Saige's First Demonstration

My family had the opportunity to walk for Farm Sanctuary in the local pumpkin parade this year. My little babe went as a veal calf. Of course, there were some people yelling out rude things like "Eat More Meat" to contradict our "GO VEG" signs. My husband keeps telling me that it is to be expected, but it still aggravates me none the less.

We have been having fun celebrating Halloween with Saige. She "hosted" her first party for the people in our playgroup and she went as a pumpkin. We are going to stay home tomorrow and pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters. I think we are all going to be vampires.

Walk for Farm Animals....

We are getting ready to participate in this Farm Sanctuary fundraiser. I was so excited to see that someone is organizing one in the next town over. If you are interested, check out my fundraising website.

The babe is getting her first tooth.....

Okay...you really can't see it very well in this picture. But trust me, it is there and it is causing all sorts of pain for her and for me. She is attacking my fingers and my poor nipples feel like they are being clamped. I am excited though for her, even though I can't believe that she is going to be 6 months old in a week or so.

Which brings me to the subject of introducing solids to your babe. There are so many moms that I know that have already been shoveling cereal and other mushy things down their kids throat since they were 4 months or so. I recently discovered a way to introduce food to your babe and skip that whole mushy baby food making step. Here is a great link about child-led weaning and introducing whole foods to your babe. I also attended a class offered by my awesome doctor on this. Saige isn't ready yet for solids, but she can have fun playing with it until she discovered the wonderful world of tasty vegan food.

I am wearing a sweatshirt....

AND HATING IT. Where the heck did summer go to? I guess we were having too much fun and it just flew by. Now....it is a mad rush to get all the fall planting done before winter comes (and I heard it is going to be a nasty one).

But, the good thing about the cooler weather is that it puts me in the mood to make crafts. I have been working on some hemp necklaces with recycled glass beads and I just finished an organic cotton knit hat for Saige. I made something that sort of looked like this:

I bought all the stuff from http://www.ecobutterfly.com/

Summertime Fun...

Saige is 4 1/2 months now and I have been having one of the best summer of my life with her. We have been busy meeting new moms in the area and going on mini-trips. This picture was taken at Devil's Lake, Wisconsin, where we took Saige on her first camping trip.

Pushing the limits....

Sometimes I wonder if I am doing things right with Saige. I try to listen to her complains and concerns (in baby babble and fussing), but of course there is a communication gap. I always attribute fussiness to either gas, hunger, or boredom, and if all else fails I just throw her in the wrap for a nap.

Yesterday, I took her to her first wedding. Unforunately, she wasn't happy there. What scared her first is when my friend (who I haven't seen for a LONG time) gave me a big hug. Saige was in her dad's arms at the time and she just stuck out her little bottom lip and tears started welling up in her eyes. Poor thing. Then, between all the people, the music, and the lights, she was a bit of a wreck. Twice, she cried and it took me a while to console her (something that never normally happens). I guess I just pushed her too far.

Today she is better and back to her old ways ;-)

World Breastfeeding Week

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, I have been thinking about donating some of my milk to Milk Share. One of the biggest complaints I often here from my friends with babies is that they really wanted to breastfeed, but they couldn't produce enough. Regardless of the reason that this occurred, I feel sorry for them. Even though my nipples are sometimes sore from Saige clamping down on them and I have to be more diligent about what I eat (no alcohol and I am trying to cut out the coffee...we have gas problems), I would never want to replace this experience. I love being able to feed her on the go and nurse her while laying in bed.