When has breastfeeding your baby become taboo? It is one of the most natural things in the world…and yet so many people in the U.S. protest it. I have two children of my own, and both were breastfed…my first until he was 8 months, my second until 18 months. I never had a problem nursing in public (or seeing others nurse in public) or watching tv programs where mothers nursed their children. But according to a recent poll, 57% of those polled are opposed to breastfeeding in public, while a whopping 72% are opposed to tv programs showing a mother nursing her baby. What is the U.S. coming to when women are so programmed that seeing a naked breast of a nursing mother finds them turning their head and blurting “gross”? What a sad state we are living, when it’s thought that formula is better than mother’s natural milk for baby. Women need to wake up and realize that we have breasts for the purpose of nursing a baby. Sexuality comes in second. So stop looking at it as gross, but as a mother giving her child the very best start in life…an all-natural diet made specifically for that baby.
Read Article - Breast isn’t best: readers tell US parenting magazine

I was looking forward to sleeping in this morning. No school, no babysitting, no getting up early. And I did. Apparently not a good idea. While I was out snoozing on the couch (after getting up to get ‘K’ breakfast), ‘K’ had a grand time in the bathroom.
After he ate, he came and lay down next to me and I thought went to sleep. Wrong! He had gotten up and gone into the bathroom. When I woke up and looked around, he was nowhere to be found. I went to the back of the apartment and found him in the bathroom in front of the door, rubbing toothpaste into the floor! He had squeezed almost the whole tube (brand new) out. I was mad. I got a roll of toilet paper to wipe it up with. Since I saw the toilet had paper already in it (for some reason), I flushed it. It clogged, of course. So I spent about 10 minutes plunging it, to no avail. The water went down a little bit, so I flushed, hoping the pressure would unblock it. Nope….I only succeded in flooding the bathroom! I grabbed a bunch of dirty towels and mopped up the bathroom. I was so furious, I was crying and shaking. Looking around, I realized that all the tooth brushes were missing. ‘G’s was on the floor with the toothpaste (I had already picked both up). Mine I found shoved down the sink drain. ‘J’s was nowhere to be seen (I figured it was either in the sink drain or in the toilet.) The morning just keeps getting worse.

After I had calmed down some, I went back into the bathroom and started wringing out all the towels in the bathtub then hung them around the bathroom to dry. I brought in a fan to help air it out and dry the floor. The toilet was still plugged up…even after I tried plunging it again. I didn’t know what else to do, so I waited til ‘J’ came home from work to try to fix it.

Four thirty and ‘J’ got home. I had already explained to him what had happened via cell phone, so when he came in he walked straight back to the bathroom. He tried plunging, putting a cable down the drain, putting a radio antenna down the drain…..nothing worked. So he decided to unscrew the toilet from the floor to see if he could get at the clog from the bottom. He put the toilet in the bathtub and we found out that ‘K’ had put a whole bar of soap in there and that was what was clogging it…..that and a small rock. Between the two of us, we managed to fish the soap out in pieces. He then put the toilet back and made sure it worked. It did!

Now that it was fixed, it was now time to clean the bathroom. It was a mess. I hung up the couple of towels ‘J’ used when he took the toilet apart and turned it over, dumping more water on the floor. I used cleaner and cleaned the toilet and the bathtub. Then I mopped the floor. All’s clean now….just waiting for the towels to dry so I can take them down.

The reason ‘K’ was able to get in there in the first place is that our bathroom door knob is broke. It doesn’t latch. He’s never done this before in all the time it’s been broken (which management was supposed to fix, but obviously haven’t yet). Now’s the time to go buy one….so this doesn’t happen again.
Oh, and ‘J’ found his toothbush…also down the sink drain. He pulled that apart and got it out. Time for new toothbrushes!

Nine years ago today, my growing boy ‘G’ was born. ‘J’ and I were very young…barely out of high school…when we found out I was pregnant. It made for a very scary time in our lives….but a time we would never have any other way. ‘G’ was born full term, one day after his due date. The whole thing, labor and delivery, was just over 4 hours.

Cancer the Crab Ruled by the Moon
A Feminine Negative Cardinal Water Sign.
Polar or Opposite sign: Capricorn
Colour: Pale blue or Silver

Cancer is the fourth sign of the zodiac and lasts from 23rd June - 23rd July
Cancerians are the most family-centred of the Zodiac. Fiercely protective of their loved ones, they can be intuitively wise and zero in on a person’s frame of mind. They are not wildly ambitious once they become established. Cancerians are tenacious and hang on to a belief or a cause at the risk of hurting themselves. Being very emotional, they can be moody, withdrawn and secretive.

Physical Appearance:
Cancerians are small-made, with round faces and possess a tendency to gain weight. They have abundant shiny hair, expressive eyes and are economical with their gestures.

It’s been a few days, I know. The boys have been sick. Ugh. ‘G’ got sick early Friday morning and missed school. Then ‘K’ got sick Saturday. They both have all the symptoms of the flu. So all weekend it was grumbling and groaning from the 2 of them.
On Monday, ‘G’s class was supposed to be celebrating his birthday (since it falls in the summer, not during the school year). He was feeling ok Sunday evening, so I went ahead and made the cupcakes he wanted to take into class. Monday morning rolls around…and he’s back to not feeling good. I took his temperature and he was stil running a low grade fever. So I kept him home.
Now today. I got him up this morning, thinking he was going to school…and again he start complaining…about his stomach hurting. So I kept him home. I should have sent him to school. An hour later he was feeling fine - bugging ‘K’ (who is still quite sick), moping from room to room because he’s bored, and he kept asking me if he could go outside.
So the cupcakes have waited 2 days and their still here. Tomorrow is the class field trip to Empire Mine. So they won’t be at school. So no cupcakes tomorrow, either. Well, we figured by Thursday they’d become a bit stale, and even if they weren’t, I didn’t want to send cupcakes to school that are going on 4 days old. So now there for us to snack on…not like I need the added temptation to put on more weight…lol.
‘K’ still sick and when he’s not sleeping, he’s crying/whining/complaining. He’s extemely stubborn and refuses to take Tylenol…and the times I have given it to him, he’s thrown it back up right away. I really hope he gets over this soon.

We had another doctor appointment for ‘K’ earlier today. Since he only weighed just over twenty-three and a half pounds last visit (2 weeks ago) at age 3, the doctor wanted to see him again to make sure he’s gaining weight. And also to check on his breathing (asthma) and make sure the medicine he’s on for that is helping him…which it is. Although I’m not giving it to him twice a day like they want. It’s administered through a nebulizer…and ‘K’ hates it. He fights everytime we have to do it. And I noticed just once a day keeps him from wheezing and getting really coughy-like and throwing up.
Well, he has gained! Three quarters of a pound! I really think the reson with the weight problem stems from the asthma and him throwing up all the time. He wasn’t keeping enough food down to really gain. But now that the breathing is under control, his weight is going up. I was so thrilled when the nurse told us he had gained weight. It was such a relief to hear that.

‘K’ had his 3 year check-up this morning. He was very eager to go when I told him we were going to the doctor’s….then once we got there and were called back (he liked the waiting room…there were toys), he decided he’d had enough and kept saying he wanted to go home!
He got weighed and measured (he’s still on the small side, so now we have weekly check-ups to make sure he’s gaining enough….and if not, we may have to see a specialist). We told the doctor about ‘K’s wheezing, and while he listened through the stethoscope to ‘K’ breathe, he said he sounded wheezy. So the nurse came in and measured ‘K’s oxygen level. It was a bit low, so they gave him a breathing treatment (he had to breathe a liquid-turned-to-vapor mist for a few minutes). Then she measured his oxygen levels again, and they were higher, where they should be. The doctor then gave us a week’s worth of the liquid breathing solution that we have to give ‘K’ every morning and every night….same thing as ‘G’ has, only ‘G’ has an inhaler…’K’ has the liquid form that goes in the nebulizer machine.
Everything else is fine. The doctor finished checking ‘K’ over and he’s doing alright. The two things we have to watch over are his weight and his breathing (which could have something to do with his weight being so low).
‘K’ got a lollipop and a book to take home. He liked the book, but liked the lollipop more. We get to go back next week for a follow-up….fun, fun. Oh, and possibly ‘K’s next immunization, if he’s feeling better and not wheezing. He couldn’t have the shot today because of his breathing.

And ‘G’s sick today…been sick since last night (coughing, complaining, whining, coughing, throwing up, ect ect.) so he didn’t go to school today. Last week he stayed home part of the week because of a rash….which is gone now, thanks to the steroid cream the doctor prescribed. When you have kids, it’s always something!

Three years ago today, my little munchkin ‘K’ was born. He entered the world a little differently than most…showing off his little tush, first. Yes, he was a breech baby….what is called “frank breech”, when the bottom is pointing down, rather than the feet (true breech) or head (natural). I delivered him naturally, without having a cesarean. He had the cord slightly wrapped around his neck, but was (and is) perfectly healthy. He was born full term, 3 days before his due date. The whole thing, labor and delivery, was just under 4 hours.
‘K’s Birth Story

Aries the Ram Ruled by Mars
A Masculine Positive Cardinal Fire sign
Polar or Opposite sign: Libra
Colour - Shades of Red

Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac, lasting from March 21 - April 20. Aries represents springtime, the burgeoning of new life and a great upsurge of energy and optimism. Aries is ruled by the planet Mars and this gives the sign its adventurous spirit. Blessed with abundant energy and drive, Arians have no time for laziness and make excellent motivators, whether at work or at home. Negative Arian characteristics arise out of their driven nature. They are childishly egocentric, extremely demanding and liable to throw tantrums if denied their own way.
Physical Appearance:
They tend to be angular, slim people in early life, although they may fill out later. Rarely graceful, they seem awkward and ill at ease in their bodies, with particularly sharp elbows and knees.

Remember I said there was a con to potty training…and that was spending too much time in the bathroom? Well, funny (not really) thing…lately we haven’t been spending enough time in the bathroom. Just as soon as ‘K’ gets on the toilet, he says he’s done…without doing anything! So we leave…only to return not more than 3-5 minutes later because he has to go! We get in there, and go through the same thing. Come back out…and 3-5 minutes later we’re back in the bathroom! Eventually, he’ll go a little in the toilet, and then he’ll also go in his underwear. This has become very exasperating and frustrating! I shouldn’t have complained about it being the other way…at least he spent enough time to actually have a chance to go. Now….argg! I am so at my wit’s end. This and he is sooo demanding and whiny lately. Terrible three’s have hit straight on, let me tell you! I hope some of this comes to end soon or I won’t have any hair left on my head!

Got back from a 3-day trip to my sister-in-law’s yesterday. It was kind of a spontaneous trip…not really planned. We didn’t do much….just visited mostly. ‘K’ and her son (my nephew) are just over 2 months apart in age, so they had a blast playing together. The last time we visited, around New Year’s, they fought almost constantly. This time, they got along so well, only squabbling a little bit. They both can talk quite a bit more, too. It was just too cute!
And ‘K’ is doing so good on the potty training front. I thought the trip would throw him out of sync and we’d be back-stepping a little. But nope! Even after wearing a diaper for most of the day Wednesday (long car ride and shopping), he did well after we got there and I put him back in underwear. Told me when he had to go and then went when I sat him on the toilet. And on Thursday we were out and about for a few hours…so of course for now, I put him in a diaper. While in Wal-Mart, he said he had to go potty. So I took him into the restroom and he went! Once we got back to my sister-in-law’s, I took the diaper off to put his underwear back on. Lo and behold, the diaper was dry! I was so amazed and told him he was such a big boy for keeping his diaper dry the whole time. For the 3 days we were there, he didn’t have one accident! Talk about a proud mama!

Never would I have thought to say there are cons to potty training ‘K’. I love that he loves his “big boy” underwear so much that he’s now telling me when he has to go…and then actually going when he sits on the toilet. It’s such a big accomplishment in the course of just over a week. I didn’t think he’d progress so fast from wetting his three pairs within a few hours to going all day and only having one accident. And he hates to have to put a diaper on at night, but for now, I coax him into it. Maybe if he’s still doing this well in another week we’ll try going through the night.
Anyway. The one con that has popped up with this whole training business is that ‘K’ loves to talk. In itself, that’s not bad. Actually, it’s very good. He was a late talker, so to hear him jabber on about all sorts of stuff all day is great. Except for when he’s on the toilet. He gets up there, does his stuff…but when I ask him if he’s done, he says no….and talks and talks and talks and….well, you get the idea. He doesn’t go potty anymore….well, sometimes he will….but rarely. Mostly he just sits there and talks. But I don’t want to discourage this going-potty-on-the-toilet idea (which is what we’ve been working towards since he was 18 months old). So I sit in there with him for 10 minutes or more each and every time he has to go potty. Which for an almost 3 year old, is quite often….especially since this whole concept is still new for him and I’m sure he loves the praise I lavish on him.
So there you have it….the one con of potty training my toddler.