For 6 months, we had to add a costume:
Happy Halloween!
(and yes, the bare toes are appropriate; it's about 65 degrees and sunny today!)
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween!
Remember these photos?
For 6 months, we had to add a costume:
Happy Halloween!
(and yes, the bare toes are appropriate; it's about 65 degrees and sunny today!)
For 6 months, we had to add a costume:
Happy Halloween!
(and yes, the bare toes are appropriate; it's about 65 degrees and sunny today!)
Sunday, October 26, 2008
First food
We decided the Bean baby was growing and up for a new adventure this weekend (he turns 6 months this week). He's not entirely sure he's up for it, yet, though!
Spoon looks interesting so far...
Hey, wait, that's not milk!
They say it's good, but I'm not buying it just yet. I know it's local squash and all, but hmmmm....
We'll try some standard banana and rice cereal, too, but thought a local squash would be a good first "locavore" symbolic food. He's not so sure, and I'm in no hurry to stop being his main source of nutrition! Baby steps with the spoon...
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sugar calls
Note to self: when encouraged to bring Halloween treats to work for visiting colleague’s kids, pick something I don’t like or something non edible! These “fun size” snickers won’t stop calling to me through the tightly closed desk drawer! Must find a lock!
Bean’s been waking up more at night lately (and deciding that naps are boring, apparently?!) so the siren calls of sugar and caffeine are sounding rather good…
Actually, the thrush thing seems to be very much better; I got some more potent probiotics and that’s helped a lot. So I’ve given in and eaten a bit of sugar; mmmm. So good, but also makes me MORE tired. Need to remember that!
I will maybe use sugar this weekend, though; we're hosting a chicken, ah, processing day. I think people who are willing to help out with that sort of chore REQUIRE sugar. (If any local readers what to help/learn, let me know...)I'm not looking forward to the day, really, but it will be nice to have some fresh healthy chicken to eat and a few less chickens around for WF to chase. Wish us luck!
Bean’s been waking up more at night lately (and deciding that naps are boring, apparently?!) so the siren calls of sugar and caffeine are sounding rather good…
Actually, the thrush thing seems to be very much better; I got some more potent probiotics and that’s helped a lot. So I’ve given in and eaten a bit of sugar; mmmm. So good, but also makes me MORE tired. Need to remember that!
I will maybe use sugar this weekend, though; we're hosting a chicken, ah, processing day. I think people who are willing to help out with that sort of chore REQUIRE sugar. (If any local readers what to help/learn, let me know...)I'm not looking forward to the day, really, but it will be nice to have some fresh healthy chicken to eat and a few less chickens around for WF to chase. Wish us luck!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Cleansing Bean
Yeah, yeah...I know. Too negative. I've been chided (off-blog) for not appreciating the good things I have in life, etc. It's true, I suppose, somewhat; I get too easily caught up in the small dramas in front of us, the whining about my not-so-bad situation. But when you're stuck in something, it's hard to get perspective and make needed changes, sometimes. Just venting a bit, and this is MY blog; I do what I want. Have likely scared away most old regular readers, anyway, so.
We'll cleanse with a cute photo of a sunbathing Bean, taken a couple weeks ago by WF while I was at work... ooops, there I go again...
Anyway, been meaning to make it my desktop wallpaper; hope work doesn't mind a little baby nudity!
We'll cleanse with a cute photo of a sunbathing Bean, taken a couple weeks ago by WF while I was at work... ooops, there I go again...
Anyway, been meaning to make it my desktop wallpaper; hope work doesn't mind a little baby nudity!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Rising Rants
Warning: whining and TMI ahead.
I HATE yeast. Not necessarily those in baked goods, but I’m not allowed to eat baked goods, anyway, because of the wheat/sugar they contain. And I just want to eat a cookie, darnit!
We are still in the throes of thrush, and I am really frustrated. I’m not in pain much myself, but Bean’s got white patches in his mouth again, and seems to be uncomfortable with nursing. He is still happy other times, though, thank goodness. Our best way to inspect his mouth spots is to get him laughing and giving big open-mouthed smiles (I feel vaguely disingenuous being funny mostly so I can inspect his mouth, ug).
I don’t know why we’re in this mess; I have had a couple rounds of antibiotics at birth and a couple months ago, but otherwise try to be careful. But I’m realizing that for a trying-to-be-natural, (reluctantly) working mother living off the grid, kicking this stuff is HARD. Behold the various recommendations and my associated rants:
Wash bras, towels, etc in hot water daily. (haha; we’re lucky to get a couple rounds of laundry done each week; we’re entering the dark time now, not enough sun. Also no dryer, not enough room to dry everything daily).
Dry things in the sun for UV (ha; see weather turning, above. I can’t use the sun that does show up 3 days week when I’m at work). I do the best I can.
Use Gentian Violet in baby’s mouth and on nipples (This is a coal-tar derived dye that also kills yeast; it is usually more effective than other antifungals that the yeast are now resistant to.). It stains mouth and clothes, and can cause mouth ulcers and in long exposure, cancer. Mmm! But it’s doctor/LLL recommended! We actually tried it for 6 days, maybe in a too-diluted strength, and we still have yeast. Bean doesn’t like it, and I just have a visceral reaction against staining his face and mouth purple. I’m also getting lots of conflicting information about how exactly to use it, and at what concentration, etc. Got a call back from the doctor’s nurse yesterday and he just said to use GV, but had “no idea” what concentration should be used. You can only buy it in 2%, but most references say to use it in .5% or even .25%. But I think that’s what I’ll try again for a few days, to see if we can knock it back again. Blah.
Boil toys, nipples and pump parts for 20 minutes every day (Grr. We’ve tried to stay away from plastic toys and have lots of cloth/wood toys; hard to wash, let alone boil. Even the plastic teethers, etc we do have say don’t boil. ???). We’re dealing with this at an older age, when he loves toys and puts everything in his mouth… I can’t boil everything. Plus, when I boil nipples and pump parts in our hard water, they get skuzzy. Need to remember to buy distilled water. I also need to address the bottles/nipples he uses at daycare, probably just buy new ones (which also have to be boiled before use). I have been trying to use the sun on toys when I can. Unrelated note: spellcheck approves of the word “skuzzy” but doesn’t approve of the word “spellcheck.” Hmm.
Don’t freeze expressed milk; use later could reintroduce yeast. (Argh. This one gets me the most. How am I supposed to get milk to feed him when I’m at work, especially on Mondays when I have to use the milk from Thursday? I envision this endless cycle of re-infection and depleting my small frozen supply from long ago). ???
Take acidophilus, grapefruit seed extract, garlic, Echinacea, avoid dairy, wheat and sugar. Yep, doing all that, not too bad (other than that the grapefruit seed extract tastes HORRIBLE and is also a pretty potent substance). But darnit, sometimes I just want to eat a cookie or put real milk on my cereal! Maybe someday….
I can’t help but think of all the things that would be avoided if I was not back at work and away from him 3 days a week; at least then I wouldn’t have bottles/ pump parts to worry about. He may have even “caught” this at daycare; there’s another younger baby there who had bad thrush (he’s bottlefed, though, so it was easier to cure; no reinfection from momma). I know it’s not supposed to be contagious, but if you can give it back to youself-??? Daycare provider has said Bean should bring his own toys, but I’m sure it’s hard to keep everything separate with 9 little ones around (a whole ‘nother story). I don’t know. I’ve read entirely too much on the topic, have advice from plenty of people, but everyone’s got a slightly different idea on what’s right. And I hate to think of us as being “infected” and “contagious”. Yuck.
OK, lunch hour is over, now I’m back to writing grant reports about totally unrelated topics. Wheeeeeeeeeee. Maybe more cheeriness for y’all later. I know we are lucky in many many ways, I just want to get rid of the yeasty beasties!!
I HATE yeast. Not necessarily those in baked goods, but I’m not allowed to eat baked goods, anyway, because of the wheat/sugar they contain. And I just want to eat a cookie, darnit!
We are still in the throes of thrush, and I am really frustrated. I’m not in pain much myself, but Bean’s got white patches in his mouth again, and seems to be uncomfortable with nursing. He is still happy other times, though, thank goodness. Our best way to inspect his mouth spots is to get him laughing and giving big open-mouthed smiles (I feel vaguely disingenuous being funny mostly so I can inspect his mouth, ug).
I don’t know why we’re in this mess; I have had a couple rounds of antibiotics at birth and a couple months ago, but otherwise try to be careful. But I’m realizing that for a trying-to-be-natural, (reluctantly) working mother living off the grid, kicking this stuff is HARD. Behold the various recommendations and my associated rants:
Wash bras, towels, etc in hot water daily. (haha; we’re lucky to get a couple rounds of laundry done each week; we’re entering the dark time now, not enough sun. Also no dryer, not enough room to dry everything daily).
Dry things in the sun for UV (ha; see weather turning, above. I can’t use the sun that does show up 3 days week when I’m at work). I do the best I can.
Use Gentian Violet in baby’s mouth and on nipples (This is a coal-tar derived dye that also kills yeast; it is usually more effective than other antifungals that the yeast are now resistant to.). It stains mouth and clothes, and can cause mouth ulcers and in long exposure, cancer. Mmm! But it’s doctor/LLL recommended! We actually tried it for 6 days, maybe in a too-diluted strength, and we still have yeast. Bean doesn’t like it, and I just have a visceral reaction against staining his face and mouth purple. I’m also getting lots of conflicting information about how exactly to use it, and at what concentration, etc. Got a call back from the doctor’s nurse yesterday and he just said to use GV, but had “no idea” what concentration should be used. You can only buy it in 2%, but most references say to use it in .5% or even .25%. But I think that’s what I’ll try again for a few days, to see if we can knock it back again. Blah.
Boil toys, nipples and pump parts for 20 minutes every day (Grr. We’ve tried to stay away from plastic toys and have lots of cloth/wood toys; hard to wash, let alone boil. Even the plastic teethers, etc we do have say don’t boil. ???). We’re dealing with this at an older age, when he loves toys and puts everything in his mouth… I can’t boil everything. Plus, when I boil nipples and pump parts in our hard water, they get skuzzy. Need to remember to buy distilled water. I also need to address the bottles/nipples he uses at daycare, probably just buy new ones (which also have to be boiled before use). I have been trying to use the sun on toys when I can. Unrelated note: spellcheck approves of the word “skuzzy” but doesn’t approve of the word “spellcheck.” Hmm.
Don’t freeze expressed milk; use later could reintroduce yeast. (Argh. This one gets me the most. How am I supposed to get milk to feed him when I’m at work, especially on Mondays when I have to use the milk from Thursday? I envision this endless cycle of re-infection and depleting my small frozen supply from long ago). ???
Take acidophilus, grapefruit seed extract, garlic, Echinacea, avoid dairy, wheat and sugar. Yep, doing all that, not too bad (other than that the grapefruit seed extract tastes HORRIBLE and is also a pretty potent substance). But darnit, sometimes I just want to eat a cookie or put real milk on my cereal! Maybe someday….
I can’t help but think of all the things that would be avoided if I was not back at work and away from him 3 days a week; at least then I wouldn’t have bottles/ pump parts to worry about. He may have even “caught” this at daycare; there’s another younger baby there who had bad thrush (he’s bottlefed, though, so it was easier to cure; no reinfection from momma). I know it’s not supposed to be contagious, but if you can give it back to youself-??? Daycare provider has said Bean should bring his own toys, but I’m sure it’s hard to keep everything separate with 9 little ones around (a whole ‘nother story). I don’t know. I’ve read entirely too much on the topic, have advice from plenty of people, but everyone’s got a slightly different idea on what’s right. And I hate to think of us as being “infected” and “contagious”. Yuck.
OK, lunch hour is over, now I’m back to writing grant reports about totally unrelated topics. Wheeeeeeeeeee. Maybe more cheeriness for y’all later. I know we are lucky in many many ways, I just want to get rid of the yeasty beasties!!
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Hikin'
We finally got out onto the trail on Sunday to enjoy the leaves and views before the real Fall weather hit!
This weekend is historically beautiful up here, but now! Rain, cold... I think the leaves have already peaked and are starting to fall...
This weekend is historically beautiful up here, but now! Rain, cold... I think the leaves have already peaked and are starting to fall...
Friday, October 03, 2008
Mt. Diaper
Wow, mom! We've really got a great supply of these prefolds, don't we?
I'll be sure to put these to good use!
I will now bow to this great stack of diapers, doing a little celebratory yoga.
What? You don't usually pay homage to such things?
You're missing out! Try appreciating the small things, like reaching your own toes!
Thursday, October 02, 2008
4 years
In some ways it’s hard to believe it was already 4-years-ago that WF and I said our vows on a beautiful October day. In other ways it seems rather long ago (we’ve come a ways from worrying about locally-grown reception food and flowers to considering our son’s health and education!). This is our first anniversary as parents, and it’s a whole new, sometimes rocky world…
I love you, WF, and may we celebrate many, many more of these days, as a family!
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