A new dentist

We took Gabe to a new dentist today and things went extremely well.

He is having problems with 2 front teeth (one of them chipped about a year ago) and we have been going to this other pediatric dentist to get fluoride varnishes done. Only, Gabe hated going there. Would cry at the sight of the doctor. I found another one try, World of Smiles, and his experience was much better. Instead of "the chair" kids sit on a giant bean bag with all kinds of stuffed animals and a tv is mounted on the wall. Craig laid on the bean bag with Gabe and both the doctor and dental assistant also laid down down with him to do check his teeth and give the varnish. She also explained to us that she believes those teeth had developmental issue with enamel, since all his other teeth are fine.

She recommended filling one tooth and capping the chipped one, giving us two options: do it sooner and he'd have to have a strong sedative during the procedure OR do it in about a year and a half (during which he'd continue with fluoride treatments) and he'd just be administered nitrous oxide (laughing gas) which is much less invasive. They are very, very careful about the experience your child has and making sure there is no trauma.

We're still thinking about it, but I believe we are leaning towards waiting.

Here are some pics of Gabe after his dental visit, playing with the plastic globe ball he was given at the office (in addition to a little firetruck).





We have 3.5 months to go until baby # 2 gets here. I have been brainstorming about easy ways to wear and care for my hair during the first few months after giving birth. With Gabe, I had locs and it was easy to wash them and not take the time to twist the roots because it still looked ok. However, my naps are loose now and getting longer and need to have a game plan.

Lately, my routine has been washing and doing two-stranded twists, which takes me about two hours to do, wear them a few days, then wear a twist-out by unraveling them. Kind of a two style-in-one deal. This last time I washed it, I decided to try bantu knots again; I tried months ago, but my hair was a lot shorter. Doesn't take as long to do, about 10-12 knots), and the bantu knot out gives you really big hair. Like Tracee Ross big hair, lol. Look and hair definition of course depends of hair texture. Last night I redid them, doing only 6 knots, watering, moisturizing and oiling my hair and in the morning hair was dry and it looked nice. I think it's nice, anyway, :) Here is a pic.



I am so tempted to blow dry and flat iron my hair and see how long it really is, but I am very wary of heat because I don't want my curls to die and not revert after washing. At the very least, I may blow dry sometime this year, but I have no idea when.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Cafe´post on YouTube video

Here is a link to a post on my Cafe´blog about a YouTube video circulating where an uncle is giving his nephew beating with a belt. Um, I do not agree with this just so you know!

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had a great holiday!

We had a very low-key Christmas and New Year's. I made a lamb and feta lasagna that was very good; the recipe is from Emeril. Deb, Craig's mom, brought over a salad and we had apple pie for dessert. Lasagna is Craig's favorite dish, so he wants this to be a Christmas dinner tradition now; a different type of lasagna every year.

Gabe got many nice presents, some of which still have to be bought since a few came in the form of gift cards and we have to decide what to get. Some include some cool games and puzzles we got from Lakeshore Learning. I got myself a new purse and wallet from Kohl's (it was on sale, woo-hoo!) and Craig got a pretty stylish messenger bag for work.

I am getting bigger and slower, lol. I continue to do a LOT of reading with Gabe or outings where he has lots of engagement to compensate for my lack of physical involvement. Storytimes and playmates are a lifesaver! He is also getting better at playing alone for longer periods of time.

We've been doing a lot planning in various areas with the house. We just bought new mattresses for our room and Gabe's soon-to-be room. We are also making the dining room a playroom for the kids, since we have a eat-in kitchen. Then, we are going to buy a few pieces of furniture for the living room, since currently that room is not functional (our tv and couch is in the family room).

Of course all of this is very budgeted and will occur over the course the year.

Craig and I have been thinking about what to do about education for the kids. We've been going back and forth on whether to homeschool or not (which would involve me not working outside the home) and we're leaning towards homeschooling, but are specifically getting interested in the concept of unschooling. This is where there is no curriculum and children learn by being involved in everyday life activities.

For instance, by simply baking a cake one learns math and chemistry (these are the two subjects that immediately come to mind, I'm sure there is more). As they get older, parents basically guide the learning experience by what children are interested in (maybe they really like comics, so they can create a comic or they want to create a video game, so they learn the programming language and other things that go along with that).

Speaking of education, I wrote a post on my Cafe blog about editors changing the n-word in Huck Finn to "slave" in an upcoming edition. I do not agree with this at all. Read here. There is also a link to the article about it in that post.

Cool article and screams, screams and more screams!

For those that are interested, here is a neat article on breastfeeding, detailing one woman's determination to keep nursing even though her baby was having problems (the problem was solved, and nursing was not the problem).

Doctors and pediatricians really don't know that much about breastfeeding, so sometimes its pointless to even come to some of them with problems. Lactation consultants are better equipped, but not all of them are equal. One thing I wished I have known with Gabe, which I figured out on my own, was to nurse them as often as they wanted it and not put them on a schedule. Not only to they digest human milk faster than formula, but nursing often helps establish supply and prevent engorgement.

Ok, Gabe is into this thing where he just screams. I might tell him not to do something: screams. I tell him something he doesn't like: screams. I say, please stop screaming: screams. Now, this doesn't happen all day 24/7, but a few times a day. How have parents out there dealt with this? He is going though some changes lately; weaned from nursing a few weeks ago, mom can't play like before because of carrying baby in tummy. Could be a communication thing, or just a behavior phase. I don't know. I just know that all toddlers do it, so he is not alone. Fortunately, he does not do this in public. Crosses fingers.

Book recommends

Sorry to inundate you all with two whole blog posts in one day, but just wanted to point out that I posted new books that we've read lately, down here on the right side of the blog. Raising Boys and The Culture of Make Believe are particularly notable. Craig is half way done with Raising Boys, but he has read some parts to me that were good. The Culture of Make Believe is truly eye opening, but is a large book. However, I read through it pretty quickly because, in my opinion, Jensen is a excellent writer. Just click on the links to read more about the books.

Interesting article about interracial dating

I just read this article from the Atlantic about interracial dating that focuses on the black/white variety and how blacks have historically responded to it. Honestly, it's just not on my radar how deep it is for blacks, especially some black women, who even to this day are truly affronted when they see a black man with a non-black woman. My personal opinion has always been that unless you are THE most attractive person in the world, with the most perfect personality known to man, you need to be happy to find love where ever you can find it.

Another aspect I found interesting was that the reasons, past and present, for some black people's antipathy for interracial pairings. The reasons and feelings attached are, frankly, almost the same as white racists. A strange contradiction, but I think it's just one of many undesirable effects of our (the U.S.) racial past.

New Cafe´Post

Just wrote a post on my Cafe´blog about weaning. I really need to post to that blog at least once a week! Especially if I am going to be freelancing.