As you all know by now, these blog entries are written by Daddy, who is now on Day Four of his month-long paternity leave. This all-day caregiving stuff is exhausting! I should have done this before Megan learned to crawl in December. She's been into everything this past month--everything!!
Crib transformations. On January 2nd, she sat up in her crib for the first time. This changed the nature of her naps and sleeps. Once she knew she could get up and go, she was no longer quite as content to just lie there and sleep. So now there's more crying herself to sleep. The very next she turned on her mobile! She had woken up after an hour-long nap. Usually we hear her crying or babbling happily, but this time we heard her mobile start to play! The very next day we found Megan sleeping on her stomach. This happens now when she cries herself to sleep. Usually she has her bum in the air and her head is nestled into the bumper that surrounds the crib. Yet another first occurred the next day--Megan woke up from a nap and we entered the room and found her standing up, peeking over railing, and gripping the bars in her hands. Since then her primary motivation is to use anything to get up on her two feet --- her crib, playpen, coffee table, or television (which she now can turn on and off.. and attempts to do so 50 times a day).
Potty fluke. We have a morning ritual wherein we sit Megan on her potty. We do this so she gets used to the idea of potty-sitting, even if she doesn't know what to do next. Well, on February 5th as I sat Megan on the potty, I heard a tinkling noise! Although I'm sure it was a fluke, it's still pretty exciting (as is the concept of one day not needing to change diapers!) And then, just cuz I'm sure you wanted to know, on February 8 Megan pooed in the potty!! It's another fluke, but we're very pleased Megan is comfortable enough to do her business on the plastic throne.
Manual dexterity. Megan started feeding herself (cheese, Cheerios, small fruit) on January 17. She prefers to pick things up with her thumb and forefinger, very carefully and deliberately, and chomp it in two with her two bottom teeth. She also uses those same two fingers to turn off lights around the house (with our assistance and permission, of course). She is also getting into some kitchen drawers, pulling out the cup towels she finds inside. Time to child proof the kitchen!
Crawling update. Megan has become a holy terror on four limbs. And she's really fast. Turning your back on her for more than 30 seconds is not advisable. She crawls even faster when we're chasing her... she toddles ahead of us, then sits up and looks back to check out our progress, screams, then starts toddling faster.
Climate Change
There is no Megan video this month, but I would like to use this space to appeal to all of you to start thinking about your carbon footprint. As you've all noticed, climate change is in the news again. The reason it's in the news is because once again scientists from around the world have publicly declared the connection between human activity and climate change. Canada's carbon emissions have increased by 25% in the past 10 years alone, despite the fact that we signed the Kyoto Accord and promised to reduce our emissions by 6%. Not only are weather systems becoming more unpredictable, the polar regions are melting at an unprecedented melting rate. Lori and I went to see David Suzuki and Stephen Lewis speak last night. Suzuki has been an environmental activist for decades, but in the early 1980s he believed it would take centuries to see the results of global warming. Change is happening much faster and in a few decades we could be facing flooding in coastal regions, drought, and shortages of fresh water.The most tragic thing is that our children and grandchildren have no choice but to inherit our mess. All of us need to act now to reduce our carbon footprint, which is a measure of the amount of greenhouse gases each of us is responsible for each year. Here's a very small list:
- burning gasoline in our cars
- using electricity generated by burning of coal
- heating our homes
- purchasing imported food (which gets transported on boats, planes, and trucks which burn petroleum)
- flying in airplanes
David Suzuki has embarked on a 40-city tour of Canada on a campaign he calls "If You Were Prime Minister..." He is collecting ideas, enthusiasm, and the will of the Canadians and taking it all to Ottawa to present before the Harper government the fact that Canadians are willing to back (and vote for) environmental policies that combat climate change. He has also asked people to submit 30-second videos to YouTube. Here is the video I submitted:
Watch more videos (220 at last count)
Add your vote!!
Learn more about carbon footprints and how to reduce yours
Still Unconvinced?
- Buy Al Gore's documentary (click for info)
- Buy Al Gore's book
- I own the DVD - I'll loan it to you.
Let's Start Talking
No one seems to be talking climate change and what each of us can do, which is why I'm bringing it up now. Let's start talking about what we're doing to reduce our footprint. In our household we've replaced 95% of our incandescent lights with low-energy alternatives. Our appliances are mostly natural gas instead of electric. We keep our heat at 21 degrees C (usually drops to 19 degrees C at night these days). We recycle and will soon be buying as much local organic produce as we can find.Please leave comments on this blog with your thoughts, ideas and contributions to carbon reduction. Thanks!
