the sisters

I love this video despite that g is singing the purple dinosaur song. I loved the way she looked at s.

Cherry Blossoms 2007

Compared to last year, our experience of Cherry Blossoms is a little below par. Last year, we went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. We went a little late in the season and still were very impressed. This year, we decided to go to Branch Brook Park in Newark for a change of pace. It had a good number of cherry blossom trees and I have read online reviews to say that it was a beautiful park.

Well, it was a beautiful park. We were one week late for the Festival but as far as blooms go, it was truly sad. Most have fallen off the tree but we didn't even see the cool carpet of pink petals. We didn't see much at all. We took a short walk but it was getting late and someone's sleep time was coming up. It would be hard for me to recommend this park but it seems interesting. It was large and well-maintained. I might return but with so many other gorgeous parks around, it is not very likely.

A picture of the daddy and his little girl.

WWTTON Awardee

What Will They Think Of Next? Really and for $35.

I actually think that this is just freaky. Just plain scary but it's out there. Maybe I am missing the point, but check it out and let me know.

g in her new hat

 

We went to the zoo this weekend to celebrate some of this beautiful summer weather. It was nice to visit the Prospect Park zoo again but it was a much better experience the last time. I guess since it was Earth Day, there were a lot more people there. The heat INSIDE the buildings didn't help things any either. I think the zoo decided to turn off the air conditioning for Earth Day also, which just made me want to highttail it out of the indoors as quickly as possible.

This time around we were prepared for the lack of food service by having a small picnic and meeting up with some other mommy and daddy friends. (NOTE: It was great to see everyone again and all the little ones. Hope to see everyone again soon!!!)

g had a wonderful time checking out all the animals. s was just happy to have caught a few zzz's in G's arms.

All in all, it was good experience. We were looking forward to checking out cherry blossoms at the Botanical Garden next door but it was getting late and s's bedtime was looming. So we left. However thefamilyM told us that the blossoms have not bloomed. So there might still be time in the next weeks for a visits. (Thanks, KM for the tip.)

g at the gym

This is one of g's new favorite places. She loves getting a work out.

A General update

The last few days have been a blur. Between work and home, there have been more than a few things to keep a mommy nutty and that's how I have managed to stay without fail. Gladly I have been given a day of reprieve in the form of a girl's night out which turned out to be fabulous (of course). I love my friends.

What else is going on with the FamilyC?

g has been expanding on her multilingual vocabulary. She has become amazingly adept at addressing the right people with the right set of words. I have begun to slowly start her "preschool" homeschool "program". Because she was born when she was, she would not have qualified for any public school in our area till next year. We could still get her into a school if we had been willing to shell out $$$ for it...NOT. So I had decided on teaching her myself. Someday soon I have to get myself around writing a curiculum for her, but for now, I have picked up some preschool books and go through them with her. She has the attention span of a flea but she gets most of it. She knows most of her letters and numbers. She knows her shapes and colors really well. She is really good with her scissors, so now we are working on precision. She has been using a pencil for a long time but I am trying to have her trace lines. To supplement all this edumacation, she also goes to the little gym with G once a week. During the summer, we'll try to take her to the pool once a week. Now I just have to figure out a way for her to get over her shyness.

s has been sleeping better (-relative term). She hasn't rolled over again since her second month. She loves both her jumperoo and exersaucer. She still HATES being on her tummy. Her intake has been growing and so has her cheeks. Next on the agenda is solids and an attempt to get her to crawl. Wish us luck.

Safer Baby bottles

Found quite a few alternatives for my Dr Brown dilemna.

Just thought I would pass this information

The document has recommendations on safer bottles to use that are easily purchased at the local baby stores or online.

There must be a lesson here

Too bad I am too blurry-eyed to see it. As feared, last night turned out to be a horrendous night for sleep. It was a record breaking evening AND early morning. Before last night, s would cry within an hour of falling asleep. She would cry loud and hard but after she is done, she sleeps. At every awakening after that, she would eat and then proceed to fall back asleep for at least 3 hours at a time, usually more. She has actually gone for 8 hours once. Last night she woke up almost every 2 hours starting at midnight. And today is a day that I needed to be able to focus.

I want to see every adversity as a way for the universe to teach me something. Right now I am having a difficult time putting two words together, so maybe I am just missing the lesson.

Sleep...everybody needs some sleep

Can someone please convince s of this? I don't seem to be conveying the information as clearly as I should or she is just not listening. Oh yeah...she is too busy screaming to be listening. I got a report from G that she hasn't been sleeping much today, in small 30 minute increments probably just enough to take the edge off her tiredness. Tonight's "adventure" is going to be truly interesting.

To top it all, g seems to be going a "meltdown" phase. She goes into meltdown mode in a flash. She could be happily playing one second and then a moment later be in the middle of the worst cry heard in the tri-state. It's so hard to see her in such a state.

In the midst of all this, I am trying to find some calm. It's been really hard to muster the patience to deal with the meltdowns on very little sleep. However I realize confronting the meltdown with a meltdown results in madness. So I take a deep breath.

Consistency just bit the dust

I am blogging this as s is talking to herself over the intercom. Yes, the official time is 10:00 PM and she is awake. Tonight started as many other nights. She was tired when I got home. So after spending our quality minutes together, I started her nighttime routine which consists of the wipe down (too tired for a shower today), a song and nursing. She fell asleep quickly. I left her room and expected a cry around the 20 minute mark (strangely she has been crying out/waking up around 20 minutes into her sleep). That didn't occur. So I thought that I was in the clear. I was so very wrong!!!

She woke up at the 2 hour mark frantically crying. I tried to keep out. I tried for an hour and she cried for an hour (well, almost an hour). I finally thought that maybe she was just hungry. So I went in to feed her. She ate only 2 oz and nursed a little. She was already falling back asleep until she realized it. Somehow she forced herself to wake. She started to look around, coo, talk, etc. That was the precise moment when I realized that I should have stuck to my own rules about consistency. With a heavy sigh, I rocked her for a few minutes, burp her a little more and kissed her little head. I laid her in bed and left the room.

For the last 30 minutes, she was just cooing and talking. Then finally in the last 3 minutes, she has restarted the frantic crying. It is going to be another long night.

Bisphenol A

There has been a lot of talk about dangerous baby bottles containing Bisphenol A. The studies has been around for years and I am not sure why it has become critical in the last few months. Of course, s's fancy schmancy Dr. Brown bottles were indicted in the list of "bad" bottles, but I am not sure if I should get nutty and buy all new bottles for her. There is a risk for cancer and since the chemical mimics estrogen, a greater impact on reproductive organs.

There now is a rash of "alternatives" to these baby bottles as result of all the news going around. I am sure they have been around for a while but have now been achieving greater visibility. One such bottle is Born Free (found on the web and at Whole Foods), but at almost $10 a bottle, is it really worth it?

Why do I even ask the question when there is a risk for cancer? Well, a simple google search will yield many other studies refuting the studies being quoted in news stories. So who is a parent to believe? Can I afford to be laid back or do I sound the alarm? What would you do?

Happy Easter Everybody!!!

The Family C went to an Easter Egg Hunt over the weekend. Lots of fun. g found a couple of eggs with the help of her daddy.