This is a “page”, but I felt the need to repost.

 

Safe Co-Sleeping Information & Co-Sleeping Survey - please visit!

Great CIO information (thank you, Mothering.com, for compiling the information – heaven knows I wouldn’t be able to find all the great links you do, what an amazing site of wonderful women you are!):

Responding to Baby’s Cries and why you shouldn’t let your baby “cry it out”
Science Says: Excessive Crying Could Be Harmful to Babies
Dr Sears
http://askdrsears.com/html/10/handout2.asp

EARLY BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
What parents and caregivers need to know!
by Phyllis Porter, M.A.
http://www.educarer.com/brain.htm

Crying for comfort: distressed babies need to be held – Art of Mothering
Mothering, Jan-Feb, 2004 by Aletha Solter
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-20039587_ITM

The Dangers of Leaving Your Baby to Cry
By Margaret Chuong-Kim, M.A.
http://drbenkim.com/articles-attachment-parenting.html

The Science of Attachment:
The Biological Roots of Love
by Lauren Lindsey Porter
http://www.naturalchild.com/guest/lauren_lindsey_porter.html

The Emotional Infant Brain
Part 1: The developing emotional subsystems of the brain process various information, including how to relate the state of the world with expectations.
http://www.fresnofamily.com/articles/aa040100a.htm

Stress in Infancy
by Linda Folden Palmer, D.C.
http://www.naturalchild.com/guest/linda_folden_palmer2.html

The Science of Attachment
By Kelley Shirazi
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/5-ap/312-responsive-parenting.htm

Mistaken Approaches to Night Waking:
Excerpt from Sweet Dreams: A pediatrician’s secrets for your child’s good night sleep, Lowell House, 22-28 By Paul M. Fleiss, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., 2000
http://www.nospank.net/fleiss2.htm

8 INFANT SLEEP FACTS EVERY PARENT SHOULD KNOW
Dr Sears
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070200.asp

CONTROLLED CRYING:
AAIMHI POSITION PAPER
The Australian Association for Infant Mental Health:
http://www.gymealily.org/resources_paperva7.htm

Fatherhood Basic Instinct
A dad can do so much more than defend the cave. New research shows that he too has the biological goods to nurture baby
By John Hoffman
http://www.todaysparent.com/lifeasparent/fatherhood/article.jsp?content=1225399A

MENTAL HEALTH EXPERT WARNS THAT POPULAR ADVICE TO IGNORE YOUR CHILD’S TEARS MAY CAUSE LIFE-LONG HARM
Amelia Hill
http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/con…ioarticle.html

Why babies should never sleep alone: A review of the co-sleeping controversy in relation to SIDS,
bed-sharing and breast feeding
James J. McKenna* and Thomas McDade

Children Need Touching and Attention, Harvard Researchers Say
By Alvin Powell
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1998/04.09/ChildrenNeedTou.html

CIO? No! The case for not using “cry-it-out” with your children
By Gale E.Ward
http://www.storknet.com/cubbies/attachmentparenting/cio.htm

A RECENT BLOG WITH GREAT INFORMATION AND LINKS:

Parenting Baby to Sleep
http://parentingbabytosleep.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/babies-%e2%80%9ccry-it-out%e2%80%9d-over-the-use-of-unsustainable-parenting-methods/

******************************************************************************************************

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/T130300.asp

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/T130200.asp

• Attachment is a special bond between parent and child; a feeling that draws you magnet-like to your baby; a relationship that when felt to its deepest degree causes the mother to feel that the baby is a part of her. This feeling is so strong that, at least in the early months, the attached mother feels complete when she is with her baby and incomplete if they are apart.
• We will often use the term mother-infant attachment, not to exclude the father, but because, at least in the early months, in most families the mother- infant attachment is more obvious. This does not mean that a father can’t become deeply attached to the child, but it often seems to be a different type of attachment – not less or better than the mother’s, just different.
• Attachment means that a mother and baby are in harmony with each other. Being in harmony with your baby is one of the most fulfilling feelings a mother can ever hope to have. Watch a mother and baby who are attached (in harmony) with each other. When the baby gives a cue, such as crying or facial expressions, signifying a need, the mother, because she is open to the baby’s cues, responds.
• Initially, her responses may be a bit strained and not always what the baby needs. But as the mother-baby pair rehearse these cue-response interactions hundreds of times, after a few weeks or months into parenting this cue-response relationship becomes more natural and harmonious. The baby begins to anticipate the response that his mother will give and become further motivated to give more cues, because he learns that he will get a predictable response.
• Because the baby gives the mother the feedback that her mothering is appreciated, the mother-baby pair enjoy each other more. They get used to each other.
• One attached mother told us: “I feel absolutely addicted to her” – meaning that the mother feels right when she is together with her baby and not right when separated.
• You will know when you get that attached feeling to your baby. When your baby cries and you respond from your heart with a natural and not a strained response, you are attached. When your baby gives you a cue and you respond with a feeling of rightness about your response, you are well on your way to becoming an attached parent.
• Periodically check your sensitivity index . If you are becoming increasingly sensitive to your baby:
  • Your baby’s cries bother you. You feel for your baby during colicky episodes. You are becoming attached.
  • You are determined to work at developing comforting measures when your baby is fussy. You are becoming attached.
  • You are learning to anticipate your baby’s needs. A facial expression, such as a grimace, precedes a cry. You respond at the grimace stage before your baby needs to cry. You are becoming attached.
  • Your responses are becoming more natural; they flow intuitively. Instead of making a science out of your baby’s cries and going through mental gymnastics (Will I spoil her? Is she manipulating me), you naturally act and feel right about your response. You are becoming attached.

 

Little Wet Feet

 

 

 

(And then I have to show off my cutie posing for the camera):

What happened to Geriatric Mama?

Well.  A lot.

This was an old screenname from an old time, and I always found it amusing and unique.  But it’s time to move on.  I can’t yet change the actual root name of my blog, but that will come someday.

Last night, I was laying in bed with my 1 year old and she slowly rolled over, put her arm around my neck as tight as she could, snuggled her head into my cheek, and fell asleep twirling my hair.  I was listening to the muffled sounds of the rest of the house -  Autumn and Justus playing in his room, Brett’s video games in his space, Daddy downstairs catching up on his NFL shows – and realized I’m really not the person I was a few years ago.

I cried as I said my nightly prayers, thanking God for this little person clutching to my neck and sharing my heartbeat, her breath warm on my face.  I thanked God for the three other little miracles going about their business in the rest of the house.  I know I’m blessed to have Gary in my life, to take care of us and love us all.  We’re healthy, we’re happy, we’re a family. 

I decided “Geriatric Mama” was no longer appropriate.  I feel younger than I did a decade ago.  Althought I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown tenfold.  I feel rejuvinated, fresh, full of life because of the life in my home.  Vintage, like a fine wine, is a much better term!

I forgot to post this on the 1st… but we’re still going strong!

Let’s see… I haven’t talked about Ayla’s achievements this year, now that I think about it.  Some of Ayla’s milestones over the past few months… she can now get up on the trampoline by herself!  She can get on the counter to get snacks like her big sister, too.  She has almost mastered her tricycle – she needs just a little more encouragement to keep her feet on the pedals.    She can scale the ladder to her slide, navigate the stairs almost the whole way, standing up; she of course has mastered the spoon and fork and eats anything and everything like a champ.  She is “behind” Autumn in talking, but “ahead” of where Autumn was in regards to her physical abilities.  No worries, it all will balance out in the end!

Autumn’s now writing all of her numbers and letters beautifully, writing her name easily and quite legibly, without help.  She will start Kindergarten in the fall of 2010, and I think she’ll be right on track with her skills.  She’s going to do great, I just know it.

Justus’ new medication dose has changed his life.  He is now a social butterfly!  He’s rarely here anymore, the phone rings until all hours of the night, and he has a girlfriend, Sarah!  Compared to last year, when he only had one friend (who is a carbon copy of him!), this is a welcome change.  I think he may be busier than Brett is!  Now he’s hounding me for a cell phone, which, depending on how often he’s gone, he may just get.  He sometimes leaves in the morning and I won’t see him for 5 or 6 hours or more, as he visits and travels the neighborhood and the neighborhood next to us.  I’m so happy for him, so proud of him, and so thrilled that he’s making so many good friends.  This will make the transition to the new 6th grade school so much easier – and there will be more new friends there to make too!

Brett finished the year on the honor roll – he was on it for every grading period.  I couldn’t be more proud.  He’s enrolled in some college prep courses next year to prepare him for medical school.  He still thinks he wants to be a GP – I hope he keeps that dream alive.  He has been hesitant to study for his temporary license though – I think he’s more nervous than he originally let on.  I’m glad – he SHOULD be nervous, taking control of a 4,000 piece of metal!  The insurance to add him is nominal, I told him I’d meet him halfway on that and he would have to pay for his own gas.  He’s cool with it.  He’ll be driving my van until he saves enough money to go in on a car.  I think he’ll do fine.

And that’s a brief summary of the kids.  All healthy, all happy, all doing well.  Have a great day!

Autumn got her “big girl bike” last week, and after only an hour on it, she was a pro.  And we can’t get her off of it!

She could’ve gotten it last summer, but she was so attached to her Dora Bike (okay, it’s a regular tricycle that she put Dora stickers allllllllll over) that she didn’t want a big bike… but we had an opportunity to get a great hand-me-down from a friend and convinced her that she’d love it.  And we were right.  We “girlied” it up with a Princess basket and tassles and a pink bell, and Autumn is going to hunt for Princess stickers to put on it.  She’s growing up too fast!

 

Showing her little sister how it works:

And really, what’s more fun than chasing your friends through the neighbor’s sprinkler??

And Ayla was enjoying the “rain” too… but she stopped to take a break:

 

Ah, isn’t summertime grand?

I found this heartwrenching and heartwarming at the same time.  I love those seven words, they hold more meaning than any words I’ve read in a very long time.

 

http://rixarixa.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-whole-heart-is-in-that-incubator.html

“My whole heart is in that incubator”

The Motherwear Breastfeeding blog recently featured a fantastic guest post by a woman whose son was born 3 months early and weighed less than 3 pounds. She writes about how breastfeeding was her and her son’s lifeline. Here is an excerpt from her post, My whole heart is in that incubator:

I was 37 years old. I thought I knew what love was. I thought I knew. But I have never loved anyone, anything, so fiercely, so terribly, so wonderfully, so achingly, as I did my little son, my only child, struggling in that incubator….

I loved and still love that boy with all I have. Because I couldn’t hold him much, and felt terrible guilt for not being able to ‘hold him in’ for the entire 9 months he deserved, I was determined to breastfeed. I pumped every 3 hours for weeks on end. That pump and the milk that came out of me was my lifeline. It was somehow the way I was going to make it up to him for giving him such a lousy start in this world. So when I read stuff like “The Case against Breastfeeding” I get so angry. I believe that my breastmilk, and the good care we got at BC Children’s, saved my child’s life. It saved my life. If there is anything in this crazy, crazy world that is really is a gift from God it is the babies we can create and the milk that comes from our bodies.

If anything is pure and natural, and real and true, it’s breastmilk. It made me feel like a mother when my baby was all alone inside a machine when he should have been inside me.

Anyone who dismisses breastfeeding so casually, or by their attitude or indifference creates an environment that doesn’t hold up and encourage and cheerlead a new mom into a successful breastfeeding relationship, has lost touch with something. They’ve lost touch with a sense of what it means to be a mother, what feeding a baby is all about, what it means to nurture, how significant that breastfeeding can be to both mother and child.

Posted by Rixa at Thursday, May 28, 2009  

about making homemade chocolate cake, is sharing the batter-covered beaters and barely-scraped bowl with my girls!  Ah, I actually DO love rainy day fun!

I think I caught Autumn off-guard!

That “The Business of Being Born” is required to be viewed by every single pregant woman, every woman thinking about being pregnant, every woman that can become pregnant, and every single doctor/OB/midwife/nurse that ever comes in contact with someone that is, will be, or can be pregnant.

I hope everyone picks up Ricki’s new book, too:  Your Best Birth.

And that’s what I think!!

Hope all my mommy friends had a great Mother’s Day.  I was blessed with flowers on Friday, a special meal at my favorite restaurant on Saturday, and a gift from the Diamond Cellar on Sunday.  All that, and hubby did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and took care of the kids for me.  I must’ve done something right sometime, somewhere!  Here’s a (not so good) picture of my gift, it made me cry… a charm necklace for each of my children with their birth stones:

Let’s see… other random musings for today…

Wanda Sykes needs moved to a deserted island and put out of our misery.

Thank GAWD Joan won the Celebrity Apprentice.  When your boss asks you what you’ve done to earn a job, you DON’T start pointing fingers at someone else and blaming them for your failures. 

I have decided I will never beat my carb addiction.  Why are carbs so wonderful???  And isn’t it a gift for my grandkids to snuggle into a grandma with some meat on her bones?  Yeah, I think so.

Ayla has a new trick.  If you say, “Ayla, MEAN FACE!” she drops what she’s doing and does this:

But then she thinks she’s hysterical and falls out, cracking herself up:

Hm.  I think that’s all I have today.  We had a wonderful weekend, and I hope everyone else did too!  Have a great week!

today… and still lovin’ it.

 

(LOL… someone graciously pointed out that I had a typo in the title and wrote 17 months – I didn’t notice it, I have fixed it!)

Newer Posts »