Happy holidays

Best wishes to everyone, and to all a good night.

The Montessori child bed

We've been working on transitioning the BabyBeast into his own floor bed now that he's wandering around our bed during his naps. While a 1.5ft drop isn't huge, it's a pretty big fall for someone who's only 2ft (and some change) tall.

As I've said before, I am not comfortable with cribs and dislike the ideas behind them (caging an infant in a time when their brains are developing and they need exploration and the ability to look around and take in their surroundings? no, thank you). Since we're leaning toward more Montessori ideals, introducing a Montessori floor bed just made sense.

A floor bed allows your infant to get in and out of bed under their own power, giving them autonomy. To quote from the Michael Olaf catalogue (a wonderful Montessori resource), "If we provide a floor bed or mattress on the floor in a completely safe room—rather than a crib or playpen with bars—the child has a clear view of the surroundings and freedom to explore."

Here is a little information from another Montessori mommy, not only on floor beds but on many other Montessori-infant-related things.

Currently, the BabyBeast's bed is in the same bedroom he's slept in since he came home from hospital: ours. It is about three feet away from our own bed, partly because that's how much room there is in there and partly because that distance makes it possible for me to get to him quickly if I'm dozing on the big bed while he's in his floor bed.

Reading recommendations

I'm a reader. This does well for me when I have a new subject to research, because taking in and digesting large amounts of information doesn't phase me. I have noticed that my free-time for reading seems to have been replaced with chasing a speed-crawling baby around the house, but I'm working on a new system. I call it 'Carrying a Book With Me.' It eliminates the situation where I find myself sitting in the middle of the living room floor wondering about the condition of my feet (note to self: lotion) while the baby tries to beaver through his Melissa&Doug blocks.

Most of what I read these days seems to fall into one of two categories:

Raising a baby/child

Pure pulp fiction

So today I'm going to give you a recommendation from each category, on the off-chance that you, too, are an avid reader.

Raising a baby/child

The Science of Parenting by Margot Sunderland: This is a book about a baby's brain. Unlike most child-rearing books that tell you what you should do to avoid spoiling/ruining your child, this book lays out what happens to your baby/child's developing brain when you, for instance, let them cry for an extended period of time, or force them to sleep separate from you in another room. Full of photos and sidebars to help break up the large chunks of information, TSoP is divided into chapters like "Crying and Separations" and "Behaving badly."
If you have only one parenting book in your library, this is the one you should invest in.

Pulp fiction

Moon Called: Mercy Thompson Book 1 by Patricia Briggs: In Mercy Thompson's world, fae have 'come out' to the general public, but there are plenty of things that still go bump in the night, including Mercy herself, a Native American skinwalker with the ability to change into a coyote. The local werewolf pack seems to be having troubles, and Mercy gets drawn into the fray somewhat against her will.

A strong female character, a believably written fantasy world, and a quick pace makes this book well worth the time it will take to read. The fact that it's book one in a series only makes it better.

Looks like that's all the free time for today. A tiny Beast has just crawled up to me and is tugging hopefully at my leg and making his 'I want to nurse!' noise.

Things they don't tell you about co-sleeping, part two

When I was studying up on safe co-sleeping, I never saw anyone mention the necessity of body armor when you're co-sleeping with an older baby. BabyBeast being mobile also means that he tends to move around a lot in the bed. There have been a few nights the Husbeast and I have woken to find the BabyBeast's head buried into Husbeast's armpit and his toes digging into my hipbone. We've also woken to find ourselves pressed together like slices of bread while the baby stretches lengthwise across my half of the bed.

However, this newfound sleep-mobility does give camera-wielding MommaBeasts the opportunity to catch some truly hilarious 'naptime' images.


His feet are towards the head of the bed. We
tossed the blanket on him to keep him warm.

Fall days

The gorgeous, mild fall days are few and far between this year, but we've had a few. The BabyBeast is showing himself to be true to the bloodlines of his GrandpaBeast, who was an avid gardner and outdoorsman. If he can be outside, the BabyBeast prefers the open air, sunshine, and various plants and rocks to the regulated climate and baby-proofing of the indoors.



I've tried to regulate my normal germaphobe reactions to things, realizing that at this age, on an almost strict-breastmilk-only diet, he is fairly well protected from normal environmental things. I have clear memories of eating the dirt from under the swing sets at my daycare when I was five or six, and I survived (moreorless) intact. So when my seven-month-old son decides to put a leaf or twig into his mouth for a taste, I try to restrain myself for at least a few seconds before gently drawing it out of his mouth and distracting him with something else. It's not his fault that everything outside is just so... well, dirty!

Luckily, he often takes an interest in things too large to insert into his mouth, which gives me a chance to snap photos of him in all his Beastly Baby glory.



I'm a strong believer in the healing and calming effects of nature on the human psyche/spirit/soul, so I am happy to take the BabyBeast out into it as often as the weather permits. Not only does it give him new grounds to explore, but it also gives us both some sunshine and a much-needed dose of natural Vitamin D.

Besides, how often can a person get such epic shots as this when they're indoors?



Here's hoping your autumn weather is lovely, mild, and sunshiney and that you're getting your own dose of calm and natural Vitamin D today.

Mobility (hide the breakables!)

The BabyBeast, after about two months of trying, has finally mastered the art of crawling. This is a big step (er, crawl) in his development, and everyone in the Beastly household is very excited.

Currently it's more of a flop-crawl than a real crawl, but he's working hard at it every day and I don't anticipate having a SlugBeast for much longer.

The first Halloween

To me, it's wonderful to see how oblivious a baby can be to the events that we get so excited about. The BabyBeast is just shy of 7 months, and he doesn't seem even slightly interested in the trick-or-treaters ringing the doorbell and seeking free sugarhighs. He'd much rather work on his standing-against-furniture.



While trick-or-treaters may not have interested him, the tiny pumpkin we gave him was definitely worth a second look.



I hope your Halloween/Samhain/All Hallow's Eve was as much fun as ours was here in the Beastly household. Perhaps next year we'll put him in silly clothes and take him out. For this year, an overabundance of orange is enough.