Badger is 18 months old (and 2 days)

We're visiting the inlaws so time has become a bit crunched. On Badger's half-birthday, on the 27th, we took a cruise on Lake Tahoe. Just beautiful!

Anyway, my Badger Boy...

He's getting VERY independent and is determined to do anything by himself that he thinks he can -- and to his credit, his judgment is pretty solid there. He can climb like a monkey and scream like a banshee. However, still no words but uh-oh and vroom, and we're looking forward to the next step in getting him evaluated for a delay. I'm looking forward to hearing him say Mama!

He still LOVES cars and trains, as well as the princess toys his sister is always playing with. They're buddies, those two. They're playing especially well together this week while we're visiting their grandparents. He did very well on his first night without Mom and Dad, when we went down to one of the casinos for an overnight. He's such an affectionate little guy and he can really give some great cuddles and hugs.

Chim is 3 1/2 years old!

Three and a half years ago Chim came into this world. I remember the weekend before very clearly but by the time she was delivered, I'd had it and I don't remember as clearly as I want to about the rest of the day. Was I happier then than I think I was? Was it nice outside? What did I do all that day after she was born at 7:12am? I remember holding her on the way from the OR to the LDR, and I think from the LDR to the postpartum room.... and it's definitely fuzzy after that.

Now, every day is VIVID. I can't imagine forgetting any detail of this big, grown-up, lovely, lively girl. Not her sweetness, not her imagination, not her sassyness, not her smile. Not the way she chews her tongue when she's thinking hard. Not the way she is determined to do everything "all by myself" except the things she clearly can do all by herself... those things she needs help with.

I know I will probably have to depend on photos and videos to remember in a few years. It's tough for me to remember how she was when she was Badger's age. In videos, she's so perfectly, exactly, herself... but much smaller.

She doesn't get half-birthdays so she thinks I'm just a nice mom today, letting her pick out her own outfit (just terrible: yellow Cabela's t-shirt with a raccoon, peach shorts with flowers, hello kitty socks.) and have ice cream WITH A CHERRY after lunch.

Been slacking!

Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the preschooler who makes her way into our bed at night, maybe it's our upcoming trip to the inlaws but I've been sort of blah on the blog. So here are some updates!

What's been going on with our family...
Not too much with me and the hubby. We're looking forward to our trip to see the inlaws and maybe take an overnight trip without the kids.
We've been working with Badger to get him to start talking and we wonder if he is saying more words than we realize, it's just difficult to understand. We're looking forward to his next well child checkup so we can perhaps move forward in getting him evaluated for a delay. Other than that... he's awesome -- a funny, sweet, curious, nearly year-and-a-half old kiddo!
Chim is doing really well and is obsessed with princesses. Seriously. We got her some princess playsets as a reward for doing so well with her medicine and since then that's all she can talk about or think about.

What's been going on with my doula life...
I'm still hoping to do my first postpartum doula job before we go away but if Mom is doing so well that she doesn't need me, well, that's not the worst thing in the world either!
I have a birth client lined up for early June -- a really nice couple expecting their fourth child!
I was flattered to be invited to the christening of a client's son and I'm happy to report that not only is the family doing very well, the roof of the church did not come crashing down on my head.
Last night I went to the VBAC support group at the Midwife Center. Even though there was only one attendee I am glad that I went.

What I've been thinking about, birth-wise...
I don't know if it's just the line of work I am now in, or the stage of life I'm in, but it seems like I'm hearing about a LOT fewer cesarean births. I feel like when I had Chim, everyone I knew had a cesarean birth as well, but other than my late-March client, I haven't heard of one in maybe a year! Has anyone else felt this way?
Lots of folks are talking about the pregnant man. I find this fascinating on a sociological/personal level but pretty boring on a biological level, which is the angle most people seem fixated on. It's be awesome to be his doula!
A large contingent of Amish descended on Harrisburg to protest the prosecution of midwife Diane Goslin. Somewhere in the mess of my desk I have information about a grass-roots group that is being organized in PA to advocate for homebirth midwifery, and I will share that when I can find it!

And a request for prayers and good thoughts for a local midwife who we learned this week has breast cancer.

Reminder: Midwife Center's "Let Them Eat Cake" event

Midwife Center offers cake tasting and fun

I won't be there because of a prior commitment, so go and eat some cake for me!

Got my first spam on the blog!

What a rite of passage!

Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the TV Digital, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://blahblahblah.blogspot.com. A hug.


I especially like the hug at the end. A hug, to be precise!

Where lost toys go...

In our house, it seems to be under the stove. Gross. I spent way too much time this morning retrieving toys that were lost. The good news is, the "little girl" doll from Chim's dollhouse that she got for a Christmas present was found as were the rhythm sticks from the music set that need to be returned to the toy library today.

The bad news is that the doll was waaaaaaay in the back. I know that as industrious as my kids are, they couldn't hurl a toy 4 feet back, through an opening of 3". Even the cat couldn't pull that one off. And the fact that the doll was there when we went to my parents' for Christmas, and we couldn't find it when we got back... well, I've got to blame this one on the mice.

So needless to say, all rescued toys have gotten a scalding hot soapy bath!

Risk Calculus of VBAC and ERCS -- on Rixa's blog

The True Face of Birth: Risk Calculus of VBAC and ERCS

This article's findings show that a policy of ERCS comes with a weighty set of costs and risks. VBAC bans force women to assume those risks, rather than allowing each woman to decide for herself whether to have a VBAC or schedule a repeat cesarean. A no-VBAC policy is paternalism at its worst; it takes away women's right to bodily integrity and to informed decision-making.

INA MAY is coming!!!

Guess who is coming to Pittsburgh!?

This past conference was a hard act to follow but I *think* next year might just do it. The featured speaker? None other than... Ina May Gaskin!!!


March 28, 2009 -- save the date!