I'm definitely not a proponent of letting new-fangled baby holding devices and apparati (is that the plural of apparatus?...let's just say it is. Okay...it's not. Just looked it up. Apparatuses just doesn't sound right to me...but it is. Oh well) raise one's children. I know there are probably A LOT of people out there who plop their babies down in car seats, bouncers, walkers, Exersaucers, Jumperoos and the like for hours and hours on end. We live in a society that thinks it's weird to actually HOLD one's baby...even detrimental. ("You'd better not hold that baby so much, you'll spoil it!") The thing that cracks me up about the people who say that you have to put your baby down and let your baby go to sleep by him/herself because they need to learn to "self soothe" is the fact that the alternative to holding one's baby all the time is putting them in these baby devices or a crib with a bunch of noise-making, light-flashing, vibratey thingamabobbers. How is THAT "self soothing"? It's just replacing the human element with something else that soothes and entertains the baby. Seems silly to me.

A study conducted by A.L. Abbott and D. J. Bartlett in 2001 found that "infants who have high equipment use tend to score lower on infant motor development or that infants who have low equipment use tend to score higher on infant motor development."

Don't get me wrong, Scout has a few noisy plastic flashy toys and baby chair that vibrates. But we use that chair in moderation...say, when I am cooking something and wearing her in the sling is not practical at that moment, or I need both of my hands to carry laundry through the house, etc. But she does not spend the majority of her day in plastic baby-entertaining devices.

My mother-in-law gave us a bouncy doorway jumper. At first, I didn't think we'd use it because my sis told me that her daughter got a little wild in it once and she conked her head on the side of the door frame. And let's face it, they don't have the safest appearance. Also, I've read how the carriers that let baby dangle from a crotch strap, such as the Baby Bjorn, are not good on babies' spines because all the weight rests on the tailbone. I guess I just assume other devices in which baby hangs from a crotch strap would produce the same outcome. My chiropractor is not in favor of people using Exersaucers and similar devices because she believes it puts stress on the tailbone and puts babies' bodies into positions that are not part of the natural progression of mobility. I've Googled a bit to find out if there are studies that support this belief. I found one interesting report about Exersaucers causing femur fractures in infants. Wow. Kinda scary. I'm sure there's more stuff out there on the safety (or lack) of walkers, Exersaucers, etc.....but I'm feeling lazy and reading studies is boring. Plus, I didn't want to give myself more of a reason to feel guilty about letting Scout hang from a crotch-strap-bouncy-device this evening.

We hung up the doorway jumper and let Scout try it. As you can tell by the pic, she seems to enjoy it. She loves to stretch her legs and stand on my lap whenever I give her the chance, so it makes sense that the jumper would appeal to her. Shhhhhhhhh.........don't tell my chiropractor.

I guess I have the attitude that things like this are okay in moderation. I can't see myself putting her in it for more than 10 minutes at a time, maybe 0nce a day, and she will never be left unattended. I can't see how that could do any damage to her legs and spine, since the movement is very similar to how she moves when she is practicing standing on my lap. Although, I suppose some would say that I shouldn't even be letting her do that. Oh well.

I think the key here is balance and moderation. Two things that our modern American society is not known for. I'd be willing to bet that the babies who are getting fractured femurs and subluxated spines from baby gear are NOT the ones who are only spending 5-10 minutes in a walker or bouncer every now and then.

My friend over at Parenting in Progress has an adorable little son who LOVES his doorway swing. I was laughing hysterically at the videos of him spinning and having a grand time in it. It would be cruel to deprive him of such fun!

Labels: baby gear

I don't know why, but I've been visiting the "Grief and Loss" board on Mothering.com quite a bit lately. I guess what initially led me there was a horrible tragedy that befell one of the mommas in my Due Date Club there. Her baby girl was born the same day as Scout and ended up dying of SIDS at 3 months of age. I'd be lying if I told you that I haven't been a total freak about checking on Scout while she is napping since then. Sometimes I'll stare intently at her to watch for breathing. If I don't see it right away, I'll either place my hand on her chest or put my finger under her nostrils. I feel silly every time I do it. But I keep doing it anyway.

I'm not sure why I put myself through it....reading some of these stories on the Grief and Loss board is absolutely heartbreaking. Maybe it's one of those things like when there's a gruesome car wreck and you can't make yourself look away, even though you really don't want to see. Some of the mommas who have lost their babies have posted pics of them in their little caskets. I should stop looking at such things. It makes me physically ill. Seriously. I just wanted to vomit when I saw the pic of the little baby who shared Scout's birthday at her funeral, with her older siblings around the casket. Sorry. I'm probably making you ill right now by telling you this.

Maybe one of the reasons I read these mommas' stories and visit their blogs and look at their pictures is because it makes me appreciate what I have even more than I already do. When Scout wakes up from her nap after I've been reading about these awful tragedies, I just want to cry tears of joy that I have my little girl here with me and she is happy and healthy. It also makes me realize how absolutely fragile life is and how I squander my time and energy on really stupid things. I should be trying to enrich the lives of others. I should be more giving and selfless. I should be more in love with the Father in Heaven. I should spend my life on things that are really important.

Uughh. Sorry. This post is morbid and depressing.
Have a great day!

Labels: sadness

Ack! I just can't get into the swing of things with blogging for some reason. And I feel like when I do, my posts are really boring. Oh well. It's still fun to keep a "diary", even if I am sort of half-assed about it and it is just for my own enjoyment.

My house is clean. Gees, I feel like a brand new person when my house is in order. I'm gonna try hard to keep it this way. I just brewed some yummy organic decaf coffee and I'm trying to resist the urge to eat a piece of leftover chocolate cake I made for Scout's baby dedication yesterday. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not TRYING to resist anything....I know darn well that after I type this post, I am going to go in the kitchen and get some cake! Scout is sitting in her little baby chair thingy squealing and being cute.

**30 min time elapse**

I got up and ate some leftover rigatoni and chocolate cake. Scout got bored in her chair, so I picked her up and vacuumed the living room while holding her. She doesn't mind the actual noise of the vacuum once it's running, but it startled her when I turned it on. I just smiled and hugged her and made some silly faces and talked to her in a cheerful tone for a minute and she calmed right down. I think my happy nonchalant reaction diffused her tears. Already at 4 months, I can see that when she gets upset at something like that, if I have an "Oh poor baby" reaction and mimic her worried look as I am comforting her, she gets much more upset than when I just play it cool and smile at her and act happy.

I didn't get far with vacumming. I finished the living room and Scout started her hungry cry, so I sat back down at the computer and now she's nursing and dozing off. I just noticed that her diaper is pretty damp and I don't have a cover over it, so I bet my jeans are getting wet. Oh well. And you know what? I probably won't change them, either. A little baby pee never hurt anything.

Here are some pics from her dedication at church yesterday:






DH's family came to church with us for the dedication and then we came back to our house for lunch. It was a nice day.

Labels: pics of scout

I've been sort of blah about blogging lately. Sorry.

Scout is so much fun to be around and has become an "easy" baby. I probably shouldn't say that, lest I jinx myself. But since I'm not supersticious, I guess it doesn't matter. But just in case, I'll knock on my particle board/laminate desk. I wondered during those first couple months if she would always be so fussy and if her sleep schedule would always be so wonky. She rarely fusses now and her sleep schedule is predictable and pretty easy on me. I'm guessing adjusting to life outside the womb isn't easy. Poor thing just had to get comfortable in her own skin. Now, she is just a doll.

I've been rather preoccupied with buying and selling diapers lately. It's fun and addictive. You know, DH and I had bought a rather large stash of all one type of diaper a while back. I like them, and they are working well. But I have let curiostity get the best of me. I wanted to try some other diapers....and since the Baby BeeHinds bamboo diapers' resale value is pretty good, I've been selling off a few here and there so we can try different (an less expensive) diapers. It's fun, because I never sell a diaper without being able to replace it with another (and sometimes, I'm able to replace it with more than one)...so it's like shopping without having to spend any money. I can't wait to receive some of the fun things I've ordered so I can post pics here.

Here's a pic of Scout in her Baby BeeHinds Hemp diaper. It's really nice and soft (even after washing several times) and I love the rainbow stitching.



Scout loves taking baths with mommy in the big people tub now. I wish I would've started this sooner. There's something about the infant tub that makes her feel scared and vulnerable. Even with me holding onto her securely and talking to her to let her know everything is okay, she sometimes flinches and grabs onto the sides of the infant tub with a scared look on her face, as if she feels like she's falling. But when she is in the big tub with me, she is all smiles. She loves to splash. I think she would just sit there and flail her fists around at the water for hours if I let her. Sometimes I forget how different babies are from one another. They are certainly little people with their own personalities and likes/dislikes. It's just silly that it took me 4 months to realize that she would much rather be bathed in the real tub.

She's still rolling like crazy - to the right as well as the left now. In fact, as soon as I lay her down on her back she immediately flips to her belly. She's getting great at lifting her self up with her arms. Of course, she still hasn't figured out how to scoot anywhere yet.

She has started this cute thing where she "feels" things by opening and closing her hand, like she's scratching. When she wakes up, she just lays there and scratches the sheet, looking intently at her fist as it opens and closes. I think she likes the noise it makes too. She has also started doing this with her hair. I thought it was so adorable how she had her little hand on the back of her head feeling her own hair in amazement this afternoon.

The potty has still been going great. She almost always poops in the potty. She only has a poopy diaper maybe every other day or so. I suppose that's all for now!

Labels: cloth diapering, firsts, pics of scout

Scout is the happiest little baby. Sure, she fusses a little every now and then. It's mostly just her way of telling me that she is ready for a nap, so I nurse her down to sleep and that's that. 2-3 hours later, she's bright and chipper again. I know babies go through phases, but I'm REALLY hoping our bedtime/naptime routine doesn't change anytime soon. She takes all of her naps in her own room (granted, not in her crib - on the spare queen size bed) and she also sleeps in there from about 9:30pm-2:30am. The reason I've started nursing her down to sleep in her room instead of ours is because our bedroom is in the front of the house and it is much quieter back in her room. I got sick of wanting to kill my dog for barking at the neighbors (or the mailman...or her own shadow), which would wake Scout up in the front bedroom. I usually go to bed and bring her with me whenever she has her first night-waking in the wee hours of the morning. I know I'm a fool for staying up so late, but since Scout sleeps until 10:00am, I still feel like I get plenty of rest.

Labels: baby sleep, pics of scout, the family bed

We went to the police station today and had Scout's Britax Marathon car seat installed in our car. We had it in the car when she was a newborn and decided to replace it with an infant seat for a while because the straps on the Marathon just swallowed her up and she didn't seem very comfortable in it. Now that she is much bigger, she fits nicely in it. I feel like it is a much safer seat, so I was anxious to get it installed as soon as possible. The infant seat definitely served its purpose for a while, but we never unsnap it from its base anymore (unless it is just so we can bring it in to keep it cool). That's the one thing I will miss about having a seat that comes off of the base. But I have a solution to that: I'm going to bring a big ice pack with us whenever we run errands and lay it on the seat and the buckles while we are shopping. Even if the ice pack totally melts while we are in there, at least the seat and buckles won't be scorching hot.

It has been miserably hot here. Last Friday I went grocery shopping while Scout rode contentedly in the Ergo carrier on the front of me the whole time. After we were done, I started the car and cranked the air so it would cool off a little while I loaded the groceries in the trunk. Scout was still attached to me in the Ergo. A lady came up to me and graciously offered to help me put my bags in the trunk. I only had a few left, so I politely declined and thanked her for offering and told her I thought it was so sweet of her to ask. Then she said, "I just thought I'd offer because it is just too hot to have a baby out today." I think it was her disapproving motherly tone that bugged me more than what she said.

Can anyone say "passive aggressive"?? Sheesh. Here, I thought it was just a stranger being nice but it was actually just a cranky old lady who can't keep her advice to herself. Offering to help just gave her the perfect opportunity to come over and gripe at me for having my baby out in the heat.

I couldn't think fast enough to reply with anything clever. I just thanked her and she walked on. If I would've thought faster, I would've told her that it was a billion times hotter inside the car and much safer for her to be out in the sun for 2 minutes with me while we waited for the car to cool off. But I think by her phrasing, she must've meant that it was much too hot to have a baby out of the house in general. Yeah - it's SOOOOO dangerous to carry a baby around in an air conditioned store for an hour and then spend 2 minutes in the parking lot (I even had her head shaded)and put her into an air conditioned car. I'm a neglectful mother.

Okay. Sorry. Got derailed from my original story. Anyway, after we got the car seat installed, we went to the local LLL meeting. I always look forward to that every month. It's nice to hang out with some like-minded mommas. I weighed Scout at the meeting and she weighed 16 lbs 2.5 oz! What a chunk!

That reminds me, I made an appointment for Scout to see a pediatrician for a check-up on September 17th. We haven't taken her to any well baby visits since her 1 week appointment. I know, I know...don't throw tomatoes at my head. I just really didn't care for the place we took her for her 1 week appointment and I've put off finding another pediatrician. Part of my laziness in finding another one stems from the fact that I'm dreading the confrontation about vaccinations. I've heard stories from some of my other friends who don't vaccinate their children (or vaccinate on a delayed schedule) about docs who tell you that you are a bad parent and are stupid for questioning the safety of vaccines. Supposedly, this other doctor we are going to try is open to discussing it in a friendly manner and doesn't think a parent deserves to be turned in to CPS for refusing/delaying vaccinations for their children.

**ETA**
Ha ha .... I just read what I wrote in the last paragraph and the way it is worded makes it sound as if the first pediatrician she saw wanted to turn us in to CPS or something. LOL No, not at all. We didn't even get into a discussion about vaccinations with him. Just from what I've *heard* about the physicians at that particular clinic, they are not very open to discussing more natural ways of preventing and curing diseases. Plus, the staff just wasn't very friendly AT ALL. Just wanted to clear that up. I was just being dramatic.

Labels: baby gear, babywearing, general complaining, health, safety, tough parenting decisions

This week has been a big one for Scout, developmentally speaking.

She just started rolling over (from her back to her tummy...and so far, always to her right) and just started holding toys really well. She's *sort of* been able to grasp toys for a while, but now it seems more purposeful. She actually holds them up to her face to talk to and examines them, and then tries to cram them in her mouth. She also just started making this new sound with her voice - it's like a high pitched "Weeeooow" in the back of her throat. Sometimes she makes the noise over and over again, getting louder and louder. I think she likes to hear herself. It's so cute.

Here are a few pics of her holding one of her favorite toys:







And notice that she's actually being calm and content in her car seat! I know, it's weird! She has been a lot more laid back during car rides lately. I hope it's not just a fluke.

Labels: firsts, pics of scout

"Then we figured out we could just park them in front of the TV. That's how I was raised and I turned out TV." - Homer Simpson

Seriously. Sometimes I just want to throw the T.V. out the window....or at least unplug the cable. When Scout was first born, I would not turn the T.V. on. I thought that the T.V. in our bedroom would come in handy to watch during long boring stretches of nursing the baby....but in that first week or so, it just seemed weird and wrong to turn the T.V. on with a baby in the room. I didn't want to polute her pure ears and mind with the loud ramblings of stupid advertizements and senseless entertainment. I didn't want this electronic box to flash a trillion images a second at her tiny brain. Even though newborn eyes can't quite focus on objects, I still did not want her to be exposed to the one-eyed devil. It didn't take me long to get pretty lax on that ideal.

I still don't let her watch T.V. Even if I catch her glancing at the screen for a moment, I will turn her away, leave the room, or turn the T.V. off. And believe me: the girl will rubberneck it trying to catch a glimpse. It seems to fascinate her. I do admit that when Matt and I went to see the Simpsons Movie in the theater, she stared at the screen for about 15 minutes total and I didn't stop her because she was being quiet and the movie was entertaining her. Shame on me. Other than that, she has not been allowed to stare at the T.V. for more than 30 seconds.

I would really like to keep it that way. But I realize if I want my baby to be T.V. free, then I HAVE TO BE T.V. free as well. Yikes.

..

I know that we will allow her to watch some videos and whatnot (hopefully sparingly) when she is a little older. Even then, I want T.V. to be a very small part of how we spend our time. I want to find a balance, though. I don't want it to be a taboo thing that we are overly-strict about, making her want to watch T.V. even more just because it is forbidden. I want it to be a fun treat. Something we do as a family, with snacks and cuddling on the couch (Oh gosh...that sounds like a sitcom....can you tell I was raised on T.V.? ) ....something that we do on occasion, but isn't part of our daily routine.

Honestly, that sounds like a very lofty goal to me....because I know there will be days when it will be very tempting to plop Scout in front of the T.V. while I get some things done around the house for a few minutes.....and soon, minutes will turn to hours. I don't want to go down that slippery slope. I'm positive it will be difficult to stick to my guns on this. It won't be easy to find ways to pass the time and entertain her with fun activities and tasks every moment of every day. But I think the end result will be SOOOOO worth it.

Hhhmmph. All of this, coming from the mouth of someone who can be quite the T.V. addict at times. Oh, the irony.

This is what I would like to see happen in our household from now on: The T.V. only gets turned on after Scout has gone to bed. At least until she is 2 years old.

Not that I believe every statement that the American Academy of Pediatrics is true, but that is their current stance on infant T.V. consumption: That a child under the age of 2 should not watch any T.V. at all.....not even "educational" videos like Baby Einstein of Sesame Street.

Here is an interesting article that you should read if you are the parent of small children: "Baby Einsteins: Not So Smart After All"

Labels: learning, television, tough parenting decisions

Scout and her doggy, C@rmen.
Poor dog. She hardly ever gets any attention now. DH says she is totally worthless. But I say, when Scout starts dropping food all over the place the dog will suddenly have a purpose again.

ETA:
I forgot the cutest pic of all....

Labels: pics of scout