The Business of Being Born

I just got back from a screening of The Business of Being Born. I am thinking of becoming a childbirth educator and/or doula, so I was really excited to see that there was a showing not too far from me. Check the website to see if it is playing in your area; if not it will be out on NetFlix in March of this year.

I recommend this movie to those of you who have had babies, will have babies, are concerned about women's health issues, and pretty much anyone else. As a content warning I will say that birth is shown several times with no censoring and there are two instances that I can remember bad language being used. Oh, and I took Ethan with me and there were a lot of other moms there with babies so it seems to be the one acceptable time to take your baby to the movies!

Just Use Vaseline!

Little Ethan has quite sensitive skin. Around the middle of January I took my red, itchy boy into the doctor to see if I could give him (and myself) some relief. The doctor looked him over and gave us a treatment plan which included a couple of different steroidal creams for flare ups. The other part of the treatment was to coat Ethan in Vaseline (petroleum jelly) 2-4 times per day. I was a bit skeptical to say the least. You see, I had bought and tried expensive baby lotions, baby eczema creams, and gentle bath soaps. The products I bought said things like "colloidal" and "hypoallergenic" and "natural oat extract". If the expensive stuff wasn't working, what was a $3 jar of Vaseline going to do for him?

Let me tell you, since being on the Vaseline plan my baby actually has baby soft skin! Every morning, afternoon, and evening I grease him up and since I have started doing that his skin is wonderful! He still has flare ups, but they don't spread or get weepy and crusty (ew, I know). I stopped using my expensive diaper rash cream too and now I just keep Vaseline on his bum. It works wonders! It is greasy and messy to apply, but luckily it is winter so his arms and legs are covered and not getting petroleum jelly on anything but his clothes.

Anyway, many of you more experienced parents may already know about the wonderful substance that is Vaseline, but I thought I'd share for those of you who don't.

Amusing Myself

This is so neat. Just let the page load and wait for the fun.

Bumbo!

Ethan just got his Bumbo chair in the mail today (yay for eBay!). These pictures are not very good (either blurry or Ethan's not all the way in the frame), but he seemed to like sitting up. And he looks so darn cute.

Ethan Rolls Over or We Have Video

Remember how I posted that Ethan couldn't roll over? The very next day he went and did it. It took me some time to finagle this video onto this here internet, but I think I have done it (digital camcorders can be complicated!).

Keeping the Homefires Burning

Well, here is my first post for 2008! I know you all are super excited.

I have to say that this year is not starting out on a particularly great note as Steve has just left for a 3-month deployment. However, I am thankful that it is only 3 months as opposed to some of the year-long tours that the Army and Marines have to endure. The other neat thing about Steve's deployment is that he is in the same place that I was deployed to in 2004. In fact, one of the first things he did upon his arrival was to go check out where I used to work. So now he knows where I was for those 4 months.

For Christmas, Steve and I got each other a digital camcorder, so I'm going to try uploading some of our Christmas footage in the upcoming days (preview: one of my nephews exclaims, "I'm a thepard!" and proceeds to chase my dog around as one of his "theep").

Ethan's doing really well these days. My favorite new skill that he has mastered is head control. It is still a little wobbly, but for the most part he can keep it steady to look around while I'm carrying him (which makes carrying him so much easier). He isn't rolling over yet, but puts a lot of effort into tummy time. The thing is that he has never really been bothered by being on his tummy, so he doesn't have much incentive to try and get to his other side. Here he is trying to figure out how to work one of his Christmas presents. It is a sweet little rocking chair:

"I can't believe they want me to fly this thing. I can't even sit up for more than half a second!"

"Alright, I suppose I will give it a shot."

I got him a Bumbo chair from eBay and I'm excited for it to get here so he can try it out. The rocking chair is a bit advanced for him yet, even if he does look cute in it. My father-in-law has uploaded some other pictures from our Christmastime here.