More something about allergies and breastfeeding till 12 months or later … and then there’s a study “about babies being happier when their mothers ate chocolate during pregnancy.”

Baby has learned how to climb out of her Bumbo. *sigh* Now there isn’t a single safe secure place I can leave her … besides the crib, and she hates it. She starts crying just getting near it. I’m happy to hold her most of the time. Just not when I need to shower and wash my hair, y’know. (I’m still really glad I got a pink Bumbo and not one of the unisex colours.) She hates the stroller, too, so whenever we go out, she’s in a wrap. But you know what? I like holding her, even though I get really tired. I think I like that more than anything else in the world.

She is writhing more energetically every day. It’s not quite crawling yet, but it’s getting there. I think she’s right-handed. She usually reaches for things with her right hand. There are a lot of left-handed people in my family on both sides so I was wondering which she would be.

Her teething has been a pain for all of us. I don’t know what I would do without the teething tablets one of my friends told me about. I got them at the local health food store. They work miracles.

Ben found a beautiful illuminated Bible at TJ Maxx for $16.99. There were 2 copies so we bought them both. They have it at Amazon but there’s no picture or anything. I looked for it online and couldn’t find any information about it anywhere. Mystery Bible … but it’s pretty (King James Version, heirloom-quality archival paper, over 875 full-color illuminations taken from masterpieces of Renaissance bookmaking, genuine leather binding, gold gilding on edges, magnetic side closure, gold foil stamping on cover, gold ribbon marker).

I’ve been winning the lottery almost every day, even with the amazingly good Gmail spam filters. Man, what I could do with all that money.

And speaking of money, I got a brand new cute Crumpler camera bag for less than half price at Circuit City yesterday. It fits my new camera perfectly. I like Crumpler bags so much. They make a necklace, too.

I looooooooooooooooove Bluehost. I logged in yesterday to set up a new site for someone when I saw that I had used up my allotted number of MySQL databases. I called them to sign up for an upgrade and they upped my limit to 100 … FOR FREE!! I was happy for hours. Not that I will ever use that many, but they’re nice to have. I kept getting nervous about running out of them. If any of you are thinking of getting a new host, go with Bluehost. They are the best, and believe me, I’ve gone through a LOT of hosts over the last 11 years. I know what I’m talking about. I’ve been with Bluehost for several years now and I’ve been very happy with them the entire time. They have a ton of services for only $6.95 a month: 300GB of storage, you can host an unlimited number of domains, and I love that they have Fantastico.

She is the light of my life and the apple of my eye. I don’t know how I could be blessed with such a treasure. But there isn’t any point thinking about what I “deserve” or have a “right” to because that would be simply nothing. God blessed me with her and no matter how much I thank Him it isn’t enough.

She discovered yesterday all of a sudden that smacking different things makes various noises so she’s been smacking everything in sight like the table or the mirror, the phone, my breasts, her leg, and various toys. When something makes a sound she likes she gets so excited she can’t contain herself and lets out a little shriek of joy.

Lately she can’t stop smiling when she’s happy. She smiles so hard and tries so hard to talk that she forgets to breathe … and then gasps a little for air so she can start it all over. It’s hilarious watching her.

Some people who have had kids of their own give me advice on how to take care of her. They tell me I should leave her alone and let her scream herself to sleep so she can learn to be independent. I’ve been told to put her on a feeding and sleeping schedule. I know they are trying to help but I think it’s horridly cruel to treat babies that way. I remember when I visited America over 10 years ago as a teenager, I saw babies treated that way for the first time and I couldn’t help crying at how awful it was. I have been around mothers and babies my whole life and never saw that before.

Babies aren’t independent and weren’t meant to be. Unborn babies and their mothers are as physically close and interconnected as any two human beings can get. After they are born they are completely dependent on their mothers. They will grow up and leave their mothers little by little provided the mothers aren’t too clingy. (Argh. A whole ‘nuther can of worms there.) It’s wrong to treat adults like babies and it’s wrong to treat babies like adults. Strange how some mothers treat their babies like adults and then treat their adult children like babies once they grow up.

Many American mothers would probably be very surprised if they could see mothers in other parts of the world with their babies. In America, there are special terms, “attachment parenting” or “exterogestation,” and there are endless “scientific” theories and studies about how to treat babies. It seems if you want anything other than male doctors poking you and pumping your baby full of chemicals, you somehow must justify yourself. When I wanted to have a baby at home with a midwife, I was often considered weird at best or irresponsible and sinful at worst.

What I am doing is what mothers in the rest of the world are doing and have been doing since time immemorial. It is silly to demand an explanation for it, though there certainly are explanations aplenty. Since when do people have to justify breathing? I am encouraged to know of other mothers (Kristen, Rachel, Arwen, Dawn, and countless others) who do the same facing similar attitudes.

When some people here find out she is 6 months old and still breastfeeding exclusively, they tell me she ought to be eating solid food now and ask when I will wean her. I often get strange looks when I say I don’t plan to start feeding her solids till she is at least 10 months and I don’t plan to wean her for a year at least, maybe two.

How is it a bad thing to hold and comfort your baby when she is tired or lonely? She is a remarkably calm and happy baby when I am holding her (like all those scientific studies show) and I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Where I grew up, I watched mothers be protective of their babies when they were tiny and then as they got older they gave them the freedom to leave and be independent. Each child is different, each growing at a different pace and learning differently but eventually they grow up and are on their own. They hold them when they need to be held, help them learn to walk on their own, teach them what they need to know, and then watch them walk away, little by little, at their own pace.

I wonder why I am so defensive about this. I guess it’s because living here I feel like people look askance or disapprove what I am doing. At home every day, though, I’m so thankful I don’t have to go to work and get to spend my whole day with her. Sometimes, when she is screaming because her gums hurt from teething, it’s not so fun. But I still love every minute of it.

I am a home-birthing, breastfeeding (demand-feeding), co-sleeping, wrap-a-holic baby-wearing, cloth-diapering, ec-ing, home-schooling first-time mama. My baby has learned to stand and I’m going to help her walk when she’s ready, all the way to her dreams.

If someone came at you brandishing a screwdriver and yelling, “You’re evil!! You’re evil!! You’re evil!! God doesn’t love you!! You’re going to hell!! You’re going to hell!!” over and over and over again, what would you do?

LOL.

Girls, girls, girls. I was forced into this by scare tactics. Durned doctors. No more. Go read. (Written by a good doctor.)

Dr. Leithart just put out another book!! It’s about baptism!! Go get it now (at Canon Press)!! Or wait just a bit and get it at Amazon for over 30% off.

Dr. Leithart has a new post about the Church and pop culture that is relevant to education. It starts off with a quiz. I’ve copied it below. My answers are in bold italics.

I got 8 of 13 questions correct in Part 2. I’m 38% pagan and illiterate. (Paganism and illiteracy being measured not by how many of Part 1 that you know but how many of Part 2 you don’t know.) Leave your answers in the comments!

Quiz Part 1

Finish the following sentences or phrases: (3/9)

- With great power …
- Hasta la vista … baby. (Ah-nuld Schwarzenegger)
- Do the … (Dew)
- Shaken, not …
- Space, the final …
- Think outside the …
- I’d walk a mile for …
- Life is like a box … chocolates. (I don’t know where that’s from.)
- May the force … be with you.

(My cousin said this to me once when I was 12. When my father heard me saying a few days later, he stopped me and told me never to say it again because it was tantamount to blasphemy. He then explained how there is no power or “force” in itself but that all comes from God, he told me about the evils of dualism, yin and yang and it’s cultural impact from ancient times to the present, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and a lot more about comparative religion and the Bible and how Star Wars was making how the people making Star Wars were making paganism accessible, popular, and fun for apostate America by using Biblical language in a science fiction movie. I never said those words again.

Identify the advertisers by the following taglines: (1/9 … I only know one.)

- I’m loving it. (MacDonald’s … they use the same line in Japan.)
- You’re in good hands.
- Where’s the beef?
- Have it your way.
- Be all you can be.
- Can you hear me now?
- Is it in you?
- Obey your taste.
- The king of beers.

Identify these people: (8/8. Dang. I know all these people.)

- Captain Jack Sparrow
- Paula Abdul
- Paul McCartney
- Elvis
- Beyonce
- Orlando Bloom
- Brad Pitt
- Johnny Depp

Quiz Part 2

Now, the rest of the quiz is from me, not from my kids. Again, finish the following sentences or song lyrics: (4/7)

- Let God arise … ummm.
- I bind unto myself today … the strong name of the Trinity.
- We praise thee, O God, We acknowledge thee … to be the Lord.
- Midway through the journey of our life I found myself in … no idea.
- As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods … It’s something from Shakespeare, But I can’t remember what.
- I believe in one God, the Father Almighty … Maker of Heaven and Earth.
- Call me … Ishmael.

Identify these people: (4/6)

- Zelophahad - Israelite with 5 daughters (and one of them was named Noah, I think … yep … and Milk and Hog)
- Polycarp - (early church leader)
- Dominic - Founder of the Dominicans.
- Becky Sharp - Argh, sounds familiar, but I don’t know. (I looked up the answer and now I remember.)
- Charles Wesley - Methodist preacher, 19th century.
- Karol Wotyla - Also sounds familiar but I can’t place it. (After seeing the answer, yeah, of course. Duh.)

Go to the article at leithart.com for the answers.

When my children are old enough to talk, I want them to be able to answer the second part of the quiz without even thinking.

We grew up watching two of David Macaulay’s programs that we called “The Castle Show” and “The Cathedral Show.” We enjoyed them immensely and watched them over and over again. A friend of mine asked about them recently, so I looked him up on Amazon. I didn’t know he made so many of these. Just wait for me, Amazon, dear … I’m gonna come get them all!!