One Year...Or More!

A belated post, but I wanted to share my breastfeeding certificate with everyone. As many of you know, I was attending a weekly breastfeeding support group at the local hospital ever since we moved to Hillsboro. The group is an informal setting for moms with babies under one year of age to meet, check in with each other about life, and get help if needed from the fabulous group leader, a certified lactation consultant and RN. Alton and I visited week after week and were always bummed out when we had to miss "group" due to travel or illness. I met a lot of good friends in this group (Hi Shelly! I know you are reading!) and really valued this setting for allowing me to get in touch with people around whom I felt comfortable and felt that we had parenting philosophies in common. When we first started attending, Alton was by far the littlest baby--a curled up little bean in comparison to the walking, shoe-wearing toddlers of the veteran members. But by the time he turned one year old we were the geezers sharing our tales with the young 'uns: "Why, when Alton was six weeks old, he went on a nursing strike that lasted for at least a month, uphill, in the snow, both ways, with just a potato in his pocket to keep him warm."

The policy of the support group is to "graduate" at one year old, and give a certificate to Mama and baby in recognition of their hard work at a one-year breastfeeding relationship. Which means...we can't go to group any more! Sob! Alton made lots of his own little friends in this group and it was amazing to watch him grow to the point that wow, now that he can sit up he can actually play and interact with the other kids. It was through this group that I was introduced to the Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon, the nonprofit group that I have joined to support, promote, and protect the mother/baby nursing relationship for families in Portland. I think that support groups are infinitely helpful even for the most non-social of mothers because it can be very easy to forget when you are nursing your baby that there are other moms out there doing the exact same thing you are. You are not just one woman, an island, alone in your quest to nourish your baby in the most healthful way possible. So to all of my mom friends who are nursing their babies or have nursed them, I stick my figurative fist in the air in a victory salute with you and share my certificate in proud recognition of our achievement. And though Alton and I are not finished with our nursing relationship (sure, sure, "when they're old enough to ask for it, they are too old" is what I used to think, too, but we love nursing, he is an incredibly healthy child, he is still getting benefits and immunities from my milk, and I have changed my view now to "every family needs to do what works best for their individual situation."), this certificate marks a significant milestone that we are ecstatic to share with those nearest and dearest to us. Woohoo!

Well, if Facebook knows....

Congratulations to Julie and David on their engagement! I figure if she posted it for all of Facebook-dom to see, I can post it on my blog. They were engaged over the weekend on Saturday night, aka Valentine's Day, in a heart-shaped hot air balloon while minstrels joyfully serenaded them with Greensleeves and it rained Godiva chocolates from above. Just kidding. David surprised Julie with a ring he had purchased beforehand and hidden in their apartment until the time was right. Awww! They live in Maryland, unfortunately too far away for me to join them in a champagne toast, but Andy and I rarely let things like mileage stand in the way of us imbibing sparkling beverages, so we will probably just go ahead and toast them here at home.
Julie and I go way back...I mean, WAY back. We met for the first time in sixth grade through a mutual acquaintance, but didn't "hang" together much since we went to different schools. Starting in 7th grade we went to the same Junior High and took a dance class together at a local studio. Somewhere my parents have a video of us grooving our bad selves to the song "I'm Every Woman." In 8th grade we decided to try out for the cheerleading team, and if we didn't make the team we were going to take the dance class again. Well, a picture is clearly worth a thousand words, so I don't need to tell you that we made the team, along with a tall blonde I could mention standing in the far right of this picture. But alas, a Jr High cheerleader's tenure is brief since we graduated and moved on to High School, so Julie and I had to find a new activity to occupy our time. (And our moms were getting really good at carpooling by now.) Freshman year ended up being the year we started tennis, at which Julie actually got pretty good, and I ended up being known as the doubles player who occasionally would (accidentally) lob a ball off of her partner's head. Hey, you win some, you lose some. (Although I hit a few people in the head with the discus when I went out for the track team--maybe I am just uncoordinated?)
At any rate, congratulations to Julie and I hope she enjoyed this stroll down memory lane. I love and miss her very much, and I know she and David are lucky to have each other!

Have a Speshal Day

The economy is bad and my brother is witty, so for the last year or so he has been putting his writing skillz to work at all birthdays and major holidays to make cards for his loved ones instead of buying them. Actually, KC and I share the preference for homemade cards over Hallmark anyway, but he is much better than I am at spending the time on making the cards (I'm more like one in four). At any rate, he outdid himself on Alton's birthday, so posted below are the front, inside and back of Alton's 1st Birthday card from Uncle KC. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. It makes me laugh every time. Click images to enlarge.

Like Father, Like Son - by Andy

I continually tell myself that I need to drink less soda.

And now I see that it's too late and Alton has picked up on my habit already.


Not to worry - he's not actually drinking anything. The can is sealed and there are no sharp edges. Also, this is not a staged picture. AJ happened upon this flat of soda and helped himself. :)

Just a Walk in the Park!

To take advantage of an extra day off, we spent part of our President's Day at a local park (Shute Park, near the Library for those of you who know the area). Andy walked Minerva around the park to help her expend some of her cabin fever and Katie played with Alton on the swings and playground. Andy and Minerva joined Katie and Alton after their walk. Alton had a great time climbing the stairs of the play structure and sliding down the slide BY HIMSELF! It was a short, covered slide, probably 5 to 6 feet in length. Alton was a rockstar and even crawled to the slide and sent himself down a couple of times. Good times.

Alton and *P Photo Shoot!

When we were down in California last weekend for Alton's birthday, we held a little homemade photo shoot for him and his darling cousin, *P. She is six months younger than Alton, and there were emails flying back and forth between the two mamas before the party to figure out what these little cuties would wear! In the end we realized simple is always best, so you can see them in their blue jeans, just hangin' out. Here are some of the best photos.

Happy Valentine's Day from Alton

He Combs His Hair!

Alton is able to imitate more and more actions and motions that we do every day. Waving was mastered long ago, of course. Over his birthday weekend he tried to wiggle his fingers like the way our friend Brian was showing him how to snap. One of the newest last week was rubbing his hands together in imitation of me rubbing lotion between my hands as I prepare to massage it into his chubby thighs. Then earlier this week, combing his hair that became his new thing! He'll take the baby comb or brush and run it down the side of his head to get all dressed for the morning.

He has also been signing back to us more and more. He has been doing "more" and "all done" for maybe a month, but earlier this week we noticed that he can do "bath" now, too!

A Smashing Party

More to come....