randomly yours

I need to post, if only to establish the habit of posting regularly and more than once a week. Also because I'm slowly acquiring "friends in the computer" (I'm borrowing this term from BMC who borrowed it from someone else...) thanks to this blog, and I don't want to be lame and throw out bombshells about people running away and then not come back and say that all is sorta well.

See, Hyde got very sick on Sunday night, so sick he had to miss two days of school and then came home on Wednesday running a fever again. At times like these, I guess it's nice to be home with a mom and dad who take care of everything. Right? So, there's been a bit of an attitude improvement. Parenting class was great on Sunday morning too. I felt my feelings and experiences very validated. One of the teachers had emailed this essay to me the night before, when she found out what had happenend with Hyde during the week, and reading it was quite eye-opening for me as far as helping me understand how I've been relating to most of the main players in my life.

Potty-training is going much better in the last few days, it seems El Niño is finally getting the hang of holding pee in a little and saying "potty" when he feels like it's time to not hold it in anymore. We had no accidents yesterday, even though he went naked-butt all day while he was awake (he wore a cloth diaper during his nap, which was soaking wet by the time he woke up) and I was battling the worst migraine I've had in months. He *is* dealing with a bad case of diaper rash, his first since I binged on chocolate a year ago and we found out the hard way that he's allergic to it, because he refused to let us change his cloth diaper a few times earlier this week and apparently that's all it took to mess up his delicate skin big time.

While I was discussing with Mo yesterday what kind of diaper rash cream I wanted him to buy (we've never used any because we've never had to... I double-dare you to ask me why I feel that routine use of diaper rash cream is unnecessary), I told him that I'm not *really* crunchy, more like yoghurt-covered-granola crunchy. And it made him laugh. I love it when I can make him laugh. And also when I can come up with a way to describe myself that doesn't make me feel uncomfortable, doesn't pigeon-hole me into some category that I don't really belong in (I'm apparently not the only one with this issue). Before El Niño was born, I'd never heard of Attachment Parenting, lactivism, family beds, or "crunchy" as an adjective for people. I'd cut out MSG and artificial ingredients from my diet for health, not moral or political reasons. I recycled and tried to generate as little garbage as possible out of a sense of responsibility towards nature. Whenever I could afford to, I bought organic products, and I guess that was a little political-moral-ethically motivated. But I think my Natural Family Planning, organic farming, non-vaxing cousin and her family are crunchy... not us. Ummmm, I mean seriously, we shop at Costco, Target and Big Lots. We can't afford to shop regularly at Whole Foods or New Seasons. So, in my migraine-induced delirium, I came up with yoghurt-covered granola. It fits me, us, our life. My favorite breakfast is a layer of fresh fruit covered by a layer of yoghurt, with a layer of granola and some honey drizzled over it. If you've never had this combo, you are missing out on some edible perfection!

Speaking of granola, is this a good time to talk about baby carriers? Because I've found myself obsessively thinking about them lately... I received word-by-email that my silk & velveteen Kozy is almost finished, and I nearly peed my pants with glee. When I post a picture of the finished product, I'm sure it'll be obvious what the BFD is and why I'm so excited. However, I'm also in the market for a lighter, Summer-friendly carrier (I'm sure the velveteen will not be my best friend when it gets really hot here). So, we're considering getting ourselves this gauze wrap from Gypsy Mama:


You may not be able to tell from the pictures that this hand-batiked-in-Bali wrap has a gorgeous print of TURTLES along the borders, and a mermaid holding a baby in the center. PeRRRfect! By the way, Mo is such an awesome, supportive husband that he helped me pick out this wrap (he happens to be a sucker for turtles too). I have to sell the Gracosaur to fund it, tho.




The other carrier that keeps appearing in my dreams these days is from Didymos, a German company that just rocks my world for their commitment to fair trade, the environment and offering their customers a guilt-free, beautiful product. I encourage you to visit their site and read up on their corporate philosophy. This is called Purple Waves and contains all my favorite colors in the world. I would gladly be mummiffied in this wrap. *sigh* I can dream. And, trust me, I do.





Happy Friday!