malcolm at my birthday party

ok, so you all know that my birthday is in June, but Douglas just sent me this picture of malcolm at my party earlier this summer. Malcolm is awfully cute! Since, I have not had any luck fxing the camera yet, I thought I'd post it. Don't get confused, he's not getting any younger... but can I can that joy?

I remember feeling joy that pure and having it so easily at hand. What I wouldn't give to be as joyous and expressive as a baby!

Malcolm at 7 Months

Malcolm had a huge day today. He is finally collapsed on the floor in the living room sound asleep. First we went to church where it was Jazz Sunday so the whole worship service was musical. He fell asleep at one point during the service and then the singer hit a high note and Malcolm woke up and wondered what had happened.

After that we rushed to Uncle Curtis' birthday party in Piccolo Park where Malcolm got to play with other children and adults and of course have some time to watch leaves. There was just so much climbing, crawling, watching, laughing and eating to be done that he couldn't sleep. I took him for a walk and he finally fell asleep, but when others were cleaning up he woke up again- about 30 minutes of sleep only.

After that we went home briefly so I could pick up my bathing suit and go to a swim party that was organized by a group that Curtis belongs to. My little guy slept in the house and the car a little bit and then we were in a pool.

I have to say Malcolm really warmed up to swimming. He is a regular duckling. He astonished me with how ell he could kick and splash since this is only his second time in a pool. He even let me put him on a little floaty raft and drag him around. He tried to crawl on it-as if crawling on land wasn't hard enough my boy has to crawl, stand and walk on water-watch out world here comes Malcolm!

My mission this week is to see that the camera recovers from the beach trip. Malcolm's Daddy is coming back from Kenya next Saturday and it will be fun to be a complete family again.

The day that Malcolm crawled

Hello Everyone,
I have so much that I want to write right now, but it has been a long day. Still, it is worth noting that today-August 19th is the day that Malcolm crawled for the first time. It is also the day that he first discovered the piano and saw fish move in a tank.

To Musemoon...

Will that amazing mama who left that totally awesome comment on my blog please contact me? I tried to find your blog, but I haven't succeeded so far. Also, if you are in Portland can we do a playdate? I am totally thrilled that people I have never met are reading my blog and that we can all share thoughts about these great things. My political mothering stuff has had some pretty powerful results and I think it is wonderful. Malcolm is himself a little healer, and the amazing thing is that he doesn't need to do anything out of the ordinary to do his healing. Maybe we were all like that.

Well dear ones, I am far too tired to write anything understandable tonight, but I would love to find musemoon. Tomorrow perhaps you can hear about last week's mishaps including dropping the baby.

Here are some pictures of people who have been lovingly caring for Malcolm all summer. This is an incomplete representation because I do not have photographs of everyone, but it provides a sampling of all the people.

I should also note that there may be a temporary break in pictures. The camera did not like the beach as much as Malcolm did and I am having a hard time getting it to function properly again after its contact with wind and sand. Perhaps this is a job for Uncle Nathaniel?

To My Village

Several friends of mine have commented on my incredible child care arrangements-free child care with people that love and adore Malcolm and bring him into their families. Their comments are that this seems nothing short of miraculous especially in the midst of our capitalist, anti-family society.

My friend Anna Jean told me that I should write instructions on how to do this or just post it on the blog. So that is what this is all about. One thing that I have really noticed about having a child is that in many ways it is like being in love, but when you fall in love with a mate (or at least when I fall in love with a mate) it causes you to close out some other people for some time. The falling inlove part is really between the two of you. Falling in love with a child does just the opposite it causes me to bring people in. I noticed that everywhere I go people really want an excuse to come out of their shells and play for a while. Neighbors who usually go about their business without greeting others stop to smile at Malcolm, make all kinds of rediculous noises to make him laugh, and to tell me all about their children or grandchildren. It is really clear how much we all desperately want to connect with each other and young children seem to give us an excuse to do that. Malcolm is an especially good excuse because he is not a shy baby and he can almost always muster up a two-toothed grin for everyone.

So here is my recipe for making a village to raise your child.

1. Spend your life caring very, very deeply about children. Work hard to spend as much time with other people's children as you can. Volunteer at daycare centers, tutor kids. Be unafraid to be a child among children. Also be unafraid to be a community parent among kids.
2. Work in organizations advocating for children, and get to know other people that care about kids.
3. Do your best to be a good friend. Do all you can to serve your world and don't expect an equal trade from your efforts.
4. When you are pregnant or going through an adoption process figure out how to get support for yourself. Do not go insane every time you are around men as I did.
5. During your babymoon, give people a chance to come for short visits and get to know your baby and your new family dynamics.
6. Add in a good faith community.
7. When you are ready to start setting up your child care arrangements ask the people who are now most connected to your family, your values and your child and who have schedules that are complimentary to yours. Be direct. Most people will be honored for the opportunity.
8. Create shifts around all your needs.
9. Watch your child thrive in a community full of love and adoration and a variety of stimulating experiences.
10. Tell them all how precious they are.

One last tip, it is also helpful to do trades. I like to trade things that are things that I enjoy and that my friends may enjoy, but that we don't get to do very much. Massages for child care or Swahili lessons etc. The truth is that this method makes the whole world richer.

Camping-the sand, the wind, the sea, and the milk

Building Blocks of Development

World Breastfeeding Week

Well, ok, this blog is stating to get more and more political, but what did y'all expect anyway? I have after all been an activist since I was about six.

This week is World Breastfeeding Week and although I did not make it to any of the events around Portland, I thought that I would give a shout out to all the breastfeeding mamas out there.

The truth is that giving birth bust me wide open-literally, emotionally and spiritually. It caused all the parts of me to realign and reconnect in a totally different way and to see thigns from a different perspecitve-like an earthquake of the soul, and now people everywhere come up to me with the baby, smile and introduce themselves but they also all have opinions on my parenting.

I am not a blanket breastfeeding mama. I think subtly lifting my shirt is enough and the idea of needing to put any type of blanket on Malcolm and I in 90 degree heat is just rediculous. Besides at the stage he is now he would just grab it and pull it off and I am not going to spend our whole feeding trying to teach my little boy that women should be ashamed of their breasts. He certainly sees nothing but beautiful nurturance from my body and that should be the first thing he learns about women shouldn't-that he can be safe, nurtured and abundantly loved?

Nathaniel and I decide the solution should actually be to announce that I will be breastfeeding my baby just in case anyone wanted to be offended they could start early. This is Portland afterall though, the only time I had a problem was on the airplane. The stewardess literally threw a blanket on me and then kept walking so I couldn't say anything to her. Eventually though the blanket ended up in the floor just like everything else,

It's official!

It's official everyone. My bouncing baby boy is now 22 lbs and 8 oz and 28 1/4 inches! What a ham! I also can no longer leave him on my bed sleeping. He has become the one that goes thump in the night!

Just the two of us

All the Children of the World