Photo Challenge Week 18: Newness

Days 116-122:

New bike!

Monday Morning Movie: A Song by Daniel

We have a new morning ritual around here lately, which I love!

Monday Morning Movie: Reading!

We spent a lot of time this weekend entertaining Daniel on the potty. He's really getting the hang of using the potty, and we had a very successful weekend! Our main potty activity (besides singing songs) is reading books together.

Jaymz has been telling me that Daniel has learned enough vocabulary now that he can say all of the words on some pages of the books they read. I hadn't witnessed this before, but it really happened...and I caught it on video!

They read for a while, until Daniel gets distracted:

Week 8: Vampire Baby

Days 46-52:

Too cool for school potty time

Monday Morning Movie: Pinky

A dose of cuteness to get your week started off on the right foot:

Wordless Wednesday: Beach Vacation

Last week we took a little overnight road trip to the Oregon coast, stopping at the Tillamook cheese factory and the Newport aquarium along the way.

Learning about cheese

Sampling the cheese

Being the cheese

Wordless Wednesday: Family Photos

A few weeks after Daniel's first birthday, we had some family photos taken, in honor of the milestone:

I love this one!

Bubbles are delicious.

Finally, in honor of World Breastfeeding Week:

Sometimes, a kid's just gotta nurse!

Many thanks to Destry Roper for these beautiful reminders of the occasion! (You can learn more about her and see more of her work on her blog and Facebook page.)

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Linked up at Wordless Wednesday at Hobo Mama and Natural Parents Network (where there's a photo up today of me nursing baby Daniel at two hours old!).

Wordless Wednesday: At the Rose Garden

This park/garden is very close to our house:

Having a picnic on the park side.
(We biked there, but it's close enough to walk.)

Looking out at the garden side.

Yesterday, it rained a little.

I love roses. (I guess it's a good thing we live in the City of Roses!)

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Linked up at Wordless Wednesday at Hobo Mama and Natural Parents Network.

Wordless Wednesday: Sweet Baby in Sunshine

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Linked up at Wordless Wednesday at Hobo Mama (who I'm visiting right now!) and Natural Parents Network.

Birth Works: On Meeting Ina May Gaskin

A sea of people who care about the future of birth.

I had the privilege of attending Ina May Gaskin's lecture at Town Hall in Seattle this past weekend, on Mother's Day. She spoke on "Birth Works! Why Don't We Know It?"

There was something really incredible about being in that sold-out room packed with (mostly) women. There were so many pregnant women and mothers with tiny babies, and the room was full of breastfeeders and babywearers. I saw plenty of people knitting, too, which was fun for the fiber art lover that I am.

When I was in line waiting to get in (and nursing Daniel in the mei tai while I stood there outside) a couple of women in front of me in line invited me into their conversation. They talked about their kids, told their birth stories, and even talked about how to make homemade laundry detergent. That interaction embodied the friendly dynamic there; it was like we all understood that we're a part of the larger picture, and that we're working together for a larger cause.

Ina May in front of a photograph of the caravan
on their way to found The Farm in Tennessee.

One of the things Ina May talked about a lot was Sphincter Law. I had read about this concept in her books, but it was fun (and funny!) to hear her talk about it in person.

She posited that we, as a society, have forgotten how to treat our sphincters (cervices included) with respect. She outlined the basics of Sphincter Law:

• They are shy.
• They don't obey orders.
• They do respond well to praise.
• They open better when owner's forehead, mouth, and jaw are relaxed and open.
• They open well when owner is smiling or laughing.

Ina May shares a photo of her husband Stephen's
famous Monday Night Class.

She pointed out that we know these things when it comes to certain bathroom habits (the average man would be unable to pee standing in front of a group of on-lookers, for example) but that when it comes to birth, the general medical establishment treats birth totally differently. She said that we should look at how other mammals give birth, to remind us that our bodies know how to birth; we know how to birth.

Lauren and I did a bit of live-tweeting during the talk (at least, I tried...but it was hard to be quick at it). Here are a few of my favorite quotes from our tweets:

"We midwives know we need doctors; we're trying to teach doctors that they need us!"

"I had a secret desire to be a midwife, not an English teacher."

"We had discovered oxytocin...and it doesn't just come in a vial; it doesn't just come in your IV."

"I want us to claim all of our people; I want us to start acting like a country that values our women. I want that more than anything in the world!"

"Teach little kids that birth is natural, birth happens, and we're as well-made as any other mammal!"

Ina May also answered questions from people in the audience after the main lecture. Topics covered stigma about home birth and availability of midwifery care for fat women, health disparities in the low-income and black communities, and how to encourage a shy sphincter in a VBAC mom. There was a lot of passion apparent, both in the questions that were asked and the answers Ina May gave. Everyone there was trying to figure out how to help moms and babies have better birth outcomes, how to increase access to midwifery care for all low-risk populations, and how to help more people to have access to healthcare in general. It was totally inspirational to be in a room full of concerned people. The energy was awesome!

I got to meet Ina May after the talk, and she signed my old copy of Spiritual Midwifery, one of the books that made me want to go to nursing school (where I witnessed my first birth):

I met Penny Simkin (author of my favorite book for partners and doulas, The Birth Partner):

And I hung out with Lauren from Hobo Mama (as we both swooned over our birthy idols):

It was really a wonderful day, and definitely a Mother's Day I won't soon forget!

Now that you've heard my account of the events, I highly recommend that you go read what Lauren has to say about the experience. (I hear she even has an extra-special surprise in store for one lucky reader!)

Not at All Wordless but Decidedly Wednesday: First Bike Ride

In honor of May being National Bike Month, I wanted to share the story of Daniel's first bike ride, which Jaymz and I took him on this past weekend for his eleven month birthday:

We began the day with a wee bit of bike maintenance. We had worked on the bikes a bit when my in-laws were here last week, but that day, my rear tire needed some more air. I brought Daniel and the tire pump outside while Jaymz brought the bikes out front.

D is playing with the tire pump...and tasting the mulch.

We got the new seat attached to my bike, and I rode it around the block a little without Daniel in it to see if it was comfortable enough. Then, we had to convince Daniel that we were going to do something really fun, and he would just have to endure the helmet and the strapping-in process before we could get to the fun part.

Daniel actually doesn't mind his helmet at all. I was somewhat concerned about him tolerating the helmet at first, as I'd heard that can be a big hurdle, but he didn't even seem to care about it. Being strapped in to the seat, however...was not his favorite thing ever. To his credit though, he didn't know what great fun he was in for after all that buckling, so maybe next time it'll be a bit easier.

Not enjoying the seat so much at first,
Daniel required his pacifier to get through this photo op.

We rode off in the direction of the park, Daniel and me in front, and Jaymz bringing up the rear. Within 30 seconds of leaving our house, I could see Daniel was having a grand time. He was clapping his tiny hands and looking around excitedly. I will always remember that moment: seeing his hands clapping out of sheer joy.

We got to the park and rode around on the bike/walking path a bit, and then Jaymz and I needed to stop to have some water and rest a bit. I was really surprised at how much more work it was to ride my bike with Daniel on it than without. He only weighs about 18lbs, but that little bit of weight along with all the extra micro-movements required in balancing was really quite tiring!

As soon as I got off my bike for our water break, I noticed that Daniel's eyes were watering from keeping them open in the wind of the ride. He must've been too excited to close his eyes, in case he might miss something. Daniel loves water bottles, so he wouldn't let us get away with not giving him some water, too.

But he was still actually very thirsty, so I went ahead and nursed him right there on the path.

A few people walked by, and there was one runner
who passed also, but no one even looked twice.

After Daniel had his snack, we got back on the bikes and decided to ride to the grocery store to have a little lunch. On the way there, Jaymz was leading, and at one point he made a sharp turn that I wasn't expecting. I tried to turn quickly, but the extra weight on my handlebar threw me off a bit and I had to brake suddenly. The thing was, though I was squeezing it as hard as I could, my brake didn't work quickly, and I almost hit a car.

So, that was pretty scary, but we all recovered and made it the rest of the way to the grocery store.

We had a nice lunch, bought some asparagus to take home, and got back on our bikes.

Daniel got lots of smiles from passers-by
as we prepared to load ourselves back on the bikes.

Almost all the way home, something happened to my gear shifter and the pedals were locked up, but we were going slowly enough this time that I could just put my feet down. Shortly after, Jaymz's chain came off. Our bikes have been neglected in our storage unit since we moved (back when I was about five months pregnant), and they are obviously in great need of a Spring tune-up.

I'm hoping we can get the bikes to the shop this week to get them all fixed up and safe again, so then I can ride around with Daniel whenever I want. Can't wait!

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Linked up at Wordless Wednesday at Hobo Mama and Natural Parents Network.

Wordless Wednesday: On the Train

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Linked up at Wordless Wednesday at Hobo Mama and Natural Parents Network.

Lost Pictures of New York Blizzard

Have you seen this series of videos yet?

I found them simply delightful. (I hope you will, too!)

Wordless Wednesday: Exploring Eddie

Hey there cuddly baby Daniel,

It's your friend, Eddie.

Hi, Eddie!

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Linked up at Wordless Wednesday at Hobo Mama and Natural Parents Network.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Helping

I'm having trouble taking photos of Daniel anymore, because he grabs for the camera, so they all turn out like these:

Still pretty cute, though!

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Linked up at Wordless Wednesday at Hobo Mama and Natural Parents Network.

Wordless Wednesday: Vacationing with Daniel

Aunt Suzy

Great-Uncle Bob

Cousin Camille

Great-Aunt Susan

Grandma Sharon

Great-Gran Gran

Uncle Matthew

Cousin Stephen

(travel is exhausting)

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Linked up at Wordless Wednesday at Hobo Mama and Natural Parents Network.