Munchers & melanin

I'm sitting here with two different types of sunscreen on my shoulders.

Right shoulder, slightly less greasy than left. Both smell of lavender :)

Yes, I may have lost my mind. Or become completely neurotic. I spent the past couple of weeks researching various brands of infant-friendly sunscreen in prep for our Ecuadorian adventure next week. What a can of worms I did open! Since Kai will only be 5 months during our trek, just shy of the government recommended 6 month sunscreen use age cutoff, I want to find something that is more-or-less chemical free. I figure since we'll be insanely close to the sun ... about as close as physically possible on our planet ... a little sunscreen absorbed into her skin will be far less destructive than a nasty sunburn.

So far I've widdled down the selection to Badger brand SPF 30 & Heiko SPF 40 for kids. Both barrier creams containing zinc, Heiko seems less greasy. Will bring both on our adventure.

Barrier creams seem to be the way to go. They contain either zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. The later primarily provides protection against UVB and short-wave UVA radiation, but not long-wave UVA rays. Zinc oxide provides protection against UVB, short- and long-wave UVA radiation. The zinc oxide in Heiko & Badger sunscreens is micronized, meaning the particles are really small & provide thorough coverage.

Titanium dioxide has a higher refractive index in visible light than zinc oxide, making it white once applied than zinc-based creams.

The nerd research paper: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10759815

As for "munchers", well, me thinks lil' miss Kai is teething. Correction, I know lil' Miss Kai is teething. The gumming and the gnawing and the crying. Poor thing. Hopefully this lower right medial incisor decides to make an appearance prior to departure!

Our we became three

I used to think life was busy. I used to think my life had a solid foundation and meaning. I used to think I was in control of most aspects of my life. I used to think I knew what fulfillment felt like. A defended thesis, a publication, a new job, a new house, a trip. I used to be me. Me with my hubby, making us we. We were on a path in life. We were unstoppable. But then something changed. Our we became three! Our world was rocked by the smallest of beings. All previous stresses in life seemingly evaporated, leaving me helplessly in love and devoted to this new mini-me. Mini-us. Mini-we? "Me" seems a lifetime ago. A foggy past, full of memories and joy, but a far cry from our now. Over the past few months, since our we became three, time seems to have sped up and slowed down at the same time. Ever changing, ever-growing, our we is a precious gift of nature that melts our hearts and brings love and smiles to us every day. The adventure begins as we set out to raise our little piece of nature :)