From the category archives:

Month 8

Activity #109: Explore all the senses

September 19, 2011

Whitney ran into my friend Jeanine outside her house. Jeanine was helping her 9-month old daughter, Pepper, touch some furry lavender sticking out from Whitney’s garden, and didn’t realize whose house it was. The girls had been going on a sensory tour of the neighborhood. Try it yourself to keep the neighborhood walks interesting: Stop [...]

Send your mate out to jog

September 5, 2011

The wonderful thing about an almost-nine-month old is that fabulous head control that just screams “put me in a baby jogger and let’s see how fast this thing can go.” Send your partner out for a short run with the jogging stroller and you can catch up on sleep, phone calls, or reading. Make sure [...]

Stumble into a family-friendly pub

July 25, 2011

Today’s challenge, your thirtieth, is to discover a family-friendly pub in your area and test it out. Yes, we tried this a few times. Sure, baby Julian made a frat boy of himself and booted the first time. Nobody cared! You don’t have to compromise on ambiance every time you go out for dinner with [...]

Activity #299: Pack a picnic and roll in the grass

July 11, 2011

The challenge for the day is to take advantage of a warm afternoon and feed your family outside; it’s time for a family picnic. It is so much easier to clean up Cheerio crumbs when I can just shake my blanket into the grass and leave the rest to the bugs. I like to keep [...]

Activity #277: Camp in your own backyard

June 21, 2011

In theory, my family likes to camp. We celebrated Holden’s first birthday with a camp-out barbecue bash. We camped in a big group when I was pregnant with Milo (pregnant camping is questionable). More often, we fall apart trying to reserve a spot, pack the gear, be healthy, and coordinate with friends. One solution: Pitch [...]

Baby food blooper

June 2, 2011

While Heather was keeping her current pregnancy secret from me, she started paying heightened attention to products for young babies in a way that didn’t tip me off, due to our jobs as “mommy bloggers.” I thought she was just trying to keep up with changing trends and technologies for parents. When she accepted a [...]

Activity #220: Insert foot in mouth. Snap photo.

March 2, 2011

Can she do anything particularly interesting that your adult body can’t do? Your mission is to photograph your baby sucking her toes or sitting in the sink for a bath. Share your baby’s achievement in the comments.

Help your baby be reflective

December 16, 2010

Take a photo of your baby looking at himself in the mirror. You will not want to use a flash, so open all the blinds to fill the room with natural light. Stand behind him and try to get both the real baby and the mirror image baby in the frame of your photo.

Dear Rookie Moms, What are your beauty secrets?

April 12, 2010

Um, we have none, so we must turn this over to someone who knows about such things. A request came in for us to make some recommendations for how to look like you’ve gotten a full night of sleep and haven’t had your skin and hair ravished by monstrous hormonal changes over a long period [...]

Make it a potluck

March 12, 2010

I really love bossing people around organizing easy dinner parties. Gather some friends together for a BBQ or potluck. The easy thing is that by distributing the responsibilities, you’ll have less to worry about. And more fun all around. Simple rules to sharing the load with a potluck: Assign jobs and give yourself an easy [...]

Activity #215: Travel light (when you fly with a baby)

November 22, 2009

Gone are the days when Alec and I could just go away for a few months with nothing but a pair of backpacks. Traveling with a baby requires more strategery, but this is one of my strengths, so allow me to share a tip: You do not need to bring it all with you! Flying [...]

Activity #427: Evaluate, admire, photograph, and throw away your shoes

November 3, 2009

Yesterday while my baby slept, I went around the house and gathered up all my shoes. There were some in my bedroom, some in the hall closet and some under the desk and dining room table. I brought them all into one clear space and laid them out in a grid. My objective? Toss my [...]

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