Big Family, Big Bed

From Danielle Bean comes this post about cosleeping with multiple children. I am thankful that she used this topic as one of her discussions as I am trying to examine all the different ideas about cosleeping. I will probably post again after I read the comments.

As for my answer to the question, we have a toddler bed next to our bed for our oldest and a cosleeper on the other side for the baby. Since the baby is rapidly becoming a toddler and nursing frequently through the night, we are currently exploring new options until we are ready to give them their own room together.

All men were pigs before vulcanized rubber

Via Dawn Eden, come this story which I had the misfortune to experience first hand while on vacation. A commercial synopsis: beautiful woman sits in bar surrounded by pigs, one pig goes to the restroom and purchases a condom, pig returns as handsome man, woman (with sultry look) leaves with man.

As a man this commercial offends me in a dozen ways, as a father about a dozen more. Listing only complaints which I thought of during the commercial:
1. Were all men pigs before condoms were mass produced?
2. I don't have a condom in my pocket now, so I am a pig.
3. Shouldn't the couple at least learn each others' names before leaving together? Perhaps say "Hi?"
4. Isn't a condom just a display of distrust? It seems to say, "I'll protect you by not letting you know how many other tramps I slept with."
5. Can beautiful women be easily seduced by purchasing a condom? I had a pack of college buddies who disproved this theory; but then again, they never showed the woman the condoms in their wallets.

I'm amazed that some channels didn't carry it simply because it is in poor taste. The MSM doesn't usually show that much common sense.

Babies not allowed to be babies

All in all, Boston was a very friendly place with helpful and polite citizenry, even the crazy ones were nice. This was our only experience of discrimination for an entire week of travel with the little ones.

We were at the Old North Church, where the signal lanterns were hung for Paul Revere to see, and a young lady was giving a presentation on the church from the pulpit. We walked in and milled about the aisles looking at the various art and architecture. When Jen paused to search for her camera, Amelia cried for a minute. At the end of the presentation, the young lady said, "Sorry for the crying baby, that's always nice." I wanted to clean her clock. She made the comment despite the fact that I heard the entire presentation clearly over the PA and Jen left the room with Amelia immediately after locating the camera. I suppose the huge fan which was cooling the room was not generating sufficient noise to drown out Amelia.

I know my children can be whiny now, but at least they will have stopped before becoming young ladies.

Not Dead Yet

Dear Readers,

I was away on a glorious, revolutionary vacation to Boston for the past week. I will get posts up soon. We had much fun and saw many friends but we took no pictures of them so they may rest safe knowing that they won't be associated with my blog.

God bless,

Jim

I'm Tingling

I know these are silly, but I had to do it. I'm not that suprised. I always sympathized with this guy.
Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 90% Hulk 75% Iron Man 70% Green Lantern 65% Superman 60% Robin 58% Supergirl 53% The Flash 45% Wonder Woman 33% Batman 30% Catwoman 15%

You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.

Two's a Pattern

Useful co-sleeping tip #5 - Expect to have small 7-month-old feet knead your kidneys.

Now that it has happened with both children, I call it a pattern. Around the seven month mark, the girls both get extra squirmy for Mom but stay mostly still for me. During this phase, I focus on learning how to calm them down and get them to sleep (walking, singing, the Rosary, etc...). I usually have to do this during the night at least once. When I get back in bed, I often keep holding them so Mom can get some more sleep and the girls don't get disturbed in the transition from warm arms to cold co-sleeper. Usually the girls stay asleep until the next feeding time when they crawl to Mom. I keep them between us so they have easy access to Mom, for there are some things a Dad simply can't do.

What was He thinking?

"Each person incarnates a divine thought." - Dietrich von Hildebrand

God is indeed interesting, since he thought of me.

If only this guy could get the nomination...

I hope someday to attend the National Catholic Men's Conference and this only further whets my appetite. I pray it provides help to the many attendees who also wish to be true men.

Unimportant news, Unimportant news

Apparently, a bill authorizing cloning of human beings was very nearly passed by the House. I am thankful that our shepherd, Cardinal Rigali, spoke the truth on this issue. The Brave New World is stopped again. Hallelujah!

CHT to the Curt Jester

Intentional Happiness

In a message board with some dear friends, I just wrote this:

"Fertility must not be intentionally denied, ever, in marital relations. The couple who uses contraception intentionally takes an action to deny their fertility. The couple who takes recourse to the less-fertile times has not intentionally denied fertility. The "act" which denied fertility was God's when he created a woman's menstrual cycle or menopause. Secondarily, this covers the unintentionally caused infertility which can come about as a double effect of a hysterectomy. It would be wrong to choose a hysterectomy for the primary purpose of infertility."

I have never understood intention as it relates to contraception and NFP so clearly. I praise the Lord for allowing me to have this bit of wisdom. And I can't help telling the world.

More Greatness from David Warren

David Warren wrote an excellent column which indirectly concerns manhood. He covers some of the first explorers of the Antarctic and I can't help but notice that they are all men. The article makes me want to discover something.

Dressing Blind

Useful co-sleeping tip #4: Get dressed in the dark.

Although I have been accused of dressing myself while color blind for many years, I realize now that dressing while in the dark is a valuable cosleeping skill. I now dress almost entirely in the dark, except for turning on my closet light to pick a matching shirt, tie, and pants. When I do turn on the closet light, I position the door to cut off direct light towards my sleeping wife and daughters. Amelia is particularly vulnerable to this morning light and a few times she awoke and fussed when I left the door open and the light on too long.

I also carry my tie and shoes out of the room to put on while eating breakfast. I may have to stop this since I think Maria believes it is okay to touch your food and your feet intermittently. I guess that could lead to 'toest and jam.'

Cosleeping is Fatherhood

I just visited the dilbert site per my usual morning routine and was greeted with an Ad Council advertisement for the National Fatherhood Initiative. The remarkable part to me was that the ad showed a man sleeping on the couch with his daughter asleep on his chest. While I consider this a special dad ability, I'm surprised that a large non-profit agrees with me.

Since I have always been the one to get up with the girls on the weekends, even if they wake up too early, I have had the chance to pull this routine with both girls. I personally consider it a bit dangerous to actually fall asleep on the couch when they are sleeping on me, so I stay awake by putting in a DVD and then lying down. I just recently had Amelia take her first nap like this while I watched The Sixth Sense and I still remember Maria sleeping while I watched The Incredibles. They are moments that I cherish.