Whoa!

Abram, Owen, and I recently enjoyed a round of a stomach bug. Owen was first, and I'll spare you any further details - 'cause that's not where this post is goin'. Tuesday, after we thought Owen was over it, I was cooking dinner, and he was assisting me. When it came time to chop the onions (you know every meal contains onions - almost), he decided he didn't want to be there to smell them as he often does. I found him laying on the couch a few minutes later and invited him to come back, but he said he didn't want to come. When I checked back in on him, he was asleep on the couch. He has never, ever, ever in his whole life gone off and gone to sleep on his own. He just started going to sleep in the car in his seat last May. (Can you believe I actually linked to that fine picture of me?) Poor guy, he was still a bit sick I think, but I'm proud of this new, mature development!
One more not-at-all gross detail: We are all on the mend now!

You're Invited

to a
Dress-up Party
in celebration of
Owen's 4th birthday
at the home of Billy and Sharon Ring
on Sunday, April 3, 2011
at 12:00

Please come in costume if you would like.
R.B.C. (Respond by comment.)

Laundry

Here's my adorable little laundry helper.

What a wonderful sensory experience he has playing in the warm (not hot) clothes of all colors and textures. I hear they even taste good!

Making

Owen loves to make things. He's been trying his hand a bit at sewing lately. He's done quite a bit of tie dying with me. He loves to cut paper (into thousands of tiny bits!) and glue. He'll glue anything. We recently got some bees wax block crayons. They're supposed to encourage the use of lots of color instead of line. He was mildly interested the first time we used them, and a few days later, he asked to use them on an activity book we'd gotten at some restaurant or other. A few minutes later, I heard him saying, "red,red,red,red,red,red,red,red,red,reda,reda,reda,reda!" as he filled a whole page with red.
Here are a few things we made recently. The dyed baby blankets have all gone to their new babies except the spiral one.



The puff ball & google eye robot and the sock doll clown were for a friend's birthday. Owen selected the materials and helped some with the sewing of the doll and the robot was all on his own.

There Were Two In the Bed And the Little One Said, "Roll Over, roll over."

Yesterday morning while Abram and Owen slept, Caedmon rolled over. He'd been rolling to his side for a few days. After his first big roll all the way to his tummy, he tried it again and again, pleased with himself and crowing like a little rooster when he got to his tummy.




Today he is four months old.

So Long, Mothering

I was an avid subscriber to Mothering Magazine long before I was a mama. I've been receiving and reading it for more than 8 years. It had wonderful, well cited articles on natural parenting topics - vaccine decisions, home birth, alternative medicine, family-friendly recipes, nursing, family beds,cloth diapers. It had lovely pictures of mamas nursing their babies. It had ads for products about which I might never have known if not for Mothering.
It was an important outlier in the parenting media - a voice of calm, questioning, and care. I gave several gift subscriptions including one to my Mom's new OB office in 2007 when she opened. I passed on copies to other mamas and hope that they were read and passed on again.
Sadly, I received my last copy this morning. Mothering's last print issue was the Nov./Dec. 2010 issue. Peggy O'mara posted an editorial on February 15, 2011 announcing, "In the last few weeks it has become obvious that we must cease publication of the print magazine. . . And with the March–April edition, after 35 years, we will cease publishing Mothering magazine altogether. We are now a Web-only company." She cites declining subscriptions and advertising as major issues that faced the magazine.
The comments there and on the mothering.com discussion boards reflect both a deep disappointment that the magazine will no longer exist as a much needed resource for parents bombarded with poor information from other media outlets as well as a feeling of betrayal at the way the company has handled the change.

While there was purportedly an email sent to subscribers before the February 15 public announcement, there are many (including me) who did not receive it. In fact, in reading the comments on mothering and its discussion boards and Facebook page, not one person has yet claimed to have received this communication. According to posters the company actively solicited and sold subscriptions and advertising for the magazine until the day before they announced the cessation of publishing. They are offering subscribers fulfillment of subscriptions through another magazine, Natural Life. Also according to commenters, advertisers are not receiving refunds but are being offered discounts on additional advertisements on the website. If the shock of having your money taken is not enough, loyal devotees (and anyone else with $25 to burn) are being offered the chance to donate money to help the company go web-only.
I am certainly sad that I will no longer get the magazine or be able to share it with others, but I am also disappointed in the way that the change has taken place and the disregard the company has shown subscribers and advertisers alike.