night, walk, and talk at different times, and that is OK.
  
• If you forgot to bring wipes or a wet bag, the baby will probably poop.
• If you thought you were going to be early, you still might not even make it on time.
• Whatever gets the most worry will not actually happen; something else you never even considered probably will.
• It's the truth when people say "they grow so fast," so try to appreciate every moment.

Moments like this....

Baby Eats More

Over the last couple of weeks our baby has eaten pieces of apple, corn, tortilla, peas, cracker, banana, sweet potato, yams, cheerios, pear, and dry leaves from the ground. We gave her everything except the leaves, which she found by herself. She still seems to prefer feeding herself by tightly grasping the item in her right hand and biting (two bottom teeth now!) or licking, but she will accept food from a spoon or from my fingers, finally! Sweet Pea shows that she's ready for more food by opening her mouth and sticking out her tongue, and then she makes funny faces as she gums the food around before swallowing, bounces in her seat a little bit, then opens her mouth for more.

At seven-and-a-half months old, she is finally truly ready to eat. Now, will I get some more sleep at night if I feed her more during the day? I've heard that this was a myth, so we shall see.

We went to the pumpkin patch this weekend and carved up a bunch of pumpkins, now I keep thinking about pumpkin pie! I can't wait for Thanksgiving this year, so much to be thankful for, plus I have a huge appetite right now since I'm still breastfeeding my 20-pound baby, and taking two walks a day to get my puppy exercise. Turkey, mashed potatoes, yams with marshmallow, green beans, and pie pie pie! It's going to be so much fun feeding Sweet Pea all the good holiday food, now that she is REALLY eating and enjoying it.

Our Dog Glendovere

Our dog, Glen, was born on June 30, and we brought him home on September 18. He has been a joy and a LOT of work. You know when you tell yourself that something's going to be hard, and then it actually IS hard, and you go "Oh yeah, this is what hard really feels like, not as pleasant as I remembered it." That's pretty much what happened. I thought I could handle hard, and sometimes I can, and sometimes I feel like I'm losing my mind. Those first two weeks, it was kind of like I went back to the state I was in when Sweet Pea was just a few weeks old, and everything I was doing felt new and I was uncertain and super-duper-constantly vigilant to make sure that he wasn't chewing or eating something he wasn't supposed to and that he wasn't peeing in the house and that I let him out often enough. It also feels kind of like a combination of being a parent, and being a teacher. I have to learn how to mentally keep track of times of things (food, potty, sleep, play) for another being's needs, and respond lovingly to those needs, like a parent, and also teach myself consistency in my words, responses, and expectations, just like with teaching. So yeah, this raising a puppy thing is hard.

The last few days, walks with Glen were extra difficult. I had really thought he was learning and getting pretty good with it, and then two days ago he was just a wild beast the whole time. And yesterday again I had a very tired arm at the end of the walk. There were squirrels, there were leaves blowing in the wind, there were cats and strange smells and cars driving by and he wanted to go see and sniff ALL of it, all at once. Today was a lot better. I waited until after I fed him lunch, and led him around the house on his leash a bit before we went outside and he was much, much calmer. Also, I think that several people must have just fertilized their lawns in the last few days because he had been acting crazy, prancing and sniffing like mad at some of the nicer patches of lawn that we walked by, but today it only happened once and I could see little fertilizer pellets in the lawn. That stuff must have some kind of powerful scent that I don't notice. I wonder if Glen has a hound in his ancestry?

Glendovere Harley Peck is named after a golf course in Portland, Oregon, but we spell it differently. More explanation will come later. In the meantime, here some pictures of our very cute puppy.

Can you see the baby peering out from her pack n play in the background?

Yes, they love each other.

Glen rides in the back foot-well of the car. We connect his leash (attached to his harness) to the bottom frame of the seat. Sometimes he likes to stretch out.

One of Glen's favorite spots in the house for napping is beneath the futon in our TV room.

All bundled up and getting ready for bed.












Final question: why do babies prefer dog toys and dogs prefer baby toys?

Win a Year of Childcare!

I recently discovered this website when I was trying to figure out average rates for childcare in my local area. I even forwarded the URL to the members of my parenting group. Then, yesterday I got an email from an employee of the website asking if I would mention their giveaway in my blog. Sure! I think this is a good site for information, and for connecting with care providers in your area.

So, here it is: Care.com is hosting a giveaway for $12,455—that's how much the average family spends on child care each year. To enter, all you have to do is sign up for a free membership to the site. This is for people who don't even have kids, too. They list services for childcare, pet care, senior care, special needs, tutoring and lessons, and housekeeping! Probably anyone could use at least one of those services, right? Good luck! Contest ends October 9.

Four Factors for Change

I've been contemplating for a while: why did I make some changes this year that I never did before? Why do I feel so open to change right now, rather than any other time? It seems to me that several factors can influence us, and the more that are in play at once, the more likely we are to change.

Factors for change that I've come up with so far:
1. natural changes of life: birth, death, marriage, new job, move
It takes mental and sometimes physical energy to change a habit. When you are already in the mode of change, introducing other new things into your life is much easier. Moving into a new house, a new neighborhood, or a new town can have tremendous impact, and so can having a baby. I've experienced both of these firsthand and have seen how my life changed in more ways than just the initially intended one.
2. influence of friends, family and neighbors
Perhaps the most important factor. It is completely reasonable to me that the more people who are around you doing something, the more comfortable you will be doing that same thing. For instance, in high school I would never ever ride my bike to school, even though I lived fairly close to school and knew that it would be good for me, my bank account, and the environment. There were only one or two students in my whole school who commuted by bike so I would have felt odd, out of place, and uncomfortable. However, in college I started riding my bike more often because I was at a school where it was pretty much the norm to commute by bike. Now, I think, I have matured beyond my high school self and would still do things that I think are right even if they're not common. Hmm, or would I? Riding a bike is seen as pretty cool in Eugene, where I live, and at some parties/functions/locations, it would actually be MORE socially acceptable to pull up on a bike than in a car.
3. information/research
In my experience, this will only influence someone to make a change if they were already leaning towards the change or are frustrated with the status quo (#4, below). There is some research (which I wasn't able to quickly find again, sorry folks) that shows that information nearly always makes people feel more strongly about their current opinion, regardless of whether the information is in agreement with that opinion. For instance, when I was learning about cloth diapers, I pretty much ignored any sources that said that they're not really environmentally superior to disposables because I simply did not believe it, and assumed that those sources were backed by the diaper companies. I am planning an analysis of these sources and studies for a future post, FYI.
4. frustration with "the way things are"
Sometimes just getting annoyed with something is enough to make you change. It may be getting tired of being overweight or sick, it may be a feeling that you're missing out on something. From my experience, paired with this usually has to be some new information or opportunity for change. When I started no-pooing, I had already read and heard a lot about parabens in personal beauty products, and was wanting to avoid them, but tired of spending so much money for the more "natural" shampoos, which didn't always smell nice or seem to work that well. I was ripe for the information and had time to invest in preparing to make the change.

The rare example of making lifestyle changes is someone like "No Impact Man" who made a drastic change to totally eliminate his negative environmental impact, albeit only for one year. This kind of change is worthy of writing a book or making a movie about it, which he did. Most of us however, just make changes as they work for us. Like my friend Abby from New Urban Habitat pointed out in her comment on my green life and ungreen vices post, thriftiness is often a great motivator. So, this recession is possibly quite good for our planet, in addition to being good for our health (I learned this where I learn most things these days: the radio). There are lots of "green challenges" and "health challenges" out there in the blogosphere right now, but I haven't joined any. Maybe they are a good thing because they play on factor number 2, the influence of others, to help motivate members to change.

For me right now, composting, recycling, growing vegetables, no-pooing, cloth diapering, and breastfeeding are all just a normal part of my life, no big thing. However, going car-free, giving up plastic, or eating only local and/or organic would be pretty big changes, and seem quite daunting to me at this point in my life. I'd like to go more in that direction, but I don't have the mental or physical energy to devote to those changes right now. Maybe when my puppy stops chewing everything....

What do you think? How do you decide to make a change for the better? Maybe you wouldn't even consider the things I've listed as "for the better," but are there any changes you've been thinking about but haven't had the drive to get going on yet? What would make a difference?

Halloween

It's October, which means it's time for wearing rain coats, going to the corn maze, and planning our Halloween costumes. The top two schemes in the running so far:

1. Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Sweet Pea
2. A storm trooper, Princess Leia, and Yoda

Number 2 is what we did last year, so we already have the costumes, but we didn't have a baby to be Yoda, and we didn't go to any parties.

Sorry for the low quality photo, but here is the Princess Leia costume I made last year to fit my pregnant body.
















So, which idea is better? Or do you have any other suggestions for fun family costumes? Thanks in advance!

Top Twos for Advice

My top two sources of online information about breastfeeding:
Kellymom
La Leche League International resources page

My top two forums for person-to-person advice on breastfeeding, and all things related to parenting:
DiaperSwappers
MotheringDotCommunity

My top two books on breastfeeding and baby care:



My top two books on birth:



I really value having sources that I trust for information to go to whenever I have a question or a doubt about something. Yes, I can do a Google search, but having done online research on medical topics before, I know how hard it can be sometimes to figure out if I've found a valid expert, or just someone's opinion, and it can also be hard to tell if the advice I'm getting is really in line with my overall philosophies. All of the sources listed above meet my requirements for positive, pro-attachment, expert advice. Of course, the forums are not purely experts but the parents on these two generally have a similar perspective, and you can often tell what's good advice by how many "seconds" an idea gets. I have gotten help from the moms at DiaperSwappers countless times when I was worried about my nursing latch, my milk supply, or my baby's sleep.

What are your favorite sources for parenting advice?

On the Road With Cloth Diapers

To date, Sweet Pea has never worn a disposable diaper. Before she was born, I thought I would want to use cloth most of the time, but that it would be too much of a hassle to use while traveling so she would go in disposables on the road. Thanks in part to a friend from out of town who visited us while using cloth on her baby (you're awesome, Wendy!), I started to think maybe it wouldn't be that much trouble after all. So far, Sweet Pea has worn cloth everywhere we've gone, from two-hour road trips, to ten-hour cross-country trips by airplane, to three-day camping trips, and everything in between. I have changed her on the trunk of our car, in my lap, on the floor at the airport, on the ground on a towel, and on changing tables in public restrooms. I would say it is probably a little more difficult than using disposables, but totally worth it to me not to have to spend extra money to use plastic and chemicals on my baby's bum.

This is a photo of our camp-site from when we went "car-camping" last May. You can see the diaper pail by the back wheel of the car.

When we travel, I think about how many hours we'll be on the road, estimate a diaper change every two hours, and then pack a couple extra. I generally prefer to travel with all-in-one or pre-stuffed pocket diapers for the convenience of one-step changes, although they are a bit bulkier to pack than simple pre-folds and covers. We bring our cloth wipes, a squirt bottle of water (actually my peri bottle from post-partum), and a wet bag. I have two large Planet Wise wet bags, and one medium Goodmama's. They are all zipper closure, which I prefer. If we are going to be away from home for several days I either pack all three wet bags (like for flying), or one to two wet bags and our actual diaper pail (for driving trips). So far, I haven't had anyone question me about washing our diapers in their washer, and we have even used laundromats a couple of times (recently at the coast when we stayed in a hotel, and on our camping trip on the second day when we went into town to eat at a restaurant). One time Average used the laundromat washer without even putting any soap in. He figured that there was probably enough soap residue left in the washers, and the diapers came out looking and smelling clean!

Recommendations for traveling with cloth:

• bring plenty of diapers
• think ahead about when and where you will do your wash
• bring flushable liners for flights in case of poo (even though the zipper seals in the smells pretty well, I'd rather not have to deal with it)
• you might want to bring a small container of your own laundry soap

Now go for it! Don't be scared, it's just like using cloth at home. And, if you run into any trouble, you can always buy disposables, but you probably won't need to.

I Won a Giveaway!

I recently won my first giveaway since entering the blogosphere. It is so exciting! Thanks Beth, at Happily Domestic for hosting this giveaway and choosing my entry.

Just yesterday, my "prize"  arrived: the Baby Dipper. We used it today and I am very pleased. It does as promised, doesn't slide around on the table, and is easy to use with one hand, with the food naturally collecting at the deeper corner of the triangular bowl. My hands were too messy while feeding Sweet Pea to take a picture of it in use, but here is a photo of the product with its package. My only complaint so far is that I wish it didn't have this type of plastic packaging. Overall, though, it seems like a neat product idea. Average had a few choice jokes about the shape and dimensions of the bowl being similar to a product for men, which I'm not going to repeat here, but the triangular shape and sloped bottom really make sense to me. Sweet Pea did more spoon and food grabbing than actual eating, as I expected, but I think I'm going to keep trying, offering her both finger foods and pureed foods every couple of days.

I have been thinking of hosting my own giveaway sometime soon. My initial thought was a BumGenius Organic diaper, since I have one that I love, and it exemplifies all of the positive traits of cloth diapering (ease, fit, environmentally friendly) besides price. This is one expensive diaper, but excellent if you can afford it. So, does anyone have any suggestions for a great giveaway item? And, advice about how to get a business to sponsor this giveaway for me? Do you have a product I could help you promote? Comment and let me know!

A Day in the Life

I had been thinking about this topic idea for a while, and since we got a puppy I feel like my daily life has gotten even more crazy. So here is a post about a day in the life of Mommy and Sweet Pea.

• Puppy Glen and baby Sweet Pea wake up a couple of times through the night; baby nurses, Average takes puppy outside to potty
• Glen wakes up for good in the morning and has his morning meal after potty outside
• Sweet Pea wakes up and has her morning meal (nursing) and then first diaper change of the day
• Mommy eats breakfast and does some dishes
• Glen goes potty outside again
• Mommy and Sweet Pea play together while Glen plays outside
• Nurse Sweet Pea
  
• Change Sweet Pea's diaper
  
• All take a walk together
• Mommy checks email, reads blogs, while (hopefully) Sweet Pea naps
• Change Sweet Pea's diaper
• Take Glen potty
• Lunch for Glen, then Mommy, then Sweet Pea
• Try to do some housecleaning: laundry, sweep, etc.
• Change Sweet Pea's diaper
• Take Glen potty
• Errands or visits to friends
• Change Sweet Pea's diaper
  
• Get Sweet Pea to take a nap (usually includes nursing)
  
• Take Glen potty
  
• Hopefully Glen naps
• Change Sweet Pea's diaper
  
• Play time or walk for us all again
• Nurse Sweet Pea
• Start to make dinner
• Take Glen potty
  
• Change Sweet Pea's diaper
  
• Email/online time for Mommy
• Feed Glen
• Nurse Sweet Pea
• Change Sweet Pea's diaper
• Take Glen potty
• Finish making dinner
• Eat with Average
• Household chores: dishes, fold laundry etc.
• Feed Glen
• Take Glen potty
  
• Play with Sweet Pea
• Glen goes to bed
• Get Sweet Pea ready for bed: bath, storytime, night-time diaper
• Nurse Sweet Pea to sleep
• TV or reading time for Mommy and Average
• Mommy and Average shower
• Bedtime

That is actually kind of my ideal day, and is pretty much how today went, except I did my walk before my errands, instead of after, and Average was home this morning and put together a stew so I didn't have to cook tonight. However, tomorrow the tree service comes to prune our fruit trees, and there is something going on pretty much every day for the next week or so. So, the reality of my life is more typically like what happened yesterday.

I went to a festival at our local recycling facility (where my dad was playing music). On the drive home Sweet Pea started crying - sobbing actually. By the time we arrived I was desperate to get her inside and comforted. I paused for only about 30 seconds to try to get Glen to go potty, then rushed into the house, dog in tow. I grabbed my cell phone as I sat down with Sweet Pea, and saw that I had missed 12 "alerts" (calls or text messages). I remembered that I had an appointment that afternoon and was supposed to call back about it, and my phone was almost out of battery. I tried to sit in my bedroom with Sweet Pea latched on nursing, while I charged my phone and checked my messages at the same time. I glanced into the hallway, and saw.... Glen peeing on the floor! Gah! Oh no! In that moment I felt totally overwhelmed. Every time I moved Sweet Pea started crying again. I prioritized, put down the cell phone, pulled Glen into his crate to avoid tracking the pee around, and sat down in my rocking chair with Sweet Pea. I heard my phone beeping more messages and Glen barking and whining from the next room, but I knew I needed to nurse her before anything else. Once she was finally asleep, I put her down, cleaned up the pee, then let Glen out and took him outside. Whew. Just with a baby I thought my life felt chaotic, and now I have added another element. Am I crazy?