parenting books

{I did this post for my work blog, and thought I'd put it up here as well.}

During my "nesting" for this new baby, I came across some parenting books and thought it might be worthwhile to pass on a few of our favorites. This list is by no means inclusive, but it's a good place to start. Happy reading!

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth

Last week I had a rough time getting my 2 year old to stay in her own bed. After one long night, and a few tears, I remembered this great sleeping book. I broke it out and re-read the chapter on toddlers. I followed Dr. Weissbluth's advice, and the next night was worlds better. His program is simple and it works, but you do have to be okay with listening to your child cry initially. If that's not your style, Nighttime Parenting by Dr. William Sears is a good alternative.

Baby 411 by Denise Fields and Dr. Ari Brown

This is the book I give as gifts for baby showers. It's written by a Pediatrician and a mom, in a question and answer format. Things like, "How much should my baby be eating/sleeping/peeing/pooping at 4 months?" "How long are naps supposed to be?" or "I have chosen to feed my baby formula. What formula should I use?" It answers all those questions that you had at your well-child visit, but forgot to ask.

The Happiest Baby on The Block by Dr. Harvy Karp

If you have a colicky baby, this book is a lifesaver. Dr. Karp explains different ways to soothe your crying baby. The techniques don't work every single time, but it's nice to have something in your arsenal when you're all out of tricks.

Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care by Dr. Benjamin Spock

This is Dr. Lash's go-to book for child care questions. It's an oldy but a goody.

Your Child's Health: The Parent's One-Stop Reference Guide to: Symptoms, Emergencies, Common Illnesses, Behavior Problems, and Healthy Development by Dr. Barton Schmitt

This is another of Dr. Lash's favorites. It is great for acute illnesses, "Do I really need to go to the Dr?" questions and behavioral issues.

Dr. Terry Brazelton has some great books on child development and behavioral issues (discipline, potty training, feeding, sleep, aggression, sibling rivalry, etc).

1,2,3...Magic by Thomas Phelan, PhD

This is a good discipline book for toddlers through school age children. It discusses how to effectively use time out. SOS--Help For Parents by Lynn Clark, PhD is another good one.

pwe-tending

Today at Old Navy Ella climbed up and said, "I'm just pwe-tending that I live here with them."

hot tip

If you buy Pampers diapers, Amazon is the way to go. Through their Subscribe and Save program you get 30% off. You sign up for a recurring order (I do monthly) and a week before it ships they send you an email reminding you of your order so you can change or cancel as you like. You can also have the order come early, but it takes a few days to get here after you order it.

I wasn't sure it was a great deal until last week when I ran out of diapers a few days early (one of the downsides) and went to Walmart to buy some more. I paid $26.50 for 92 diapers. When I came home I found the diapers on my front porch (drat! should have waited) and realized that for $28.10 I got 156. I also checked Sam's club and the 156 count there is $38.98. If you join the Amazon Mom club you get 2-day free shipping, too.

{yes, this girl is still in diapers. she tells us that when her baby comes she is going to start going in the toilet...}

a few random things

• When we were in Paris Taylor and Ryan discovered this remote controlled flying hovercraft (I am sure that is not a good description). Ryan recently got one for work and brought it home to test it out. Ella loves it. In case you can't understand Ella at the end, here's a transcript: "What's the matter helitopter? It says, 'I want to get up in the sky.'"

• Last week when I went to the OB I was measuring small and I had lost weight. She assured me that everything was probably fine, but we should do an ultrasound just to make sure. Between this visit and the ultrasound I had a dozen people (mostly patients) tell me "You're having that baby in February? You are so tiny!" I didn't take offense because I knew they meant well, but it made me cringe, just a bit, every time. The only safe words to say to a pregnant woman are "You look great," and don't take offense if she starts crying :) We had the ultrasound today and everything is indeed fine. Baby is growing well and right on track.
• I got this clock for Christmas. These pictures aren't great, but see if you can figure out what time it is. 10:40 or 11:40? 7:25 or 8:25? 11:20 or 12:20?

• The baby is not breech, so I'm going to try for a VBAC. I realized that while I've seen a lots of babies born I'm pretty clueless as to what labor really means. So I'm doing some reading. Anyone have a favorite book? I'm looking for something along the lines of "The practical girl's guide to labor and delivery." {I am having an epidural, as it is recommended for a VBAC.}
• Good Sunday night (ie, trying to make food from your cupboards without going to the store) meal: A knock off of Bajio's Green chicken chile. Loose directions: Marinate chicken breast in lime juice and southwest seasonings. Grill and shred. Meanwhile, saute onions and green chiles and garlic. Make a reduction out of apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, cumin and some chili pepper. Add the reduction to the onion/green chile mixture and cook until caramelized. Add chicken and black beans to mixture. Serve over nachos, in tacos a salad or a quesadilla.

Book Club

I joined a neighborhood book club a few months ago. Normally I am opposed to book clubs. Not on moral grounds; it's just that I don't want to feel like I'm back in Mrs. Cunniff's AP Literature class dissecting characters and musing on plots. But I liked the people involved in this group so I gave it a whirl. And it was fun. So fun that this month I hosted it at my house. I was feeling domestic and put together a light dinner. Butternut Squash Soup, Crusty Loaf Bread, Lemony Arugula Salad and Pumpkin Cupcakes. Sounded like a good menu. And it was. But everything was a little off. Not enough that it was bad, but enough that you just wanted to tell people, "I know this is okay, but really, it can be so much better." No one likes the apologetic chef, so I tried to keep my mouth shut. But here, on my personal sounding board, I'm telling you how it could have been so much better.

Butternut Squash Soup

I didn't add the curry, and maybe I should have. But the real downfall was the consistency. It needed a little cream. It ended up a roasted vegetable puree. I did cook the onions a little longer, which was a good thing. Next time I may try her original recipe.

Crusty Loaf

It needs more salt. Probably double what the recipe calls for. I forget this about half of the time.

Lemony Arugula Salad

2 bunches arugula

3/4 c candied pecans

1 c grape tomatoes

2/3 c fresh parmesan

1 avocado

Dressing

zest of one lemon

1 T white wine vinegar

juice of one lemon

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 t dry mustard

2 t sugar

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

My downfall here was that I used all of the dressing on the arugula was drenched. Dripping. I think 1/4 to 1/2 would have sufficed.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

These were delicious. I ate two.

At the last minute I fell victim to the "I am going to run out of food" mentality and added another soup. This was probably a bad idea because I was rushed and the other food suffered because of it. But here's the recipe anyway. It was easy and fast.

Tomato Basil Soup

1 1/2 cup water
31.5 oz spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 cup half and half
4 1/2 oz pumpkin
2 chicken bullion cubes
garlic powder
paprika

chopped basil

P90X

Ryan's been doing P90X {also known as Jane Fonda for men} for the past 5 weeks. Tonight Ella decided to get in on the action.

You may recognize some of her moves from Daisy's quinceanera, where they do the Mambo.

new year, new header

I've been wanting a new header for a while now and my friend Karissa Winkle was sweet enough to design one for me. Karissa specializes in wedding invitations and is amazingly talented. She suggested a sub-header, and threw out "Embracing the Chaos" as an idea. That sentiment got me thinking. In theory, I love being the type of person who can roll with the punches and embrace the chaos that inevitably surrounds all of us. But it's just not me. While I don't think I am totally type-A, I'm always one to quell the chaos (or at least attempt to) rather than embrace it. I haven't been able to come up with a mantra I like better, so for now we are embracing the chaos. And perhaps I'll be better for it.

Anyway, thanks Karissa. You're a gem.

December 25th: Wonderful. Christmas was stress free and relaxing. A great day.

December 26th: Different story. We misplaced keys and drove back and forth from Park City three times. But the worst part was that Ella was horribly backed up and cried on and off for hours. I had to give her 1 suppository and 2 enemas before we made any progress. It was really awful. It was also Ryan's birthday and he pretty much got the shaft. No cake, no singing, no real celebration at all. He was a very good sport.

December 27th: I had a busy day at work and came home to a little girl who absolutely refused to say she was sorry for something she had done and spent 2.5 hours in time out. I honestly wondered if she was going to end up sleeping in the corner. Whew.

December 28th: Had a nice day, but spent most of it trying to make good on my Christmas present to Ryan: get his car serviced. Didn't get much else done.

By the evening of the 28th I was starting to feel overwhelmed {I'm sure the pregnancy hormones had nothing to do with it.} Early December found me overly ambitious and I tackled two major projects: making a new room for Ella and finishing our basement. Ella's room was 60% done, and it was driving me crazy that I couldn't find time or energy to finish it. We needed to make time-sensitive decisions on the basement, but irrationally I felt I couldn't even deal with it until the girls' rooms were completed. Then came the blessed phone call from my mom. "Kimmy and I don't have plans for tomorrow. Why don't we come down and help you get Ella's room finished and get the basement figured out?" How did she know? Exactly what I needed.

I love the finished product. So does Ella.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Ella is really into who's who lately. Ma Sue is "Your mommy" and Ma Janet is "Daddy's mommy." The frame on the wall has a really cool genealogy chart Kimmy and Chris made to showcase her roots. Love it.

merry merry

Hope you have a wonderful holiday.

baby baby

{thanks, Britt, for coming out of retirement to make these...Ella loved the "Baby Jesus"}

The best part of having your first baby is the Pinebrook shower. The moms of our childhood friends know how to throw a party. There is always delicious food, fun people and fabulous gifts. Since Jamie was in town for a few days we decided to squeeze in a shower over the holidays. Since Park City is wonderful but a little bit out of the way and snowy this time of year we decided to host it at my house. Which meant that I had help cleaning my house, got credit for food that I did not make and a party that I did not plan, and got to keep the leftovers. Sweet deal.

Congrats, Jamie, and can't wait to meet the little girl.

tone deaf

If you know me reasonably well, you know a few things about me. Things like I am irrationally afraid of mice. I hate pickles {although one of my best friends just told me she didn't know this about me....hmmm}. I love a good bargain and I love to share it. I am always up for a good cup of hot chocolate. And I can't carry a tune to save my life.

It's the last of these that has been on my mind lately. I am not quite tone deaf. I can tell when I am out off key. My problem is that I only hit about 1/3rd of the right the notes. It is truly foreign to me how people can look at sheet music and sing the correct notes. Not my gift. Not my mother's either. Lately Ella has really been into music and is always asking me to sing her a song. I oblige, but as I do I cringe because, really, I sound awful. And while I don't expect much at two, her little voice sounds an awful lot like her mother.

So...do you think musical talent is nurture or nature? Should I refrain from Twinkle Twinkle and the Wheels on the Bus? Or should I instill in her a love of music, even if I do make my husband cringe when he hears me croon?

Thoughts?

*this post was inspired by hearing David Archuletta sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I bet his mama is not tone deaf :)

thanks

Thanks for the input on the phones. I personally am a big fan of a live person (loved Molly's comment), but it's not completely practical right now. As a good first step we streamlined our phone tree. There used to be 38 seconds of "Welcome to Southpoint Pediatrics...our office hours are...our blogs is...our fax is...etc, etc, etc." and then the phone tree. Now it says, "Welcome to Southpoint Pediatrics. Press 1 to schedule an appointment {gets you to a live person}. Press 2 to leave a message for a medical assistant {gets you to their inbox, where they call back very quickly}. Our office hours are....the other 36 seconds..."

I'm still in favor of the live person answering the phone, at least when they can, but at least we are headed in the right direction. I mean, come one, no one wants to wait on the phone when you've got a sick kid.

In other news, today Ella pointed out that the Christmas lights weren't on. "You're right. I'll turn them on." I did, and was rewarded with, "I so proud of you, Mommy!"

Oh, Ella. When you're cute, you're cute.

***Okay, just called our office, and it's not short and sweet yet. But it will be. I promise.

polling the masses

Question:

When calling your Pediatrician's office, would you rather have a phone tree or a live person answer the phone?

Thanks.

ella at 27 months

• She is a fan of Dora. The children's museum in Manhattan had a whole Dora floor. She loved it.
• The other night we were eating dinner and she was being a little obnoxious. Not bad, just making it difficult to have a conversation. Ryan started to say something about her behavior, and I said, "I know it's annoying, but she's just two." A few minutes later she was doing something I didn't approve of and asked her to stop. She replied with, "Mom, I just two." I guess she got me.
• We've been using a lot of "option 1 or option 2." (Example: This morning she was on the verge of a meltdown because she wanted to say the prayer. Option 1: mom says the prayer. Option 2: go to time out.) She can be so stubborn, but when she is 'making' the decision she does so much better. Although I don't think it will be long before she realizes that she's being played.
• She is not interested in potty training. It's fine for other people, but she prefers her diaper.
• Her favorite number is 11. If you are having a conversation with someone and say, "Let's meet at 1125 south 400 east tomorrow afternoon" she'll say, "Were you talking about my fwavowit?"
• The other day she was playing with her toy clock and said, "I tan't find 13! I've looked everywhere!"
• She started pre-pre-school today. She is a little set in her ways when it comes to how the world should be run, so I thought some time with other kids may do her good. She loved her backpack, but informed me she would have preferred a purple one like Dora.


• 
  
• She thinks it's hilarious to make up "funny" words. Today she told me she was drinking "milker" and we were going to the "poke office." I am "mam-ha," we are going to have a "bay-pe" and Ryan is "dat-tee." She doesn't use the 'funny' words often, but when she does she gets a twinkle in her eye.

ella in the city

As I mentioned, we spent Thanksgiving with my two sisters in Manhattan. Lucky for us they both live in the same apartment building, with fabulous apartments and extra bedrooms (full-sized!! not NYC-sized). I was a little apprehensive about taking Ella as the week before we left she was acting very much like a two-year old. I seriously considered calling off the trip. But to my delight, she was a delight. Only had one minor meltdown; she was a real trooper. {2 doting adults and a grandma granting her every wish may have helped, too}

You would think that with Jamie's photography skills and all, we would take better pictures. But no. iPhone shots or bust. And none of them very good. But here's what I've got. (if anyone else took any good ones send them my way)

that's her camera smile....we need to work on it a bit

the train show at the botanical gardens. once we made it through the line, it was really cool

after a wet morning

ella and lily at the park--they had a great time together. and norwalk has a fabulous aquarium if you're ever in the area

Thanks, Wrides and Crosbys. Ella already wants to go back to 'York.