by Whitney
You may have noticed that Heather is really into meal planning and finding solutions to getting dinner on the table before putting the baby to bed. I wish I had as much passion for the subject as she does. My obstacle: the picky palates of my husband and myself. When I page through the recipe books I own, I find myself eliminating almost everything because I don’t like mushrooms or he doesn’t like ground turkey or I don’t like sun-dried tomatoes or we don’t eat pork.
What I need? My own cookbook of my go-to recipies, so that when I do find a winner, I have it in one place where I can go to it again and again. And now, there’s Tastebook.com, offering me exactly that. Only instead of an index card box of hideously folded and stained print-outs from epicurious.com, it will be a beautiful spiral book with tabbed sections that I name myself, ie “Julian’s Faves” or “What my dad likes that is not more than thirty-minutes worth of cooking” instead of “Appetizers”. Oh, and you can share recipes with friends. (All you mushroom hating, semi-vegetarians, share with me!)
So I’m on a mission to fill up my Tastebook.
Coolness! Heather has arranged for us to giveaway two Tastebooks! Comment on this post before midnight on Halloween, and we’ll pick a winner at random on Thursday November 1!
by Whitney
Remember how when you sorta grew out of Halloween, there were still times when you were able to throw together a costume with items you had on hand? This can work for a baby or toddler costume, too.
Here are a few examples:
1- Tourist - hawaiian shirt, shorts, socks with sandals. Print a picture of a camera from the Web, paste it onto some cardboard, and make it a necklace for baby to wear.
2- 50s guy - black fake leather jacket (buy used at baby resale store or ebay), white onesie, jeans. Slick back hair for maximum effect. If hair is available.
3- Fried Egg - white one piece outfit or separates. Cut yellow circle from felt and sew or safety pin onto belly.
4- Ballet dancer - Pink onesie, pink tights, pink Robeez. Done.
5- Farmer - Plaid button down shirt, denim overalls, sunhat. Carry a stuffed animal that belongs on a farm, such as a pig.
6- Bumble Bee - Black onesie, black sweats, yellow electrical tape. Pipe cleaner headband for anntenae. (Contributed by veteran mom Jen R.)
What else could you do for a last-minute DIY baby halloween costume idea?
by Heather
Funny story: The phone rang today during one of Holden’s crying fits. Alec looked at the caller id and it was mystery area code 113 (does that even exist in the US?!). We both thought the same thing instantly: telemarketers! So, he picked up the phone and directed Holden’s wailing into the unsuspecting caller’s ear. Ha ha.
The joke was on us because it was my friend Rachel, now 30 weeks pregnant, calling from the UK. Oops. Sorry, you don’t have kids (yet), so we need to keep the illusion going that its all cuddling and peaceful moments doing wooden puzzles on the floor before the child is old enough for Scrabble and cards.
So, I got to thinking that a fun photo assignment for her (and any parent-to-be or new parent) is to pick a room or nook in your house and photograph it over time Will it or won’t it devolve into a den of plastic baby crap? Only time will tell.
My house last month with two babies and two babes and a lot of crap.
by Heather
Whitney passed along this mama tip to me and now I’m telling you; if your baby is starting to skip that 10pm feeding and you want to stretch those sleeping hours to ones that are more convenient, try the dream feed. She says it didn’t work for them, but we used the dream feed technique for several months.
Pssst, the Baby Whisperer also recommends it if her word is worth more to you.
Now, it takes a very steady hand and I never tried it myself because I had the lucky job of pumping during feeding time (consequently, Alec is the pro in our house) but here’s the deal:
- Warm the bottle
- Feed the baby while he sleeps — you don’t even have to rouse him from the crib
- Now, you go to bed and enjoy the extra ZZZZ’s
Basically, the sucking reflex is so strong that Holden could down a 4 oz bottle (and later almost 6 oz!) while still sleeping. I think Alec played video games on his phone with his free hand.
I hear that some people are able to do a full-on nursing session without waking the baby this way.
