One year later...

I'm reminded that I should probably do a recap on where I am in the "not that crunchy" world...So, this is an update on this post. It was made a month before baby girl was born, so even I'm interested to see if/how I've changed. EDIT: Before typing this up, I was pretty sure that I've mellowed out. After, I know that I have. And my pre-becoming-a-mom self would have been pretty irritated at mellowing. Post-becoming-a-mom? Mellow is GOOD. :)

Home Births: I'm still about the same. Lots of respect for moms who were able to swing them w/no problems.

Breastfeeding: I'm even more adamant about how important this is for all babies. I'm still not going to harp at someone who through whatever decision process has arrived at formula. But I'll be darned sure that I've provided all the support I can to avoid it if possible!

Babywearing: Great if you can do it. We tried all sorts of slings, and other baby-wearing items. But, every one was uncomfortable/impractical for a variety of reasons. The good news is, we still carry baby girl everywhere, so she still gets the benefits of babywearing - we just lose the benefit of having both hands available for other things.

Vaccinations: We are still following a stagger, refuse and/or delay schedule. I'm well aware of what is required by state law to enter school and I'm planning to that, but still on our own time.

Male Circumcision: I'm more against it now than I was a year ago, but I'm still of the opinion that its not my business to sway somebody one way or another. We all choose different things for our families.

Female Ear Piercing: I've decided to wait until baby girl asks for it. And I will take her whenever that is, whether she's 2 or 12. More than anything its having seen her play with her ears all the time without earrings that's been stopping me. Still have no problem with it on other girls whether they're 3 months or 3 years.

Cloth Diapering: Same. I found a place that delivers in the area finally, but ran the numbers and saw that we are actually saving money on diapers, since baby girl only goes through about 4-5 a day. We'd be going through more with cloth and have to deal with making sure we keep up with deliveries and leaving the old diapers out.

Homemade Food: This is where I changed most radically. Upon moving to baby girl's 6 month birthday the more research I did, the more I realized that Baby-Led Weaning was for us. Its easy, its gloriously lazy, and it is so much fun. I couldn't fathom the idea of laboriously making food just to have it refused and/or wasted. And this way, baby girl gets to really participate in meal times.

Stay-at-home parenting: Its working for us. Finding the balance is the hardest part. Some days we're there. Other days, we limp towards slightly off-kilter.

Co-sleeping: More than a few handfuls of times, baby girl did sleep in bed with us when we felt like she needed the added security. She's still in her crib in our room and the next stop is moving her to her own room. Here's hoping both she and I can survive it.

Homeschooling/Unschooling: I've also changed up a bit here. Though my stepdaughter will be homeschooled, we've decided that a public charter school will be best for baby girl. Unfortunately, it only goes to 6th grade, which is the only reason my stepdaughter couldn't apply (she'll be going into 9th!). I'm SO excited about getting her into this school. They have Latin & Greek studies, but more than that, a much richer curriculum AND higher ratings in all the standard school criteria than any of the public school district schools in our area.

So...I'm still not that crunchy, but I think I've crunched up a little bit in some areas and softened even more in others.

Baby girl's stats @ birth: 6lbs 13oz, 19.5in
Baby girl's stats @ 12 months: 19lbs 8oz, 29.5in