I've been doing pretty much nothing this past week. It's been so nice. Why don't I live on vacation?
Our fabulous New Year's Eve party was to build a fire (so fun to have a fireplace!), order pizza for delivery (which I don't think we've done since college), watch Leverage on DVD (our new favorite obsession), and play Elefun, a Christmas present from Mikko's uncle and aunt. It's a blue plastic elephant with a motor inside that inflates a long trunk and blows plastic "butterflies" out to catch in nets. I have to admit, Sam in particular was skeptical about this game at first — takes batteries, loud, spews debris all over your living room? But then we found some C batteries, and it turns out Sam's inner competitive streak came out, and he loves skunking us all. Yes, including his three-year-old son, who above all loves being lifted up to have butterflies blow in his face.
So that's how we rang in the New Year, peering every once in awhile at the clock to see how late it was, but missing the turning to midnight itself. I like quiet celebrations.
On New Year's Day and today as well, we've had to stay quarantined since we all seem to be coming down with a cold — more goofing off is called for, don't you think? Yesterday we made stuffed mushrooms and deviled eggs (our very own hors d'oeuvres buffet!), and today we're still eating leftover pizza. I'm glad today's Sunday so I don't have to feel ambitious right away after a holiday.
Hope you had the celebration of your choosing and that 2011 will be blessed. For now, some links!
- "A Perfectly Timed Letter From a Perfectly Wonderful Teen (on a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day)" from Live and Love…Out Loud: Aw.
- "The Letter I Needed to Read." from Our Little Apartment: A letter on a different topic — from the author to her former newbie breastfeeding self. A note about her first item, that early pain in nursing is normal. From the many experiences I've heard, I know for sure that some women feel pain in the early days and weeks (and, in isolated cases, even longer than that) when there's nothing wrong. However, sometimes women feel pain because there is something wrong (with the latch or from a clogged duct or infection, etc.), so it's worth getting any pain checked out by a qualified lactation consultant. Because, for instance, it didn't hurt at all for me. So, while pain for some women might be normal, for some women it might not be. That was kind of a tangent, sorry.
I also love the post she linked to at inside dog: "To nurse a baby" — it makes me mad that there is commonly so much interference with breastfeeding (and birth) success in U.S. hospitals, but I'm glad people are sending out this message loud and clear to other naive and trusting parents:
"YOU are the boss. No matter what anyone at any doctor's office or hospital tells you, YOU make the decisions about the care you receive. YOU can do this. If people come in your hospital room and interfere with you too much while you're trying to learn to nurse? SEND THEM AWAY."
I have the same resolution if everything goes pear-shaped this next time around.
- "Dr. Oz on Circumcision" from Anktangle: This is from November, but it's also making me mad. Dr. Oz is broadcasting inaccurate facts and colorful object lessons to promote routine infant circumcision as if they're the truth. As Amy says:
"I think The Dr. Oz Show did a poor job of providing the American people with accurate facts on routine infant circumcision. I believe that, since Dr. Oz is an influential person and a medical professional, he has an obligation to provide people with the most accurate and balanced information available, regardless of his personal opinion on the subject. This is especially true when he's advocating for a medical procedure that is not recommended by the Centers for Disease Control or the American Academy of Pediatrics. In fact, no medical organization in the world recommends routine infant circumcision."
- "'Set yourself up to succeed.'" from Attached at the Nip: About arranging our environments to make them safe and inviting for children, so that we can say "yes" more than we say "no." Even though my child is older than her twins, we had a similar experience when visiting his grandparents — there were a lot of breakable knick-knacks and expensive equipment (cameras, binoculars) left around specifically to tempt Mikko, and while I was comfortable letting him explore those objects with my supervision, his grandparents were not, which is understandable. It's much easier not to have so many precious items around your own home, in terms of either putting them up and away, or changing your perspective of what may and may not be touched.
- "My Little Weanerschnitzel" from Tmuffin: Posted the same day I posted mine about "Breastfeeding through pregnancy: My second-trimester experience," it gives another welcome true story on the process of an older toddler self-weaning (or not) during pregnancy.
- The deadline for the January Carnival of Natural Parenting is this Tuesday! The topic is "Learning from children." Tell us how your children have taught you.
- Some fabulous finds this week from Natural Parents Network:
- "Family Resolution for 2011 – Unplugged & Tuned In": On ways to make family time meaningful in the new year.
- "Intro to Elimination Communication Part 2: Practice": Practical tips and products to get started with EC.
- "Choosing Your Cloth Diapers": This is Cloth Diapers 101 if you've been confused by all the options out there!
- And a couple fun giveaways at Natural Parents Network that end this month:
- Inspired by Finn Amber Jewelry {1.6; US/Can}: Amber is a traditional and natural treatment for all types of pain relief, from teething to back pain to headaches. Here's your chance to win a child-sized necklace or adult-sized bracelet to give it a try!
- Modest Middles nursing tank top {1.14; US}: If what you hate most about nursing in public is the squeamish thought that someone might see your tummy, this cami is for you! What I love about it especially is you can wear any nursing bra with it, so it's perfect for large-busted ladies in particular who won't do as well in a typical nursing tank top (raises hand!).
Check out Authentic Parenting, Baby Dust Diaries (on hiatus), Maman A Droit, Navelgazing, Momma Jorje, pocket.buddha, Breastfeeding Moms Unite!, Enjoy Birth, A Domesticated Woman's Adventures, This Adventure Life, The Parent Vortex, and A Little Bit of All of It for more Sunday Surfing! (If you also participate in a regular link list, whether on Sunday or not, let me know and I'll add your link.)
Feel free to add your recommendations in the comments. Happy reading!
3 comments:
A couple of links there were perfect for me! Another might be... if we conceive a baby boy. And that photo... wonderful! Sasha loves for me to hold her and stand in front of the humidifier. :-)
I love that Elefun picture! We love that game here, too.
Thanks for the links! Now I'll have good stuff to read tonight.
My daughter keeps asking for the Elefun game. I was quite skeptical myself... maybe I'll just have to let her give it a try.
I've gotten 2 necklaces from Inspired by Finn for my headaches and I think they are WON.DER.FUL. I would highly recommend them to anyone.
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