15 October

From the 109th Congress in the U.S., H. Con. Res. 222, passed 25 July, 2007:

Whereas each year, approximately one million pregnancies in the United States end in miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of a newborn baby;

Whereas it is a great tragedy to lose the life of a child;

Whereas babies sometimes live within or outside their mothers' wombs for only a short period of time;

Whereas even the shortest lives are still valuable, and the grief of those who mourn the loss of these lives should not be trivialized;

Whereas during the past two years, Governors of all 50 States have signed proclamations designating October 15 as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day;

Whereas the legislatures of the States of Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Rhode Island, and South Dakota have passed concurrent resolutions recognizing October 15 of each year, as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day;

Whereas the observance of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day may provide validation to those who have lost a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, or other complications;

Whereas recognizing Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day will provide the people of the United States with an opportunity to increase their understanding of the great tragedy involved in the deaths of unborn and newborn babies;

Whereas Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day would enable the people of the United States to consider how, as individuals and communities, they can meet the needs of bereaved mothers, fathers, and family members, and work to prevent the causes of these deaths; and

Whereas October 15, 2005 would be an appropriate day to observe National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress--

(1) supports the goals and ideals of National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day;

and

(2) requests that the President issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such day with appropriate programs and activities.

Canadians in Ontario, please visit Perinatal Bereavement Services of Ontario for information about their campaign to have 15 October recognized as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in Ontario.

Please take a moment at 7 p.m. in your time zone on the evening of 15 October and light a candle for one hour. The goal is to have a wave of light passing through, to mark for just a short time the lives of such tiny beings who touched so many people very deeply.

Stored up rants

Apparently this has caused quite a furore among the more rabid lactivists. Apparently a onesie that could be a reference to racecar technology is being taken as a subversive plot to - gasp! - promote something other than breastfeeding. Which of course, if you'll remember, everyone can do, and if you can't - well, you just didn't try hard enough. The onesie is a conspiracy, a promotion tool for formula companies that will outright stop people from breastfeeding... Because they want their baby to look cool in an Old Navy onesie.

Some are even calling for a boycott of Old Navy.

Pause, for a moment, and ponder that no one is calling for a boycott on the basis that this onesie was likely made in a sweatshop on the labour of kiddies (who may or may not have been breastfed).

Funny that I don't see anyone complaining about the sexualization of young children with "Boob Man" slogans on onesies. No, that's funny and acceptable, and readily available.

I wonder if they get this steamed about bottle-shaped "Baby on Board" signs for cars?

No. For the most part, the minivan folks with those signs in the window use it as an excuse to drive like even bigger jerks. I guess they have boycotts to get to.

Tell me, does logic seep out when one breastfeeds? No?

Anyway, we all know that breastfeeding is better in the short- and longer-term, but I am so finished with the aggressive, judgemental mommies whose comments regarding formula-feeding sometimes border on abusive and are at minimum often passive-aggressive. I can only hope they are teaching their children better than to judge and abuse others without understanding the many shades that contribute to a choice.

Make a new bandwagon. Instead of slagging people for formula feeding, and complaining about Old Navy's logos, why don't you use this energy to start lobbying for coverage of lactation consultants and breastfeeding education and support under private and public insurance plans? Breastfeeding can help prevent many common health concerns - most of which are huge burdens on our public healthcare. So, help a momma out - help get all of us the tools that many women cannot afford, in order to make more women successful at breastfeeding.

We like cloth diapers at our house. It's been six months since we bought disposables. I have part of a packet left that are hilariously tiny... Hilarious, but they do make me sad, with their tininess.

And to be clear, we like cloth diapers for a few reasons:

1. We never run out of diapers. We're conscious of how many clean ones we have left, in a way that we were not conscious of the diaper stock when we were blindly grabbing a 'sposie from a package during Leah's first four weeks or so.
2. They are cheaper than 'sposies. Our initial stash cost about $250. We've since spent a little more on nighttime diapers. A week's supply of diapers for us was running at least $20. You do the math. You're all set, if you can limit yourself to your initial stash and not keep getting pulled in by the cuteness.
3. Leah has never had a diaper rash (knock wood).
4. Leah does not smell like pee in her cloth diapers.
5. We're not buying something just to throw it away and add to the massive piles of garbage upon which we'll all tread and build our homes before too long.

These are, however, not for everyone.

Anyway, Cotton Babies, makers of BumGenius, Flip (our favourites) and Econobum have come out with new prints on their 4.0 and all-in-one versions. There was a lot of hype about the "reveal" and I was initially disappointed that I wouldn't be able to get Flip covers in the allegedly fun new prints.

Then I saw the prints. And their video reveal.

A few thoughts...

First, the prints are ugly. There's no way around it. I don't even know what the heck the print is even of. (If you can see it, please do share.) There appear to be semi-identifiable eyes throughout the prints (which I find slightly more disturbing than birds). And they all look the same to me. The colours are just... Anyway.

They have named each "design": Concrete Jungle, Jet Setter, Free Spirit, Retail Therapy and Eiffel Tower. The "collection" is called Tiny Socialite.

At this point the stream of consciousness is nearly exploding in my head.

Clearly, they are marketing this to the yummy-mummy yuppie types who are, I suppose, increasingly purchasing BumGenius products in tony baby boutiques in hip neighbourhoods. That's all I can fathom, based on the names of these things. And the fact that Cotton Babies refers to this as a "collection". I know Cotton Babies wants to make money, but this has kind of taken the whole point of cloth diapers - as a way to be more self-reliant rather than consumer-driven - to a different level.

The artist is likely not a mother. Really, you want to make diapering more exciting? I can't get exicted about poo, no matter what it's wrapped up in. Fail.

You imagined or used as your muses jet-setting, disco babies with little "fros"? Tiny socialites, you say? All I can picture is some sort of baby-esque Real Housewives scenario. Famous for having money and doing nothing. Or not having money, as it were. That, or an airport scene from a Jackie Collins book, with rich babies and their LV luggage...

This is almost as bad as the Huggies jean-print diaper commercials.

Now, this is a bull, so here's a really cute baby. And some horses. And the milkhouse at Mom and Dad's.

Monday, you can fall apart...

Tuesday, Wednesday, break my heart

Oh, Thursday doesn't even start

It's Friday

I'm in love

Saturday, wait

And Sunday always comes too late...

OK, it's not Friday. It's Sunday night. But on Fridays... I really am in love. Because I get these two to myself all weekend long.

And we do all kinds of fun things with wonderful people.

We had a fabulous playdate on Friday with our cousins, Erik and little Scarlet.

We spent Saturday with Granny Darlene and Grandpa Chris, and had a visit with Jenn and Rick. Grandpa and Rick worked on a new porch/step at the Salon...

... and Granny and Jenn played with us in the grass.

We caught a car show on Saturday night...

... and a party at a neighbour's house as we walked home.

We passed Sunday afternoon with the Carlington Community Association at a nearby park, and met other babies about Leah's age. Sadly, no pictures, as I was enjoying some social time.

Should have some excellent shots of the Little Funny Bunny (who now has TWO teeth, thankyouverymuch) and the family, as we'll be doing an overnighter at Great-Grandma Ma's this week. Weather's supposed to be beautiful, so... vive le restant de l'ete. Sorry, I don't know how to do accents with this stupid laptop keyboard. :P

On Teeth

Leah's first tooth broke through on Sunday, 22 August, 2010, after several days of what I will now refer to as The Great Sleep Strike.

We feel so proud that she's growing so well and is so strong and bright and clever and energetic. But at the same time, this tooth is bringing us closer to toddlerhood.

I just want to absorb every minute of her babyness. There are always things to do here - laundry, tidying, cooking, and so on (and by the way, I love taking care of our home) - but I often just stop it all and make raspberries with her, watch her sleep or just cuddle her, or stay in bed with her later in the morning, just to watch her sleeping and feel a soft, squishy cheek against mine and smell her hair - a wonderful essence of Dove baby soap and Leah.

I don't know how I'll leave her, and go back to work. I feel anxious about the prospect most of the time now, and it's getting in the way of me enjoying the babyness.

The Uselessness Continues

Some people will give you that cliche, "Oh, you don't know x until you have a baby!"

And it's patronizing, but I have a twist on it for you.

You will never realize how much useless crap is for sale until you have a baby.

Witness first the Boon Dispensing Spoon. You screw the spoon onto the pouch to feed baby. It also comes in a friendly one-piece version, called The Squirt, which allows you to add your own food to the handle of the spoon. Really, how ever did we manage to feed our babies while out and about without these genius devices?

My question is, why do you need the spoon part, if you can just squeeze the food into your kid?

Admittedly, Boon does make some neat things. Mostly, they're in weird shapes to appeal to the design-conscious parent, I suppose.

Next up is the Kickbee. It "tweets" when your baby kicks.

So, it's like the fetal monitoring belts they make you wear in Labour & Delivery in the hospital.... except with Twitter! Truly, I need to call the hospitals about offering the Twitter service with their monitoring belts. Imagine, everyone could follow your excruciating contraction Tweets! And, hospitals could make money off of this service, I'm sure - which would certainly help ease the healthcare crisis.

Then there's this classic, the Babykeeper.

Yes, you just heard my head exploding. It's a Crotch Dangler. That hangs over the door of a bathroom stall. Or changing room stall. Or any door, I suppose.

Can't you just imagine all the idiots out there who would toss the kiddo into this when he/she is having a screaming fit at home, just to get them outta the way?

And this just freaks me out: the Zaky pillow.

This thing is $45 or more, and it looks like Thing from The Addams Family. Yes, yes, designed by a mom, mimics hands of an adult, possibly good for preemies... But seriously? Hand pillows?

They're just creepy.

On top of all this useless shit, are the unsafe products that every baby registry out there tells you that you need. Or rather, that your baby needs. Because if they don't have one, then you're a bad parent. And cheap.

Like bumper pads for cribs, which have been linked with an increased likelihood or risk of SIDS. So-called non-slip mats for car seats, and mats that prevent the carseat from marking the upholstery (talk to me in three years, when the upholstery is covered in apple sauce, mortar-like cookie-saliva paste and other unknowns), which can interfere with the proper positioning and securing of the car seat. Bunting bags that fit into the car seat, which can cause the car seat harness to not work properly in the event of an accident or impact.

Really, this is all about consumerism, except they're now preying on our Guilt for the marketing. How easy was that - to harness the guilt we make for ourselves, to get us to buy this crap? "Green Guilt" over having been born at all, which drives people to buy organic Pacific Ocean shrimp (I guess because they are an organism?). And if you feel that guilty about the environment, you'd think twice before buying yet another piece of plastic that will probably end up in the garbage or a garage sale. Exo tax for Ontario, you say? I say, stop these companies from making this plastic junk, and we'll be faring a lot better with the enviro.

Our babies will be deprived if they don't have a $350 high chair. A desire for convenience, perhaps? Or the "having it all" syndrome - to have the kids but make sure they are seen and not heard (or hanging on the back of the door and unseen, I guess). Or maybe it's about wanting and having it all, but not wanting - or having - the bloody energy to take care of it all. Guilt, greed and laziness, then.

I get that there are things that we need and it varies from parent to parent, family to family, and that in some cases, quality is important and prices can get high, but might be worth it. We "needed" a good stroller, because we do a lot of walking on all kinds of terrain. We "needed" a good infant carrier, because I love having Leah close to me; I believe it helps in bonding and attachment, and I wanted it to be comfortable for both of us. I "needed" a fancy diaper bag, because I'm a Bag Lady. And I'm sure some people find these items useful and even necessary. But do you really, really, really need a squirty baby food spoon, and a hanger for your baby, and hand-shaped pillows?

It's just all become so complicated. And expensive. And I don't think it's any better. I think it's all a little sad, really.

With all of the things that you "need" - you can have that baby, and never really have to hold them again, because there's a seat (and Babykeeper) for every mood and moment. And with handy gadgets like a video monitoring system (gone are the days when you could be satisfied with simply listening for your baby) - you can put them down and watch them from the kitchen, without even having to be near the little loveys!

And I felt guilty for using naptime to read, play with photos and have a coffee. I could have been doing that all day, while Leah entertains herself in a rotation of chairs and seats and activity mats and bouncers, and I check in on the video monitor like a security guard.

And I could just squirt her food into her from ten paces! Genius.

The first weeks of August in pictures

OK, going to dump these photos all over the place. Not enough hands to do the needful!

With Great-Grandma Lorraine (Ma), in the front yard at "home".

Wider shot of the front-yard at Ma's farm. Home, sweet home.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Chris! Now, let me pull your beard.

You're very entertaining, Granny Darlene.

Catching the best light of the day: a golden hour or so in our front yard, at about 4:30 p.m.

Picture Time!

No reading this time. But I'm not going to barf out a bunch of random pictures. I'll try to keep 'em together and sensible. Today - a few from some recent car shows we stalked en famille.

Just enjoy. And forgive me - I'm still playing with my new toy: a beautiful, beautiful Nikon digital SLR.

I don't know why this picture is gigantic. Photobucket must be having a seizure or something.

This one is for good measure. And because I love it.

Next post will be a smorgasbord of Leah and family. Dad's birthday was last week, and we visited Ma!