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Today I made catnip popsicles.  I infused catnip from my herb garden for 20 minutes.  Poured into popsicle molds with a tiny drop of orange juice and agave nectar.  Norah won’t take straight catnip so I have to hide the taste. 

I might make a few (without any oj or nectar) for Cedar to suck on.  Catnip is reputed to help with teething.  And teething is the preoccupation these days.  And nights.

I thought this might be a nice treat before bed.  Norah gets so wound up in the evenings when daddy comes home.  Her body flails like a fish knocking over any object that isn’t nailed down.  Catnip = mellow.   

And speaking of knocking things down–

Norah is clumsy with her body these days.  Full of cooped-up-winter energy.  I won’t name everything she has dropped or spilled this morning.  Just before I wrote this, she spilled a cup of milk.  My first instinct was righteous indignation.  You know, the exasperated mom voice.  The drawn out “norahhhhh” with a trace of adult whine. 

Then I remembered my own spills when I was a kid.  Whenever I broke something (and later, when I got a speeding ticket or two), my parents reacted with patience and kindness.  My memory of it is something of kinship.  My mom saying something like “we all drop things sometimes” or “I got a speeding ticket once and…”  It checked me today.  As it has other days. 

Thanks mom and dad for providing a pattern of grace and gentleness for this flailing-like-a-fish mama to follow. 

Aren’t these the coolest popsicle molds?  Norah’s great grandparents gave her these for Christmas.  Adorable no-spill (very important) ring pops.

A reader recently asked if I would do a post about Norah’s activities.  It can be challenging to come up with ideas to keep an energetic toddler engaged and active at home.  Especially when you are busy with an infant!  Some days are better than others.  I certainly resort to popping in a movie sometimes so don’t think I’ve got all this mastered!

Craft Shelf:  I have a shelf in the hall closet that is dedicated to crafts.  There are shoebox sized containers holding strings for necklaces, paints, glitter, glue, homemade play dough, popsicle sticks, floral foam, etc.  I also keep several old sheets and blankets to cover the floor for quick clean-up.  I keep activities simple.  Lately we’ve been enjoying leaf rubbings.  Norah also loves to thread uncooked ziti noodles on string.  And she loves to cut things with plastic knifes.  So sometimes I give her a knife with a few fruits/veggies and bread/cheese.  She’s also enjoyed building structures with (just a few) large marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti noodles.  I’m not very crafty so I often just throw down some supplies and see what she creates. 

The Dollhouse:  Our best investment (and gifts from grandmas) has been the dollhouse and accessories.  I’m watching her play with it now.  We chose Plan Toys  dollhouse and accessories.  Norah spends the bulk of her time playing here. 

Pretend Play:  I keep a mason jar and a clear plastic egg carton filled with assorted objects.  Buttons, leather pieces, marbles, shells, acorns, etc.  I’m amazed at some of the ways she plays with these.  And she loves to sort them.  We also have a bin of dress-up clothes. 

Dinosaurs:  A hand-me-down from cousin Taylor, the dinosaur collection is another big item in our home. 

Green Hour:  Although I’ve slacked off some since Cedar was born, we typically have a green hour every day (rain or shine) during which Norah explores the outdoors.  She can make bug houses from leaves and sticks, make “dinner,” or simply make a mess.  She especially loves green hour when it is raining because she gets to carry an umbrella.

Tips:

We have a small house.  I use lots of baskets to keep things sorted properly.  If toys are strewn about, then the “Toy Fairy’s” phone number is programmed in my cell phone.  Or at least that is what Norah believes.  I’ve never had to call the Toy Fairy but according to some moms, she will come pick up the toys and take them away if she is called.  There is an equally effective “Clothes Fairy.”    

I’ve noticed that it takes some time for Norah to begin playing with things that I introduce.  It probably took 6 months for her to even notice her dollhouse. 

I find dress-up clothes at thrift stores.

For toys that she loses interest in quickly, I put away and reintroduce later.  When she’s bored with it, I put it away once again.

For the most part, I turn my head when she decides to use household objects as play items.  I’ve lost almost all of my kitchen towels to her play baskets.  She loves to sneak away with belts, shoes, tape measures, cookie cutters, etc.  If I need something, I usually know where to find it.

Finally, we’re pretty careful about toy volume.  I generally try to avoid plastics and I like to know that toys are not made in sweatshops.  We keep an amazon wishlist so extended family know what we think would fit in our home and in Norah’s days.  If it requires batteries, it usually stays at grandma’s house. 

What toys do your toddlers and preschoolers love?  What works for your family?

All right, here we go.  I’d been preparing for this birth with Hypnobabies and part of that program involves visualizing the details of your birth.  I chose to visualize a Friday birth between the hours of 1am and 6am.  Yeah, I don’t play around.  I threw down the gauntlet. 

On Friday, 3 days past my “guess date,” at approximately 1PM (ok, so it didn’t work perfectly), I had a gush of fluid while standing in the kitchen.  I was home alone.  The fluid was clear.  But did not continue to leak like it had during Norah’s birth.  I thought perhaps Cedar’s head had sealed it since the baby was already very low.  My pressure waves (Hypnobabies lingo for contractions) began immediately and were about 3-4 minutes apart.  I listened to Cedar using a doppler and he/she sounded great.  I waited an hour and then called Scott to come home.  The waves continued and I listened to a couple of Hypnobabies scripts on my ipod.  Everything was very relaxed and manageable.  I called my sister and told her to come when she wanted to. 

As things continued, I noticed that I was very much in my head.  In other words, I was thinking too much.  I was trying to doula myself.  And the waves were spacing out.  In an effort to get my mind elsewhere, I asked if we could play “Pass the Pigs” the game which always makes me laugh.  Except for one stellar Leaning Jowler, I tossed a terrible game (Scott won) but I laughed so hard.  Then we thought maybe we should go out to eat.  So we went for Mexican where I ate a ton of food and had great pressure waves.

When we returned home, it felt like Cedar had spun from ROA to a posterior position.  Pressure waves were spacing again.  We decided to try the birth tub.  The water should either stop things or intensify them. 

Let me interject here that La Bassine birth tub rocks!  So much better than the Aquadoula I used last time.  It was deep and roomy.  The floor inflates making it very comfortable and it has internal handles.  I hopped in.  It felt marvelous.  And, the waves spaced even farther.  But it was nice.  Scott was playing the guitar and singing some Iron and Wine.  Noelle had gone to bed.  It was an intimate and sweet time.  I got out of the tub and Scott got in.  His back was sore so he had some therapeutic time in the water.  Then we went to bed.  Ok, I admit I went to bed utterly deflated.

When I woke the next morning, I felt embarrassed and discouraged.  As a doula, I should have known if I was in “real” labor.  Good thing Noelle is a counselor since I needed some emotional processing (over chocolate muffins) Saturday morning.  Scott and I decided to spend the day watching movies, snuggling, and eating yummy food.  I cried several times through the day.  Hindsight:  it was really nice to have a dress rehearsal and from the intensity of many of the waves, it was “real” labor.  It was spinning the baby into position.  Maybe changing my cervix some.  More importantly, it gave me some warning that I needed to stop thinking like a doula and let my intuition take the reins.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that though.

Saturday night, as Scott was rubbing some pressure points on my lower legs, I watched my belly as Cedar spun to LOA–the best position for beginning birth. 

Now we were ready?

Today, for instance, these were some of the searches that found my blog (typos included):

• “whuppin when we get home”
• ways to poo
• must have s for baby registry
• was jane nelson spanked in her life?
• pickens flea market
• dreams about tomatoes going bad
• murderer hydromedusa
• negative heel
• how long was jesus breastfed
• video of mom breastfeeding teen son 

That last one creeps me out. 

I love that wordpress shows me the search terms entered that pull up my blog.  I wish I could remember some of the funny searches I’ve seen.  Some have left me scratching my head as to how my blog came up as a search result. 

People must be very very bored to be searching for things like “ways to poo.” 

I suppose I must be very very bored to pay attention to how people find my blog…

My The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth book is MIA.  Did I let someone borrow it? 

I usually have an obsessive memory of the locations of loaned books.  Where, oh where are you?  If a dear reader has it, will you let me know?

Friends don’t let friends have babies at St. Francis eastside. 

There.  I said it.

I love ACOGV.  I do.  I found so many answers to my questions regarding women’s health.  And such warmth! 

Oh wait, you thought I meant ACOG as in American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists!  Um, no way–not ever. 

No, I love Acupuncture Center of Greenville!  Today I had my first experience with acupuncture.  Cassandra Nelson spent time answering my questions about how acupuncture can help women during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.  She looked at my tongue and drew a picture of it; which I promptly demanded to see.  My hubby and child (long tonguers) make fun of my short tongue and have thereby created a tongue “issue.”  

I was nervous.  I didn’t even feel the first two needles.  I felt a few but it wasn’t painful.  The two in my ear were unpleasant but not unbearable.  Then the best part:  she left me in the dark room with relaxing music.  I felt warm and heavy.  I left feeling as great as when I get a massage. 

Cassandra was professional and knowledgeable.  Now, does anyone know what a pale tongue indicates?