freaking awesome :)

a very good place to start

Let's start at the very beginning...

Day One: April 18, 2011

So it was a good thing I made an email exception to Screen-Free Week, because on the very first day…….

I won this awesome ring sling from Mahreen at Veni Vidi Blogi!

It’s called Inara’s Rainbow (named after her adorable daughter) and is actually part of a wrap sent to her by Giselle at Granola Babies. Mahreen sent half of it to Jan at Sleeping Baby Productions and had a sling made, then gave it away via the 5-day-long Do Something Good Challenge.

And yours truly won it.

**jumpingupanddownontheinside**

More than that, though, Mahreen got me to look at old, ‘useless’ stuff in a new way. It started as a chance to win something beautiful, useful, and one-of-a-kind, and it ended with using brand-new eyes to look at everything in my house as an opportunity rather than hopeless clutter. Though I do still have plenty of hopeless clutter. I’m working on that.

anyway.

Day One of Screen-Free Week was a fabulous success, and not only because of Inara’s Rainbow. There was, of course, a lot of dish-washing, laundry, and the usual chore-type things, but I actually got to witness Zeke play. For hours. I don’t get to see this during the day most of the time, and it was so very gratifying to watch. I made a kid who loves to do stuff! How cool.

But I couldn’t help thinking, this child is literally learning every second of every day. I can’t believe I’d sometimes rather let him sit in front of the TV because I just don’t want to be bothered. My priorities suck.

Except they don’t suck: at least, not this week. We colored, we read books (including The Giant Nursery Book of Things That Go, which has about onehundredgazillion pages, and we read the whole thing), and we spent hours outside.

It turns out Zeke really likes hoses, watering cans, potted plants, and tilled dirt. He’s such a boy.

And I can finally see some flowers starting to open up in the apple orchard across the front yard (no pictures yet, thank you dead battery). Apple Blossom is SO SOON, and the place will be bursting with pink and white by then. It’ll be awesome.

Dinner was chicken on the grill with green beans and quinoa (my current favorite grain, mostly because I’m impatient and it only takes like 15 minutes to cook). After bath and bedtime, Adam came into the living room and turned on Top Gear, so I had to scram to the spare bedroom for an end-of-the-day email check and to read the New York Times. Print edition, people, print.

Also, see You Capture at I Should Be Folding Laundry for a looooooong list of blogs with beautiful spring photos. Mkay? Mkay.

It was a very good place to start.

Sling giveaway! But wait...there's more!

I'll be posting a new series of photos and lots of info about the last couple of months this weekend, as soon as the (long-awaited) LAST case study for my LAST certification class is over and done. Which means I won't have to take another class until about 2017...huzzah!

Anyway, in the interim I'm entering a very cool giveaway/altruism thing at the suggestion/urging/strong recommendation of Mahreen at Veni, Vidi, Blogi.

The prize = this bee-yoo-tiful sling:

Photo Credit: Veni Vidi Blogi

The methods = many and varied, but the coolest one involves repurposing old stuff into new stuff (or, at least, useful stuff). I'm still working on a strategy for that part, but I'll get cracking tomorrow morning before school, because it has to be completed and documented by Friday at midnight. Yipe!

And here we go...

CIO? No, thank you.

Let me be very clear about this: I do NOT think letting a baby/child cry it out is a good idea. Little people cry for a reason, whether it be hunger, discomfort, or a need to be cuddled, and I think we have a responsibility as parents to respond to those needs. Babies don't cry just because they feel like being contrary.

At the same time, though, I don't see any reason to go rushing in at the first peep. When I put Zeke down for a nap, occasionally he fusses for a few minutes, but usually is asleep within five. If he fusses longer than that (or does the kind of screaming that scrapes your eardrums) I try the cuddle-and-sway routine, which usually does the trick. If not, we scrap the plan and try again later. Maybe this means the laundry isn't done but, frankly, he's more important than laundry.

When we're out and won't be home for naptime, I do a front carry in the Kozy, and he'll snooze in there for a solid two hours.Finally, we usually end up cosleeping at night, which seriously cuts back on the crying and regular waking. Normally, we don't start out intending to keep him in the bed, but often I'll fall asleep when Zeke does, and then Adam just leaves him there when he comes to bed. This is made a lot easier, of course, by having a king-sized bed :)

People sometimes say, "But don't you want him to learn to fall asleep by himself? Don't you want to have a little time for yourself at the end of the day?" Of course I want both of those things -- but I'm not going to push either one of them. I didn't get into parenting to have time for myself, and anyone who does is delusional. Zeke WILL fall asleep by himself when he's developmentally ready to do so (and already does, sometimes). I'm just not that worried about it.

My basic sleep philosophy is this: I don't want Zeke to have negative associations with sleep. I know he likely wouldn't remember crying himself to sleep, and it probably wouldn't cause personality disorders when he's a teenager. That doesn't, however, mean it's the right thing to do for our family. I'll take loving cuddles over leaving him alone to cry, any day.

My husband wore our son and I wish I had pictures to prove it!

I've missed posting here! It's been quite awhile, but it seems everytime I sit down to type, something comes up/dinner timer rings/Zeke needs to nurse/the dryer buzzes/students come back from lunch/internet stops working/onandonandonandon...

Something I've been itching to post about, though, is a major breakthrough -- Adam wore Zeke the other day! He wanted to wash dishes (a breakthrough in itself!) but didn't want to just plop Zeke in his highchair by himself, so he made an announcement: "Son, I'm going to wear you now".

**insert crickets chirping**

And I, in my infinite tact, said ".............Really?!"

Adam needed a little help putting Zeke in the Kozy since he's only ever done it once before, so I helped him get situated and tied up in front.

That went well for about two minutes until Adam realized Zeke was in the way while he was trying to use the sink (risking getting the Kozy soaking wet, of course).

So he then announced he wanted to move Zeke to his back, and I helped him get situated and tied up there, too.

Unfortunately, Zeke was not in the mood to be worn so I had to take him after about ten minutes, but it was SSOOOOOO cute while it lasted! My husband is the most handsome man in the world, anyway, but my heart just melted when he had our son on his back.

I think I need to tell him what a good father he is a little more often.

And next time, I think I'll get the camera.

O Christmas Tree...

Adam (farthest), Jack (middle), and Patrick (nearest) taking our tree to the pick-up point

The tree barely fitting into the living room

We finally went to get a Christmas tree yesterday afternoon. We drove up to Sherwood Pines with Adam's parents and his youngest brother, Patrick, and picked out a nice spruce for the living room. It turns out the tree was A LOT bigger than we thought and, despite the VERY high ceiling, we still had to cut off the top to get it to fit :/

Zeke was a little fussy during the trip (I'm sure his nose and chin were cold, and I've always wondered if babies' gums can freeze), but a rousing game of Peek-a-boo with his daddy helped a lot and got the smile back.

Here I'm wearing Zeke in a borrowed GypsyMama (Wrapsody) batik wrap
and a Peekaru vest to keep warm :)

One day at a time...

It seems that we have a difficult time having both a good day and a good night in a row, although today might be the day! Last night was wonderful; Zeke went down for the night around 1130 (a little late for Adam's taste since he had to get up early to pack this morning, but pretty good nonetheless), got up at 6 when Adam's alarm went off, and has been great with taking naps so far today. As I write this he's on his second nap of over an hour (the first was nearly two!) and will be very excited to learn that he's getting in the tub after he wakes up and nurses. I'll try to post a bath picture as soon as I manage to pull more photos off the camera.

It seems that the great outdoors is what works for Zeke. No matter what his mood, he's quiet, alert, and happy as soon as we step out the door. Therefore, we go on lots of walks; some are short and just involve taking Frank outside, but other are much longer and I'll either wear him in the Kozy or put him in his stroller to go up and down our road for awhile. Usually I have Frank's leash in one hand and the other hand either on the stroller (we have a VERY easily-maneuverable jogging stroller, a must for a gravel road) or supporting Zeke's head if I did a bad job putting him in the Kozy. We have to be careful to listen for cars, though, because some of my neighbors rocket around corners like I've seen only in rally racing.