Greek & Xenos

Can you imagine?

2012-01-18T19:56:00.001-05:00

"When governments had to fund their own wars without a paper money machine to rely upon, they economized on resources. They found diplomatic solutions to prevent war, and after they started a war they ended it as soon as possible." -Ron Paul, End the Fed

Some Resolutions for the New Year

2012-01-10T23:56:00.000-05:00

I think I did OK with my resolutions last year, and I love making new ones every year. I have learned not to make resolutions for myself that require doing something every single day without fail for the entire year. When I mess up once, I just totally give it up. So here a few goals I have for this year:

Read 52 books. I didn't quite make it last year, but I don't think it is an unreasonable goal. I'm also going to count audio books (though those will be limited), which I can listen to while working toward my second goal:
Get really good at knitting. I have enjoyed learning new stitches and skills in the past couple of months, and I'd like to do a variety of projects this year at higher levels. I don't necessarily want to become an expert in a year, but I'd like to be able to do projects considered advanced by the end of the year.
Find some way to organize recipes/meal planning in a way that works for us.
Learn to use our nice, new camera we got for Christmas.
Start a small garden.
Memorize 12 Psalms (one a month) using the Psalter.
Run a 5K.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers by Elizabeth Pantley

2012-01-09T23:45:00.000-05:00

Before we had Nathan, we didn't necessarily plan on cosleeping, though I was not an anti-cosleeper either. We lived in a small one-bedroom garage apartment, and a friend gave us a pack-and-play that fit right between our bed and the wall. Nathan didn't really like that at all, though, and he didn't like the Snuggle Nest we bought either. So we became cosleepers, and I'm so glad we did. I felt like I never missed a beat with sleep deprivation, and I think it helped our breastfeeding experience as well. The arrangement was convenient when we moved into a one-room cabin when Nathan was six months old, but I knew that one day he would need to move on to his own bed. The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers was a great book that got us through the transition from cosleeping to independent sleep pretty easily.

Like The No-Cry Nap Solution, this book's chapters tackle different sleep issues and give you a variety of creative approaches to help you make changes that you want to make. I think the main reason that these two No-Cry books have been so appealing to me is their lack of judgment toward different choices that are, in my opinion, a matter of preference. She asks questions like why you want to change certain things (peer pressure is actually not the best reason to make parenting decisions), and these questions help you figure out what is important to you and what will work for your child and your family. When you figure out what your goals are, you can customize a sleep plan using suggestions in the book based on your individual situation.

The "No-Cry" aspect of this book is a little different in this book than others since it's about older children. I really like this quote (sorry for the length):

I'm a firm believer that babies should never be left to cry until they fall asleep I also believe that toddlers and preschoolers should not be left for endless amounts of tears and anguish, contrary to some sleep books, which suggest doing this even to the point of vomiting. There are hundreds of ideas for helping a child sleep better without resorting to shutting the door on him and wringing your hands while he wails for hours. I have learned, however, that allowing an older toddler or preschooler a few minutes of fussing or moderate crying is not necessarily evil. Many loving, attached parents have put together complete and considerate sleep plans for their children and allowed a small amount of tears along the way. Many breastfeeding-ten-time-a-night toddlers have spent some time crying while being rocked in Daddy's loving arms, while a desperately tired mother catches a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. There is a huge difference between putting a child in a crib, shutting the door, and abandoning her to hours of crying versus creating a complete and thoughtful sleep plan that includes a loving before-bed routine and then allowing a few minutes of protest at the time the lights are turned out. There's also a considerable difference between letting a tiny baby cry in the night and letting a four-year-old cry when he's put to bed but would rather stay up and watch a movie. After all, when your toddler or preschooler cries for candy before dinner, or because you won't let him paint the kitchen cabinets, or because you told him not to give the dog a haircut, you don't second-guess yourself, do you? So if your no-cry plan turns into a little-bit-of-cry plan, don't feel like you've been a failure. (33)

We had two sleep "issues" (I wouldn't call them problems) that I wanted to change over time. When we moved to our new place with rooms, we had coslept for 18 months, and at that point, I was several months pregnant. I knew that in six months he needed to be in his own bed in his own room. He was also still waking about twice a night to breastfeed. This wasn't necessarily a problem, but around 17/18 months, I noticed that it started interfering with his sleep for the first time (perhaps my supply was dropping a little because of the pregnancy?).

I didn't come up with an official plan or anything, but using suggestions throughout her book that seemed best for our situation, particularly from the weaning from breast and moving from family bed to independent sleep chapters, Nathan began sleeping on a twin bed in his own room all night within two months of beginning the transition. When we moved, we put his bed beside ours for about three weeks or so. Not too much changed, although he was sleeping longer stretches since it was darker and quieter in our room than at the cabin. Gus would get him or he would climb up to our bed in the middle of the night. He continued to want to nurse in the night, but it interfered with his sleep more and more. Gus ended up holding him and walking him around a couple nights while he screamed during this transition. Then we moved his bed to his room, and for about a week or so, one of us would go in his room and sleep with him the rest of the night when he woke up (anywhere between 1 and 5).

The last part happened kind of suddenly and accidentally. I had begun rocking him to sleep when he sort of grew out of nursing to sleep, but for a few days he seemed to be growing out of rocking to sleep, too. The oven was beeping, so I put him in the bed and told him I'd be right back. He screamed, got out of bed, but by the time I was done with what needed to be done a few minutes later, he had already climbed back up in the bed. I spent some time rocking him, which wasn't working again, so I put him down and left again. After a few minutes, he fell asleep. For a few days, he would wake up in the night around 3 or 4, but by the time I went to the bathroom and got back to his room, he usually had already fallen back asleep. Even though I hadn't planned on having any crying, it was very minimal because of the slow transition leading up to that point. Looking back, I'm not sure that I could have avoided the few protest cries as it seemed like he was really ready to do it on his own, and he just needed the little extra push of actually having to do it on his own. Who knows? I'm not going to think about it too much because I know the next kid will probably be very different anyway.

I think The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers is a great book that encourages creative solutions to your individual issues. I like that it helped me think and come up with my own plan, rather than telling me exactly how to think and what to do. When you cosleep, you hear a lot of negative things, particularly about how hard it will be to get your child to sleep on their own (especially when they have known nothing else for 18 months!). This book reassured me that it wasn't going to be impossible, and with a couple months of consistent work at transition, it could be done. It worked for us.

Superman

2012-01-06T10:44:00.000-05:00

Nathan picks up a Superman figurine.

Me: Who is that, Nathan?

Nathan: [R]on Paul?

Well...sort of, yes.

Husband-Coached Childbirth by Dr. Robert Bradley

2012-01-02T22:03:00.002-05:00

Last time around, I read Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way (not by Dr. Bradley) and The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth. We had also bought Husband-Coached Childbirth, but we didn't get around to reading it in time. I'm pretty sure that was a big mistake.

In contrast to Natural Childbirth, Husband-Coached Childbirth didn't have pictures to explain different exercises or labor and delivery positions or long instructions and checklists for the labor coach. It did have all that information, but it was a little more brief. It was more broad in discussing pregnancy and childbirth, so I felt like a got a fuller understanding of why the Bradley Method teaches the things it does. For example, I knew the Bradley labor positions during my first childbirth experience from my reading. But I ended up not doing them for the worst part of my labor because I really didn't understand why they were important. My labor made so much more sense to me after reading this book, and in some ways I wish I could go back and correct the mistakes I made because I think my specific labor experience could have been shortened by several hours if I had done just a couple of the things suggested in Husband-Coached Childbirth that I didn't do.

While Natural Childbirth seemed more like reading an instruction manual, reading Husband-Coached Childbirth felt like I was having a conversation with a doctor sharing his several decades worth of experience. It is a nice contrast to the other two, though I wouldn't say that it is better. It was nice to refer back to Natural Childbirth while reading this book for the pictures or more detailed instructions about pregnancy diet and recommended exercises. And this book doesn't have the updated research that The Thinking Woman's Guide does (e.g. its information on episiotomies I found extremely outdated), so it is a great companion to those books for the helpful explanations and experience that he shares, but not necessarily a good replacement.

Final 2011 Reading List

2012-01-01T23:27:00.001-05:00

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I read 35+ more books than I read in 2010. The bad news is that I didn't make it to 52. I have a couple lame excuses for this: 1) I got pregnant, which made me more tired, so I started napping during my usual reading time (Nathan's naptime); and 2) we moved in September, and all of the sudden I could do noise-making things after 7 p.m. (e.g. wash dishes). I was trying to catch up in December by finishing a lot of books I had started, but I decided about a week ago that I would only make it by staying up way too late every night reading (and this was the week after staying up way too late every night knitting). And if I didn't finish, then I could get off to a good start in 2012 by finishing all the books I didn't in 2011. So, I decided to give up and settle for a little bit less.

I wanted to read a lot of books that have been on my bookshelves for awhile this year, so a lot of these are the same type of book. I'm hoping to diversify next year and get more books at the library from different genres and authors. Here is my final list

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
The Paideia of God by Douglas Wilson
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Vaccine Book by Robert Sears
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Future Men by Douglas Wilson
Serious by John McEnroe
Start Your Family by Steve and Candace Watters
Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
Raising Children God's Way by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer
Wise Words by Peter Leithart
The Facts on the Mormon Church by John Ankenberg and John Weldon
My Life for Yours: A Walk through the Christian Home by Douglas Wilson
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Evangelical Ethics by John Davis
Reforming Marriage by Douglas Wilson
The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare
The Baptized Body by Peter Leithart
Holiness by J.C. Ryle
Robert E. Lee on Leadership: Executive Lessons in Character, Courage, and Vision by H.W. Crocker
Black and Tan: Essays and Excursions on Slavery, Culture War, and Scripture in America by Douglas Wilson
Face to Face: Meditations on Friendship and Hospitality by Steve Wilkins
The Family at Church by Joel Beeke
Let Your Life Speak: Listening to the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer
Clean Water, Red Wine, Broken Bread by Douglas Wilson
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
Generation Me by Jean Twenge
Based Upon a Lie by Robert Beaudine
The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers by Elizabeth Pantley
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
The Mantra of Jabez by Douglas Jones
The Fruit of Her Hands by Nancy Wilson
Seinlanguage by Jerry Seinfeld
Miserly Mom by Jonni McCoy
Husband-Coached Childbirth by Robert Bradley
The Wit and Wisdom of Robert E. Lee by Devereaux Cannon
Is Christianity Good for the World? by Douglas Wilson and Christopher Hitchens
Utopia by Thomas More
Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare
Puritan Evangelism by Joel Beeke
Persuasions by Douglas Wilson
To a Thousand Generations by Douglas Wilson
Persuasion by Jane Austen
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Family Practice edited by R.C. Sproul Jr.

(Not sure if I typed something twice - I'm only coming up with 45 on my paper.) At the beginning of the year, I focused on reading one book at a time. Sometime in February, perhaps when I was stuck on Pilgrim's Progress, I started reading at least two books at a time. On the one hand, I think it was necessary while reading tough books like Pilgrim's Progress and Holiness. But on the other hand, I ended up being totally unfocused and picking up way too many books at a time. I'm hoping to figure out a happy medium for this problem in the coming year.

A New Year

2012-01-01T22:40:00.001-05:00

This New Year's feels so different from the last few. In 2009, we were engaged and soon to be married. In 2010, we were expecting our first little one. In 2011, we didn't know what to expect or where we would end up. I'm sure there will be plenty of surprises this year, but I don't feel excited or nervous with anticipation for some impending major event the year will hold (except, of course, the final season of One Tree Hill starting Jan. 11). At the end of the year, we will probably still be living in the same place, and Gus will probably have the same jobs. We will have a new little member of our family, which will bring plenty of excitement and joy, but it doesn't feel as unknown and scary as the first time around.

Who knows what will happen in 2012? God has been so faithful to our little family, and I look forward to seeing more of his blessing on our lives in this new year.

Christmas Hats

2011-12-31T23:37:00.001-05:00

I made hats for all of Gus' family. I used pretty simple patterns for these since these were the first projects I did for the Christmas season since they needed to be done early enough to ship. I haven't yet done a hat in the round yet, so all of these I seamed.

For the men, I used this pattern from Lion Brand except I added a couple extra rows. I also made this hat for a female friend as written.

I used the pattern given in my knitting class a couple of years ago for the women but added a pom-pom.

For Gus' 9-year-old cousin, I used this Smiley Face Hat pattern, but since I was doing it for a child and also couldn't knit in the round, I used the instructions from another pattern with similar weighted yarn. My embroidery wasn't the best, but I didn't think it was bad for my first try and for working in a time crunch. I loved the color and really want to knit another one for Nathan like this.

Christmas Knitting

2011-12-28T01:35:00.003-05:00

I took a brief knitting class a couple of years ago at Midlands Tech and failed miserably at the project that we did for the class. I decided to try again a few months ago, and I finally got the hang of it. Here are a few of the projects I did for Christmas gifts.

I knit this "Knit It Tonight Cowl" for my Grandma. I only did 40 rows instead of 48, and I thought it turned out the perfect size. I should have taken the picture with the bind-off edge on the bottom; I'm not sure if there is a better way to bind off that I just don't know about yet or what.

I loved knitting this "Ribs & Ruffles Scarf" for my aunt and really want to make one for myself someday. I think I used size 11 needles since I didn't have size 13 at that time, so it turned out a little thinner than it was supposed to but I liked it.

This "Mulberry Merino Cowl" for my other aunt was really easy to knit but I thought looked really classy. It looked really nice wrapped around twice but I didn't get a picture of it. I might cast on a five or so more stitches next time so that it will be a little easier to wrap around. This was my second attempt (first successful attempt) at knitting in the round.

Christmas Pictures

2011-12-28T01:22:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas.

Gus and Nathan on Christmas Eve.

The "Elmo Rocks" toy definitely got the best reaction. We have about 100 pictures of Nathan smiling and laughing at this toy.

With Papa and Grandma on Christmas.

Merry belated Christmas, everyone!

Words

2011-10-12T21:49:00.000-04:00

Nathan is 19 months and a few days, and it seems like he is picking up words like crazy. Before he gets too communicative, I want to document his words thus far.

Dada
Papa (every time he hears a knock on the door or we pull up to my grandparents house or my parents' house or when he sees a light-colored SUV resembling my dad's or when he sees either Papa)
Babou (at the beach he called Babou (Gus' stepdad) "Papa" but has been saying Babou now when looking at pictures)
Ball
Bite (any time anyone is eating anything around him, usually followed by the "please" sign)
Mama or Mimi (he's only said either of these a handful of times, and half of those times I'm not even sure he's referring to me)
Bless you (this started out as da-doo when someone would sneeze, but now it sounds more and more like bless you)
Bible
Nathan (sounds like Nay-nay)
Baby
Teeth
Feet
Boo-boo
Jesus
Amen (he sings the three-fold Amen after we pray before meals and at church after the benediction with the congregation)
Shoe
Poopoo
Apple (sounds like bapple)
Juice
Cheese (for the food and for pictures)
Duck
Doggy
Lion
Beep (there is never just one beep though...it's always two or three)
Peekaboo (sounds like pea-boo)

There are some words that I'm pretty sure that I know what he's saying but they aren't always that clear, e.g. backhoe, vacuum. He also says Veggie Tales, though other people would probably not realize it, and yesterady when we watched an episode together, I'm pretty sure he was saying several words along with the theme song.

I taught him to say "Daaaad?" whenever he wakes up, like in a Macaulay Culkin voice from Home Alone when he goes downstairs and says "Mom? Dad? Buzz?" He does the "Dad" one without prompting pretty frequently but now with prompting he can do the "Mooom" part, and he even says "Buu" sometimes too. So guess we're going to have to name #2 Buzz.

He also does a lot of animal noises, and I was afraid he would stop doing them, but so far they have only gotten more enthusiastic. At the beginning of our street now is a house with cows, horses, dogs, and goats, and he goes crazy making his whole list of animal sounds when we pass by, even if those particular animals aren't there. He loves doing the sheep, and he oftentimes mistakes white cars on the road for sheep. He loves doing the elephant noise and playing elephant with Daddy. Here is a video from a couple months ago of his lion impression (this is the best I could do since he does not stay still):

Generation Me by Jean Twenge

2011-10-11T23:55:00.000-04:00

I checked out Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--And More Miserable Than Ever Before from the library a couple months ago, and it was a really interesting book even though I didn't always agree with her conclusions. I have been able to use things I read in this book in many conversations, so it was a very valuable read for social purposes.

Twenge uses research to try to make general characterizations of children born between 1970 and the late 1980s. I loved the first few chapters about the self-esteem garbage we have been fed since birth, the "you can be anything you want to be" mentality, and the complete dismissal/loathing of social rules. I found her characterizations to be very accurate in these areas based on my experience, and I even grew up in a conservative area.

The research in the chapter on the rise of depression and anxiety in "GenMe" was really interesting, but I thought she missed the point. I would say GenMe is so depressed because they are so self-focused, not necessarily because they have so much pressure to perform and get into good colleges, etc. It seemed like she missed the connection between depression and what she wrote in the preceding chapters about self-importance and self-absorption characterizing the generation.

The last couple of chapters really ticked me off though, particularly the chapter about the "equality revolution." I thought she completely lost any objectivity. Perhaps as a stay-at-home mom I'm just being sensitive (but I really don't think so), but it seemed as if she were rejoicing that high housing prices (the book was written in 2005) forced women to give up the option of staying at home. She obviously doesn't even want women to have that option because, God forbid, women might start staying at home and we lose all that liberation we've worked so hard to obtain (...could this also be related to the misery that characterize the generation?).

As someone who is no stranger to the phrase, "That is exactly what is wrong with people today," I really enjoyed reading this book.

News

2011-08-26T00:04:00.001-04:00

Life is flying by, and I haven't had time to write about our new baby that will be arriving sometime around March 11. A week or so before I suspected anything, Nathan pointed to my belly button and said "baby," something he generally reserves for times when he sees an actual baby. Like my mom always says, babies and dogs have a sixth sense about things.

March is becoming quite the busy month for us; this baby's due date is four days after our third anniversary and eight days after Nathan's second birthday. We are planning a home birth for this one, which will be nice and convenient since our soon-to-be next-door neighbor (actually we'll share a duplex) is my midwife.

Exciting things to come!

Nathan Swims

2011-07-31T19:14:00.000-04:00

Nathan loves the water. We have taken him swimming some, but he usually gets bored and frustrated with it pretty quickly because he hates being held for very long and he wants to do his own thing. My parents' neighborhood has a baby pool though, so I let him go with his swimmies. He tripped a couple of times and the swimmies caught him, so he slowly gained confidence walking around the pool. Then, to our amazement, he started swimming! I think he could have stayed there all day.

A Day at the Museum

2011-07-25T22:34:00.003-04:00

We went to the museum today with Gus' mom, aunt and cousin, who are in town from Ohio. We had a great time, and even though most of the activities were too advanced for Nathan, he had a great time.

In the "market" area, Nathan picked out some carrots, but ice cream cartons filled most of his cart.

This picture, taken in the construction zone, really makes me laugh. Nathan loved picking up the rocks and walking around with the hat on.

The "lilly pad" section was definitely his favorite. When we walked up to that area, he started making his hiccuppy sound that he does when he gets excited. He loved playing with the little toys and "duck-ducks" in the water, and he was soaked by the time he was done.

If I Should Die

2011-07-07T21:03:00.001-04:00

As I was reading The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers by Elizabeth Pantley, I came across this discussion about appropriate nighttime prayers:

"It may surprise you to know that some traditional children's prayers may contribute to worries instead of peace, such as those that refer to death or dying. For example, the well-known

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Such prayers can create unease or fearsome thoughts just before bed." (146)

My first reaction when I read this was to roll my eyes. I said this prayer with my mom every night growing up, so what? Then I remembered lying awake at night (not infrequently, I don't believe) thinking I would die in my sleep. I still think about death and dying a lot, though I'm not sure that this is caused entirely by my childhood nightly prayer.

Here's a funny example that I remember as if it were yesterday. My mom always told us to be really careful when we did forward rolls so that we didn't break our necks because breaking your neck can kill you. (I'm pretty sure she didn't actually made us believe that careless forward rolls=dying, but that's how I interpreted it as a 5-year-old.) One Saturday night, my sister and I were watching SNICK and doing rolls and other rambunctious things on my parents' king size bed while they were downstairs, watching America's Most Wanted, I'm sure. I did a forward roll, which caused a bone in my neck to pop, which led me to believe that I had broken my neck.

Add to my irrational fear of dying from doing a forward roll the fact that I was watching Are You Afraid of the Dark? when it happened, I was sure that I was going to die that night in my sleep. When my mom came to tuck me in, I didn't tell her what had happened because I knew that she would be mad that I had been so careless with my rolls (and I'm not so sure that we weren't breaking some other rules by playing on the bed), and I also didn't want her to be sad that I was about to die. I was extra sweet to her that night, and I tried to keep talking to her after we said our prayers because it was the last time she would see me. After she left, I tried to stay awake as long as I could. I was pretty surprised in the morning when I woke up; it was a miracle!

So, I will concede, I think there is merit in avoiding praying about dying in the night with small children when your goal is to get them to go to sleep and not lie awake in worry. But I will say that now I am mostly thankful that I think about death so much, even though Gus hates it.

Resolution Reading Update #2

2011-07-05T12:07:00.000-04:00

The year is halfway over, and I have read 26 books. Here is an updated list of the books I read January to June.

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
The Paideia of God by Douglas Wilson
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Vaccine Book by Robert Sears
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Future Men by Douglas Wilson
Serious by John McEnroe
Start Your Family by Steve and Candace Watters
Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
Raising Children God's Way by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer
Wise Words by Peter Leithart
The Facts on the Mormon Church by John Ankenberg and John Weldon
My Life for Yours: A Walk through the Christian Home by Douglas Wilson
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Evangelical Ethics by John Davis
Reforming Marriage by Douglas Wilson
The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare
The Baptized Body by Peter Leithart
Holiness by J.C. Ryle
Robert E. Lee on Leadership: Executive Lessons in Character, Courage, and Vision by H.W. Crocker
Black and Tan: Essays and Excursions on Slavery, Culture War, and Scripture in America by Douglas Wilson
Face to Face: Meditations on Friendship and Hospitality by Steve Wilkins
The Family at Church by Joel Beeke
Let Your Life Speak: Listening to the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer
Clean Water, Red Wine, Broken Bread by Douglas Wilson

All of these are very good books, minus Let Your Life Speak which is, in my humble opinion, lots of liberal garbage. I would have to say that my favorite of the second 13 books is Robert E. Lee on Leadership, though I really liked The Baptized Body and My Life for Yours. But none of these surpass my favorite of the year so far, The Hidden Art of Homemaking.

More on Orthodontics

2011-06-28T23:30:00.000-04:00

After I wrote yesterday's post, I started wondering more about the history of orthodontics; if the high need for braces is related to the modern use of bottles and pacifiers, then before the widespread use of these things, there must not have been significant need for braces. I did a little bit of Googling to see if this research had been done and found some really interesting information compiled by dentist Brian Palmer.

To better understand the significance of the influence of breastfeeding on malocclusion, one must consider that, of the approximately 600 older skulls this author examined and evaluated, nearly all had perfect occlusions. All of the skulls were from populations living before the invention of the modern baby bottle or were from breastfeeding cultures, and therefore these individuals were necessarily breastfed. These skulls universally demonstrated, good occlusion, few dental caries, and well-rounded and full "U-shaped" dental arches. These features were found in far fewer of the modern skulls.

For any of you who are wannabe lactation consultants like me, you might be interested in reading the entire article here. He has lots of other interesting articles, too.

The First Step in Preventive Orthodontics

2011-06-27T21:23:00.000-04:00

I've written before about how I was attracted to ecological breastfeeding because it simplifies life and doesn't require buying extra things, not to mention cleaning and storing those things. Another big thing related to the unnecessary use of bottles and pacifiers that appealed to me in Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing was the research about orthodontics. A family member recently shared with me that her son's braces cost them $5,000. And since we plan on having more than one kid, expenses like that can add up pretty quickly. If my children still need braces, that's fine, but I want to do everything I can to try to avoid incurring those kind of bills.

In Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing, Sheila Kippley writes:

"In studying the histories of 9,698 children, researches at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health found 'that children bottlefed or breastfed for less than a year reported misaligned teeth 40% more often than children breastfed for more than one year... But those breastfed for three months or less and those who continued to suck a finger had the highest risk of crooked teeth.' They concluded that breastfeeding contributes to straighter teeth because 'it leads to different growth patterns in the mouth than those in bottlefed babies.'" (23)

In a family I know with three grown children, the first two were breastfed, one of them for two years, and I doubt they used many bottles, if at all. The third was bottlefed and was the only one of the three who needed braces. I know of another family with similar results. Kippley and her husband were bottlefed babies and required braces, while none of their five children needed braces. It's possible that these particular results are mere coincidence and the children who didn't need braces still would not have needed them had they been given pacifiers and bottles. But given the statistics, there is definitely a correlation in the overall population that is worth considering.

Gus and I were both bottlefed; Gus didn't have to have braces, and my teeth weren't that bad but I had them for 18 months. Hopefully our good teeth genes will be carried on to our children, and their chances of avoiding braces will be improved by breastfeeding without the use of bottles or pacifiers. Early on, I also made sure that Nathan's non-nutritional sucking needs were met by breastfeeding so that he would not develop a thumb sucking habit that could effect his teeth. (He does occasionally suck on his bottom lip, which, based on a couple ultrasound pictures, I'm pretty sure he did before he was born). I am very interested to see how this turns out in a few years.

The Family at Church by Joel Beeke

2011-06-26T23:24:00.000-04:00

The Family at Church is a little book divided into two sections; the first section talks about listening to sermons, and the second discusses prayer meetings. I especially enjoyed the second part of the book, and it made me really motivated to pray more.

Did you know that Christians in South Korea gather every morning to pray at 5:30 in the summer and 6:30 in the winter? And God has blessed that faithfulness with incredible revival and reformation in the last 50 years.

I remember when I was a teenager, our church's theme for one year was "expectation." I didn't really get it. Sure, God can do big things. "But does that mean we should expect them?" I thought. I think it is common for Christians in our culture to think that the world is going to hell in a hand-basket, and God can't or won't do anything about it. We really don't care for God to do anything because we don't love our neighbors as we should. And not too mention we're just too lazy to devote ourselves to prayer.

Since that year, the word "expectation" has come to mind frequently as I doubt God's willingness and ability to work in our world. When we expect God to work, we pray differently, and we live differently.

This book was really inspiring in motivating me to pray more and to think of creative ways for our family to pray for God's work to be done.

On a related note, I wanted to post probably my favorite CCM song to go with this post - "What If His People Prayed" by Casting Crowns - but every video I've seen on YouTube has ridiculous pictures to go along with the lyrics. And I didn't want my blog to be associated with ridiculous pictures of Satan, etc. But you should still go listen to the song, read this book, and pray.

Joy

2011-06-25T17:10:00.000-04:00

From Douglas Wilson's Clean Water, Red Wine, Broken Bread: "At the heart of the Christian message is joy--joy to the world, joy that is fierce, joy that can't change the subject."

A Little Calvinist Rant

2011-06-22T21:14:00.000-04:00

When I became a Calvinist a few years ago, I remember hearing objections to Calvinism that it was fatalistic, as in, it doesn't matter what decisions I make because God already has a plan, etc. I don't believe actual Calvinism denies personal responsibility, but I can see now why people think that. Among this new generation of young Calvinists that I have come into contact with, it is not at all uncommon to find this attitude.

So I'm putting the theory out there, which has perhaps been expressed elsewhere, that one reason Calvinism is so popular among young people nowadays is because this generation, coincidentally, doesn't like taking responsibility for their choices. And now, guess what? In their minds, they don't have to because everything is out of their hands and into God's sovereign will. God's will should never be an excuse for poor choices.

I've also observed among these young Calvinists slothfulness. And not just regular old slothfulness (not that it's any better); it's principled slothfulness. It's almost as if they are trying to show by their lifestyle that God is the one who does all the work so we don't have to.

This is not what Christianity teaches, people! Christianity includes confessing, repenting, running, fighting. It is sowing and reaping and studying and working and many more things that do not include irresponsibility, excuse-making, or slothfulness.

Everyone: Read Pilgrim's Progress!

Robert E. Lee on Leadership by H.W. Crocker

2011-06-21T21:24:00.000-04:00

I had read the first few chapters of Robert E. Lee on Leadership several times, and I finally read all the way through it many years after I bought it. Better late than never, right? It is a great book, and perhaps one of my favorites that I've read this year.

In the book, Crocker recounts Lee's life and the principles he lived by. He points out specific leadership qualities that Lee had and how they helped him succeed, and he relates these leadership skills to those needed in the workplace. Though leadership regarding family issues is not specifically addressed, I found this book to be one of the best I've read on my role as a wife and mother.

In the chapter on Gettysburg, Crocker argues that one reason it was lost was because General Longstreet did not fulfill his orders to the best of his ability because he did not agree with Lee's strategy. Perhaps this was a failure on Lee's part at not removing Longstreet, but he was in a tough position with little other experienced leadership to choose from. In reading this account, something clicked in my head that I've never thought about before regarding my job as a wife.

As a Christian, I am to submit to my husband's leadership. But just going along with his decisions isn't enough. I don't want to be like Longstreet, doing the minimum and dragging my feet. That's how you lose the battle. I want to be like Stonewall Jackson, who followed orders to the best of his ability and put his heart into the battle, knowing that God was in control.

For example, let's say my husband wanted me to homeschool our children. I am not really sold on the idea, but I submit to his leadership. He chooses the direction of the homeschool and agrees that he will be responsible for the outcome. I do it with an OK attitude, but not to the best of my ability. I lack the discipline and motivation needed to homeschool well because I didn't really want to do it in the first place and I don't think I can do it, etc. Homeschooling fails, and my husband takes responsibility. But it could have been a success had I shared his vision in more than a superficial, "hey-you-can't-say-I-didn't-submit" kind of way.

It is easy to read a book and wonder what would have happened if Longstreet had sucked it up and followed Lee's leadership. But in that moment, he didn't have the convenient view that we have of a history that has judged Lee an incredible leader. In the same way, as wives, we can't see how history will view our husbands and their works. But God has made them heads over us, and we must trust their direction and God's provision of them for us.

"The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain." Proverbs 31:11

Embarrassed Conservatives

2011-06-20T12:48:00.000-04:00

From Black and Tan: Essays and Excursions on Slavery, Culture War, and Scripture in America by Douglas Wilson:

If those who hate the Word of God can succeed in getting Christians to be embarrassed by any portion of the Word of God, then that portion will continually be employed as a battering ram against the godly principles that are currently under attack. In our day, three of the principal issues are abortion, feminism, and sodomy. If we respond to the "embarrassing parts" of Scripture by saying, "That was then, this is now," we will quickly discover that unembarrassed progressives can play that game even more effectively than embarrassed conservatives can. Paul prohibited eldership to women? That was then, this is now. Moses condemned sodomy? That was then, this is now.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T21:52:00.000-04:00

Matching bow ties from The Cordial Churchman!