My son's obsession with dinosaurs

For anyone who has seen this month's Friend magazine, the cover a cute cartoonish picture of a pioneer family in a covered wagon. I was looking at with Sterling A. and he could point out the mother, father, boy, baby, and pulling the wagon, a Triceratops. That's what he thought it was. I had to laugh, it made my day.

We are learning about the potty these days. We have a little one someone gave us (EW second-hand kid toilet!) that he likes to use. He gets praise if he sits on it to hang out (he used to be afraid of toilets), and chocolate chips if he does anything. So far it's been liquid success at least once a day, and I am keeping him in diapers. We also have this interesting plug-in lightup toy thing (it's like a TV but with a scrolling picture) he likes to watch while he's sitting. And he doesn't like anyone in the bathroom with him. He says "Don't see me, mom." So I blog while he's in there and celebrate when he's done.

Cultural Genocide

Vintage children's books may not seem like a very important thing to worry about what with Michael Jackson dying and Barak Obama living. But a recent law makes it illegal to sell books printed before 1986 because of miniscule amounts of lead in the ink that could possibly have some effect on your child's intelligence if they decide to eat the page.

This effectively wipes the cultural slate clean. All the classic artwork and traditional values espoused in those volumes are now "dangerous". If you can find a place to buy vintage children's books before they are all banned or destroyed, get them now. I know I will.

Body For Life

This is not me, it's a woman named Amy Young who transformed herself from a similar starting point as mine.
So I would post a picture of myself but I'd prefer you just looked at the cute kids below that have had a helping hand in the interesting shape I'm currently wearing. But there is hope! Since April 7, I've been picking up habits from the Body for Life plan. Basically you eat 6 small meals a day so you're never hungry, and it's a balance of lean protein and whole grains/vegetables/fruits. Basic common-sense stuff. I walked into the hospital 3 months ago at 223 pounds to have my 7-pound baby by C-section. On April 7 I was a very flabby 200 pounds. My waist measured 39 inches, and hips were 59. I think I would wear size 20 pants if I had the time/money/inclination to buy a pair. Now, 10 weeks later I am 182 and I know I've gained muscle. My waist is 36 inches and my hips are 45. I'm comfortable in a size 16. My goal by July 24 is to be at a 31 inch waist and be a size 12 pant. I have no idea how much I will weigh because I hope to be adding muscle. Anyway, I'll be updating weekly if you want to follow all the gory details.

If you haven't heard of the book or the competition yet, check it out at http://bodyforlife.com/ I think it's a cheesy name, but hey, it works.