“Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps,
Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvest reaps.”
- - Amos Bronson Alcott

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

This morning I realized that I had not yet thinned my carrots when Damian yoinked out a a few and I noticed the drastic size differences. Not surprisingly when two carrots grow crammed next to each other one looses the battle of the biggest and the other never really reaches it’s full potential either. I don’t like thinning my plants, as is most obvious when you see my leaf lettuce patch. Plant abortions kill! Nom nom.

You don’t have to throw out those tiny carrots though, they are still deliciously edible. I washed them off and Michael and I snacked on them for breakfast. Also if they are cooked beyond a light stirfry they will revert to orange. In the thinning process I pulled out a couple larger ones, which I took a picture of. Not your typical carrots, but that is the joy of a home garden. I am growing purple haze carrots, which turn purple as they mature, though the core will remain orange. They are still a couple weeks from being fully developed but they are still going to be excellent in our lunch stirfry.

I want to do a successive sowing of carrots this year, after these are harvested. I am going to give making seed tape a try, that way thinning will not be necessary. If that works well I might do that for all my small seeds next year, a nice little winter project. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: he believed in me.” - - Jim Valvano

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I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, never underestimate the power of having nice maternity clothes. It is wonderful to feel beautiful and be comfortable at the same time. Look at that belly (photo taken this morning) can you believe I have been forcing that into my old jeans? No wonder I felt like I was being cut in two. Can you believe that is a 13 week belly? I know this is my second so it should be bigger sooner but I wasn’t this big last time will I was at 30 weeks. No wonder Beth wants me to have an ultrasound to confirm gestational age or multiples. July 16th, hurry up! The wait is killing me, it is like a Christmas present I can’t peek at.

This weekend was really lovely, if a little on the warm side. We had a few friends over on the fourth for a barbecue. I grilled up burgers and fresh pineapple (I adore grilled pineapple, actually I pretty much adore anything that can be grilled.) Pie, chips, cheeses, cherries, blueberries, ice tea and soda were plentiful too. (I also adore ice tea.) It was nice to just relax on the deck with friends. Missed the fireworks, but I didn’t really miss them either.

On Sunday Michael and I went on our first date since Damian has been born. It was wonderful to get away and spend time as a couple. Our friends Andrea and Peter watched Damian and they say he was great for them. He must have had fun because within 5 minutes of them leaving he was out cold having worn himself out. Michael and I went and say UP, I was teared up before the Pixar short was over! The movie was really deep and sweet, a perfect movie for our first date.

Afterwards we went to Motherhood Maternity and I found some new clothes. They make fantastic full-panel jeans, pants and skirts. The panel (full-panel means it covers your who belly) is made with a breathable material so you don’t perish from heat exhaustion and holds tight enough that you aren’t adjusting them every 5 minutes.

Anyhow the weekend was great, this week is going to be nice too, Michael is taking Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off, and the weekend as usual. Don’t know what we are doing yet (other then getting our hair cut, the three of us) but it will be nice to have him home.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

So I have my midwife appointment yesterday and I haven’t gained any weight (no cause for alarm) but my belly is measuring larger then it should be. This means one of two things, I am further along then I think, or there is more then one fetus in there. Possible too much information ahead.

Though I don’t think you can ever be 100% sure on your dates, I have only had one menstrual cycle since giving birth to Damian, which began April 1st and lasted for 10 days and was very heavy at some points. Three days longer then my former normal, but who knows what my norm is anymore, it was my first! I started throwing up when I was “suppose to” and generally speaking my pregnancy symptoms have matched where I think I am (12 weeks.)

My midwife uses a doppler instrument to measure the fetal heartbeat (it looks like an ultrasound wand if you know what that is) but had a hard time keeping track of my passenger. He or she was either incredibly active or I have a heartbeat on either side of my uterus. According to a friend, only Dr Who can have two hearts, I wouldn’t know but I’ll take his word for it!

So on July 16th I have an ultrasound scheduled to see what’s going on in there. I won’t know right away as the tech cannot tell me my “diagnosis” (makes it sound like pregnancy is a disease doesn’t it?) as some other specialist has to look at the results and then contact my midwife and then she will call me. (Convoluted!) But I intend on watching that screen like a hawk, I know what Damian looked like in this, if it looks different think I’ll know. Especially if there are two black voids with little flickering heartbeats in them, that would be kind of hard to hide.

I’ll be completely honest and say I am kind of hoping my dates are off, not because I will not adore twins if that is the case, it just feels kind of overwhelming right now. One has been challenging enough through all the diapers, teething, feedings, bathing etc and I just imagine that times two. Did you know that since before Damian was born I have had reoccurring dreams of having a little boy first and then fraternal twins, one boy and one girl? That might have me a little nervous too.

We’ll see I guess, right?

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

When bees hum in the linden tree
and roses bloom in cottage plots.
Along the brookside banks we see
the blue wild forget-me-nots.
– Patience Strong

I spotted this lovely little thing was growing in the sandy gravel at the edge of Priest Lake. I am not sure what it is, but I think it is Forget-Me-Nots are just beautiful.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

What is forgiveness? The word itself comes from the Latin “perdonare” which means “to give completely, without reservation.” I suppose that is true but that seems to simple for something that is so incredibly difficult. I see forgiveness as the need to untie yourself from that which binds you to an offense that was committed against you. In forgiving we release the feelings that hold sway over up allowing us to shed the emotional baggage can had hold us back.

It is so easy to become tangled in a mess of bitterness and resentment that swells to the point that it becomes hard to even remember how it began. It is sometimes hard to see that forgiveness is not the same as condoning negative behavior, nor is it the a synonym for forgetting. Rather, it is a decision to allowing positive energy hold greater sway in your life, and while forgiveness can ultimately lead to feelings for compassion for the one who hurt you, I think that it is and should be done for self first and foremost.

It is never easy for me to forgive but it is as important to my spiritual practice and wellbeing (two aspects of my life that I see as one) as the practice of compassion. How to I find the capacity to forgive within myself? That normally takes solitude on my part, often I find I have to forgive actions within my own heart before I can find enough positivity to allow myself to pardon another. Oddly enough it is easier for me to find and feel compassion for a person who hurt me long before I find forgiveness.

How about you? Is forgiveness important in your life? Why?

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to pick things up when the adults stick one of these bubble things on you?!

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What is a weed but a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

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Photo intensive garden update time. Enter at your own bandwidth’s risk!

Do you remember what bed A looked like just a month ago? Now look at it!

Carrots and onions and green beans, oh my! Ignore that empty square in the back left corner. My cilantro bolted while we were at the Pagan Campout (I still need to blog about that don’t I?) so I pulled it up. Never fear though, I have the new crop already sprouting in bed B (photo to the right.) But while we are on the topic of bed B…

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

“And we who listen to the stars, or walk the dusty grade
Or break the very atoms down to see how they are made,
Or study cells, or living things, seek truth with open hand.
The profoundest act of worship is to try to understand.”

– “The Word of God” by Catherine Faber

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

So I wrote this review once already, Wordpress ate it, but I am stubborn so here it is again.

Until now we have used 2 24″ pressure mounted baby gates (the standard inexpensive ones) on either end of our hallway to keep Damian off the basement steps. Not only are they very steep but they are also open with only one railing (which is out of Damian’s reach.) However Damian is tall for his age and a climber so the low gates are no longer a valid safety option.

Cue the Summer Infant - Sure & Secure Extra Tall Walk-Thru Gate, which we purchased for about $60 at K-Mart. It is a 3 foot tall metal pressure gate that comes with mounting hardware. It is important to mount gates at the top of stairs as pressure gates can slide against walls, creating a big safety issue. The Summer Infant gate has a child-locked walk-thru door too so that you don’t have to be an Olympian gymnast to get down the stairs. Since this gate is both a pressure and mounted one is has a very short bar across the bottom that you have to step over, but that hasn’t been an issue for me. Just use a bit of caution.

This gate should fit any opening between 28″ and 47.5″ and has two extension panels which allow for this. However if you door frame falls between a 1/2″ measurement between each extension piece (32.5″ to 33″, 37.5″ to 38″, and 42.5″ to 43″) it won’t fit without a little modification. In other words it will become an enormous pain to install. Our home is old and the basement door frame is slightly crooked. The bottom of the door falls between 32.5″ and 33″ and therefor just barely too small to fit an extension piece. We fixed this by using an narrow inch thick strip of wood along one side of the door frame, we then used 2″ screws (rather then the 1″ screws included with the mounting hardware) to mount that side of the gate (see right photo above.) Still, if your opening falls in those ranges and you do not have a garage full of miscellaneous wood or the handyman skills, do not buy this gate.

As for what I like about the Summer Infant gate. The gate only swings one way, so that you can install it so that it does not swing above the stairs. The child-lock is well designed but still easy for an adult to operate. The gate itself is metal and seems very sturdy and durable. I don’t see myself replacing it or having any parts failing for a long time (knock on wood!) It is also 3 feet tall which is daunting for Damian but not so overwhelming that Aos cannot jump over it. (If you have a disable, older or obese cat I can see where it’s height might have an issue for the stairs.) With a permanent gate at the top of the stairs I no longer have to constantly trip over step over the two shorter gates in the hallway too, and Damian enjoys doing the house loop now as well!

Would I recommend the gate? I added another one to the baby registry for the deck stairs so I obviously like it, but if your child is average height and not a climber, it is probably not necessary. There are cheaper shorter mounted gates out there. However if you have a toddler who is a climber and tall for his or her age, as well as a set of dangerous stairs, then I would go as far to say a tall gate is not only useful, but necessary. I think the Summer Infant - Sure & Secure Extra Tall Walk-Thru Gate fits the bill fantastically well.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

“To mature is in part to realize that while complete intimacy and omniscience and power cannot be had, self-transcendence, growth, and closeness to others are nevertheless within one’s reach.”
- - Sissela Bok

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

I might have a special place in my heart for Willow Bay because it is the first place I met Michael’s parents, almost 5 years ago now (wow, time flies…) A lot has changed since then but I still love that place. Willow Bay Resort is right on the Spokane River near Nine Mile (and about 45 minutes from our home.) My in-laws have a membership there so that they “camp” in one of the trailers on the grounds, but you can also pitch just tent.

On Friday Michael and I took Damian up there for the first time. Not to camp, but just for a nice dinner picnic with his family. We drove through quite a few rain showers on our way, but it was beautiful for the whole evening once we arrived. My father-in-law, Greg, grilled up steak for dinner and my mother-in-law, Kim, made her wonderful potato salad. Damian had lots of fun hanging out with his cousin Emily and running around like the crazy nature loving maniac he is.

I think it is so important for children to spend time as possible outside. Damian and I hang out in the backyard, go on walks and play in the park several times a week (if not every day.) Damian adores the outdoors, it fills him with more life, smiles and laughter then anything on the tube ever could. It also wears him out more and makes for longer naps, which I love (does that sound horrible?) since they give me time to blog!

So what is my favorite part of Willow Bay? I love it all but if I had to pick one thing, it would be all the colorful birdhouses. There are three of four of them on almost every tree along the main path. It looks like children painted most of them, which always makes me smiles. I think Damian will like projects like that when he is older. This is my favorite grouping of birdhouses (probably because of the sign):

Michael has the next few days at work, so you can probably expect another nature loving post soon as we are going to the annual Pagan Campout at Priest Lake this weekend. I am almost finished a garden update too (everything growing so fast!) but I have to wait for the rain to let up to grab some new photos. Oh and as always you can find more photos from our evening at Willow Bay in our photo gallery.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

In one of my Aunt Ruth’s recent blog posts she asked: “Do you enjoy summer picnics, with your family or community? Or am I right in thinking they are becoming a thing of the past?” Which kind of inspired me to write this entry, though I do not get to answering her question until later.

This weekend was very busy for us. After Michael came home from work on Friday, we turned around and left to take Damian to his one year check up. He is doing fantastically well. Dr. Kincaid was amazed by his height, how well he is walking and all those teeth.

I’d like to say I was totally present at the checkup but I was a bit out of it since I had a migraine. I would just like to say that there is a difference between a headache and a migraine. When I say I have a migraine it means that bright light and noise causes pain so intense that I vomit continuously. I have gotten then for as long as I can remember but I know most of my triggers so I can prevent or at least reduce the intensity of most of them. However I cannot avoid them at three times, when I menstruate, when I ovulate and, apparently, when I am in my first trimester of pregnancy. I had them with Damian and now I have them again. I have been getting them one to three times a week (or rather once a week for three days in a row…) I cannot take any medication that would take the edge off since I am pregnant. However, I have discovered relief. Obey the Cravings. If I obey my cravings 80% of the time they go away.

So after the doctor, Michael took me to Panda Express (Chinese fast food place) since I was craving white rice and steamed veggies. You would think I would have eaten rice and veggies on Wednesday when the migraine began to manifest but I guess the cure just seems so ridiculous to me that I always think it won’t work (last time the “cure” was Dick’s hamburger and fries. Mmmm healthy…) Anyhow the migraine was gone before I finished eating, leaving me with just a blissful (and I mean that) headache.

So then we came home, and since I was feeling all renewed, we tossed some stuff in the van, turn around and drove out to Willow Bay for a second dinner of steak and potato salad with Michael’s of the family. (I am going to blog about that separately so I can profess my deep love for getting out of town and pretty bird houses.) But I wanted to answer my Aunt Ruth’s question. I throughly enjoy summer picnics with family, we actually do a potluck on the third Sunday of every month with Michael’s side so that we don’t fall out of touch. I do think those type of events seem to be falling out of favor with my generation though, maybe in favor of the thing we did on Sunday, but I’ll get to that in a moment.

On Saturday we shopped, and then shopped some more and then shopped… We are going to a big three day campout next weekend so we had to pick up everything we needed for that and did our monthly Costco trip. We also stopped at Michael’s work and bought a 14 count case of organic broccoli, a 10lbs box of local organic snap peas and a 25lbs box of rainbow rotini (pasta salad season!)

On Sunday we ended up running out for a few more things and I processed the aforementioned case of broccoli for freezing. (My feet hurt.) And then went to see more “family” since Andrea and Peter invited several of our friends over for dinner. Homemade gnocchis, strawberry rhubarb pie, fruit salad… Yummy! I brought broccoli (surprise!) and carrot salad. Did I mention that there was pie?

So now I want to add on to my answer to my aunt’s question. I think staying connected to family is important, but I also think, as far as my generation is concerned, the term family has grown beyond biological (enough so that there is the newer term out there combining friends and family, “framily”.) I know that I do the things with my “framily” that I would do with family. We go on picnics, meet up several times a month, go on camping trips, have potlucks, share some holidays together… Our closest friends are Aunts and Uncles to Damian rather then just our friends.

I enjoy family and framily gatherings, but I do think the generational family gatherings are falling out of favor these days in favor of “framily” gatherings. I can see why some people have drifted with family gatherings, you can chose your friends but you cannot chose your family. In a lot of ways it is often easier to be who you are and find acceptance among like-minded friends rather then family that might have preconceived notions of you formed during your youth. However, I think we forget that even though families have their own squabbles, that there is a unique kind of love that can only come from those you were surrounded by growing up. There is a whole set of learning experiences stems from interacting with family. We have to understand where we came from to know where we are going. At the end of the day there is room in my life for family and framily and I deeply love and enjoy both.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

Some of you may have seen this on my facebook the other day but for those who haven’t… This is Aos’ latest sleep spot.

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Saturday was my birthday and Mommy and Daddy threw me a big party! I helped Mommy pick out my awesome dinosaur overalls to make sure I looked extra adorable and I managed to get even more snuggles then usual because of my big face booboo. A couple hours before my party Daddy was helping me down the deck stairs, and I decided I was going to try the last one all by myself (I am a year old after all!), but I slip and face-planted right into the walkway. It looks a lot worse then it feels but I still got the extra snuggles!

Almost everyone I know came, Cheyenne, Caswallon, Ileen, Michelle, Mikcos, Nathan, Ben, Laurie, Peter, Andrea, Ariella, Lydia, Grandpa and Grandma Stewart, Ginanne, Jordan and Emily. We had a big barbecue with hotdogs, hamburgers and corn-on-the-cob, Mommy is the grill master!

Afterwards we did my presents! I received spiritual gifts from almost everyone for my altar as well as a whispered blessing (they all made me smile!) I received a cool dragon tealight holder and yellow stone egg from Michelle, Mikcos and Nathan; color runes from Cheyenne (these are wooden disks she painted with colors and put in a red bag, so pretty!); an awesome piece of obsidian from Peter and Andrea; a spider plant in a RED (can you tell I like that color?) pot from Laurie and Ben; a shiny CTR dogtag from Ginanne, Jordan and Emily; and really pretty book from Grandma and Grandpa Stewart, Ariella and Lydia. They also gave me an outfit and super cool wooden building blocks. All of these gifts were in a big shiny RED radio flyer wagon from Grandpa Tolman.

After presents came my cake! Mommy made me an whole-wheat applesauce cake shaped like the moon. It looked awesome and tasted even better! I think Mommy actually thought I was going to stay clean for a minute, but nooo, people need the grubby cake photo, so I was happy to oblige.

My birthday was so fun! I had a wonderful time, I can’t wait till my next year! (And there are lots more photos from my party here.)

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

Happy Birthday Damian!

We love you so much and are so proud of you! You will always be our little superman.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

One more day to go until our little man turns one! I have 48 ears of corn ready for the bbq, lemonade, burgers and hotdogs all ready to go. It is suppose to be cloudy but hopefully the rain will hold off till Sunday as they are predicting.

Birthday preparations aside, I still need to wash diapers today. I need to wash diapers every day. 365 days of diapers. One and five are poopy. Damian eats solids now so his poop is so colorful sometimes I wonder if it could be used for some kind of divination technique. Not to mention the smell after certain food groups, wow that can be mind altering all on its own. Morning sickness and poop do not mesh well. My washer and drier are my basement god and goddess, is that weird?

Oh, were you eating lunch? I’m sorry.

Seriously though, I am still glad we cloth diaper and you really do get use to the poppy diapers. And really if that is the only thing keeping you from cloth diapering, then you are in for a shock, because you will get it on you whether you use disposables or cloth. Since my initially post all those months ago about our choice to go with cloth we have had to buy new ones once, in the next size up. In the 0-15 pound prefold size we purchased 36, but in the 15 to 30 pound size we only bought 18. In retrospect, I wish we would have gotten more, maybe 24, so I didn’t have to do laundry quite so frequently.

This week we ordered 18 bumGenius all-in-one diapers, which are basically a super pimped out version of the cloth diaper. No pins/snappies, no prefolds and covers, these bad boys look and work pretty much like a disposable. Very user-friendly. However at 15 bucks a pop, they are by no means cheap (prefolds are about $1.50 in comparison) making them the most expensive thing my child will ever have the pleasure of pooping in. *knocks on wood and hides her cashmere shawl* We decided on the bumGenius all-in-ones for two reasons, we needed more diapers anyways, especially since we will be going camping for three days during summer solstice and we have a child who thinks diapers are the devil and will fight tooth and nail through a diaper change. bumGeniuses go on and come off very easily, you can even change a diaper with the baby standing, which honestly sounds as close to sweet victory as I am going to get. Besides, you can get orange ones too, how cool is that?

I didn’t just say bad boys when referring to diapers in the last paragraph did I? Oh goddess…

Have we used disposables too? Yes, three times. When he was first born because a newborn’s first bowel movements (called meconium) look and feel like stick tar, when we moved and did not have access to a washer and drier and when him and I have the flu. I could not handle the smell of diarrhea at all, so we used pampers until that cleared up. Disposables definitely still have their place in my world.

Will we be cloth diapering the new baby? Definitely! It is so much easier then I initially thought it would be, even with the current diaper battles. Damian’s old diapers are still in great condition (the ones he is in now are a little worn from walking but should last as well, especially with 18 more on the way.) Having our own washer and drier is an enormous blessing, if we had to share ones (as with many apartments) we probably would not cloth diapers, or we would use a diaper service.

But what about EC you ask? For the new to my blog, EC (elimination communication/infant potty training) is learning your baby’s cues from birth for the bathroom and then taking him to it. We still do EC. I catch about 25% to 50% of his cues on any given day, he always uses the potty in the morning and after naps and will usually hold it until someone helps him onto the potty. He almost never goes in his diaper when we are out or at night anymore. EC was much easier before he started walking but now that he is almost tall enough to get on his little potty by himself, I am hoping he will start to show interest in doing so. We will see. For anyone considering EC for their baby, it takes a lot of dedication, but I still feel it has been worth it.

Speaking of Damian, he hear him waking from his nap, so to the potty we go! And then to vacuum, and finish the dishes and scrub the deck, and walk the plank… Have a great day!

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

(Can you believe Damian was two months old here? Look at those squishy cheeks, that is enough to melt this mommy’s heart.)

Our choice to bed-share with Damian is probably the parenting practice I talk the least about. I have always felt that more families in this country bed-share then statics illustrate (even if they didn’t set out to do so,) especially when the mother breastfeeds, but that the societal taboo regarding it keeps them all but silent too.

Bed-sharing (also called the family bed or co-sleeping) is a practice in which children sleep with one or both parents, as opposed to being in a crib. According to wikipedia, it has been widely practiced historically and is still standard practice in many parts of the world, and is practiced by a significant minority in countries where infant beds are also used.

Why did we chose to bed-share? The reason at the very top of that list would be breastfeeding. Damian falls asleep at the breast and is difficult to move, when I lay down to feed him, I often fall asleep too. Seems like a match made in heaven doesn’t it? It became so natural to breastfeed at night that Damian quit waking up to find a breast, which was really nice (not having to sooth a baby back to sleep.)

The number one question I am asked regarding bed-sharing is if I have ever worried about crushing/suffocating/otherwise maiming Damian in my sleep. The first night we brought him home I did, but I haven’t since. Honestly, there has never been a time when something even scared me about Damian laying between Michael and I. Normally Damian and I sleep on our sides, facing each other. His head rests on my elbow so that my arm very naturally wraps around cradles him in his sleep. When I roll over (if he needs to switch sides to eat) I hold him lightly to my chest and the transition is easy, not even waking him up. If his breathing changes at night or he fusses even a tiny amount for any reason I instantly wake up. I don’t think any of those indicates I am a light sleeper or hypersensitive, they are just instincts I naturally have as a mother. I don’t worry about Michael either, he has the his own protective Daddy instincts.

It is important that bed-sharing bed done properly though. I say properly because people often tell me bed-sharing horror stories when they find out we do about the death of a child because of bed-sharing. Not surprisingly these stories seem to always involve a parenting on drugs or who is drunk or one who has health problem (sleep apnea for example.) Getting drunk or high and passing out on your baby is not bed-sharing, it is child abuse.

I am also asked if I worry about him being co-dependent. While my proof is anecdotal, Damian is a very independent one-year-old, so I really have no worries. There is some research that has been done that seems to show there are actually quite a few benefits to bed-sharing. Since I am not here to talk to into doing it, I’ll just link anyone interested to an article about bed-sharing and the research that has been done.

People also ask me if Michael and my intimacy took a hit since we bed-share. (Dad, skip this paragraph unless you want to be mentally scarred again.) Yes, it took some adjustment. Yes, we have sex less. But people, you can have sex in other places then a bed and just because you bed-share does not mean a baby cannot be laid down elsewhere for a short nap. So yes, sex takes more planning, but I am pregnant again so obviously something happened. I hear couples who use cribs talk about a decline in sexual activity too, so I don’t think it is really as big an issue as it seems. Where there is a will, there is a way, right?

How long will we bed-share? Michael and I actually bought Damian a toddler bed four days ago. We knew that we did not want to move him to a crib, so Michael and I decided to waited until Damian was completely competent at getting in and out of our bed (which he has been for about a month.) We didn’t want to rush him into his own room, so his new bed is currently between the wall and my side of the bed (see thumbnail, his Grandma Stewart made that quilt by the way!) Damian has been taking his nap in it and I lay him down after his night feeding for bed time. He doesn’t stay in it all night yet, and I am not forcing him to, but every night he stays in it a little bit longer. (I am a big fan of gradual transitions.) If I was not pregnant, I would probably let him bed-share longer, but I want him to be well adjusted to sleeping on his own well before the new baby arrives so that the does not feel that he is being evicted and replaced.

I want to re-emphasize, bed-sharing is definitely not for everyone. Just like our other parenting decisions, the key to making bed-sharing work is that Michael and I decided on it together while looking at the needs of our child. Both of us like bed-sharing and neither of us get high, drunk or have medical conditions that impact our sleeping habits. Ultimately we made a choice that we felt was the healthiest for Damian and in the end that is all that matters to us.

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.