While I was doing my makeup today, Caspian was playing in the hallway. I heard him crawl into the bathroom, and then realized he'd been silent for a while. I looked down in a panic to see what he was doing (or eating) and found him like this...



...just lying sprawled flat on the bathroom floor! He wasn't ready for a nap or anything, he just decided to lay there for a minute. After about a minute, he chose a new position:



He stayed like that for about 30 seconds. What a character.

I forgot to share a new video, too.


early Tuesday morning


lovin' on Daddy's neck (like the sock imprint?)


scoping the yard with Fin


And finally, the bunny pictures!

Here's a link to the Herald-Leader article that covered the incident.

Here's a copy of the letter I sent to the editor of the Herald-Leader:

This event has shamed Kentucky and Applebee's on a national level. That Applebee's intends to stock blankets is ludicrous. Perhaps they could give them to those few patrons who are offended by breastfeeding? Let them eat with blankets over their heads instead (and see how far the A/C goes when you're eating hot food under a blanket). As for those who suggest breastfeeding in the bathroom, I will propose an equal scenario: it is just as "easy" to breastfeed while sitting on a toilet as it is to try to sit on a toilet and feed a knife-and-fork meal to the toddler sitting on your lap. It seems absurd to suggest a parent do such a thing, but the wrangling, balance, and sanitary issues are the same that a breastfeeding mom has to deal with. And if the mom is new to breastfeeding or the child is old enough to wiggle around, it just gets more difficult.

Most experienced breastfeeding moms don't reveal anything when they nurse in public (as shown on the front page of this newspaper). They aren't interested in flashing the world, just in feeding their babies — and many go out of their way to keep covered. When I first learned to breastfeed, I needed to see my son's mouth in order to latch him on. I tried using a blanket – I even tried draping it over both our heads – and it was beyond impractical. I have NO desire to display any part of my breasts, so I make every effort to be discreet…but it's more likely to cause an embarrassing scene if I try to wrestle a blanket over my son when he'll only play with it or pull it off. Many people simply find the idea of public breastfeeding offensive, whether anything is showing or not. What better indicator is there that there's breastfeeding going on than a blanket-covered chest?

What if a restaurant patron is made uncomfortable by a message on a t-shirt? Or what if they find other races offensive? They can't just demand that the "offender" cover up or leave. Aside from the fact that it would be a preposterous request, discriminating by race and hindering freedom of speech are prohibited by law, regardless of the opinion of restaurant management. Interfering with public breastfeeding in this state is also against the law, plain and simple. Kentucky lawmakers know that some people are put off by the act of public breastfeeding, but they passed the law anyway, to protect what they viewed to be a mother's legal right.

Mike Scanlon thinks this mother had an "agenda" because she kept a copy of the law with her? No, Mr. Scanlon. It's because of uninformed people like the Applebee's manager that she does it. How else will the uneducated believe her when she says she has a legal right to feed her child? Unfortunately, some people don't have the capability to think rationally even when presented with a straightforward legal document – as evidenced by the response of the Applebee's manager. After reading about this ridiculous situation, I printed a copy for my diaper bag too. I hope I never have to use it just to act within my legal rights.

In closing, I will offer up one important piece of evidence just for my online readers, who no doubt have seen all the back-and-forth comments posted in argumentation for one side or another:

"No person shall interfere with a mother breastfeeding her child..."

That is taken directly from the Kentucky breastfeeding law. Her boobs weren't "hanging out all over the table," people (as many naysayers put it). In fact, if the picture on the front page of the Herald-Leader is any indication, they probably weren't exposed at all. But even if they were a little visible, guess what? If a mother has determined that using a blanket while breastfeeding is impractical for her and her baby, there is NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO ABOUT IT. Period. Technically, the fact that the manager sent that poor waitress over to harass Brooke Ryan counts as "interference".

Incidentally, here's a really great, sassy blog I found today.

Well, my foot's not broken. It's a bone contusion, which is basically a bruised bone. There's also some sub-dermal swelling. Long story short, every time I bend my toes to walk, it's re-injuring the area. Plus, Caspian likes to stand on it. To keep my toes from bending, I have to wear an ACE bandage and a boot thingy for a month. Glamorous.

Caspian has started signing "boo" now. It's very exciting. Oh, and he walked the entire width of the bedroom to get to me...well, to examine the bandage on my foot, anyway. He also walked the length of the bathroom last night to look at it again!

Local Moms & Lactivists:
Something atrocious happened at the Nicholasville Road Applebee's in Lexington. Read about it here. I've already planned to go to the nurse-in this Saturday, but I have three appointments the following Saturday already. I want to go so badly!

From a friend's description of the Ergo baby carrier, I'd use it for doing dishes! I just watched all the videos, and now I really want one. It's so much easier than our Moby! I'd love to get the chance to wear Caspian myself -- normally, Charlie hogs the Moby (and it's a pain to transfer). It looks like the Ergo will be better for my back injury too.

Caspian does the look-at-me-'cause-I-know-you'll-chase-me-when-you-do bit. He'll stop about two feet from the object of his desire, then turn and wait for me to look up. Once I do, he grins, turns, and books it. He is a seriously fast crawler!

Well, he had a bath before 10:30 a.m. I let him "feed" himself yogurt this morning. He started out with big spoonfuls, then ditched the spoon to the cats in favor of the pick-up-the-jar-and-try-to-lick-it-out method. When he realized that wasn't going to work so well, he discovered that he could scoop it out with his fingers. That lead, naturally, to yogurt art. By the time he was finished, well, take a look...





His blister is crusting over nicely, so I let him go sock-free today. If he's too rough and it breaks open, though, it'll be back to the bandage for him!




I'll let you know what the ortho says about my foot MRIs tonight.

Too much time on your hands? Then upload some heads to JibJab! Here's what I did:

Our mixer scares Caspian, I found out on Friday. Charlie had to take him in the living room until I finished using it, poor thing.

At the end of June, I slammed my foot into a very heavy box (tried to step over it, but my foot hadn't actually cleared when I took the next stride). A few days later, I dropped a very heavy 3-ring binder on the same spot, corner-first. It bruised up nastily, but the x-rays my doctor took showed nothing. He said it should stop hurting in a week or two. After a month, it still hurt...technically. It wasn't bad enough to hinder my daily routine or take meds for or anything, but there was still some pain. He sent me to an orthopedist, who also took x-rays that showed nothing. Since it still hurt like a bad bruise (especially when he pushed on it), he thinks it might be a tiny fracture and sent me for an MRI. My follow-up is tomorrow night. It doesn't help that Caspian climbs up and stand on that spot with both feet when he wants my attention...

I feel uneasy about making the weaning transition with Caspian, since I don't want to feed him so much he doesn't nurse, but I also don't want him to go hungry. I'm also concerned because he doesn't really drink water anymore, now that he's discovered the joys of spitting. He used to gulp it down any chance he got, but now he'll sip, hold, and then either dribble or spew. I worry about him being constipated, since he doesn't drink enough to compensate for the solids he's eating.

Caspian...
* ...now shrieks when he wants more. We responded promptly to the grunts, so WHY?! It is really annoying/frustrating/embarrassing in public.
* ...loves the "What does a ___ say?" game. The sounds he makes himself include wolf, kitty, horse, sheep, Mommy, helicopter, and monkey.
* ...acted shy for the first time in his life, at Wal-Mart this week. Normally, he smiles and waves and reaches out to everyone, but on that particular trip, he turned around in the cart seat every time someone said "hi" to him.
* ...shares my sandwich every day. He also ate an entire single-serving-sized cup of peach bits last night!
* ...is a climbing machine! He'll climb over/up onto anything, from pillows to boxes to the xylophone.
* ...started taking 4-6 steps at a time last week! He only does it to get to the next handhold, then holds on whenever he can. My lazy monkey.
* ... has some real curls showing up on the back of his head. His hair is so funny, it cracks me up.


It's Makeover Time!

I've been learning some new techniques and used myself for a guinea pig. I took my picture with a bare face, after foundation/concealer/facial highlighting pen, and then after makeup. Technically, the "before" picture was taken last...I forgot to take the bare face pic first, so I took it after I washed my face that night. That's why my hair is dry and my lips are moist.

Caspian's hand burn update:

Here was the original blister, on Saturday.


Here was the blister, after popping on Monday.


Here was the popped-and-healing blister, on Friday.


Here is my 3-footed son, who has to wear the sock over his bandage so he doesn't try to eat it.


The new skin under the wound is starting to toughen up now, so he shouldn't need to wear a bandage too much longer. I'll take another pic when I remove his bandage for the night.

I had an MRI for my pesky right foot on Tuesday. It may be broken after all. I'll find out next Tuesday night.

As Charlie put it, Saturday is not Caspian's day. We left him with my parents while we were out at a potluck last Saturday, and he touched a lightbulb. He got 2nd-degree burns on his finger and hand, and a nasty-huge fluid blister. It popped Monday morning, so we took him to the doctor. Now I have to change his dressing every 2-3 hours, alternating the medication I put on it each time. It hasn't scabbed yet, and he kept trying to bite off pieces of gauze and tape...so we socked his hand. He looks so pitiful, crawling around with a sock up to his forearm!

On a positive note, we got this Melissa & Doug blocks set at Home Goods for only $15! There were a few missing and no price tag, so they charged us the price of some other blocks set.

And in other news, he's started taking 2-4 steps at a time! It isn't much, but it's a huge leap toward independence. Yay, Caspian!

Praise God! The pediatric orthopedist couldn't even find the "crumple" on the x-ray after going over it with a fine-toothed comb. (woo-hoo! $30 co-pay!) His examination of Caspian showed almost no trauma, and the only time Caspian expressed pain was when the doctor had him stand up on both tiptoes. He said he should heal easily on his own within days.

I'm starting to miss sleep. I've prayed the last three nights, "Lord, please let us all sleep through the night!" but I guess God thinks I can handle waking 3 or 4 times.

Caspian always eats some of what we eat (Mexican, last night), plus drinks a little water or whole milk. He had his first mushrooms last night, which went over well. Incidentally, I found out this morning that neither spinach nor whole beans (from refried beans) digest fully. Sometimes he eats so much I wonder if he's been hungry all the time and we just assumed he didn't need that much food yet. We all had toast and scrambled eggs with cheese, ham, tomatoes, and spinach for dinner the other night, and he ate like a starved man.

When Charlie comes home from work, Caspian freaks out in a good way. When I first hear the car, I say, "Guess who's home?" and his head whips around toward the door and he starts making excited noises. We open the front door to watch Charlie walk up, and Caspian laughs and bangs on the storm door, hooting for Daddy. He's done it for months now, but it still makes Charlie's day.

Caspian only owns one wheeled vehicle, so he just made the distinction that the wheels go on the ground a couple of weeks ago. He was already pretty good about "racing" it back and forth, but now it's wheels-down.

Prayer Request:

When I came home from an MK appointment Saturday morning, Charlie told me that Caspian had tried to slide down off the couch by himself and hurt his leg. Apparently, he slid off, but one leg was folded up Indian-style, and he landed on it. He crawled around without complaint, but when he tried to stand on it or walk, he cried. He had no trouble when standing on soft surfaces like the bed or my legs.

We took him to the UTC, and the x-rays showed a crumple in his shin (a torus fracture). He also has some soft tissue trauma, the doctor said. They made us an appointment for a pediatric orthopedist tomorrow, but he shouldn't have to have a cast.

All last night, he was very mommy-needy. If I was out of his sight, he cried. Charlie thinks it's because I wasn't there when he got hurt initially. ((guiltguiltguilt)) Last night he woke to feed once an hour from 3-9 a.m.

This morning he's been cruising around using the table as a crutch, but most of the time he keeps his weight off that leg. He keeps testing his boundaries and is getting braver about not sobbing when it hurts (like when he tries to stand, he might whimper or complain once, but he doesn't cry and cry like yesterday, when the pain surprised him).