Cirque Royal (Brussels, BE)

Weekend (Thursday – Monday) in Brussels in March 2010!

Concert tickets for March 19th already secured! Accommodation secured!

Looking at photos of the building/venue of Cirque Royal it’s a historic beauty that alone! Then experience some more of beautiful places and environments in Brussels with surroundings! Meeting lots of friends! Sharing concert adventure together! All of this is really something to look forward to, specially those days the blues get you ;  )

Thank you, Milow for bringing us together =D

Please forgive me for deviating from food in this post.  Although The Bitten Brownie is a food blog, I have had a desire to write about alternative menstrual products for quite some time (sorry men).  There are many perks to considering using alternative menstrual products and I a quite passionate about the topic.  Even though there are a few different types of alternative menstrual products like cloth pads and sea sponges, I will primarily be discussing what I consider to be the most convenient and safe ones: The Keeper and The Moon Cup.

The Keeper and The Moon Cup

For more information about the products I won’t be discussing, click here.

I know, I know, you’re thinking, ‘Why would anyone want to use products like these?  They look uncomfortable and messy.  What about cleanliness?”

First of all, you should be aware that popular menstrual products are not only harmful to the environment but manufactured using a bleaching process to make them appear white and sterile. This bleaching process leaves dioxins in the vagina.  There are no safe levels of dioxins.  As you’ve probably been taught in health class or read in your box of tampons, these popular products are linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome because they are made of rayon.  The Keeper and The Moon cup have not been linked to TSS like rayon tampons and other alternative menstrual products like the sea sponge.  The string of a tampon provides a way for bad bacteria to enter into the vagina.  Furthermore, rayon fibers are linked to cervical cancer and many chemicals like pesticides have been found on tampons.  For more information: the hazards of popular menstrual products.

The Moon Cup and The Keeper are designed to be comfortable like a tampon.  Inserting and taking them out is fairly easy and cleanup involved a paper towel or toilet paper.  They need to be cleaned one per cycle in warm soapy water and can last up to ten years! So, although they cost about $35, the price per month is cents compared to the high cost of tampon and pad purchase.  Although these products may not be for everyone, I recommend giving them a shot for your health and the health of the environment.

Dear Campbell,

You are 4 months old.  It’s incredible.  Where did the time go?  And when did you learn all your new tricks?  I looked at your 2 month pictures and you could barely hold yourself up on your tummy.  Now you can bear your weight and almost do a stomach crunch.

Daddy took you to Dr. Stein while I was at work on Thursday and you weighed 14 pounds, 2 ounces and were 24 inches long.  That means you either shrunk from 2 months ago where you were 24.5 inches or you have been mismeasured at some point in time.  My guess is the latter.

These numbers put you in the 60th percentile.  While at the doctor, Dr. Stein said that you are perfect and that you look like a Gerber baby.  We couldn’t agree more! (While we were out tonight, someone said you looked like a baby doll! People love you everywhere we go!)

Today was a big day for you, we fed you rice cereal for the first time.  You are quite a pig and were eating too much milk.  So we are supposed to give you 6 ounces of milk 5 times a day and supplement with rice cereal twice a day.

Today we had fun feeding you rice cereal.  You seemed to enjoy it and it got EVERYWHERE.

While today was fun, I’m a little weary at the idea of doing this regularly.  And I can’t even imagine how Daddy feels because he hates getting sticky.  You obviously take after me.

Tonight we took you to a really cool area of Indianapolis called “Mass Ave.”  We looked at all kinds of things and started buying your Christmas presents.  Getting presents is a lot harder than I imagined it would be!  I want to buy you everything, which strongly contradicts my natural state of being.  Your daddy and I agreed we would get you 4 gifts.  Three of them will help you grow.  One each to help you grow spiritually, physically, and intellectually and then one present you really, really want.    We are very excited about things we picked out for you tonight and are excited to explore different options to fit our categories.

I put you in bed 30 minutes ago and you are now fast asleep.

You may be growing super fast, but you will always be my sweet little girl.

Love, Mommy

Dear Campbell,

Today is the last day we can officially say you are 3 months old, though for the past week I’ve been telling people you are almost 4 months old.  Tomorrow you will be 4 months old.  It’s hard to believe!

You are starting to get your first tooth.  It’s relieving because you have had a fever for the past month.  It is a bottom tooth and I believe it will make you even cuter than you already are.  Hard to grasp, but true.

It’s hard to see your little tooth coming in because you have taken to licking things.  At first your daddy and I thought it was just because you were hungry, but then we realized you lick EVERYTHING.  There is always a big ol’ wet spot after tummy time.  Tummy time can actually be deemed useless when it comes to you because you prefer to lick whatever you are on instead of trying to look around the room.

The baby bjorn has been saturated more than once by your licking.  Our clothes have been as well.

So, when we try to look in your mouth, you stick out your tongue and lick us.

I am sad today is that last day we can call you 3 months old.  It has been my favorite month by far.  I have loved you since I felt your first kick, but this month has taught me so much more about love.  Never would I have imagined I could feel this way.

Love, your mommy

The first outfit that we bought for our baby, once we found out we were expecting, was a long-sleeve GT onesie. This was the outfit that would be worn to their first Tech football game, when the team traveled to one of the ACC competitors in the Triangle. This year that game happened to be against Duke. We could not wait for Spencer to experience his first game.

We were especially excited this season, as Tech is doing really well!! (10-1) The Alumni Association organized some tailgating before the game (which when it is a noon game means early — around 9:30 am — eating and drinking).  They got Bullock’s to cater the BBQ – yumm – and there was a huge turn out of Alumni from the area, the Charlotte chapter, and even some folks that came up from Atlanta. (over 200 at the Alumni tailgate)

Spencer had his picture taken with Buzz and the Ramblin’ Wreck. He got quite startled when the pep band came and got things going, but settled into the sounds.

Then it was off to the game. We were actually a little bit unsure how it would go, and were ready to leave if we needed to, but we could not have asked for Spencer to behave better. Guess he likes the Jackets as much as we do!!

It was a cool start to the day, but temperatures warmed up to around 73 during the game. Only in the South can you have perfectly warm fall weather for football games in the middle of November. We had a great time. Spencer slept some, but for the most part was held standing (as he so likes to do) and never stopped moving (as he also likes to do) and cheering on the Yellow Jackets.

We had a fantastic time; didn’t hurt that the Jackets stung the Blue Devils, with a final score of 49-10.

Hopefully this was the first of many GT football games for our family of three.

Dear Campbell,

On Saturday I attempted to cut your fingernails.  I am not diligent about this task and only cut them when I notice scratches on your face.  I do not feel badly about this because other parents tell me that they regularly trim their baby’s nails and it still happens. (On another note, my friend Mrs. Megan told me today that she would never guess that you were my first baby if she didn’t know because I am so laid back about you.  I think my attitude about trimming your finger nails may be an example of this.)

Anyway, I had you propped up on my knees and you were smiling and cooing at me while I trimmed your nails.  All of the sudden you stuck out your bottom lip and started to cry in a way I had never heard you cry before this very moment.  Then I saw a tiny bit of red on your finger and realized I had cut the middle finger of your right hand.  I immediately felt a mix of terrible and met expectation.  You see, I knew I could only protect you from the nail clippers for so long.

Then a most amazing thing happened.  I hugged you and you relaxed a little.  As I rocked you and apologized persistently, you started to calm down.  After about a minute or so you were fine.

Hearing everyone’s stories about cutting their babies made me think that I would cry when it happened.  I felt like I was supposed to cry, but never quite got to that point.  I felt terrible (and still do when I really think about how big the cut is in proportion to your teeny finger), but how quickly you calmed down made me feel better.

Your daddy kissed your boo-boo then made you a tiny band-aid out of a bigger band-aid.  You quickly slobbered all over your band-aid and got it stuck to your bottom lip.

I kissed your boo-boo and hugged you.  I felt a connection with you that I hadn’t experienced yet.  I provide so much for you-your food, clothing, shelter, entertainment…just to name a few-but I had yet to be such a connected comforter for you.  I help calm you down, but I usually feel it is what I am doing that gets you to chill…this time it felt like being your mommy was what made you feel safe.

Two days later, you’re fine.  There is still a little bit of redness where you were cut, but it hasn’t stopped you from shoving your fist in your mouth or grabbing anything within reach.

I am so happy to be your mommy.

love.

Dear Campbell,

In the past week many people have mentioned to us that you are incredibly laid back.  It might be my favorite compliment about you thus far!  While we see you more often and know, that while you are an easy baby, you have moments of non-laidbackkness, it rocks our socks that you are currently known for your easy disposition.  And your smile.

You see, you have not always been this way.  One day, when you were 2 weeks old, you cried for 11 hours without sleeping and only stopping to eat.  That was a hard day.  I think I may have cried a quarter of the time with you.

And at the end of that day, the day before he was going back to work, your daddy said, “Today wasn’t so hard!”

But now you are easy.  And we love you just the same.  Only more now because we know you better.

Your history of smiles and screams makes me believe that you are going to be the kind of child teachers rave over…the child that is perfect in school but kind of a stinker at home.  I look forward to many moments of thinking, “I wish we could get her to behave at home like we taught her to behave at school.”  (I also fear that you will gladly share your bodily functions during show and tell some time, but that is another letter for another time.)

love, your mommy

Hi tall person. Will you carry me?

M – No breaking news story here, I was just reading the ‘thejuma” blog and it reminded me we should probably get Mango’s eyesight tested. We know she has a really long reach, sticky fingers, and bat-like hearing, but have yet to find out about her vision. From the way she chases objects (toys) about, she has excellent depth perception. Also, she is distressing fast. After all, if I can barely keep up with her  when she is barreling across the floor in a squealing rush to get away from tickling fingers (just to be clear here, I am also crawling); imagine her speed when walking. I doubt she will be content to just amble along. She’ll be careening back and forth at high speeds, oblivious to the many dangers (such as sharp table/chair corners/edges, people lying in her way attempting to slow her down, etc.) Crazy times to come. Talk about getting off topic here. I had planned on finding out when one should get one’s eyesight checked, but ended up going on about something else entirely. Sorry.

I am taking Spanish this year, after a six-year absence from my last class which was in high school. I am now a senior at Drexel and have to take three terms of Spanish in order to graduate with my Bachelor’s Degree in Communications. I would definitely say I am having some difficulties learning this language again and remembering why I decided to stop taking it after all these years. Now I am fluent in sign language and can use it on a day-to-day basis to speak with a deaf person, but speaking spanish to a hispanic is a task that is one of the hardest I have ever endured. I recently got a tutor to help me with some of the verbs and pronunciation. After our first meeting today, I learned that she is at least 50% fluent in 5 different languages…yes that is right 5!!! “Are you kidding me right now?” That was the exact sentence I said to Krystal when she told me that. I have trouble enough remembering certain past tenses for verbs, but she has slight problems remembering from 5 completely different languages. This as one can tell utterly fascinates me. She knows English, Spanish, Hindu, Japanese and some Portuguese. Remarkable to say the least. Although I admire her and her skills, I have no plans on accomplishing something of this sort either in the near future or ever. Some people have talents for things and others don’t. I think I will stick to English and get by with a little bit of Spanish. It just a pleasure to know someone like that and be around them. I tell ya, the people you meet.

Dear Campbell,

I know I will say this more than once, but life as we know it has changed.

You are semi-mobile.

6 weeks ago (or so) you started sleeping through the night and I got my life back.  Well, instead of napping during the day I started watching Hulu instead of doing chores.  6 weeks ago I didn’t need a nap for the sake of my marriage anymore.

But last night you woke me up three times.

The first time it happened I went to check on you because you were very loud in the monitor.  When I got to you, you were pushed up to the top of the crib and completely uncovered.  I pulled you back down, put on your blankets, went to the bathroom, and went back to bed.

An hour later, I heard an odd noise, like lots of bumping.  When I got to you, your head was pushed up against the top of your crib.  You weren’t upset, though.  So I pulled you back down, put on your blankets, got a drink of water, and went back to bed.

The final time I heard lots of noise, I knew it was because you had moved yourself around the crib.  So I decided to give you a 4 AM feeding.  After the feeding, I swaddled you, put you back down, gave you a kiss, and went back to bed.

Swaddling seemed to do the trick.  At least you couldn’t push yourself around with your legs anymore.

Life has changed.  We can’t just leave you on our bed anymore if you fall asleep.  We can’t set you on the couch and get a glass of water.  You need to be relatively contained to be safe.

In addition to that, you had your first nightmare today.    It was very sad and scary, so I let you sleep with me for early afternoon nap.  It’s very selfish, but one of my favorite feelings is having you fall sleep on me.  It’s the thing I miss most from when you were teeny and I cherish any moment I have to relive the feeling.

I love you, baby girl.

Mommy

Dear Campbell,

When you were still in my womb, your daddy and I would talk about what made us most excited about becoming parents.  My answer was always getting to teach you and see you learn.  I never imagined that this would start so early in your life.

One month ago we took you down to the War Memorial to feed the homeless with the PourHouse.  All the people loved you…you were amazing in helping us have a common point of discussion with the people we were serving.  A lot of the people were parents too and they loved telling us about their children while playing with you.

My favorite part of the evening was when a couple came up to us and asked, “Is this baby homeless?”  It was wonderful to be able to let so many people love you, but know that we have a safe place for you to sleep.

Last night we took you for your second “hands-on” service opportunity.  Together we ran the Love146 booth at the Purchased concert at our church while your daddy photographed the event.  You attracted people to the table.  While they came to see you, they often left with lots of information about caring for people who are in slavery and, hopefully, with their questions answered.

During the concert you voiced your support by talking, squealing, and shouting from the back of the church.  I was a little worried that you were being disruptive, but everyone else seemed to really enjoy hearing your voice.

As a teacher I love telling the story of Joshua and how his people tore down the walls of Jericho using their voices.  They shouted and the walls came tumbling down!  My hope is that some day we can use our voices as a family to tear down the walls of injustice and build shelters of love.

I love being your mommy and getting to share in these experiences together!  Someday I hope we look back fondly on these experiences in your childhood as some of our most treasured memories.

Love,

Mommy

Dear Campbell,

You get me to do all kinds of things I swore I never would do.

Your daddy and I entered this picture of you in a cutest Halloween costume photo contest.  I’m turning into a “braggy” parent.  When people ask me how you are, I tell them “perfect.”

I am constantly amazed at what you are learning and doing every day.  You started playing with toys this week.  If you put your dinosaur, monkey, or elephant in your lap, you will pick it up to look at it.  Then you usually stick it in your mouth.

Today you held your elephant in front of you and had a conversation.  You were very passionate about whatever it was that caused very excited and happy squeals to come from your vocal chords.

When you were first born I used to get really upset if people tried to make you seem more advanced.  I would claim that most newborns were able to do what you were doing at the time.  I just wanted to appreciate you for the beautiful little baby you were.

Though I did believe you were amazing at stinkering and pooping.  I still believe you are a champ at both of these things.

Just yesterday I bragged to someone about how you actually held your bottle and ate from it on Thursday.  Daddy told me that yesterday you let him know you wanted to eat by reaching for your bottle.

All of the sudden I’m having these moments where I realized how truly extraordinary you are…

But the most wonderful part of being your mother is how incredibly blessed I feel.  Your G. G. wrote me a letter to tell me that she has never seen me glow like I do when I am with your daddy and you.  Never, in a million years, would I imagine that I could be so happy.  Last night your daddy and I sat around and watched home movies of you, some as old as when we found out you were a girl!  And I was completely satisfied.

I love being your daddy’s wife and your mommy, Campbell.  I never believed lives like this were possible.

Like I said before, you get me to do all kinds of things I swore I never would do…like imagine a truly amazing life with my loves.

Love,

mommy

Hmm. *nibble, nibble*. Crunchier than bananas.

M – Well, while she dislikes certain foods, we encourage her to try new things. While inevitable, she decided to expand her horizons. She has added dirt (and a leaf) to the list of things eaten (just the once so far), thankfully to no ill effect.

Oh what I wouldn’t give to have a Promethean Board in my room.  I guess first I should just wish for a room (not a trailer) with internet connection. 

Today we had a Promethean Board presentation at school.  There will be 4 new boards put up at our Lower School Campus.  There is no way I will get one, but I can certainly let my imagination run.  Since I teach all ages, I am constantly putting things on the board, erasing, putting up new stuff, erasing, and reposting the orginal material.  It is a tiresome task.  However, with a Promethean Board, my teaching could be so much more alive.  In a study of composers, I would have much more than a small picture to show my students.  There are so many interactive music websites that I could use.   If only….

Alright, so Australia wins again!

This weekend I was given the opportunity to go on a “canyoning” trip with the Charlestown Pathfinders. I had no idea what Canyoning was but whatever the Charlestown Pathfinders do is usually pretty cool. I was told to bring a wet-suit, and some warm clothing. We jumped in a bus and took for for the Blue Mountains, a set of canyons only slightly smaller than the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

I enjoyed the mountains but was eager to find out what this entire Canyoning was all about. I found out we would be doing some repelling (or Abseiling as they call it over here) so I was stoked about that. We started out hiking for a while into the bush and it was pretty cool.

I grabbed a quick picture of the group before we got too far into the trip. From that point on things just started getting cooler and cooler. I  found that Australians don’t like using trails very much, but would rather create their own or use a stream. We ended up using the stream method.

 The group gearing up to hike down the “trail” (stream).

So it all started out in good fun and quickly got a bit more extreme. The water was about 6 degrees Celsius or 42 degrees Fahrenheit so you can imagine it was a bit cold. We continued on anyway pushing our way through the water!

That’s the trail behind Sheldon. She didn’t realize the water
was as deep as it ended up being.

From that point on I became lost in all the wonder. The Canyon got deeper and deeper. Soon the rock walls were on either side with only the stream running through the middle. The picture at the very top was a common sight! There we a couple places were we had to either climb down small waterfalls or just jump them into bigger pools.  

I really felt like I was in some sort of wonderland… it was just all too cool! It was as if Tinkerbelle really could live in that place!

Soon we came to the end of the canyon and we got to repel out. It was right near the opening of a waterfall so it felt pretty darn cool… just kind of jumping off a cliff next to rushing water. WOW!

Go ahead and check out all the pictures on my Picasa Collection… There are many that almost seem unreal… really just something that blew me away completely. The Australians would keep asking me what I thought and every time I found myself at a loss for words good enough to describe it. I love this place so much…. if only you guys could all see this with me!!

Take care everyone at home! Love you all!

M – Mango can certainly be fun, but she is also a handful and I have it from people who know (mothers), that life will not get easier in the forseeable future. Thant’s okay though, as we are protected by our innocence.

Lookit me! I'm standing!

She is just cruising along now – almost walking. When she sees something interesting and worth exploring, her eyes never waver as she crawls straight for it, even if it means clambering over objects (such as parent’s bodies) to get there. No accidents yet, but as mentioned earlier, she is almost toddling along. Right now she is comfortable holding our hands as she staggers forward and she does stand for brief moments with no support by herself. While it is encouraging to watch (evidence that she is developing normally), it is also a precursor of the havoc to come. After all, if she can already climb up onto the couch (and park benches)  with no assistance, when she walks we will have to hover beside her constantly, as there will be few limit for her. While we’ve already cleared off our tables and bottom few shelves of our bookcases etcetera (except for the few inches she can’t quite reach yet), I shudder to think of what we’re in for now. She’s been opening cabinet doors and drawers for some time now (I’m getting more agile as I attempt to keep closed anything that opens so she doesn’t realize how close she is to creating a whole new world of headaches for us.)

In the meantime though, she is starting to wave at us now when she sees us and loves ‘peek-a-boo’. It is also diconcerting to have her watch our faces from only a few inches away as we read a story to her on our laps. Fun for us and fun for her…

Susan Harper and I have been working on a group project using Google Docs.  It has been so easy.  I worked for a little while coming up with a table of a group project management plan.  I then posted it to share with Susan.  Susan worked on the same document for a while, and then I put finishing touches on it.  It is now posted to our assignment box for our FLO class.

Susan also adapted our plan to a presentation using Google Docs, and it is saved there for me to work on later.  I don’t know about other participants in this class, but Susan and I are surely enjoying using our new toys.

It’s nice to be sent to something fun, even cute. Recently we heard police discussing a bear that was in close proximity to a school and over (?) one of the routes to it. I had unpacked for the day, but it sounded interesting and I was approved for the overtime. Our station gets REALLY excited about bears -don’t ask me why.

The DOW truck showed up quick

When I got to the intersection the producer printed a map to, I saw a cruiser and no bear. I drove a circle past the school and came back. By then a Division of Wildlife truck  had arrived so I pulled opposite them and unpacked.

I still didn’t see any bear though. I asked the CSPD officer if that’s what he was here for. He nodded and pointed to a tree across the next street. Sure enough, I saw a big black shadow there and can make out the outline of an animal in this picure.

The Bear was Ready for a Nap

Honestly, there wasn’t much to shoot that day. I had a cop car, a DOW truck, and a sleepy bear who had been spotted in a tree. DOW decided there was no threat from the bear. So the Wildlife Officer hunkered down for hours of bear watching to wait until it climbed down and left on its own. So for variety, I shot the interview with him in his truck watching the bear. . .

He Was Rather Hidden From the Passerby

What kills me is that the web guy for my station didn’t post the video. I had Close-Ups of the bear! I am a bit macho so I don’t usually say cute. Man, these were CUTE shots. After Sunday I should have the footage, so I’ll show you. In the mean time, the DOW officer let me walk right under the bear!!

From Directly Beneath the Bear