Tag Archives: children

murphy’s law of parenthood?

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Brag and you will get yours. This may be the Murphy’s Law of New Parenthood.

I admit it. I bragged a bit about Wren cutting her first teeth without much of a fuss. I think these were my exact words (spoken out loud. to several people.) “She’s not even fussy AT ALL. Just wakeful.” I think I even bragged further about her having my pain threshold, blah blah. Over the weekend, however, Little Miss Fussy Pants showed up in our nest. And she’s still hanging around. Oof. Thanks, Parenthood 101. Lesson learned. Can we move on now?

The one thing for which I’m grateful with Little Miss Fussy Pants’ recent visit is that because she so rarely visits our nest, it puts our normal Little Miss Sunshine days in perspective. And I want them back. NOW. I just can’t will those teeth to come all the way through and move on with our happy-go-lucky life, can I? Just like I can’t will her to sleep for more than several hours at a time. Oh well.

Here’s another lesson learned just for you today, dear readers. Maybe attempting a detox (no caffeine, sugar, processed foods) at the same time you’re home alone for four days with a teething baby is not the best idea I’ve ever had. But I’m doing it anyway. I thought I would spare Chris the Wrath of Ashlea Off Caffeine, so I decided to embark while Chris is out of town. But I could reaaaaallly use a cup of something strong right now to perk me up after another wakeful night and cranky day. But instead, I’m sipping some herbal tea while munching on a bowl of carrot/ginger soup and a few slices of avocado. Mmmmmmmm. While the wee one sleeps. Aaaaaaaahh.

“No caffeine? Are you crazy?” Maybe.

I just want to be a cheap coffee date again. A cup of coffee meaning something. Sipping a hot mug of joe and really enjoying it. And after a few days without, I’ll feel that way, right? Anyone want to take me out for a cup of coffee next week to find out?

Confessions.

  • I’m so pissed at NBC right now. I thought for sure I could watch the Olympics online, but every time I try to even watch a replay of something that happened yesterday, they want me to register, blah, blah. How archaic is that?!
  • Orange is my favorite color today. Still is. Chris bought me a gallon of orange paint at Home Depot last week and I’ve got a few projects in mind for it. Dresser for Wren’s room and closet morphing into an office for yours truly… Coming soon…
  • When I was a kid I wanted to be an Esprit model. Those kids were really cool, weren’t they? Is Esprit even around anymore?
  • I was spoiled rotten for my birthday week. It was lovely. Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

best!

Sleepy songs.

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Although I’m not a huge fan of kids music, I do love singing and listening to lullabies. My favorite collection is one beautifully created by a friend of ours, Gretchen Eichberger-Kudlack. A big shout out to Gretchen for her creativity, beauty and artistry as these songs are great for sleeping and also a king bed size canada so you can sleep with your little ones  comfortably. And to sweet Gwen for being such an inspiration. “The idea was conceived after I gave birth to my daughter Gwendolyn,” said Eichberger-Kudlack. “The first half starts off with playful and happy songs, based around folk music, and it gradually winds down and relaxes, ending with a Bach piano piece.”

I’m clearly not the only one enjoying it… The CD was named an Honors Award Winner in the 2008 National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA). You can listen to the CD and purchase it here. Portions of the album’s proceeds will benefit music education programs in northern rural Michigan. Bonus! Why not buy several to have on hand for baby gifts?

Enjoy!

Tooth!

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Breaking news from Wren’s nest…

The wakeful nights mystery has been solved! Wren’s first tooth is breaking through and I think it might just belong to a shark. Ouch! Way to go, little birdie.

I realize it’s a little early to be thinking about the Tooth Fairy, but a tooth seems like it pushes a baby one step (err, crawl?) closer to being a toddler. So it got me thinking about tooth pillows and pouches. Of course, I hopped right on Etsy and found this adorable tooth pillow.

I also love this idea for making your own tooth pouch, found on the Purl Bee site. Cute and *sew* easy, right?!

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Dear readers, how does the Tooth Fairy work her (his?) magic in YOUR nest? What successful teething aids have you used? Whiskey? Frozen waffles? Cold washcloths? …

On a side note, I’ll be posting lightly in the next few days as Wren and I are hitting the road soon. Detroit 2010 Or Bust, Baby! While we’re on the road together, I plan on bouncing some blog ideas around, which made me think, what do YOU want to read about? I’m thinking of doing some taste tests – first one being something dear to my heart and belly. Windmill cookies. Something to look forward to, right?!

Happy weekend to all the birdies in your nest.

mini eats.

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Even if you don’t have a baby, doesn’t this photo inspire you to make baby food?! I can’t stop looking at it. Why would you buy Gerber when you could take three hours out of your life and make a month’s worth of baby food that looks like this? WOW! Click on over here to see how you can do it.

But. Did you know there was a *but* coming? After several months of gastronomical exploration via spoon, Wren refuses to eat from a spoon anymore. She will only feed herself with her amazing pincer grasp. I gotta hand it to her (no pun intended here). She is really good with her hands and if I were her, I probably wouldn’t want to eat mushy stuff from a spoon either. So the world of “baby food” is a distant past now. Sigh. But it might come back when she masters eating from her OWN spoon. I give her a couple more months on that.

If you do plan to buy commercially produced baby food, I recommend Sprout. It’s organic and yummy. Yes, I tried it! Wren enjoyed it when she was an agreeable spoon-fed baby. If you live in northern Michigan, you can now get it at Meijer and Tom’s Market. It’s pricier, duh, but look at the packaging design. Love!

Last night we were transported to an exotic place via this yummy salmon dish that my sister-in-law wrote about on her blog. Honeybells, salmon, fennel, oh my! As it turns out, Wren loves salmon. That’s my girl!

Any fun baby food stories to share, dear readers? Do you make your own food? Do YOU like eating baby food? I’ve discovered that some of the purees are great added to cookies or cakes for a healthier fat substitute. Or added to plain yogurt. Maybe that’s what I’ll do with all the baby food cubes in our freezer…

imaginary nesting.

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Wren’s only a touch over eight months old and right now her favorite toy is…

That’s right, folks. The wooden stacker – not the colorful rings, but the stacker pole part of it. Hours of entertainment. Well, maybe not hours at a time, but if you added the minutes spent gnawing, banging and investigating, it adds up. Needless to say, this was not expected given the more interesting toys that she’s been given. Lesson learned. So I hesitate to invest too much cash in any new toys for my little birdie because she gets so much enjoyment out of everything else. Spoons, empty yogurt containers from the recycling bin, tags, magazines… did I mention magazines? Wren would hate the Kindel or the new iPad. She knows the pleasure in turning, err, ripping, real pages.

That being said, I’ve been looking ahead to a time when imaginary play will occupy our time. I’m not sure when this is exactly, but I’m sure it’ll be here before we know it. And there are two DIY projects that I’m going to attempt. If I get started on them in the coming year, they might be done by the time she might be interested in them. (Did you see that the operative word might was used twice in that sentence? With reason.) Given my luck as a naive new parent, she won’t have any interest, but they look fun enough that I won’t be too disappointed if Wren thinks they’re really not all that. So here goes. Drumroll, please…

Doll house renovation!

I was inspired when I read this article about renovating an old doll house. I despise those plastic doll houses, but the really cool modern doll houses are expensive. So I’m adding this to my garage sale “hunt” list when the season begins again around Memorial Day. Can’t wait! Another item I’m adding to my “hunt” list is an old nightstand so I can attempt DIY imaginary play project #2…

Play kitchen!

This inspiring piece was converted from an old night stand. Check out the article with more pics to drool over here. Again, I’m really not into those plastic kitchen sets. Blech. Isn’t this kitchen so much cooler? Doesn’t it make you want to redo your OWN kitchen?

These are two ambitious projects, but I think I have about two years to get them done and with Wren getting busier and busier every day…, I’m going to need all the time I can get. With any luck, I’ll find the nightstand and old dollhouse this summer and begin work on them when the long dark nights set in again late next fall. I’ll keep you updated!

Confessions.

  • Wren has just discovered her diaper and enjoys ripping it off in the few seconds before I can get her clothes on. Yikes!
  • Orange is my favorite color today. Yes, but a friend of mine showed me the color “dill pickle” yesterday and I might be starting a new love affair.
  • It was 40 and rainy last weekend and I was complaining about the mildness. Now it’s 9 and snowy and I’m complaining about the cold. I’ve become such a winter wimp!
  • It worked! I had a bag of hardened brown sugar. I read that it’ll soften up again if you place a piece of fresh bread in the air tight bag. Two mornings later, the bag was like new.

best!

gotta have kid stuff

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Amidst all the mountains of plastic electronic crap for kids out there, live some really cool things for kids too. Here are a few I love. Today.

Don’t you love these funky plates for kids or even your next dinner party? Who says you can’t play with your food anyway? It’s fun!

Or flex your foodie kid’s creative muscle with these “gourmet” colored pencils, called “Smencils.” Ooh, la la. They’re also made from 100% recycled newspaper. Bonus!

Speaking of food, I’m interested in reading the book Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea from Alice Waters.

Have you read it yet? I think I’ll look for it at our library. Trying to do that more and save a few bucks. Plus it’s such a cool place to be with lots of nice natural light and usually a few freaky people from all walks of life. Same folks you might see at the Secretary of State office. That’s why, even though you can avoid going to the office now by doing everything online, I like to physically step into the office once a year. Hey, this is northern Michigan. I gotta get my kicks where I can. And it’s refreshing to be reminded of the human spectrum from time to time, isn’t it?

Confessions.

  • It’s finally cold and a bit snowy again. Bring it on! This is what it’s supposed to be like in January, right?
  • Orange is my favorite color today. uh huh.
  • Yesterday Wren and I went to the local bakery and the woman at the counter asked if Wren could have a cookie. I said, “no, thank you. She’s a bit young for a cookie.” And the woman looked at me like I was the center of the freak show. Maybe I should have charged her admission.

best!

just marketing?

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There were two things that I dreaded about becoming a mamma. Diapers? Nope. Sleeplessness? Nope.

“Kid food” and “kid music.” Both are awful. Is it just marketing or are these two things an inevitable part of my life for the next ten years? Wren is too young for me to know for sure, but my gut (albeit flabby) tells me it’s a marketing hoax. Keep in mind that this opinion comes from someone who works in the marketing field… and that could be good or bad.

First of all, kid food. Don’t get me wrong. I like macaroni and cheese, chicken fingers and fries (sugar, fat and salt, yum!), but we all know how bad they are for us. Most of all, however, they’re just plain old boring white things disguised as food. While it’s important to me that Wren learn good table manners, it’s really important that she be an adventurous eater. I realize, however, that some of it is out of my control and despite my best efforts, she still might only want to eat macaroni and cheese when she’s four. But I’ll be damned if I don’t try really hard to teach her to love the adventure of food. I’m really enjoying reading Hungry Monkey (A food-loving father’s quest to raise an adventurous eater) right now. If you’re possibly interested in reading the book, but aren’t quite sure, you can click here to read the first three chapters.

What we’re struggling with right now is that the little birdie will put everything we place on the table in front of her directly into her mouth, but she’s not into eating from a spoon anymore. Oh so independent…  She smiles, closes her mouth and politely turns her head waaaaay far away from the spoon. Although her name is Wren, she thinks that she’s an owl and can turn her head about 180 degrees in either direction. You go, girl!

Wren has exquisite taste in citrus, preferring honeybells to clementines. Thanks, Gran Jan!

Now for kid music.

Can someone please enlighten me? I’m not talking so much about lullabies, although the only song that ever comes to mind when I’m rocking Wren to sleep is Kumbaya and if I were her, I’d start requesting something new SOON. Other than possibly some questionable lyrics, why can’t children listen to the Rolling Stones, Vampire Weekend and Ani DiFranco? The thought of taking Wren to a Raffi concert makes me a bit queezy. We took her to a Breathe Owl Breathe concert and she loved it! They were Fun-ky and all three of us enjoyed it.

So my theory behind these two things is that it’s just marketing that makes us believe we have to serve or order “kid food” off the menu and buy “kid music” for our children and I’m just not buying into it. Yet. What do you think, dear readers?

Confessions.

  • My lentil soup I made the other day smelled really good, but I think it needed some sausage. It was really boring. Wren and Chris liked it though–good thing because I made a huge pot of it.
  • Orange is my favorite color today. Still.
  • I’m really impressed with Wren’s pincer grasp. She is getting really good at picking tiny things up. Go, Wren!
  • Thinking about using Twitter… or should I just stay away? Would you follow my tweets (err, drivel)?

Best!

shots.

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breaking news from the nest…

Wren had her flu booster shots and a Hep B shot so three total injections, blech, and… didn’t make a peep! She got a tiny bit red at one point, but my sweet little birdie didn’t cry. She kept grabbing for the nurse’s syringe though. Pretty funny. So I had no reason for retail therapy or a mini Frosty today. Win for the pocketbook and win for my waistline. And, of course, win for Ms Wren and win for my heart.

I gave Wren a bit of Motrin an hour before. Do you think that helped? Or maybe she’s acquiring her Mamma’s pain threshold? What an amazing birdie today! Thoughts?

setting the table.

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I’m no Emily Post, but I love to set the table. It was always my job as a kid and I still like to do it. I don’t like to fuss a lot with centerpieces or candles, but I appreciate a nicely set table. In our nest we always use cloth napkins, real plates and utensils at all meals because it makes enjoying a meal together as a family like more of an event; plus it just feels good. And I think food tastes better this way too. The fact that it’s also eco-friendly is a bonus!

One thing I hope for our family is that everyone will learn the basics of setting the table. So I was thrilled when I came across this fun idea – a printable placement that teaches kids where stuff goes!

Click here to visit Parents.com to download the printable placement. Your whole family can even decorate their own and get them laminated to use throughout the year. What a fun winter project. Enjoy!

wings

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Eight months ago the only significant fear I had was an irrational one of snakes. Worried was not a word that anyone would have used to describe me. Then Wren was born and after the initial wonder and elation quieted a tiny bit, the mother bear instinct took over. At first I found it thrilling and a bit charming, like “cool, something new. I’m really an animal. This is NATURE!” But it hasn’t gone away and it’s not really thrilling and certainly not charming anymore.

Everyone else on the road automatically turned into an awful driver and 125% of those people were simultaneously texting or talking on their cell phones. Driving to Target with a newborn was not quite as fun as I had hoped given the situation ‘out there.’ And there is still no way — almost eight months into this adventure — that I would let Wren go in a car without me. God forbid… And since she was born, I have not spent more than three hours away from her. “Oh, how sweet,” some might think. hhmph. I may occasionally even give others the illusion that I’m not protective of my daughter. “Sure, you can hold her…” But on a fundamental level, I’ve become what I never ever ever ever thought I’d become. A protective parent, teetering on the precipice of being over-protective. Yikes. The horror!

I used to just shake my head (and wince, a lot) at people who were over-protective of their children. I had no idea how one could even become so… err, strange. How could I possibly have become this way? This is not expected given my own childhood. I went on walks by myself down the street to the deer park when I was about three. And to the store for a few groceries too. My Dad thought it was cute to see me coming back with a bottle of beer. This was the Netherlands, but still. My parents threw me in a pool in Portugal around the same time and only afterward remembered that I might not even be able to swim. But, of course, I bobbed up to the surface and kept on going. Back in the US, I walked to school and all over the neighborhood. No worries. Nothing every happened; I didn’t get abducted. I was a happily independent, empowered child and this has carried with me through my whole life. Only now do I realize what a true gift this sense of empowerment was that my parents gave me as a wee one. Probably the single best gift, after my life. I had NO idea how hard it would be. To let go. Every day. Ouch. One of those weird things that down the road, you’ll be so glad you did, but at the time, it’s terrible. Kinda like getting out of bed to go for a run on a cold, dark morning. Speaking of which, I should do that too…

For inspiration, I look to this Gibran poem and hope that I can give my daughter the wings she needs to fly.

On Children
Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Confessions.

  • Why do people think that when the phone rings and it’s a bad time for them, they HAVE to answer it?
  • Orange is my favorite color today. Still is. But I saw a shade of azure today and just about fell in love with it. I would like to name a boy Azure, but no one would pronounce it correctly and he would be scarred for life.
  • School is one of my loves. In fact, when I wasn’t in school, I would play school. Even now I just about pee my pants when it’s school supply time in August. I could easily be in school for the rest of my life. I like it more than real life.
  • One of my fantasies when I was in sixth grade was that I would become a film director, go to Hollywood and direct Tom Cruise in a film. We would commence to fall in love and get married. Then Katie Holmes went and married him. She’s my age. Weird.
  • I’m Canadian.