I Usually Hate McDonalds

But the one near us has this great playland! I took Saw yesterday but forgot the camera, so we went back during the long afternoon today. It's usually pretty empty, and though I was scared of Saw getting lost, he did great up there! Rob and I might have had a little fun, too...

For Peter, Who Says I Need More Pictures

Boys will be boys will be boys. I love the look on Saw's face in that last one. He LOVES being tossed. I guess he's not a dwarf. (Movie reference, anyone?)

I'm No Conspiracy Theorist, But...

Sarah F sent me a link about this a little while ago, and I just came across this article from Strollerderby that reminded me that I never posted anything about it. Basically, a woman in New Jersey refused a C-section even though the doctor said there were signs of fetal distress. The baby was born vaginally and completely healthy. (The age-old mis-reading of the EFM, perhaps??) Now child protective services has taken the baby away, citing the parents for abuse and neglect because they did not follow the doctor's orders.

There is more to the story (isn't there always?), but the final reality is that this baby in question has not been harmed by her parents and was not harmed by the decision to give birth vaginally. Instead of the doctor or hospital saying, maybe we made a mistake in assuming distress, this family is now embroiled in a court battle for their baby. The story sounds crazy, but is true.

I honestly would love to see us in a world where everyone is holding hands and is open about birth choices and attendants and alternative ideas. Doctors support midwives and women's desires in the hospital. Women know their choices and the real pros and cons of different interventions in the hospital. The homebirth crowd is not automatically against the medical community and would fully support doctors and women who want to give birth in the hospital. There could be peace, harmony, and real, informed choice. Stories like this make me feel like we'll never get to that point.

Because My Strech Marks Weren't Hot Enough

I somehow managed to pour boiling pasta water on myself last night, in a mishap that would never happen to anyone on the food network. Surely not. I definitely think it makes my pregnant belly THAT much better looking. What do you think? Will this catch on as a painful new fashion trend? Maybe Jessica Simpson could come interview me for her new show The Price of Beauty!

Honestly, I'm just lucky it's not worse.

Weird Product of the Week, Second Edition

I saw this today on the Soup while at the gym and it cracked me up. I don't like cleaning up Tex's business, but I am definitely NOT trying this! If you want a laugh, check out the Poo Trap website. And if you're squeamish, don't worry--they blur out all the poo. :)

Because Attachment Parenting Is Sooo Controversial

I saw a headline on Yahoo this morning that Mayim Bialik of Blossom fame is now a parent and has controversial parenting techniques. I don't know what even came to mind when I heard that, but I went to see. Turns out she was talking about attachment parenting. I know not everyone is into AP, but I never thought it was controversial. In any case, she spends most of her time talking about elimination communication, which is not necessarily associated with AP all the time, but people like poop talk. If you want to see Blossom all grown up and talking about poo, you can click here for the interview.

Mini Me?

Okay, so my parents have already said that Saw acts very much the way I did when I was his age. I checked through my baby book and here are the stats.

At 15 months, I weighed 21 pounds. So does Saw.

At 15 months, I was 30 inches. Saw is 31.

At 15 months, I had ten teeth: the front eight and then the bottom two molars. So does Saw.

Kind of like deja vu, huh??

Sawyer's Doctor Visit, 15 Months

You're probably wondering, 15 months? Aren't you supposed to go at 12 and 18? Yes. And I dropped the ball on 12 months, and probably won't go for the 18, as he's healthy and I'm not doing their shot schedule. Oh, and then there's the part about how I don't want to wait TWO HOURS to see a doctor for less than ten minutes.

It was absolutely ridiculous today. Sawyer at least had fun terrorizing the waiting room. He would decide random older boys (like 12-13 year olds) were his new pals and go climb on them and try to get them to read him books and stuff. That was actually funny. Trying to catch him running out the front door whenever anyone new came in was not so fun.

In any case, we eventually saw the doctor. Saw is in great health. He weighs 21 pounds, 6 ounces (10-25%) and is 31 inches (25-50%). The best part was the way that Sawyer mimicked the doctor. She listened to his chest with the stethescope, and after, he picked it up, and put it back on his chest the way she had. Then she looked in his ears and he then grabbed the instrument and started trying to put that in his ears. After she used a tongue depressor to try and look at his teeth (while he was trying to bite the tongue depressor), he took it and put it back in his mouth and went, "aaah!" The doctor looked shocked and remarked, "He is really smart!" It was pretty cute.

Overall, he's in great health. A little low on the weight, but he's not skinny and usually eats like a grown man, so I'm not concerned about that. We're still not giving him any of the vaccines, and I feel comfortable with that. What I don't feel comfortable with is how long I have to wait to see the doctor. I really, really like her, but the fact that they double and triple book patients really ticks me off. The nurse admitted to me that's what the problem was when I finally got into a private room after an hour and a half, only to hear there were still two people ahead of me. Ugh! I'm sure that most are this bad, but I'm really thinking about switching. Or just never going again.

Watching the Baby

Rob and I have found that we enjoy bonding with our baby in a weird way: we sometimes sit and watch the little baby on that counter thing on the blog.

I guess really I should have put the word bonding in quotes, since that's not really our baby, but we both find it fun to watch it move around. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the top of the right-hand column on my blog's main page.) The other night, it was flying in circles all around the womb like mad. Tonight it's kind of been jolting from side to side. I know that it's not really what my actual baby is doing, but it's still really fun to watch, and a part of me feels like I'm connecting with our little one somehow. I know that reveals how ridiculous and goofy Rob and I are, but you probably already knew that if you read this blog. :)

Love It or Hate It: My Diaper Sprayer

Note: If you don't want to read about poop, stop reading this post now.

Recently we purchased a diaper sprayer from Bumgenius. Basically, it attaches to the tank of the toilet, and is like a move-able mini-shower head that can be used to wash off those super messy diapers before putting them in the diaper bag. I was so excited to get it, and Rob installed it very easily, but I'm finding it a mixed bag.

Before, if Sawyer had a solid turd-y poop, I'd just dump it in the toilet and drop the diaper in the bag. If it was one of those messy, sticky, liquid-y kinds, I would usually take it outside and spray it down with the hose over our Sago palm, which cleaned it and fertilized our plant. Then I'd let it dry a bit before putting it in our dirty bag so it wasn't sopping. That was annoying just because I had to leave the house.

The diaper sprayer is definitely convenient and easy to use, but here are the problems I'm having. First, I almost never remember to bring the diaper bag into the bathroom with me, which means that I end up holding onto this sopping diaper that is no longer caked with poo, but still dirty. That's just my problem. The second problem is that the sprayer works so well that it gets poo off easily, but somehow ends up soaking most of my bathroom as well. Which is bad considering that the spray probably contains remnants of poo and bacteria, since I think it's bouncing off the diaper. Even at a lower setting, I still end up with a puddle in my bathroom floor. Anyone else have this problem with their sprayer? I'm trying to decide if I should go back to fertilizing the plant in the yard.

Study on Attachment and Baby's Cries

I found this post over at Strollerderby, citing a study that examined the physiological responses of mother's to their children's cries. It's a great post, but if you don't care to click over, what the study found is that women who had strong attachments to their mothers had a surge of oxytocin when their baby cried and/or smiled. Oxytocin is one of those hormones that produces a peaceful, natural high. It comes into play during labor as well. For mother's that had weak or negative (or no) attachment with mother, their bodies surged with insulin, which is typically associated with disgust, pain, or unpleasantness. The study focused on me, but I wonder how this plays out with men?

Pretty much everyone is familiar with the idea that your upbringing has a strong affect on your life. Most would not find that this makes bad behavior excusable, only a little more understandable. I would hope that even though this is an uncontrolled physiological response, it does not dictate that a cycle of abuse MUST go on. It does make me feel even more strongly about creating strong and healthy bonds with my kids!

Thanks, Mom and Dad!

They are somewhere in Louisiana now, and we already miss them! Thanks so much for all the help, and especially your company, Gammy and Turkey! Also for the groceries, toys, gas, and work around the house--you are amazing parents and Sawyer is lucky to have such wonderful grandparents. Now just hurry up and move here so we don't have to say more goodbyes!

What I'm Reading Now

I've been reading Pushed: The Painful Truth about Modern Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block. It's a great read, and makes me justifiably angry at the state of birth today. What makes this book somewhat unique among those books critical of the medical model of childbirth is that Block discusses how women are not the only ones being pushed into decisions, but the medical community as well often finds itself pushed.

Here is a super-long quote from the Preface that really sums up the problem the book explores: "What I didn't realize in the beginning is the virtually everyone involved in maternity care is also on the receiving end of this pushing--the hospital, the doctor, the nurse, the midwife, the doula--all are caught in a system that discourages, to some degree, their providing optimal care. Obstetricians are pushed to intervene before it is necessary and with more technology than ever before; nurses are pushed by doctors and hospitals to consign women to the bed and speed up labor with drugs; midwives are pushed by hospitals and...by the state to restrict their practice; and doulas are there to witness it all, but they don't necessarily have the power to make it any better. Everyone is caught on the merry-go-round, which leads to the obvious question: why does it keep spinning?"

A great question.

Feats of Strength

Sawyer knocked over his high chair this morning. His full-size, WOODEN high chair. Just stood behind it and pushed the whole thing over in the floor. We are SO in for it.

Public Discipline

I rarely talk about discipline on here, and there are some good reasons for that. The first is that we're just getting to the stage where we're really having to start figuring it all out. Sawyer's newest thing is shrieking at the top of his lungs if he doesn't like something. Yeah, that's got to stop. As for HOW to stop it, well, that's what we're working on.

But the second reason is that today's climate on discipline is a little frightening to me. In the interest of protecting children from child abuse, people are on high alert for any act by a parent that could possibly be construed as violent or even iffy. Parents talk publicly about establishing mutual respect and the importance of time-outs and gentle discipline. Meanwhile, I think that the majority of people (especially if you ask those of an older generation) would agree that today's kids are really lacking the discipline they need and are kind of out of control.

As we work through this, I may write more about it, or I may not. But here is a great article from Parentdish about the dangers of trying to discipline your child in a public setting. Definitely a good read!

Fun at Memorial City

Sawyer, my parents and I went to Memorial City Mall yesterday for a few hours. This is one of my favorite places to take the little man if we need to get out of the house and stay in the AC. There's a great kid play area, an ice rink to watch people skating, and a carousel in the food court. Oh, and shopping, if I can get him to sit still long enough for me to have some fun. Here are some great pictures of him playing in the play area. He really did well figuring out how to move across different surfaces and make his way up and down different types of climbing levels. He also learned how to scream loudly while playing from the other children. Just what I was hoping for...





I also discovered this in the food court area: two rooms designated for nursing! Even if the picture doesn't show nursing.
Pretty barren room, but hey--it's a room with a rocker! It's nice to see these in public places.

Weird Product of the Day

I came across this while looking for bedding on sale at Overstock.com this morning. It's called the Hug Me Pillow. Don't worry--the shirt is washable. One feature is that it provides comfort as well as "peace of mind." Yeah. I'd have peace of mine if a fake arm and half body were encircling me at night. In case that actually sounds good to you, here's the link.

What Fetus/Olive/Sammy Is Up to These Days

It's been a while since I've posted about the little one, who is mostly known as Fetus to me these days. Rob last night asked, "What happened to you calling the baby 'Baby'?" And I said, "I don't know. I just think calling it Fetus is funnier." So here's what Fetus is doing in there at the moment.

Obviously growing! I was 13cm at my last appointment (which was normal at 13 weeks) and have gained a few pounds now. My tummy is definitely bigger and harder. I swear I felt movement last week, but not sure enough to say it was definitely movement and not just gas. S/he is breathing in amniotic fluid now, swallowing and excreting it as well. S/he is developing the external ear folds and fingerprints. Hair is developing, and so are eyelashes. S/he can flex his/her arms and suck his/her thumb.

Very exciting, tiny things! I'm definitely feeling more pregnant, even though I'm feeling less tired and more energized. (Despite the fact that I've been up since 5am.) I look pregnant now, and strangers are beginning to notice, which is sometimes fun, depending on whether or not they say that I look like I'm carrying twins. Those people can shut it.

In any case, it's becoming more and more real to Robbie and I now, which definitely makes things more exciting. But crazy--we're going to have another one running around soon! Okay, maybe not running. Maybe more sleeping and hanging around, but still. Sawyer runs enough for the both of them. Aaaah! We'll soon be parents of multiples! There's no going back...

Crib Notes

I figured Sawyer climbing out of his crib needed more explanation, so here we go. One thing that's been happening the last week or so is that he's trying to move his wake-up time to somewhere in the 5's. While my parents were here, they were able to get him back to sleep, except for the time that he had taken his diaper off and my dad was holding and rocking him and he peed all over my dad. Then everyone got up. :) But I really want him to get out of this pattern. I can take 6:45, but not 5:30am.

So yesterday when he started crying, I went in and got him back to sleep, but whenever I transferred him, he pitched a fit. I ended up leaving him, wishing I hadn't come in to begin with. It's hard because my parents are sleeping next to him and I don't want them to wake up or think they need to go in because I don't hear him or something. In any case, I left, and when he was still screaming a while later, Rob went in and, great dad that he is, got him back down. (Rob actually climbs into the crib with him, which I think is hilarious and awesome.) Rob came back to bed and I was still up (now MY wake up time is 5:30am--ugh) and told me that when he got in there, Sawyer was standing at the door crying. Not good.

I removed one toy that he may have used as a springboard (one of those crib play things that hangs on the side), but I don't know that he used it at all. He's a good climber, and my dad has noticed that he's using the mesh thing I got to keep Sawyer from getting his legs stuck in the crib to gain leverage. Great. I got this mesh thing (I forget what it's called but will post it later) to keep him from sticking his legs through the bars and getting stuck, but it's not going to be good if he can use it to climb out.

Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't done this earlier. Rob's going to lower the crib one more time to the lowest setting and we'll hope that helps. So far, he hasn't tried it again. But he is still waking up at 5am, and I'm still not going in there so the likelihood of a repeat is high. Just another sign that our little guy isn't so little.

Things Saw Learned Since We Got Back

How to climb out of his crib.

Things Saw Learned While We Were Gone

-how to feed himself with a spoon
-what and where his ears are
-how to say "go" and "banana"
-how to walk in shoes and socks
-what and where his boy part is (don't even ask me how he learned this or how we know that he learned this)
-how to climb to the very top of Rob's enormous bean bag
-what the cow says

Man, you can miss a lot in four days.

Wedding Photos

Here are a bunch of photos from the wedding and rehearsal. What a fun weeken! Congrats Lauren and Tim!!


How many guys does it take to fill a hot tub? Tim and Lauren at the rehearsal dinner.
Robbie and I at the rehearsal dinner.

I'm super excited that I got to wear two non-maternity dresses. yay!
Braden eating a table.
Robbie and I at the wedding.

Peter, David, Rob and Daniel. Oh, and Buck.
I liked this shot with the wedding couple in the background.
The Oliphant siblings. Daniel, come on.
The Oliphant clan!
Jumping for joy.
The wedding kiss!!
Paul and Denise.
Sandi, Sergio, Kevin, Katelynn and Colin.
The couple and the cake!
All the ladies.
First dance.
I like Denise's dress here!
Tim dancing with a little friend.

Daniel shaking his groove thing.

Tim and his boys.
Colin, Sergrio and David.
The garter...
...and, they're catching! David got it.
Sandi and Sergio cutting a rug.
Paul and Colin.
Peter and Denise.
Lynn and Katelynn.
Buck and Lynn doing the twist!
Rob and I weren't the only ones who tried to hide in the limo. Here's Lauren's dad.
Yeah, I think they want us to get out.