I am my own StumbleUpon.

One of my nephews is forever posting links on Facebook that he gets from StumbleUpon.  I wish I had had the brilliance to make this website my own reality years ago - we'd be stinkin' rich right about now and the mortgage on our little home would be paid off.  I am constantly getting lost in the Internets by clicking on one thing which leads to another and then another, and so on.  It's usually other blogs that ensnare my curiosity and keep me clicking.  For example, today I Googled "pad phet" because we are going to dinner with the folks tonight, and I don't know how to pronounce this dish.  I want to order it and I hate sounding like a doof when ordering foreign food.  "Phet" is pronounced "pet."  But here's the order in which I stumbled around on my lunch hour:

Google "pad phet" ----->

Blazing Hot Wok ------>

City Mama ------>

Foodily -------->

Dash & Bella ------>

A Gay Marriage Etiquette Guide ------>

Fiat's New Convertible ------->

Gmail

I had to stop there - the lunch hour was over, and I felt I had sufficiently spent my allotment of wasted time on a Tuesday.  FYI: the new Fiat is nowhere near as cool as the back-in-the-day Fiats.  BD and I saw an old one on the road the other day (he knew exactly the year and model because he's a car-nerd like that) that was in pristine condition. 

Yes, I'm aware this post is not one my usual "you need to know this stuff right now" blurbs.  I've been busy at work and at home.  Babydoll turns 6 months old today!  And we are taking her on her first groovy road trip to a groovy beach for a long, hopefully groovy weekend tomorrow morning.  Wish us luck.

Oh!  I can tie in EWG's 2011 Sunscreen Guide to today's post.  We use California Baby on the Babydoll, and Episencial on ourselves.  Post-sun, we use an organic, pure Aloe Vera gelly (can't remember the brand off the top of my head, but it's made in California and sold at Whole Foods).  Check your aloe before applying to your child (or yourself) - several drugstore brands contain parabens.

Okay, I gotta go.  Hope everyone has a happy and safe Independence Day celebration!

The Great Vaccination Debate - Part Deux

In case you missed my disclaimer in Part One, here's the deal: I'm not a doctor, or a scientist, or any kind of medical professional.  Just a mama here.  Please don't take my words to your kid's pediatrician without doing your own research.  We made these decisions for our child, and our child alone.

In my last post, I wrote about how we skipped Hep B and vitamin K when our Babydoll was born.  The on-call pediatrician who came to check out our daughter thought we were crazy, and though we were able to provide him all the research we'd done, he still looked at us like the crazy hippie folk we are.  Whatever.  This same doctor flounced into my room, reeking of cologne and attired in fashions generally seen on "Jersey Shore."  He also adminished me for having the baby in my bed instead of her rolling plastic box, even though it was easily 65 degrees in that room and we were freezing.  Guess why he didn't become our pediatrician.

Before Babydoll joined us outside the womb, I began reading.  And reading.  And reading some more.  I read Dr. Sears' The Vaccine Book.  At the urging of my boss (who gave me his copy), I also read Dr. Cave's What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations.  I got more out of Dr. Cave's book, than I did Dr. Sears' (don't get me wrong.  I am so down with Dr. Sears and all of his hippie childrearing ways).  I won't paraphrase either book for you - I think you should read them for yourself.  If you're looking for a book report, this ain't it.

I also pored over the information presented at Generation Rescue - and there's a TON of information over there.  I checked the website for The Institute For Vaccine Safety (run by Johns Hopkins) to familiarize myself with each vaccine's marketed brand name.

I reviewed the CDC's recommended schedule of childhood vaccines, and that's when I discovered some interesting things:

1.  They pump a whole lot of crap into babies when they are only 2 months old.  2-month-olds are shot up with seven diseases (eight, if Hep B is included) in one visit.  My hormonal knocked-up self cried about that for a good hour.  I still get the shakes when I think about all of those diseases having to be fought off by one very weak immune system.  And at this tender age, a great many doctors, researchers, and scientists agree that the immune system is incapable of adequately responding to the vaccines in such a way that immunity begins to develop, so:

2.  They repeat that business at 4 months old and 6 months old.  The infant's immune system is still in development at this point, but is more advanced than at birth or two months old, and is more readily capable to fight off the diseases, which leads to immunity.

3.  The rotovirus vaccine (brand name: Rotarix) is 100% bullshit, in my opinion.  Rotovirus is the leading cause of diarrhea in children, from birth to five years old.  If left untreated (meaning, you don't adequately hydrate your child), it can be fatal.  The initial rotovirus vaccine was introduced in August 1998; it was pulled in November 1999.  You know why?  It caused a rare bowel obstruction in infants and was killing babies.  In addition to killing babies, Congress launched an investigation into several members of the CDC's advisory committee who had recommended the vaccine.  They found that some of the committee members owned stock in the pharmaceutical companies in question; some members owned patents on the vaccines; and specifically, Dr. Paul Offit owned a patent on that particular vaccine, and had recommended its addition to the CDC's schedule for childhood vaccinations.  Thank you to Congressman Dan Burton for having the balls to question lobbyists and pharmaceutical companies!  Finally, Groovy Mama has love for a Republican.

After months of research, speaking with our pediatrician, and searching our hearts, we decided to delay vaccinating our daughter until she was four months old.  She gets one shot per month, and yes, we skipped Rotarix.  We will also delay MMR - unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard that this vaccine is the one thought to be tied to autism.  Experts go back and forth about this pretty much daily.  We didn't base our decision about MMR on any of the autism hype - we are just following what feels right to us.

I asked on Facebook, if any of my friends or family had done a delayed or alternative vaccination schedule.  Out of 25 answers, only one mother had (she happens to be a mom whose parenting style I identify with).  Everyone else said pretty much the same thing: "Just follow the schedule!  We did, and our kids are fine."

Well, okay.  I'm not trying to change the world, I guess I just wanted to gauge how out there my ideas were.  Another catalyst occurred when we took Babydoll to her one-week pediatrician appointment.  While we were waiting, a mom came in with her 15-month-old daughter (I don't just magically know that - I overheard her say it).  The mom told the receptionist that they were there for shots, to which the receptionist replied: "Which ones?"  The mom looked at her blankly, and said "Um, I don't know.  Don't you have it in her file?"

Whoa.  Really?  Seriously, lady?  BD and I looked at each other, incredulously.  This mom doesn't know what disease(s) is about to be injected into her daughter?  She probably also doesn't know what side effects to look for in the aftermath.  She probably doesn't know to give her daughter a little extra vitamin C and vitamin A in the days before the shot (immune boosters - helps the body fight better and ward off a fever).  Poor kid.  Her shoes were sparkly, though.

By the time Babydoll begins school, she will be current on all of her shots (except the aforementioned Rotarix, but they only get that twice in infancy).  There are a couple other vaccines we will skip as well; we feel that they are unnecessary and we'd rather not subject our child to anything more than what we feel she needs.  There are a lot of funky ingredients in today's vaccines - check out these potential side effects.

Another argument posited to us was: "Well, I got all my shots when I was a kid and I'm all good."  Okay, so let's talk about how the schedule has drastically changed in 25 years, shall we?

In 1983 - children received a total of 10 vaccinations from age two until age six.

In 2008 - children received a total of 36 vaccinations from birth to age six.

Quite a substantial difference, wouldn't you agree?  Check out this chart for yourself.

When it comes to your children, it is YOUR responsibility as their parent to make the best decisions for them until they are capable of making those decisions for themselves.  It is my hope that all parents educate themselves about everything concerning their child, rather than blindly following the herd.

There is an abyss of information on this topic.  There are thousands of books and studies written on the subject.  And, as always, every doctor has her own opinion.  The best parenting advice I've received is "Follow your heart and your gut."  So that's what we've done, with this and with everything.

The Great Vaccination Debate - Part I

Before I get started on this flaming hot topic, let me say I am not a doctor.  I'm not a scientist, or a nurse, or a medical professional of any kind.  I'm just a mama.  The decisions BD and I have made are for OUR child, and no one else's.  Got it?

I'm going to write this in two, maybe three, parts.  There is a lot of ground to cover, and I could go on for days about the subject.  There's a TON of research supporting both sides of the debate and I want to present it fairly and accurately.  You'll see that I am very obviously biased on the subject, but I want to make it clear that none of the decisions we've made were done so lightly, or without grounds.

When Babydoll was born, BD and I had already made the decision that she would not receive a vitamin K shot, nor the Hepatitis B shot.  Why?  She didn't need them, in our opinion.  Though we were questioned, together and separately, about it in the hospital, we (read: I) had done the research and our collective mind had been made up.

Newborns receive a shot of vitamin K at birth in order to prevent, or slow down, the very rare occurrence of bleeding in the brain.  Breastfeeding mothers (as I intended to be) can increase their baby's vitamin K level naturally by upping their own dietary intake of vitamin K.  Formula-fed babies receive high doses of vitamin K from enriched formula.  Additionally, our decision was influenced by my genetically-inherited Factor V Leiden thrombophilia, a condition in which those afflicted have a greater risk of developing blood clots.  With Babydoll having a 50/50 shot of inheriting the same disorder, no way in hell were we taking a chance.

The Hepatitis B vaccine is given to babies at birth in order to prevent (duh) Hepatitis B, a highly infectious disease.  We decided against this because A:) I'm not infected, and therefore could not pass it on to my baby, and B:) we don't engage in the high-risk behaviors associated with Hepatitis B (sharing needles, unsafe sex with mulitple partners...yeah, we're boring), nor do we work in the health care industry, which does carry a slightly higher risk of infection.  There is also some indication of a higher rate of SIDS in infants who have received the Hep B vaccine, as well as developmental neurological disorders.  Those four factors, primarily, helped us make the decision to skip this innoculation.

We did agree to the use of erythromycin eye ointment, because, at the time, we thought I would be having a vaginal birth.  Had we known I would be having a Caesarean section, we would have skipped this as well.  Erythromycin, either in ointment or drop form, is used to prevent neonatal conjunctivitis, which occurs when bacteria, from the birth canal or post-birth handling, enters the newborn's eyes.  There's actually not a lot of conclusive evidence supporting either side of this debate, but we figured we'd give this one the okay.

To be continued...

It's Not Just For Salad

Vinegar, that is.  When I first began exploring a greener existence, friends in the know schooled me on the art of cleaning with vinegar and baking soda.  I've never looked back.  Three things: cheap, effective, and non-toxic.  What more do you need to know?

Plenty.  I get it.  You know how you go to Wal-Mart (and I wish you wouldn't, but that's your choice), and you spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 for all your cleaning products?  I know, it's not often that you buy all of that stuff in one trip, but if you did, you'd spend about that much, whether you buy name-brand or store-brand.  And then, in a few months, you have to buy more.

White distilled vinegar, on the other hand, will run you about $3.00 per gallon.  A small box of Arm & Hammer baking soda is $1.00 (a four pound box is around $8.00).  A gallon of vinegar lasts me six months, and the small box of baking soda gets me by for two months.  There's the CHEAP.

Here's the EFFECTIVE: vinegar cleans glass and mirrors without streaks.  You know what else?  Vinegar is a natural disinfectant.  Seriously.  Baking soda serves as a scrub for toilets, tubs, counters, sinks...you name it, baking soda will scrub it clean.  Combine the two, and you get an amazing powerhouse.  Some examples:

• Baked-on grease in the oven?  Spray with vinegar, sprinkle with baking soda, and spray with vinegar again.  It fizzes (which delights the five-year-old in me every time)!  Let it set for about 15 minutes, then get in there with your sponge and wipe clean.
• Gunky drain ("gunky" being a technical term)?  Pour a 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain, follow with about a 1/2 cup of vinegar, let fizz (tee hee!), then flush with hot water.
• Scummy bathtub?  Spray with full strength vinegar, sprinkle with baking soda.  Let sit for a few minutes, then use a sponge dipped in vinegar to clean.
• Mildew and mold?  Spray with full strength vinegar and let set.  The vinegar dissolves the mold and acts as a disinfectant.

And now for the NON-TOXIC: being pregnant meant I could no longer use Windex, 409, Chlorox Clean-Up...unless I didn't mind a potentially three-eyed baby.  Everday household cleansers contain toxic ingredients, and you don't have to be pregnant to be afraid of them.  You know how you spray your bathtub down with Tilex, then have to turn on the fan and/or open a window to air out the fumes?  Do you want to breathe that in?  Do you want your kids to be exposed to that?  Why not just take them to a Vegas casino and plop them down by the slot machines for some good old-fashioned second hand smoke?  I'm not being overzealous here.  With vinegar and baking soda, you don't have those worries.  They are 100% non-toxic (PSA: DO NOT combine vinegar with bleach.  That is extremely toxic.)

For my everyday cleaning, I mix a solution of one part vinegar to two parts water, 20 drops of tea tree oil (another natural disinfectant) and 20 drops of lavender oil (a natural anti-fungal, plus it smells nice).  I use this solution in a spray bottle, to wipe down my kitchen and bathroom counters, and for spot cleaning.

Care2 is an awesome, green-living website and they have a TON of ideas and uses for vinegar, baking soda, and plain ol' water.  Check them out when you have time.  You can also go to Arm & Hammer's website for a veritable cornucopia of baking soda uses.

So what I'm saying here, is that if you have children, you know just how quickly they go from being completely out cold to wide awake and demanding of attention the minute you start to clean something.  If you're using vinegar and baking soda, you can drop your sponge and attend to your Precious immediately (no crying it out in this household).  I love that I can effectively clean my home with minimal impact to my budget, and zero impact to our family's health and well-being.  Thank you, vinegar.  Thank you, baking soda.  I owe you guys a Bundt cake.

Chomping At The Bit

Guess who's teething?  Yes, we have reached that milestone.  It's not as cute as say, when she started smiling and cooing.  No, definitely not as cute as that.  My normally sweet and cheerful Babydoll is a miserable drooly mess of a baby.  Some of my dear mommy friends have babies who are about the same age as my sweetness, so it's nice to have someone with whom we can weather this storm.  And oh, what a storm it is.  To put it mildly, Babydoll is *pissed* about her swollen gums.  If she could speak, I'm pretty sure a nice chunk of expletives would be spewing forth right about now.

So, what's a Groovy Mama to do when her precious babe is in pain?

I suppose, in this day and age, we should forego our parents' remedy: rubbing whisky on the baby's gums.  I believe this is why the smell of Jack Daniel's makes me gag uncontrollably.

BD and I are in the midst of exploring all the homeopathic routes.  I wish that I had made a mad dash to every store in town when Hyland's announced their teething tablet recall and stocked up on those little gems.  "But Groovy Mom!  Those teething tablets were dangerous," you're gasping.  Look, dude.  Hyland's had been using the same formula for eons.  Trust some jackass parent to overdose their kid and ruin it for the rest of us.  Millions of people take tiny doses of belladonna with no side effects other than the herb's tendency to help you chill out.  Grrrrr.  So here's what we're trying, in lieu of Hyland's:

Amber teething necklace: while I was still pregnant, several green mamas recommended an amber teething necklace for when my little sweet pea began teething.  The one I bought comes from Lithuania and is pure Baltic amber.  For safety, each bead is hand knotted, so that if the strand does break, we only lose one bead.  It has a screw-on safety clasp and is loose enough that it doesn't pose a choking hazard.  At night, or for a long nap, I take it off Babydoll's neck and wrap it around her ankle.  The theory behind amber is that it releases oils into the skin and is a natural anti-inflammatory.  She's only been wearing it for two days but the drool factor has greatly decreased.  I'm hopeful that it helps with the pain, too.  Plus, she looks cute:

Chamomile: I've found several methods for using chamomile.  My favorite, so far, is to brew a cup of chamomile tea (for me) and place the used tea bag in the freezer for about a half hour.  Then, I let Babydoll gum on it (of course, I watch her carefully to make sure the tea bag doesn't open).  You can also brew chamomile tea and soak a baby washcloth in it, then freeze, for the same effect.  I've read that infants can safely ingest chamomile in small amounts, but I haven't bought Babydoll her own tea pot yet.

For older babies, who have started solids, you can freeze chunks of fruit then place it in a mesh teething bag for baby to gnaw on.  Babydoll just recently turned four months old, so we're not rocking this method yet.  (Before you buy, please check the label and make sure the product is BPA-free)

As a last resort, we've given her Infant's Tylenol.  For myself, I try to avoid conventional medicine if at all possible, and in an ideal world, I would do the same for my child.  I can't stand to see her in pain, though, and if all else fails, we give it to her. 

Hey mamas, what natural teething rememdy has worked for you?  Let me know!

All Day, Every Day

Happy Earth Day!  I love Earth Day.  After Christmas and St. Patrick's Day, it's my favorite holiday (I also love that Hallmark hasn't ruined it the way they have every other holiday...yet).  I try to live as though every day is Earth Day, but I know that's not the case for everyone.  So I'm grateful that on this one day every year, more people are likely to recycle or otherwise reduce their consumption.  We gotta start somewhere.

I am not, by any means, the greenest person out there.  I am a full-fledged liberal hippie treehugger, but I could be greener.  You're shocked.  I can see it on your face.  But really, there are a lot of things I don't do, but could do, to make my world a deeper shade of green.  I could take public transportation, but I love my car (I do ride my bike when it's an option).  I could reduce my food waste by composting (and it's something currently on my ever-expanding to-do list).  I could threaten BD with leaving if he doesn't fully switch to cloth diapers...but I really don't want to leave.  I love our house.

I'm always exploring ways to be a more ecologically responsible citizen.  I love reading others' blogs (like this one) to gain insight and ideas on ways to green up my family even further.  Here are some of the things we do in our (mostly) happy abode:

Recycle.  Obviously.  We're extremely fortunate to live in a neighborhood that participates in the local waste management company's pilot recycling program.  Rather than sorting our recyclables, it all goes in one large bin that is collected every Saturday.  It's awesome.  This ease of use gets BD to recycle and nothing makes a Groovy Mama happier than when BD participates in the green life.  Every scrap of paper, plastic, aluminum and glass goes in that bin.  Before we bought our house, we lived in a condo with no recycling program.  It took a lot of extra effort on my part, but any plastic or aluminum we discarded went to Whole Foods or Fresh & Easy, and I took glass and paper to my parents' house or my brother's.  I get rather eco-angry when people tell me "Oh, I can't recycle.  There's no bins in my neighborhood."  Dude, make the effort.  It's easy.  Collect your recyclables in your reusable shopping bags, and when it's time to go buy groceries, take it with you.  Easy.

Park it.  How many minutes do you spend sitting in the drive-through, waiting for your coffee?  Park your car, take a stroll, and bring your reusable mug inside to Saxbys (my preference over Starbucks).  Your gas mileage will improve and the Earth will breathe a little easier.

Eat organic.  Organic farming is better for all of the Earth's organisms.  No chemicals are used in organic farming, which translates to fewer chemicals in the soil, the air, the water, and your food.

Cloth diaper your precious baby.  I'm still new to the cloth diapering game, but I can't express how much I love it.  I really love that I've reduced our disposable diaper consumption by a little over 50%.  I don't know if BD will ever work with me on that.  Every so often, I catch a glimmer of hope.  Last week, he put Babydoll in cloth without any prompt from me.  Then he went and bought more Seventh Generation disposables.  Sigh.

Shut it down.  When you're not using your laptop, turn it off.  After your toaster has perfectly browned your Pop Tarts, unplug it.  Not only will you save on your power bill, you'll extend the life of your appliances.

Stay hydrated while staying green.  We bought an Energy Star rated refrigerator with a built-in water filter that only has to be changed once a year.  Life changing!  I drink a LOT of water, and after I kicked the plastic bottle habit, I bought a Pur pitcher (cheaper than Brita, just as effective).  I hated throwing away those filters every couple of months, though.  I still think the Pur pitcher is a better alternative to disposable plastic water bottles.  Skip any plastic reusable bottles, please.  Stainless steel and glass are safer options.

Clean your home the toxin-free way by using only vinegar and baking soda.  Until you've tried this powerful combo, you have no idea how effective they are at cleaning EVERYTHING in your home.  In addition to how awesomely clean your cottage will be, your wallet will be heftier too.  White distilled vinegar and baking soda are CHEAP.  So cheap.  And did I mention effective?

These are just some of the many things I do on a daily basis, but it's just the tip of the (melting) iceberg.  The thing about green living is that if you make a change here and there, and stick with it, you make a huge global impact.  Reducing your carbon footprint is not just another clever and trendy advertising idea.  When someone asks me "What do you do to be green?", it kind of stumps me.  So much of what I do or practice is just part of my normal, everday existence.  My advice is to make one change per week, or per month - stick with it and it becomes a habit.  Your habits become your children's habits.  What better way to influence your kids than by example?

I'd love to hear what you do to be green.  Leave me a comment or send me an email.

A Baby Well-Preserved

My friend Christine (who has an impossibly adorable 8-month-old daughter) asked me a couple weeks ago if I would look into jarred baby food.  You betcha!  Then I started thinking about that task, and it scared me.  Not the research.  Psshh.  Me and research = BFF.  What scared the piss out of me was that I KNEW I wasn't going to find anything good.  It's like watching a horror movie and you know the bad guy is coming, but the stupid whiny girl who is about to get axed just stands around in the kitchen in her underwear...I digress.

So between work and home and being scared stupid, I haven't posted a new blog in a couple weeks.  I tend to be an ostrich that way.  If I don't want to deal with something, I stick my head in the sand and hope that when I pop up, whatever it is that I'm avoiding has gone on about its merry way.  No such luck.  Jarred baby food, consider thyself tackled.

From the beginning of gestation, there was no doubt that we would make Babydoll's food.  We cook our food most nights, so why wouldn't we do the same for her?  Having been schooled on the art of baby food-making by two awesome ladies (Hi J!  Hi A!), I'm even more convinced that she will grow up eating organically as often as possible.  After all, if I don't make her food myself, how am I going to know exactly what she's getting in her little belly?

*Here's a little tidbit not really related to this post, but I found it interesting all the same.  The first baby formula was manufactured in 1867 and was marketed as superior to breast milk.  Oh yeah, they started that nonsense a loooong time ago.

Daniel Gerber kicked things off in 1928 with strained peas, prunes, carrots and spinach in a can (not all in the same can - gross) and mass-marketed the product across America.  Suddenly, mothers were able to pop into the market, buy six cans of baby food for $1, and save themselves hours in the kitchen.  Prior to Gerber on the shelves, baby food was available from pharmacies and was (as you can imagine) expensive.  Dorothy Hope Smith drew the iconic Gerber Baby, Ann Turner Cook, and a label was born.  (Sidenote: Ms. Cook was cute and all, but she's no Babydoll.  Just sayin'.)

Since then, the process has evolved greatly.  Huge manufacturing plants turn out millions of jars of baby food a day.  And, according to various sources, most baby food on the shelves of American grocery stores contain no artificial preservatives.  Whew.  Maybe the panty girl won't get axed.

Most jarred baby foods, even the organic brands, do contain natural preservatives, like ascorbic acid, which is essentially a form of vitamin C.  That's not so bad.  But some brands contain sodium and that's a no-no for babies and toddlers.  Just check the sodium content before you buy or feed your baby from a jar.  Babies under a year old need less than a gram of salt per day.

I feel relieved.  I know a lot of mamas who feed their babies pre-made food and I worry almost as much about their babies, as I do my own.  When Babydoll is ready for solids, I will make her food.  I want to know exactly what she's getting.  I'm extremely picky about produce.  If I make her food, I know the quality she's getting.  And by making her food at home, we can give her a greater variety of flavors.

Want some baby food recipes?  I'm starting to experiment.  Holler.