Do-it-yourself cloth diapers

BY LINA LECARO
Published on September 04, 2008
Lina Lecaro



Family of felines: Kitten DeVille and November West at Rock 'n' Roll Cabaret


A PURR-FECT PARTY

Another kind of multifaceted frolic filled the downtown dive called Vertigoslast Friday night when Rock 'n' Roll Cabaret brought its monthly mixer to the space with a bevy of burlesque babes, a band showcase by rawkin' bad boys Sin Alley,DJs spinning a grinding mix of garage, rockabilly and punk from the '50s-'80s, and even live tattooing. This may be the best bash you've never heard of — at least we hadn't until last weekend, and we had such a smokin' time, we feel obligated to spread the word, even if it might make the place too packed next time. The visuals sure don't get vampier: go-go gals included Lucha Va Voom creator Ursulinaand Lucha lass Moana Santana, and the burlesque bits featured vignettes from Cinnamon Britches and a young spitfire named November West. West's bump 'n' grind, we learned, is actually in her blood: Her mama is none other than blonde bombshell Kitten DeVille(who was just an itty bitty kitty when she bore the babe). Seeing two generations of burlesque beauties bust it out on the dance floor (just for fun) was a Friday-night highlight. ... DeVille is sure to be the sexiest nonplastic performer on the Kandy Kruise (a three-day party boat from L.A. to Mexico, put on by the same peeps who do the salacious Kandyland at the Playboy Mansion) September 12-15. Shwayze is set to perform, as are a slew of DJs including Skribble, Skeet Skeet, Ruffand more. Ladies deemed buoyant enough get on free, but dudes have to pay.
See kandykruise. com for cabin availability.



Go to

http://www.
laweekly.
com/2008-09-04/music/queens-and-things/1

My little boy is finally crashed out. I say finally because he generally takes two naps a day; a one hour nap around 11am and a two hour nap around 2pm. Today Robert's parents came over, but they only told us last night and I already had shopping plans for today. So I was nice and I waited for them to arrive so they could at least see Sean for a minute or two but then we took off. Sean fell asleep on the way home around noon. He slept only ten minutes and then we arrived home. I carried him in with a blanket over his head and was headed to the bedroom to put him down when Robert's mom whipped the blanket off and started talking to and poking at Sean. Even when she saw that his eyes were all red, and even when I told her he was just sleeping she kept up at it. Well, that was that. No more sleeping for him.

So we waited until the afternoon nap. He was tired. He fell asleep pretty quickly. I laid with him for a bit to make sure he was really out and then I had to run to the store before it closed. When I got home a half hour later he was up and Robert was playing with him. UGH!!! He had, again, only slept for about ten minutes. All evening he's been so tired the poor thing. So after we ate dinner, and about an hour and a half before he usually goes down, he fell asleep. I hope he now sleeps through the night. If he doesn't that's okay too, at least he's been asleep for almost thirty minutes now instead of only ten. hahaha

I thought I would warn everyone that my schedule this fall is very crazy.
Mondays I am babysitting til 1-4pm depending on when the mum asks me to leave. I am giving her some time off. I will be watching two boys plus kiddo. 3 boys for 4 hours miniumum every monday. Hopefully I get study time while spencer naps.
Tuesdays we have preschool. I have to volunteer at the preschool while spencer is there. The afternoon is nap time while I study and then I drop kiddo off either at a friends house OR at my sisters in a rotating schedule so that I can go to school. After school I either go to parenting classes for the preschool or I study at the school for a few hours.
Wednesdays are my free morning. This week I am meeting a friend for coffee. She has not seen spencer since he was 5 months old (i think). My wednesday nights are filled with babysitting a little girl.
Thursdays are the same as Tuesdays, except I get to study instead of volunteering. Spencer gets dropped of at either my sisters or a different friends house. I study after school again.
Fridays - my mornings are currently toy coop. But I hope to find someone to take over it. My goal is to have fridays off.
The weekends are always different. It depends on trekki .

I will be qualified after this semester to be certified as an assistant teacher for preschools and daycares.

Jenny, the oldest gorilla in captivity, had to be euthanized. She stopped eating and drinking and they found an inoperable tumor in her stomach.

Of course, this sparks a new round of people claiming that the Dallas Zoo is killing animals and needs to be shut down. Not a one of the idiots will acknowledge that the animals that have died were either VERY old (oldest gorilla in captivity, a lion three years past his normal life expectancy, the oldest giraffe in the WORLD, etc) or had chronic health issues (the elephant's colic, the male gorilla's extreme arthritis).

And even then, the female gorilla, the lion and giraffe had to be euthanized because their quality of life was fading. These animals are obviously taken care of.

Now there is a big debate on what to do with the remaining elephant, Jenny. (Yes, another Jenny) She was acquired from a private seller after being abused at a zoo. Her keepers have reported that she seems to be nervous about cars. Her friend just died and Jenny is finally starting to come out of mourning. The zoo decided that it was in her best interest to stay at the zoo with keepers that she knows and trusts instead of loading her up and shipping her off. Instead, the zoo is expediting the building of her new large enclosure. Once it is finished, they want to bring in 2-3 more females and possibly a male to work on a breeding program. (From what I have seen, their breeding program is crazy successful, there are new babies all over that zoo!)

(Side note: I am torn on the issue of elephants being in zoos. On one hand, they are such intelligent animals that it seems like they should be left in the wild. On the other hand, they are still poached and we need ambassador animals in zoos to keep people interested in protecting them.)

I guess I just feel sorry for the keepers at the Dallas Zoo. They obviously care for and take good care of the animals. Animals have to eventually get old and die, but it has happened a lot this year and instead of looking at the facts, these idiot protesters just claim that the zoo is killing its animals.

They couldn't have animals with record breaking life spans if they didn't take care of them!

Like you always read and hear, every nursing pair - even with the same mother - is in fact different. With a second, and I assume with every subsequent children, you learn something new - parenting and breastfeeding wise: just how little you really do know.

As high needs as my oldest one was she can't even touch number two. Belle, my oldest daughter, read just like the description in Dr. Sears' books; Bev, my youngest daughter, well, when she's awake she's just plain miserable. Bev is only happy when she's a sleep or when she's eating. Unlike her sister, Bev sleeps wonderfully and welcomes it.

I often struggle with myself. In fact, last evening I had a momma meltdown. I get beyond my limits more than I like and it's really pronounced when things get out of kilter. Even with being high needs, Belle has always been an angel. Bev will still scream and cry and fuss and seem miserable even when you're consoling her every way manageable. It's so sad and a momma never had felt so helpless.

My pregnancy with Bev was miserable - a record heat, and we went all through summer. I had what felt like every ailment under the sun. But her birth - her birth was euphoric and couldn't have been more perfect. I wish EVERY mother could experience what I did for that day.

That is, until the pediatrician became involved. Having three years of breastfeeding experience and 3 1/2 of reading, researching, and educating myself paid off. I had seen first hand how doctors can be ignorant regarding breastfeeding with even my oldest, but I'd never had such blatant attempts at sabotaging my nursing relationship. In fact, the same pediatrician had actually helped us with Belle!

This time, he wanted to threaten us with court orders for refusing to consent to medical treatment; just remember the words informed consent. He acted like he had a bone to pick with me; and that was coming from three other medical persons that whispered it in my ear. Thankfully, the charge nurse was an IBCLC - not that it was promoted, but I knew her from the breastfeeding community and she knew me as the "head" milk mommie.

In short, they tried to say her glucose was too low, that she wasn't maintaining her temperature correctly and that letting her cord stop pulsing before cutting it increased her risk for all kinds of other factors - that I was putting her life in danger. The treatment they offered was a glucose IV or 15 mls of formula (ps, that's a lot of formula for a newborn!)and to put her under the warmer. I told them I would breastfeed her and provide kangaroo care, thank you!

And breastfeed did that baby do!

She had the most perfect latch and within secs I felt her draw the colostrum in. Her birth weight was 6 pounds 3 1/2 ounces. She was down to 5 lbs 14 ounces that evening. That was well within the max amount of weight loss of 10%. By her 48 hour discharge appointment she was back up to 6 pounds 2 ounces; different scale, but gaining - nothing to worry about!

But had I not had be a huge book worm regarding breastfeeding, I would have been bullied into using formula. I happen to be of the midset that formula is not necessary except in extreme medical cases - which are trully rare. Even one bottle can a bad thing and change the gut of a baby. Why pay for something that has so many risks?

By 6 weeks, Bev had RSV. We cleared that up and she was finally what seemed like a happier baby, but the misery came back. Then I started a partial, then full, dairy elimination diet. She wasn't nearly as gassy and miserable.


My pumping out put was ok, but where I was a pumping cow before I returned to work (I'd pump at least once a day to build a stash) once my menses returned and I hit the third stage of lactation, well, my supply did drop.

When she was 13 weeks old, I returned to work full time. Instantly the day care germs took attack. For the first 7 or so weeks, one of my kids had to be picked up from daycare. What a way to return to work!

Bev first had a cold. Then at 4 months was sent home for thrush; I did have a round of antibiotics for strep, but that was after this. We did gentian violent treatment just to be safe. At 5 months of age, she was sent home for vomiting and a runny green diaper. A couple of weeks after than, one of Bev's eardrum ruptured; round one of antibiotics for her.

Then I had my own concern of supply, because of my return of ovulation killed my supply. Bev would get fussy at the breast and I'd barely pump anything to make it feel worthwhile.

At 6 mos we had ear infection 2; round two of antibiotics. The only thing that made it noticeable to take her to the doctor was the vomiting and fever. She had still be snotty and I tried to keep it clear as we could. Other daughter has strep and I have sore throat - antibiotics abound at my house.

We've had another ear infection since, and more cases of thrush (i'm going through my posts to try to get a summary). Now for thrush (we've had 3 rounds of it it) we use the canidia treatment from Dr. jack Newman. We had to get it special approved through our health insurance, though.

We did 6 months (actually 2 days shy) of exclusive breastfeeding. My oldest, almost four, still asks for milky time to time. But I've made it another 9 months with another bambino even with our daily struggles to balance life as a mom, full time employee, and wife and other things.

But breastfeeding is the no-brainer of it all. :)

As I just answered to a question in breastfeeding and a conversation Tony and I had last night about breastfeeding....

My wonderful, matter of fact, I-never-just-realize-how-supportive husband was talking last night about daycare. Our girls, oldest will be 4 in Nov, the youngest 9 months this week, go to a daycare/preschool closest to his office; he handles all of the day care stuff on a day-to-day basis and I handle the child is sick calls.

They are transitioning our 9 month old into the other half of the infant room and I was reading the sheet that describes her day and how often they fed her, etc. I noted that they only gave her one of the two bottles I sent.

He says, "yeah, that's right, there was just one bottle in her bin and I took two". And he goes on, that Bev must be the only baby still on milk bottles. I asked him what made him think that and he said it was because she was only one with bottles in the fridge.

Also in the bag today was that they have to change the policy per new state regs that they can no longer mix up the bottles for the parents. I told him that's where his bottles are - all the other babies are more than likely formula fed.

Why he asked me - looks like bottles are a lot of trouble not to mention the expense. He said that parents just don't know what they've missed, and not for the typical boob snob, but he couldn't understand WHY any one would CHOOSE to spend money on something free (and he's the spendthrigt one in the family :P)

But we had a good discussion on why then more folks don't breastfeed. He thinks it's ignorance. I told him I thought that was part of it, but not knowing other breastfeeding moms is part of it two and that's one reason my posting on comms like this and AAM is so important, as well as our local support group. That's my small contribution to giving back to the community.

I think, too, at that moment he realized and "unnormal" breastfeeding is in our society, which is just plain backwards.

But I love our daycare teachers. They all talk about that good ole momma milk!

From http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/437006/easy_preparation_method_for_cornish.html?cat=2

Easy Preparation Method for Cornish Hens
By Rae Lynne Morvay, published Nov 09, 2007
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Many people are intimidated when it comes to cooking Cornish hens, but there is no need to be intimidated as these little birds are actually quite easy to prepare.

Defrosting

You can defrost your Cornish hens in the refrigerator over night. Or you can place them out on the counter in the morning if you are planning on cooking them that evening. Only do this if your home is of normal temperature. If you the hens are not completely defrosted by the time you go to cook them, you can submerge them in the packaging in some cold water for about a half hour that should help defrost them the rest of the way.

What You Will Need

You will need aluminum foil, olive oil (flavored garlic olive oil is excellent) or Good Seasons regular Italian Dressing, cookie sheet or sheets. Seasonings of choice, prefer soul seasoning, and a little Italian Seasoning.

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

You will need to prepare each Cornish hen individually. First you will need to remove the package from the hen. If the gizzards remain remove them. Rinse the hen inside and out. You can then sprinkle some of the seasoning and/or salt and pepper inside the bird.

Now you will need to get the tin foil. Measure off a piece that will allow you to completely cover the bird and give you a little extra room to make like a tent over it, tear the piece of foil from the rest, and place the bird in the center of it. Then take either your olive oil or your Italian dressing and massage the bird. Then pour the seasoning all over the bird, make sure to get the leg areas. Then make sure the bird is breast side up in the center of the foil. Then fold the foil over the bird, forming a tent and making sure it is sealed shut on all sides. Remember the foil should stick up a little bit above the bird at the top this will allow the packaging to steam and cook the bird.

Repeat the same procedure for each of the birds. Place the birds on a cookie sheet. You will probably get abut 3 birds per sheet with a good sized cookie sheet, if you need to cook more use one large and 1 small cookie sheet, or two small cookie sheets will allow you to cook 4. The birds should not be touching, try to have at least and inch in between each bird.

Note: You could also stuff them if you would like but you will have to add between 15 to 30 minutes to the cooking time.

Baking

Let the hens cook at 350 degrees for one hour. Then pull out the cookie sheets, then put on an oven mitt, an carefully peal the foil down on each bird, be very careful as steam will come out. Peal the foil down to expose as much of the bird as possible, but do not remove it. Then place the birds back in the oven for another 15 minutes, this will brown them up a bit.

Remove them from the oven and let them set for a few minutes. Then remove the foil and they are ready to serve.

http://www.nikibone.com/recipe/cornish_hen.html

Game Hens with Pesto Rub and Roasted Potatoes

4 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped

4 Cornish hens
cooking spray
2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
fresh basil sprigs, optional

Use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to split the hens. Preheat oven to 375F. Combine first 7 ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth. Remove and discard giblets and necks from hens. Rinse hens with cold water; pat dry. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat. Rub pesto under loosened skin. Gently press skin to secure. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under hens. Place hens on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Insert a meat thermometer into meaty part of a thigh, making sure not to touch bone. Combine potatoes, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, tossing well to coat. Arrange potatoes around hens; bake at 375F for 45 minutes or until thermometer registers 180 degrees and potatoes are tender. Remove hens and potatoes from pan and cover loosely with foil. Let stand 10 minutes. Discard skin. Cut hens in half and cover loosely with foil. Place a zip top plastic bag inside a 2 cup glass measure. Pour pan drippings into bag; let stand 10 minutes; the fat will rise to the top. Seal bag and carefully snip off 1 bottom corner. Drain drippings into pan, stopping before fat layer reaches opening; discard fat. Place the pan over medium high heat. Stir in broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Combine 1 tablespoon water and cornstarch, stirring well with a whisk. Add to pan. Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 3 minutes. Serve sauce with hens and potatoes. Garnish with basil sprigs, if desired. 8 servings.

Honey Ginger Glazed Cornish Hens

12 Cornish hens, split
1 cup dry sherry
1 cup onions, minced
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon ginger root, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 lb vermicelli or spaghetti, cooked al dente

Place hens in one or more baking pans, breast side up. Combine sherry, honey, soy sauce, ginger root, garlic and salt in bowl. Mix well. Pour over hens. Bake in preheated conventional oven at 375F for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until chicken is no longer pink. Baste occasionally with pan juices during cooking. Remove from oven. Transfer hens to clean pan. Keep warm above 140F. Strain pan juices into saucepan. Discard solids. Cook over high heat for 7 to 10 minutes or until reduced by half, stirring constantly. Pour sauce evenly over hens. Keep warm above 140F. To prepare to order, reheat pasta in boiling water for 10 to 20 seconds. Drain. Serve each hen on a bed of 3 ounce of pasta with vegetables, such as steamed carrots, yellow squash and snow peas. Serves 12.

Mesquite Chipotle Marinated Cornish Hens

1 7 ounce can chipotle peppers with adobo sauce
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic
juice of one lime
2 tablespoons cumin seed
1 teaspoon oregano or marjoram
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 cup tequila
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
3 tablespoons mesquite liquid smoke
2 tablespoons brown sugar
6 to 8 Cornish hens

In a small pan toast the cumin seed, then grind to a powder in a spice mill. Mix with the oregano, black pepper, salt and sugar. In a blender or food processor, add 1/2 a can of chipotles for medium hot or the full can for hot. Add garlic cloves, tequila, liquid smoke, and the spice mixture drizzle oil in till the mixture emulsifies and is thick and smooth; then blend in the cilantro leaves. If the mixture is too thick, it may be thinned out with the addition of a little water. Marinate hens in mixture for 12 hours. Grill over hot coals until meat is no longer pink and outside is crispy. Serves 6 to 8.

Wild Rice Cornish Hens with Pineapple Relish

10 Cornish hens with wild rice stuffing
melted butter, as needed

Relish:
16 ounces canned, chopped, drained pineapple
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped green onions
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon grated ginger root
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
1 teaspoon orange zest

Chicken Glaze:
2 ounces chicken stock
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Arrange Cornish hens on lightly greased or parchment lined sheet pans. Brush with butter. Roast in preheated conventional oven at 400F for 60 to 70 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from oven. Keep warm above 140F. To make pineapple relish, combine canned pineapple, red pepper, green onions, sugar, lime juice, ginger root, cilantro and orange zest. Mix well; cover and chill. To make the chicken glaze, combine chicken stock, cornstarch and soy sauce in saucepan. Mix until smooth. Bring to boil over high heat. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Keep warm. To serve, ladle glaze over each Cornish hen and serve with pineapple relish. Garnish with fresh tarragon leaves and orange peel curls. Serves 10.

http://hungry4it.com/hens/cornishhens01.php

SPANISH-ROASTED GAME HENS

4 Cornish game hens
Salt and pepper
1 lb. small fresh mushrooms
Whole pimento-stuffed olives 2 slices bacon, halved
1/2 tsp. paprika
4 tbsp. butter or margarine
1/3 c. chopped filberts
1/3 c. finely chopped onion
1c. rice
2 c. cold chicken broth or stock
1/2 c. grated Swiss cheese
1/4 c. chopped pimento-stuffed olives

Sprinkle insides of Cornish game hens with salt and pepper. Toss mushrooms with 2/3 cup whole olives; stuff body of hens. Fasten openings with poultry pins; tie legs together. Place 1/2 slice bacon on each hen; place hens in roasting pan. Roast in 450-degree oven for 20 minutes; remove bacon. Combine paprika with fat in roasting pan; brush on hens. Re- duce oven temperature to 350 degrees; roast for 30 minutes longer or until hens are lightly browned and tender. Melt 2 table- spoons butter in heavy saucepan. Add fil- berts; saute until lightly browned. Remove filberts with slotted spoon; reserve. Add re- maining butter, onion and rice to saucepan; cook, stirring occasionally, until rice turns opaque. Add stock; bring to a boil. Cover pan tightly; simm,er for 12 to 14 minutes or until rice is tender and all liquid is absorbed. Stir in cheese, chopped olives and reserved filberts. Place rice,mixture on serving platter; arrange hens on top. Garnish with whole olives. Serve sauce from pan with hens and rice. Yield: 4 servings.


CORNISH HENS AND RICE

1 c. long grain rice
1 env. Italian salad dressing
mix 1 can cream of chicken soup
2 frozen Cornish hens, thawed
Salt and pepper to taste (opt.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread rice in 3-quart shallow baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes or' until golden, stirring occasion- ,ally. Combine salad dressing mix with 2 1/2 cups boiling water and soup; stir into rice. Cut hens in half lengthwise; season with salt and pepper. Place, cut side down, on rice; cover tightly with foil. Bake for 1 hour. Uncover; bake for 30 minutes longer or until rice and hens are tender.

CORN ISH HENS WITH WINE SAUCE

6 Cornish hens, halved Salt to taste
6 tbsp. red wine
1/4 c. melted margarine
4 tbsp. lemon juice

Season Cornish hens with salt; place in baking pan. Cover with heavy-duty foil. Mix wine, margarine and lemon juice. Bake hens at 325 degrees for 1 hour, basting frequently with sauce until all is used. Uncover; bake for 30 minutes longer.

SHEEEEESH!!!!

Me: You can't take a bath downstairs,there's brken glass.
David (3) I LIKE broken glass, it's my FAVORITE!!!!

from http://homecooking.about.com/od/chickenrecipes/r/blpoul88.htm


Pomegranate Honey Roasted Game Hens Recipe
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From The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean by Paula Wolfert (HarperCollins), for About.com
Filed In:

1. Recipes
2. > Poultry Recipes
3. > Chicken Recipes

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Rock Cornish game hens get flavor and color from honey and pomegranate juice, plus an extra kick from allspice and cinnamon. Easy to make and makes an impressive presentation at the table. Plan ahead to marinate overnight.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:

* 1 cup fresh pomegranate juice (see note below)
* 1/2 cup honey plus 3 Tablespoons
* 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon allspice
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 6 cloves garlic, smashed
* 3 game hens, split in half
* Salt and pepper
* Pomegranate seeds for garnish
* Chopped, roasted pistachio nuts for garnish

Preparation:
To remove the seeds, cut the crown end off a pomegranate, removing with it some of the white pith. Take care not to pierce the seeds within. Lightly score the skin in quarters, from the stem to crown end. Firmly yet gently break the sections apart, following the score lines. Bend back the skin and gently scoop the seed clusters into a bowl; remove any pith.

(Note: For 1 cup of juice, put 1-1/2 to 2 cups seeds in a blender; blend until liquified. Pour mixture through a cheesecloth-lined strainer or sieve.)

Mix pomegranate juice, 1/2 cup honey, coriander, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne pepper, and garlic. Pour over Cornish game hens. Marinate, covered, overnight or at least 8 hours in the refrigerator, turning occasionally.

Drain hens, reserving marinade. Simmer marinade, covered for 10 minutes; reserve.

Season hens with salt and pepper. Bake at 450 degrees F, basting frequently with reserved marinade, until hens are just firm to the touch, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven; let rest covered with a tea towel for 5 minutes. Brush each half with 1/2 tablespoon honey. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and chopped pistachios.

Yield: 6 servings

Recipe Source: The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean by Paula Wolfert (HarperCollins)
Reprinted with permission.

Raffi: May I pack lots of bags?
Me: For throwing up in?
Him: Yes.
Me: Of course.
Him: GOOD!!! I want at least THIRTY!

For a two hour car trip?!?

I've been noticing that the Kidzilla seems best behaved in the mornings. We have breakfast, watch Sesame Street and Bob the Builder, he perches on the arm of the recliner next to me and cuddles and tries to 'help' with my knitting, we play, or he plays by himself. Naptime isn't a struggle as long as he's actually tired. (Today laying down for a nap also required "Tie-doh (Tiger) rea(d) a boo(k)!" ... I had to carefully arrange Tiger and a book, so that the book was open so that Tiger could read it, right next to C. Closed book was not sufficient. Funny boy ...)

Post-nap is a bit of a different story. He suddenly becomes very much a typical toddler-- pushing boundaries, doing things he knows he's not supposed to with sly little looks and lots of laughter, struggling to escape diaper changes, throwing things ... etc, etc. That, of course, would be the best time to take him outside and run him around and around ... sadly, it's also the hottest part of the day, and the sunniest (C, like me, is Fair Skin, Moles, Possible Future Skin Cancer Ahoy). Pretty soon that won't matter, it'll cool off and he'll be wearing more clothes. But until then ... and well, then there'll be a Smidge too.

The Indoor Park co-op starts up again for the fall, next week. I wish it met in the afternoons instead of the mornings, that's the time of day I need that distraction and action for C!

Uncle T is still in the hospital from the brain bleed, he's having terrible leg pain, they can't figure out what's causing it. The nausea is subsiding some, and he's feeling better ... when he's not tranked to the gills on 4 different pain meds for the awful screaming pain in his legs. :(

I've been having flip-floppy heart palpitations occasionally the last few days. They're really uncomfortable-freaky feeling. :P I don't remember having them when I was pregnant with C, but then, a lot in this pregnancy has been very different than it was with C!

what happened today??

00:03 i feel cold and dark from the rnc, so not impressed. it is all fear mongering, they are just playing on emotions and ignorance . #

00:37 i am so tired #

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see you tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel ^..^

the "ground noise and static" from mccains speech last night was a veteran saying to ask him about his voting, and that he votes AGAINST vets.
and he does
look it up
what a maverick.