Thursday, December 29, 2005

the family that sleeps together, sleeps

Nice and favorable article on co-sleeping in today's NYT :)


The Jackoviches are part of a growing group of American parents who share a bed with their baby, a common practice in the rest of the world, which had become nearly taboo in this country. A survey by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has found that about one-fifth of parents with infants up to eight months old said the baby usually shared a bed with them, more than triple the number of a decade ago.

And Baby Makes Three in One Bed

oh, how the mighty have fallen

I just bought my first ever package of disposable diapers. Oh, the HORROR! I'm visiting relatives out-of-state this weekend and since my dear husband is working and cannot come, and we don't have diapers enough to last the entire trip without washing, I've decided to do the sposie thing for three days (they'll be in cloth overnight, though). I've read that store brand generic dipes have fewer chemicals and perfumes, so I opted for Target brand ones. Everything else was horribly expensive anyway; if I used sposies and changed as often with them as with cloth and went for a popular brand, I'd be easily pushing $100 per month. Geez. Even with my little $5 generic package, I feel rather dirty.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

tis two days after christmas

We had a nice Christmas, especially the kiddos. I fixed breakfast for the five of us and had my mom over as well; tried out a couple of new recipes and everything turned out well. That afternoon, we went over for a great dinner at my dad's; my stepmom really went all out. I got some really nice presents---I think a dustbuster is one major thing that's been missing from my life the past five years---an so did the kids. Tristan got a few Thomas trains and a drawbridge, which he's been really loving. He hasn't even woken us up the past two days, he's gone straight to his train table! He also got a neato tunnel, 'band in a box', and some other really nice stuff. Ooh, and Ellie got her first doll, an adorable Corolle with a soft body, but hair and hard face (which she really likes). Edy left on Sunday evening; we really enjoyed having her here and Tristan is already after us to visit KC.


I was in to the dentist this morning, which wasn't all that great. I have a lot of damage along my gumlines (according to my dentist, because of not brushing those areas as well when I had braces as a young teen) and the enamel had broken in two areas. He drilled those out and filled them. I'm having the cavity done on Thursday.

We were just watching a re-run of the Daily Show, with a performance by the White Stripes. Jon and I just kind of looked at the TV with confused looks, then Jon turned to me and said, "I think we're getting old." Indeed.

Friday, December 23, 2005

friday eve

My mother in law arrived this morning and I don't think that Tristan has let her have a minute of peace! He loves her being here. Ellie has decided to put her mind to trying to crawl; she just started scooting on her belly today. It's so cute! She'll see something and kind of do this arch/bob thing with her arms up for a minute before figuring out that she has to put her arms down to pull herself along. It won't be long now...

The dentist this morning wasn't all that great. Two small holes (I knew about one, but hadn't spotted the other) and my first ever cavity. Ugh. In again next week to get all of that taken care of.

We had dinner at the home of a brother Jon knows from the masjid. It was really pretty neat. There were a couple of other Muslim families there, and one non-Muslim neighbor as well. I did meet a really neat mom from Pakistan who is planning on returning to school to get her PhD in third world economics. Hard core! She seemed pretty nice and has a two year old and a four month old. She breastfeeds so I invited her to La Leche League, which she seemed really excited about; she had never heard of it. And there was tons of great food! Tristan had a great time running around with all the kids, especially a sweet little three year old girl. We had to really work to convince him to go at 10 pm, lol. And he insisted on cleaning up the toys they'd been playing with first---"No, mama, take care of this mess!"

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

wednesday

My sister came over and spent the day with us yesterday. We went out for a bit and were able to swing by a store that carries Britax. Oooh, they're nice. The Regent (which replaced the Husky) looks really nice, but it's HUGE! I don't think it would fit very easily in my Saturn. The Boulevard is really nice; basically the same frame as the Marathon, but with the side impact protection as well. The store was about $20-30 more than online prices (and online, most retailers offer free shipping). I think we have to wait for another paycheck or two, but the Britax Boulevard looks really excellent.

My mother in law is coming this weekend for the holiday. Eeek! I have so much cleaning to do. I've been horribly lax... Tristan's really looking forward to it, though. It'll be nice to have her come; this will be the first time since we moved here.

I have a dentist appointment on Friday. Not really looking forward to it...I haven't been since Tristan was a baby.

Not much else going on here. Ellie's crazy about eating. I got her some organic cheerios and teething biscuits. She loves them! After having a baby who was really apathetic about food until he was a toddler, this is totally new to me. She demands to eat. And she's been cutting down on the nursing, too...It's 3 pm and she's only nursed twice today.

Oh, and my great aunt is home from the hospital! It sounds like she is doing much better.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

car seats...

Mamas of older toddlers, what carseat do you have and what do you think of it?

It looks like we're in the market for a new one for Tristan. After three years of heavy use, his Evenflo Triumph convertible has gotten very, very difficult to fasten. It's like the chest clip has warped or something. He's also getting closer to the top weight for it, though that's not the pressing issue at the moment. Anywho, we're looking for a new one, preferably a 5 point that will go up to at least 65lbs. I don't want to jump to booster yet.

I have heard some pretty bad stuff about the Cosco Alpha Omega, but Cosco also has a new 'Apex 65' one which can be used as a booster after 65lbs as well. I can't find much info on it, though. The other major option is Britax, which looks really fabulous---the Britax Boulevard, in particular, is designed to do especially well in the case of side impact accidents and all the reviews I've found for both it and the Marathon are really excellent. However, Britax seats are pricey and there is only one small boutique that carries them locally (not sure if they even have the Boulevard...).

Anyway, that's my round about way of asking for opinions. We aren't planning on passing down this one, we just want it to last Tristan as long as possible. Oh, and have a washable cover :)

Friday, December 16, 2005

i can pick my nose again

'Cause, after lots of thinking about it, I've taken out my nose piercing. It was having issues again and I decided that, given that I'd had it almost two years and it was not yet healed, I needed to take the hint. I've actually had two prior nose piercings, as well as a tongue piercing, all of which met similar fates, so I think I'll spare my body any future needles. I think it will be sore and icky for a couple of days, then close up and heal. I really liked the way it looked, so it is kind of sad to me.

Didn't make it to Juma'a today, unfortunately, because of the boy's insistance that we stay home. It's not mandatory for women anyhow...but I did bargain with Tristan that if we stayed home today, we'd go next week. Sounds like something is going down at the masjid and they're considering removing the wall between the women and men. Jon said the imam actually sounded like he was in favor of it, but there's a council or committee or something that will make the final call. It'll be interesting to see what comes of that.

Oh, and the Senate has decided not to reauthorize the Patriot Act...!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

luckily for you...

...I found my camera cable. So, here are some pics showing how much cuter the kiddos became in the past month and a half. Feel free to click for an enlargement.




I had to dunk my first diaper ever tonight. Ellie's desire to eat solid foods has outpaced her potty know-how. I am so redoubling the EC efforts. Anything is better than that.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

sunday

Our second weekend in the new house. We had an open house thingy yesterday that my parents, grandma, and aunt were able to come to. It was nice and everyone thought the house was great...I even got it fairly presentable before they arrived! With most things put up, it looks even more roomy in here. As soon as I rediscover my camera cable, I'll post pics for y'all.

I went to Juma'a (Friday prayer) on Friday, my first time here in Little Rock, though Jon's been going since the summer. It was great. I attended Juma'a regularly in Kansas City for a while, but it really wasn't very enjoyable...the masjid there was not well laid out and the women ended up being on an entirely different level than the men, with the Khutbah (which is like a sermon) and prayer being piped in on an intercom. And the Khutbah was primarily in Arabic. It was just hard to understand anything and was not very fulfilling. At the Islamic Center here, the women are in a seperate section of course, but are in the same large room as the men. The Khutbah was really well written and was given in English. Ellie went with Jon and Tristan came with me, and both kids did well. I really enjoyed it and I think we're going to start going regularly.

The kids are asleep right now, giving me an excuse to be quiet and look around online instead of doing dishes. That's always fun.

My great aunt, a really kind woman, is really ill right now and is in the hospital. I haven't seen her in two years, though we do write occasionally. It sounds like she is in a lot of pain. I am worried.

Friday, December 09, 2005

bit o' politics

Yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said some things that got some people pretty riled up. This being the internet and all, I'm not going to post much on it, other than to point out that, as someone else noticed, the second bit he said (not the denial bit, which is awful if the translation is correct; the location question bit) has been posed by many a history professor in this country. If you missed it, here is one of many articles on it.

But one thing I found quite interesting and which news reports aren't really saying...Ahmadinejad made the comments at a summit of Muslim nations yesterday in Mecca; today, in Mecca, "Leaders of 57 Muslim countries have ended their summit with a warning that the Islamic world is in crisis because of the threat posed by terrorism." (source) So, this Iranian "hardliner" was part of a conference which urged, "decisive action to fight 'deviant ideas'" and "called for changes in national laws to criminalise financing and incitement of terrorism."

You can bet that won't be mentioned in the spin when Israel invades Iran to keep them from becoming a nuclear nation. Like Israel. And, yeah, the US will back Israel. Of course.

Back when I was a freshman in international relations (with a Jewish professor, no less), pointing out this sort of stuff would have been considered a rational examination of current events. In the post-9/11 climate, more and more media sources are labeling this kind of thing "anti-Semitic". In a NPR story a few months ago, a guest was talking about a "new brand of leftist anti-Semitism", which amounted to any criticism of Israeli policy. Nothing like throwing a label of prejudice at someone to stifle free speech.

Rant over.

On a slightly related note, anyone know how to do footnotes in Blogger?

Hope that all of you aren't as cold as we are right now! Tristan was shaking as he ate his yogurt this morning, despite wearing fleece pants, a turtleneck, a fleece vest, a hat, and the thermostat's promise that the house is at 80 degrees.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

bookworm

When I was a kid, I read books voraciously. I often had several going at a time and began reading adult novels at an early age; I finished the longest book I ever read, Anna Waldo's Sacagewea (at over 1,400 pages), in sixth grade. One of my best memories of childhood literature, though, was the C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. I'm excited about the movie, but worry it will ruin the story. Anywho, I came across this article and thought it was very well written:

Return To Narnia

Lewis' most devoted disciples point to his faith as the principle that animates Narnia, that makes us believe. But how to explain the "Chronicles' " allure for those who have remained impervious to Christianity, even after it was revealed to be the supreme mythos behind the stories we adored? Why do we introduce our children to the books when we have no intention of raising them in the religion? The ostensible purpose of the "Chronicles of Narnia" is to make Christians of us, but when this fails, we still have something left over.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

reconnected!

When I was a teenager, I always smirked inside when I read the stats about what a large percentage of people live their entire lives within a few miles of where they were born. What boring people they must be, I thought. Now I am living four blocks from the house where I spent much of my childhood, and 1.21 miles from where I was born. Ha ha.

This is our fourth night in the new house and it's already feeling like home. We've encountered a few issues, but they're all very remediable and manageable. Tristan's settled in to his new room and really loves our back yard. He spent over an hour out there with me yesterday, just playing with acorns while I cleaned up a bit. All of our furniture is fitting in here nicely; we won't have clutter issues! We also have a huge attic, where I can stash those few things I just have too much of...*cough* fabric *cough*. Unpacking is going slowly, though not quite a slowly as last time. I'm planning having an open house of sorts for my family on a weekend from Saturday, so I have a timetable for when I really need to get stuff done.

We have tested for lead and found a couple of things that tested positive: the bathtub and bathroom sink (most older ceramic tubs/sinks leech lead) and the miniblinds in Tristan's bedroom (most vinyl miniblinds made out of the US---and most are---are produced using lead). The kits are easy to use and cost just under $6 in the paint section of Home Depot. We have blinds in the living room too, but they are aluminum, so that's cool. I'm taking down the ones in Tristan's room tomorrow (they're covered by matchstick shades, but the vinyl breaks down in sunlight and creates leaded dust, so they've got to go) and am going to sew him up some fleece curtains using $3 fleece throws as panels and cheap tension rods. Should be pretty cool. We're not using the bathroom sink and are only taking showers; we are going to get reglazing estimates, but might end up having the stuff replaced if the price of reglazing is too high.

We went and picked up our cat, Leia (not Manhattan, who sadly never showed up after early September), from my mom's house. She's meowing a lot and a bit freaked out. Hopefully she'll get used to it. We have a dog/cat door and I'd like her to have the choice of being indoor or outdoor as she wishes, but given what happened to Manhattan, Jon's not too keen on that idea. We'll see how it goes.

Oh, and Jon bought me a front loading washer! Yeah, how sexist a statement is that? But we have it and I'll be doing most of the washing with it...anyhow, it's awesome. I've never had such clean diapers and the matching dryer gets them all soft and quilty. Yay.