Good Morning!

Crib Dangers

An article in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Pediatrics examines new data on crib safety in effort to combat manufacturers who are pushing to relax recent bans on drop-side cribs..  For the shocking numbers included in the study, it's receiving very little press coverage.  Remember the chaos that ensued after Infantino recalled their bag slings due to 3 infant deaths?  According to data from the past 19 years, cribs cause an average of 112 deaths per year.  If today is average, 26 American children will be rushed to the Emergency Room for injuries sustained from a crib-related incident.


We fell into co-sleeping- it happened more naturally than by conscious decision.  Statistics like these are terrifying to me, even though we don't use a crib (Tye's bed is a crib mattress on the floor, or else she's in bed with us).  I'm the type of person who believes that parents should use common sense, be aware, and be responsible for the safety of their child.  However, these numbers make me think that something else is going on with crib safety.  How could 9,560 families each year be purely negligent?  Is it because families have left their children alone in their bedrooms to cry it out, and are therefore unaware of the dangers situations that arise?  I wonder if parents who leave their children unattended in their bedrooms (as most do for naps and the night) realize the risk posed by the crib in the room.   In a nation that blames manufacturers for any incident involving their products, how have crib manufacturers not been held more accountable for this number of injuries, or at least for being associated with them? 


Critics of co-sleeping are quick to cite dangers of smothering when bedsharing, but completely omit the dangers of putting a child in a crib.  Unfortunately, neither option is without risk- but I know that in our home, we can practice safe co-sleeping and eliminate risks for smothering and, by safely sharing our bed, be constantly aware of our child's safety.  According to research presented in the September/October issue of Mothering, children who sleep in a separate room from their parents are twice as likely to die a sleep-related death than those who co-sleep, but bedsharing, especially, has to be done safely.  (Dr. Sears has a truly exceptional article on how to co-sleeping and safety here.)  


While it's easy to turn this into a crib-versus-co-sleeping issue, I hope that all parents can rally together to demand stricter safety standards for crib manufacturers.  Not all families can safely bedshare, whether the issue is a medicated or obese parent, formula feeding, or other concerns.  For these families, the safest place for a baby is still within the same room as a parent/parents.  Those families need a safe place to lay their children to rest, a bed that won't result a trip to the ER.  Perhaps the scariest aspect of this new data on crib injuries is that parents don't know how frequently children are hurt when using cribs.  Hopefully with the release of new information, more parents will become aware of the risks associated with crib use and think twice before leaving a child in a crib unattended.

To Tye, at 11 months

Dear Tye,


You crack me up.  On a daily basis.  You know how to make me laugh and you do those things over and over just to make me laugh.  Of course, I will do anything to make you laugh, too- games of peek-a-boo, dancing around the house, silly noises and tickle times.  Now when you giggle, I can see teeth on top and bottom.  You have the perfect little jack-o-lantern smile.  


Along with those teeth, you have these scrumptious-looking chubby body parts now that I could just eat right up.  After spending the first few months of your life on the skinny side, you now have thick limbs, fat fingers, and kissably chubby cheeks.  It could be all the food you're eating... You eat like it's going to disappear, especially sweet potatoes, scrambled eggs, and freeze-dried banana.  When you see us eating something that looks tasty to you, you look at us and smack your mouth loudly until it has been filled.  Smart girl already.


We arranged your bedroom this past month, complete with a bed (or mattress on the floor) for you.  I feel good because I know it's the safest place for you to sleep without me, but every time I leave you there asleep, my heart breaks a little.  You can't be growing up this fast.  The mixed emotions remind me of feeding you solids the first time you ate a real meal.  All I could think of was the La Leche League explanation that weaning starts when the baby is fed anything other than breastmilk.  Thinking of you weaning made my heart ache, just as it aches when I see you in your own bed.  I am so happy to see you grow, but so sad to see some of these phases begin to end.  As I laid in bed the other night, sprawled out on my back with you asleep on top of me, your head square in the middle of my chest, my only thought was, This is what comfortable feels like.  


I can't believe you're almost a year old.  One year ago, I was almost finished with my bed rest. How my life has changed in the past 11 months.  You're an amazing little force, Baby Girl.  I love, love, love, love you.


Love, 
Mama

Tiiiiiiiime is on my side (yes it is)

I've always dreaded the end of Daylight Saving Time each fall.  When I was young, it meant the end of soccer practices.  When I was older, being able to sleep in an hour didn't make up for the dark evenings.  Recently, the time change meant that suddenly, my evening commute was spent driving in the dark.  Last year, it didn't make much of a difference to me other than having to walk Mico earlier in the evening and hope his puppy bladder held 'til morning. 

This year, I am really looking forward to the time change.  Tye's sleep patterns have shifted recently in a way that makes daily activities a lot harder for me- she's up until 9:30 or 10 each evening, and then makes up for it by sleeping until 9 the next morning.  While I don't mind sleeping in with her, it makes getting to our 10am activities difficult (and we've been late to every one the past two weeks... something I hate).  And, in order for me to get any time to myself while Tye is in bed, I have to stay awake later than I prefer.  There goes my time to fold laundry, prep food for the next day, and do any work on my computer- like blogging.  Hence my recent absence.  

I think the change in sleep patterns is related to Tye's shifting nap schedule.  Somehow, she's surviving on one nap a day most days.  I'm trying to help gently persuade Tye to sleep in a pattern that will help her fall asleep earlier in the evenings using her bedtime routine of reading stories, then nursing in the rocking chair to lullabyes, but some evenings it just doesn't work.  In the past, I could keep Tye on my breast until she relaxed.  Now, when she'd rather be up and about, she fights back- or should I say, bites back.  And I can't blame her for biting when she's bored with nursing and would rather be playing.  I learned that lessen rather quickly.  

In terms of sleep issues, this one is so minor- Tye is sleeping almost 12 hours a night, and sleeping in fairly good chunks (last night, I got FIVE HOURS of uninterrupted sleep- heaven!!!!!!!!).  She goes to sleep easily once she's tired, whether it's for a nap or in the evening, without being fussy beforehand.  If our social calendar didn't require us to wake up earlier each morning, I wouldn't even worry about it.  Sure, it would be nice to wake up early enough to run and shower before our 10am appointments, then have a couple hours to work and relax after Tye falls asleep each evening... but I can also survive without, and Tye is happy now.  That's why I see the time change as the perfect solution.  Our sleep patterns will swing one hour in the direction I'd like without having to push Tye at all.  I'm still not excited for dark evenings come November 7th, but at least this year there's an up side to the time change.  Of course, things could change in the next month...

The more they sleep, the more they sleep.

Have you ever had a period of days all so busy, so full that you need a day of recovery?  I love being busy, but we hadn't had a break in our schedule for way too long.  Nothing was particularly exhausting (though the teething-induced lack of sleep wasn't helping), but everything was adding up to a sum greater than its parts.  I felt like I do when we return from vacation and I tell myself, I need a vacation from my vacation.   


We finally had our recovery day yesterday.  It was beautiful.  Tye slept until 9:30am.  When she fell asleep for her nap at noon, we were both still in our pajamas.   After waking an hour into her nap, she fell asleep in my arms and I decided to simply sit on the couch and watch recorded TV shows until she woke up.  She took another half hour nap at 5, and still went to bed about 8:30, within her normal range.   I guess I wasn't the only one feeling like I needed a day to recharge.

Tye's first bed

This weekend, we did what most expectant couples do before their child is born.  We put together her bedroom. 

Because Tye has been sleeping with us, she hasn’t ever had a crib.  Her changing pad is on Tyler’s dresser, and her clothes are in a dresser in what we call the “second bedroom.”  The second bedroom also had a queen sized bed for guests, and it’s slept quite a few people since Tye was born. 

Driving Tyler’s parents huge SUV, we made a trip Sunday to Ikea.  We picked out a bookshelf for the collection of books we’ve acquired between gifts for Tye and my years teaching.  We also chose a loveseat with a pull-out bed so we can still host guests.   To tie together the blue loveseat and the apple green décor we’ve been planning since before Tye was born, we found a brightly-colored carpet that will soften the hardwood floor nicely.  Lastly, we picked out a mattress sized to fit a crib or toddler bed.

I love having Tye sleep with us.  I feel infinitely better knowing she is safe beside me through the night, and know I get more sleep because I don’t have to get out of bed each time she wakes up, and that doesn't even begin to factor in how much I love cuddling with her.  For now, I’m not ready to give up bedsharing.  However, Tye is becoming a much more active sleeper.  She crawls on top of me and around the bed in her sleep and crawls immediately upon waking, usually towards Ziggy at the foot of the bed.  

Until recently, Tye was also napping in our bed as well as sleeping there each evening before I turned in.  Putting a child to sleep in an adult bed without the adult present is a major co-sleeping no-no for safety reasons.  Because I’ve had the video monitor on which I can watch Tye and know immediately when she wakes, we survived, but we reached a point where I’m not comfortable with it any longer.

Tye is ten and a half months old.  I don’t feel like we need a crib for her at this point, especially since we’re still mostly bedsharing, but I’m also afraid she would roll out of a toddler bed.  So, for now, we have a crib mattress on the floor, and I love it.  I can easily lay down next to Tye as she falls asleep, and Tye can crawl into and out of her bed safely.   She will nap in her new bed each day and start out each night there.  The first time she wakes up after I’m in bed, we’ll move her to our bed for the rest of the night (at least that's the plan- last night, I didn't want to face the big bed alone and waited until Tye woke up to go to bed at all!).

Our second bedroom is now officially Tye’s room.  It’s another safe place for her to play with her toys- she spent almost 45 minutes this morning playing by herself (of course, I watched on the video monitor as I made lunch).  We have a perfect little corner set up with the rocking chair Tye’s grandma and great grandma, Gram and Grammy, gave her, right next to the book shelf.  It creates a beautiful little place to read.  The lowest shelf holds baskets of Tye’s stuffed animals, easily accessible from the plush carpeted play space or her cuddly bed.  Having a bedroom for Tye makes our home feel more like it belongs to a family- our family.

As we walked around Ikea through the busy Sunday crowd, I saw quite a few women with pregnant bellies walking alongside their significant others.  Part of me thought, Wow, they’re really ahead of the game, already putting together a nursery.  But knowing what I do about our family, our parenting style, and our space, most of me thought, I’m so glad we waited.

Who needs sleep?

After six consecutive nights of almost no sleep, I felt like I was approaching the end of my rope yesterday.  The lack of sleep was hard on Tye, hard on me, and hard on anyone who had to deal with me (sorry, Tyler).  I had already cut dairy out of Tye's diet again (fearing her body may, like her father's, not react kindly to it), and I was considering an expensive trip to the non-insurance-accepting naturopathic doctor to see if she might be able to diagnose an issue.  For several hours Saturday night, Tye tried to sleep on my chest.  She didn't want to nurse to sleep as she usually does, so I patted and shushed her and sang to her as she fitfully drifted off.  When asleep, she would begin to whimper, and eventually the crying woke her if I didn't manage to shush her back to sleep.  It was a pitiful, heartbreaking pattern.


Yesterday, Tyler, Tye, Mico and I were walking around the Renegade Craft Fair with Ines and Marquise, checking out the locally handmade Tshirts, jewelry, toys, soap, sweaters, and scarves, among other things.  This craft fair is like Etsy in real life, a craft fair on steroids with a strong hipster leaning.  Of course, I love it!  


After Tye woke from her nap in the Ergo carrier, she leaned backwards to stretch and instantly, I understood what had been bothering Tye for the past week.  I caught a glimpse of her upper gums, which were swollen and purple with two thin white lines along the ridge.  That's it- Tye's upper teeth have been pushing through this week.  


Last night before bed, I gave Tye a few doses of homeopathic teething remedy and we put on her amber teething necklace (which children are not supposed to wear to sleep, but because Tye sleeps right next to me, we sometimes do).  The night was so much better.  She still woke crying more often than normal ("normal" excluding the previous 6 nights), but we had one three hour stretch of beautiful, uninterrupted sleep.  It was heavenly.  At one point in the night, I watched Tye as she fell asleep after nursing.  She whimpered a bit, then raised her arm to her mouth in a slow, gentle movement, touching her upper lip before her arm fell back to her side.  The poor girl.


Today, Tye's upper left front tooth has partially broken through the gums.  She's wearing her teething necklace and must be feeling better- she slept for over two hours this morning and is an hour into her second nap now.  While it's hard not to beat myself up for not realizing what was going on sooner, I'm mostly thankful that we have an explanation for Tye's discomfort and thankful that the natural remedies we're using seem to be effective.  She certainly looks happier today!  Just think- soon that grin will be a whole lot toothier...

Drop-Side Cribs Legislation

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune Tuesday, Congress is considering legislation to ban drop-side cribs, which are responsible for at least 32 deaths since 2000.  Over 7 million drop-side cribs have been recalled in the past five years alone.  Obviously, there's something very wrong with them, but I didn't quite understand the details until I read an earlier article on cribs in the Chicago Tribune, which explained graphically, 

One broken slat, missing screw or loose mattress support can turn a crib into a death trap. That's because any of those hazards can create a gap in a baby's sleeping environment. Babies' small, flexible bodies can slide into the resulting gap. But their heads — too big to pass through — get caught. Trapped, the infants hang to death or strangle. Because their airways get blocked, babies often cannot cry out for help.

I literally covered my face in horror as I read that.  While I fully support legislation attempting to make cribs safer, I think what this story really does is remind me how happy I am that Tye sleeps with us. 

What Co-sleeping Essay?

A few weeks ago, I entered a co-sleeping essay contest.  The winners were to be published in a book, but the real draw was that one writer would win a Humanity Family Sleeper, the co-sleeping aide I've been eyeing.  When I saw that prize, I threw together 300 words on co-sleeping and entered the contest, hoping with all my might that we'd win the Family Sleeper.  


Well, I won- but not the co-sleeper.  My essay is one of six being published as chapter introductions in the book Are You Co-Sleeping? Me Too!  Of the six given writing prompts, I wrote on how co-sleeping saved my child's life.  Of course, I don't know for certain that co-sleeping ever saved Tye's life, but I hate to think what could have happened had she started her life at home sleeping in a crib.  


Since she was just weeks old, Tye has had reflux-related choking episodes in which she struggles to clear the spit up from her airways.  Some episodes are scarier than others, such as when she silently turned purple in my arms while I scrambled to find the bulb syringe. Others have been much less scary and Tye has cleared her airways herself, sometimes spitting milk out her nose- poor girl.  These episodes usually occurred every few days and sometimes three or four times in one day, though they have become less frequent over the past month.  For the first several weeks of her life, Tye slept on my chest at night, and later very close beside me.  When she choked, her arms flailed, waking me if I wasn't already so that I could pick her up, hold her face-down, comfort her, and suction her throat if she needed assistance.  While I'll never know for sure that Tye wouldn't have eventually cleared her throat herself all those times, it's something I'm quite grateful I never had to find out.


In timely fashion, I read an email from another mom on the Holistic Moms Network message board last week.  The topic was babies sleeping on their backs and how important the "Back to Sleep" idea is.  This mom shared the story of her son with reflux.  While just days old in the hospital, asleep on his back in the nursery, he experienced choking related to reflux. Because he was on his back, he couldn't breathe and turned blue.  Since then, he has been diagnosed as having cerebral palsy linked to oxygen deprivation those first days.  


This mother's experience validated my own fears for Tye's well-being.  I have wondered often if I have been overly concerned and wasting energy worrying about a remote possibility.  Now I know that my fears were justified, and I'm thankful that I made all those choices to stay near Tye at all times and to never leave the house without a bulb syringe.  I am forever grateful that we started co-sleeping and that I woke up every time Tye choked.


The co-sleeping essay I wrote concisely explained how I have woken up to Tye choking silently in the middle of the night and how I believe having Tye beside me at night has helped to keep her safe.  It will introduce a chapter on the safety benefits of co-sleeping, and I'll receive a free copy of the book in a few weeks.


Maybe then I can share what I wrote with you, because I never saved my essay.

Meeting LLL

This morning, I went to my first La Leche League (LLL) meeting. I don't know what I was expecting- maybe new moms and babies, led by some gray-haired, grandmotherly-type lactation experts- but what I found turned out to be even better. At first, I was surprised by the noise level- the moms had all brought all their kids, with most appearing to be between 1 and 3 years. There were a few infants, too, all nestled into their mom's chests and nursing frequently, as I expected. We started the meeting above the cacophony of children's voices, but soon I didn't even notice the background noise.

Today's guided topic was Natural Child Spacing and how to use breastfeeding as birth control, using Sheila Kippley's book Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing as the main resource. I was introduced to the term ecological breastfeeding, which is defined as feeding on demand (both for nutrition and for comforting), feeding only breastmilk, staying close to the baby, co-sleeping, and not using a pacifier. When a woman practices ecological breastfeeding, her chances of conceiving before 3 months are almost none; from 3-6 months, 2%; and from 6-12 months, 6%. The average new mother practicing ecological breastfeeding begins menstruating again at 15 months.

Throughout the discussion, conversation wandered off-topic to other ideas that seemed to interest the group. While we talked about co-sleeping, I shared my frustration on the lack of accessible literature online that supports co-sleeping. When we brought Tye home from the hospital, Tye naturally came into bed with us that first night. I hadn't done any research on co-sleeping before, though, and was concerned about the safety aspect, especially since Tye was sleeping on her stomach on our chests (it's a real SIDS rule-breaker to put a baby to sleep on her tummy). At first glance, all the articles contained strict warnings about the dangers of co-sleeping, but each contained at least one sentence mentioning that it can be safe. How's that for contradictions?

As it turns out, co-sleeping is safer for the baby than sleeping in a crib, with significantly decreased occurrences of SIDS and no crib safety-related deaths, as long as the family is breastfeeding, doesn't smoke, doesn't go to bed under the influence, and has a safe bed (without a crack between the bed and the wall for baby to fall into, and not a waterbed). The vast majority of families around the world safely co-sleep, and not for lack of resources but to stay close to the child. I had found it difficult to find information supporting co-sleeping, though, and only found it initially on mothering.com.

Other mothers at today's meeting agreed that the most accessible information online regarding co-sleeping is one-sided. One mother explained that studies on the dangers of co-sleeping were all conducted by crib or formula manufacturers, both of whom would benefit from a family purchasing a crib. When I mentioned that friends who visit us always ask where our crib is, everyone else chuckled knowingly. It was then that I realized that I had never before spoken face-to-face with someone about co-sleeping who was also co-sleeping. And here I was, in a room of women who were talking about including co-sleeping in family planning (and not for the lack of sex!).

Remember how I mentioned that most of the kids at the meeting were between 1 and 3 years old? They were all breastfeeding, too, even one who also had a younger sibling (a phenomenon called tandem nursing). I know Tye is only 3 1/2 months old, but I've already been thinking a lot about nursing older babies. It comes up frequently in conversations about breastfeeding in public. American women are told to breastfeed for their child's health, but are unwelcome doing so in public. Similarly, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization both recommend breastfeeding to at least the age of 2; yet women who breastfeed into toddlerhood face very real social stigmas. I don't know what the future holds for Tye and myself, but if I am able to continue to breastfeed into toddlerhood as I hope to, I appreciate knowing that LLL will provide me with a support network of other mothers doing the same.

I don't have many friends in the Chicago area with children, and most who I'm meeting aren't at all interested in the ways we're choosing to raise Tye- breastfeeding, co-sleeping, baby wearing, even attending to her cries immediately. The LLL meeting today provided me with great support for our choices and a reminder that what we're doing isn't completely radical- at least not to everyone.

Family Sleeper

Check out this Family Sleeper by Humanity Organics. It prevents a child from rolling off an adult bed. This would be perfect for us when Tyler is traveling once Tye starts rolling around in her sleep. I'm so worried about that development! We've been saying that we'll just need Tye to sleep in her own crib by then, but I'm not sure I'm ready to give up co-sleeping. I'm thinking we could probably use the body pillow that helped me sleep throughout my pregnancy, but this looks much more secure for that stage when kiddos are tossing and turning all night. What a brilliant idea!

Oh, laundry...

The first night Tye was born, the three of us cuddled together on our queen-sized bed in the birthing center and slept skin-to-skin. Co-sleeping wasn't something Tyler and I talked about. I had thought about it, but I decided we would do whatever came naturally when Tye came home (perhaps that decision was a decision to co-sleep, but I didn't know it then). When it came time for us to go to bed for the first time at home, Tyler said definitively, "She's sleeping with us tonight." Ever since then, we've been co-sleeping.

For the first few weeks of her life, Tye's breathing was sometimes irregular, which is apparently normal for newborns but scary for parents regardless. Not only did Tye's position asleep atop my chest those first weeks comfort me by confirming she was still breathing, but co-sleeping is actually proven to help regulate an infant's breathing and heart rate, as well as body temperature. Even now that her breathing is normal, I still worry constantly about Tye choking. I've never talked to other parents whose children dealt with this, but Tye actually chokes sometimes when she spits up as the milk fills her throat and nostrils. At times, Tye has gone 20 to 30 seconds without being able to take a breath. This happens probably five or six times a week. By holding her upright and tilted forwards, and sometimes using the bulb syringe, we can help Tye clear her airways and breathe again. But what if we don't know that she's choking? Often when this happens, Tye is completely silent, unable to pass air in or out. By sleeping with Tye on my chest or face-to-face on our sides, I know I'll have the best chance of waking if she chokes. So far, every time Tye has had one of these episodes in the middle of the night, I wake up either just as it starts or a minute or two before it starts. Call it what you will-- mother-child bond, maternal instinct, or Divine Intervention-- I am forever grateful that she's beside me when it happens. Co-sleeping has kept me sane through the nights.

Hands down, the best part of co-sleeping is the cuddle time. Waking next to her squirmy little limbs and smiley face in the morning is wonderful. In the mornings, we cuddle and play for a few minutes until she's ready to eat, and then she has her breakfast in our cozy, toasty bed. I feel like we're very intimately bonded because she's with me all day long, every day. By the time she wakes up from her long mid-day nap (which she takes in her cradle, thank God for video monitors), I really miss her. I can't imagine sleeping away from her all night long. Co-sleeping has such clear benefits for children, but I think it's helping me as much as it is Tye.

The down side of co-sleeping? Leaked diapers mean changing the sheets and mattress pad on a much, much bigger bed, as happened yesterday. I had to wash the sheets and the down-alternative mattress pad. On the topic of laundry, can I share my new favorite laundry product? I found these Nellie's Dryer Balls at the Crate and Barrel Outlet a while ago and am loving them.

Along with our Charlie's Soap, which we started using for cloth diapers but I love for all our laundry, these Nellie's leave our laundry soft and just slightly scented of natural lavender (not too much for my still-sensitive-as-a-pregnant-woman sense of smell). Of course, I would prefer not to use my dryer for energy-saving reasons, but unfortunately, winters in Chicago just don't lend themselves to line-drying items.

Anyway, I washed everything and put it back on our bed and we enjoyed nice clean sheets last night.... and I realized that I would change the sheets on our bed every day if it meant Tye could sleep with me every night.

Not that I want to, but I would.

The weekend, with photos

Drying off next to the warm fireplace after a bath... Floor play time with Mommy and Mico Friday night, my parents came in and babysat Tye while Tyler and I went out to dinner with his team from work. Dinner was at Otom, and we had a great time. Tyler has become close with his team members, and we've become good friends with the parter he works for and his wife. Dinner was a great combination of good company, good conversation, and good food. Even if my milk did let down before dessert arrived (thank goodness I was wearing absorbent layers!)

This is the new Little Einsteins Around the World play gym I bought for Tye to make floor play a little more fun. Tye loves it, especially the mirror and the lights! I love that it is decorated with photos of real animals in addition to the cartoon characters and that all the pieces can be rearranged to provide a countless combination of setups.

Saturday was Tyler's first time being home for Tye's naps on her own. Just as I did the first time I used the video monitor, Tyler's eyes never left the monitor and he checked on her about every 20 minutes just to be sure she was okay. It doesn't matter that you can actually SEE your child on the video monitor- for some reason, that isn't comforting enough to new parents. I can't imagine how stressful these naps must have been for new parents before monitors- even with the sound monitors! One of my friends advised me while I was pregnant that new parents think that the sound monitors will be sufficient, so most purchase those, only to realize several days after the birth that they can't survive without the video monitors, so it would really save us in the long run to purchase the video monitor initially. She was so right. It's sitting next to me as I type right now, video feature on. At least I've learned to trust it enough to check on Tye a few times per nap, rather than every 10 minutes.

Sunday was our 6 year Wedding Anniversary! We celebrated Saturday night with a fabulous dinner in. I picked up protein (peppered steak tenderloin for Tyler, seitan roast for me) at Whole Foods. We also had purple-colored garlic smashed potatoes made from blue Russian banana fingerling potatoes, roasted vegetables (brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips, golden beets, baby red onions) with white truffle oil, and garlic herb sourdough bread. To complement the meal, we opened the celebratory bottle of wine that we bought when we found out I was pregnant with intentions of sharing it after our little one arrived. This was the perfect occasion... and it was fabulous.

In addition to Sunday's visits from Gigi (Grandma Annette), Tiana, Traye, Liz, and Mark, in the morning Tye and I went to have brunch with the girls. Three of my best friends from college (Kate, Jen, and Raquel, all bridesmaids, too) and I went to Bin for brunch while Tye slept soundly in her sling. It felt a bit Sex and the City to have four of us brunching together- and it was so much fun! One new aspect of slinging Tye that will never grow old for me is other people's reactions to the sling. From the young hipster guy who chuckled "That's awesome," to Bin's host's auditory gasp and smile to the never ending double takes (Is that really a baby?), the responses are always new and often hysterical. Then again, I think I'd have a hard time not staring at a young woman in a huge fleece with a little pink-hooded head poking out of the zipper at chest height with wide, inquisitive eyes. I'm sure we're a sight to be seen.

Now we're back to Monday, week 2 of Tyler being back at work. Our schedule is much emptier this week, but there are always chores to be done at home and playtime to be had together. Of course, I prefer the latter!