For the first time, Cookie (5) and I have a *real show that we are watching together, MasterChef.
 This creates all kinds of "teachable moments" like:

• What is real?
• counting backwards
• being nice
• showing respect for food and for cooking
• it's ok to not eat the raw chicken

 Because she is soaking up this program like a diaper, I wish they would have more fun on the show. They always look so stressed and sweaty. I'd like to see someone say, "I don't want to watch everybody else cook, I would love to make macarons -just for fun." Also, I read that the contestants get all kinds of lessons as the show goes on, and we don't get to see any of that. I'm sure some of that is fun and entertaining, no?

  If you read this post about me hating food you might be confused as to why I would even watch such a show.  I guess I am desperate. I need inspiration, I need to stop reading labels. The hardest part about motherhood is teaching these chicks how to eat.
   So I wrote up some guidelines to try to turn this battle into a game I call MasterEater.
I made it all rainbow, so hopefully I can hold Cookie and Squeak's attention.

   Several months ago I thought I was off the hook when Cookie announced she wanted her 5th Birthday at Chuck E Cheese. Granted, I can't stand said establishment but the promise of just showing up, handing over a credit card and in exchange they shower her with gold coins and crown her head making her Queen Rat for the moment was very appealing.

   Then, as five year old girls are bound to do...she changed her mind. Fairy party all the way. So together we put together this delightful pixie party.
   She really did help and direct with everything. She colored the fairy on her invites, she helped make the sparkle dough to give away.

cake figures by www.shelleysdesserts.com

  I started to let her ice the cake, but the domineering artist in me took over quickly.

strawberry cake recipe here: foodiebride

  When I was a kid I thought it would be cool to grow up in the 60's like my parents. A simpler time. I was under the misconception it was all poodle skirts, saddle shoes, dances, walking to soda fountains, and not worrying about razor blades in your Halloween candy. (The last probably true.) I changed my mind when I learned that my mom didn't grow up eating Doritos or Fruit Roll-ups.
  Now I find myself pining for my own simple childhood for the sake of my daughters.

Oh, the simplicity of a paper cut-outs & frosted-in-the-pan birthday cake.

  Cookie and Squeak will never know what a busy signal is or even a video store until they do a history report in school. Will they ever need to know how to navigate with a paper map? If they encountered a rotary phone would they even know what to do? I doubt they would have the patience to dial ten numbers anyways. Will they ever learn the pledge of allegiance, or the capitols of every state or will their minds fill with other useless information now that there is no need to remember anything because information is just a few clicks away? Instead of tornado drills at school, will they start having Crazy Mad Man Rampage Drills?

  When I was little we biked without helmets, and went exploring to forests and parks.  Car seats were abandoned as soon as we could walk; but my daughters will probably be in a car seat of some sort until they are in high school with all the new laws.
  With DVRs, Cookie only knows what a TV commercial is from staying in hotels. Yet, somehow the media has infiltrated her brain and she is obsessed with all things cheetah print. And back to that hotel business -the first time I remember ever staying in a hotel I was much older. By the time Cookie is 16 I imagine she'll be as excited about hotels as a consultant on the road for three years.
I was in my 20s when I got my first pedicure, and Cookie was 3. What is she going to find novel and exciting once I let her start chewing bubble gum?

  A tradition I loved was back-to-school clothes shopping in August with my mom. Seriously, what is up with these schools starting school in August? In July even! How are moms supposed to carry on the tradition when even the Halloween in August stores haven't even started stocking fall clothes in July? Besides that it is still well over 100˚ and I'm trying to teach my girl clothing appropriateness. Ie: don't wear long sleeves, and knee highs right now.
  Will Cookie and Squeak withdraw inward at some point and cling to privacy and mystery to stand as rebels against the fame seeking masses?
 
  Andy Benard said it well, "I wish there was a way to know you're in "The Good Old days" before you've actually left them...
someone should write a song about that."

I had the privilege of working with the author, Tara Lazar, of this book, The Monstore a few years ago just as this story was set into motion. We worked on a series of postcards for Abe's Peanut.
Anxious to support debut authors, this copy arrived the other day at our door.

5 Ways to Know (if a picture book is a winner or sucky dog)

  It's nice and all to have other human beings need you on such base levels as sustenance, clothing, safety; but sometimes other things take precedence. For instance: smaller human beings who can't walk, or the stench wafting off yourself is so potent even the dog has left the room, and your own sustenance.
  One morning follow your kid around with a camera, and shoot all the things they need to do in the morning (and are capable of) then print out the photos and link them together in some timeline type fashion and display where your kid can see it. This worked extremely well the very first day as I photographed her, and then slowly worked less and less over several weeks.

  To freshen up things and get back on course we made this chart with straws, cardboard and skewers:

It has been a long time since I made anything for Cookie, my 4 3/4 year old. I took her to the fabric store with the intention of getting her some Superhero fabric to make a girly nightgown out of. She has been wearing little boy short and t-shirt combos featuring Batman, Superman, and Spiderman for two years. Now I feed her donuts breakfast, lunch and dinner (only kidding) so she needs to move up a size or two.
We couldn't find any character fabric that didn't feel like cellophane. So she picked out this pink and purple floral fabric instead, (I am sure it is highly flammable cotton) and we stitched up this whirling dervish evening attire. I think you would call it a pillowcase nightgown.

 At the very excellent suggestion from a friend and Blinkblots baby book owner I did photos on the family tree page for Squeak, my baby.
 I think this is my favorite page so far of her whole book -but it was more work than I anticipated when I started collecting the photos. Luckily, I did it all before her sweet gooey wide awake Squeakness arrived.

While doing the delightful chore of pumping I read an article on things you can do to help you remember your children's babyhood. (From American Baby)

   Finding a balance between making good choices for my girls and not being overcome with fret is a daily struggle. You may see me fighting the insanity frantically reading labels of all the juices in the grocery while vigorously bouncing a wailing baby strapped in her Ergo carrier.
Since, Squeak, my 5 month old was born, even the most casual of decisions ends up being a source of pure anxiety.
   Three days into new motherhood (after a 4 year hiatus) I declared that I wasn't going to go all crazy about recording feedings and poo and pee and every little hiccup. However, I couldn't remember the last time I fed her the second I got home, so I got an app on my phone to help. Sitting, nursing a few days later, with my phone resting next to her precious downy head playing Pandora while it counted how many minutes she was eating I suddenly thought, "Ahhhh! Get this phone away from her head, the radiation is probably frying her brain straight through the soft spot!"
Later in a free moment (when she actually did sleep all day) I went to the computer to see if my terror was warranted and sure enough Sanjay Gupta had something to say about it. I believe anything he has to say. After that, when purchasing a $60 case that was suppose to break up the radiation seemed ludicrous, I turned my phone to airplane mode most of the time. Then I preceded to slowly forget about this danger until I found time to write this.
   The next casual decision was finding a mattress for her crib.
One night, at about 10pm while Squeak (one month old) lay sleeping in her cradle next to our bed I was looking at reviews of various organic crib mattresses and fell straight into a rabbit hole of horror. My search started innocently, looking on Craigslist for something used; because she wasn't going to need it that long. Reviews led me here: Toxic Gases in Baby Crib Mattresses could be the cause of SIDS.  I really don't suggest reading the previous linked article if you are currently sleeping soundly, because it will definitely keep you up at night with worry. You'll be dreaming about latex, boric acid, rotten wool and overgrown females from phthlates or some other gobbly gook. I created a "princess and the pea" type situation in Squeak's cradle with towels until her Naturepedic lightweight mattress arrived. I'd share with you the amazing deal I got on it, but looks like the company is doing some site maintenance. -Boo.
  Other things to worry about might be fluoride in your toothpaste, in your water, on your floss. Is this particular poison's benefits outweighing the negative? I don't know, but I haven't had any new cavities since I stopped using fluoride nine months ago. Or what about aspartame? or caffeine while nursing? or oxybenzone? Let's not even start on the chemicals causing hormone imbalance from the sunscreen that is supposed to be helping us, or inhaling nanoparticles from the easy spray on kind!

You may come to your own conclusions. In my opinion it is a case of too much information and trying to decide the best out of multiple negatives.

I finally felt like I could get this all out of my system and write about it after I read this:

A study in Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy found that 85% of the stuff we worry about doesn't even happen. And even when our worries turn into reality, 85% of the time, they have positive or neutral outcomes.

I don't even care if this is true or not, but it is something I would feel better remembering the next time I discover my broccoli came from China.

Alright, that's it, I'm going to have to stand up for her femininity and say something about this!
She IS a girl!
Until my girl Cookie was 12 months old she was often mistaken for being a boy. This irritated me to my mommy bones, and I was quick to correct people. Alas, she had no hair and I think especially older people become color blind to children decked out in head to toe pink.
Now, with girl number two, Squeak, I was finding myself not irritated at all, who cares after all if they don't notice the scallops on her navy blue shirt, or the hot pink polka dot socks, or the fact that I'd say 'she' when referring to her. Her car seat is red, and she also has no hair, and that is apparently what it takes to look like a boy at first glance. I didn't feel inclined to abruptly correct people and make them feel like an idiot all in the name of gender identification.
My nonchalance has come to an end.
Yesterday, the doctor walks into the exam room right before I am about to put the diaper back on.
"Should I go ahead and put her diaper back on?" I ask.
"Yes, go ahead." he says.
The exam proceeds quickly without event, then the doctor leaves and the nurses come in and administer the dreaded shots. I remember I forgot to ask about sunscreen, and the nurse says, "I'll get the doctor to come back in."
He must have heard our conversation in the hall, because he pops back in and answers my question but the entire time referring to her as a him, a he - a boy!
Oy! If anyone is going to get her gender right it should definitely be her doctor.
Does this happen to other baby girls? Are there baby boys out there who hear "she's adorable?"

I just read this news article about some thieves absconding five tons of Nutella in Germany, and students stealing it from the dining hall at Columbia in New York City. I wonder could they possibly be reselling it rather than just eating it all alone in their closets with a spoon and a bowl of berries?
I didn't know that Nutella had obtained status on par with gold, or opium. I am a little surprised that in Europe it would be so prized, why they would not see it as we do peanut butter?
A roommate from Germany introduced me to Nutella many years ago, and I became quite obsessed with finding it after a Nutella powdered sugar crepe crossed my lips. Now, it is easy to find and I don't have to stock pile it.
My daughter is in love as well. She doesn't like peanut butter and will not even tolerate peanut butter & jelly analogies, it is Nutella & banana all the way.
Considering the news development we may have to get ourselves a lorrie and load up before it is all gone.

Hello, my name is Eva. I used to live in a belly. A terrible thing happened to my mommy last year. She lost a baby -not in the "I know I left my keys somewhere" lost; but in the "take a serrated spoon and scrape out a chunk of your heart" lost.
My mommy had mentally destined herself to being a mommy of only one beautiful, bewitching, and baffling daughter. Before she could close the door for good I slid in under the fence and staked my claim and got cozy for 40 weeks. I knew my mommy was terrified that my birth might go the way my sister's did. So I adopted a slow and steady strategy at 36 weeks doling out a contraction or two each day and sinking lower and lower and lower. This caused frustration pretty quickly because my mom started feeding me jalapenos. She started walking, dancing and in general jostling me around. The nice toasty baths were interrupted by deafening jets that scared the bejeebies out of me.
I heard a lot of talk about Christmas and from what I could tell that birth date is already taken by someone pretty important. So I waited a little bit longer. -Until I got my eviction notice for Dec 29th.
On the 27th I decided to step it up a notch; but I didn't want to give my mommy more than she could handle, she still had things to do. I carried on making contractions more frequent, but nothing too harsh.
On the morning of the 28th my mommy go a call from the hospital; they said they wanted to know if she wanted to move my eviction time up to -NOW. I felt the panic rise in my mommy. She did not want an induction, she wanted to labor at home, she did not want to go to the hospital.
However, after consideration it was decided that she would have a nice lunch and then go to the hospital.
My mom was so worried that going to the hospital would make everything come to a screeching halt. So once we got to the hospital and settled into our room with the purple bouncy ball, and the beachy hospital gown my mom brought for herself, turned on Pandora, I started to gather up my things and get serious about leaving my 40 week home.
The doctor was scheduled to arrive some time after five, so before that could happen I took my fist and gave a solid left jab to my balloon house and broke it open. There was no turning back after that.
I tried to take it slow, but again I felt the fear rise up in my mommy. She thought she couldn't do it, she thought she wasn't strong enough, she was tired and she wasn't trying to be a hero, and thought this would last for many many many more hours. My daddy said, "Yes you can." My grandma said, "You are doing it." Our doula said, "You're doing just fine, let your body melt." Just when my mom stood off the purple ball and tried to make a move to push the button to ask for the nurses I was ready to go. My mom froze in pain and screamed and the nurses came rushing in.
Onto the bed they all lifted her. At first she tried to force it and forgot to breath. The nurses put an oxygen mask on her and the doula helped her breath so I would have the energy to come bursting into this world. I told my mom to relax, go to lalaland, and let me and her body do all the work.
That's what she did and lickety split I was an air breather and I finally got to see my mother face to face.

Some crafty Holiday projects I've been working on...
A pom pom wreath. Lil' Cookie helped with this project. She is a pom pom making machine -until she looses interest after 5 minutes. This wreath is probably around 30" and has maybe 60 or so pom poms using about 6-8 skeins of yarn.
We started making the pom poms using this finger method found on You tube: 5 Minute DIY: Yarn Pom Poms. If you want your pom poms to have a less muppet hair-do look you have do a lot of trimming afterwards. This wastes a lot of yarn, so we bought one of these gadgets.


I also just finished our Christmas Stocking advent calendar. This is a total knock off of the one Restoration Hardware is selling right now.
My mom embroidered all the numbers on ivory felt and I sewed the socks and hung them on a raggedy piece of linen with curtain hooks.
Still looking for ideas on what to put in these besides tiny toys and candy; philanthropy and kindness activities for a 4 year old and a 9 month pregnant lady anyone?

image: Dallasmomsblog.org

Four years ago I cloth diapered. I think I did it because it seemed like the fastest route out of the entire diaper stage. (But I can't be sure because motherhood has robbed my memory.)
Four years ago there were not that many choices, and I didn't know anyone who cloth diapered so I did get some funny looks (or was it my child getting the funny looks?) now and again.
We had a system, we used all BumGenius with some chlorine free disposables thrown in here and there; it wasn't too bad and it was over around 17 months.

Cloth diapering has gotten more complicated since then, with a plethora of options and acronyms, and a slew a fanatics who collect diapers because they are "cute".

Here is what I have learned (circa 2012) about the swirling realm of Cloth Diapers.
Plastic snap gadgets shaped like a 'Y' that hold the diaper together on the front of prefolds or fitteds taking the place of the old diaper pins.

I got inspired by some cheap giant art of horses at The Dump today and discovered a new (to me) photography technique called ttv. (through the viewfinder)
Here are some examples I played around with faking the effect in Photoshop on some photos I had on hand. To do the effect for real you need 2 cameras, and one preferably a film camera. Taking a digital shot aimed through the view finder of the older camera is the real way to do it. (I don't have anything but digital cameras around.)



Thanks to Anna Swain on the Hank & Willie blog for her tutorial.

Some of the new papers for Blinkblots 20 Questions Books. (From top left) Venice Plum & Navy,  Zinnia Dusk, Ocean Floral, Spanish Tile Flower.
Royal Purple Water Flower and Plum Water Purple flower.

Some of these are very limited, only one or two books available, so hurry if you see something you love. $36 each book
Order your book by email to [email protected] or at the blinkblots etsy store

First you might be wondering "What's with the bats?" Last year for lil' Cookie's 3 Year Birthday we did a Spiderman-Ironman party. She still loves superheroes, this year she has broadened her interests to DC comics as well. So for the past 10 months I have been trying to talk her into doing something different. Simply for the sake of diversity and not to squash her love of idols that actually do something besides wait around looking pretty.
So she does love butterflies lately, and Batman especially; thus the bat and butterfly compromise.

Lil' Cookie's party was held at this adorable oasis of an ice cream store in downtown Glendale: Papa Ed's.  She and I made bat and butterfly garlands.
If you have a party at an ice cream shop, eating real food is almost as silly as wearing shamrocks for New Years. Still, we had butterfly and bat shaped sandwiches and crackers, with munchies and a bruschetta chicken salad.
 Cookie (I suppose she is four now so I should stop calling her lil' -soon I might have to call her something else entirely like Sandwich) got to hand out her favors of candy, notebooks and balloons like she was auctioning off exquisit flavors of ice cream. Straws were decked out in the theme courtesy of my friend Suntaree on Etsy.
Papa Ed's works with Shelley's Desserts who made these amazing and yummy mini cupcakes. "Yes! You can eat the bat!"

handmade charlotte on babble

Exhibit A: the result of handing over paint chips, scissors, yarn, and a nearby hole punch to a 4 year old. "THEY ARE NECKLACES, Mommy, not a mobee!"

noddyboom.typepad.com

Exhibit B: A couch fort/house/batcave/chimney/castle/San Diego/roof top/hideout...etc. etc.