Life With a 1-Year Old...

...is crazy! Dan has been a lot of fun these past several weeks since my last post. He has been working on some sign language with the sitter and can now sign "more," "all done," "milk," and "food." Although "food" isn't extremely clear at all times, we get the picture. Also, "more" is more like clapping than the actual "more" sign. It works. We know what he's saying. We're working on "please" and "thank you" right now. I still can't say enough good things about our sitter. She has been doing a fantastic job with Dan. She brings him and her son to the park when the days are nice, does art projects to keep them busy, plays with the neighbor kids when they're home. We are definitely lucky to have found her.

So, what have we been up to since Dan turned one. Let's see, the day of his birthday Dan came down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. No, not the same thing deer get. This is one of those childhood rashes like chickenpox or measles. Typical symptoms start with a fever followed by a few days without eating followed by the spots/blisters that center around your hands, feet, and mouth (hence the name). Dan caught it from the sitters son, who caught it from a neighbor kid who had just gotten over it. While the sitters son expressed your typical symptoms - fever, little appetite, blisters - Dan only developed the blisters. There are several reasons why I think that was the case, but the two big ones are that he is still breast feeding and that he hasn't been vaccinated. Strong immune system that hasn't been compromised due to vaccine ingredients plus the extra boost from breast milk makes for mild diseases. If you would like to know more why I haven't vaccinated Dan, please comment below.

We had Dan's 1-year pictures taken just over a week after his birthday. Here are some of my favorites.

The look he has in the last one is priceless! If you are a fan of the show "Friends" you can almost hear him saying "How you doin'" just like Joey.

That was September. In October we celebrated the end of football season. Jason's team won a few games this year which is a vast improvement over last year. I don't think the varsity or JV teams won a single game last year. Congrats to Jason, the rest of the coaching staff, and the players for a successful year!

Towards the end of October we also spent the day at a local pumpkin farm. They had a bunch of activities for the kids and you got to go pick your own pumpkin. It was a pretty nice set up. A little pricy ($10 per adult), but it looks like Dan had fun.

Playing in the corn pile

Sliding down the big slide with Mama

Time to pick out a pumpkin!

With fall also comes leaves. Now for those who have seen our house, you know how big our trees are, and how many we have. For those who haven't visited (and why haven't you?!?!?!), we have 5 very mature silver maple trees and one mature Norway maple tree. That equals a LOT of leaves. Here's pic of our first fall at the house. The pile of leaves spanned the entire front of our property.

Fall 2009

That is me standing in the street! And yes, we can rake our leaves into the street as the city picks them up for us. SO thankful for that! I can't imagine how many bags we would need to use to pack all that up! This year Dan decided to help out. That's Daddy's empty can he's lugging around with him. Working like a true 'Sconie already!

Fall 2014

 The local fire department had their open house mid-October. This was Dan's second trip to a fire station. Here's a few pics from that.

I think the coolest thing that happened during October was I got to attend a birth as a doula! This mama was pregnant with #2 and wanted a home birth like she had hoped for with her first before the doctor played the "dead baby" card despite her healthy pregnancy and baby. After a lot of hard work getting into a steady labor, she delivered a healthy baby girl in the early morning hours of October 22nd. It was extra special not only because it was my first birth, but October 22nd is also the anniversary of my Dad's death. To witness new life coming into the world the same day my Dad left was incredible.

Of course, with October we can't forget about Halloween! Jason really wanted Dan to go as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. I really liked the idea, but never found a way to get the costume without spending a fortune. I probably could have made one, but the time just wasn't there. So instead he went as a minion. All we had to do was buy the hat. As you can see in the picture, he didn't really like the hat. So we went around trick-or-treating in just the overalls and shirt. The second picture is from a house down the block from us. I thought it was pretty cool that they set up the skeletons on their bike!

Otherwise, we are working on getting Trooper's allergies under control. We went ahead and did the skin test to see what he's allergic to. Turns out a lot of trees, some grasses, and dust mites. Oh, he also came out positive for human dander. I'm going to try and see if we can't manage the symptoms using essential oils and other supplements before we do the injection treatments. Not only are the injections expensive, they are life-long. The first month alone you need to inject them every other day, and you won't start seeing results for up to 3 months! Yeah, not fun.

Anyway, I hope one of these days to get pictures of our basement put up. All the big stuff is done, just need to get some pictures hung on the walls and find a desk and rug for the office. The bathroom is still under construction, but with all that we've been doing, plus me now having a regular yoga class, time goes by much faster than what we would like.

I hope to get back into regular posting here as the holidays are upon us. I hope fall has been treating you well!

A Fault in Modernity

The last few years I have been using traditional medicine to help maintain my health and wellness. I've used chiropractic care, acupuncture, herbs, flowers, and even Reiki. Through my own experiences and research, I have grown to respect the power of our own ability to heal. Why is it that honoring that ability and using traditional medicine a negative thing when modern medicine is not needed? Don't get me wrong, modern medicine has done wonders. Between improvements in sanitation and housing, modern medicine has helped bring people back from the brink of death. That being said, I believe that we have become over reliant on modern medicine. We have lost the belief that our bodies can survive without these chemicals. We have lost the belief that our bodies can heal themselves from most pathogens with little help.

There is so little known about the immune system and how it works. We have a general idea - a really good general idea - as to how it recognizes foreign invaders, tags them for destruction, and heals the point of insult. For years we have been cleaning and sanitizing and placing ourselves into protective bubbles to prevent us from getting sick. Slowly this idea is starting to shift away from this hyper-cleanliness. Scientists are coming to realize that we do need to eat dirt once in a while.

So why do I write about this? I do so because I believe that we are on the edge of a cliff. There is a growing number of bacteria that are becoming resistant to our current antibiotics. Not just one antibiotic, but multiple! We have the heaviest vaccine schedule of any developed country, and yet we are also the sickest. Heck, the bacterium responsible for pertussis (B. pertussis) has mutated to "survive" against the TDaP/DTaP vaccine! There is also an alarming increase of chronic diseases over the last 20 years. Megan, the author of LivingWhole.org, wrote a rather fantastic post about some of these trends.  You can read the post HERE. To save time, here is the list of chronic diseases we are dealing with today:

1 in 6 kids has neurodevelopment disabilities,
1 in 68 has autism (1 in 42 boys), 1 in 10 has ADD or ADHD, 1 in 10 has asthma, 
 1 in 450 has diabetes,
20% of children have eczema 1 in 5 has allergies 1 in 3 children are obese.  Almost 2,000 children die from cancer (the leading cause of death by disease in children) each year, and childhood disabilities have jumped 16% since the year 2001. Coincidence?

Each link is for a government website, so these numbers are recognized by our government. I'll say it again, modern medicine has done wonders to improve the health of the human race. But how far is too far? How much chemical processing can our bodies handle before we step off that cliff from health to chronic disease? 

Modern medicine isn't the only piece of the puzzle. We have to look at our air quality, our soil quality, our food quality. We are the only industrialized nation that does not require GMO labeling. We are also one of the few industrialized nations that allow for certain chemicals in our food products when there are banned in European countries. Same manufacturer, two different products, because in one country it's banned while in the US, it's A-OK. Oh, but we couldn't ban those chemicals or require labeling. It would cost too much. I ask you this, if they're already doing it for Europe, where is the extra cost to make the same label in the US?



A large portion of our crops are Roundup Ready. This allows for farmers to spray this chemical that is laced with hormone disruptors all over the food that we eat. That in and of itself isn't too alarming, but the problem is that the weeds are becoming resistant. That leads to more herbicides being sprayed on our food. I wish I had taken a picture, but this weekend I was making apple sauce from some Sweet Tango apples that I bought from the grocery store a few days earlier. Like with all my produce, I soak them in a sink full of lukewarm water with ~1 cup of vinegar for roughly 15 minutes (less for berries) to help remove any lingering pesticides and herbicides. Much to my surprise, this film developed on the skin of the apples. The only thing that I could do to get rid of this film was scrape my nail over the skin. I'm not sure whether this was pesticide/herbicide residue or some funky wax to make the apples "look more appealing," the bottom line was that there was crap on the outside of my apples that shouldn't be there. We are eating this junk and it's effecting our health.

How our animals are treated is a whole other matter. They eat these crops that are genetically modified and fed medicines that increase their mass faster than conventional farming. The GMO crops have negative effects on these animals that aren't widely mentioned in main stream media. It would be "detrimental to the industry" to change their practice in order to produce healthier animals for healthier byproducts. There are more studies that the one I linked, but it gives you an idea.

Then we get to the grocery store, only buy fresh produce and meat thinking we're doing good to ourselves and our bodies, and we still see these obesity levels among other chronic health ailments. CNN posted yet another opinion article on how childhood obesity should have us concerned. Thankfully the author mentions the endocrine disruptors in our food stuffs and environment that play a role. 

The health of our soil determines the nutritional component of our plants, which then determines the nutritional and overall health of ourselves and the animals and animal by-products that we also eat. Add to that the chemicals used on our plants, the medicines used in our livestock and for ourselves, the materials we use to process and store our food stuff, and the air and water quality - we have a LOT of factors that go into the deteriorating health of our families.


So what can we do about it?

• Write to your representatives: local, state, and national.  
• Buy local and organic whenever possible - I know money is a huge factor. 
• Try making your own heath care products. There are lots of recipes out there for toothpaste, shampoo, face wash, hand soap, etc.
• Use as little plastic as you can.
• Try using traditional home remedies before reaching for that antibiotic or pain medication.
• Walk or ride your bike instead of driving as often as you can.
• Support local community gardens and conservation organizations
• Research, research, and research some more to figure out how to do better for you, your family, and your community.

We all want to leave the world just a little bit better for our children. No, these things are not easy. Yes, you could say I'm being a little paranoid. When you look at the numbers and how they're growing, shouldn't we all be a little bit concerned?

To your health and mine. Enjoy this first day of fall :)

Happy Birthday!

We officially have a 1-year old! Where has the time gone? Well, when you're busy learning how to hold your head, roll, sit, crawl, stand, and walk, time certainly flies by! So here are the stats:

Dan currently weighs in at 25.8 pounds and is 31 inches long. He can wave, clap his hands, and raises his hands up because he is "So big!"

I'm 12 months old!

Along with turning a year old, he also caught his first "big" bug - hand foot and mouth disease. Our sitter had a neighbor watch her son the previous Saturday. The neighbor's daughter had just gotten over her case of HFM that she got from daycare. Well, the virus was still in the house so our sitters son caught it, who then shared it with Dan. Isn't that nice of him, sharing at such a young age!

Thankfully, HFM is a pretty harmless virus. You can read more about it HERE if you like. I'm also thankful that Dan hasn't developed sores inside his mouth. Our sitters son didn't eat for almost 2 entire days for that reason. However, because Dan has an active infection, we couldn't go to a birthday party for my friend's daughter "L" who also just turned 1. She was born 2 days after Dan was. It has been fun watching the two of them grown and develop at the same time! It is also crazy how big the "normal" range is with infants. Dan is towards the head of the curve while "L" is towards the middle/back of the curve with certain milestones. For example, Dan started walking at 10 months and one week. That same week, "L" started crawling. All normal!

Dan over the last 12 months

We are just about done with the basement remodel. Just a few more paint touch ups, some hardware on the closet doors, hanging pictures, then moving everything back into place. My Mom and Jeff will be coming down this weekend so maybe we can tackle some of the to-do list. Our downstairs bathroom is mudded and ready for paint. Tile is mostly picked out, as are the fixtures. Anyone want to come watch an adorable 1 year old so Mom and Dad can finish the remodel? Anyone? By the time you come he should be healthy again!

Oh well, you will just need to wait a little bit longer to see the after pictures. Take care, stay healthy, stay warm!

2 Weddings, 2 State Fairs, and a Party

Whew! What happened to August?! For us, it was 2 weddings, 2 state fairs, and a birthday party! So yeah, I suppose when you're that busy an entire month can go by pretty quickly. Warning - there are lots of pictures in his post!

First off is the WI state fair. Wisconsin has their state fair at the beginning of August. We headed off after work one evening and took in some of the animals (half of the barns were in the process of switching livestock so we only saw a couple barns), a draft horse competition, enjoyed some food, and checked out some of the vendor stalls. Dan was really interested in the animals, but couldn't take his eyes off all the people. It was pretty busy, but not as crazy as the MN state fair.

We went to the Minnesota state fair the last Saturday of the month. Again, we took in animal barns (the miracle of life barn is my favorite!), several art buildings, the education building, the dairy building (for a strawberry rhubarb sundae - yum!), a parade, and the pet building. Of course, the food is always what people ask about. I ate a bison kabob (yum!), chocolate milk, strawberry rhubarb sundae (yum!), and shared a red velvet funnel cake (yum!). Dan again did excellent at the fair, and even get in an almost 2 hour nap while we walked around. By the end of the day, walking around the fair was challenging to say the least. I come to find out that Saturday was an all-time record for a single-day attendance - 252,092 people! I bet the actual number was even higher considering kids under a certain age are free.

SOME of the people at the fair.

Dan not having the pig ear hat.

Checking out the tractor with Grandma.

Walking the fair with Daddy.

Having fun!

Sitting with Daddy and Grandma.

The first wedding of the month was for my (second) cousin on my Dad's side down in Kansas. We don't get to see them too often so I made it a point to make it to her wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and the reception site was adorable! They had converted an old barn into a reception/conference space. I loved the character! Dan had a blast dancing to the music. At one point just as we were about to leave, a Michael Jackson song came on. He wanted to get down in order to climb the stairs back to the reception room so he could dance. He even did a little dancing while on his way up the stairs! It was adorable!

 

Here comes the bride!

Sweet moment between Lauren and Bob

They're married!

Father/daughter dance.

Me, our cousin Tom, and my sister.

Lauren and Rachel.

The second wedding was for my cousin on my Mom's side of the family. Again, Dan had a blast dancing. He even made a little friend! I don't know what he liked better, dancing to the music or the photo booth. Once we took him in there, he kept on wanting to go back in! Needless to say, we couldn't put him down without him running off to the dance floor or to the photo booth.

 

Photobooth fun

Dan and his new friend.

Family picture :)

Lastly, we celebrated Dan's 1st birthday a couple weeks early with my side of the family. It was a really nice, small gathering at Jeff's place for brunch. We even had mimosas! What? Don't you have mimosas at your 1 year old's birthday party? Clearly you don't know how to celebrate! Dan is very loved by all his relatives and got some wonderful gifts: books, clothes, a star night light, a super fun sprinkler, a lego police man, and some college money - which we figure will buy half a book when he is old enough to get into college! He had a blast eating his cake :) A dip in the sink and he was all clean.

Opening presents.

We love books!

Mmm...cake!

All done!

Time to clean up.

Also during the month of August, we visited the Kansas City Zoo and had a private tour of the fire station that Jeff worked at. Jeff retired from the fire department after 29 years (and one month!) of service on Sept 1st. Thank you for all those years of dedicated service to the city of Brooklyn Park!

 

 

 

 

 

Until next time, stay well!

All the traveling makes for one tired kid!