RD, Foodie, Mom

I've been thinking and talking about writing more about nutrition for some time now. Two people, sort of informal advisors on life, told me, "just start writing!" So now anytime I build another barrier in my mind, I hear their voices echo: just start writing! The barriers/excuses/delays tend to look and sound like this:

• there are already too many food blogs
• I should really create a whole new blog (not just shift the focus here)
• I should read all the child nutrition books available first
• once I start, I'd have to commit to at least 3 posts per week

So although this blog post is not about food and nutrition per se, it's bringing me one step closer to "launching" my dream blog: RD, Foodie, Mom. My dream is not to be a famous blogger who eventually writes a book and goes on tour, it's more to share ideas (while soliciting ideas), answer questions, and keep my creative/writing brain active. 

So why now? Well, of course now is as good a time as ever. (Just start writing! Just start writing!) Also, I'm drawn to projects that can be started and revisited during small or large (but usually small) chunks of time during the day. I received further inspiration after reading Anne's thoughtful post on stay-at-home motherhood last week. Right on, Anne. I'm totally with you!

Another source of inspiration was a pre-screening of a ridiculous, yet entertaining new movie, Moms' Night Out, three weeks ago. It was ridiculous because it was one of those films where everything that can go wrong, does. How it relates to this mommy-blogger, (ugh, I hate that title) is that the main character is 1) a stay at home mom, and 2) a mommy blogger. Although the movie was stressful for a clean-freak like me, it was also affirming and encouraging. My favorite part (non-spoiler alert) was the final scene, where she comes downstairs, early in the morning, to a cup of hot tea, open laptop and CLEAN house. On the corner of her screen is a post-it that says, "You DO have something to say." Cute. I want to know who cleaned her house though.



It's funny, I'm not even a big movie person, but in the last three weeks, I got to go to two early screenings. One (above) and the other of the newest DreamWorks animated film, Mr. Peabody and Sherman. While the mom movie was a Tuesday-night-out with my friend Heather, I took the whole family to Mr. Peabody. Louisa sat through her first movie beautifully. And Cora? Well, not so much. I was just thankful that she was fine (nursing and eating cheese) during the creative/smart/dialogue parts of the film and only needed to leave the theater during the action scenes. So admittedly, I didn't watch the whole movie, but would definitely recommend it!

Our Little Bean (and her big sister)

Cora's been waking up on the right side of the crib lately! She easy-going (finally!), eats about twice the amount that Louisa eats and enjoys the freedom she's found in crawling, and, most recently, walker-walking:

In the video, you see and hear Cora's #1 fan, Lou. The only outfit Louisa wears these days involves a dress, skirt, leggings and her brown boots. If it's a special day, she'll also wear a tutu. Nate snapped a photo yesterday morning before she donned her dress and boots, just in case we never see her in pants and a shirt again:

And last, going completely out of chronological order, a 3-in-1 Cora video that is WAY TOO LONG. You have permission to zoom through! There is no real climax, it just three scenes from her pre-crawling days:

Our New Definition of Adventure

Last week was special and exhausting, yet relaxing. We went to Hawaii, thanks in HUGE part to my grandparents who offered up an expiring timeshare week. In September of 2012, we took our first trip to Hawaii: destination big island/Kona. And thus joined the legions of Californians who vacation in Hawaii. I guess you could say it's close, but it's still a 5 hour flight. And although I wouldn't have guessed that living in California leaves you yearning for beach time, it's "cold" enough that it does.

I told Nate how much I love traveling with him. He's the planner. He's the logistics coordinator. He flew in from 8 days in China on a Thursday and we all flew from Oakland to Honolulu early Sunday morning. Thankfully Louisa is old enough to understand that it's cool to wake up at 5 am if you're going to Hawaii. And Cora? No understanding, but that was her preferred wake up time anyway, so she was happy. A digression, if I may. The cry-it-out sleep training method? Awesome for us. Yes, Hawaii messed it up a bit, but would I do it again? Absolutely.

But the week was nice. Super low-key and lacking in adventurous hikes, waterfalls, surfing, body boarding, sunning, yadayadayada...BUT I did get to go running 4 times, read a book on the beach, watch HGTV and ride on the Presidential Barge with the Admiral of the Navy's Pacific Fleet. And I (we) got to spend some lovely family time with Anne, Andrew and Wren, who flew from Anchorage to test our hypothesis that there's an isosceles triangle between Honolulu, San Jose, and Anchorage:

Turns out it's a triangle, but not isosceles

The pools and beaches at the Ko Olina Beach Club Marriott were fantastic for kids. Although thinking back on it, I wonder if Louisa would be happy anywhere, doing anything, as long as she had a pink tutu on. Perhaps, but Cora was also incredibly content in the water. Naps had the potential to be a buzz-kill everyday, but long story short, Cora was waking up so early each morning, that I was pretty interested in an afternoon nap in the cool, darkened hotel room, especially after Abby (visiting from LA while Nate was in China) taught me about the power-nap function on my Jawbone UP.

Without further ado, Louisa's tutu swimsuit on a rainy day (we had a few) and some other fun picks from the week:

Oh. Why?

I knew it would come eventually. I have memories from my babysitting days, being asked over and over and over again, "why, why, why?" I remember hoping that I would think it was cute if it was my own kid asking. Unfortunately it's not.

It's fine when Lou asks "why?" and there is an easy, interesting answer. It's also fine when she only asks ONCE. Not so much.

Today it was about a cup that a friend left at our house. Why Ben leave cup here, Mama? Oh, I guess he just forgot it. Oh. Why? I just told you why. I think I'll wash it and we can give it to him later. Oh, why wash it Mama? 

I read somewhere that you can turn the question back to your inquisitive child, such as, Why do you think we should wash it? I tried that today and was surprised to hear that Lou was one step ahead of me: No, me ask you why. BAAAAA!

I guess there are far worse parent-child struggles. I should appreciate that she wants to engage me in conversation, right? Just thinking out loud now, but maybe I should teach Louisa to ask me one time before turning to Cora for her opinion. Although then I'll probably have two why-ers on my hands.

The only why-ing that Cora's been doing lately happens in her bed. Last night we started the ever-dreaded, but hopefully life-changing sleep training. As I mentioned previously, we only have one book on baby sleep habits, and it happens to be the cry-it-out method. While I never was interested in this seemingly neglectful approach with Lou, I've really changed my attitude. I don't think this attitude shift is due to Cora's different temperament; I think it's a survival tactic as a mother of two. As sweet as it was to rock Louisa to sleep and attend to her (non) feeding needs in the middle of the night, I just can't do it anymore. We, the parents of young children, don't need to accept that we'll never be rested, do we? I refuse to except!

So back to Cora's why-ing. She went to bed at 7 o'clock. I was ready for bed at 8:45 but forced myself to study the relevant sections from the sleep book and managed to stay awake until 9:45. The author does a good job of making sure that you don't feel guilty about letting your child cry. I was pretty sure I was going to need that reassurance once the crying began. She woke up around 11 pm and cried for a bit. Then again at 2 something (cried), 4 something (cried) and 5 something (cried). The book says that the goal is a bedtime between 6 and 8 pm and wake-up time between 6 and 7 am. But as I laid in bed trying to make myself wait until 6 am, I started to worry about leaking diapers, vomit covered crib sheets, and limbs stuck in crib rungs. At 5:20, she won, although none of my fears had come true. I went in, changed her diaper, nursed her and put a peaceful and dry baby back to bed. I'm pretty sure the book wouldn't approve, but I felt good about how long I'd held out. I'm prepared for tonight to be worse because I hear it usually is. Peace be with you, Cora Beaner. May you be above average on this one.

Zero to Six in Three and a Half

Last Thursday was a big day. My mom hosted all six of her grandchildren in her cozy, tidy row house near Eastern Market in Washington, D.C. The stars had to align perfectly, so to speak, for this event to occur:

1. Alex Luke Langenkamp had to be born on Tuesday so that he could come home from the hospital by Thursday morning.  
2. John Paul's Thursday night flight had to be canceled so that he, Grace, Cohen and Marin could make the 1 hour 15 minute drive from Patuxent River, MD for dinner. 
3. There had to be bitter, bitter cold weather in Chicago so that we could postpone our trip home by one week. 

The icing on the cake would have been having Matthew, my dad and Nate with us for our Thursday night grandchild extravaganza, but we were thankful for plain 'ole cake this time around!

While Sarah was in the hospital, Louisa and Oliver had some quality cousin time:

A visit to GW Hospital to meet Axel

A brief visit with Matthew the day we arrived, before he flew back to San Diego

Belle and the newest two

All six, under the age of 3.5, with their Belle Mere

Another Year Over

On this last day of 2013, I sit cozily in front of my parent's fireplace in DC. I was going to respond to a pregnant friend's email asking about essential baby supplies, but I've always thought it would be fun to compile a list of my favorites (and least favorites) because it would be fun to look back on or have others add to. The first category was originally labeled "essentials," but I already had things running through my mind that one (or three) could absolutely live without, so I renamed it:

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE:

• Single BOB stroller (for running, walking, off-roading, shopping and napping). I'm happy with the Stroller Strides version since it came with cup holder/console, padded seat, and swivel wheel
• Portable, cheap, cleanable highchair. It's our main chair and now we have two. Both Lou and Cora fit in it and Lou can't be particular about which she likes better because they're identical
• ErgoBaby Carrier: comfortable, sleep-able, big enough for a man, cute enough for a woman
• Flat waterproof crib pad
• Bravado t-shirt nursing bras (I had two and never found other brands I liked)
• Snappi diaper fasteners (instead of pins for cloth diapering)
• For leakers:
• Lamaze sleep nursing bras
• Lansinoh nursing pads (don't use the sticker part of them…just slide them in so you can use them longer)

LOVE:

• NoseFrida snot sucker. Paired with a bottle of saline drops, this clears out stuffy newborn noses
• For girls clothes, anything Hannah Anderson. Yes, it's expensive, but super cute and high quality.
• Smartwool infant socks: they stay on, they're cute, and they're pricey enough to make you keep track of them
• City Mini by Baby Jogger: folds super-easily and is high quality. We don't have one, but my parents do and it's nice to use when we visit
• Robeez (soft-soled leather slipper shoes): they help socks stay on and are just plain cute. Not sure yet how I feel about Target brand…
• For walkers: Target brand Crocs: easy on and off, but stay on well too
• Baby Bjorn potty and this book (which recommends starting at 7-8 months!)
• Britax Marathon convertible carseat (not needed until ~10-12 months)
• Bottle drying garden (I never had, but my sister feels it's a must. Probably good for wine glasses too)

Not so much:

• Moby wrap: I think some people swear by them, but I didn't like it. Too much fabric.
• Circo waterproof crib pad: I dried it, it melted, ugh. Spend a little more (above) and you'll be happy you did
• Sophie le Giraffe: dogs love her, my girls don't
• Peg-Perego Primo Viaggio infant carseat: great safety rating, but way too heavy and hard to clean
• We did/do cloth diapering and much preferred prefolds with Grovia covers to Grovia snap-in inserts

Merry Christmas

Aside from a couple runny noses, we're thankful for health on this white Christmas day! May you feel loved and warm today, and may we see you sooner, rather than later.

Sweet Cora Bean

Here are a few sweet moments from our "quiet" time while Louisa finished up a long nap today. I'm so happy to report that these days, the good moments with these two ladies far outweigh the hard ones. And although life has been busy these past few weeks, things are winding down as our advent calendar empties of it's treats and prayer prompts. I'm hoping next week stays quiet, with lots of room for sewing, wrapping gifts and long walks (or runs)!

A Year (almost) Gone By

Wowza. What happened to fall? Tomorrow is December 1st. With good memories from a laid-back, yet packed-full Advent season last year, we look forward to this year's time of waiting. Today I went for a walk with the girls while Nate made jars and jars of applesauce with the apples from our trees. While we were walking, I asked Louisa whose birthday we celebrate on Christmas. She answered, "Ahhhhhh," waiting for me to give her a hint. I gave away the answer right away and she immediately said, "oh! we eat cake with Jesus on his birthday?!" Maybe Loubear. Maybe. We'll probably have pie though.

The past two weeks were lovely. Marcia was visiting for a week, followed by a week-long visit by my parents. The three grandparents overlapped for a little over 24 hours to participate in Cora's baptism. During the entire two weeks, Cora was on cloud-nine, always looking happy and entertained and Louisa basked in the attention from her favorite Oma, Papa and Belle.

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. My mom and Nate's cooperation in the kitchen was brilliantly choreographed - Nate dirtying every pot, pan and utensil we own as my mom danced behind cleaning up. Occasionally, I came in and put clean dishes away and made apple pie and mashed potatoes. We were sad that my brother Matthew wasn't able to come up from San Diego, but glad to share our meal with Nate's coworker and our friends, Pam and Brian.

On Friday morning after my parents left for the airport, we realized we had the whole day open, so we took off for Monterey to visit the aquarium and the coastline. Louisa is at a perfect age to enjoy an aquarium. We wondered how she would spend her time if given the freedom to wonder without prompts (i.e. okay, let's go see the octopus). A nice scenario was playing through my mind until Nate mentioned the gift shops. So lock the gift shop doors and put a FitBit on that girl! We drove south on highway 1 and watched the sunset on a small, warm beach. What beauty! Here are some of my favorite pictures. Take note of Cora's eye color. I think it's official!

Totally Improved Two's

The other day I told Nate that I've recently been writing a blog post in my head. I told him that it was about how awesome Louisa has been lately. I also told him that I needed to figure out how to make it SO CLEAR that I wasn't bragging. It is mostly for me…so that I can come to appreciate the good times in case the bad times come back. So here goes.

You may remember my miserable posts about our sleep wars. Well, soon after I bought a baby gate, pleaded with God, and bought a book about Positive Discipline, something worked. I'm a new person and so is Louisa. I think God poured a ton of patience into my heart and a bit of maturity/love into Lou's. Nate put it this way the other night: "She's just so much more reasonable now. She's tired and she knows it." Well said.

I bought the gate because I needed to have a way to know for sure that Louisa wasn't going to come walking out of her room long after I thought she was asleep. I hoped that we wouldn't have to use it often, and we haven't. I bought it on Friday, October 4th. I remember because Sunday, September 29 -- my 31st birthday -- was THE WORST mothering day ever.

Nate was out of town and Louisa refused to nap. I dragged a piece of plywood from the backyard to Louisa's doorway, set up a chair against it and sat down on the chair while I nursed Cora. You're probably wondering why I didn't just close the door and lock it. Believe me, I tried that. Louisa interpreted that as an invitation to try on layers and layers of clothes and stand on little wicker doll chairs to reach things that were purposely put out of her reach. Of course the plywood didn't work either, so after two hours of attempting naps, we went for a walk - Lou in the stroller and Cora in the carrier. I thought about who I could call and complain to, but I didn't want to whine about things that later would seem so insignificant. So I walked and I cried and I prayed. I did call Nate and say something like, "I just need you to know that I feel so unloved and alone right now." Poor guy. But I knew I needed to be real so that once I was feeling better I wouldn't just glaze over things and say the my day was fine. It was a very sad walk, yes. But later that night I completely understood why I had to go through it.

That night, the girls were asleep, so I took out my prayer journal and complained to God again. The gist of the conversation was this: mothering an infant was common sense and there was no discipline involved. I could do that (and did that) without asking God for help. Now I was desperate and literally said, "I CAN'T DO THIS." I had been good about asking God for help in other areas of life: whether to move to CA, job searching in CA, healing friends' cancer, but I was too full of pride when it came to parenting. After I prayed that night, I knew that if I would have called someone, I would have temporarily patched a hole while neglecting a conversation I'd been meaning to have with our loving God.

He is good and the past 6 weeks have been infinitely better. May I always ask for help sooner! Here is my sweet two-and-a-half year old. I apologize that it may be a video that only her parents find really cute and funny.