Stargirl396, Did you always know how to brachiate?  Or did you have to relearn/reteach yourself?  And how did you reteach yourself?  I am in reasonable shape, not overweight, I do a bootcamp once a week, and I have some arm muscles from lifting 2 kids all day, but I can NOT seem to brachiate.  I keep trying but I can't swing more than 2 rungs before letting go and my arms hurt.  I have been at it for months and I just don't feel I am making progress.  Any ideas on how to learn?

My kids also don't seem that into brachiating, and I worry it is because they see me struggle to do it.  Suggestions are appreciated.  Thanks.

This year's theme is games/puzzles.  For my Brother in Law I am making a Bean Bag Toss.  I am going to make the bean bags from wheat we grew and sew the wheat into old quilt scraps I have in the house.  That is the easy part.  My Dad is helping me make the wooden frames from some scrap 2x4s and some reclaimed laminate.  I have the materials set aside, now just to find the time to make it.

I like the idea of some felt puzzles, I just need to clarify the idea in my head and search for supplies.

When will I find the time to make this projects????  Sometime in the middle of the night when I am suppose to be sleeping

An update..... I also put this out to my close family and friends and they have challenged me to 2 things:

First, can I Eat Less Meat.  Not become a vegan, but commit to reducing my meat consumption, especially my red meat consumption.  This is a quick read on why:  http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20111013/eat-less-meat-food-supply-111013/

Second, can I convince others to take up the challenge.  Are you willing to take up the green challenge?  And if so, how?  See www.earthday.ca for ideas.

Keep the ideas flowing, a lot of people doing a little bit can make a difference.

Thanks for the Jane Iredale suggestion.  I had never heard of the product before but I checked the EWG and it does get a reasonable rating, much better than my current product.  They have a Canadian Distributor so I am going to try it.

I decided my next small Green step would be to change to a smaller kitchen garbage can.  I had a big one but it was really only half full at the end of the week.  So, I searched my house and found a small garbage can that I wasn't using.  My hopes are that a smaller garbage can will stop the rest of my family from throwing away items that could be composted, recycled, or reused.  This is week one and so far so good.

Also currently doing research on Solar Panels.  Maybe I could get a small system for the current house that could be moved (and expanded) for a future house.

Also currently doing research on EcoLawn.  My back yard is currently just dirt/mud and I need to seed lawn....I tried a garden back there but the 12 mature trees flanking my yard just make it impossible. 

Still feel like I am just not doing enough for this world

Well, my baby has been walking for awhile, a step here and a step there.  But this past week his progress shot from one step, to many many many step - while carrying toys in his hands.  And today, one day before his 10 month birthday, I observed him purposefully walk across the room, pick up 2 blocks, one in each hand, and walk back to the table where we were building.  So....I thought I would have a brag moment on brillkids.  From looking at the Institutes Development Profile I would evaluate my baby on the mobility competence as leaving initial cortex and starting early cortex.  Honestly, I put all this effort into the crawling track, balance program, brachiation, reading, math, etc....sometimes it is hard not to want to see some progress.  A few weeks ago I was frustrated over the effort of Doman, I was just tired and worn out and wondering if it is all worth it.  And then, a massive development jump in a week and that gives me the motivation to keep going.  Just when you think it isn't really working, Voila! 

Thank you for letting me share, goodness knows no one in my Real Life would even have a clue what I am talking about.

I did have a crawling track, but didn't travel with it.  My sister had a bed that was up against a wall with a very tight fitted sheet on it.  I found that almost worked BETTER than the Asics crawling track that the Gentle Revolution Website sells.  I put my hands on the open side of the bed so my baby had leverage on both sides.  At 3 months old he crawled the length of the bed (about 6 feet), whereas he was only crawling about 4 feet in the track.

Skylark, Organic make-up, yes, I like that idea. I have been searching around for a tinted moisturizer but have had no luck finding a reasonable replacement.  The tinted moisturizer with an SPF is about the only makeup I wear.  Maybe a few times a month I have time to put on a little blush or eyeshadow, so I could also consider going organic with those.  Any suggestions of companies, or websites for the DIY?  Thanks.

I had actually been doing the deodorant stone years before I got interested in being Eco friendly.  Never realized I was alternative back them, but I get more alternative by the day.

I just bought my sister some Bamboo Sheets for her new bed, but I have all the sheets I need and then some.  I would love to try some bamboo sheets myself, but this one would fall under the category of not purchasing what I don't need. 

I am loving the suggestions, keep them coming... any and all ideas on green eco friendly, self sufficient are welcome.  Sometimes it takes another person to help me realize where I can make a change

Here is the list of Eco Friendly changes I have made in the last year:
Laundry Soap
Dishwashing machine soap
Dish soap
Hand soap
Body soap
Green cleaning supplies - still have a few old ones left but replacing them as I use them
Cloth Diapers
Dripp Catchers/Family Cloth
Moon Cloth
Cloth rags (instead of a chlorox wipe)
Increased recycling
Composting
Xeriscaped front yard (A garden instead of lawn)
Garden that produced potatoes, carrots, and beets for the year, plus a few meals of peas, bean, tomatoes, zuchini, and corn.
Increased purchases of organic food items
Reduced consumerism - increased going without/just not buying the product OR purchasing used.

2 items I tried that failed, but I am hoping to retry in the New Year:
Yankies instead of Tissues - I just didn't like the Yankies I made and I ended up turning them into rags instead, but I have recently purchased some organic cotton ones so hopefully take 2 of this green idea will be better.

Unshampoo - it was going really well not shampooing my hair while I was pregnant.  In fact, my hair had never looked better, but this postpartum greasy hair seems to like shampoo.  I am going to try to get back to the unshampoo in the New Year.

So, what else do I do now?  What should be the next Eco friendly change(s) I make?  I would really love to make a BIG eco change and sell my current large footprint house and build an Eco Friendly smaller house, until that goes forward, I am wondering what other small changes I can make to make a difference?  What are you doing? Thanks for sharing your ideas.

What variety of tomatoes do you grow?  I grew beefsteaks this year in Saskatchewan (Zone 2).  Yes, my baby loves them but we only harvested about 30 of them and now it is fall so the plants are dead.  I was thinking of planting a different variety next year to see if I can get more out of the little garden I have.

Kizudo, we LOVE you 

To teach your child to brachiate the Doman book suggests all the adults in the home brachiate.  In teaching your child to use the monkey bars, did you also use them?  If so, how did you teach yourself to brachiate?  How far/long could you swing?  Are there any good resources out there to help me learn?

So far I can do 3 rungs but I don't seem to be making any progress.

I used bingo ink bottle to make the circles instead of buying stickers.  Cheaper and Faster.

Humbler9, I found the backfloat skill on the uswim website to be relatively easy to implement in the bathtub.  I like how uswim breaks it down into really small parts that makes it comfortable for the parent and baby and slowly goes from there.  I think it is skill 3 on the baby levels.  Nice to know someone else had the breath regression.  I still haven't really refound his comfort level and we booth seem to be a little all over the map with it.  I keep trying and reducing the time and he keeps swallowing, but I know at somepoint it will work out again.

I started swimming with my son on day 2.  I used and still use the bathtub.  I turned the drain around so I can fill the tub to almost the brim.  I did read Doman's Teach Your Baby to Swim book and agree with an earlier post that it lacked specifics.  So, I started combing Doman with the lessons on www.uswim.com and found that has worked well.  I started with about 10 minutes sessions and worked my way up to about 30 minutes.  We 'swim' in the tub almost every day.  We do not have a pool in my community, so whenever I travel I try to go to a pool.  The pool is easier to do some swimming stuff, but I find the tub works just fine for breath holding.  My son is now 8 months.  He can backfloat on his own.  He will hold his breath under the water, but just barely.  He used to be able to do 3-4 seconds but when he reached 6 months he started drinking the water so it has been a relearning process.  I haven't enrolled him in any lessons yet.

As a side effect of swimming in the tub so much, my 31/2 year old daughter has increased he confidence.  She loves to swim in the tub and can now hold her breath under water for over 12 seconds, maybe even approaching 15 seconds.  She has also just started opening her eyes under water.  She practices at home in the tub and then has more confidence when we go to a pool.

I truly agree that the only people at a birth should be the same people as at the conception

However, it is tough when other family do not understand.  Perhaps you could pass along a few books for them to read so they understand the natural birth process better.  Anything written by Ina May Gaskin is wonderful.  Or maybe direct them to a few websites that you enjoy so they can better understand and appreciate your perspective.

Do what it takes to have the birth you want for your baby, but it does help if you know all your family supports your birth and parenting plan.