Unsolicited: Parenting Stories and Advice

  Beyonce.  Humphrey Bogart.  Leo Beaton.  What do all of these people have in common?They all look amazing in a fedora.  But when and where can a baby wear a fedora? We were given an adorable fedora. It is straw with a navy ribbon.  It fits Leo's giant head almost perfectly.  It is tres chic. For some reason, though, I was convinced that a fedora had to be worn with a formal outfit.  Hence, Leo wore the fedora to my brother's wedding with his seersucker suit.  Grumpy baby in a seersucker suit and fedora! I realized, however, that people(specifically hipsters, fashionistas, and 20's gangsters) wear fedoras all the time.  So, I gave myself a challenge.  I would dress Leo in outfits all week and then I would pair those outfits with the fedora. Here are the results.  Monday - Onesie: Gerber; Shorts: BabyGap Tuesday - Onesie: Bethany Surf Shop; Shorts: BabyGap Wednesday - Onesie: Nordstrom; Shorts: Ba...

Two weeks ago, I felt like I had been run over by the 1,500 lb elephant known as Daycare and we hadn't even actually started.  Really, I had been knocked out by all of my anxiety regarding scheduling changes without any actual evidence that things were going to go poorly.  Being anxious about the unknown is a pretty standard maneuver for my pessimistic psyche and daycare was no different.  And how did things go? Leo wearing puppy dog ears made for him by the "big kids" at daycare.  Leo loves daycare so far.  He is happy when we drop him off and happy when we pick him up.  He's sleeping great with naps ranging from 1 hour to 1.5 hours and he is eating great(no surprise there).  Aliza, who takes care of him, says that he is so smart and so happy all the time.  Apparently, he has a best friend named Gavin who is also around 7 months and they sit together during story time and song time and all the other times.   Part of me wonders if they...

Before Leo was born, I was anxious about a lot of different things.  Would he be healthy?  Would he love us?  Would he enjoy seafood as much as we do?  This list of anxiety included: The Cats.  We're sorry, our 23.5/7 sleep schedule does not allow for a baby. As soon as Eric and I began dating, I explained to him that it was non-negotiable that we would one day have pets (in retrospect, I probably could have waited to talk about this until after our 2nd date).  He explained, gently, that he was allergic.  I explained, not so gently, that he would need to get over it.  Approximately 0.3 seconds after moving into together, I suggested that we "look" at some cats and kittens but obviously we weren't going to make any commitments right away.  After looking for 2 weeks, we were officially cat owners much to my happiness and Eric's beleaguered acceptance. Shea and Lynah as kittens.  I named them after sports stadiums so Er...

Over the past few months, I've noticed that there are several universal truths about leaving the apartment with a baby(or, at least, universal to me).   The Baby 1. The baby must have some sort of food on his face and/or in his hair which you won't notice until you are far away from any sort of potential cleanser. 2. His outfit must have a stain or a rip, particularly one in a delicate location. 3. He must be all smiles on the way out the door because he is going to poopslode as soon as you reach your destination. You 4. You must have some food/milk/formula in at least two places on your body, and one of them must be in a delicate location. 5. Your nursing bra must be unstrapped and/or showing. 6. Some element of personal hygiene is lacking (in my case, rat's nest hair). The Stroller 7. The storage basket must be full of whatever you purchased yesterday but failed to unload. 8. The diaper bag has an extra diaper but it is either one size too small or a...

Tired eyes. Rubbing eyes. Pulling on ears. Fussiness.  These are Leo's "tired signs". Rumbly tummy.  Fussiness.  These are Leo's "hungry signs".  And, starting today, these signs will no longer be the impetus for sleep or food.  Leo is starting daycare and the daycare has a schedule for napping and eating.  Of course, there are several potentially lovely things about daycare - socialization, new and fun caretakers, apparently ALL THE MILK HE WANTS ALL DAY LONG. I'm just not sure how this new schedule shebang is going to play out.  Dropping him off this morning and leaving him under the care of people who were perfectly nice but were definitely NOT me was the hardest thing I've ever done. No sleep for this tired baby...unless it's 8:30 am or 12:30 pm or 4:00 pm. But, let me start at the beginning.  When Eric and I discovered I was pregnant, we knew that we would need full time care for our child.  While we could probably stretch oursel...

Upon arrival at the hospital, the ultrasound tech was unable to find ANY amniotic fluid.  My uterus was apparently drier than the Sahara. They decided that they would induce me.  We called Elizabeth to let her know to feed Lynah and Shea and then to head on down to the hospital herself. It was really important to me to have Elizabeth and Eric both there.  Let's face it: I am high maintenance.  The more help from people who love me unconditionally the better. Elizabeth is one of the most level headed people I know and I knew she would be a great coach. We were moved into a laboring room, which wasn't exactly the Plaza but it wasn't horrible either.  There was a bed which I could raise or lower (fancy!), a chair for Eric, some machines, and...a baby warmer.  When I saw that baby warmer, that's when it all really started to click into place.  At some point, there was going to be a BABY in that baby warmer and it was going to have come from my belly....

I've been spending a lot of time the past few weekends pureeing vegetables. Sweet potatoes, carrots, squash peas, more carrots, more sweet potatoes. Because what is better on a summer weekend than standing over pots of boiling water, and manhandling the food processor? Rachel has been giving me repeated meaningful looks that range from "you know, Gerber's isn't all that expensive" to "do you really have nothing better to do with your time? Because I have a list of 11 things around the house that need fixing". So, why have I been doing it? Certainly there's a little bit that I am frugal (sounds better than cheap), and its hard to beat the dollar per vitamin return on a carrot. And a little bit that I like knowing exactly what he's eating, though I think I say that mostly because it sounds like something a good Brooklyn parent would say - I mean, even if I was really that kind of health nut, you can get one ingredient jarred foods, and I...

It was early morning on a school day in early June 2013. I woke Eric up and said, "This pregnancy test is positive." Eric went for the high five and I responded with, "The test is  probably wrong."  These differing attitudes pretty much lasted the duration of my pregnancy. Eric was incredibly excited and I was incredibly nervous.   For the most part, my pregnancy was smooth sailing.  Some cramping at the beginning, some nausea that was easily ameliorated by a constant stream of Cheerios and apple juice, some early weight gain that slowed down considerably once I stopped shoving my face with every carbohydrate in sight.  My skin was clear, I was able to eat chocolate and dairy where previously these had made me sick, people stood up for me on the subway, and I could wear elastic pants ALL THE TIME!  Life was really pretty good.  Still, I couldn't believe that I was actually pregnant and that I would actually stay that way long enough to have an actua...

Oh man!  Leo just keeps growing and changing every day.  I think this may have been our biggest month yet in terms of changes - and it's crazy to think that there will be even more coming.  He continues to be a happy baby, full of smiles and giggles.  He can also be quite pensive at times, especially when he is studying the details on his toys(a new favorite past time).We look forward to singing the "Good Morning" song to him every day and we imagine that this will become quite problematic when he's 15.   Stats: Length - 28.2 inches (95%)           Weight - 17 lbs 11 oz (51%) Hair: Slightly more than a month ago, but still pretty sparse.  Still manages to have better highlights than me! Eyes: Definitely getting darker( I think?), they're now somewhere between blue and gray. Likes: Still obsessed with putting things in his mouth, any and all purees, rice cereal, any cereal, Chester the Crab, his Octopus toy, crinkling pa...