Christmas goodies

I'm pretty proud of the Christmas gifts I've made so far. Recycled crayons. There are tutorials all over the place...

I had to do some shopping to find girly colored corduroy, I've been eyeing a pink pair of corduroy my daughter is growing out of. But since she's still wearing them, I wasn't allowed to cut them. This is your typical circle skirt. I used a button hole elastic for the first time.

Halloween Costume Horror

I wrote this at the beginning of October, when our family starting talking about Halloween. Since then more blogs and news sources have brought up the issue. I've added those links at the bottom. 11/28/2011

Last year I was appalled to see the Halloween costumes on toddlers at the mall on Halloween. We accidentally went there during a special trick or treat event. Little tiny barely walking girls wearing... french maid likes ladybugs, french maid eats a fairy, french maid morphing into a green witch. Perhaps the parents didn't interpret the outfits that way... but they sure as heck don't look like real costumes anymore.
Back in my day (lol when did I get so old?), the goal was to really LOOK LIKE something/someone. We dressed as a lion, not a short girly tutu with the hint of a lion added in for flair. Sexy was for the grownups when they went to their grownup parties after the kids were done scarfing their candy. We were about realistic. Kids won prizes for most realistic, most unexpected, most humorous. Now the child costumes are sexier than I *ever* dressed in public.
This gem comes in Child's small, medium and large. Complete with fishnet 'arm warmers' and leggings. Now I'm not a vampire book/movie aficionado, but I'm pretty sure female vampires don't dress like that.




I found the 2T Dorothy costume picture on Target's website. The changes are subtle... but someone decided it would be cute to put Dorothy in a very short corset dress with poofy fabric where an older child would have breasts. Compared to the more innocent grownup Dorothy costume I found elsewhere, that only had the skirt shortened.

The following are all "Child costumes" (from spirithalloween.com). The fourth is for "tween" which I understand is now considered to 8 to 12 year olds. The other three I'm guessing are for girls up to about 8 or 9 years olds. The pink witch is available in 2T to child Medium.

I'm not alone in my horror... More parents and child advocates are up in arms:

• Peggy Orenstein: Here's my 8 year olds halloween costume
• Pigtail Pals: Here's why little girls sexy halloween costumes are terrifying
• Responsible Men: I've a feeling we're not in kansas anymore
• Don't let your angel fall in the gutter on Halloween
• CNN article
• An Eleven Year Old's Perspective

Suggestions for avoiding the consumerism that is now Halloween costumes:

• Common Sense Media: How to carve consumerism out of your Halloween

Article and resources for grownup ladies who aren't interested in dressing as sexy kittens:

• Great Historical Costume Suggestions
• Jezebel: If you're going to wear a sexy Halloween costume at least be creative about it

Gluten free, Dairy free, Egg free - Have I lost you?

Yep, my 2 1/2 year old has food intolerences (we 'can't' call them allergies because she doesn't have an IgE response to these foods). Instead she likely has an IgA or IgG response, which isn't as testable. The 'golden standard' for food sensitivities is trial and error. Basically, remove offending foods from your diet, until you are symptom-free then add them back in, rinse and repeat. If you have a negative reaction then you have a food allergy/sensitivity/intolerance. Luckily I found foodlab, a Yahoo group of people figuring out their or their child(ren)'s food issues.

First as a hypothyroid patient, then as an infertility patient, then dealing with dyshidrotic eczema, and now with a daughter with food issues, I have discovered that doctors don't know everything. Big heavy sigh. But they think they do.
In all of these health issues I have lucked upon very knowledgeable groups of people who through trial, error, research and collective experience know more than our GPs, gynecologists, endocrinologists and dermatologists about our particular issue and how to treat them. Basically, it boils down to a bunch of people becoming experts in one field, their own condition. When you're dealing with issues the doctor doesn't give a good answer for, you dig and dig and talk, and dig some more, while the doc meets other patients dealing with a different issue. So, it really isn't all that surprising that the patients would eventually know more about their 'pet problem' while the doc only has a superficial understanding of the issue.
Unfortunately, the medical community goes to college to learn everything. They pay big bucks to soak up whatever the pharmaceutically funded college spits out.
And medical schools teach the accepted practices and knowledge that has been voted on by medical people after prolonged *funded* research.
Obviously, as one's own advocate you have to be careful and shrewd. Don't take one person's word for it. Don't pay for anything without thoroughly researching first.
Resources I have found in my web travels:

• thyroid/autoimmune - Mary Shomon
• infertility/getting pregnant - fertilityfriend forums, book: Taking Charge of Your Fertility
• dyshydrotic eczema - Yahoo group
• food allergies/sensitivities - Foodlab Yahoo group

I'm not saying to skip the doctor. Just be an informed patient.

Local Art

I recently got a taste of the local skill here in what I consider nowhere, California... (If you love California, this valley probably doesn't even register, you may have heard of Fresno, or Bakersfield, but neither are one's destination. Unless you're crazy enough to move here. Sigh.) Anyway, eventually you can find the riches in the midst of the ugh.
Two Visalia artisans with serious skills delivered some gems. Below is a portrait of my daughter by Fulgere Photography wearing a gorgeous dragon fly hair clip by Swanky Baby Gear.
Melissa of Swanky Baby Gear made a solar veil ring sling for me back when the munchkin was tiny, so I'd known about her sewing and accessories for awhile. But Arielle of Fulgere Photography just recently started showing off her photography skills and we were lucky to get a photo shoot while she was building her portfolio.