a hippie with a minivan

Rain, Rain go away….

OK… so we where completely spoiled the last few days… It has been above 30 since last week and humid and hot and swimming was the most enjoyable form of activity… Yesterday however it started to rain….
Now, It’s Cold and depressing outside and I have to keep the kids entertained indoors today…
Yesterday when Xavier was at Daycare I played with Colin and while he was napping I made Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cinnamon Buns… I love baking but I wish I had more counterspace sometimes… It would be so much more enjoyable…

Feeling Guilty…

I really do love being a SAHM but some days can be really hard…
It is raining and Cold today and the minute that Xavier got up he asked to go in the Pool and was having meltdowns each time I told him that we can’t go because it is raining and cold…
I just saw what the day was going to be like…
Then the phone rang and it was the Daycare saying that they have a place open for today and asked if I wanted it… I jumped on the opportunity and brought him….
See, when I was in Montreal, we saw other kids all the time and did things with other mom’s and kids… we also went to an organization that had the moms talking in one room and the kids in the next in a small daycare… it was only for 2 hours and it was only in the next room and Xavier came to love playing with his friends…
When we moved we lost that and Xavier was really looking for Friends to play with, and I couldn’t find other SAHM’s and didn’t know anyone around and I was very pregnant and tired so I contacted a local daycare and we were put on call until they have a place for him… Now when a kid doesn’t show up they give us the opportunity to bring him (this happens about 3-4 times a month or less)…
Xavier loves it though but I feel guilty of sending him there… I am a SAHM… Is it weird that I am sending my kid off to daycare… It Sept he will have a permanent position… I chose Tuesdays and Thursdays so that the week will have a good flow… I guess my reasoning is that we don’t get to see many kids very often and he needs to learn how to share and how to play nicely (he has trouble with this sometimes), he is just about 3 and not yet at an age that he can go and make friends by himself and his little brother is still too small to be a good playmate…. It also gives me some one on one time with Colin and some time to do things around the house…
I am planning on homeschooling later on but I am also planning sending him to a few activities… So I guess I can see Daycare as that for now… it is an activity that he enjoys and that he thrives in and that he learns from…
I just can’t help feeling guilty though…

Water Babies, Sunburns, and Momâ€™s new boyfriend…

On Friday my mom came over and slept here with her new boyfriendâ€¦ It is a bit weird but I am happy for her and he is a really nice guy. It just feels weird though that my Mom has a boyfriendâ€¦ Roger (my Step-father whom I loved like a father) died in December and though it has been 6 months it just seems to be very soon…
Like I said though he seems like a great guy.. he is younger then my mom by almost 8 years and is the baby of a family of 13 kidsâ€¦ he is very relaxed, loved kids and is very helpfulâ€¦ I have nothing bad to sayâ€¦ just that it still feels weirdâ€¦
Anywaysâ€¦ I got the pool prepared over the week last week and Alain (the boyfriend) helped us install the stairs we boughtâ€¦ it was a gorgeous weekend and we all got sunburnsâ€¦ However, with the stairs installed and the pool ready weâ€™ve been living in it every dayâ€¦
Last year when we bought the house Xavier was just turning two and was a bit afraid of the water and it was really hard to go and have fun… We put him in Swimming lessons over the winter and now we have a little fish on our hands! It’s great! He can swim all by him self (with the aide of a flotation device on his back) and is full of smiles the whole time he is in the pool…
It is Colin’s first summer however and he is just in love with the water… he takes after me and is hot all the time and he just relaxes the minute I bring him in the water… he almost fell asleep in his little boat yesterday…
He are some pics of our water babies…

NIP (Nursing in Public)

OMG!! How can people be so ignorant! There has been so much talk about nursing in Public since Barbara Walters and Star Jones made really awful comments on “The View” (and then of course BW lied about them after a Protest was done!)
Anyways… What can be more natural then feeding a baby… As time goes on I am just getting sick and tired of hearing about the Guilt that is laid on the backs of mom’s that Formula feed because they are tired of hearing about the importance of Breastfeeding… Get Over it… It is proven that Breast is Best! There is no way around it and there are serious risks to not breastfeeding and risks that are associated with Formula Feeding.(Hello!! It is not even TESTED!!!) Of course we never hear about them because we don’t want to make those moms feel Guilty!! OMG Wake up and get over your selves! If you are so confidant in your child being healthy and happy on formula and you really think that Formula carried no risks and that it is just as good as breast milk then you wouldn’t feel guilty!! It is because you know that it is best but you don’t care and just don’t want to breastfeed for reasons that are completely selfish that you feel guilty… and I am not talking about the 1% of Moms that physically can’t breastfeed, or the ones that tried and didn’t have the right support etc… (They didn’t make the choice not to breastfeed, the choice was made for them and that is why formula exits)
No, I am talking about the ones that made the conscious choice not to breastfeed (or weaned very early) for stupid, immature and selfish reasons. The ones that care about taboo’s and that see breasts as sexual items or just don’t want to take the time or the “effort”… I just wish people could get over their hang-ups of the female Breastâ€¦ What do they think they are made for? If they where made solely for their husbands pleasure it wouldnâ€™t be milk in them but Beer!
Seriously… If someone wants me to use a blanket to cover my childâ€™s head while they are nursing I want them to do the same thing to their child… Formula feeders always use the worst term for NIP and I am sick of it… If I hear “She just whipped out her boob and stuck in her babies face” one more time I am going to yell “at least I am not shoving a artificial nipple full of toxic sludge into my baby, and at least I care enough for my baby to breastfeed him“
OK… Of course not all Formula feeders are like this but as time goes on there are more and more (or I am just hearing it more and more) I am tired of hearing about the right to Formula feedâ€¦ Thatâ€™s your right yesâ€¦ but donâ€™t tell me that the artificial way of feeding a child is better and should be seen and that breastfeeding shouldnâ€™tâ€¦
I will Breastfeed my Child in Public when he is hungry and when he needs it! I will hide the fact that I am breastfeeding just because it may make someone feel uncomfortable. If I am expected to do that I expect that women will no longer were Tops that show any amount of breast and that Bottle Feeding Moms will also have the same expectations put on themâ€¦ Hey I feel uncomfortable too when I see a baby being given a bottle (but guess what! I donâ€™t say anything and I just look away!!!)

Potty Training and EC…

I have had two very different little boys… Xavier was a baby that didn’t care at all if he sat in a dirty diaper all day (not like that ever happened!) As he grew he cared even less! Cloth or disposable, nothing mattered…

Colin however hated having a dirty diaper since the day he was born, he cried if he wet his diaper and cried harder if he soiled it. Then he would cry afterwards because we had to change it and he was still mad… I had heard about EC (Elimination Communication) when Xavier was young but I thought it was a little too weird for me… However, At about 2 months I was sick of changing about 15 diapers a day just for Colin alone, tired of blowouts and tired of the crying that came with it all. Colin was just so unhappy. We thought it was Colic, or gas or something but nothing helped.. so on day he got the face, the one that you just know he was going to have a blowout and I brought him to the bathroom, took his diaper off and put him over the sink and he went! From that day on we have been pottying him. He still wears a diaper but goes on the potty more often then not. The most amazing thing though was that day he became another baby completely. He became the smiley, happy baby that I knew was underneath the discomfort…

EC is amazing for us. It just makes sense like so many of the other things in Attachment Parenting and Natural Parenting. Babies have the knowledge of control and know when they need to go but are taught to use their diapers as a potty and therefore learn to suppress the feelings that come naturally from birth. Then, later on we expect them to unlearn what we taught them and to learn to listen to their bodies again. It is so confusing.

I predict that Colin will be potty trained early. He uses the potty every day and many days he doesn’t at all use the diaper that is on him.

Back to Xavier now… He is just getting interested in Potty Training.. and finally it is starting to work… Not long ago he would refuse to wear underwear and on Monday I not only got him to wear them he has been mainy in underwear since. We still have accidents and he still refuses to use the potty when he has to poo but it is a great step in the right direction.. Finally!!!
As for the next time, next child… We are starting EC at birth!

Colin – around 5 months old