Man, why did I wait so long to talk about this here??

yes. a question I ask myself often!

2. More significantly, we received word today that Biyi's parents' visas have been approved! This is step 1 in their quest for permanent visas. They can now stay in Australia for two years, and apply for the permanent visa while they're over here. Current plan is for them to come over in November.

They should totally bring Ryan to all their interviews.

Immigration Official: "Reason for wishing to immigrate to Australia?"

bt's In-Laws: "See this kid? He's our grandson. We want to see him grow up, not just have short visits occasionally."

Immigration Official: "Makes sense to me. That boy is so adorable, he makes me want to immigrate to Australia."

Kate, it has all already been said - but I am very glad you are getting so much support here. No one else has the right to judge you - you and your husband get to make the parenting decisions that work for your family. People forget that parenting is not about how right you are, it's about love and guidance. Coming from a family in which breast feeding is The. Thing. To. Do. I don't always remember that bottle feeding gives a chance for the Dads to get in on the meal-time bonding. That has to be a good thing.

Warm, comforting thoughts to all Buffistas experiencing pain today. Harvey sends his best purrs to you all.

Thanks again, everyone. You guys are the best.

Kate, I do agree that your baby will be happy and well adjusted if you wean her, but I want to add that I found people were very rigid when I was having trouble producing enough milk for Franny. The lactation consultants esp were the worst. It was all or nothing. But one NP was supportive and suggested I add a bottle or two of formula to supplement and the nurse for as long as I liked. And then just like that everything was okay. I nursed until 12 months but also used formula to make sure my kids got enough. I just didn't make enough milk on my own.

Ugh, I'm sorry you had to deal with people being judgmental. So far, fortunately, that's something I haven't really experienced. I have had a somewhat similar experience with the low supply. We started supplementing Rose with formula on day 5, at our pediatrician's insistence; she was down 16% of her birth weight and just screaming all the time, poor thing. So she's been eating mostly formula all along, and I've been nursing (and pumping, and taking herbal supplements and even medication) in an effort to increase my supply. I'm producing more now than I was before, but still nowhere near enough. So that's part of the problem. The other part is that, despite several lactation consultations and observations, she's still a difficult nurser. Everyone says her latch is good, but something about her technique isn't very effective, and often hurts me. Plus, much like Emmett, she has a tendency to pull her head away when she's excited or frustrated, or else she flails her arms around and pulls my breast out of her mouth. (You wouldn't think she'd have the strength to do that, but she does!) So nursing sessions tend to be long, ineffective, and painful, and then we have to give her formula afterwards anyway. It just doesn't seem worth it anymore. I'll still pump and give her as much as I can, but I'm not going to make myself crazy with it.

Sooon, I hope! I am v. broke right now, because I had to spend $1400 to have my terminal molars removed (not my wisdom teeth, my molars) because my mouth was too small to accommodate them. (There went my F2F money...sigh.)

Yikes, that sucks. But wow, that's crazy about your sleep apnea going away! Yay!

I really look forward to meeting Rose and M some day!

javachik, me too!

billytea, that's such great news about Biyi's parents! I'm so happy for you, and them, and Biyi, and most of all Ryan. What a lucky kid.

Sorry about the unfortunate homecoming, askye. I guess it would have been worse if they hadn't pulled the spread off the bed?

Having not been a parent, I generally only judge parents if

• they don't read to their children
• they leave their children in harm's way
• they do not remove them from theaters when their noise level bothers others

Yay, visas! It's great that you get along so well with your in-laws. I know people who would be sending anonymous messages to the visa people about their in-laws' fondness for dynamite.

• they do not remove them from theaters when their noise level bothers others

Also restaurants. I also totally judged a woman who yelled at me when I stopped her kid from pulling a 10 foot high store display on top of his head.

Yay for Biyi's parents!! That's wonderful!

they don't read to their children

Crap.

they leave their children in harm's way

Double crap.

they do not remove them from theaters when their noise level bothers others

Triple crap.

On the "wow y'all have experiences" tip, anyone got experience with shin splints? I've had them on and off since January and it's making me crazy. Every time I think they're healed, the next time I even try to do a TINY bit, they're hurting like crazy again. I got insoles and stuff so I'm supposed to be good there, but apparently not. My roommate thinks I should go to the doctor, but I feel weird asking my GP about it, but even weirder calling some other doc (orthopedics? Sports medicine? No idea) about it--and I really dont want to pay for two visits!

In other news, I am having vague memories of being in the same place I am right now four or five years ago. Madness.

I have, meara. Only thing that healed them was time not running and new running shoes.

meara, have you tried doing exercises to strengthen your calves?

Aims, I wasn't going to say anything, but I did notice that you guys don't seem to have very many books. After all, I don't think there's a bookshelf in the bathroom (yet).

a bookshelf in the bathroom

Would the pile of books on the back of the toilet and on the laundry detergent container count?