Wednesday, January 30, 2008

NOCIRC

Craig has updated the Colorado NOCIRC page. It's looking great, and it attracts more and more visitors every day. With such up-to-date, thorough information, we are slowly ending infant circumcision. More and more parents are coming to realize that it's unnecessary and damaging.

If your physician or midwife is recommending it to you, remember that circumcision is an elective, cosmetic procedure and as such it is extremely unethical to perform on a non-consenting individual, even if the individual is too young to understand what is going on.

From Doctors Opposing Circumcision:
"George C. Denniston, M,D., MPH, President of Doctors Opposing Circumcision,
commented, “This new study provided further evidence of the permanent and irreversible
lifelong injury of non-therapeutic neonatal circumcision and raises grave ethical
questions regarding the continued performance of child circumcision. We call upon the
American Academy of Pediatrics to defend children from this practice.”"

Piano II



Here are the piano photos. Gary just finished installing plexiglass in the cameo panels so we could see the mechanical works inside. He also installed LED lights inside the compartment, I need to post photos of that, too.



Shoe beadwork



Just finished embellishing Isa's Isabooties. Yes, I know, I already have enough shoes for her. I bought these over a year ago and have just been waiting waiting for her to grow into them.



Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Isa Climbs the Tube

Today Isa climbed the Big Yellow Tube all by herself. We have never helped her to do it before, we just let her fail because we really didn't want her getting up into the loft. Today when I climbed up to play a game with Leo, she was ticked off and decided to climb up, too. So now I'm wondering how I'm going to keep her from getting into the paper books and magnetic toys.

Window Garden III

The beans are taking off, there is already a second tier on a few of them. The tomatoes are creeping along, but still progressing. The mixed greens are doing nicely, but rather thin in the middle of the patch. I've seeded some more. The spinach has only sprouted three seeds, just like when I try to grow it out doors. I'm not very good at spinach. I wonder what I'm doing wrong?
The basil has finally started to sprout, and the onions are also doing okay. The dill is doing nothing.


Beans


Tomatoes


Greens


Bok Choi


Basil

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Flexible shoes

I'm on a hunt for flexible-soled kids' shoes. I expect thermoplastic rubber soles (TPR), but I might be surprised to find other materials used to make sturdy, flexible soles.

Here's the brands I know of currently, let me know if there are more I am missing.

  • Pedoodles
  • See Kai Run
  • Pediped
  • Robeez Tredz
  • Eleven (a division of SKR, these shoes are for older kids, sizes 9-1)
  • Pediped Flex (Pediped shoes for older kids, sizes 6-12)
  • Primigi
  • Umi Elefanten
  • Preschoolians
  • Stride-Rite (have to look, some are flexible, some are nott)
  • Komfort Kidz
  • Merrill (some are flexible, some are not)

Monday, January 21, 2008

Window Garden II

Here's how the garden is doing so far.






Yay!

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Window Garden

Just getting started on the window garden. I used three beds, made from Sterilite storage boxes. After racking our brains trying to figure out how to do a tray, G finally had an epiphane: buy three more boxes and stack them, and that makes both a tray and a self-watering reservoir.
So I drilled drainage holes in the bottoms of the dirt boxes, and a watering tube hole as well. Then I threaded 100% cotton butcher's twine through the holes to act as wicks. A clear plastic tube in the watering hole and a bit of wire to secure it, then we were ready for the dirt.

I used a mix of FoxFarm Frog dirt with tons of microbes, perlite, and FoxFarm starter fertilizer.
I planted a lettuce mix, spinach, and dwarf pac choi in the first box. Basil, dill, and green onions in the second. And a small bush tomato and bush beans in the third. I don't know if the tomato and beans will be able to do anything useful, it's an experiment!

Next we need to hang the light. I got a sodium & halide combo light. It needs a real shield, though, so water from the sink doesn't spatter and make it shatter from thermal stress. We're not willing to pay the $150+ it will cost to get a real shield, so G is going to see about buying a sheet of tempered glass to hang under it instead.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Leo's Fire Monkey

Today Leo and I made a stuffed animal. Leo calls it his Fire Monkey. He drew the shape, being careful to include arms, legs, ears, and a head. Then we cut out the shape, and Leo chose the cool fire flannel fabric. Leo traced the pattern shape onto the fabric, then Mama cut it out and sewed it all together. Then Leo and Mama stuffed it full of stuffing. Then Mama sewed shut, and Papa and Mama and Leo sewed on its cool button eyes. And now Leo has a homemade Fire Monkey.