From the category archives:

Month 4-6

Activity #556: Chill out in the snow

by RookieMom Heather on February 22, 2010

in Green, Month 5, Outside, Photo

After returning from a jaunt to Tahoe with his toddler, Ainslie, I asked our friend Doug for tips on fun stuff to do in the snow (that’s right old friends, I’m embarrassed to admit it but snow is something we visit out here — not endure. And we “jaunt”).
For the baby set:
walk around with bjorn [...]

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5 tips to stay sane when traveling with a baby

by RookieMom Heather on February 17, 2010

in Lists and numbers, Mommy, Month 6, Sleepy

A huge thank you to Nicole Johnson, sleep coach and owner of The Baby Sleep Site, who offered these sanity-saving travel tips just as I’m beginning to obsess about sleep issues and toddler jet lag! In addition to being a sleep expert, she is also the mom of two boys (one of whom never let [...]

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Activity #300: Be in love

by RookieMom Heather on February 13, 2010

in Crafty, Free/Cheap, Geeky, Mommy, Month 4

Scrounge around for some pictures of you and your mate together from when you first started out dating and wooing. Make a collage and put it on the fridge to remember your pre-baby lives.
It can be as easy as tacking up a few old favorites that have been sitting in a drawer (bungee-jumping, [...]

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Activity #112: Read books for baby

by Whitney on January 26, 2010

in Month 4

At this point, four months, you’re pretty much obligated to start a reading ritual with your baby. I have honestly been shocked at each stage to find how much they really do like books.
Also, when I ran out of things to say to my immobile blob of human offspring, reading from a book was [...]

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Activity #210: Roll, bounce

by RookieMom Heather on January 20, 2010

in Free/Cheap, Indoors, Month 4, Silly, Toddler

If you still have that yoga ball around — and you’re not currently using it for ab work — get it out to thrill and impress your baby.
We kept ours in Holden’s room for about 22 months — until his new brother was born and the room just got too crowded.
Each morning, [...]

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Activity #218: Wear the baby

by Whitney on January 12, 2010

in Bay Area, Free/Cheap, Month 4

By the time I took this picture, Julian was to big for this fleece sling, so I was thrilled to wear Heather’s baby Holden in it. If you don’t already have a sling, consider it.
Wearing your baby keeps him happy, especially if he’s the type that likes to be held all the time. [...]

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6 sanity savers for cold days

by Whitney on December 30, 2009

in Crafty, Indoors, Mommy, Month 6, Silly

While you are reading this, I am driving from Yosemite back to my house in Berkeley. Therefore, I wrote this post in advance. We bloggers can be sneaky that way.
I’m surely suffering a little case of family-gatherings-mostly-take-place-indoors-especially-when-you’ve-rented-a-cabin-in-the-winter, so I bring you a few thematically linked posts. All intended to help fight the Stir Crazies.

Fussy [...]

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When I saw this “first ornament” tutorial on Wedding Bee, I thought it meant for a baby’s first Christmas, but soon understood that it’s for a couple’s first married Christmas.
Why was I reading WeddingBee.com? Who knows. I get easily lost in the Internets.

Made from leftover wedding invites, it is a clever and subtle tribute [...]

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Activity #531: Take a cold weather power walk

by RookieMom Heather on December 14, 2009

in Month 6, Outside

Brrr. We had a cold snap in Berkeley last week complete with frost on the grass and snow in the hills. I’ve become such a weather wimp since moving to the Bay Area from Chicago a dozen years ago that I had a hard time leaving the house.
If you have a baby in the winter, [...]

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Activity #147: Take an extra walk

by Whitney on November 27, 2009

in Geeky, Month 6

Pedometer assignment: double your average steps today. You might have to take an extra walk. Maybe you can take your extra walk by yourself when your partner gets home from work. Yes, you can take a walk in the dark. Stick to well-travelled routes and wear white if you do.
You don’t [...]

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Activity #487: Grab a cocoa with those diapers

by RookieMom Heather on November 27, 2009

in Mommy, Month 4, Quickie

We got a great tip from a reader, Ghanimatrix, about how she squeezes in more me time. She says:
The best way for me to find “me time” is to either stay on top of chores so that nap time becomes leisure time, OR to go run an errand when my husband gets home and [...]

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Activity #14: Model new outfits

by RookieMom Heather on November 12, 2009

in Month 4, Photo

Continue to try on all the new outfits you got as gifts, no matter how silly you think they are, and photograph him in the clothes before he outgrows them.
Remember to take pictures when outfit is fresh (it took me 3 tries on this outfit and I finally dressed him in the living [...]

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