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A girlfriend and her sweet little 7 month old came over the other day for a dip in the baby pool and to share lunch, time, and thoughts. It is so refreshing to connect with like-minded parents. We mothers, especially ones who are the primary caregivers for their children, need other mothers for support, inspiration, and shared laughter over the foibles of parenthood. 1) Support. Mother who stay home have unique challenges: being alone with an infant, baby, or toddler for extended periods of time punctuated by diapers and naps is simultaneously wonderful and difficult. Mother who work have unique challenges: the stresses of work expectations balanced with the stresses of feeding, cleaning, shopping, loving, and caring for family. We need other moms in our…
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SuperBoy listens to classical music primarily. Why? I wrote about it here, but to reiterate briefly: 1) Science. Studies on mice (albeit, not people) have demonstrated that the neurons in little forming brains develop in a more orderly fashion when exposed constantly to classical music, versus pop/silence, versus the very detrimental rock/heavy metal which actually showed a distortion of neurological development in mice necropsies. Wow. Your child’s brain is this delicate sponge that’s developing every second. In the first year of life, the brain grows more than any other time. Sheer growth, sheer added and changing. So that’s one scientific reason. But say you don’t believe those studies translate to people. Okay, try some of these other ones out. 2) Beauty. Developing a sense…
READ MOREWhen little SuperBoy hit the big 1 and we knew we’d have an intimate close friend/family BBQ, I began my search for a healthy first birthday cake recipe for him. As he hasn’t had any sugar or white flour to date, why start now? It took a little digging around on the internet, but I found this great site and followed its recipe with some modifications. Wholesome Baby Food Momtastic. 1) Recipe. a. 3 medium sized carrots, peeled and sliced or 2 1/2 cups of any size carrot sliced b. 1 + 1/2 cup organic apple juice concentrate — put in a small pot together over the stove and bring to a boil for 15 minutes or until carrots appear to be softened, then…
READ MOREWe planted mega basil plants this year, as discussed in my Spring into Gardening article, and wow are we reaping the benefits! I harvested three cups of large delicious basil leaves on Friday, and planned on making pesto sauce for our Pizza Fridays tradition. Of course the day eluded my attempts to make the dough in time so instead we had pasta with pesto sauce. Little Sweet Pea enjoyed the pasta (sans pesto) while AA and I stuffed ourselves with pesto. Here’s a variation on the theme of an Alice Water’s recipe that’s simple, easy, and delish. (If you aren’t familiar with Alice Waters, my cuisine hero!!!!, get familiar here.) 1) Ingredients. Basil leaves, as fresh as possible. We tripled the batch, but you really…
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I’ve written quite a bit on breastfeeding, starting with some basic thoughts, latching techniques, nipple pain, duration of early nursing sessions, and nursing from the get-go. But now that my little boy is just over 12 months old, and we still breastfeed. So what’s the norm now? This post is not aimed at a criticism of mother who don’t breastfeed, or stop at age one. Every mother has to figure out what’s best for her and her child, and no scientist, doctor, or other mother can judge that decision. Below are the factors that I’ve weighed when figuring out what’s best for my Little Sweet Pea and our family. 1) Health benefits. Dr. Sears discusses the health benefits to extended breastfeeding. He puts it so well.…
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