East Bay MomParenting: The Real Deal
Happy Being Me
By My Brown Baby
My daughters are incredible artists.
I'm not just saying this because I'm their mother.
Well, maybe I am.
But whatev.
They're fly.
Creative little buggers, the two of them.
They get it from their mama. And their daddy, too.
Sometimes They Just Don’t Want To
By Daring Young Mom
Wanda’s 9 months old and she still can’t put any weight on her legs. While other babies her age are walking around wreaking havoc, she’s content to cause trouble on the down low, crawling along like an inch-worm. At six months I wasn’t worried. Each baby develops at her own pace. But at nine months this struck me as odd.
Birth Control
We must be masochists because we had a giant sleepover this weekend with my brother’s three kids -- Koby, 10; Joe, 8; and Emma, 5. When I tell you they adore Preston, I mean they are borderline obsessed with him to the point of playing regular games of tug-of-war with his limbs until he rips into three equal parts, and that’s when they stop arguing over who gets to sit next to him at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
All Day Sucka
Smash is dead.
An African Dwarf frog brought by Santa Claus as a Christmas present to Lila after mucho begging and a spate of good behavior, Smash croaked overnight after surviving a considerably long time without his dried shrimp pellets. He is survived by his bamboo plant and neon purple living rocks, which, btw, were supposed to keep him alive in case errant 8-year-olds lost interest in their easy-to-care-for pets and stopped, like, giving a crap about them.
I saw this coming back in April, when I asked Lila how Smash was faring.
How Do You Keep Kids Busy in the Summer?
Please help me come up with great summertime activities to do with the kids. I write a post like this every couple of years and then I always manage to need fresh ideas so I’m appealing to you again for help.
Mr. Potato Head
Before Preston was born, Jay and I would sit around fantasizing about parenthood, talking about all the unknown things about the mysterious baby growing inside of me.
Preston's a combo baby: My hands; Dad's feet; both our faces.
Daddy's Girl
His hands tell the story--those thick fingers and wrinkles and scars, and especially the calluses speak to me. Remind. Of just how remarkable my Daddy is--just how huge is his heart.
Monsters in the Closet
It's 10:00 at night. I just left Jack's room, after holding him for a good fifteen to twenty minutes. We've been trying to get him to go to sleep since about eight - no luck. Having figured out that the Angry Voice and Threats To Take Away The Teddy Bear were having no effect, I finally pulled him out of bed and sat him in my lap.
Blending vs. Juggling
Last week I attended a women's networking luncheon, in support of JUF (the Jewish United Fund), and the guest speaker was one of the most inspirational women I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Laurie Ann Goldman is the CEO of Spanx, but she's also a wife and mom of three boys. Yep, she runs a $350 million-dollar company that she grew exponentially in just eight years, while running a household in Atlanta, where Spanx is based.
Help me survive a week of hotel room bedtimes!
All right people, it's not often that I come right out and solicit advice from the internet. I've found that the internet does JUST FINE without a solicitation! But this time I am getting a leeetle nervous and it turns out I'd like as many thoughts, ideas and opinions as possible. The question is: how do two adults and two small children fall asleep in one hotel room? HMM?
My New Exercise Partner
I haven't worked out much...ahem...at all... since I got sick pregnant with Wanda over a year ago. I was too sick and then I was in too much pain and now I'm too tired. I'm always too something. I'm definitely too squishy right now.
Last week I decided that I could at least go out for a walk. It was not raining for once in the lovely Seattle metro area so I decided to head out with my Zune and my GPS route tracker and rack up some miles. As I headed out the door, Laylee asked where I was going and begged to come with me.
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