I was shopping for new life jackets and noticed that they all have a logo inside that says, "USCG Approved." That got me thinking...who in the Coast Guard is in charge of approving life jackets? How do they approve them? I have a friend who is a Coastie and I asked him that question. He didn't know.
In my imagination, companies ship life jackets to the Coast Guard, where Coasties are strapped into them and tossed overboard. If they're feeling like having some fun, they make the Coastie walk the plank first. If they float, the life jacket gets approved. If they sink, the life jacket doesn't get approved. I hope the next step is rescuing the sinking Coastie.
Zack, my Coastie friend, said they likely test them on dummies, but then they probably are tested by real people for functionality. I feel bad for the guy who has to test the big orange brick life jackets. You know, the basic ones every summer camp makes you wear? All his pals are in the nice vests from LL Bean and he's stuck in the orange square thing. Those "brick" life jackets aren't very comfortable, and if you are a female or have a round belly, you can't see your feet past it sticking up past your curvy parts. (This is why I bring my own life jacket to camp now!)
Does anyone know what the testing and approval process is for a life jacket?
Oh, and if you're looking for a decent life vest that's pretty comfy, Cabela's has their basic vests on sale online this week.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
First Reunion as a Mom
Every year, my family has a big reunion with everyone from my dad's side of the family. We're all pretty far flung, so once a year all the aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. get together at the lake. Today was Zoey's first reunion. She got to meet aunts and cousins and all sorts of people she'd never met before. And of course, she was fussy. Zoey's usually pretty mellow, likes people, and is quite happy. Well, not today. Today she fussed and cried when almost anyone tried to hold her besides her daddy or me. That's not like her at all. Her acid reflux has been bothering her more this week, so I'm theorizing that she just felt out of sorts. Either that, or she's an introvert like her daddy!
I hope people didn't feel bad when Zoey cried when they held her. I felt awful when someone wanted to hold her, and she started to cry as soon as I handed her to them. Then, they'd pass her back and the tears would stop. This is a new behavior, and while I'm glad that she stopped crying, I also don't want her to only want to be held by her parents. There are SO many people who love and adore her that I hope she'll want to be snuggled by them, too!
Like any of my family functions, it was filled with lots of food and lots of boisterous people. It was fun to see how the kids had grown since last year. Zoey was fascinated with all the children, especially the other baby there! A very exciting game of water baseball was played, and I enjoyed paddling around in the kayak. I hummed the Jaws theme as I paddled circles around my sisters. My grown-up nieces even watched Zoey for a while in the evening so my husband and I could go out kayaking together! Thanks, lovely nieces!
And now, after such an eventful day, we shall sleep!
I hope people didn't feel bad when Zoey cried when they held her. I felt awful when someone wanted to hold her, and she started to cry as soon as I handed her to them. Then, they'd pass her back and the tears would stop. This is a new behavior, and while I'm glad that she stopped crying, I also don't want her to only want to be held by her parents. There are SO many people who love and adore her that I hope she'll want to be snuggled by them, too!
Like any of my family functions, it was filled with lots of food and lots of boisterous people. It was fun to see how the kids had grown since last year. Zoey was fascinated with all the children, especially the other baby there! A very exciting game of water baseball was played, and I enjoyed paddling around in the kayak. I hummed the Jaws theme as I paddled circles around my sisters. My grown-up nieces even watched Zoey for a while in the evening so my husband and I could go out kayaking together! Thanks, lovely nieces!
And now, after such an eventful day, we shall sleep!
Friday, August 17, 2012
I never knew parenting was so full of controversy!
So our little darling, Zoey, is almost 13 weeks old. I'd like to think we're pretty good parents. We give her lots of love, play with her, feed her, change her...all the stuff you're supposed to do.
When she was born, we weren't able to nurse, so we're formula feeding. That was controversy #1. She started showing signs of acid reflux around 2 weeks, and our FNP confirmed it officially at 4 weeks. Poor Zoey was projectile vomiting everything she ate. Our FNP (who is totally awesome, by the way) suggested we thicken Zoey's formula with a bit of rice cereal to help it stay down. That was controversy #2.
Holy cow. People came out of the woodwork to say what a horrible idea it was to add rice to her formula. We trust our FNP, though, and we tried it, and sure enough, Zoey's constant vomiting ceased. The special formulas they sell for acid reflux are...wait for it...thickened with rice. I guess in many years past, doctors would suggest thickening formula to help "Fill up" a baby so he/she would sleep through the night. That turned out to be bunk, so doctors stopped recommending it. Thickening formula with rice to help with reflux, though, is a perfectly valid remedy that involves no medicine and is very affordable. But when we told folks that we were adding rice cereal to her formula, some reacted like we were feeding her broken glass! Sheesh. Zoey was happier than she had ever been, and feeding stopped being such a nightmare for all 3 of us.
Controversy #3 was my decision to cloth diaper. Perhaps that should have been controversy #1, since it started before Zoey was even born! People said I was nuts to use cloth and tried to talk me out of it. We currently use a mix of both cloth and disposables. I totally agree that disposables are easy, and I prefer them when we're out and about. But I really like my cloth diapers at home. I'm not adding to landfills, they're cheaper, and they're really cute. Laundering them isn't hard. The only difference between washing a load of diapers and regular laundry is I do a rinse cycle first, then wash them with an extra rinse cycle at the end to make sure all the soap is out.
Controversy #4 was our decision to move her to her own bedroom at about 6 weeks. It has been a great decision for all 3 of us, though. We all sleep better! We still have her cradle in our room, so if she has a fussy night, or we just want her nearby, she can still sleep there.
Who would have thought that being a parent and doing what's best for your family would cause such an uproar? There have been other controversial things, too...like using a pacifier or dressing my daughter in blue (I had a woman in the store argue with me that Zoey couldn't be a girl because she was in a blue and red onesie. Sheesh.). I'm quickly learning to just do what's best for us, and ignore the rest!
When she was born, we weren't able to nurse, so we're formula feeding. That was controversy #1. She started showing signs of acid reflux around 2 weeks, and our FNP confirmed it officially at 4 weeks. Poor Zoey was projectile vomiting everything she ate. Our FNP (who is totally awesome, by the way) suggested we thicken Zoey's formula with a bit of rice cereal to help it stay down. That was controversy #2.
Holy cow. People came out of the woodwork to say what a horrible idea it was to add rice to her formula. We trust our FNP, though, and we tried it, and sure enough, Zoey's constant vomiting ceased. The special formulas they sell for acid reflux are...wait for it...thickened with rice. I guess in many years past, doctors would suggest thickening formula to help "Fill up" a baby so he/she would sleep through the night. That turned out to be bunk, so doctors stopped recommending it. Thickening formula with rice to help with reflux, though, is a perfectly valid remedy that involves no medicine and is very affordable. But when we told folks that we were adding rice cereal to her formula, some reacted like we were feeding her broken glass! Sheesh. Zoey was happier than she had ever been, and feeding stopped being such a nightmare for all 3 of us.
Controversy #3 was my decision to cloth diaper. Perhaps that should have been controversy #1, since it started before Zoey was even born! People said I was nuts to use cloth and tried to talk me out of it. We currently use a mix of both cloth and disposables. I totally agree that disposables are easy, and I prefer them when we're out and about. But I really like my cloth diapers at home. I'm not adding to landfills, they're cheaper, and they're really cute. Laundering them isn't hard. The only difference between washing a load of diapers and regular laundry is I do a rinse cycle first, then wash them with an extra rinse cycle at the end to make sure all the soap is out.
Controversy #4 was our decision to move her to her own bedroom at about 6 weeks. It has been a great decision for all 3 of us, though. We all sleep better! We still have her cradle in our room, so if she has a fussy night, or we just want her nearby, she can still sleep there.
Who would have thought that being a parent and doing what's best for your family would cause such an uproar? There have been other controversial things, too...like using a pacifier or dressing my daughter in blue (I had a woman in the store argue with me that Zoey couldn't be a girl because she was in a blue and red onesie. Sheesh.). I'm quickly learning to just do what's best for us, and ignore the rest!
Who I am
The Ponytailed Mumma? Really? Well, I'm a mom to my lovely daughter, Zoey, whose little fingers really like my long hair. She's about 13 weeks old, and my hair has been in a ponytail every day since she was born. The few times I've worn it down, she's gotten her hands completely entangled in it!
Why Mumma? Why not Mom, or Mommy, or Mama? I'm a Maine girl, through and through, with downeast roots. Downeast moms are called Mumma. My mom is mumma, my grandmother was mumma, her mother was mumma, and on and on. The spelling has varied through the years, Mama being the most common, but in many places it's pronounced "Mah Mah". Since you can't hear the "correct" pronunciation in writing, I figured we'd spell it phonetically here.
We live in Western Maine, in the foothills of the mountains. I'm an English teacher by trade, but I admit I'm sad to leave Zoey to go back to work this fall. My husband is a self-employed computer geek. Zoey will be hanging out with her daddy when I go back to work. That'll probably be a blog entry in a couple weeks!
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