This is year I have fallen completely overboard into Christmas lala land. We don't have a tree, and our budget is very tight, but I have had fun picking out stocking stuffers and small little things that I can do for my loved ones.

I was telling one of my co-workers that when the war in Afghanistan started three years ago I marched into a popular shopping mall downtown with a small group of protestors shouting "Stop your shopping, bombs are dropping!" I did not get anyone store bought gifts that year, and stayed in Portland instead of going home to see my family.

This is year is a whole other ball of wax. I have savored every moment with my husband who has been working a zillion hours for us. I put the all-Christmas all the time station on the radio and sing Christmas carols to Malcolm. Someone in the church painted a portrait of Malcolm and I as the madonna and child. I hung up the stockings, got a wreath through a local micro-enterprise project for migrant women, and have generally blissed out on Christmas.

Malcolm loves the call and respond Christmas carols. He giggles like crazy every time I say "like a lightbulb" during the Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer song. He also generally put up with having his picture taken on Santa's lap.

When I asked Geoffrey if we should send a picture of Malcolm and "Baba Christmas" to our family in Kenya, he responded "Sure, but they will just think he is sitting on some white guy." It was very funny.

The question is now- how do I give my little one a wonderful Christmas every year while emphasizing tolerance and the roots of the holiday which are really about hope and peace and love and not techie toys that we can't afford anyway?

Well you all can test me next year when Malcolm is old enough to get some things about Christmas-will it be a spirtual time of giving and togetherness or will this activist mama fall into the globalization trap?

Stay tuned....

And now back to decking the halls

The Many Moods of Malcolm

In Search of the Great Pumpkin

Cool Slideshows

Lactivism

This week a breastfeeding mama was kicked off an airplane for breastfeeding her child without covering herself with a blanket. This is an outlandish act! Fortunately a petition has been circulating nationwide which has gathered more than 20,000 signatures and Delta has already vowed to train their employees on the benefits of breastfeeding. There is currently a Breastfeeding Promotion Act before Congress. Please sign this petition to show your support.

I am sorry to be so unabashedly political on the Blog, but how else will be able to make things better for our children?

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/momsrising/signUp.jsp?key=1772&t=petition.dwt

Malcolm is doing great on numerous front, although I feel sort beaten up by the last month. It seemed like I worked non-stop and hardly saw my precious boy wonder during the weeks leading up to the election. Then of course I collapsed in exhaustion and got sick. The good news is that we won everything. Having been raised by a socialist feminist type (love ya mom!) I am not accustomed to winning on Election Day so seeing my candidates win and the school levy pass with 59% was like witnessing a miracle. Now I can see my Bugaboo again.

Malcolm is getting pretty good at standing which means that walking is not far off. I am not quite ready for that! He loves his drum and can really beat out a rhythm for a nine month ( I absolutely can't believe he is that old-one is right around the corner!). He eats almost everything now, but is still nursing. This guy is really a breast man. He will nurse until he is at least two I imagine.

I am putting together a little slide show of our pumpkin patch trip so I will post that on here soon!

This fall has been hectic, but we have still managed to have fun even in the midst of the chaos. Grandma came to town and we all went on a trip to the pumpkin patch. It is really astonishing to me how incredibly playful Malcolm is these days. He had a blast crawling on the pumpkins, riding on our shoulders through the corn maze and sleeping in the wagon while we had a picnic lunch. You could not ask for a more perfect day!

He had a cold on Hallooween so we did not really get to take him out, but we did have fun dressing him up as a puppy and watching him crawl around.

He has five teeth now and two more are coming in on the top. He looks like a one year old and he is doing many of the things they are . It is hard to convince people that he is only nine months old.

It is still hard to believe just how much I am in love with him. Since becoming a mama my priorities have completely changed. I am just so much less focused on my career and so much more focused on my family and personal life. It is like I just discovered the rest of the world and I want to relish every second. It sounds like the king is waking up. I will write more soon!

First Words

It's Official! His first word is "Baba" which means Daddy in Kiswahili, but he also says "Umama" for mama especially when he wants milk. Malcolm is really getting active. He follows us to other rooms, and he is eating mostly grown up food now. He doesn't like babyfood much now except applesauce, but he loves rice, soup, and fruit.

He is also our little musician. We have an African instrument called a "zeze" that I brought back from Kenya years ago thjat he loves, and of course he loves our drums. Everyone in church was laughing today because I stood him up on my legs so he could see the choir and then he started jumping up and down and waving his arms around to the music he was so excited.

Here are some pictures of him at the zoo in September.

Still Growing

Malcolm is doing so many things that I am in just in awe. It is like an explosion of growth. He is so curious and explorative. He is crawling up a storm, but he really likes to stand up. Today at his baby playgroup he stood up, leaned on a crate and actually walked pushing it for three steps before falling down. I wanted to jump up and down and declare it a miracle, but no one really seemed to notice. Everyone thought it was very ordinary. It is funny to me how people think that all these things are normal and I am astonished as if seeing a magical act. The reality is that it is both ordinary and completely miraculous. How great it is in the midst of all life's stress that we can stop to notice these miracles.

The other thing is Malcolm is so interested in life that he seems to have forgotten all about the bliss of sleeping. He only took one nap the whole day, but then in the evening we want to visit some of our Kenyan friends. With all that Kiswahili swirling around and so many children playing Malcolm just could not stop.

When we came back he seemed to think that a whistle I found was the funniest thing in the world. He started making a funny sound that was like "att, att, att" and laughing. This is all very exciting, he just grows and grows and grows.

More pictures from the wedding in North Carolina

Here are more pictures of Malcolm with me in North Carolina. I was very budy playing the matron of honor role so Malcolm had many opportunities to make new friends. Thankfully, I have been with a really social child. That is helpful since he gets carted to so many meetings. Harry, who is in one of the pictures was one of the best men (there were two) and he really fell in love with Malcolm. He wanted to hold him all the time!

Strangely, I have no pictures of Lola (the bride) holding Malcolm. I am sure that on the day I was too afraid of the potential of drool or poop ending up on the wedding dress, but we could have captured the picture at other times.

I have been very busy lately and have not had a lot of time to write inspirationally. Anyone have any inspiration to share?

Life is Full

I have barely written this month. Life has been a whirlwind, and I don't really know where it has gone. My husband came back from Kenya, he had been gone for several months which was enough for me to appreciate the power of single mamas, and we began the work of settling into a new autumn for our little family.

Malcolm is growing like a weed, and pooping like a being with superhuman powers or maybe like a super-artist painting the house with poop and other bodily fluids. I have not weighed him since his six month check up but I think that my eight month old is speeding toward 30 lbs.

It has been 17 months since he started growing inside me, just one year and five months since this journey began with just a few cells. I never knew how much motherhood would change me. I knew that it would change me, but it has transformed my life in many ways that I never expected. I think that the biggest is that I have learned that I can't control everything. I am learning to be much more at peace with the imperfection of the world. It is much more fun to play than to try to control things anyway.

I have also been thinking about how to keep Malcom in touch with his lineage-he is half Kenyan after all. My husabd wants to document everything about who he is and where he comes from so he will be armed with his knowledge of self. I hope that this is enough. I still get shocked and defensive when adults have any reaction towards my son other than to love him. I seethe when I see them acknowledge white children and not him, but he does not need to see me explode I think. I think he just needs to see me keep our lights shining despite our challenges.

He is really working on walking right now and putting everything in his mouth. He is a quite a bit of work at the moment, but I feel like I am always falling in love with him. I just wish we could quitely cuddle more and take a breath all the action from time to time.

Malcolm and I in North Carolina

Here is a picture of Malcolm and I at my friend Lola's wedding in North Carolina. It was very green and beautiful there. I was the maid of honor, but next to the bride and groom Malcolm stole the show! More pictures and stories soon to come.

The Bread Thief Who Crawls in the Night

I have not had a lot of time to write recently. I have gotten a lot busier at work, and family life has become more demanding. I have been trying to get the camera fixed, but it now seems permanently broken. This is sad especially because Geoffrey is now back and I want to get pictures of him with the baby.

Malcolm is growing up a storm though. It is astonishing to watch him pull himself to standing. He is so interested in food also. We have given him a nickname in Swahili that means "Bread thief" because one night we were all eating a late night snack in our breadroom and Malcolm crawled over and snack a small piece of bread from my plate while I was looking elsewhere. Geoffrey thought I had given it to him, and when I told him I didn't he started call Malcolm "Bread thief."

He is still a little picky about food though-don't try to give this boy green beans!

The Perfect Manifestation of Motherhood

Well everyone, I have officially discovered the mama-o-sphere, that is the mama-oriented blogosphere and I am hooked. As much as I used to write these blogs in my most blissed out moments of motherhood (of which there are many actually) I find the more realistic, honest and sarcastic mama blogs a little comforting. This is because I somehow can not manage to fulfill my destiny as the perfect mama.

A week or so ago one of my friends said he was going to seek out a Superwoman outfit for me. Now I see what he had in mind. So let me share with you all what I am striving to be for my little Malcolm, and my husband, and the world.

• I want to be the mama that can somehow afford and manage to provide her little one with all the attention and love he needs with complete patience and understanding.
• I would like to keep us both on a 100% organic diet and not succumb to the temptation of the television when he is around and I am tired.
• I would love to clothe him in noncorporate, organic clothes with no obnoxious corporate logos.
• I would like to be more organized and more focused at work with no breast pump issues.
• I would like to be extremely effective with the campaign I am working on at work.
• I would like to be able to do all of the things on this list while keeping a clean house.
• I would like to be a better friend and more involved in my church
• I would like to be a great wife to my husband
• I would like to protect us all from being wounded by racism
• I would like to be able to accomplish all these things while looking stylish and tropical.
• Oh yea, did I mention fixing the schools in Portland before Malcolm is old enough for Kindergarten?

My mind knows that this unreasonable, but I keep trying because I just feel that is what my men deserve. I also see really put together mamas who look beautiful. Can anyone tell me their secret please?

By the way everyone, I have Uncle N working on the camera. Hopefully it will still recover from its trip to the ocean. Keep up all the commentary I love it.

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

In light of my last posting I thought I would add this picture before I really do go to bed...really.

A political bit about raising my beautiful black son

I have a zillion pictures to post and big dreams of doing them up in fancy configurations with all the new photo software that I now know how to use, but it is 9:00 and I am ready to go to bed. I think that I am coming down with something. So my ideas of grandeur will have to wait until tomorrow.

For now, I am going to write my first political piece of this blog. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

A couple of days ago I was innocently working away at my job trying to make things better for children in Portland. I was feeling very focused, hopeful, and productive. I was certain that I could put one foot in front of the other and carry my little family over all the obstacles that face us. It didn't matter that every time I turn on the radio all I hear is war, war, war and death. It didn't matter that drought, AIDS and poverty was ravaging the whole continent of Africa where my beloved husband and father to my child was born. I was doing a good job with one little child and with a job that was going to change things for children in Oregon, and I have done all I could for children in Kenya for many years.

So there I was in this meeting facilitating a discussion with a lot of people who are far, far more educated than I am but feeling quite self-confident despite being of course the poorest person in the room and the only person of color.

"So what are your concerns about children in Portland? " I ask. There is a long dialogue about the state of Jefferson High School and several other topics. I turn to another person. "You, have not spoken yet, what are your concerns?" "Well, the statistics are quite shocking." He says. "Only 1 in 4 African-Americans graduate from high school in Portland." I had never heard this statistic before so after I think successfully bluffing my way through the rest of the discussion I verified his source. It was true. I had heard this about certain schools, but not the city as a whole.

What about my beautiful little Kenyan-American child? I just wanted to rush back to him, put my arms around him and tell the world "You can't have him! He's mine! He's too perfect, too pure. He's too brilliant and he loves every one of you too darn much! You can't hurt him, can't crush him. He's mine."

Malcolm is doing so very well, and loves everyone and I am so very afraid of school. I expected him to be a girl which would have been easier. I can arm a young black girl for womanhood, but Black men in this country are so hurt and wounded and so often demeaned and imprisoned. I feel that I have brought someone wonderful into a place where he is doomed, and I just want to hug him and hold him and hope that war and racism and global warming will just go away while we are too busy watching the leaves or the sunset to notice that everything just got better.

Everything Changes, first food, first teeth, and moments from crawling

Malcolm is going through so many changes right now I can barely keep. In fact, I am not keeping up. I am totally panicked. In the span of this past month his first tooth has starting cutting through his gum, he has gotten ready for eating, mastered rolling (now he rolls off our bed in the night, good thing I child-proofed that a long time ago), and he is just about to take off. He is really close to crawling. I am freaked out. The whole idea that my baby will be eating food that did not pass directly through me first, that he will be going places on his own accord makes me proud but sad. I think that I will end up crying the whole school day on the first day of school!

I gave in though and gave his some organic yo baby yogurt today. He was already trying foods here and there and Debra Lynne still tells me how much she loved yo baby and it is healthy stuff. Here are pictures of his yo baby experience. He liked the yogurt, but I am so relieved that he loves mama's milk more than anything else. We will be nursing for a long, long time. I just can't tell you all how much I love this child!

All About a Boy and a Dog Name Mo

The first day that we were in Colorado, I had a really hard time with Mo, my mom's dog. I am not really a dog person and Mo kept stealing Malcolm's toys. I guess you could say that my protective inner mother wolf kicked in and I kept advocating keeping them separate. However; halfway into our trip Mo came up to Malcolm and started licking him and stuff. Malcolm thought he was just about the funniest thing in the world and started laughing hysterically. Then I started letting them play together a little which is what you see in these pictures. By the end Grandma, Mama, Mo, and Malcolm all took long naps together. My stepdad would come in, take one look at the very full bed which was only missing him and the cat, let out a sign and resign himself to the TV downstairs!

Malcolm watching leaves and the leaves themselves

My mom wanted me to add a picture of the leaves that Malcolm was watching from his point of view so here is the photo. She actually took this picture with him when she visited us in May. We all went to the park together, and had a lot of fun. I have spent more time in parks since having a baby than I did in all my years in Portland combined. Having a baby makes me spend more time being a part of the earth instead of spending all my time saving it. I think saving the earth has something to deal with healing it anyway, and I think that healing it has something to do with healing ourselves also and I have a lot of work to do in that department. Malcolm is a great teacher though.

Mama Love

Here is a picture of Malcolm and I last month when grandma was in town. I just got the pictures back when we went to Colorado. Recent pictures from our trip to Colorado are coming soon along with clever stories about Malcolm and grandma's dog, but I am having technical difficulties so this will have to do for now.

How I have Changed Since Becoming a Mom

Hi Everyone,
I saw this call for little mini-essays on the topic written above. I thought about writing something for that site, but all admissions needed to 100 words or less and frankly I am just more verbose than that so decided to explore the topic here.

Since I became a mom...
I play more.
I stop to notice the flowers and think about how my son perceives their colors.
I have many more things to think about, but also more calmness most of the time, and more patience.
I love all children even more than I did before, and understand them differently
I have lost all modesty-frankly I couldn't care less who sees my boobs or how many drool stains I have on my dress
I spend much more time rolling around in the grass in Portland's parks
I spend much time thinking about the pesticides in Portland's parks
I have a much deeper sadness about the state of all the mamas in the world
who must labor and birth in dirty places, without help or someone to remind them that they and their bodies are powerful.
I have a much deeper sadness about the children in the world who have no one to love them.
I want to wrap my arms around all of them
I live much more consciously because
everything I eat can help him develop a health brain and body
because everything that I feel is transmitting to him
because everything and everyone in our environment has an impact.
I want everything to be pure and beautiful for my son, but I am doing better at knowing that things are sometimes just out of my control and that we all will be ok anyway.
I much more conscious of why faith is so important.
I know how much I need people in order to complete this incredible mission of raising this child, and I am so thrilled to see that so many people are there to care.

Blazing sun and ancestral moments

Today I have a lot to write, but I think that I will do it in two parts. First, I am going to write about our day today. We actually had a lot of fun. I took Malcolm to the Cafe Au Play. I read about the Cafe Au Play on urbanmamas.com which I highly recommend to any parents out there. It is a great way to learn about stuff that is going on for families in Portland.

Anyway, the Cafe Au Play is a coffeehouse that happens once a month and that hosts events for adults (complete with coffee) and children including music, puppet shows etc.

I was really excited to take Malcolm because I have not been able to get him into any kind of playgroup. I just have not found one that was for his age group that met in our area at a time when we could come. He loves other children and other grown-ups and music. I love all of those things plus getting to spend time with other mamas discussing things of monumental importance-like my baby's poop and what his first food should be.

The cafe au play was a lot of fun and I got to attend a free naturopathic parenting workshop and learn about a lot of herbs and supplements that I can use for him as well as useful tricks for bring fever down like using wet socks.

After Cafe Au Play I thought about taking him to the park, but it was hot enough to boil an egg on the sidewalk and I was really hungry so we went home. I put chicken in the oven, opened all of our windows and then brough the big metal basin that we have outside for Malcolm to play in the water.

The basin reminds of the old wash basins that African-American women used to wash clothes in the South many years ago. I have seen a ton of pictures of these and there was something that seemed very old fashioned about washing my baby outside near the tall grass, dying avocado tree, and abundant dandelions.

I took him out again in the evening. The water had warmed a bit in the sun so the coldness did not come as such a shock to him. The sun was starting to set. I could hear children in the distance and Malcolm contently sat in the water and watched the leaves and trees and bugs. I totally had a flash to Kenya. I could see Evelyn waching her baby at dusk while the older children play. I ached for the rhythmic sounds of Maragoli ( geoffrey's village). I could picture myself doing the very same thing there-washing Malcolm outside while his cousins played or tended to the animals and neighbors walked by. I wondered why I had not bought a clothes line yet so I could do this while watching the clothes dry in the breeze and why it was sirens I was hearing in the neighborhood instead of familiar greetings in Kiswahili and Kimaragoli. This was the most Kenyan moment I have had with Malcolm yet, but it was not only Kenyan because I could picture my greatgrandmother washing my grandmother the same way in the state of Georgia a long time ago. Everything was slow, and sticky and quiet. The only thing was it seemed like there should have been so many more people nearby.

Watching leaves

We had a little bit of time today in the park in between errands. I took lots of pictures of my little pooping angel watching the leaves. I think babies have a way of reminding us that God is everywhere and in fact is everything.

The Laws of Babyhood

You have heard perhaps of the laws of science? Here are the laws and equations of babyhood...

What goes in must come out ....usually through as many openings as possible
breast+baby=poop


Hold out for more to come. I will have a posting soon on the politics of mothering.

Here are some of the milestones that Malcolm has met

rolling-he rolled off the couch when I was nursing today
giggling
standing in crawling position with head up
playing and interacting with rattles and other toys
alert
tracking'
cooing
he loves the word gee. I think maybe he is trying to say ghee and we should call him butter boy!

Images from his first two months

Is it possible that he was actually that small?

Nature's Child

Last weekend we spent most of our time in parks. This child loves trees! Have I said that before? It's true, and I love that motherhood forces me to stop and slow down and notice the way the leaves blow or go and roll around in the park. It's like once this little one emerged out of me I was ready to go play. Maybe it is just the seratonin in the breastmilk, but even though this can be very hard and I can't figure out how to eat or keep things balanced in my life I am just so in love with this being!

Malcolm is funny, and interactive, and giggly and social. He is fascinated with other children and lets them hang on him, talk to him or ignore him. Sometimes though I can put him on our bed and he will just stare out the window and look at the leaves. I wonder what he thinks about them. You can just see him watch them move. I think that he will be like his father-very, very social but at times slip off somewhere to contemplate things quietly.

Babies are addictive. God knew just what he was doing when he made them, and Malcolm's little spirit knew what he was doing when he chose us. Don't worry though I haven't forgotten that I need to struggle to fund schools or save orphans in Kenya. The difference is when things look bleak out there in the world I pick up my baby and we go watch leaves, roll around in the grass, and slobber on each other.

Here are some pictures of my little organically grown future leader. I am also including some new ones of him and Uma. We went to Uma's mama's birthday party and the two starting rolling into each other and actually holding hands! They really did hold hands-although Malcolm was usually the one reaching for Uma's, but we are going to avoid gender stereotypes because my little boy is going to be sensitive, empathetic and loving with women-just like his daddy-right?

More pictures

Malcolm and his sweetypie. Uma was not in the mood for the camers, but my little one was!
Uma looks a little saucy in this picture, but they are bothe unbearably cute. They were born just a couple of weeks a part with the same midwives. Later we found out that their mamas were born just a couple of weeks apart. We are both June babies in the same year.


Hi Everyone,
Here is a link to his sweety pie Uma's log where you can see a really cute thing Uma's mom did with Malcolm's picture and Uma's. I tried to paste the html into my site so you could see it here, but it didn't work. Uncle Nathaniel, if you are reading this-help!

I decided to post some adorable pictures of Malcolm and Uma on that note as well as pics of him and Uncle Curtis who watches him on Wendesdays.
http://www.babyuma.blogspot.com/


Also, if you are interested in ordering studio prints of Malcolm you can order them here
http://mystudio.kiddiekandids.com/viewshare.asp?c=54102250651H9SG9N

http://flash.picturetrail.com/pflicks/l_fadezoom.swf" loop="false" menu="false" quality="high" FlashVars="img1= http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1440/5315560/10733269/154715199.jpg&img2=http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1440/5315560/10733269/154715192.jpg" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="400" height="302" name="photoFlick" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage=" http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">

About Faeries, magical babysitters and how to leave comments on the blog

Hello Everyone,
I don't have a new picture to post today because the re-charegeable battery died again-sigh. Anyway, I wanted to write about Malcolm's day today. Today Diane watched him and took him over to her house in the afternoon. They bought a brand-new baby swing for their backyard so he could play in the yard with her children and watch the trees. I couldn't believe it! Malcolm loved it too. He loves trees. He becomes totally capitivated watching leaves blow. Geoffrey wants to teach him to garden when he gets a little older, and I am sure he will love it. Good things too since I have much more of a brown thumb than a green one.

When I picked Malcolm up I gave Debra Lynn, Diane's daughter a faery wand. She loved it. She said " I love faeries and I love babies and I love faeries because they love babies." I said, " DebraLynn, I read some stories though where faeries steal babies." Diane replied, "Well, it's a good thing that Malcolm is too heavy for a faery to steal!" We really had fun.

Diane also read to him in Spanish and German. I think he also heard a story about the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King today so just in case we worried that he would lack a sense of social justice, we have a head start in that area.

I had fun giggling with him. He is really into my nose. He totally cracks up when I give him Eskimo kisses and sometimes he will put his mouth on my nose (no, I don't have cold or anything). He thinks that this is the funniest thing in the whole world.

Ok, several of you have asked how to leave comments. At the end of each posting you will see a line that says "0 comments" or however many there are at the time. Click on this line and it will take to a screen where you can write your comments just like an email. Then click publish at the bottom. Hope that is helpful.

Love to you all.

another day

Today we went to church and Malcolm had a wonderful time witht he other babies. He loves other kids and seems to be in a big hurry to be able to run and play with the rest of them. I can't wait to see him take off and run off giggling with the other children, at the same time I already miss the times when I could easily pick him up with one hand.

I also have to confess that right now I am totally exhausted. I haven't wanted to do anything but sleep this week. Probably due to the fact that I don't think that I have had a really good night's sleep in months and it is really hard for me to every eat enough.

Last week Malcolm went through a thing where he ate every hour and I was always hungry. Anyway, I will probably sleep and eat eventually, right?

Here are some more pictures of my little guy.

Ode to the Purple Spinning Thing

Ode to the Purple Spinning Bottle Mobile

To the Purple Spinnning Bottle Mobile
Thank you for providing my son with endless hours of fascination
He stares at you and giggles providing me with a few joyful moments of freedom
to bath, write, and eat
Oh purple spinning thing

SUPERSTAR

I would love your comments on this picture. We took it at the Baby Expo. He was really hamming it up for the ladies at Gymboree. He is a regular Mr. Hollywood and at 4 months and 18lbs he is a bit chunky too! It makes breastfeeding and babywearing a bit exhausting, but it is worth it for my little guy.

June 2, 2006-My first posting

This is the first posting of my blog. In fact, I have only known what blogs are for a couple of years now, but I feel so filled up with thoughts about my little one I thought I would try it out. Malcolm is actually my son's middle name. His first name is Joshua after his grandfather. Malcolm is middle name is after Malcolm X which is fitting because when he was first born he was fully able to control everyone around him with the smallest little motion.

He is beautiful and brilliant though. I am sure every mother feels that way, but I am awe that he came from us.

Malcolm is just over four months old now, and he has started rolling over. What is much more exciting though is his giggle. Nothing is more exciting than his huky little laughing and those dancing sparkly eyes. That's what really gets me. It doesn't take much to make him giggle. I can just smile at his and he breaks out in giggles, and then I laugh because he is laughing. We can go on like that for hours.

That is pretty cool-that all it takes for him to exude pure joy is just for me to smile at him. Gosh, I wish it was that simple with everyone I love. I try that all the time in the real world. I smile at soldiers, guards, random people on the street and most of the time it seems people are caught up so much in their own mental clouds they don't even notice. It is hard to believe that we were once all babies just waiting for someone to love us so we could smile.