i've been having problems with Olive's teeth... the enamel is worn down on her top 4 teeth. I've read that it can be caused by nighttime breastfeeding, which she does all the time still, but other sources say that breastfeeding is actually good for teeth. I'm not sure about that, but I did read Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nagel, and it was a real eye opener for me. It bases its diet strategy on Weston Price's studies, which focus on the decline of dental health with the introduction of a western diet in "primitive" people. I can see how this diet would be the cause of Olive's tooth decay. Everyone told me to start her off on solid foods with fruit and oatmeal and rice, but the book says this stuff should be fed minimally. So, we've been eating bone broth, animal organs, yellow organic butter and the like. More protein, minimal grain and sweets. Also, with the new diet, I bought her some high vitamin butter oil and fermented cod liver oil, but I have no idea how to give it to her. Today when I tried for the first time, she actually gagged so much that she threw it up! If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know! My friend Nina recommended adding it to honey, which I might do, or I was thinking of adding it to a fruit smoothie for breakfast every morning. Olive would love that.

I hope that her new diet helps with her teeth, because I know if I took her to a dentist, she'd have to be put under anesthesia to be even looked at. I'll probably take her when she's a little older and understands what its for, but for now, we'll be trying to help it naturally through her food.

I am officially awful at blogging. Its been more than a year, but to my defense I have been without a computer or internet until this January. Let's just pretend that I just started, shall we?

I've been wanting to start a new project for a while- getting rid of a vast majority of this JUNK that I have. I have so much stuff that I hang on to thinking i'll make something with it or I'll need it in the future. Which adds up to a lot of mess that I need to sift through in order to live. This week I'm working on my closet of clothes that I may or may not fit into sometime or another. Let the purging begin.

macgyver wishes he had this stuff!

soo olive`s had a clogged tear duct since she was born and it`s really been yucky this past week. i mean, she`ll take a nap and she can`t open her eye when she wakes up. i have to clean it with a hot compress. plus, from wiping it 3 or more times a day, it`s all raw and red on the outer corner. poor babe!

so i call our midwife last night to see if she had any suggestions. i was afraid she`d have to get antibiotics! but denise told me to just squirt breast milk in her eye! i never would have thought of it!

i looked it up and apparently breast milk is good for sore cracked nipples because it keeps it clean and moisturized, and it`s good for eye infections like pink eye or clogged ducts because it has antimicrobial stuffs and also it doesn`t allow germies to stick to the surface of the eye.

it`s totally working too. the first time i did it, a TON of eye goobers came out, so i blotted them off and did it again.

its too funny though. whenever i do it, she`s like. "good, you`re going to feed me... that`s not my mouth, lady. it`s down here. HEY! i wanted to eat that!" its toooooo funny!

in other baby news, i officially am sending all of olive`s 0-3 month things to my older sister for her little one. olive`s graduated to 3-6 months! its about 2 weeks after she should have, i`d say! she`s growing like a bean sprout!

i hope everyone`s having a good day! hopefully soon i`ll get around to posting our birth story!

guess what!

soo last night i was changing Olive`s diaper and decided to let her go bare bottomed for a while. 30 minutes into it, she started fussing and squirming so i grabbed her potty bowl and stuck it between my legs, sat her up against my tummy with her butt over the bowl, and we waited. less than 3 minutes later, we had pee AND poop!

don`t i have the smartest, awesomest baby in the history of the universe? right afterward i told her, " you pooped in the potty, you smart lady! you`re amazing!" and she just had a huuuge grin on her face.

this makes me insanely happy. if i had just put her diaper on like normal, she would have pooped right away and sat in it for far long than i`d ever want to sit in my own poo. which is never. plus, now this whole task doesn`t seem so daunting, now that we`ve begun.

on a side note, a local baby store is hosting a natural parenting class every week, and we`re going tomorrow! i`m so excited to meet other parents. none of my friends have children. no. thats not true. the ones who have children tend to stay home though. wonder why?

i`m also going to bring in my slings `cause i don`t really feel comfortable with them yet. they`re too narrow or long or her head is smooshed against her chest. maybe someone will see a repositioning or adjustment that makes them better, or else i can give them away to someone who enjoys them and i can get a moby. those things look so comfy!

well, that was a quick one. thanks for listening to me brag about my daughter! love!

exciting!

as we speak, my 9 week old daughter is laying next to me on our bed, half naked in JUST a onesie. no diaper. explanation needed? i thought so.

i've always been the odd one in my family. I was vegetarian for 8 years, went on a peace walk from new orleans to dc on a lark, travel whenever the mood strikes (thats often), and moved halfway across the country for a winter just 'cause.

so when i became a single mother, it wasn't surprising that i chose alternative parenting methods. I had a home birth (we'll save that for another blog.) we are doing the breastfeeding, attachment parenting, co-sleeping, baby wearing things... and now Olive and I can slap another label on ourselves- Olive's going to be a diaper free baby!

I first was introduced to the concept in st louis at an environmental fair. My sister anna and i saw some ladies and tiny little potties and heard what it was about, and then we kept walking our pregnant selves on by. i thought those ladies were bonkers! it was just TOO out there for me. a few months later while i was still pregnant, my lovely friend nina shared with me her friend's experience with her diaperless baby. I was like, "yeah thats interesting and FLIPPING INSAAAANE." finally, last night I stumbled on a website that focused on all these parenting ideals that I hold dear, PLUS diaper freedom. hm.... maybe it was worth looking into.

and what i found was just what we both like. its basically being in tune with your baby on one more level. she does certain things to let me know when she needs to do her thing and i just need to learn those cues. then we have a clean, comfy Olive and a momma who connects and bonds more deeply with her baby, spends less money on diapers, ultimately spending NOTHING on them... and helping the earth by that same fact. yay for being able to find everything and anything on the internet!

12 hours later and i have a giggly naked girl with her clean, dry hiney hanging out and a potty bowl on our bedside table. i think we like it.

hopefully i'll be able to document this unique infancy journey, not just the potty using but general bits as well, for our family and maybe curiousity seekers to follow.

later gators! love.