Cold Spaghetti

We bought a mini baguette at Whole Foods to have with our favorite goat cheese (Bucheron) and Louisiana strawberries as an afternoon snack. Will grabbed the heel of the bread and spent the next 10 minutes walking around with it sticking out of his mouth… like so.

Will found this old digital camera on Paul’s desk. We keep it around for messy jobs and other things but rarely use it. Will found it and immediately raised it to his eyes as if taking pictures! Here Will is “taking a picture” of Paul. What a smart kid.

I’ve suddenly started to receive “American Baby” by mail. This is the same rag that is handed out at Babies-R-Us stores to brainwash parents into thinking they need lots of unnecessary and expensive things for babies. I’ve picked it up now and then over the past two years of pregnancy and baby-hood for the novelty of a magazine to flip through. My impression then is pretty much my impression now: ho-hum.

So, while ho-humming through the pages in an effort to stretch out a work break a few more minutes, this caught my eye:

AB.com poll: How do you feel about mothers who nurse kids after age 2?
“That’s too old” — 81%
” It’s okay by me, anything to keep a toddler still!” — 19%

Good gracious. I may be making a bold assumption by reflecting this on the perspectives of mothers (fathers or non-parenting folk may have responded as well.) But unfortunately, I don’t doubt that this may actually be representative of mothers as a whole. Which leads me to ask:

Are Americans mothers ignorant, stupid, or misinformed?

This is not about whether an individual chooses to breastfeed or not. I have no problem ranting about the difficulty of early nursing and the impossibilities of working and nursing. But this is about supporting those mothers who do manage to get through it all to continue to nurse. Especially since these women are making the best choice for themselves and their child(ren), without compare. There is no evidence that a baby is ever “too old” to nurse. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, and others agree: the guidelines are *exclusive* nursing until 6 months and then slow introduction of foods with complementary nursing until *at least* 24 months, followed by continued nursing as long as mutually desired. Those are the facts. Shouldn’t we be trying to support more women with what they need to follow these guidelines? Besides, women don’t just magically dry up the day after a child’s second birthday. It is frightening to think that 4 out of 5 who responded to this would make the judgement of “too old” when it actually is the right, proper, best, most appropriate, and responsible thing for a mother to do. Can’t we just focus on what is good for Mother and Baby? Isn’t that the most important thing?

I say, KUDOS to Moms who nurse past 24 months. We all should learn from them!

…to Global Funk Council. For keeping me awake, inside, and working this afternoon. (And to Paul for finding them!)

Will playing on the playground equipment during unicycle club.

I realized I may have dropped a bombshell by talking about “Unicycle Polo” without explanation.

Paul decided to celebrate his “big number” birthday with the purchase of a Unicycle. Along with juggling club, Paul now goes to Unicycle Club, where club members learn how to ride, practice tricks, and even play polo. From what Paul has been told, he’s a natural. I think it’s great! (Paul says that it is his “mid-life crisis” — it’s the “ultimate convertible.”)

Some women worry that their husbands will run off with another woman. I don’t. But maybe I should keep a closer eye on him when the circus is in town?

Apparently, the buck moth gets around. We’ve been hearing lots of stories about them since Paul’s sting. Including:
– Paul’s friend from the Unicycle Polo meeting sat on one while in the last trimester of her pregnancy, resulting in very uncomfortable bruising and a significant allergic reaction.*
– Our neighbor stepped on one while washing his car (bare feet), which caused him to wince in pain and jump in the air on one foot… bringing the other foot down on a second pesky caterpillar. From what we understand from his wife, although a painful and unfortunate experience, it was incredibly funny to watch.
– Local pet owners become vigilant with fear that their animal will step on one. Everyone has a story about “some poor dog…”

*I was particularly moved by this story due to my similar experience of a yellow jacket sting during month 7 of pregnancy.

All bow down to Alpha Geek.

Our new kitchen cabinet doors! We picked them up last Friday and put them up over the weekend. They are beautiful… the pictures really don’t do them credit. A homeowner’s twist on “Where’s Waldo?” — can you find the one pane of modern glass in the window to the left?

During our walk “around” the block with Will this evening, Paul placed his hand on a neighborhood tree to steady himself as he picked up Will and tip-toed through some puddles of water on the sidewalk. After he placed Will down past the puddles, he turned to me and said that his hand was stinging from splinters that just then had caught his hand when he touched the tree. I looked at his hand, but it didn’t look like splinters — in only seconds, welts had begun to rise and the sting he intially felt was getting stronger.

It was our first experience with the buck moth caterpillar — one of the four varieties of caterpillars currently covering Louisiana trees. And of the four, the buck moth stings. Paul must have brushed his hand along the venomous spikes on it’s back. After icing his hand for a few hours this evening, he’s doing fine. According to the information we found about the venom, the stings are comparible to bee stings and discomfort can stick around for a few days. I guess that we should feel lucky… Will notices these caterpillars and has enthusiastically pointed at (and ‘accidently’ stomped on) them. It’s practically a miracle he hasn’t tried to pick one up yet! Now we know to look out for them and make sure that he steers clear.

Watch out for the caterpillars!!