Filed under: Lifestyle, Moms, Dads, Adventures in Parenting, Parental relationships

Today, Rob stayed at home with Nolan. I had presentations and some deadlines at work, and Rob's boss is very family-oriented and understanding about sick babies.

It was not without a healthy dose of smug satisfaction that I left the bed unmade and my coffee cup in the bathroom. I didn't put on a load of laundry and resisted the urge to give the floor a quick sweep before I left for work.

"He's the stay-at-home parent," I thought smugly, "Let him deal with it."

Nolan is sick, so he's cranky and listless, though he is a little easier than usual because he sleeps so much right now. But I still expected at least one mid-morning phone call, begging me to come home and fix a dire situation, find the sippy, locate Nolan's Robeez. It didn't come.

"Ah!" I thought,"He's suffering in silence!"

But no. I came home from work and the bed was made, with pillows plumped and arranged. I didn't know Rob even knew how to make the bed. The kitchen was spotless, there was a scented candle burning on the table, and dinner was simmering on the stove. Nolan was wearing matching clothes.

"I could do this every day!" Rob chirped, and I deflated, because I'd been muttering for a year about stay at home motherhood and its challenges. So, he sailed with ease through one day at home. That means nothing, right? Right?

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Filed under: Health and Safety, Dads, 2 years

Jonathon Edington, a 29-year-old lawyer from Connecticut was told that his neighbor, 58-year-old Barry James, had molested his two-year-old daughter. This news came from his wife who was told by the daughter. So Edington went next door, climbed through a bedroom window, and stabbed the neighbor in the chest nearly a dozen times.

Of the alleged molestation, Capt. Gary MacNamara, chief of the administrative division for the Fairfield Police, said "we have no information to indicate it did occur, and we weren't investigating Mr. James for any illegal activity." MacNamara also said that "we have no indication it's true or not true." The police found Edington standing by his kitchen sink with a large kitchen knife on the counter next to him. He had what appeared to be blood on him. Edington was a patent lawyer and has no prior criminal record.

I perfectly understand Edington's emotion and actions; I have said before that if you messed with my kids, I'd do the same, only far more painfully. The troubling part about this story, however, is that nothing had been proven. There was no evidence, and he didn't take the time to investigate it to see if there was any truth to the allegations. What do you think? Did Edington jump the gun? Did James get what he deserved? What would you do if you were in Edington's place?

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Filed under: Celebrity babies

The media speculation about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' daughter Katie has reached an, ahem, interesting peak.

Daniel Edwards, the artist that created a sculpture of Britney Spears on all fours, giving birth, has continued on with his love of celebrity offspring.

How about Suri Cruise's bronzed first poo? The official title is "Suri's Bronzed Baby Poop" and it represents the first solid meal that their daughter "consumed."

While I find the poo a little disturbing and of course, hilarious, I'm confused as to how much Edwards actually looked into the bodily functions of infants considering the size and consistency of the "bronzed" turd. Of course, his version of Spears' birth was a little off, too, considering she had what I'm assuming was a scheduled c-section.

What's next? Angelina Jolie's afterbirth?

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Filed under: Health and Safety, Dads, Newborn, 0-3 months, Infant / First year

"You're Driving," said constable Stephen Finch, as he tossed the keys to his cruiser to Ken Puddicombe. Puddicombe didn't expect to be driving a police car that day. He was at home with his girlfriend, Michelle Maltais, and two-week old daughter, Zenovia, when the little girl suddenly stopped breastfeeding. "Michelle thought she was sleeping but her eyes were wide open with a blank look," he said. "Michelle started patting her back but nothing happened. We knew we better get to the hospital right away."

Puddicombe spotted Finch's car pulling into the parking lot of a coffee shop and flagged him down. Finch realized that the little girl wasn't breathing and was turning blue, so he began CPR. When dispatch told him it would be ten minutes before an ambulance could arrive, he gave his keys to Puddicombe. They took off with Puddicombe driving and Finch doing first aid in the passenger seat. At speeds well over 100mph, they got Zenovia to the hospital where staff was waiting for them. She later began breathing on her own and was subsequently released.

Michelle was speechless when Finch came to visit in the hospital. "How do you thank somebody that saved your child?" she chokes up. "There's no words that are ever going to express how much thanks. It's not -- I don't -- she's still here because of him."

"Normally you wouldn't hand over the keys to a police cruiser to anybody but, under the circumstances, I don't think there was any other choice Const. Finch could have made," said Peter Leon, spokesperson for the detachment. "When you go through an emergency C-section and have a baby that's only four pounds and five weeks premature, and have this all happen, it's pretty unsettling," said Puddicombe. "But fortunately, everybody was in the right place at the right time and it worked out well. He (Finch)'s a very special guy." I'd have to say that both Puddicombe and Finch are pretty special and little Zenovia is one lucky little girl. Don't you just love a happy ending?

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Filed under: Media, Celebrity babies, Newspapers

Headlines come at us so fast and furiously these days: atrocities in the middle east, conjoined twins, natural disasters of devastating proportions. There are new, alarming stories everyday, and sometimes I worry I'm getting de-sensitized. I see so much, it seems, that news rarely sticks with me.

But, for many reasons, the story of the trapped coal minors in Virginia earlier this year stayed with me. I often think of Randy McCloy, the lone survivor of the tragedy. You might remember him as one of the youngest miners, rescued from 260 feet undergrounds, only minutes away from death. I often wonder how it would feel to be the only person who, quite literally, made it out alive.

And now the miracle miner is expecting a new miracle of his own: Randy McCloy and his wife are expecting a baby in the Spring.

This will be the third baby for the couple, and they are understandably very excited.

Heartfelt congratulations to the McCloy family on your wonderful news.

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Filed under: Media

Despite the decision by the International Astronomical Union to demote Pluto, calling it a dwarf, there is at least one major corporation that has definitively announced that they will continue to offer their full support to Pluto. The company, of course, is Disney.

According to this article at Yahoo! News, Disney is standing by their dog. Pluto, the dog, first appeared in 1930, the same year that the planet was discovered. He was first seen in the Disney cartoon The Chain Gang. Pluto was a bloodhound set to track Mickey, playing an escaped felon. Ever since, the two have been best friends. "I think the whole thing is goofy," said Mickey Mouse. "Pluto has never been interested in astronomy before, other than maybe an occasional howl at the moon."

Pluto, the (former) planet, meanwhile, was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh; his ashes are aboard the New Horizons spacecraft bound for Pluto. Pluto's planetary status is not a new controversy and it is far from over. Tombaugh has argued in favor of its planetary status in the past, and, by the time his ashes reach his discovery, it may be a planet once again.

Jared is very interested in the planets and outer space and has been quietly troubled by the change in Pluto's status. Has this affected your kids? How are you dealing with it?

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Filed under: Health and Safety, 9-12 months, Toddler

I feel like I'm getting another crash course in parenting this week.

Nolan was diagnosed with an ear infection: moderate in one ear, and moderate to severe in the other. His fever continues to flame, and peaks into its hot, uncomfortable fury at night. Yesterday I stayed home with the baby, today Rob did, and we are both exhausted with the feeling of helplessness we have.

Because I know nothing about babies except for the current problem I'm immersed in, I'd been unaware that ear infections are the most common diagnosis in pediatrics. It's good to know, I guess, but it doesn't stop my baby's pain.

I'm also still fretting about Nolan's antibiotic prescription. I went and got a second opinion on the subscription, and the second doctor said that, yes, indeed he should be on antibiotics.

In the meantime, my active little baby is listless, clingy, and fussy. Rob's staying home with him again tomorrow and I really hope Nolan is back to himself very soon.

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Filed under: Health and Safety, Outings

This article, which caught my eye on Yahoo!News explains how sunscreen that has been on too long can actually multiply the effects of the sun's damaging rays on your skin.

Hopefully, the sunscreens available in the future will be more effective at protecting us for longer periods of time and from a broader spectrum of ultraviolet light. Until then, make sure to reapply your sunscreen every two hours, or after swimming, exercise or sweating.

Make sunscreen application a basic part of your child's routine, and make sure they see you using it daily as well.

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Filed under: Adjusting to childcare, Going to school, 2 years, Emotions

My 2-year-old daughter is starting "Mothers Day Out" this week. For those not in the know, MDO is a cross between preschool/daycare for children of Stay At Home Moms and Dads. It gives kids socialization time away from home and it gives the parent a little break. Usually it is a couple hours a day once or twice a week.

After meeting with my daughter's teachers, I realized that we are going to need some serious organization in this house to get her to school on time. We are not morning people in this house. We're that family that lounges around on the couch together, eventually dragging ourselves to the kitchen to get food.

We are not those people who are up, dressed, fed and at school by 9 in the morning. (Especially when I have two kiddos to get ready.)

I haven't exactly figured out how I'm going to get everyone ready and out the door in time each morning of MDO. The best thing I could come up with is planning out her lunch and snack so I won't be throwing food into a bag each morning. (Not like that is possible, we don't have many "throw in bag" types of snack food in this house.)

So instead of focusing on the fact that I'm sending my baby to school, I'll just focus on details such as labeling nap mats and planning out lunches. Because, right now, I'm just not sure I'm ready to hand my baby off to strangers.

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Filed under: Lifestyle, Discipline

I know I wouldn't like it if one of my friends showed up and started pawing through my closet looking for something to borrow, but I've still said to my children, "You have to share that."

Hmmmm. We want our kids to be nice, to be generous and giving. Does forcing them to share when they really don't want to achieve that goal? In my opinion, it probably creates some resentment about sharing, so I meet the kids halfway. If I know that there is a special item that is new or fragile or, well, just special, I let my child put it away before friends come over. That way the thing they don't want to share is safely hidden, and the other stuff is fair game.

It gets much trickier with siblings, but basically everyone here (including, of course, the parents) has things that they do not have to share with anyone else.

What do you think? What are your family rules about sharing?

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