Study: No Link Between Measles Vaccine and Autism

Like most parents, we were a bit concerned about the MMR vaccination and Christian. He's a long ways off from getting the shot, but the media and Hollywood celebrities make sure the autism topic stays at the forefront, scaring so many parents and creating confusion about how to vaccinate our children.

I once asked our pediatrician about autism and he spent a few minutes explaining that from his experience, research and readings, there was no link between the vaccination and autism. He told us there are a lot of conditions that are now classified as "autism," whereas in years past, they had been classified as other kinds of conditions, i.e. mild retardation. So that helps to explain why there seems to be an explosion of autism cases in children.

He assured us the vaccine was safe, and it was far more risky to a child's health to not get the vaccination.

So for the parents and grandparents who read our blog, I wanted to share the findings of a recent study with you: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/09/03/measles.autism/index.html.

Jennifer

Carefree, Arizona

Here in the Phoenix area is a town called "Carefree." I saw it in a list of farmer's markets in Arizona and was intrigued by the street name that the market is located on. Which led me to see what other street names exist in good ol' Carefree. Here's the list:

Lucky Lane
Easy Street
Nonchalant Avenue
Happy Hollow Drive
Tranquil Trail
Sleep Hollow
East Ho Road / East Hum Road
Lazy Burro Drive
Rocking Chair Road
Dream Street
Pleasant Place
Serene Street
Primrose Path
Margarita Way
Linger Lane
Breathless Drive

Last but not least is a street name that doesn't fit: Bloody Basin

What???

Goes right along with the street called "Bucket of Blood" in Holbrook, Arizona.

Weird!

We may need to take a little drive one weekend and check out Carefree. I want to see what the houses look like!

Jennifer

Christian Turns 10 Months Old

Christian's just two months shy of turning ONE (my goodness!). Here are the latest updates:

Those Pearly Whites: His top two teeth have finally broken through (how cute!) and in checking those out, I saw a third bottom tooth is also coming up quickly.

Getting' Around: And so it begins. In the last few days, Christian has really learned a lot. Suddenly he was able to pull himself up here and there … and now he's climbing on anything he can – like boxes. Another good reason to get unpacked ASAP. This morning he crawled into the bathroom and when I checked on him, he'd pulled himself up to the side of the empty bathtub and was looking in. This weekend, Liz and I were visiting when I turned around to find he'd started climbing the stairs. Oh my goodness!

Chowtime: I was wondering when Christian would figure out he can put food into his mouth on his own … and then one day he did it. He's now a pro! I've been making food for Christian here and there and he seems to enjoy it. I still use the commercial baby food, too – depending on how much time I have. Sometimes he eats really well, other times he doesn't. It can be frustrating at times, but we get through it.

Location, Location, Location: Christian now sleeps in his own room, which is good for us and good for him. Many times he wakes up … its still dark (he's an early riser) and he's just sitting in his crib looking at whatever book we put in there the night before. He's become quite good with his board books … he knows to turn the pages – if we're with him or if he's looking at a book on his own.

Other Tidbits: Because Christian is so active now, its become quite a challenge for me to watch him during the day and keep up with work. Consequently, most nights are spent catching up on work with bedtime for me around midnight being the norm. I am so envious of moms who don't have to commit their time to an outside job. Christian is at such a fun age right now, and when I'm not working and focuing on 27 different things, I am so relaxed and just enjoy him so much! He's such a wonderful little boy!

Christian has also upgraded to an inflatable bathtub. Its give him a lot more room and he even has bath toys now!

We took him on his first playground adventure: