Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Lions and Tigers and Birthing, Oh My!

Huh, I am really being a slacker lately about posting. What can I say... Summer. For the first time I can remember, it is August and I am still not sick of the season. This is a real breakthrough, as I am usually someone who is holed up in the AC pining for crisp autumn air and the advent of sweater season by about July fourth. But this summer hasn't felt unbearably humid, nor have I had to drag around a thirty pound belly following knee surgery as was the case last summer. I've really been having a lot of fun doing the occasional outdoor activity! Go me.

Yesterday, I even took the kids to the zoo for the first time. Well, with my mom and my sister. I wouldn't brave it alone under any circumstances, let's be clear, but with adults outnumbering kids, it wasn't bad at all. Eli was a little fussy, as he's coming off of a high fever last weekend (he has roseola) so we spent a lot of time passing around his twenty one pound bulk between us while pushing an empty stroller. But other than that, they were both amazingly well behaved, and Addy made all the appropriate facial expressions and gestures (jaw dropped in awe! wild pointing!) of a toddler witnessing Nature for the first time. It was gratifying enough to make up for eating overpriced faux nacho cheese product at the zoo cafe for dinner.

Earlier this week, I finally got to watch The Business of Being Born, that documentary Ricki Lake produced about birth and obstetric care in the U.S. It was really interesting, and even though I wasn't fully convinced that a home birth is the way to go, at least for me, it still definitely confirmed in my mind that the basic system of care in place for pregnant women and their babies in this country is totally backwards- it's much more DOCTOR oriented than it is WOMAN oriented, and far too many decisions are made for reasons of legal liability and simple convenience rather than what's truly in the baby and mom's best interest. I don't know what the answer is in every case, but I do know that as women we really have to be proactive about making sure we do our research, look into all options, and really take responsibility and ownership of our own birthing experiences. I would really recommend watching this film if you get a chance; it'll definitely make you think.

And in another paragraph completely absent of a decent segue attempt, I think we are going with a loose "jungle animal" theme for Eli's birthday party. It seems to fit his personality better than any of the other ideas, for, despite his angelic smiles in the portraits of the previous post, he can honestly resemble a wild baby animal sometimes (think screaming howler monkeys.)

Also, I am going to pick up Eli's pictures today, and I still haven't decided which poses I want to get. I think I may just go with the three I had chosen originally ( # 4 and 6, and also another one I forgot to post) and then see what they offer me as a "last minute deal!" You know how they always print up a couple extra of what the photographer thought were cute poses and offer you the whole bunch for an extra twenty bucks or whatever? I'm thinking whatever it is, I'll probably say, "Sure, throw 'em in there!" But I do want to make sure I get one of pose number seven. At first I loved it, but then I thought maybe it was a little... Big or something. Too in your face, and kind of a weird angle. But then I saw it again and was all, "But look at his EYES!" And you all seemed to favor that one, so I'm going back to my initial instinct. If that's not in the last minute batch, I'll just bite the bullet and order it.

11 comments:

Jess said...

Really, you just have a beautiful kid so as far as the portraits are concerned, you just can't go wrong.

Mommy Daisy said...

You took the kids to the zoo and have no photos to share? We went to the zoo about 4-5 times last summer. This summer we've only been once (and I took him alone). I'd like to go again, but I don't know when. Oh well. He always loves it.

I have heard about that video but haven't watched it yet. I'll get right on that.

Jungle animals = good! Also, can't believe it's been a year already.

d e v a n said...

cute birthday theme! I love the zoo, but D has been working too much to take the kids with me this summer. I am NOT doing that alone.

Mary O said...

A day at the zoo sounds fun. Especially with nacho cheese... yum! =)

Susiewearsthepants said...

I had nachos at the pool over the weekend. Going to the public pool reminded me of when we used to go as kids. We would be so excited if we had enough money to get some nachos. They weren't as good as I remembered, but still the experience was fun.

Sarah said...

Mommy Daisy- Oh, I have pictures aplenty, fear not. To be posted later. I was too lazy to download this morning.

All D's- No, definitely don't attempt it alone. I think you need at LEAST one adult per child to make it truly stress free and fun. You could maybe do two kids per adult and have minimal stress, but for my money, I want NO STRESS AT ALL.

Astarte said...

Good luck getting the photo deal!!!

Wow, a trip to the zoo in the summer! I can never make myself do that until late fall. Ugh. Sweaty. Go you!!!!

Jungle theme sounds so fun. Making a cake for that will be great!

Katy said...

I know what you mean about the Ricki Lake viddo--I wish that women felt like they had more options, but I still want to have my baby in the hospital. Did you see the part where the woman just had a baby in a pool while her son was trying to get her attention? Bizarre.

Erin said...

The jungle animal theme is perfect... I love it. Inspired by the zoo! Maybe you should serve some faux cheese nacho dish? You know, to give everyone the full effect?

Anonymous said...

I was recently thinking the same thing- I am normally done with summer at this point but this year I am loving it. Strange. But good I guess.

Annie said...

1) Your little boy is gorgeous.

2)I *just* watched TBOBB with my pregnant sister two weeks ago! I too found it very interesting. I'm not sure I would feel comfortable with a homebirth, but if we are blessed with a third, I feel armed with better information now. I would consider going unmedicated. I agree that I wouldn't be very comfortable having my toddler actually watching me give birth, bird.