Happy 2012 everyone -- I hope you had a wonderful holiday break! We soldiered through a plague-filled start to the vacation, but eventually recovered and enjoyed the relaxed pace so very much. I also did pretty well on my vacation week to do list and accomplished #1 (except we passed the plague on to my poor mother-in-law), #3 (almost...it will be out by the end of today...yippee!), #4, #5, #10 (oh my goodness I love my new site, feel free to take a peek), #11 (chocolate cake!), #13, #14, and #16.Happy 2012 everyone -- I hope you had a wonderful holiday break! We soldiered through a plague-filled start to the vacation, but eventually recovered and enjoyed the relaxed pace so very much. I also did pretty well on my vacation week to do list and accomplished #1 (except we passed the plague on to my poor mother-in-law), #3 (almost...it will be out by the end of today...yippee!), #4, #5, #10 (oh my goodness I love my new site, feel free to take a peek), #11 (chocolate cake!), #13, #14, and #16.
Pursuant to yesterday's St. Thomas: In the Air post, I now want to share our experiences on the ground. As I mentioned yesterday, I embarked on this journey with both 7-year-old Laurel and 9-month-old Violet in tow to really put the family friendliness of the island to a test. I also paid to bring my mother along, both to fulfill my life list goal of taking her on a vacation and also to have an extra set of eyes for the kids. Below I cover transport, activities, accommodations, and food, and also address questions my readers asked, regarding traveling with kids.
Ever since Sarah shared her love for St. John's Maho Bay, I've been thinking about traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands. So I felt immensely fortunate when the USVI Department of Tourism recently invited me to explore one or more of the islands for a press tour. If I were going alone or with Jon, I definitely would have wanted to compare St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix; however, given that my editorial interest was family friendly travel, I brought Laurel (which the USVI DOT kindly accommodated financially, in addition to my expenses), and given that I'm still nursing I brought Violet too (no expenses). I also decided to fulfill a life list item and pay my Mom's way so she could enjoy a vacation. I have a lot of handy travel information to share (including answering travel Q&A from readers), so I'll be reporting across two (possibly three) posts. The first focuses on air travel.
My life list includes writing a couple of books that have been percolating in my brain the last couple of years (I'm actually drafting outlines for a potential publisher!). Meanwhile, I have a few friends who published books this year and I'm utterly thrilled for them! These titles technically are no longer new releases (though a couple of them, er, were in fact so when the review copies were sent to me during my Violet babymoon), but I wanted to share them before more time elapsed. The first title would be an entertaining gift for a new mom; the second and third handy for aspiring mamapreneurs.
When Laurel was a baby, one of my rookie nursing mom mistakes was attending a wedding in a regular dress -- meaning, one with an inflexible neckline and a side zipper that basically made it impossible to nurse without undressing. So when I started looking for nursing-friendly dresses to wear to a couple of weddings this year, after being completely underwhelmed by the nursing cocktail dress market, I was thrilled to land on the perfect style -- a dress that looks fabulous, nursing or not.
Today, Evadne shares a great game from a Newton-based company (also, check out below for details on a sale today and tomorrow!):
I recently played Gamewright's Take the Cake with my kids and was reminded what good wholesome fun board games are. Take the Cake's tag line describes the game perfectly: a sweet game of shakes, shapes & cupcakes. The idea behind the game is to decorate cupcake cards with colorful wooden shapes that sprinkle out of a shaker. If you complete the toppings on your turn, you collect the cupcake card -- that is, you take the cake. The player with the most cards wins the game.
Today, Kate shares a great local spot to learn to sew with kids:
My 6-year-old daughter likes to watch me knit and sew, and often asks when she will be old enough to join in. I have so far hesitated, being not quite confident that her little hands are ready to carefully handle sharp needles and scissors and small pieces of thread. A recent trip to La Esquina Studio in Cambridge, however, convinced me that she is nimbler and more capable than I would have expected, and more ready to sustain the attention needed to see a project through to completion.
I'm part of the Mom's the Word on Dinner conversation series via Momversation so I've been thinking a lot about mealtime (even more than usual!). Recent conversation on the program's Facebook page has focused on dinnertime mojo and quick meals, and these conversation threads have reminded me that meals are decidedly un-Zen for so many families. Indeed, with two busy parents, a chatty 7-year-old, and a sippy cup banging 8-month-old at our table, meals are not always the most relaxed. This all got me thinking about some of the typical stumbling blocks we face and how we try to address them. I hope the below thoughts are helpful, and I'd love to hear if you have other challenges at the dinner table and what you do to mitigate them!
Like many people, I periodically fall off the fitness and eating well wagon, typically due to stress and sometimes due to injury. And though I happily resumed exercise once I received my 6-week postpartum clearance, this fall, self-care fell to the wayside due to new home and work commitments. And it's taken it's toll. Not only do I feel a little squishy around the edges, but more troubling, I've felt tired, tense, and well in need of a vantage point beyond my laptop.
Though I do enjoy shopping, I've admittedly been turning a blind eye to the onslaught of big box Black Friday pitches I've been receiving -- partially because this marketing approach seems awfully tiresome, and partially because I'm a big fan of supporting local indie businesses. As in past years, we plan on adhering to a pretty minimal approach to holiday shopping, but when I do get around to it, I'll start by turning to what's immediately around us. I wanted to share some great ways to shop local -- there's so much talent that warrants your attention!
Today, Kate shares a great find for relocating your outgrown kid's clothing and gear:
If you're like me, you occasionally find yourself looking for good ways to pass along the clothes, toys, and gear that your kids have outgrown. Due to generous grandmothers, my daughter's dresser is often overflowing, and I search out ways to share the bounty. Two Little Monkeys, a new children's resale shop in the Union Square neighborhood of Somerville, is a great resource for anyone looking to either unload or pick up clothing, books, toys, and gear (including high-end strollers at terrific prices) for babies and children.
Today, Lindsey shares a local self-care gem (that is making my feet twitch in happy anticipation):
I am a runner with ache-y Achilles tendons and a (probably related) on-and-off case of plantar fasciitis. I have wanted to try reflexology for a long time: partially I am drawn to the concept of spots on the feet correlating with imbalances in the body, but mostly I love having my feet rubbed.
Today, Carole Arsenault of Boston Baby Nurses shares baby first teeth basics:
When can you expect your baby's first teeth? Most babies get their first teeth between the ages of three and seven months old, although it is possible to get them earlier or even later than seven months. Teeth actually start to develop before birth as tooth buds form in the gums, but your baby's teeth will start to break through one at a time throughout the first two years, typically in this order: bottom two middle, top two middle, side, and then back teeth. The last teeth to appear will be your baby's molars, which come in around two years old. By three your baby will have a full set of 20 baby teeth.
While I was en route to California this past weekend, I was so happy to have some quiet time to read through more of the Boston Mamas survey comments. Among the responses was a question that fit well both for the Dear Boston Mamas column, and given that I just guest posted at Rookie Moms about what I have learned in having a second child. Of course, a lot of the below would apply to 2+ children as well; if you have additional thoughts to share, feel free to do so in the comments!
Question: How is life with two kids? We are expecting #2 and I know it will be different but how? How are you managing? Is baby #2 on a schedule or on older child's schedule?
Pursuant to yesterday's yummy food post, I wanted to share two tasty spinach-happy dishes my co-host Heather brought to our friend Nicola's baby shower. Not only were these dishes fantastically yummy (seriously, the guests could not stop raving), but given that my roughage consumption tends to plummet with the cold weather (and close of CSA season), I love how excited these dishes got me about eating leafy greens. Enjoy!
This past weekend I co-hosted a secondhand baby shower for my friend Nicola (when I offered to host a shower, Nicola asked me to repeat the eco-theme) along with my two friends Heather and Heather. Both Heathers brought awesome dishes that I wanted to share (the guests could not stop raving about the food!). I'll share one recipe below and two (related) others in a separate post. I ate many servings of these dishes and wasn't shy about asking if I could hang onto some leftovers. Enjoy!
I'm trying to get back into the habit of reading before bedtime, as both a means to transport and unwind. I so enjoyed Katherine Center's book recommendations earlier this year so I decided to query on my social channels for literary inspiration. The responses were so fantastic that I wanted to post the recommendations here, both to share the wealth and archive for myself. I left the responses intact instead of simply listing the books because the comments definitely are helping guide my choosing. Print this list out for your library/used book tote or go crazy at your local bookstore or on Amazon (note: I included affiliate links below). Thanks to everyone who commented in, and enjoy! And if you have other books to recommend, feel welcome to add them to the comments.
Sometimes kids come up with the most brilliant ideas. I wanted to make pumpkin bread the other week (our oven finally got fixed so I've been on a bit of a baking bender) and Laurel suggested that we make a cream cheese frosting and call it cake. Brilliant. I doubled/adjusted slightly this pumpkin bread recipe from Michelle and added frosting (via a recipe in Baking Illustrated (really, anyone who likes to bake ought to own this tome). It was a huge hit. Here's the how-to: