California is beautiful. This area is beyond words, really. Dad's apartment is literally steps from the beach. The Santa Ynez mountains dominate the skyline to the East. Carpinteria is a beautiful, charming little town that would be the perfect place to live, if it wasn't for the outrageous real estate prices. If I ever win the lottery, I'm moving here.

The flight out was fine. Lauren did very well, and slept almost the entire way from Dallas to L.A. Our flight got in around 4:00 PM and then we went to the pier in Santa Monica for dinner. We ate at Bubba Gump's (I don't know why, since there is one in New Orleans that we've been to zillions of times) and Lauren played on the beach for awhile. Then we drove the rest of the way to dad's place, which is about an hour and a half north of L.A.

Yesterday we went uptown and Dad and I both got manicures and pedicures at this cute little spa. Very nice. We walked around the town and then spent the afternoon at the beach. The beach here is wonderful, very clean and safe. We went shopping at Nordstrom and T.J. Maxx last night and of course Lauren got spoiled.

Dad had to sleep today because he had to work tonight, so Lauren and I spent the day out of the house. We walked the trails in the saltwater marsh this morning, then went uptown and visited the candy store. We spent the afternoon on the beach.

I didn't bring the base to my camera, so I can't transfer any of my pictures to the computer, but here are a few that my dad took.

Building sandcastles. Well, I built them, Lauren knocked them over.
Playing in the water, even though it was freezing cold!

Well, we're leaving tommorrow morning for California! We're flying American from Jackson - Dallas - Los Angeles. I'm a little nervous about the flight because of Lauren. She flew in November and did fine, but this flight is a lot longer, so I think she's going to get antsy. I have stickers, crayons, and books for her to play with during the flight, so hopefully she does okay. The flight to Dallas is only an hour long, but from Dallas to L.A. is three hours, so that's what I'm worried about. I'm hoping she'll pass out so I can watch a movie, but we'll see. *Crossing fingers*

Anyway, dad says it's beautiful out there, so hopefully I'll have some good pictures to post. We don't have a ton of plans, so we're just going to hang out at the beach a lot. We're also going to two zoos, Hearst Castle, and downtown L.A. for a day. Dad lives in Carpinteria, which is just south of Santa Barbara.

Wish us luck!!

Week in Review

Wednesday: Left after Donald got home from work for the coast. We stopped at McD's in Hattiesburg to let Lauren crawl around the playground for awile. Donald and I climbed through with her. This made me feel really old. We got to Gulfport around 9:30 and we were all starving, so we stopped at KFC in hopes that they would have green beans for Lauren. They were out. She survived with mac 'n cheese.

Thursday: We spent most of the day on the beach. Donald went metal detecting and found a table buried in the sand. Crazy man dug it out! Lauren and I made sand castles. There were some weird turtles buried in the sand on the beach. There were two sets of two turtles stuck to each other...I think they were mating or maybe laying eggs :o) I keep meaning to look them up and see what kind they were, but....I keep forgetting. We also went thrifting, but didn't find much of anything.

Donald and his table.

Lauren and a sandcastle.


You can't see it here, but there's another turtle buried in the sand in front of this one. These guys have some crazy shells...they are very round with what looks like gravel stuck on them.

Friday: We got home around 7:00 AM. Donald went to work, Lauren and I slept most of the day. We were tired.

Today we went to Taco del Mar (translation: Taco of the Sea) for dinner. One of my favorite restaurants is Chipotle, and I'd heard that TDM was like Chipotle, so we had to check it out. It was pretty good, but not as good as Chipotle. Still good stuff though. We also went to Kohl's to get Donald some new shirts and me some new undies :o) Had to find some white ones to wear under my white capris! Also stopped at Hobby Lobby to get some alphabet stickers for Lauren's scrapbook. Hmm....not much else.

We have to go to the dreaded Wal-Mart tomorrow. I generally avoid WM like the plague on Sundays, but Monday we have swim class and we are leaving for California on Tuesday, so tomorrow it is. Donald is getting excited about having a week to himself to do "boy things" and I am getting excited about going to California!

Lauren will hug anyone and anything we ask her to. She especially loves looking at babies, so I let her watch my slideshow on Myspace. Then I asked her to give the babies a hug, and she proceeded to hug the computer. She also hugs the cats, her doll, and of course me and Donald. I have a video of her doing this...maybe I'll post it later if I have time. Sweet girl!

Holy Hairbow, Batman!

Okay, I don't know who this kid is, but can you say Holy Hairbow, Batman? The bow is practically bigger than the poor kid's head!

Just another fine reason to hate huge hairbows.

I present you with Exhibit A

I think I'm just going to stop wasting my breath. It obviously does no good anyway.

After busting my butt for a week trying to finish 7 papers in 7 days, I've finally finished my class by today's deadline. I'm not going to talk about the class that has to be finished by April 15 that I haven't even started yet (only 20 papers for that class, yippie). I know I'm going to be late on that one, though, because there is just way too much going on between now and then.

March 21-22: Coast
March 27 - April 3: California
April 11-12: Coast
April 20-29: Cruise

My term officially ends May 31, but my school just implemented a new policy that all work has to be turned in six weeks before the end of the term to allow for grading. I think that's crap, but there's nothing I can do about it. Just have to deal, I guess.

Anyway, I'm taking the weekend off from the computer. It's St. Paddy's Day on Saturday, and we're going to the parade! We didn't get to go last year because Donald had to work, and I hear it's pretty fun, so we're going to check it out.

Sometimes I think Donald tries to drive me crazy. Two things:

I think Donald likes it when I buy new clothes for Lauren, because he's been really good at ruining them lately. Over the weekend I was tutoring, so he took Lauren outside to play. He let her crawl all around the block with a brand new pair of pants on. He came back in and said, "I hope you didn't need these pants for anything, because they're kinda ruined now,". The knees on those poor pants were worn so thin, not to mention the mud that had been ground it. Yeah, bye bye pants.

Last night Donald was on dinner duty because I was tutoring again. He fed Lauren tortillini, which is her favorite, but let her eat it without a bib in a brand new outfit. If that wasn't bad enough, he kept the outfit on her for the rest of the night so the stains got a chance to set. Ugh! I buy Lauren pretty nice clothes because I can resell them when she's done with them and usually get back about what I paid for them. Can't do that if they're all stained up! I'm working on getting the spaghetti sauce out as we speak, but I dunno. MEN!

Finally, and the one that drives me most crazy - I make piles of stuff in the dining room. My dad's bills are in one pile, our bills in another pile, school stuff in a pile, you get the picture. Sometimes these piles are on the dining room table until I get to them. Sometimes I have papers in the living room that aren't in a pile because I haven't gotten to them yet. Nearly every day, Donald goes around and picks up the piles and throws everything on my desk. This is enough to drive me batty. Sometimes he just puts random stuff on my desk that he thinks I should do something with. Yesterday it was Lauren's jacket, Downy wrinkle releaser, and some CDs, plus the piles. So every night before I do my school work, I have to clean off my desk (because I CANNOT do work with my desk being a mess) before I get started. And I have to make my piles again. I've told him eighty times that this drives me nuts, I just don't think he gets it. We need a bigger house so I can have my piles in MY OWN ROOM!

Good thing he's cute....otherwise...I might kill him somedays.

We went to the Jackson zoo yesterday. We had a great time. This zoo leaves a lot to be desired, but well, whatever. Maybe I've just been spoiled by great zoos. Maybe it's just Mississippi. Whatever.

Lauren loved the animals. Her favorite, by far, was this tiny little bird that was all alone in a class cage thing. I can't remember its name, but it had long legs and a long beak. Anyway, we stood and watched it for a good ten minutes, and then I told her to say bye-bye to the bird, and she burst into tears. She also liked the chimps and the brown bear.

Even though we were at the zoo to see animals, we saw more people that deserved to locked in a zoo. There was one family that had two little kids standing next to us when we were watching the chimps. We were standing on a bridge, and under the bridge was a pond with some fish, birds, and turtles. The chimps had full access to the pond. Anyway, the older kid asked the dad if she could feed the animals some graham crackers, and the dad said yes! WTH?!? So, the kids took turns throwing graham crackers into the pond for the fish and turtles to eat. Ugh. The signs that say "Don't feed the animals" are there for a reason.

Not two minutes after this incident, there were two ladies with a little boy walking next to us. The boy was probaby 2 if I had to guess. The kid hit the mom in the leg, and the mom whacked him back and said "Don't hit!". Am I the only one that sees the irony in this? Somehow I'm thinking that hitting the kid isn't the best way to teach him to not hit. Whatever.

Anyway, here are some pics from the zoo.

Lauren wearing her zoo dress at home before she gets too messy.

Oooh! Here's the little bird I was talking about.
Don't feed me to the animals, mom!


Stopping for a drink.

We went to the Reservoir after the zoo to hang out. Here's Lauren watching the boats.

Posing for a picture.

Hey, lady, stop taking our picture!

I just got done writing a five page essay about selecting culturally and linguistically appropriate materials for a classroom. How tedious. Seriously, 90% of this teacher education stuff is common sense, and it is so annoying to have to write papers about all of it. I still have four more papers that have to be done before Thursday, so I'd better get crackin'. I'm going to bed now though. We're going to the zoo tomorrow, so I guess I'd better be awake for it.

She walks!!

Lauren took her first steps today, at 13.5 months. Stubbon little thing!!! Donald finally bribed her with Smarties candy.

Attachment Parenting and Us

Before Lauren was born, I encountered a new parenting style I'd never heard of called Attachment Parenting (AP). As soon as I started finding out more about AP, I knew it was the way for us. AP is definitely not the "easiest" parenting style out there, but I am confident that the investment will pay off down the road. In fact, I think it already is.

The big "guru" of AP is Dr. Sears. AP has been around since the beginning of time, but only recently acquired a name. According to Dr. Sears, there are 7 key components to APing a baby (bold is from Dr. Sears' website, regular text is how we did it):

1. Birth bonding

The way baby and parents get started with one another helps the early attachment unfold. The days and weeks after birth are a sensitive period in which mothers and babies are uniquely primed to want to be close to one another. A close attachment after birth and beyond allows the natural, biological attachment-promoting behaviors of the infant and the intuitive, biological, caregiving qualities of the mother to come together. Both members of this biological pair get off to the right start at a time when the infant is most needy and the mother is most ready to nurture.

I didn't get to hold Lauren until about 20 minutes after she was born, and I' m so disappointed in this. I think our initial breastfeeding struggles could have been prevented if I had been able to nurse her immediately after birth. After Lauren was placed in my arms, I didn't put her down for a day. A whole day. She slept in my arms or next to me. I wouldn't let the nurses take her to the nursery, except for an hour one day to have her hearing test and a bath. I'm so glad we got to spend this time bonding.

2. Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is an exercise in babyreading. Breastfeeding helps you read your baby's cues, her body language, which is the first step in getting to know your baby. Breastfeeding gives baby and mother a smart start in life. Breastmilk contains unique brain-building nutrients that cannot be manufactured or bought. Breastfeeding promotes the right chemistry between mother and baby by stimulating your body to produce prolactin and oxytocin, hormones that give your mothering a boost.

I could write a novel on how I feel about breastfeeding. I think many mothers' attempts at breastfeeding are undermined by factors they are not even aware of. Lauren and I had a rough start at breastfeeding, but we eventually got the hang of it. It was so tough at first, but now it was worth it a million times over. There is nothing more special to me than the time Lauren spends nursing.

3. Babywearing

A baby learns a lot in the arms of a busy caregiver. Carried babies fuss less and spend more time in the state of quiet alertness, the behavior state in which babies learn most about their environment. Babywearing improves the sensitivity of the parents. Because your baby is so close to you, you get to know baby better. Closeness promotes familiarity.

Lauren spent nearly all of her first few weeks in the sling. We continued with it through probably seven months, but after that she wanted to get down and explore. After that, we didn't continue with it as much as I would have liked, but even today we still do it occasionally when she needs the comfort.

4. Bedding close to baby

Wherever all family members get the best night's sleep is the right arrangement for your individual family. Co-sleeping adds a nighttime touch that helps busy daytime parents reconnect with their infant at night. Since nighttime is scary time for little people, sleeping within close touching and nursing distance minimizes nighttime separation anxiety and helps baby learn that sleep is a pleasant state to enter and a fearless state to remain in.

We started off with an Arm's Reach Co-sleeper, but after a few weeks she just ended up in our bed more often than the co-sleeper, and she's still there. I adore cuddling up to Lauren at night, and waking up next to her in the morning. Co-sleeping makes life so much easier for us most of the time. I don't like sleeping alone, and I can't imagine that a baby would, either.

5. Belief in the language value of your baby's cry

A baby's cry is a signal designed for the survival of the baby and the development of the parents. Responding sensitively to your baby's cries builds trust. Babies trust that their caregivers will be responsive to their needs. Parents gradually learn to trust in their ability to appropriately meet their baby's needs. This raises the parent-child communication level up a notch. Tiny babies cry to communicate, not to manipulate.

I truly believe that babies (especially young babies) cry because they need something, not because they want to be an inconvenience to their parents. For the first six months of Lauren's life, if she was crying, she was being held. Around that age, babies start to cry for reasons other than needs, but we never let her cry it out. Ever. If she's communicating with us, we listen.

6. Beware of baby trainers

Attachment parenting teaches you how to be discerning of advice, especially those rigid and extreme parenting styles that teach you to watch a clock or a schedule instead of your baby; you know, the cry-it-out crowd. This "convenience" parenting is a short-term gain, but a long-term loss, and is not a wise investment. These more restrained styles of parenting create a distance between you and your baby and keep you from becoming an expert in your child.

There are parenting "experts" out there who tell us that babies need to be trained. They're not dogs, for pete's sake! If anything, we as parents need to be trained to learn how to read our babies and listen to what they're telling us. For the first year of life, the baby was boss in our house.

7. Balance

In your zeal to give so much to your baby, it's easy to neglect the needs of yourself and your marriage. As you will learn the key to putting balance in your parenting is being appropriately responsive to your baby – knowing when to say "yes" and when to say "no," and having the wisdom to say "yes" to yourself when you need help.

I can't remember who told me this, but who ever it was told me that sucessful parents and partners put their marraige and each other first before children. I think this is pretty good advice. Even though we're not "married", we are more married than many married people I know, if that makes sense. In the first year especially, of course the baby is going to get most of your attention. We always try, though, to talk to each other and make time to keep our relationship strong.

~~~~~~~

I love attachment parenting. Of course, I don't know any other way of doing things, but I feel so connected to Lauren. I know how she's feeling just by looking at her. I am just now learning how AP works in the toddler years, but I know it's going to be a wonderful journey.

Lauren drew her first picture today! Yes, mommy helped with her name :o)



And the protests because mommy took the markers away because she was eating them. Horrible mommy. Notice the blue tongue.

I almost forgot was I was going to write. Oh yeah.

Lauren had a fever the past few days. I think it was a reaction to her MMR shot last week, if I had to guess. She was fine, other than the fever, and the fever has gone away now, so I think she'll be okay. I was going to take her to the doc today if it hadn't went down, but this morning she was at a lovely 99.2 instead of the 103.5 it had been over the past few days, so I think it's safe to say she's going to live. I think the fever totally wiped her out though, because today has been nothing but cuddle-nurse-nurse-cuddle-cuddle-nurse-nurse-nurse. Which is fine and dandy, but boy my boobs hurt now.

We missed storytime today, partially because of the cuddle-nurse situation, but partially because I was afraid it was going to storm. We got a little rain, but that's all. The last few days I've been stressing because all they kept saying on the news was how bad the storms were going to be, and then we got nothing. Not that I'm complaining. Storms down here freak me out. How can one possibly stay sane without a basement?

Oh yeah. I have rice all over my dining room floor. Uncooked rice. I gave Lauren a bowl of it to play with while I was tutoring this afternoon. Big mistake. Hellllooo vacuum cleaner.