Sun and Sleep. My drugs of choice. They both make me so happy! And I have a hard time being happy when I'm missing one or the other (or both)!
Every fall, when it's a warm, sunny day, I find myself wondering (in a panicky way) if this will be the last warm day for a long time.
But today, I'm on the other end of that spectrum. The sun was shining, the grass was greening up, the sky was blue, and I found myself thinking, "Aahhhh, this is just the first of more to come soon!"
I'm high on the sun.
However....
I have not been sleeping well, and I place some blame on my mattress. Curse that top layer of memory foam! Do you love your mattress? If so, please give me your recommendation! I'm in the market for a good one.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
CarSeat Safety
Even though this doesn't affect me personally these days, this article caught my eye.
Babies (and toddlers) should stay in a rear-facing car seat until age 2? Wowzers. Do you know what the law was when Katelyn was born? Once she was two years old, she wasn't even required by law to be strapped into a car seat! Just a seat belt! Of course, that was when she was born, and by the time she had turned two, I think they were recommending keeping her in a carseat until age four. I've always found it interesting how quickly these standards change. Now I'm supposed to keep my six-year-old in a booster--and that doesn't always happen.
Isn't it ironic that the more advances we make in safety, the more difficult it becomes to maintain the new standards? I mean, cars are built with more safety features than ever, and yet, in order to ride in them, we have to take more precautions than we ever before! It's like I tell my kids: before everybody had vacuums, they only had to clean their carpets seasonally; but now that we have newer conveniences, we also have higher standards of cleanliness!
Don't get me wrong--I like living in a safe and clean environment. I'm glad we have vacuums and seat belts and carseats and airbags. I just can't help but notice the irony.
When Katelyn was about eight or nine months old, Doug borrowed a pickup truck from work for a service project we were helping with one weekend. In the truck, we had to put Katelyn into a forward-facing carseat. It was amazing how much she enjoyed that little ride! Katelyn was a baby who hated riding in the car. She would typically scream through any car ride lasting longer than a couple of minutes. So it was like a small miracle to see her happy during drive, with the difference being that she was facing forward. So, at her nine-month check-up with her pediatrician, I asked him about how stringent the "1year/20 pounds" guideline was. Here's what he told me:
We would all be safer in a collision if we were strapped into a rear-facing (at that time, only 3-point) harness. But at some point, it becomes very impractical for everyone to be riding that way.
I don't necessarily think it's impractical to keep a one-year-old rear-facing until they turn two. I think that's reasonable, frankly. But what I wonder is, where will we go from here? And how soon?
I predict the guidelines will continue to become more and more strict, and it won't take very long for that next step to be "recommended".
Babies (and toddlers) should stay in a rear-facing car seat until age 2? Wowzers. Do you know what the law was when Katelyn was born? Once she was two years old, she wasn't even required by law to be strapped into a car seat! Just a seat belt! Of course, that was when she was born, and by the time she had turned two, I think they were recommending keeping her in a carseat until age four. I've always found it interesting how quickly these standards change. Now I'm supposed to keep my six-year-old in a booster--and that doesn't always happen.
Isn't it ironic that the more advances we make in safety, the more difficult it becomes to maintain the new standards? I mean, cars are built with more safety features than ever, and yet, in order to ride in them, we have to take more precautions than we ever before! It's like I tell my kids: before everybody had vacuums, they only had to clean their carpets seasonally; but now that we have newer conveniences, we also have higher standards of cleanliness!
Don't get me wrong--I like living in a safe and clean environment. I'm glad we have vacuums and seat belts and carseats and airbags. I just can't help but notice the irony.
When Katelyn was about eight or nine months old, Doug borrowed a pickup truck from work for a service project we were helping with one weekend. In the truck, we had to put Katelyn into a forward-facing carseat. It was amazing how much she enjoyed that little ride! Katelyn was a baby who hated riding in the car. She would typically scream through any car ride lasting longer than a couple of minutes. So it was like a small miracle to see her happy during drive, with the difference being that she was facing forward. So, at her nine-month check-up with her pediatrician, I asked him about how stringent the "1year/20 pounds" guideline was. Here's what he told me:
We would all be safer in a collision if we were strapped into a rear-facing (at that time, only 3-point) harness. But at some point, it becomes very impractical for everyone to be riding that way.
I don't necessarily think it's impractical to keep a one-year-old rear-facing until they turn two. I think that's reasonable, frankly. But what I wonder is, where will we go from here? And how soon?
I predict the guidelines will continue to become more and more strict, and it won't take very long for that next step to be "recommended".
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
I know I recently posted something Olivia said that broke my heart, but most things she says melt my heart and make us giggle.
I love the way she says "my" in place of "I", and "are" in place of "do."
Can my come with you? Can my have a bite of that?
Are you want to play with me? Are you like my dress?
Every prayer includes this phrase: "Thank you that Mom and Dad can come home." (I guess we both leave her a lot!)
She knows her full name, and she wants to know everyone else's full name. If she asks me my name, and I say "Mom", she corrects me: "No, you Rebecca." And then she wants to know, "What's your next name?" But when I tell her it's Davies, she says, "No, that's Grandma's name."
Olivia is a little monkey who repeats everything she hears her sisters say. When she isn't getting what she wants, even after saying please and pretty please, she tries her last resort: "I'll give you a dollar!"
I love this stage of development, and I love this little Olivia!
I love the way she says "my" in place of "I", and "are" in place of "do."
Can my come with you? Can my have a bite of that?
Are you want to play with me? Are you like my dress?
Every prayer includes this phrase: "Thank you that Mom and Dad can come home." (I guess we both leave her a lot!)
She knows her full name, and she wants to know everyone else's full name. If she asks me my name, and I say "Mom", she corrects me: "No, you Rebecca." And then she wants to know, "What's your next name?" But when I tell her it's Davies, she says, "No, that's Grandma's name."
Olivia is a little monkey who repeats everything she hears her sisters say. When she isn't getting what she wants, even after saying please and pretty please, she tries her last resort: "I'll give you a dollar!"
I love this stage of development, and I love this little Olivia!
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