Wednesday, December 27, 2006

public service announcement

A different sort of post: Joe and I would like to make known some of our parenting philosophies, as they will in some ways affect those of you we love. We figured it might help to lay these out publicly in advance, hopefully in order to cause fewer problems later down the road. I understand not everyone will agree with our decisions, and some might believe us to be idealistic (and maybe we are), but we’re still going to try and do things the best way we know how. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this.

1. Toys. We’re going to do our best to stick to traditional toys made from natural materials. We are trying to avoid noisy, flashing, battery-operated toys (even the “educational” ones), as well as television and video games (at least for the first few years). Neuro-Developmental research has suggested a trend towards increasing frontal-network systems dysfunction as a result of increased 'screen' time, which makes sense given that these types of activities directly affect the development of the frontal lobes. They overstimulate young brains, and so we will try to avoid them (as much as possible in our media-saturated culture). Along these same lines, we’re going to try and stay away from “character” items (such as mickey mouse, elmo, etc.). These toys tend to produce imitative and scripted play, rather than more stimulating imaginative play. Advertising is another reason we’ll be trying to avoid television and character toys -- children have no ability to critically evaluate advertising, which is specifically designed to suck them in (and make their parents miserable). We’re also going to try and avoid most plastic toys -- many forms of plastic can leach from the toys (or containers, or foods) into the body, plastic is not great for the environment, and generally there are good substitutes made from more natural materials. Specifically we are avoiding PVC, so such toys as Lego’s (which are PVC free) are okay, though in general we are avoiding plastics and would prefer toys to be made of wood, cloth, or other natural materials, and to be as simple as possible (heirloom). Examples of great toys are those founds at
http://www.novanatural.com/
http://www.joyswaldorfdolls.com/
http://www.naturalplay.com/
http://www.bellalunatoys.com/
or many, many others (including many quality children’s stores in your area). And of course books are always welcome.

2. Food. We haven’t yet decided whether we will raise our children vegetarian. If we do, we hope everyone will respect our decision and not sneak animal products into them (even if they ask for them). Whether vegetarian or not, we’ll be doing our best to feed our children mostly whole foods, with as little processing as possible. We do not eat many processed foods, and do not want our kids to. We will largely be avoiding most dairy products, refined white sugars, high-fructose corn syrups, as well as those specific foods family members are allergic to.

3. Crying. We do our best not to let James cry without comforting him. One of the main things babies are learning early in their lives is secure attachment to their parents, and to foster this, they need to know they will be comforted when they’re scared, or lonely, or upset for whatever reason. (Babies aren’t developed enough to throw purposeful “tantrums” – that comes later.) Research indicates that babies who are quickly comforted by their primary caregivers are more independent at 5 years old than those who are left to “cry it out”. Even as an adult, I prefer to be comforted when I am genuinely upset, and I will try to give the same respect to our babies.

This list very well might evolve over time, and we greatly appreciate your support on these matters. We are new at this, and want to do the very best job we can. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions at all, we are more than willing to provide you the sources behind any of these ideas.

Monday, December 25, 2006

Christmas





Merry Christmas!
We have been very blessed this year, and would like to offer the very best of the season to all those we love. Thank you for everything, we would not be where we are today without each and every one of you. We put up our pitiful excuse for a Christmas tree last night after Mass, and James was amazed to find it in our living room this morning (Joe let me sleep in this morning for my birthday, thus had to get up with mister brighteyes at 5:30). He is usually very interested in lighting fixtures, and the lights on the tree were no exception. James and his daddy then apparantly went on a quest for coffee, and walked for about 45 minutes before finding a place that was open (the convenience store across the street was, though he didn't think to check there!). So James had already had a big day before I got up for good at around 9ish! He really enjoyed 'unwrapping' his presents. He likes the crinkly noise paper makes, and was entertained for quite a while. The weather has been unseasonably warm, so we went for a long walk in the afternoon. He was generally pretty cranky today, so his "bah humbug" shirt from Auntie Amy was fitting!

Friday, December 22, 2006

"I love it!"



James wanted me to tell Uncle Justin that he LOVES the amber teething necklace. He thinks he looks very cool, and keeps staring at himself in the mirror and smiling. He has been reaching and grasping for toys well over the past few days, and his hand-eye (or should I say hand-eye-mouth?!) coordination is getting pretty good. He has mastered holding onto things, though has yet to realize he can let go (taking more clumps of my hair with him!). He has learned he can roll to get objects, which is a skill he is very proud of. His vocal repertoire is increasing, and he has begun to mimic speech sounds (Like "hii" and "baa"), in addition to making lots of choking and coughing noises (smart boy has realized I pay close attention to those!). He laughs when playing, and is drooling profusely. He really likes to be sung and read to. As you can see from the pictures, his eczema is looking great, his umbilical hernia is gone, and he is also getting a Buddha belly!

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

notice anything?


Upon closer inspection of the pictures I took this morning, I realized this kid is out and out sassy! Take a close look at this picture ;o)

tough guy







I thought the last picture was so funny! James was showing us what a little samurai he is! He is wearing one of his favorite diapers, a bumGenius! 1.0 which has a nice trim fit under clothes (cottonbabies.com) allowing for lots of wiggles. We will be trying the new improved 2.0 with a gift from Auntie Em as soon as some new colors/fleece come out. As you can see he is being a bit of a goofball this morning. All of his hair has fallen out except for the oh-so-stylish baby mullet, which is started to wane as well. Pretty soon he will be a cue ball!

Monday, December 18, 2006

4 month well visit

James went to the Doctor today for his 4 month evaluation (almost a month late...as he was nearly a month premature we are scheduling to be in line with his full term date). His stats were:

Head: 39 1/2 cm
Height: 24 in
Weight: 14 lb 10 oz

So he is still hugging the bottom of the curve for all but weight, where he is in the 25% (yay mama milk!). Considering he was at the extreme bottom of the curve at birth, he is growing quite nicely!

We have decided not to continue vaccinating him until we are finished with the elimination diet to ensure the vaccine fillers are not foods he is allergic to. We are already following a selective and delayed schedule and he will only be given one vaccine at a time for the vaccines we are choosing to give him. I do not want to overwhelm his developing immune system, especially given that it is already showing signs of overactivity due to his apparent allergies.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

James' first party






Last night was Amy and Ted's annual Christmas party. James came along, though slept through most of it in his sling. We were able to get a few pictures of us with their Christmas tree (we did in fact help them choose and decorate it), as I have been a bit of a grinch this year and have not put up any decorations as of yet. James was not very interested in having his picture taken, as you can see he was looking at me like I was lunch. Joe came to the party after he got off work, which was a bit earlier than expected (yay!). We had a wonderful time seeing our friends, and as usual their party was a raging success.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

working out




James is getting stronger! He is able to support himself well on his elbows now, though does not push himself onto his hands. He sits supported, and loves being pulled into a sitting position. His neck strength is getting better as well! He doesn't wobble about 95% of the time. He has been eating a lot recently, and seems to be getting a little chunkier. Anyone else see it, or am I looking at him to much?! He does not have much of an inclination to grab for things yet (except my hair and face), though will hold objects if placed on his palms. He seems to prefer textiles to most toys, and he does rake different fabrics and bring them to his mouth. He has been experimenting with different voices today, my favorite being the banshee scream!

Monday, December 11, 2006

is this a sign?





James has been busy! He has been doing baby crunches all the time in order to prepare for sitting. He has learned to recognize the sign for massage (we are doing modified ASL), and gets really excited (what can I say, the boy loves his massages!). His favorite book is "moo baa la la la" by Sandra Boynton. He loves the animal sounds and when I do the signs for the animals. He has also taken an interest in our animals (2 dogs, Gabe and Madeline, 2 parrots, Penelope and Abigail). He loves to watch the dogs play. His favorite song recently is "Old McDonald". Anyone notice a pattern? ;o)

We got an Ergo baby carrier this week (the funds were a gift from his Grandmother), and James just loves it! He was starting to get a bit wiggly in his pouches, and is still a bit too small for the hip carry, so we splurged on a camel colored Ergo! I have yet to master the back carry, though we are doing well with the front carry! Sorry the picture is so bad, it's hard to take pictures of yourself!

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

lookee me!





James rolled over today! It took him a while so I got some 'action' shots! He is wearing his new sugarpeas wool diaper cover, which I just love. His eczema is looking pretty good, still dry, though not red and inflamed. He has also started to lose his hair, given that mine is falling out in post-partum fistfuls, we will both be sporting the bald look before long!

Monday, December 4, 2006

loading dose





In order to ensure you are viewing at appropriate intervals, I'm giving you a loading dose of cuteness! Here is James last night and this morning. He has been a good little sleeper today trying to get rid of this cold, and is still going through more diapers than I can wash in a day. I think we will all be much happier once the little guy feels better! Notice the enormous spit bubble in the last picture...impressive huh? He was being distracted from crying, thus the pout and teary eyes.

Sunday, December 3, 2006

first post





So I am jumping on the blog craze to keep from filling people's inboxes with pictures! James is now 4 months old, currently sleeping. He has begun to blow rasberries this week, and is officially putting everything he can grab into his mouth. He has also started complaining when he wants something rather than crying. He went to the doctor earlier this week, in order to check for dehydration, as he has had a cold since Thanksgiving accompanied by diarrhea (yuck!). He seems to be feeling a little better. His eczema is doing substantially better since I have gone on an elimination diet to check for food allergies. We assume he has food allergies (like his daddy), since it cleared within 2 days of cutting all the major allergens from my diet (dairy, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, citrus, chocolate, caffeine, tomatoes, eggs and probably some meats that I wouldn't eat anyway). Over the next several weeks I'll be adding things back slowly and monitoring for reactions.