So, I got up early to write this post while I watched the Brasil game. Then my team lost (Kaka is a on my bad list) and I was too depressed to write. And then I had a 2 hour phone call with one of my fav. people at the NMF. So now it’s lunch time and I’m catching up. Anyway, here goes!

I’ve featured Amber Strocel before and I love her article Things my Toddler Taught me. It’s a great reminder of the things we can learn from our kids, particularly during the trying toddler years. I love watching the Menininho explore new things, like a llama’s fur with his face (yesterday).

If you like thoughtful discussion, Arwyn is a great woman to follow on Twitter. I’ve stayed up later than I’d intended more than once talking with her. I loved her recent post A Day in Pictures, and a Call to Photographic Action. It’s about the need to see ourselves as beautiful, to find the positives in our body and not just the flaws, and to do so even in photographs. I mean I’ll admit, I hate seeing pictures of myself because I always point out my flaws. Arwyn prompts readers to try out taking pictures of themselves until they find ones they like, to question society’s definition of beauty and really come to love ourselves.

As usual, PhD in Parenting has another stellar breastfeeding post: I Won’t Ask You Why You Didn’t Breastfeed (actually inspired by another one of Arwyn’s posts). It has some really great points for those of us who consider ourselves breastfeeding advocates to remember.

And last but not least, I came across the Peaceful Parenting blog from someone retweeting this article on Twitter (sorry, I don’t remember who!). It’s called Breastfeeding in Church: A Picture of Christ’s Sacrificial Love. I love the author’s, Ruth Engelthaler’s, perspective of breastfeeding as a sacred act.