I spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars as a young woman trying to curl my hair. Perms, curlers, curling irons, all methods were employed to turn my traditionally straight tresses into luxurious locks.

Now, in the humidity that is New Jersey, I can’t stop my hair from curling, AND I WANT TO! All of the sudden I am Shirley Temple with little curly ringlets framing my tired, pale, nearly 32 year old face! Perky Pollyanna curls nonetheless. I don’t want bouncy curls at my age! Sleek and shiny is totally in for moms and young professionals, you know, sleek and shiny, the hair I naturally have when I live in a desert climate with no moisture in the air! The hair I tortured into curly contortions as a child! The hair that has deserted me now and left me with sausage curls. Sausage curls for heaven’s sake!

Paul enjoyed his time with Habitat for Humanity so much, he went back to do some more good. Once again, he was kind enough to email me with tidbits about the good work going on in New Orleans. It is easy to forget about Katrina and what happened there in the day to day stuff of life, but there are still so many people who haven’t been able to have their normal day to day ever since the hurricane hit. Thanks to people like Paul and others who give time and compassion, some of those people are getting their homes back. Please, when you can, go help. We plan to take a trip down to build some homes as soon as the baby gets a little bigger.

Paul wanted me to assure everyone that he feels as safe in New Orleans as does in any American city, and that the volunteers he has met have all rocked on repairing these homes, even when they came in with no prior experience. Here is his latest update:

Hey everyone! Thought I’d send you a quick update on things down here. A group of volunteers from Pennsylvania are staying at Camp Hope, and I’ve been very kind to them despite their earlier attempts to trash talk my Rockies! Now that it’s 2-0, they’re not so vocal any more.

Anyhow, I’ve worked three straight days for the St. Bernard Project. They take flooded homes, gut them of everything but the brick and wood structure, and rebuild from the inside. The home I’m working on is almost finished. If you received my first update from my last visit, you might remember the homeowner from the Anderson Cooper CNN video link I sent out. If not, here it is again.

In the video, you’ll see Joe Urbeso. Joe got out of town the day before the hurricane hit and has not lived in his home for the past two years. Joe told me that he paid of his home in full before the storm. Katrina wiped out both his house and his business. For the past two years Joe has lived most of the time in Houston, but he’s now with relatives in the area. At first, I didn’t realize I was working on Joe’s home until I met him the first evening I was working there. I had only planned to work on the home for one day, but after I met Joe, I decided I’d stay on the job until his place is ready (how can I say no to the guy??!!!). I’ve attached a photo which depicts Joe and his two children along with fellow volunteers from Ohio, D.C., North Carolina, and New York City. I’m the goofy guy on the upper left (I’m the only “short timer”-type volunteer – the others in the photo have been here for months).

Just like last time, I hope you can tell your friends and relatives about the volunteer possibilities down here. All types of people stay at Camp Hope and work on projects throughout the New Orleans area. There are men and women of all ages here this week. Some are staying for just a week. Others longer. The parking lot was overflowing last night and is currently clearing out as folks leave for their day of work. It’s difficult work in hot and humid conditions (I’m really sore this morning), but it feels good to help people like Joe.

This is our insulation and drywall installation team!! We got a ton of work done!

On the lighter side: an Americorps volunteer thought I was “Stone Cold Steve Austin,” a famous WWF professional wrestler; we found a frog in a toilet in Joe’s home on Tuesday morning (but we didn’t tell Joe!); although “quiet hours” begin at 11PM each night that didn’t stop me from yelling like crazy when the Rockies beat the Padres in 13 innings (it was 11:30PM here!); and one of the locals said that he’s never seen so many people watch a televised baseball game in his life (apparently they only watch football down here!).

So, you should get down to ‘Nawlins soon to help out!!!

Paul

P.S. I included an “action photo,” to use at your option. I apologize for the “white rapper wannabe” look, but the skull cap keeps the sweat out of my eyes and hearing aid.

Just an additional sidebar…..the home we’re working on during “women’s build” is for a member of the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s office and his wife. He stayed through the storm and spent countless hours rescuing people afterwards. He and his wife brought us lunch today too!

Thanks again Paul!

Oliver is 6 months old today, and is a happy and healthy 25 pounds, 8 ounces and 28 inches long. Yay for my big healthy boy! My happiness at his glowing health was diminished a bit by the discussion that followed his exam.

I am going to find a new pediatrician. Our culture is so unbelievably paranoid about obesity, and this paranoia has apparently begun to rub off on her. Despite the fact that on average babies about double their birth weight by about 4 months of age, which in Oliver’s case would have put him at 22 pounds 12 ounces at four months instead of 25 pounds 8 ounces at six months, my doctor suggested to me that I stop nursing him at night now.

Hmmm… we co-sleep, said I.

Oh, said she, well that will make it difficult to stop nursing him at night. We like to see babies his age sleep through the night and get all their nutrition during the day. So you should move him to his crib, and then stop nursing him at night.

Oh, I see, thought I, as she explained the health benefits of a crib sleeping baby. I should completely alter my parenting style and forgo any further co-sleeping or other attachment parenting planning because you like to see babies sleep in cribs through the night at six months of age without nursing.

Beyond simply waving away my parenting choices as unimportant or uninformed and failing to ask if I was interested in placing him in his crib at night, she went even lower in my opinion as her explanation continued.

She claimed it was to promote healthy sleeping and eating habits, and that is when it hit me. My pediatrician thinks my baby is fat. My handsome, amazing, baby, who has done his job of more than doubling his birth weight by six months.
He is not obese, he is a baby! When a baby’s birth weight is over 11 pounds, of course he is going to be up in the 20 pound range at 6 months, unless there is some failure to thrive stuff going on. According to the experts, he is supposed to almost triple his birth weight at 8 months. If he does, he will be 34 pounds 2 ounces.

It sounds alarming doesn’t it? A 34 pound baby? He must be fat! But a 6 pound baby is supposed to be 18 pounds around 8 months, because infants on average triple their birth weight in the first 8 months. Well, Oliver had a higher than average birth weight, therefore, it is a larger than average number when tripled. He would have to gain 9 pounds from today in order to meet the “average” increase in weight for babies his age. Yet I am supposed to stop him from eating at night.

Basically, I am supposed to limit my infant’s calorie intake. Wait a minute…. I am supposed to put my baby on a diet?! Who on earth would put a baby on a diet? Don’t most doctors tell parents not to limit their babies nutrition because they need it, including fat, for important brain development? Ack!

Anyway, I am seeking a new doctor, who at the very least, won’t dismiss my parenting choices out of hand because she would like to see all babies sleeping through the night in cribs without nursing at 6 months. Babies are not kittens, or puppies, they are people. They are individuals. My little individual is afraid of his crib. If you put him in it, he cries his scared cry, his startled cry, his “mommy something is coming to get me please protect me” cry. Am I to teach him that his most urgent cry is something I won’t listen to by leaving him in there to “get used to it”? What lessons will he really learn from being left somewhere that really scares him?

I don’t believe 6 month olds need to be left in cribs to have good sleeping habits. My daughter never slept in a crib, and slept with me until she was 18 months old. Then we had one horrible week where she learned to sleep in her own bed, and she has had little to no trouble sleeping through the night ever since. For the most part, she goes to bed at 8 and gets up at 7, every night. Keeping her in bed with me has not seemed to destroy her ability to sleep well.

I also don’t believe 6 month olds need to be placed on a calorie restriction diet. I was a hugely fat baby, complete with ankles that rolled down over my shoes and socks. By the time I was a toddler, I was a lean and muscular athletic child, and I remained that way until childbearing and laziness added a paunch here and there. I am sure my son will do the same thing, and will be a strong and healthy toddler and child, without me restricting his diet now.

Now I simply need to find a new pediatrician, and all will be well.