Best of Both Worlds

I know this may be a sensitive topic, but I choose to protect my children from illness using both the natural immunization idea so popular among anti-vaxers AND from the medical immunization methods of the vaxers. I figure you can't be too careful and I want to cover my bases.

Although, with this kid I sure don't get an option in the "natural" immunity building option. Where's the opt out for that one? He eats everything.

We were outside for about ten minutes, and he chewed on at least ten different objects.

He's now built up a tolerance for playground plastic, nylon coated rusty metal, and almond pods. Not to mention whatever was all over them (which sort of makes me feel queasy if I think about it).

In other news, can you tell I tried to cut his hair? It didn't turn out too shabby if I do say so myself, despite the fact that he most definitely did not sit still for it. I can't decide if I'm happy or not about the fact that no one can tell I cut it

Some little bits about Tate at 13 months:

• He eats everything (except fruit - explain that one...)
• He is walking around like a mad man. He still has that adorable unstable baby walk and I love it. He'll often sidestep and drag his right foot instead of turning his little body. 
• He loves meat. Seriously, he claps and gets excited when he tastes bites of pork in almost every form (prosciutto, pancetta, bacon, pork chops, pork loin, etc.). 
• Sometimes he will make a squishy face and do a silent breathy forced laugh when he is trying to be funny. It's actually hilarious. 
• Tate is not a cuddly child. He isn't very much into hugs or kisses, but he will snuggle into my shoulder when he is tired. I love it and rock him to sleep pretty much every day. It doesn't bother me if that is a "bad" habit. When it's your last baby you are less inclined to do things "by the book" and more inclined to drink up the moments in the way that makes you happiest. 
• He gets really excited when Aeryn gets home from school every day. 
• On our trip to FL, he giggled up a storm watching his cousin Tyler. He loved watching all the big kids and wanted to be in the middle of all the playtime action, no matter what it was. 
• He doesn't care one bit about toys. In fact, he doesn't care one bit about anything he is allowed to play with. If it is allowed it must not be fun. 
• He almost always has an object in his hands. At Christmastime it was a pen or a straw. It is now a Wii remote. He swirls it around to watch the strap spin, pushes the buttons, and just holds onto it for dear life most of his waking hours. It also gets dropped quite often, and smashed into the floor with every step when he crawls with it in his hand. 

My two cents - because I "went there" with the vaccine issue I feel the need to disclose that I am not anti-vaccine or anti-anti-vaccine. Basically I place confidence in vaccines because I think generally the good outweighs the bad even though occasionally the bad is very bad...(I'm also a scientist and that colors how I view studies and medical developments) but I feel that it is a parent's right to choose. The second we make it "mandatory" and remove choice from the equation we risk the industry being corrupted beyond imagination and giving government too much power. I value the position of the anti-vaxers even though I'm not one because I think we all want the same thing - the best for our children. We may disagree about the method to go about that, but open dialogue without judgement would benefit us all and help us see that we do, in fact, agree more than we sometimes think we do.