Beach Bums.

We beached it today. Yup, Daddy had a middle of the week day off and it was fabulous!

But, we don't have a single photo to show for it. Nope. Mama left the camera's memory card in the card reader at home plugged into the computer. So . . . no pictures of Noah ingesting massive quantities of sand--and loving it!--no pictures of the incredibly random and quirky pumpkin patch in someone's yard just one block from the beach, no pictures of our nifty new beach umbrella, no pictures of Noah's belly folding over the top of his swim trunks, or of him bare bumming it in the surf, or of him and Daddy rolling in the sand, or, or, or. Oh, well. I guess I'll always have this post to serve my memory.

Yay, for fun summertime family beach days AND video cameras. We did get a few minutes of footage . . . before the battery died.

When Baby Advice Goes Wrong. Seriously Wrong.

This is going to be a long one folks.

Where have I been? Living under a rock? Well, yes, kind of--I have an infant--same thing. But, still . . . how have I not been following the controversy surrounding Babywise? Seriously.

I stumbled upon a post about it today on SortaCrunchy's blog. Trying to find out what all the fuss was about, I Googled it, of course, and was shocked (to say the least) by what I found.

The book's "Product Description" on Amazon refers to the concepts found in the book as "Infant Management". Infant management!? Seriously? What the hell is that? The word "managing" near the word "baby" sort of replaces the warm and fuzzies with an image of a cold and tinny dictator waving a bull whip near a nest of baby chicks.

It continues by stating that the book is "an alternative to sleepless nights and fussy babies." Isn't that what babies naturally do? Seriously. They can't talk. My friend Asami told me that in Japan they have a one word sentiment that means "babies cry at night" and that Japanese people often refer to the first year with baby by using this word. Why? Because that's what babies do. The first year of life is wrought with jarring and tumultuous change and crying is the only way that babies can express their concern, or worry, or angst, or pain, or hunger.

And don't think I don't know what it's like not to sleep. I have a seven month old insomniac who hasn't caught more than an hour or two at a time of shut eye since the day he was born. I know. I so know. But, I am mom. I will mother and nurture and care for and parent him until he is old enough to sleep through the night and explain his woes through language rather than tears at 3 a.m. Am I tired? Yes. But, sleepless nights and fussy babies are part and parcel to parenting. It's the contract you signed when you made the kid bargain.

I saved the best for last. The description also claims that the book's methods aim to free parents who are "enslaved to the infant's unknown needs". Okay, hold the freakin' diaper cream. Enslaved? Unknown needs? Seriously? I'd rather refer to it as feeding my baby who has not yet learned the skill of lifting fork to mouth. I'd rather refer to it as removing the poop from the butt crack of my child who has not yet learned to control his bowels. I know what he needs and I intend to give it to him.

Point in short--I have never seen more terrifying words in the same sentence as the word "baby". What are these people thinking? This "so called sleep training method" completely removes nurturing from mothering and mothering from parenting and parenting from raising a child.

The most shocking of all is the description of the book and it's author, Gary Ezzo, given on Christianity Today--which is uber interesting as the book, it seems, is most popular among Christians.

"A central element of Ezzo's plan in Babywise is feeding newborns on a firm schedule, controlled by parents, rather than "on-demand," whenever a newborn seems hungry. Ezzo says his parent-directed method is essential to develop respectful, obedient, and godly children. Yet many breast-feeding mothers report that they have been unable to produce an adequate milk supply when following the program according to Matthew Aney, a California pediatrician.

A major focus of Babywise is to get infants to sleep all night as soon as possible. But some pediatricians, when comparing newborns whose parents use Ezzo's guidelines to other infants, have noted a higher incidence of inadequate weight gain, dehydration, and failure to thrive. Critics also sharply question other Babywise emphases, such as introducing a form of spanking in children younger than 2 (CT, Nov. 13, 2000, p. 70)."

Before I burst a blood vessel, I am going to close with the comment that I left for SortaCrunchy in response to her post and her other reader's comments. You'll notice my very agreeable and restrained tone. I posted it before I researched "Babywise". Nevertheless, it still holds true and it is a lot more eloquent than the above enraged babbling. And someone, please tell me that I've got this all wrong. Please tell me that I have gravely misunderstood an otherwise innocuous guide that simply offers gentle suggestions for helping your baby sleep more soundly at night. Please tell me that people don't actually envision parenting this way. Please tell me.

"Other than reading the post and comments, I have no personal experience with Babywise. But I do know that as a new parent, we can all use a little guidance . . . knowing where to find it, however, isn't always easy.

My husband and I have discovered the joys of "Attachment Parenting". It, so far, has provided us with a guide for a gentle, natural and rewarding parenting style. It's a "philosophy" that really only puts in print what most mothers already inherently know . . . go to your baby when he needs you to be there, hold your baby when he wants to be held, soothe your baby when he needs to be soothed--love your baby when he wants to be loved.

I don't believe that the answers to parenting can be found in a book. Parenting is not black and white enough to put in print. Rigid rules and dogmatic directions sour the natural instinct that a mother has for caring for her baby.

Following instincts and receiving a little bit of guidance when that instinct clouds from time to time is our chosen path . . . and so far, so good."

Can't Live Without, Or Always Leave Without.

I have noticed that baby gear talk frequently dominates my various mom group conversations. Whether it be bib babble, carrier comparison, or diaper debates, us mamas always go ga ga for gear. And it is no surprise that we do, either. Other than our babies, there are not many other things that we spend as much time with during the first year, than the things that we use to care for our babies.

So, as a way to provide what is hopefully valuable information to my fellow gear-monger-mommy readers while still managing to dish out Noah news for family, I've decided to start another series of posts called "Can't Live Without, Or Always Leave Without". In these posts I will dish out my two cents--more or less give my humble opinion about--gear that we have used and/or have owned (how it washed . . . or didn't wash, how it assembled . . . or fell apart, how Noah loved it . . . or hated it).

Each item will either be deemed as "can't live without"--because of its ability to in some way make caring for our little Noah Finn a little rosier and we, therefore, never leave the house without it--or "always leave without"--because of its inability to in some way impress us and we, therefore, always leave it at home.

I hope that this series will provide moms, both new and savvy, a little glimpse of other products that they may want to try or buy.

So, check back soon for my first post of the series, and please share your thoughts and own gear experiences . . . because, as a mom, I am always up for good gear gab!

DirectionLESS.

I am without direction. Not in life, but in my car. I have a cruddy internal compass and I am easily distracted. These two qualities combined make for a very unsuccessful 4-wheeled voyage.

Imagine this: It's hot. It's summertime in Los Angeles. Your air is working and its working hard. You have "Sesame Street Sings the Alphabet" CD on repeat to soothe your sweaty screaming infant in the backseat. You're late, again, and you realize you've passed the street you were looking for . . . again. You're stuck in traffic. You give up. You pull to the side of the road to console your baby and . . . yourself. You eat the plate of cookies intended for the playdate--the one you'll never make it to.

Poor Noah Finn.

My husband must get on average, at least five panicked, frustrated or sobbing (it depends on the day) calls a month from me pleading for him to stop what he's doing at work and Google map me to my destination. It doesn't happen often, but every once in a blue moon, he doesn't answer--he's busy (imagine that, he's at work!). And then I call my dad. My dad lives 3,000 miles away in North Carolina.

The thing is, we have lived in California for almost 10 years now. That's no sneeze in the familiarity bucket. That's a decade's worth of burning rubber on southern California's potholed and pathetically congested paths of earthquake cracked asphalt. Why can't I find my way?

I know where I am going most of the time, but I just cannot reliably seem to always get myself there.

Does this direction dilemma sound familiar to anyone? Please say yes, then I won't feel so . . . lost.

I Heart Antilop.

So, after much feverish pondering for the better part of a month, Dean and I finally decided to simply *splurge* and purchase the Antilop highchair from IKEA this weekend. Well, Dean was actually working so I went with my friend Asami and her little one, Kai. But Dean was in on the decision as much was discussed beforehand.

Kai, who is nearly 18 months old has this chair and the rather spendy Stokke Tripp Trapp--and Asami simply swears by the IKEA bargain. If Asami's glowing recommendation wasn't enough to seal the deal, the review on Droolicious.com called "7 Days Of Highchairs", certainly was.

Once I recovered from pouting away my dreams at a Svan chair purchase, I must say, so far so good with the Antilop. Shelling out a whopping $25.00 ($19.99 + $5.00 for the tray) for simple modern efficiency that's easy to clean is enough for me to make the drive out to the valley on a sultry Saturday afternoon . . . anytime. And, our little foodie simply cannot get enough of it!

Hello, Human. I've Missed You.

I felt like a different human today. You know, a human, human--not a mom-human or a breastfeeding human--a human, human . . . for the first time in 7 months.

Don't get me wrong, feeling like a mom-human and a breastfeeding human are absolutely splendid. Honest and truly, I love, love, love being a stay at home mom and I absolutely adore breastfeeding. I am in no hurry to return to the world of work or wean my little Noah Finn--mommying suits me. It fits like a glove.

It's just that today, I saw another kind of human staring back at me in the mirror--one that I hadn't seen in quite sometime.

A few weeks ago, my former boss called to see if I'd like to take a temporary private tutoring job. I would be tutoring the son of the famous Japanese comedian, Masatoshi Hamada, from 9:00-10:30 a.m., Monday-Thursday for three weeks. After briefly discussing the logistics with Dean, we decided that it would be a perfect opportunity to pocket a few extra bucks. See, Dean usually doesn't have to go into the studio until noon or even as late as 1:00ish on most days. Because I am up breastfeeding a pint-sized Keith Richards who wants to drink himself into a drooling daze on most nights, Dean wakes up with Noah Finn in the mornings while I catch a few extra Zzzz's or enjoy a little baby free mommy-time. This being the case, taking this temporary job would mean take home pay without childcare expenses and just a little, not too much, of the "outside" world for mom.

So, I said yes--and this morning at about 7:30 a.m. I rose quietly from bed and left my groggy baby snuggling with Daddy. I groomed for longer than 2.5 minutes--like a human, a real human--not a mom-human. I scuttled through my pre-pregnancy wardrobe to find an outfit that would show off my new pre-pregnancy sized waist (yay!)--a tiny pencil skirt and a shirt that had been shelved for it's breastfeeding unfriendliness. I rustled through my bin of dusty purses in the closet to find the perfect coordinating accessory in which to house my wallet, cell phone, keys, etc. . . all of which have called the diaper bag home ever since Noah was born. Leaving the house with purse over shoulder, notebook under arm, freshly coiffed locks and my trusty travel coffee mug in hand, I tentatively approached school feeling fabulous but harboring unease--what will it be like being back at work? Will I be able to function without diapers, butt cream and chew toy near by?

But as I rushed from our front door to the door of my classroom, a wave of ease swept over me. I was late--just like I always was before. I was speeding down the bus lane past poky morning traffickers and honking at all of the idiots who were parked there before the 9:00 a.m. permitted time--just like I always was before. I was speeding into the parking garage and slamming the car haphazardly into park--just like I always was before. I was running up the flights of stairs two by two on the way to my classroom--just like I always was before. I breathlessly greeted an awaiting student--just like I always did before.

And . . . it came back to me just like riding a bike--I cracked corny jokes, scribbled away on the whiteboard, poked, prodded and questioned. I instructed and bossed. I taught--and it felt damn good.

If today were the first and last day, it would be just enough "outside" world for me--just a taste--just enough to last me at least until my last tot trekked off for his/her first day of school. But, it's not--I made a three week commitment and that is just fine too. Three weeks in which I will enjoy feeling human-human--and three weeks before I go back to being just a mom-human, again. I will leave the house every morning with the same zest as I did this morning, confident in knowing that my little Noey is cozy at home with his Papa spending his morning the same that he would even if I were at home for that hour and a half.

I told my boss to always let me know of any temporary morning opportunities in the future, because after all, a little childcare-free extra income is always welcome in a single salary family household. And, it seems, I also don't mind feeling a little human-human every once in a while--BUT only if there's some kind of reassurance that it's not for too long and that in the end I will get to go back to being ONLY a mom and breastfeeding human again.

New Look, Same Ol' Blog.

Two things have led to this radical blog change and horrible waste of precious sleeping time: 1) I am exceptionally energized after my IKEA trip today with Asami and Kai and 2) Noah has been sleeping for 3.45 hours . . . here that . . . 3.45 hours!? This truly is a record . . . at least since he was 2 months old, anyway. Perhaps it is because he was absolutely undeniably exhausted from waking up every 45 minutes last night in addition to crying/playing/crying/playing between the hours of midnight and 2:30 a.m.--but I'll save that sob story for another post.

So, deciding to use my newly-found free time this evening as wisely as possible (I kid), tonight I have done the following . . . tinkered around with the nifty collage application in Picasa to create a colorful new header, changed all of the "we's" to "I's" (my husband blogging with me as was initially inspired failed to ever catch on--perhaps because he works millions of hours a week), and officially changed my blog's name (though the web address will remain the same so as not to cause confusion or misdirect my hungry blogger fans--ha!).

Anywho, I think I am going to enjoy these new bloggy digs for a while. Though I am sure the next time that I get a wild midnight hair and a few new good pics, I'll tinker with Picasa 's collage feature again to whirl up another fresh header. But for now, enjoy and happy weekend to you all!

P.S. The sidebar text on my PC's screen is a magnificent dusty rusty vintage orange that matches the orange in the header pictures perfectly. However, on Dean's Mac screen it appears a very bright neon pumpkin orange . . . and this discrepancy just isn't sitting well with me--I MUST color coordinate at all times. If you would be so kind, please comment and let me know how it looks on your screen!?

Busy Bees Make The Sweetest Honey.

This week goes down in the record books as one of the best with baby so far. No, Noah is not sleeping better. He's actually sleeping worse than he ever has before (up every 20-45 minutes) at night. No, Dean hasn't had a ton of time off and no, we didn't decide to hop on a plane for a spontaneous family summer vacation. This week has just been busy--but in the best possible ways.

Here's a rundown:

• Monday--we hosted our first large group playdate . . . and it was a HIT!
• Tuesday--we went to a pool playdate at Mommy Sherry's house and swam with all of the other M.I.L.K. babies and mommies.
• Wednesday--we hosted another large group playdate, "Babies On Blankies" and again, in MY humble opinion, it was HIT!
• Thursday--we went to another pool playdate at Mommy Andrea's house and swam with more M.I.L.K. mommies and babies.
• Friday--we went to a playdate at Mommy Fenche's house.

Actually, Noey and I have been quite busy ever since he was very young--we joined the Los Angeles M.I.L.K.S. mom group when we was only 8 weeks old, for example--and not to forget hiking in the Hollywood Hills when he was only 3 weeks old. But our attendance at events and all of the other activities on our social calendar for the last nearly 7 months has been spotty, irregular and unpredictable. Why? Because Noah has been possibly the most challenging sleeper in the state of California since the day that he was born.

But this week, and I am not sure why because Noah's horrible sleeping habits are still horribly horrible, we have successfully made it to an activity every day of the week. The end result is a super socialized mommy and, it seems, a very happy baby who has gotten to chew on a plethura of other babies' toys. I somehow feel as if I have achieved yet another mommy milestone. I am not so sure that it's not just Noah's age--about to turn 7 months next week--that is allowing us to mobilize more easily, and thus, more regularly . . . but hey, I'll take it!

With Daddy working hard in the studio on a project until possibly next weekend, we have even more other mommy and baby time in our near future. We have a Saturday trip planned to IKEA for a high chair purchase--and of course, tacos at Chevy's right across the street! I may even make a toast with my frosty margarita that goes something like this . . . Yay for busy happy, albeit sleepless, babies!

All In A Good Day's Play: 3rd Edition.

Here's our third weekly installment of, "All In A Good Day's Play"--a post where I chronicle, once a week, our day in snapshots!

Our Thursday in snapshots:

• 5:00 a.m.--Yes, that's right at 5 a.m. Noah was up and ready for the day. So we played as we watched the morning sun rise through our living room window.
• 9:15 a.m.--Playing the piano with daddy before he gets ready for work.
• 11:45 a.m.--At Mama Andrea's Pool Playdate for an afternoon of fun.
• 1:00 p.m.--Practicing some crawling moves after swim and lunch time.
• 2:00 p.m.--Drying off and getting ready to go home and take a nap.
• 5:00 p.m.--Chewing on Tommy the Toucan while in the jungle saucer before bath time . . . mommy is praying that bedtime is just around the corner . . .

Feeding Our Little Foodie.

We've been spicing it up . . . in the kitchen that is. That's right, over vats of puréed baby food.

We make all of Noah's organic baby food from scratch--and so far, so good. Though I consider myself to be more "the baker" of the house and Dean "the gourmand", it seems that I have a newly-found knack for puréeing too . . . though it's honestly not that hard.

Last night I whipped a few weeks worth of the following:

• Apricots
• Zucchini with fresh garlic
• Asparagus with fresh garlic
• Apples with a dash of cinnamon
• Mixed fruit surprise! (Nectarines, Apples, Mangoes & Bananas)
• Sweet Potatoes
• Curried Butternut Squash
• Mangoes

Our baby food cookbooks suggest several ways to cook the fruit and veggies before puréeing them, and though they say baking preserves more flavor, I think that it is a less energy efficient method for us. For example, in the time that it takes to preheat our oven and then bake the food, I could have already prepared several batches of steamed food using less resources. I have found that using a steamer basket placed in a pot on the stove top with just a small amount of water in the bottom produces quite yummy and perfectly softened fresh fruits and veggies--the only key is not to over steam.

The best part is the vitamin-packed juices that have drained from the fruit and veggies during the steaming process and fallen to the bottom of the pot. Though we think that we are going to avoid giving Noah juice more than just once or twice a week . . . we think that this is a perfect substitute to sugary store-bought juices. We just dilute the juice with a little bit of water and . . . voila . . . a refreshing treat!

Noah Finn is, unfortunately, still not too keen on avocados which greatly disappoints me because I love, love, love them--and they are oh so super nutritious! I continue to offer them once a week hoping he might cease to gag and spit them out the second they hit his little pink wagging tongue. Other than that, he is a super great eater and has no problem packing down two square meals a day plus plenty of mommy milk in between.

If you haven't already given making your own baby food a thought or two, I strongly encourage you to try it . . . just once. I truly take pleasure in the process--it's just a ton of fun. Plus, knowing EXACTLY what goes in to my little guy's tummy and knowing that it was prepared with love is the most fulfilling feeling in all of the land. The website wholesomebabyfood.com has been an incredible and indispensable resource for all things baby food. They even have a search feature that allows you to type in the name of any fruit or veggie to get detailed nutritional information, cooking directions and tasty recipe suggestions.