cloudgate

summer is here

We went tent camping at Moraine View Stat Park with some other homeschooling families. Me and the kids had fun.

There was a lake to swim in, a potluck dinner, a playground, and we were right next to our friends, Trap n Owl.
Henry did pretty well. I kept him in the sling alot. My friend Aimee from college stopped by-she lives about 30 min from teh park. It was nice to see her and her husband. We had great weather, too. All in all, I think it was an nice weekend.

Today we went to the beach, and we have been to the park every day this week for 3+ hours. Zibby has crossed over into a new independence-she runs off with her friends and plays and doesnt cling to my leg like last year. Its nice.

” alt=”" />

morsbags

This is such a great idea!
http://www.morsbags.com/

Happy 9 Monthaversary Bub!

Right now, as I type, Zibby is giving Henry his “kitty petting lessons”. This involves a stuffed animal kitty and demonstrations of gentle petting. Its super cute. She told us that she cant wait to teach Bub everything she knows.

So, my sweet baby Henry is 9 months old. He gave me a kiss the other night, on our campout. I was standing him up in my lap, and he leaned over into my cheek and smacked his lips on me. Awww. He is 20.5 lbs and wears 18 mos/24 mos clothes. He can pull up on things, and cruise a little. He has two teeth on teh bottom and 2 just came thru on the top. He has red hair that curls up when sweaty. He is super chill and is happy to hang out on the floor, playing with whatever is within reach.

He is distracted while nursing in teh daytime, but at home or at night nurses great. He sleeps a lot, still. He takes 2 good naps, and sleeps all night with us, nursing but not really waking. He loves the sling, he is in awe of Zibby and is delighted by Papa. He makes lots of happy noises and rarely cries.

He likes veggie booty and guacamole and pretzle sticks. He wants to eat, but doesnt swallow much. He likes to bang stuff with his hand. I catch maybe half his eliminations, his signals are hard for me to read. He is super smiley and cute. He is a blessing and a joy. We love him like crazy.

Happy 9 monthaversary Bub!

pants

Ok, I wont post any more pictures of the plethora of pants Im whupping up for Bub. But, I was at the thrift store today and I got a brilliant idea! Make two pairs of pants/shorts from one pillowcase! The pillowcase was 1$ and the color tag was half off today. Easy peasy. Cant believe how cute they are, plus all soft and already worn in. So, I made 4 pants today. One out of an old tshirt, one out of an awesome Antigua tshirt from thrift store, plus the two pillowcase pants. Oh, and another pair that is waiting elastic. They turned out kind of girly so I have to fit them to whoever I am going to give them to.Ok, my next project is going to be a shirt for moi.baby is crying, bye.

another monkey outfit

I’ve been sewing some more. The monkey outfit I did on Sunday while Buzz took Zibby to the Zoo. I wasnt satisfied with the patterns I had, so I just “wung” it. I sort of copied a shirt she has for the size and then just made a super easy skirt. Its long, but its cute. She wants me to put pockets on it. I made Bub 4 pairs of pants, my favorite being the green hawaiian ones.

Bub has his 2 top teeth coming thru. He was very cranky last week but better this week. He also really really wants food! He doesnt eat much of it, but I give him some smidges of avocado and chicken and the ubiquitous pretzel rod. He is so happy to be part of the table. I will do a nice update with photos in a few days on his 9mo birthday.

Zibby has been having so much fun at Park Days lately. She usually takes off and plays with her friends and runs and runs and runs around. Today she was limping around due to a big owie she got leaving the zoo yesterday. I even gave her some baby motrin this afternoon because she was weeping and moaning about it hurting.

We are going camping this weekend in Moraine View Park downstate. I hope it works out ok with Bub. He just wants to put everything in his mouth! Urg. Lots of our friends are going too, so hopefully it will be nice weather and fun.

Safe Cosleeping

(from one of my listservs. I went and participated in the survey) 

Hello breastfeeding supporters and educators,

As you well know, the best food for a new child is breast milk. You also know that not everyone believes that fact. The formula companies have successfully “separated” today’s woman from herbreast, at least mentally. The leaders of the Le Leche League aretrying to undue this unfortunate shift of culture, and we thank youfor it.

As you may also know, many of these same “Big Corp” interests areattacking the Family Bed saying it can’t be done safely. They, forall intensive purposes, have a firm grasp on America’s idea aboutthe ONLY safe place that a child should sleep, a safety approvedcrib.

Co-sleeping or bed-sharing can be an integral part of mostbreastfeeding situations. It makes it easier, which helps extend theduration. However, there is a very real movement to officially label co-sleeping as NEGLECT. This would be a major step back for breastfeeding. There are important bed-sharing guidelines that need to befollowed, and not omitted. Public health departments and the genera lpublic are being bombarded with news stories calling for the end ofco-sleeping. They say it’s dangerous and can’t be done safely.

You as a professional know different. Help get the message out to save this beneficial parenting choice. Please ask your successful co-sleeping families to help prove something that Mr. Big Corp would like to hide…that people can and are co-sleeping/bed-sharing safely.

www.co-sleepingsurvey.com is a 30 second survey that allows parentswho have or are currently co-sleeping/bed-sharing to countthemselves as safe parents. The website has been live for under aweek and over 1000 people have signed up. Most of them arebreastfeeding women.This number is desperately needed to prove that co-sleeping and bed-sharing can be done safely and the only thing that needs to beabolished is the discrimination against this valuable practice.

Thanks,Co-sleepingsurvey.com

kids say the darndest things.

today, on the way home from a friend’s house, zibby was unhappy with her carseat. honestly, she’s been unhappy with her carseat since the first time we ever put her in one, but anyhoo. so, she’s is fussing around, taking off her belt, putting it back on, wiggling and crying and she says to me,

‘Mama, this carseat feels like a … like a… predicament.’

indeed.

later, after dinner, she tells me and buzz,

“you know what I am worried about?”
“no, zibby, tell us”

“I’m worried about not having enough slippers”

I wish thats all I had to worry about

craftacular

today I took the kids and hit the Constructor Craft Fair in Berwyn, IL. I got some cool stuff and even better, ideas to make my own cool stuff. is that cheating?

I bought some really beautiful yarn that I intend to felt, some awesome cards I intend to frame, some magnets (doesnt look like she has magnets in her etsy store right now, though) that are already on the fridge, and a little crinkly fabric toy thing for Henry.

we had some time to kill before I had to take Zibby to a party, so I stopped at JoAnn, because I needed some snaps to fix the diapers I bought for Henry. However, there was a sale, so I also ended up with a frame and some scrapbook stuff.

and now I have a big fat list of crafty stuff I want to do.

yay!

wish I had a picture, but I don’t

the other day, bub saw me get some toilet paper off the roll. I literally saw him thinking “a-ha. interesting.”so it was no surprise at all a little later, that I found him sitting by the roll, surrounded by unraveled tp.