The Jack Effect

Getting Back into Things

2010-10-18T09:19:00.000-05:00

Hi All. I'm sorry I've been bad about blogging recently. Things have been busy here with travel and I just applied for and got! a new job. So, I'll probably continue to blog less than when I wasn't working, but I hope to keep it up as much as I can. I'm also going to give up on the 365 days of getting out with baby. Not because I'm not getting out with him, but because he'll be with the nanny half the time and well, I'd just rather write about whatever I feel like. If we do something really cool, I'll be sure to write about it.

I would tell you about what's coming soon because I have a lot of ideas in my head that I would like to write about, but I'm afraid I'd do that and then never get to some of them...so you'll just have to "stay tuned."

Wander on over to The Shopping Mama sometimes too, to see my posts there.

Thanks for sticking around.
Malia

Day 14: Hanging at Daddy's Work

2010-09-25T15:00:00.003-05:00

We spent most of yesterday hanging out at a family day at Daddy's work. This of course meant skipping afternoon nap time. Thank goodness for our Ergo Carrier. I was able to put the little guy in there around nap time and he got a quick 20 minute nap. It wasn't great, but it was better than nothing. Plus I was able to carry him around most of the day which kept him happy and out of trouble and my hands free. I didn't take any photos, so here's what he looks like in the Ergo from my The Shopping Mama Ergo post.

Cost: $0
Age: Almost 8 months

Day 13 No really, my house doesn't normally look like this.

2010-09-25T09:32:00.000-05:00

If you remember, and of course you do because my life is endlessly fascinating, on day 12 one of our activities was a trip to the grocery store. As much as I looove grocery shopping (feel the irony) this was not a joy ride trip. We were on a serious mission to get some last minute ingredients because I was going to make a good dinner for once, gosh darn it. We got what we needed, minus a few items I of course forgot (like butter) but could improvise around, and headed home.

It was beautiful out so I decided a little swim would be nice before fixing dinner and it was wonderful, until everything started to go downhill. Swimming and diaper changes and all that fun stuff took longer than expected, as it always does. (Which really should make it expected, but somehow I’m always surprised.)

As a result, dinner preparation was rushed and peppered with the hungry protests of the current King of the World who is accustomed to 100% attention at meal times. Fortunately, because it was a Rachel Ray recipe, things actually came together well and in a timely manner. I started thinking, “Hey, I can do this. I could be the next Martha Stewart.” At which point the casserole overflowed onto the cookie sheet I’d placed beneath it (I did see this one coming) and the smell of blue cheese filled the house.

I should mention here that neither my husband nor I are especially fond of blue cheese, but the recipe called for it and I thought it would add a minor note to the flavor palate. Umm, the entire casserole tasted and smelled of blue cheese. It was a blue cheese lover’s paradise. We had to throw it out. Rather, because the pan was still hot, we intended to throw it out in the morning. This is how my house came to be filled with dirty dishes and a half-eaten casserole when the doorbell rang.

So here I was in beaten up jeans and an old tank top, with a kitchen full of dirty dishes and half eaten food and the little guy’s toys scattered as far as the eye could see, welcoming the dishwasher delivery guys into my home. Thank goodness I’d run the dishwasher that morning and didn’t have to pull out a bunch of dirty dishes.

The moral of the story is, this is why I don’t cook dinner very often.

Cost: $6 for that stinking (literally) blue cheese.

Age: Almost 8 months

Day 12: Making up for Day 11

2010-09-23T22:35:00.000-05:00

We made up for Tuesday's near failure by getting out of the house 3 whole times on Wednesday. To the mall, to the grocery store and swimming.

The mall was good exercise, but made me wonder why I didn't spend more time shopping in my pre-baby days. Ann Taylor Loft has some really cute stuff right now.

I did find something to take my mind off the cute clothes I wasn't buying, a buck naked child. Not mine, he can't get out of his clothes, yet. This was a random child in the middle of the mall wearing only a pair of white shoes with what looked like her mom, dad and grandpa. When she saw us, the child's mother said, "See, there's a baby who isn't crying." The child wasn't crying as we walked by, so clearly we had just missed some major drama.

I can only imagine how the poor family ended up at that point.....Mom, Dad and Grandpa bring adorable little girl dressed in Shirley Temple style dress to the mall to get a giant lollipop. The four of them are holding and hands, skipping and (because I'm the one making things up) singing "We're off to See the Wizard." They skip down the main road and past the fountain in the center of the mall. Little girl is starting to realizing how hot she is and how scratchy the collar of her dress is and how wonderful the fountain sounds. Her skips are getting shorter and slower and her singing softer. Suddenly, she twists away from her family and is running back down the road to the fountain, dress flying over her head and diaper landing in a nearby planter. Naked (except for her shoes) she runs through the fountain, rejoicing in the coolness and the freedom. Embarrassed, her family pulls her away, dries her off and moves several stores away from the fountain to avoid the curious stares. The little girl breaks into sobs and only finds the will to stop crying and agree to clothe herself when she beholds the angelic, non-crying face of my little boy. Which is of course why her mom thought the phrase "See, there's a baby who isn't crying," would do anyone any good. They all went off together holding hands again and singing "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music." I'm pretty sure that's what happened anyway.

Cost: $0

Age: 7.5 months

Day 11: Almost Not Getting Out of the House

2010-09-21T21:04:00.001-05:00

Today my inertia grabbed a hold of me and I fell into my normal routine of not leaving the house. I didn't go on a morning walk because I was tired and we had plans to head out to story time. Then I bailed on story time because Jack skipped his afternoon nap and I was afraid that he would melt down at the library. (He's been on a afternoon nap strike this week.) By the time the clock read 3 pm I found myself singing the itsy bitsy spider over and over (off key) and thoroughly tired of entertaining an infant. The best part of getting out of the house is it's relatively effortless entertainment for at least an hour.

I salvaged the evening with some time with a bunt pan and wooden spoon and a swim in the pool. So in the end, I did get out of the house, barely.

Time to start planning more activities...

Cost: $0

Age: 7.5 months

8DEP7RTJUXRM

Day 7, 8, 9 and 10 of getting out of the house with Baby

2010-09-21T10:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay, I promise I've been doing stuff, just not writing about it. Partially because I've been busy doing things and partially because baby's activities haven't been all that exciting. I had a girls night out, which was very exciting but baby didn't get to come. One of the best parts of the weekend was walking to Starbucks in the morning completely alone, just me and my thoughts. It's been a long time since I've gone anywhere alone.

Day 7: We went swimming in the backyard pool. I love having a pool. Sometimes I worry about safety with a pool, but we have a gate and are in the process of teaching our guy to float on his back. We'll probably hire a professional to teach him to swim soon because neither of us remember learning how to swim any more than we remember learning to walk. The pool is a great way to relax, burn some energy (for the kid) and get a little bit of exercise. We then completely negated any exercise by walking to the local burger joint and having a burger and fries. We were hungry and I'm not very good at planning meals. It's on my self improvement to-do list.

Cost: $7 for a burger and fries

Age: 7.5 months

i modonnari Santa Barbara (image: The Independent)

Day 8: This was going to be our big event for the weekend. A local school had an Italian Street Painting festival and I was excited to go because my home town Santa Barbara, CA has one of the best street painting festivals in the world (and likely the best in the Western Hemisphere) called i modannari. I knew the one here wouldn't be a nice as Santa Barbara's festival, but I thought it would still be fun. Yeah, there were probably 20-30 people there, total, and most of the art was done by students not necessarily destined to be professional artists. So, it was a bit of a waste, but we got to try our the new Maclaren Techno Stroller and it worked great.

Cost: $0

Age: 7.5 months

Day 9: Mom was recovering from girls night out this day, so we went swimming again.

Cost $0

Age: 7.5 months

Day 10: The weather was beautiful so we took a long morning walk in our neighborhood. It's always nice to get some exercise, get out of the house and not have to actively entertain the little guy for an hour or so.

Cost $0

Age: 7.5

Day 6 The Target Trap

2010-09-17T10:35:00.000-05:00

Is there anyone who can go to Target without spending way too much money? The only way I seem to get out safely is if I just don't get anything. Once I put something in my cart it seems to attract friends like a magnet. This is the number one reason I try to avoid the dollar section in the front of the store. A 99 cent item will turn into $100 if I let my guard down.

Knowing this, I was hesitant to go to Target yesterday for our day out. I still haven't found a job here (there may be a bit of reluctance to leave the kiddo on my part that isn't helping) and money is a little tighter than normal. Not "tighten your belts kids it's another week of canned beans tight," but not "buy whatever you feel like whenever you want either." This is a bit of a transition from pre-baby days when we were both working full time. Plus being home all day means plenty of time to shop on line and find things I "need."

However, little guy has been playing with the wheels on the stroller and I figured he needed some toys with moving parts (that had not rolled over who knows what). Target is one of our few options around here (I don't do The Walmart if I can avoid it) and we had a $15 gift card from when I blogged about the Energizer Charger. Technically it was for more batteries, but I need something to run those batteries down, right?

So we are now proud owners of a vtech Learn & Discover Driver. Ours looks a little different, but you get the idea. It's a big steering wheel with lights and buttons and it plays ALL kinds of noises. This morning while I was washing the dishes I'm pretty sure I heard Twinkle Twinkle as barked by a dog. I swore I would never get anything like this, but Jack loves it and that's all that matters, right?

And of course I ended up buying some clothes for Jack and some finger foods, but we needed those things so they don't really count. Really, he's growing out of all his clothes. Stay tuned for what I've been doing around the house (it's classy).

Cost: $0.99 for the toy ($15.99 - $15).

Age: 7 months

Arcing Carrots?

2010-09-16T22:02:00.000-05:00

Today, while trying to find a healthier finger food for Jack, I discovered something surprising about carrots. Carrots...can...make...your...microwave...arc. How crazy is that?

I had sorted carrots out from a veggie mix and was reheating them when flames erupted in my microwave. I haven't seen anything like that since years ago, when reheating some mac and cheese for kids I was babysitting, I put a fork in the microwave by mistake.

From the USDA:

What is "arcing"? Arcing (pronounced "AR-king") is sparks inside the microwave oven caused when microwaves react to gold paint on dishes, twist ties and other metallic materials. Some foods such as raw carrots and hot dogs can cause arcing while being microwaved. In hot dogs, this can be due to the uneven mixing of salts and additives. In carrots, it can be due to the minerals in the soil in which they were grown. Whatever the cause, turn off the oven immediately to end the sparks. Prolonged arcing can damage the oven and/or the utensil. If caught at once, arcing should not damage the oven. Remove the offending utensil or food from the oven and either substitute a microwave-safe utensil or cook the food by other methods.

Apparently grapes are even worse. (Why would you microwave grapes?)

Rubber Ducky You're the One or You Quack Me Up

2010-09-16T11:06:00.000-05:00

I love hearing about products that other mamas have found helpful. I read about The Munchkin White Hot Inflatable Duck Tubon one of the blogs I follow Chronicles of a Babywise Mom and just had to get it for Jack. Jack's grandpa's nickname is "Duck" and who wouldn't want to take a bath in a giant rubber ducky?

In addition to being pretty darn cute, this tub is super handy. The back (tail) is high enough that I could prop Jack up when he was almost, but not quite sitting up on his own and he gets a nice deep bath without having to fill up the whole tub (saving water here). Since it's inflatable you could easily deflate it and take it with you on visits to grandma's house.

We started using this at about 5 months old but probably could have started sooner (that's just when we bought it) maybe even as a newborn. Now, at 7 1/2 old, Jack is starting to try to climb out of it so we may transition to just the tub in the next few months. Even though 2-4 months doesn't seem like that long of use for $14 it was well worth the money in my opinion. We use this almost every night and it makes bath time so much easier. Enough easier that it would almost be worth the money for just one night of use (almost). We'll keep it for (if) baby number two and I think it will be really handy for keeping big brother from knocking over little brother/sister when it comes to baths together.

Day 5 Covet thy Neighbor's...

2010-09-15T16:04:00.000-05:00

Today we went back to the park we visited on Day 1, had a cup of coffee at the neighborhood coffee shop/wine bar, and wandered around the neighborhood. It was absolutely beautiful. White walled buildings that made me think of the Greek Isles (I've never been, it was rainy so we decided to visit Delphi instead, but I've seen photos) and cobblestone paths that wind between the buildings past trickling fountains to unexpected courtyards.

There's something about seeing such beautiful homes that makes me ungrateful for what I have. We are so blessed and live a more than comfortable life, but when I see a neighborhood like this, something inside me fills with desire for more. It's a dark feeling with flutters of excitement. I don't like it, but I still poke it as though to see what it will do. "What if?" my thoughts ask. I think I need to find a new place to walk.

Cost: $4
Age: 7 months

Photo: website suppressed for privacy

Day 4 Story Time at the Library

2010-09-15T07:00:00.011-05:00

I remember going to the library as a child and being so excited when I could help the librarian check out the books. I would get to press the little black button and make a buzzing noise. It never crossed my mind to wonder what that button and noise where until today. I googled it and it turns out I was taking a microfiche photo of the book and my library card so the librarian would have proof of who checked it out. She would also stamp my book so I knew when it was due. It was all so much more romantic than the automated systems in libraries today.

Books

I couldn't wait to introduce Jack to books and take him to the library. I started reading to him from my Kindle at a few weeks old and we started looking at books as soon as he was receptive. Now, at 7 months he still usually prefers chewing on books to reading them, but enjoys his bedtime book, Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton. I kind of like it too. It has a nice meter and is easy to read out loud.

Story Time

Back to Story Time. I was sure that Jack would be too young, and the first time we went to story time he was frightened of all the noise and activity, but was very interested in looking at the other kids. I knew right away that I needed to keep coming so that Jack could get used to being around people and places different from home. Now he loves story time at the library with Mr. Will. Of course he can't dance around in a circle singing ring around the rosie with the other kids yet, but he enjoys watching the other kids, hearing the stories, crawling over to flirt with the little girls, and trying to find someone who will let him chew on their foot/shoe. (I'm hoping this doesn't turn into a fetish some day.)

Summary

Story time is free at local libraries all over the country. It's a great place to meet other parents and it's an hour you don't have to worry about entertaining your child.

Cost: $0

Age: 7 months (I'm going to start including Jack's age so that if I make reference to "if Jack were a few years older" etc. everyone can follow what I mean.)

Completely off subject, I googled ring around the rosie to check the spelling and came across the snopes.com article stating that the song is not about the black plague. I'm happy to learn this and hope that I can now stop thinking of the black plague every time I hear the song.

Cleaning out the Washer

2010-09-14T19:00:00.004-05:00

I was doing a load of diapers today and noticed as I pulled them out that there was something brown in the bottom of the washing machine. I grabbed a paper towel and wiped it out to discover it was...dum, du, dum, dum....toast. Yes, my washing machine can manage to completely handle poop, but if I throw in a bib with a little too much toast on it, it's over. Ughhh.

On a slightly more serious note, this is one reason why at least once a month I do wash cycle with just hot water and white vinegar. That way I can be completely sure all the poop, pee, and toast is out of the washer.

Have You Heard About Amazon Mom Yet?

2010-09-14T14:03:00.000-05:00

I've purchased a couple items off of Amazon.com's subscribe and save deals, including a 200 count box of pampers I got for $4 (it would have been less but I forgot about the $1.50 coupon). Then, last week, they sent me an email about Amazon's new program: Amazon Mom.

With Amazon Mom, you get:

Three months of unlimited FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of eligible items.
Upgrades to One-Day (overnight) Shipping for just $3.99 per item.
The ability to earn an additional month (up to one year) of Amazon Prime shipping benefits for each $25 spent on products in the Baby Store in a single order.
An additional 15 percent discount on top of the standard 15 percent off discount when using Subscribe & Save delivery on select diapers and wipes.
Many more exclusive discounts and offers, tailored to a family’s interests, delivered right to your inbox.
Did I mention that it's FREE?

I don't spend much time looking at disposable diaper pricing, but I'm pretty sure 30% off is a pretty good deal (and Baby Cheapskate seems to agree). And I love having Amazon Prime (free Two-Day shipping) and I love having it for free even more. Normally it costs about $75 a year. It doesn't look like they automatically sign you up when your three free months are up, but keep an eye out just in case.

Here are some of the current exclusive discounts and offers:

Some of the exclusive offers include 10% off The Cuisinart SS-700 Single-Serve Brewing System, 10% off select Ju Ju Be diaper bags, an additional 10% to 15% off select baby activity gear from Bright Starts and Baby Einstein, 10% off select board books for baby’s first library, and many more.

Learn more clicking the image of the really cute baby above or to the right. Also check out Amazon's Fall Sale for great discounts. I love shopping at Amazon so much the UPS guy hates me just a little.

Day 3 Walking to the Park

2010-09-13T22:57:00.000-05:00

Today we were stuck in the house for most of the day waiting on the dishwasher repair man. When your dishwasher looks like this it tends to stop working..

With out much free time, I decided a walk to our neighborhood playground would be nice. Along the way we ran across a group of kids (young people, youngsters, nothing really sounds quite right) and I was struck with the fact that I'm a grown up now. I'm one of those "old people." It left me wondering, do you spend your whole life feeling unsure at times or is there a point where all of that is behind you and you know what the heck you are doing?

And then I thought, I wonder what Betty White thinks, if she has it all figured out.

As I pondered those deep and not so deep thoughts (who can think about Betty White without smiling), I reached our neighborhood park. There we found the play equipment and discovered why you should not take the rental listing's statement of "nice neighborhood park with children's play area" at its word.

Here is a photo of Jack looking at the play equipment. Yes, that's a swing set with no swings behind him. It's not as though he's old enough to play on anything yet, but it's the principle. I guess this is motivation to find interesting local parks. I did get a little exercise, so it wasn't a complete waste. When Jack is a bit older it will be an okay place for a picnic dinner, assuming the table is still there.

And that was day three of of 365 days of getting out of the house with baby. What did you do today?

Cost $0

PS It's hard to take a photo with the iPhone while holding the dog's leash, okay?

Day 2 of Getting Out of the House: I Hate My Stroller

2010-09-12T14:44:00.001-05:00

Day two of 365 Days of Getting Out of the House with Baby didn't go as smoothly as day one. Since it's Sunday I thought it would be fun to head down to the local Starbucks, grab a cup of coffee and the Sunday newspaper. I wanted to browse the paper for fun activities and introduce Jack to the best part of the newspaper, the Comics. Sounds easy enough, right?

First Jack woke up early and in a sleepy daze I made coffee while getting breakfast together and wondering what wonderful person invented the coffeemaker. Well that met my caffeine quota for the day and meant Jack had an early morning nap. When we finally made it out to Starbucks after Jack's nap, I wasn't in the mood for another coffee drink and I just have issues with paying $3 for a steamed milk when I can buy a gallon of milk for less than that. I almost bought these adorable looking mini-donuts and probably would have except they took forever to take my order and I had a chance decide I didn't need the empty calories. Oh, and they also didn't have any newspapers.

Without a drink or something to read it would look pretty silly for us to just sit in Starbucks staring at people drinking their coffee. We were at the local outlet mall and I decided it would be fun to walk around the mall. Who doesn't love a little exercise and a little window shopping? But first I had to get the Graco Clea stroller out of the trunk. Usually I get the stroller out and set up before getting Jack out of the car, but because of our Starbucks effort I was holding him. I managed to get dang thing out of the trunk, but could not get it to unfold while holding him for the life of me. I ended up having to put him in the trunk of the car. (He can sit up, so this isn't as bad as it sounds. It's not like I closed the trunk or anything.)

Did I mention that while I was struggling with this I was in ear shot of the Starbucks drive through? I had to listen to the, clearly new, employee ask everyone if they would like a caramel extra foamy umm frappuccino. That "umm" was in every greeting and I have no idea how you would make a frappuccino extra foamy. Why do they do this anyway? I just want what I drove all the way to Starbucks to order. Could you just shut up and let me order? (I'm sure you are a very nice person and I once worked at a Starbucks too, but if I wanted to socialize about the newest flavor options I would have parked and come inside.)

Back to the stroller, I'm going to do a full review of this stroller in the next couple days, when I feel like getting it out of the trunk again, but on a completely unrelated note: Anyone want to buy a stroller?

Once I got the stroller unfolded I loaded the kid inside, noticing halfway across the parking lot that I hadn't fully locked the stroller open. Don't worry though, it's almost as hard to close as it is to open so the little guy was safe.

We cruised along the storefronts rocking the window shopping until we reached Janie and Jack. With a name like that we had to take a look. Or we would if we could get inside. "Ugh, err, sorry, stupid stroller, where did that wheel come from? Oh, hello." The last was to the well put together sales clerk who kindly greeted us once I bumper car-ed our way into the store. Thanks to the humidity I was sweaty and probably a bit red by then. After a few minutes of looking around and running into three (I counted) displays and knocking one sweater on the ground, it was time for us ~~flee~~ leave quietly.

I tried a couple more stores before finally giving up and heading home. On the drive home I came to the following conclusions:

I hate this Graco Cleo and am going to get an umbrella stroller.
My next self reward for working out/losing weight is going to be something from JCrew.
I'm pretty sure I creeped out the lady with the Maclaren stroller that I was eying as we bounced off another display. (I seriously don't hit this much stuff with the BOB and it's bigger.)
On a positive note, we spend $0 and got out of the house for 30 minutes. Mission accomplished, kind of.

I'm looking for help. I'm trying to decide between the following two umbrella strollers. Both are suitable from infant to about 50 pounds (in case we have another one and don't use a double stroller) and are close enough in price to not make a difference.

There's the Maclaren Techno XT Stroller in Black (slightly cheaper option and goes to 55 lbs):

Or the Bumbleride Flite in Seagrass (cooler color and better looking?):

Or ??? Would you recommend another umbrella stroller? I'm looking for a good sunshade and a good recline because little guy needs a nap sometimes.

365 Days of Getting out of the House with Baby: Day 1 Pizza and the Park

2010-09-12T08:42:00.000-05:00

We started our 356 days of getting out of the house with a great pizza dinner with the girls and then a visit to an amazing park. I can't wait to visit the park again during the day. I snapped this iPhone picture from the park as the sun was setting. Jack also experienced his first "date" with my friend's little girl. He spent his time trying to pet her hair and poke her in the eye. I think he enjoyed it thoroughly.

Not a bad way to end the day or to start our year.

Cost: $12

365 Days of Getting out of the House with Baby

2010-09-11T10:14:00.001-05:00

When I first started blogging, I called my blog The Jack Effect partially because baby Jack had changed my life completely. I also envisioned (hoped?) that the little guy would be motivation for me to live a better life: to get out and experience life more, to spend more time serving and less time spending, and to make improving our neighborhood/community/environment a constant commitment.

I have always been a stay at home kind of person. I like my home and my things. After having a baby, I really struggle to get out of the house. This isn't always a bad thing, but when baby and I are home, in the house, in our pajamas all the time we're not really experiencing life to its fullest. I can’t help but think that I’m short changing Jack and myself.

This morning, as I was drinking tea and watching the little guy tug on my pajama bottoms, I came up with an idea to motivate myself to get out of the house and make some of that vision of a better life a reality.

For the next 365 days, we are going to get out of the house every single day. We might go to the park, the zoo, the doctor’s office (it may not always be a fun day), ride a bus, or whatever else I can come up with that is educational or fun or helps us live a better life.

Goals:

Get out and experience life more, spend more time serving and less time spending, and make improving our neighborhood/community/environment a constant commitment.

Guidelines:

Get out of the house and do something, anything, every day.
Spend no more than $20 (is this a realistic goal?)
Aim for less than $10 with a goal of Free.
Blog about our day: what we did, what we learned, etc.

What do you think? Can we/should we do it? I know some of you are better at getting out of the house than I am and I look forward to your advice as we go along.

8DEP7RTJUXRM

9-11

2010-09-11T08:00:00.009-05:00

As we remember 9-11 this weekend, I can't help but hope that my little boy will one day grow up to be the type of man who would run toward the burning towers or be heard saying "let's roll" on his last phone call to his wife.

{photo: americanheritage.com}

Vaccines

2010-09-10T09:48:00.002-05:00

Okay, I calmed down and updated my commentary on vaccines from yesterday's post. Just in case you read it yesterday and were offended. Just want babies to be safe and healthy and happy.

Whooping Cough (Pertussis)

2010-09-09T10:28:00.001-05:00

Eight infants have died from Whooping Cough (Pertussis) in California this year and there have been 3600 cases of pertussis reported. That's the worst outbreak since they started vaccinating against pertussis in the 40's and 50's (1958). I thought I'd do a review of pertussis so you know what to look for and how you can help avoid it.

Symptoms

Pertussis starts out looking like a normal cold: sneezing, runny nose, general feelings of malaise (that ugh I'm sick feeling) and coughing at night.

After a couple of weeks symptoms progress to severe coughing fits. The sufferer coughs without inhaling until his lungs are empty and then pauses to breath in. This is where the "whoop" comes in. In about 50% of the cases this inhalation will have a characteristic whooping sound. Others may not have the whoop, but they still have whooping cough! The coughing fit may be followed by vomiting, another fit or a long break before the next fit. It's not uncommon to see large amounts of mucus from the coughing fit. Some children will swallow this or you may see bubbles forming in their nose. Children may develop complications such as pneumonia and ear infections when they have pertussis.

It's not a bad idea to video or audio tape you child's coughing fits for your doctor. There's no guarantee that they will "perform" at the doctor's office and you want your doctor to have the best information when treating your child.

After several weeks the coughing fits improve but the child may have a lingering cough for several more weeks or months.

Treatment

Pertussis is a bacteria so your doctor will do a bacterial culture if he suspects whooping cough and use antibiotics to treat it. She may also use antibiotics to treat other complications like ear infections or pneumonia. Young babies and those with severe infections will likely stay in a hospital where the staff is able to quickly provide oxygen, help with breathing or give fluids. Infants under 6 months are the most likely to die from pertussis and can get worse very quickly.

Your doctor may also give your child antibiotics if your child has been exposed to pertussis, such as an outbreak at school.

Prevention

Pertussis is a largely preventable disease with vaccination. One of the reasons infants are most at risk is that they have not yet been full vaccinated. It has also been discovered recently that pertussis immunity doesn't last as long as was originally thought. It is now recommended that all adults get a pertussis booster called Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis) in place of one normal ten year tetanus booster (Td-tetanus and diphtheria). Adults who are around children regularly: parents, caregivers, teachers, nurses, etc. should get the Tdap as soon as possible (at least 2 years after last tetanus booster to reduce risk of painful reaction). All other adults can wait until their next scheduled tetanus booster.

Parents who choose not to vaccinate themselves or their children increase all children's risk of infection by reducing herd immunity. California is considering requiring non-vaccinated children to stay home from school during an outbreak, something I support for everyone's safety. What do you think?

~~I'm not going to get into the whole not vaccinating thing because it makes me really angry, but DON'T BE SELFISH:~~ ~~Vaccinate your Kids: here is a~~ ~~great article from USA Today~~ ~~if you are wondering why.~~ ~~(And if you can't be bothered, keep your kid the h-e-double hockey sticks away from mine.) Okay, I'm done...for now.~~

Edit 9/10/10: Okay, maybe I went a bit extreme, I just get soooo angry when I hear about babies dieing or getting really sick because their parents got the wrong information.

If you are considering not vaccinating your child, please take a moment to consider if they may ever be in a situation where those vaccinations would keep them or the people around them safer. For example: will they ever want to go to college and live in the dorms or join the military (or go to prison, but hopefully not)? Will they ever want to go on a missions trip to a third world country or serve as a volunteer in a hospital? Will they want to grow up to be a doctor or a nurse? Will they ever have a friend who gets really sick (cancer, etc. where their immune system is compromised)? Will they go to school where their teacher might be pregnant? Will they go to church, daycare, school with a child who might have an immune disorder? Will they ever live in a city where people from all over the world visit (these are the cities that usually see outbreaks of diseases we have nearly eradicated, like measles)? Remember, non-immune people (such as non-vaccinated people) can be an asymptomatic carrier putting others at risk without being sick themselves.

{photo: team.nursing.ecu.edu}

10 things I didn't Know About Car Seats

2010-08-30T12:48:00.001-05:00

I consider myself a pretty bright person so I figured my husband, who is also not dumb, and I had this car seat thing handled. Turns out there are a lot of things I didn't know about car seats. (I do think we have our infant seat installed correctly. Next up, the Britax convertible seat that's been sitting in my bedroom waiting to be installed.)

Law requires rear facing until 1 year of age AND 20 pounds (okay, I knew this one, but it never hurts to repeat it). It's a good reminder that it's one year AND 20 pounds, not whichever you reach first. Baby Jack is getting close to 20 pounds at 7 months but he won't be forward facing any time soon, which brings me to our next point.
AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends rear facing until at least 2 years of age. Studies have shown children are 5 times safer (you'll also see 500% safer, which just looks more impressive) rear facing until the age of two. AAP now recommends rear facing as long as possible (to the limits of your car seat) or at least 2 years.
This also means an infant seat will not last until the child is ready to forward face. Most infant seats hold 22 to 32 pounds and have quickly outgrown height limits.
Car Seats Expire. Yup, car seats actually have an expiration date. Over time the plastic the seat is made with ages and becomes brittle. Think of a cheap plastic toy you've left outside for a few months and how you can shatter the plastic with your fingers. It's like that in slow-mo. Most seats are good for 6-8 years. Some print the actual expiration date on the seat and others print a manufacture date and have the years the car seat is good for in the manual.
LATCH is not better (or worse) than using a seat belt to attach the car seat. It's just easier to use and more likely to be installed correctly. That's enough reason for me to love the LATCH, but car seats can be installed safely in most (all?) cars. NHTSA has a database of technicians to help get the seat installed correctly.
You can, and should, tether your car seat when it's forward facing (all seats) and rear facing (specific seats). This stabilizes the child's head in a front end crash and may improve safety in roll overs and other crashes. See Car-Safety.org for details.
The more expensive seat is not necessarily the better one. From Car-Safety.org: All current car seats pass government safety standards. Select the one that best fits your child, your vehicle and your budget. Some models do have different features; select one that has the features that will allow you to use it correctly EVERY trip.
Crashes are the leading cause of death for children from 3 to 14 years old and an estimated 8,959 lives were saved by child restraints from 1975 to 2008. (www.nhtsa.gov) Over 57% of deaths for children 0-15 were because the child was unrestrained. (I find this incredible that people are driving around with their children not buckled in. If nothing else it keeps them out of your hair when they are in the car!)
A car seat or booster should be used until a child can wear a seat belt correctly, usually 8 years old of 4'9".
Shoulder strap slots (where they attach to the seat) should be at or below the shoulders in rear facing and at or above the shoulders in front facing. 9/9/10: Edit to add: The Chest Strap should be at arm-pits, not neck or belly.

Go to Car-Safety.org for detailed information and experts to answer all your questions and check out Child Passenger Safety Week:

CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY WEEK

September 19-25, 2010
Making sure our child seats are correctly installed and used.

Breastfeeding Reduces Diabetes Risk in Mom

2010-08-30T07:22:00.000-05:00

A new study out shows that breastfeeding may reduce diabetes risk for mothers. Women who breastfed all of their children for a month or longer had a reduced likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

From WebMD: Later in life, here is the breakdown of who developed diabetes:

17.5% of the women who hadn't given birth.
17% of the women who breastfed all their children for a month or longer.
20.3% of those who breastfed, but not all children for a month or longer.
26.7% of moms who didn't breastfeed.

The reason for this reduction is not known, but it is theorized that it is due to reduction in belly fat, a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Unlike the oh so hated butt and thigh fat, which is relatively harmless, belly fat indicates fat cells around the internal organs and is one "symptom" of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors that indicate an increased likelihood of developing diabetes or heart disease.

Women who breastfeed may lose the belly fat better than women who don't, but the good news is that women who can't or choose not to breast feed can learn from this study and work to reduce belly fat through diet and exercise.

I also like that the reduction in risk was found after only one month of breastfeeding. Six months or a year (or more) of breastfeeding as recommended by the AAP and WHO can be pretty intimidating to a new mom. A month is a much more obtainable goal for many and, since breastfeeding gets easier with time, may encourage women to stick with breastfeeding longer.

Venomous Snakes

2010-08-29T21:55:00.001-05:00

So my run in with not one but two snakes on my walk through my neighborhood today got me thinking about venomous snakes. I'm very familiar with the venomous snakes out in California, where I grew up, but not here in Florida.

As a side note: poisonous is for something you eat, like a poisonous mushroom. Venomous is for something that "eats" you like a snake or spider.

This little guy was nice enough to hang out for me to take a photo.

I'm pretty sure he's a corn snake, a popular pet snake and found in this area. They are constrictors and kill their prey through squeezing them to death, not venom. The other snake was a solid brown color and took off too quickly for me to see him clearly. I'm sure he was some benign variety of snake.

Venomous Snakes

Venomous snakes in the US come in two varieties: Coral Snakes and Pit Vipers.

Coral Snakes

Coral Snakes are easy to recognize because of the distinct Red, Yellow (or yellow white) and Black Stripes. The graphic below shows how other, non-venomous snakes mimic the coral snake, but it's never going to hurt to stay away from both. Just remember: Red and Black, Friend of Jack. Red and Yellow, Kill a Fellow. Coral snakes are found in Florida and the southeast and parts of Arizona. The majority of the US does not need to worry about finding a coral snake in the backyard.

{texassnakes.net}

Pit Vipers

Pit Vipers include a wider range of snakes and coloration. 3 characteristics mark a pit viper: Triangle Shaped Head (wider at the back for the venom sacks), Cat's Eyes Pupils (please don't get close enough to see this), and Nostril Looking Pits on the snout. {hubpages.com}

Rattlesnakes, the pit vipers I grew up looking out for and pictured above, are the easiest to identify with their rattle.

Copperheads: these guys look enough like the corn snake above that I'm glad I didn't get any closer. They live in areas just like where we live: woodsy with water in the area.

Cottonmouths or Water Moccasins: these water loving snakes could be found in our area too. They also like wooded areas with water.

{http://www.networkingmedics.com/Snake_Bites.htm}

I'm not sure I'm any less worried about snakes now that I know what is out there. I think I like my venomous snakes with big warning rattles on their tails. Thank goodness most people who are bitten are handling snakes and I think I can manage to avoid that.

My Starbucks Sneak

2010-08-27T10:22:00.000-05:00

I'll admit it, I like a little Starbucks. I get my coffee fix at home most of the time and I'm far from a Starbucks addict. But, I like a hot drink with a green mermaid on it when I'm cruising my local Barnes and Noble. Who doesn't?

What I don't like is spending 3-4 dollars on something that costs about 50 cents to make at home. So I learned how to get my fix for less without sacrificing flavor.

Here's the deal: your basic latte costs about $3.25 (grande) and is two shots of espresso topped with steamed milk. For about a dollar less you can get a Misto which is half a cup of regular coffee topped with steamed milk. Regular coffee is less intensely flavored than espresso, so you get the same flavor for less. Plus, for calorie counters, you are drinking about 8 oz of milk instead of (nearly) 16 oz. That's a savings of 80 calories with 2% milk and you honestly can't taste the difference.

You can add any of your favorite flavors to the Misto or my preferred order is a soy Misto. The soy adds the perfect amount of sweetness and flavor and the health benefits of soy. Of course, I have to pay extra for that, but it's worth it to me.

{image courtesy of Starbucks and yes, it's a Misto}

Rainy Day

2010-08-26T22:53:00.000-05:00

There is very little that I enjoy as much as rain, especially the heavy, pounding variety. Today after Jack's afternoon nap a thunderstorm rolled in and we were able to sit on the back patio and watch the rain come down on the pond and pool in the backyard. It got me thinking about how much I love water--the ocean, the river and most importantly the rain--and that made me think about Ratty's soliloquy on messing about in boats from Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.

`Nice? It's the ONLY thing,' said the Water Rat solemnly, as he leant forward for his stroke. `Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING--absolute nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing,' he went on dreamily: `messing--about--in--boats; messing----'

`Look ahead, Rat!' cried the Mole suddenly.

It was too late. The boat struck the bank full tilt. The dreamer, the joyous oarsman, lay on his back at the bottom of the boat, his heels in the air.

`--about in boats--or WITH boats,' the Rat went on composedly, picking himself up with a pleasant laugh. `In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not.'

When I was growing up I had an audio tape series of The Wind in The Willows that I listened to all the time. We didn't have TV when I was young and, once we did, my brother and I weren't allowed to spend much time watching TV. Thanks to this, we spent a lot of time listening to tapes and records, reading books, and playing outside. The voices of Mole, Rat and good old Badger are as much a part of "home" to me as any object, especially now that my childhood home has burned to the ground.

I don't know if the recording I grew up with is still available, but I've ordered a version to listen to with Jack. Hopefully it will take him to Grahame's magical world of talking animals like it did me.