At the election commission meeting tonight they voted to keep me in my current position. Thank God and thanks to all of you who prayed for Tim and me.

And for fun, here are some new pictures of Laurel (which I know is the real reason people look at this blog!)

People ask this question fairly often now, and while I know it is asked with good intentions, I can't help but grimace on the inside. Laurel is still exclusively breastfed and will be until she is at least six months old. This is a decision based on recommendations from the following organizations:

• World Health Organization
• UNICEF
• US Department of Health & Human Services
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Academy of Family Physicians
• American Dietetic Association

Yet, most people seem to think that breastmilk isn't "real food" and that it won't sustain a baby past three or four months. Every family has to look at the research and do what works for their family, but here are the reasons that we are delaying solids. (Most of this information comes from http://www.kellymom.com/ and http://www.askdrsears.com/)

Delaying solids gives baby greater protection from illness.

Although babies continue to receive many immunities from breastmilk for as long as they nurse, the greatest immunity occurs while a baby is exclusively breastfed. Breastmilk contains 50+ known immune factors, and probably many more that are still unknown.

Delaying solids gives baby's digestive system time to mature.

If solids are started before a baby's system is ready to handle them, they are poorly digested and may cause unpleasant reactions (digestive upset, gas, constipation, etc.). Protein digestion is incomplete in infancy.

Delaying solids decreases the risk of food allergies. (particularly important to us because both Tim and I have some food allergies)

It is well documented that prolonged exclusive breastfeeding results in a lower incidence of food allergies. From birth until somewhere between four and six months of age, babies possess what is often referred to as an "open gut." This means that the spaces between the cells of the small intestines will readily allow intact macromolecules, including whole proteins and pathogens, to pass directly into the bloodstream. This is great for your breastfed baby as it allows beneficial antibodies in breastmilk to pass more directly into baby's bloodstream, but it also means that large proteins from other foods (which may predispose baby to allergies) and disease-causing pathogens can pass right through, too. During baby's first 4-6 months, while the gut is still "open," antibodies (sIgA) from breastmilk coat baby's digestive tract and provide passive immunity, reducing the likelihood of illness and allergic reactions before gut closure occurs. Baby starts producing these antibodies on his own at around 6 months, and gut closure should have occurred by this time also.

Delaying solids helps to protect baby from future obesity.

The early introduction of solids is associated with increased body fat and weight in childhood.

Delaying solids helps mom to maintain her milk supply.

Studies have shown that for a young baby solids replace milk in a baby's diet - they do not add to baby's total intake. The more solids that baby eats, the less milk he takes from mom, and less milk taken from mom means less milk production. Babies who eat lots of solids or who start solids early tend to wean prematurely.

Delaying solids allow babies to lose the tongue-thrust reflex.

In the first four months the tongue thrust reflex protects the infant against choking. When any unusual substance is placed on the tongue, it automatically protrudes outward rather than back. Between four and six months this reflex gradually diminishes, giving the glob of cereal a fighting chance of making it from the tongue to the tummy.

These are some of the reasons that we will be waiting until Laurel is at least six months old to try solid foods.

Considering that we live 15 minutes from North Carolina and 45 minutes from Virginia, you'd think one of those would be the first state that Laurel would get to visit. But no. After two days of driving and 500 miles, yesterday we drove across the Mississippi River into Arkansas. I'm at a work conference here in Memphis so she has been spending lots of quality time with her daddy! They have taken several trips along Beale Street, visited Graceland and I joined them in visiting the National Civil Rights Museum and the Lorraine Motel.

Here are some pictures:

Laurel and I attended two support group meetings yesterday (La Leche League and Attachment Parenting Internation). It was our first La Leche League group meeting. Breastfeeding is going great for us now, but I hope that through involvement with this group, I can avoid problems and maybe even help out some other new moms.

My particular future concerns right now are teething, introducing solids and her eventual weaning. Some moms have told me that they hardly even noticed when their little ones were teething and others have said that there nipples were used as chew toys (OUCH!) She is getting to that age where she is drooling a lot and while I don't think any teeth are on the verge of popping through, I know they will be here soon enough.

My aim as far as introducing solids is to really let Laurel dictate when she's ready. In the past week we've noticed her watching us eat for the first time, so I have a feeling swiping table food won't be far behind. There is so much contrasting information out there about what the best first foods are. Our pediatrician recommends cereal but others recommend high calorie veggies. I'm still not sure what I'm comfortable doing first, but I'll keep you updated :)

Since long before I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. At first, I thought I would just do it for six months. Then after reading up on the subject, I changed my goal to one year (the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics). Now, I'm leaning toward baby-led weaning, with the idea being that I'll breastfeed as long as Laurel wants to and allow her to wean on her own. Baby-led weaning is a scary proposition for me because I don't want to be that "weirdo" breastfeeding her three or four year old. However, there are so many advantages to extended breastfeeding (http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html) and the World Health Organization recommends nursing to at least two years of age and longer if desired by mom and child. I love that I can nourish my baby with so many wonderful nutrients as well as provide her with antibodies to prevent her from getting sick. There are also so many benefits to women who breastfeed for a longer period of time (plus, ovulation is suppressed, so no worries about cycles.)

During that meeting we discussed some of the pitfalls of breastfeeding and some of the ways that other people can damage your breastfeeding relationship with your child. It was great to hear other voices and to find common ground with other women.

At the Attachment Parenting International (API) meeting (the two meetings are in the same room and run back-to-back), we talked about how to defend your parenting choices. In this area, breastfeeding rates are well below the national average, and those that do breastfeed generally wean before six months and it is almost unheard of to breastfeed beyond one year old. Babywearing is very rare. Also, cosleeping is generally frowned on and unfortunately most parents use Cry It Out methods to get their babies to sleep through the night.

I feel so fortunate that these two groups have started here. I often feel quite alone in my parenting decisions and while I'm alright with that and won't be pressured to change because of others, it is still nice to join with like-minded families who share my beliefs that attachment parenting and breastfeeding are the best starts we can give our children.

Well, our trial set of cloth diapers arrived this week (from www.jilliansdrawers.com), so we've been learning all about them and trying to figure out if we want to make the switch. The upfront cost is high (the diapers are about $15 a piece and you need about 16-20 diapers to do full-time cloth diapering), but the long term savings is pretty significant. And, of course, they are so much better for the environment.

But the real question is, "How big of a hassle are they to keep clean?" (Especially for some one who doesn't like to do laundry a lot.) Really, they aren't a big deal to keep clean (we've even had a poopy diaper). I just put them in a bag when they are soiled, and at the end of the day they go in the washer on a cold wash with no detergent (this is if there is a dirty diaper, otherwise I skip this step), then I do a warm wash with a fourth of a cup of detergent. After that, put them in the dryer and that's it. And the cloth diapers we got are so cute and easy to put on. We got a couple of pre-folds with the trial set (these are the white rectangles of cloth that our moms used) and I can't really figure them out. So far the Bumgenius diapers are our faves, but we still have two more weeks to try them out, so we'll see if they stay on top.

Here's a picture of Laurel in a Thirsties diaper.
And here's an extra piece of fluff that doesn't have anything to do with cloth diapering, but I just think it's adorable. She loves to sit with her daddy in the evening and jabber at the computer screen. And if you can see her hand, she has discovered her toes and loves to hold on to them.

Yesterday Laurel took her first dip in the swimming pool. Next Saturday is her cousin Eli's first birthday party and it is going to be a swim party so we decided to try out a few water floats that Aunt Mimi (Amy) had. We weren't sure how she would do, but she did great! She was a little small for the float, but she loved when Tim or me held her and took her around in the water.

Amy had the most adorable swimsuit for her to wear. It was a size six months, and bless her heart, we could barely get it over her chunky little thighs.

Here's the baby float. She did pretty well in it when Tim held her feet underneath and pushed her up a little.

And here Laurel is afterwards with her cousin Emily.

With parenthood, you quickly discover that your baby will absolutely keep you on your toes beyond anything you imagined. We established a bedtime sleep routine fairly quickly. New diaper, change into a onesie, swaddle and nurse to sleep. Well, obviously nursing to sleep for naps isn't an option during the work week, so my mom and mother-in-law discovered she liked to go to sleep in her swing or bouncy seat for the first morning nap. But in the afternoons she doesn't like those options, so for that nap she wants to be held and rocked to sleep. Then in the evenings she usually falls asleep in her carseat on our way home.

Since she was born, I've never tried to put her on a schedule with the belief that babies' needs change very quickly and I didn't want to become dependent on a clock to tell me what she needed rather than watching for her cues and relying on my own, God-given intuition. That strategy has worked so well because she has formed her own routine, one that she is thriving with and one that myself, my mom and my mother-in-law are able to meet her needs with by paying attention to her cues without the need for much crying or frustration. Therefore, we are all happy to accomodate her needs for sleep (as varied as they may be) because she has no capacity to manipulate - she simply knows when she's content and when she's not. It is our responsibility as her caretakers to keep her content as best we can.