From the category archives:

Month 6

6 sanity savers for cold days

December 30, 2009

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. [...]

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Activity #531: Take a cold weather power walk

December 14, 2009

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 [...]

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Activity #147: Take an extra walk

November 27, 2009

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 have a pedometer? [...]

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Activity #189: Trick baby into napping

September 16, 2009

When Holden was six months old, we were still doing about 3 to 4 naps each day. But once in a while, Holden would have an I-hate-Mondays and I-won’t-nap-for-you protest thing. After the requisite nap routine (dim lights, cuddle, story, milk), fussing, talking, diaper “situations”, I often gave up and played with him for a [...]

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5 great date nights that don’t require a babysitter

August 21, 2009

I’m a firm believer that new parents need to figure out a way to get out of the house and have some dates. Best case scenario, that’s only one night a week. More realistically, that’s one night a month. Or never. So, what about all those other nights? Here are five fun date-night ideas that [...]

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Activity #259: Amp up your own musical theater

August 11, 2009

File this one under silly. I know from my five Music Together classes that it is important to infuse more music, singing, chanting, and scarf-play into our daily lives. So, I challenge you to integrate these activities into your day today. I discovered this silly trick with my childhood best friend, Monica (as adults). For [...]

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Activity #128: Spend more time in bed

March 24, 2009

For Stay at Home Moms, focus one day this week on getting more rest for you. Don’t get out of your PJs in the morning, and as soon as your baby’s first nap starts, jump back in bed. If you can’t fall asleep, read a magazine. During his/her next nap, take a shower and then [...]

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Start a baby food swapping co-op

November 6, 2008

With our rookie babies, we made lots and lots of good fresh pureed baby food. Inspired by Super Baby Food I started with simple blended pear and eased into whipped avocado, but eventually I had vats of different combos going and I would puree for my mini-eater and save the chunky stuff for older Julian. [...]

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Activity #462: Put photos on your iPod

October 31, 2008

With over 100 million iPods sold as of this month, I figure most of you have one. If you have a Nano or a regular iPod (not a Shuffle) you can put pictures of your baby on your iPod and eliminate the need to carry photos. Trust me, on your iPod, photos look 80 billion [...]

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Activity #144: Predict the future

October 24, 2008

I read this in a magazine recently. You can get a sense of your baby’s future height based on the heights of the two biological parents. For boys, add 5 inches to mom’s height. Your son will be between that height and his daddy’s height. For girls, subtract 5 inches from her dad’s height. Your [...]

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Activity #142: Soul search

September 16, 2008

Has being a mom become your only hobby? Spend today thinking about what other hobby you would like bring back to your life or start, and make a plan to get into it. I like to make stuff and read about making stuff on craft blogs. It took me a while to get back into [...]

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Activity #541: Craft some hair clips for you or baby

August 20, 2008

Could these hair barrettes BE any cuter? No, I don’t think so. AngryChicken has a full tutorial about making a felted “sleeping bag” for these baby hair clips and then adorning them with buttons so they stay put. In my house, I’m a constant hair clip wearer (and thus, loser of hair clips). Sometimes my [...]

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