Oh, another thing...

I have started writing more on my other blog, whose name I changed. If any of you don't know, I am pathologically obsessed with books. I can't afford to do this just now, but I have many times looked up from reading and wondered where the last 3 hours went. So, on my blog I started a book discussion on one of my favorite children's books, The Neverending Story. I am going to write a few posts on the themes I found in the story. How regular I will be with that is completely up for debate. :) But I will try.

Holiday weekend

This holiday weekend we spent as much time as possible outside. Saturday and Sunday, lots of time in the backyard and a trip to the park. Monday, we went to the zoo. One of the polar bears kept swinging his head left and right, while moving backwards and forwards (really, what the heck???). One of the chimps was either asleep or depressed. Philosophically, I don't like zoos. But as one person with no clout, I can't change anything, so I deal. Plus, part of your Oregon Zoo admission goes to conservation so that sort of makes me feel good.

Sort of.

This week, Gabe has a dental appointment and next week, I'm going to start taking the boys to these weekly events at a local amphitheater, very close to where we used to live. The first show we'll be seeing is Presto the Magician.

Today, I sent another query to Portland Family Magazine. I'm proposing an article about "unschooling". It's a style of homeschooling where there is never any kind of formal curriculum and kids learn everything through pursuing their own interests. They're interested in the article and I'm waiting to hear from them about timelines.

Speaking of writing, I realize I will be navigating the waters of juggling the care of two small children and doing the work related to freelance (emails, research, writing, interviewing, etc.). I breastfeed on demand, meaning, I do not time feedings (in fact, you're not supposed to time feedings, as it will decrease your milk supply). When they are hungry, you have stop what you're doing to nurse and you may be stuck nursing for 30 minutes or more since the only way to know they are getting enough is to allow them to drink until they are done. And since breastmilk is digested much quicker than formula, they could be hungry in two hours or less (from the time you started the feed).

So, it gets better as they get older. Then once they start solids, the weaning process begins!

Here are some pics today of Gabe. Have a great week, y'all!

Thomas in Hood River

Last weekend, we drove to Hood River, Ore. to attend the Day with Thomas event. The main attraction was riding in passenger train cars pulled by a life-sized Thomas the Train. There were also storytelling, meeting Sir Topham Hatt and several train sets under a canopy to play with. It was a bit of a madhouse, but Gabe had fun. And Zach did well on the trip there (we had to stop once) and back (stopped twice).








Not sure why I look constipated in this pic.






Second to Thomas, Gabe loves this character,
Cranky.


Some of our blueberries were ripe so Gabe and I picked some. They were very good.

UK mom passes out drunk while nursing baby

This mom allegedly got drunk, laid down to nurse her baby and when she woke, the baby was dead. I read about it here.

What I found interesting were the ending paragraphs of the story; admonishment after admonishment about the dangers of sleeping with your baby, but absolutely nothing about the dangers of being drunk enough to pass out while taking care of your child. She didn't simply fall asleep, she passed out from being drunk. Or, the dangers of drinking that much alcohol and nursing so soon after. The investigation could not find any evidence that smothering killed the baby, so perhaps alcohol poisoning is the culprit? According to Kellymom, alcohol leaves breast milk in the same manner as it leaves your blood, so when you feel sober, you can safely nurse. If she drank almost an entire bottle of wine, her milk alcohol levels were probably through the roof.

I just didn't like the way they blamed co-sleeping, when clearly the mom being drunk, and not able to respond to whatever became wrong with baby, was the main issue here.

Much better now

Gabe is much better. We ended up taking him to the pediatric urgent care on Wednesday just to get his lungs checked out. We didn't know how congested he was and his cough still sounded funny. So, his lungs were clear, but he did have some mild laryngitis. That has since gone away. Whatever bug he got, passed over the rest of us. Fortunately, breastfed babies are notorious for being the only ones in a household to not get sick when colds/viruses are being passed around, so I wasn't super worried about Zach getting sick.

In the mornings, I have been doing very short school-related activities with Gabe. We bought a preschool workbook that has basic concepts and skills for his age (colors, shapes, writing, opposites, etc.). He does very well tracing a straight dotted line from left to right and can recognize two and three letter words. We also got some Leap Frog videos on letters and numbers that he loves.

In the fall, I'd like to take Gabe to the library more regularly for books. One of my friends, Amy, gave him a cool library bag for his birthday that we're going to get a lot of use out of. I love the library (and bookstores, too!) and want to pass that love of books onto to both Gabe and Zach. I also want to find as many preschool-aged activities as possible to participate in, too, because we're not putting him in preschool.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Father's Day!

The fever is back

Last night, Gabe's fever came back. Ugh. He has been running a low-grade fever ever since, plus the snotty nose. Otherwise, today he is acting fine; playing (although a little less gregarious) eating and drinking normally. He hasn't gotten really good rest since he got sick on Sunday, so part of his problem is being tired. I think his body needs rest to help fight off whatever virus he has. Right now, as I type, he is napping (Zach is sleep, too) on the couch with his Thomas pillow/sheets. He was watching his Thomas movie, too. I think he will be okay, but again, we'll keep an eye on him.

For those that read the emails from this blog and don't click on the Brewster Buzz link at the end of the email, I changed the look of the actual blog. I think the theme I had isn't even offered anymore by Blogger, which made me feel very lost and behind the times. I want to update regularly, so I'm going to try to write one post a week, versus 2-3 manic blogs in one day (um, like yesterday). In addition to what is happening with us, I will post on just whatever is on our minds about the things we're interested in. If you have no clue what our interests are, you'll find out soon, lol. I'm also still considering changing over to Wordpress, but that probably won't be for a while.

I will post an update on how Gabe is doing later in the week.

Loving Day!

I know, I know the third post today, but how the heck did I miss Loving Day?? I am really off my journalist/blogging game. Although, I did just have a baby. Loving Day was Sunday; in fact, there was a Loving Day event in Eugene, Ore. that would have been nice to go to.

So, Loving Day is the annual celebration of when the 1967 Supreme Court Justice decision to allow interracial couples to marry. One of the biggest Loving Day events is the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival in Los Angeles. It is co-organized by author (and Portlander) Heidi W. Durrow, author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, her debut novel. She is very inspiriting; I interviewed her a couple of years ago and met her for the first time last October at Wordstock.

Craig and I talked about going to Mixed Roots. It would be a great way for us to meet other interracial families (and anything with film and books, I am there). Maybe next year?