Thanksgiving

Slane's first. I'm not sure it meant anything to her, but it was great for all of us. We have so much to be thankful this year, especially Slane. What a blessing!

She loved playing with other people and seeing both sets of grandparents at once. She also got to play in the padded playground at the mall, and had a fabulous time. She pulled herself up on a turtle, and crawled to the bottom of a slide and greeted the kids as they came down. She had a great time with all of the other kids running around.

Halloween and a gourd

For the last couple of weeks Slane has had a constant companion:


That's right, a gourd. She is on her third gourd at the moment, and people keep giving us more. She has been teething and it must feel really nice on her gums, because she chews on it so much that it squeaks. We had some professional pictures taken a couple of weeks ago and had to bring the current gourd along, and it is in almost every picture.


For Halloween, Slane was a pony, and we were her cowhands. Q and I borrowed Stetsons from my mom's boss and wore flannel shirts. On Friday, we were in Des Moines so we stopped by my sister's to see baby Ella and hand out candy with them. Ema was there too. Both girls were in costume for a while until Slane got too hot. Ella was a ghost (which, by the way, took searching at 3 Wal-Marts to find a onesie small enough).


On Saturday, we took Slane to see several friends in town until she got tired of getting in and out of the carseat, then we crashed at her godparents' house to finish out the night. The horse was even more cute because Slane is crawling now, and she looked like a pony on the go.


Here's a picture of the pony and her cowhands:

It's not easy being green

"Cloth or disposable?" This was the third most popular question we heard before Slane was born. ("Boy or girl?" and "Don't you want to know?" were first and second.) We had grand plans to use cloth diapers. We bought and received as gifts cloth diapers. We purchased and received accessories. By the end of April, we had given into the convenience of disposables (Huggies).

We have many excuses, of course. Part of the time that would have gone to diaper cleaning went instead to formula and bottle feeding. Our "dry" runs became sloppy messes: The diaper was too big for Slane's tiny bottom and we didn't master the finer points of fasteners and gussets. The hospital used disposable diapers. The devil, Rumpelstiltskin, and shady mortgage lenders may have also made me choose to use disposables instead of sticking with cloth. We are using the cloth diapers anyway as burp cloths, impromptu bibs and rags, and a mat on the changing pad.

In an article about eco-friendly disposable diapers, Laura Doser noted that over two percent of our landfills are disposable diapers. Slane and her diaper-clad peers generate 3.6 million tons of dirty diapers. Does this mean babies are bad for the environment? Sara and I do more laundry. We have more dishes. We take out more trash. Our power and water bills are higher now than they were a year ago. To save the planet, do we need to practice abstinence? Is safe sex is good for us but better for mother nature?

It is shortsighted to think of our increased consumption of material goods as a zero-sum equation. As Slane grows up, she will stop wearing diapers. (We hope.) She and others in her generation will create energy- and resource-saving innovations for our world. This make every diaper, every load of laundry, every can of formula an investment in the future. Besides, the girl is cute. And a riot. She's more entertaining than anything you can see on cable TV, and sure to put a smile on your face.

To show solidarity with those of you who steadfastly support cloth diapers, Slane went without her disposable diaper one day last month:



(Really, Sara was home with her one Saturday when Slane had a bad case of diaper rash caused when I fed Slane applesauce one too many meals in a row. Still, the girl is a riot.)

Excuses...

Work. Meetings. Obligations.

We know you don't care, dear reader. You have the same noise in your life. You come to the world of babycue because you want to see pictures of the 'Cue. We have been hoarding them unintentionally. Now that we are adjusting to the new, changing rhythms of our life, we can give you more of what you want.



Slane...the funniest person I know.

techie girl

Slane is into technology. Well, sort of. Maybe I should say, Slane is into eating technology. She likes things like computers, remote controls, and cell phones. We think she might have even eaten things off of Q's phone. She has hung up on people and tried three way calls while chewing on our phones. So, we got her a baby cell phone, and we finally got out the baby computer from J and M. Slane loves them. She loves the lights and the sounds. She recognizes voices on our phones and from videos on the computer, and loves playing with hers. The phone is especially beneficial when we are on our phones, because we give her hers and she doesn't try to chew on ours. And or course, she plays with the computer while we are on ours. Silly girl.

Photoshop this....

Apparently we have given birth to a baby who can shoot LASER BEAMS from her eyes.

the club

Q and I are very excited to meet our new niece who was born yesterday. Her name is Ella Jean, and she was born at 5:53 pm on October 2. She weighed in at 6 pounds and 10 ounces, and is 19 and 3/4 inches long. She was born via emergency c-section and the last word was that she is in the NICU due to fluid in her lungs. My sister hadn't seen her yet as of 9 0'clock last night, but I was texted a picture, and she is beautiful.

So, I welcome my sister to the c-section club as I was welcomed by someone before me. It is a tough club to join. One has to be strong, and willing to let go of previous beliefs that she who gets a c-section is she who is weak. She has to believe that she did the best she could (and after 2 1/2 hours of pushing, I would say so), and now she and her baby are both healthy and happy. She has to stop telling herself she should have done something different, or that she gave up.

The woman who has a c-section is just as strong and tough of the woman who got to deliver the natural way. She will be jealous of those who did not have c-sections, and with every friend or acquaintance who also has the c-section, she will remember her own experience. She will question the circumstances of her own surgery.

Having a c-section can be traumatic, especially if one is not prepared for that possibility, or if one's c-section was super emergency due to complications. The woman who has a c-section will always have a scar to prove that she is amazing, and lucky to be among us.

Welcome to the c-section club, B.