Due to an early morning working on a guest post, a late morning spent putting the same puzzle together three times (can you tell Mikko likes it?), an afternoon playdate with some super-charming girls, a completely gratuitous dinner out downtown with a side trip to the carousel at the waterfront, and a much-needed pregnancy-excusable nap, I'm late getting started on Sunday Surf today. Ah, Sundays!
I somehow thought I hadn't read much this week, but my Reader shared items queue is chock full. If I put off sharing another week, it just might burst. So let's get to it!
(Just noticing: I think I must have been reading on my phone, because I don't think I commented on, like, anything. Oops!)
- "Happy Candles: A Gentle Way of Dealing with Tantrums | Rhythm of the Home" from Rhythm of the Home: What a fascinating idea for calming everyone.
- "Cloth Diapering Papa" from Anktangle: Fun interview to get the perspective of those who are rumored to be hardest to convert to cloth diapering (though Amy & I never faced any opposition). My own CDing papa's got a picture there!

- "How to Prepare a Montessori Baby Room" from Living Montessori Now: Note to self: Get lightweight mirror
at Ikea.
- "Moms: It’s okay to change your mind." from The Happiest Mom: On the need to let go the unattainable and unreasonable ideal of consistency.
- "Change, Growth, Loss and the Transformation of Babies" from The Parent Vortex: Something I've been thinking about as well. I love watching Mikko grow. But I do fear death.
- From Aruban Breastfeeding Mamas
- "Why I'm not waiting to have a baby boy to stand up for Intactivism": Really glad to hear a mother of a daughter say this, because circumcision is not something that affects just boys.
- "Single Mothers, you CAN succeed!": I'm not single, but I thought this post was insightful and genuine. Wendy discusses the downsides and fears of single parenthood but sums up the strength she's learned:
"It takes two to make a kid, but if only one is left, that one is certainly capable of raising a well-adjusted, integrated and loving human being. …
"Even though to some the pain of singleness feels like birth pangs, I dare you, I challenge you to parent your child as if you did have a partner, treat your child as if you had infinite amounts of patience and love your child as if you lacked absolutely nothing in the world because in fact, your child loves you even if you lack everything else in the world. "
- "Installing Speed Bumps to Television Viewing" from childhood101.com: Love these speed bumps! And they really do work. We have a marble run, a puzzle, a remote control car, and some Duplos competing with the television for attention right now, and frequently winning.
- "OK, Who Invited Judge Judy?" from Ms. Mary Mack: How labeling ourselves "one of THOSE mothers" is self-criticism (via @phdinparenting).
- "We Are Not Chimps; or, In Defense of Day Care" from The Variegated Life: Absolutely. We were made to have alloparents, and there's no shame in that. I really appreciate this take on shared childcare (even if, in our culture, it has to be purchased and is hard to come by for many families).
- From Child of the Nature Isle:
- "My Waterbirth, Homebirth & Hypnobirth": What a beautiful birth story! Here's one I don't need to use my Hypnobubble* to filter out. (*That's what Sam likes to call the protective bubble the Hypnobabies scripts recommend you build around your pregnant mind to keep out negative thoughts.)
- "Tandem Nursing: A Personal Experience": Another experience of breastfeeding through pregnancy & tandem nursing, with some beautiful pictures!
- From Laura's Blog, her latest awesome analyses on birth weight and maternal conditions:
- "Baby Birth Weight versus Gestation": Babies gain less than a 1/3 lb a week during the last weeks of pregnancy, so inducing to avoid a "big baby" is questionable.
- "Relationship Between Baby's Birth Weight and Diabetes": There's a significantly bigger increase in baby birth weight with mothers who have diabetes pre-pregnancy than with mothers who have gestational diabetes, as compared with non-diabetic mothers. Either GD mothers control their GD very, very well, or fears of macrosomia due to GD are dubious.
- "Baby Birth Weight and Mother's Pre-pregnancy Weight": Pre-pregnancy weight (or BMI) affects baby birth weight, but not by much. The biggest difference is in women who were considered underweight compared with women who were considered normal weight.
- Via Laura's Blog, I liked this article: "Push to Reduce Rates of Early Term Induced Deliveries" from WSJ.com:
"For an unborn baby to develop fully, obstetrics groups firmly recommend 39 weeks in the womb—and not a day less, if labor will be induced without a medical reason."
I was already a big believer in letting babies decide when their birthdays should be, but I had no idea so much development happened in the very final weeks. Stay in, baby!
- "Simple Stretches and Self-Massage Relieve Tension from Breastfeeding" from Nursing Freedom: This 5-minute video will give you three easy techniques to loosen up. I need these from being hunched over a computer all day, too! I can definitely feel that these are the muscles I need to stretch.
- From Natural Parents Network, in a week on Healthy Eating:
- "Five Ways to Start Eating Naturally" from Acacia of Fingerpaint & Superheroes: Helpful, doable baby steps. I like it when health-foodies are gentle with me.
- Then three on our recent and current and entirely predictable worry: Picky eating!
- "Tackling Toddler Eating Habits" from Jennifer: Love these tips and the overall tone:
"Food and meal times should never be a war zone."
- "Making Lunchtime Fun: Muffin Tin Meals!" from Kristin of Intrepid Murmurings: Love love love these & must implement.
- "Picky Toddler Eaters" from Ask the NPN Mentors: A couple alternate takes on the matter.
- "Tackling Toddler Eating Habits" from Jennifer: Love these tips and the overall tone:
My recommendation, to myself all along, and to anyone playing along at home, is to continue making eating, food choices, and mealtimes positive and mainly child-directed (obviously, you as the parents get to help decide what choices to present, but I'm not about refusing Mikko's suggestions) and to continue offering plenty of good and varied choices and showing your own appreciation of them, and the finicky stage will pass. Eventually.

- Two fine giveaways for you:
- GREEN YOUR PERIOD: GladRags cloth menstrual pad 3-pack $44 {3.31; US/Can} — I love these comfy cotton pads, and you can get your own sampler pack.
- Spoonful of Comfort Soup Care Package $46 {4.14; US}: Spoonful of Comfort is offering NPN readers a giveaway of a care package perfect for households with a new baby or recovering from illness, containing 64 oz. of award winning, all-natural chicken noodle soup (serves 4-6) along with 6 made-from-scratch rolls and 6 oatmeal raisin cookies, delivered fresh to your loved ones' doorstep.
You can find more shared items during the week at my public Google Reader recommendations feed.
Check out Authentic Parenting, Baby Dust Diaries, Navelgazing, Momma Jorje, I Thought I Knew Mama, Enjoy Birth, A Domesticated Woman's Adventures (various), Fabulous Mama Chronicles, Kelly Hogaboom (Fridays), The Parent Vortex, Hippie Housewife (Saturdays), Multiple Musings, Motherhood Moments, Mama and Baby Love, 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!
12 comments:
Thanks for linking to that old-ish post of mine! It requires an update, I think, for two reasons. Maybe three? (1) I now understand the distinction between attachment theory and attachment parenting. (2) There's your point about the fact that quality day care is not available to everyone, which is, I believe (3) a result of ideology about motherhood that envisions completely self-sacrificing 24/7 care. Maybe I'll get to that update some time this year!
Enjoyed the link to the "It's ok to change your mind". I will be telling my girlfriend about your blog as we are trying to have a baby and she would enjoy it.
Great recommendations! I can especially identify with The Parent Vortex post.
I have a regular Sunday Surf post if you wouldn't mind adding my link. Thanks!
Thanks for linking me--and I can't wait to check out the other blogs you've linked here.
Oh my gosh! So many great links. I tend to pick out one or two to follow, but I left comments on a bunch of these!
I am also amused that we both posted one matching link on our SS posts. :-D (Happy Candles)
I can not believe that I didn't catch that was Mikko & Sam when I read that article earlier in the week! Though honestly, that shot / angle / facial hair make Sam look quite slim.
Thanks for the link love! I'm off to check out some of the other posts now..
Thanks for linking! It was wonderful to see you Sunday!
Hooray for the newfound adventurousness in eating (knock on wood!). I've definitely noticed a correlation between Emma's willingness to try new foods and her being open to new things other aspects of her life -- like when she is trying new things physically or socially, willing to wear some new clothes, etc, her eating repertoire expands as well. Her cautiousness has definitely always been a personality trait, and when I realized her pickiness with food as just another facet of that I was able to accept it a lot more.
@Rachael @ The Variegated Life: I would love to see an update. As to (3): Remember that article that made the rounds that said mothers (mothers exclusively) need to be available 24/7 to their children for at least the first three years? Um…yeah. That's not classist or sexist or completely unreasonable…
@Mark Clemens: Glad to hear it! I really resonated with that as well. I think we (and parenting "experts") tend to make consistency into some sort of parenting demigod.
@I Thought I Knew Mama: Gotcha!
@Momma Jorje: That's so funny about the twinsie posting! :) I haven't even gotten around to everyone surfs yet. (Since I didn't even get my own up on Sunday, ahem.)
I'll let Sam know he was unrecognizable. :) Isn't Mikko wee? It's so funny (and incredibly cliché, etc.) to look back and see how much he's grown! I think I'll carry that with me into this next newborn phase — that it really is, even though it does not feel like it — fleeting.
@Kristin @ Intrepid Murmurings: That is such an insightful link — I'd never even thought of that, that cautiousness in other things would extend to cautiousness in food as well. Makes so much sense!
I was so glad Mikko loosened up and got into playing with the group. It might not have seemed like much from your perspective, but he really was so much freer than he usually is around new people. Yea for this adventurous phase! However long it lasts. :)
Which reminds me to say as well: Thank you for letting him take the time he needed to warm up. The last time we met with a big group and he was being hesitant like that, people were coming up to him, leaning down to speak into his face, taking his hat away — ack! It did not help matters, so we really appreciated your family's sensitivity. (I noticed even Emma being very sweet in handing me the toys to hand to him.)
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