Growing a Pumpkin Patch is Hard Work.

Feed me!

This is kind of embarrassing, but after about two and a half years of updating this blog, I have finally (1) learned what, exactly, a feed is, and (2) how to update feeds for this blog. So, if you are interested in running a feed on this site, now you can, uh, eat?

NOW you tell me!

"Children are a gift from God.  They are not to be mistreated - or tied up."

Aw, crap.

Diaper Bag Update

Since a lot of folks have clicked to this entry detailing how I successfully machine-washed my Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag, I thought it might be a nice idea to post a photo of the results.

See?  Good as new!  Just remember: TOWELS.  And plenty of them.  And if, after the diaper bag completely dries, there is still some rippling in the fabric, you may want to try a cool-ish iron.  I didn't have much rippling, but if I had, I imagine an iron on the silk setting would do the trick.

"I so helpful!"

Since Adam has such a deft touch with the Swiffer, I am starting to think that it is time to introduce him to more advanced household tasks, like vacuuming raisins out of the floor vents and dusting the blinds. 

I now know better, however, than to let him use the Magic Eraser.  A friend of mine emailed me this story last week, and my heart goes out to that poor little boy and his mother. 

(We are making a weensy bit of progress progress on the clean-up-after-yourself front:  Adam will happily sing "It's time to put the trucks away, trucks away, trucks away!  It's time to put the trucks away... in the living room!" while he tosses his Lego trucks in their plastic bin, and I think I'm starting to get the point across that he should only pull out one toy basket at a time - at least now after he upends the basket of blocks he'll pause and exclaim, "Oh, what a mess!" before then upending the basket of trucks.)

Now with 100% more soapbox!

Discussion about childbirth and parenting are everywhere.  A recent article in the New Yorker magazine discussed the industrialization of childbirth in the United States (and in most other developed nations) while chronicling one mother's journey from, "Hey, it would be super to have an unmedicated, vaginal delivery!" to - thirty hours and a dropping fetal heartrate later - "Uh, c-section, please?"

At playgroups, La Leche League meetings, and at the grocery store, women in the US frequently, loudly, and often contentously argue about countless aspects of childbirth and parenting in our society. Epidural or not? OB or midwife? Breastfeed or formula, or both? Work or stay home? Scheduled c-section or homebirth at 41+ weeks? And, generally, we realize how very fortunate we are to be able to make these decisions for ourselves with minimal opposition, other than occasionally from nosy people in line behind us at the CVS.

According to several recent articles by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, however, "In much of the world, the most dangerous thing a woman can do is to become pregnant." Worldwide, maternal mortality rates have been "stuck at a half-million" for the past 25 years.

Both Kristof columns, titles "'Save My Wife'" and "Prudence's Struggle Ends" are available  here. (Unfortunately, you need to pay or be a Times Select subscriber to read them.) They detail the wrenching account of how a mother named Prudence died following a three-day labor, her baby dying insider her, a hospital shakedown, a transfusion, a disappearing surgeon, and a massive infection.

Following Prudence's death, Kristof wrote:

Intellectually, I knew that women in Africa had a 1-in-20 lifetime risk of dying in childbirth. But it was wrenching to see this young mother of three fade and die so needlessly.

There's no doubt that if men were dying at this rate, poor and rich countries alike would make the issue a priority, but the problem seems invisible, like the victims.

The U.N. Population Fund has a maternal health program in some Cameroon hospitals that might have saved Prudence's life, but it doesn't operate in this region. And it's difficult to expand, because President Bush has cut U.S. funding for the population fund -- even for African programs -- because of false allegations that it supports abortions in China.

That's shameful. Two women have tried to recoup American honor by starting a group, 34 Million Friends of U.N.F.P.A., to make up the shortfall with private donations (www.34millionfriends.org).

In addition to  34 Million Friends, more information can also be found  here, the Averting Maternal Death and Disability program at Columbia University.

What can we do here in the US to help these mothers?  There was a hubbub when our government dropped its funding for the United Nations Population Fund based, stating - erroneously - that the UN used these funds to support abortions in China.  Should we write our Congressmen urging them to reverse their decision?  What do you think?

RF 4E

This article makes me extremely happy.  Since Adam is approaching his first birthday, several folks have asked me if we're going to flip his carseat so he faces forward.  Probably not.  I admit that it's tempting - my Jetta doesn't have a ton of backseat legroom, which I've never minded since I don't spend much time in the backseat, but we have a giant honking Britax carseat that, when rear-facing, requires the front passenger seat to be positioned pretty far forward, and when we do flip the seat front-facing, we won't need to push the seat forward, leaving more room up there for me when Chris drives the car and I ride shotgun.

But, the bottom line is that rear-facing is safer than forward facing.  Seriously - check out the crash test videos (scroll down a bit for the links).  Our big honking seat has a 33-pound weight limit for rear-facing, so even though Adam is almost one year old, he's got about nine more pounds yet to go before he'll get to toss cheddar bunnies at the back of my head.

(Ed. note: due to a sudden vomit/diarrhea incident and then a couple of really busy days, a post that was rife with typos was allowed to languish here for several days.  Mea culpa, mea culpa, and did I mention that minor in English?)

How did THIS happen?

When Adam sleeps in his crib, he usually does so with the help of a sleep positioner.  He seems to like it, but I've been wondering about his movement (as in, can he move around?), so I decided to let him take his nap sans positioner. 

When I put him in his crib, I set him down with his head at the end of the crib - about 90 degrees to the left of where his head is in this photo.  He was also in a half-swaddle (that's my highly technical term for where I swaddle his legs, but not his arms.  God help you if you limit Adam's access to his fists.).  As you can see, he is no longer swaddled, which is no biggie because he usually kicks his blankets off when he fusses.  My question is, how on earth did he move himself that much?  He fussed for a little while when I first put him down, but can a few minutes of fussing propel a nine-week-old infant 90 degrees from his starting point?

I am completely flummoxed.  Is this normal?  Should we forgo the sleep positioner from now on and just let him move where he wants to move when he's in his crib?  Or is this the very reason why we should keep using the sleep wedges?

Internet!  I need your help!

(Also, yes, he IS wearing the same jammies he was wearing earlier, just without the pants.  But his diaper is clean, at least!)

Kind of like Julie of the Wolves...

...Except, backwards.  And creepy.

What I REALLY want to know, though, is why Kura's husband is unwilling to breastfeed the puppy his own self. 

Chris...

This is for you.

"For those who claim male lactation is "unnatural," I would have to ask: how natural is canned formula from Nestle' or pacifiers made from petrolium [sic] byproducts?"

Well.  Touché, then.

I mean, I thought the Diaper Free people were a little out of their gourds, but this one takes the cake.