This is the picture that was in the LA Times and Chicago Tribune. Photographer Craig Mitchelldyer was nice enough to send me a high resolution image so we could get a good print of it. Photos of the Portland nurse-in also appeared in newspapers in China, Africa, and Hong Kong!
We had a great Thanksgiving up in Seattle with both Rons and my families.
With Auntie Pam and Uncle Gardner With Grandpa Sam and Auntie DebbieMax has a bit of a cold, so we missed Fionas first birthday. Happy Birthday, Fiona!
You may have heard about the woman who was kicked off a Delta airplane for breastfeeding her baby. Basically she was nursing her child in the second to last row, in a window seat, next to her husband. They were the only ones in that row. The flight attendant offered her a blanket to cover up more, she declined, and the flight attendand stated that she was offended, and had them removed from the plane. Yikes! I can't imagine how much noisier flights would be if babies were not allowed to breastfeed. And Max for one is not able to nurse under a blanket, nor should he have to. Yes, the mother could have taken the blanket just to keep the peace, but how will change ever happen if all we do is placate ignorant people and cater to them being "offended" by something as simple as feeding a baby? This woman was made to feel ashamed and embarassed, as if she was doing something wrong. Ugh. Not only that, but if this attitude of breastfeeding as something gross, shameful, dirty, etc. continues, we will see young people, new moms, soon-to-be-moms making a choice not to breastfeed their baby because they are embarassed, or they think it is inconvenient, when clearly it is the healthiest thing for babies. That would be sad.
So today there was a nurse in across the country at Delta ticket counters everywhere. Not only to say "Shame on Delta!" but to call for congress to pass the Breastfeeding Promotion and Protection Act which would allow all women to nurse in public regardless of which state they live in (currently different states have different laws). At PDX (Portland Airport) there were 40 mamas with their babys! Of course Max and I were there, too. There were many reporters, photographers, and journalists. We made it on all the local news stations today, and apparently there were a few people from the Associated Press, so we could even have made it national- like USA Today, which has been covering the story closely.
Edited to add: here are some links to news reports. You can see us in some of them!
The photographers loved Max, with his "Got Breastmilk?" t-shirt on. Of course there was too much going on for him to nurse, but when we got home he quickly ate, and fell asleep. Ron took this sweet picture of him, resting his hand on my hand. No blanket covering...is this offensive???
This week is pretty momentous- he signed his first word! We have been signing several words with him over the last few months, but when he is eating in his high chair facing us he's a captive audience, so it's no surprise that "more" was his first sign! Now, his production is a bit off (haha) but the same thing happens with baby speech, right? They don't always pronounce words correctly at first (isn't that what makes it so cute?) but the important thing is that we know what they mean. So he's been signing "more" when he eats for about a week now. Then this morning I was playing with him turning him upside down and he spontaneously signed "more"without any prompting at all. It's pretty cool that he could figure out how to use it in a different context! Here's a video of our breakfast last week. He signs it several times, it is when he brings his hands together and grabs his thumb. It's fairly long (3 min, I think)
He also babbles a TON! Here are 2 cute videos of his babbling. It sounds like "blah blah blah"... No spoken words yet, although he babbles "mamamama" as much as I'd like to think he's saying Mama, I know he's not. I'm betting that "Dada" will be his first word cause he is just so in love with his dad!
In other news, We're all getting ready for Thanksgiving up in Bonney Lake (near Seattle) with Rons family. My parents and grandma are coming along, too. Should be fun! Grandma came over on Tuesday and I taught her about email. This is an 80+ year old lady who didn't even know hoe to use a mouse... and she did great! It will be fun for her to get family photos, etc when she checks her email at our house.
Max wants to walk really badly. He pulls himself up on everything, and will stand unassisted for a few seconds- it gets longer and longer everyday. He has 4 teeth, 2 top, 2 bottom and it looks like the next two on top are on their way. He chews on EVERYTHING these days.
My parents have been great at babysitting while I work once or twice a week. Usually just a few hours while Ron is upstairs working, or once in awhile while Ron and I get a date night. It is so great having them close, and Max loves them so much.
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We bought a Storypeople print that says: "The first time his laughter unfurled its wings in the wind, we knew that the world would never be the same." and it's so true! When you realize that you have such an effect on someone- to make them so happy- it truly changes the way you think about life and parenting! He's pretty fun, and he smiles and laughs so freely.
Here's a video that we took today of Max and Ron playing. His laugh is totally infectious!
This is the picture that was in the LA Times and Chicago Tribune. Photographer Craig Mitchelldyer was nice enough to send me a high resolution image so we could get a good print of it. Photos of the Portland nurse-in also appeared in newspapers in China, Africa, and Hong Kong!
With Grandpa Sam and Auntie Debbie
Max has a bit of a cold, so we missed Fionas first birthday. Happy Birthday, Fiona! 
