Lake Superior

It is Friday, Henry is seven weeks old today. Everything is quiet, both kids are sleeping. I just had my postpartum checkup and everything seems to be just fine. Thank goodness.

Every year about this time I get very nostalgic for my favorite place on earth -- Lake Superior in the U.P. of Michigan. My family has made many trips to the rocky shores. Each summer we would pack our whole family and my paternal grandmother, Gran, into our car (and eventually mini van) and spend 10+ hours on the long drive from East Lansing to Lake Shore Cabins in Silver City. Even before I was a part of this world, my Gran would pack up my dad and uncle and drive all the way from Missouri to escape the ragweed, to which my dad is allergic.
My dad, sister and brother years ago:



Gran was a geologist, so our trips consisted of looking for agates and visiting the copper dump to search for cast off scraps of copper, as well as hiking in the Porcupine Mountains, roasting hot dogs over a bonfire, and attempting to swim in the frigid waters of the great Lake Superior. I love this place, it is inexplicably peaceful and relaxing. It could be, in part, that there are no phones, televisions, computers, or other distracting electronic devices but I think the fresh, clean air and the sounds of the lake contribute as well.
My sister and I on a more recent trip:



I am desperate to share this experience with Vince, Eleanor and Henry. I want them to breathe the cool air, smell the lake and the woods, and learn how to spot an agate in the wet or the dry. The problem is, it is difficult to get there. At any rate, I do hope to take my brood to my favorite spot one of these days.

In the meantime, we will have to make do with some rocks that we have from vacations past. In addition to agates, the beaches are covered with myriad rocks of different shapes, sizes and colors. My favorites are the smooth, heavy pieces of basalt; they feel especially nice in your hand. As a kid, I would look for basalt that had holes in it -- my Gran explained that this is where the agates formed. These were special pieces of stone for me, so I named them stoneys. We have a couple of stoneys here at the house, as well as many nearly perfect round pieces of basalt.
Eleanor playing with basalt:



Eleanor has enjoyed playing with these rocks on many occasions. I just have to watch her because there is something enticing about the smoothness of these rocks that makes her want to pop them in her mouth. Some of the best toys are not even toys at all, just little pieces of nature. I am glad that she has them, in some small way she is connecting with my favorite place.

Favorite (Baby) Things - Slings and Carriers

I've often meant to make a list of all of our favorite baby things that I could pass along to pregnant friends. Last night at girls night out, one of the girls announced that she is having a boy and asked for information on useful/not useful baby stuff. I decided that this was my reminder to make the list before I forget why I like/dislike the incredible amount of gear and toys we have. We have used all of our little baby stuff once with Eleanor and are now putting it through the riggors of Henry. Eleanor is now on to toddler stuff so we have a wide range of favorite things (and not so favorite things) in that genre too.

Since slings and baby carriers were brought up last night as a controversial topic, I'll start with my opinions on them. I love my slings -- I have two, a pouch and a ring sling. We also have a couple of Baby Bjorns (a hand me down Original and a new Active) and an Ergo Baby Carrier. If we had millions of dollars, I would probably have a much larger array of baby carriers but as it is, my husband already things I am a sling addict. So these are my reviews of what we have:

Pouch Sling - We have a Peanut Shell pouch sling. It is like a circle of fabric with a little area for the baby to snuggle into. I got this one for Eleanor, it is bright pink and green polka dots on one side and reversable to hot pink on the other side -- very cute. The things I love about this are that it is so small, I can fold it flat and fit it into my (very small) diaper bag. It also doubles as a blanket because there are no rings, snaps, straps, etc. This sling has grown with her, at 20 months and about 25 pounds I can still easily carry her in it. Plus it is just so darn cute. The only complaint I had with the company was that I placed the order for a sling that was reversable to green and they sent me one with pink instead. When I emailed them to see if this could be fixed, they said that the green was no longer available. Since I wanted the outside pattern, I kept the one I had -- Henry looks cute in pink anyway. Here is Eleanor in the sling when she was super tiny:



Ring Sling - I figured that Henry should have a sling of his own so before he was born I bought a Maya Wrap Lightly Padded ring sling from a local woman named Trish who runs a business called the Baby Hammock. I contacted her because I thought I wanted another pouch sling and she allows people to try out the slings before buying. Well, once I tried on the Maya Wrap sling I changed my mind. This sling consists of two rings and a long piece of fabric which can be tightened and loosened through the rings. There is also a zippered pocket at the end of the fabric for miscellaneous mama (or daddy) stuff. Since this sling adjusts with the ring, it fits both me and Vince. The fabric (we chose the blue color, #15 on the website) is very soft and there is enough in the tail that I can cover myself completely while nursing Henry. Henry can ride upright or laying down -- he prefers the upright position at this point. Eleanor also still fits into this sling but we haven't used it too much with her yet since Henry can't really get around by himself. Here is Henry at a butterfly exhibit in the ring sling:




Ergo Baby Carrier - We got the Ergo when Eleanor was a bit older. It is very comfortable -- wonderful for longer walks, but not something I use around the house. The baby can ride on the front, back or hip. Eleanor particularly liked the back position, riding like a piggy back. It was a bit tricky to figure out how to get here on my back by myself, but once we got the hang of it, there was no problem. We have used the Ergo on walks in the woods, which is nice because she can walk when she wants to or be carried if she gets tired without major strain on me or Vince. I haven't used the Ergo in a while though, it was inconvenient when I was pregnant and we haven't used it with Henry since we don't have the infant insert. Here is Eleanor in the Ergo:



Baby Bjorn - As I mentioned we have two Baby Bjorns. We got an old model Original handed down to us from some friends and Vince wanted to get the Active when Eleanor was born, so we did. I used the old Bjorn quite often when Eleanor was very little. Once she got to be a couple of months old, I found that it was making my back ache if we walked for any distance. I tried the Active model but found that it didn't fit me very well, even though we thought it would. So, I went back to the sling. I've tried Henry in the Bjorn a couple of times and he doesn't like it at all. Anyway, my review of the Bjorn is that it is ok when they are very small but for my money, I would rather have a sling and/or the Ergo. Here is Eleanor throwing a fit as I get her into the Bjorn (old model Original):



Am I a baby carrier addict? Maybe. But it is fun. I think I want to get one of the baby wraps next and give that a try. If and when I do, I will let you know how it goes. For now I need to get a nap in while the monkeys are still sleeping.

Smiles

Henry is definitely smiling now. I haven't captured a good one on camera yet but will post it when I do. I have to say, it definitely warms the heart. He was smiling in Eleanor's general direction this morning and she was giving her big, square, toothy smile back. I could have sat in that moment forever.

A New Stool for Eleanor

I had so much fun the other night making a stool for Eleanor. I have been looking for a stool to put in our bathroom that she can use to get on the potty and use while washing her hands without much success. Most of the stools I have seen in the stores are either plastic, covered with characters or just boring. I wanted something a bit unique for her; something that would be her own.

After reading a post on a blog called Angry Chicken about toys not made in China and her homemade toys, I was inspired to make a stool for Eleanor. I came home from a trip to the craft store with an unfinished stool, some colorful card stock, two sponge brushes, and a jar of Mod Podge, which is apparently non toxic and therefore perfect for the project. Since I had a 50% off coupon, the amount I spent was less than what I would have spent if I had bought one of the plastic stools! I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do but figured something would hit me. I decided to put Eleanor's name on the stool in blue along with a giraffe -- an animal she has always loved.

I drew the idea out on plain paper first and then cut the pieces out of the colored paper from the pattern. The letters were a bit tricky because they are so small, but I think they turned out alright. Then I put a layer of Mod Podge on the stool and put the first layer of the design down (yellow part of the giraffe, leaves and branches) and pushed all the air bubbles out. Once that dried just a bit, I put the top layer of the design (giraffe spots and letters) and another coat of Mod Podge. I have put several more layers of Mod Podge on since and am considering a coat of something that will protect and take the tackiness off the surface -- it is going in the bathroom after all and will most likely come in contact with water at some point!

Here is the stool:



And, on a completely unrelated note, we had a young buck in our backyard yesterday eating the pears from our tree. Amazing to be three miles from D.C. and have such abundant wildlife!

Contests on blogs remind me of...

I won a contest for Eleanor and Henry! Yay! The good folks over at Z Recommends randomly selected my name, along with several others, from those who entered to win a giveaway in celebration of 500 readers on their RSS feed. (I didn't know what a RSS feed was either, they have a good tutorial on their site that explains it here.) I am so excited, the CD is called Tidal Wave of Song and is done by Kid Pan Alley. It looks like it is right up Eleanor's alley (no pun intended) -- lots of fish on the front cover.

As I was reveling in my glory, I started to think of the movie The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. I have thought about this before when I have seen giveaways on blogs, but it made me giggle as I found myself so pleased about the CD. The movie, based on a book, which I have not read, by the same name. The storyline follows a mother who raises a family of 10 children by writing jingles in the 1950s and is based on the true story of Evelyn Ryan. Now, I am certainly not going to be able to raise our family on one CD -- nor do I face some of the seemingly insurmountable challenges that faced Mrs. Ryan -- but the thought of the modern day giveaways on blogs is definitely reminiscent of that story. I can imagine the giddy feeling she must have had when she won the various contests, especially the big ones. By the way, the movie is great and definitely worth watching and I imagine the book is a good read as well.

So, a huge thank you to Z Recommends for the CD -- we'll let you know how Eleanor likes it when it arrives.

Library Books - week of July 20, 2007

Initially, I thought the books we got this week were a bust. Eleanor didn't seem interested in them at all. However, had I been a bit more patient, I would have seen that after becoming more familiar with them she has enjoyed each and every one. We got five books this week but I think I'll just review three again -- more feasible considering time constraints of rearing two children!

1. The Day the Babies Crawled Away by Peggy Rathmann
This is one I picked out because I loved the illustrations. Hmm, I seem to do that often! This book is amazing though -- all of the pictures are black silhouettes against soft colors that make up the sky. The negative space created throughout the book almost reminds me of lace, it really is beautiful. The rhyming storyline follows a bunch of babies who crawl away from their parents (who are eating pies) and the little boy (I think it is intended to be a boy) who brings them safely home. Eleanor had a hard time making it through the text on each page at first but once she heard some of the rhymes a few times it became easier. I think the concept of the silhouette was also a bit difficult for her. The illustrations are so clever though; on each page there is something new to look for that carries on throughout the book. Once Eleanor figured out the the dark part was where the story was taking place, she was thrilled to look for the little caterpillar, the frogs in the bog or the upside down baby in each picture.

2. Shake my Sillies Out by Raffi, Illustrated by David Allender
This book is based on a song by Raffi and actually includes the sheet music at the end of the book. Too bad I don't play an instrument! At any rate, Eleanor and I made up our own tune for the words and danced like crazy. She really got a kick out of shaking, clapping, jumping (which she hasn't quite mastered yet), and yawing all of her sillies out. In fact, we may even have to download Raffi's song so that she can continue to shake after we return the book.

3. Harry at the Garage by Derek Radford
This one was Eleanor's choice. She saw the big red car on the cover, grabbed the book and said "vroom, vroom". I knew this book was coming home with us. I found it hilarious to open the cover and see all sorts of cars from 1994 when the book was published, including a Chevy Camaro Coupe, a Lincoln Town Car, and a Pontiac Trans Sport SE. Guess that is the Michigan in me. This book is actually really interesting though. Maybe a bit advanced for Eleanor, it details a trip to the garage to have a car worked on by a hippo and his two kids. They talk about all the jobs that people in the garage do and there is one picture that discusses all the parts of the engine. Eleanor was a bit impatient with the pages that were text heavy but she did like looking at all the cars. Like father, like daughter!

Able to Leap a Building in a Single Bound! (Well, not quite, but he looks cute.)

I have to say that our little Superman looks just as cute in this Paulina Quintana outfit as Eleanor did. Huge thanks again to Rebe for sending it! This little green ensemble is actually one of my favorite outfits. Besides being irresistibly cute, it is well designed, making diaper changes easy. There is a zipper that goes from one foot across the bottom to the other (see below) so you don't have to fiddle with snaps. Plus, I love green. The color is so nice because anyone can wear it, in this case as long as you are under 13 lbs or so. Plain, simple and functional!

I didn't think Henry would have the chance to wear this outfit because the weather has been so hot and humid but, miraculously, the past few days have actually been cool enough to merit long sleeves for a baby. Check out our two little howlers below -- Henry, aka Superman, is the first picture and Eleanor is the second. (I forgot how much HAIR she had!)

The Wonders of Liquid Benedryl

Eleanor has mosquito bites. I don't just mean a few, I mean a LOT of mosquito bites. At one point Vince and I were going to make a doctor appointment because we were afraid she might have measles or some other dreadful disease. We are not entirely sure where she got such a large quantity of bites -- was it the pool? Or being out in the garden at dusk? Whatever the cause it will remain a mystery and hopefully not happen again to such an extreme.

I did call the nurse line at the doctor's office and she recommended an elaborate treatment including an Aveno bath, calamine lotion, cortisone cream and cold compresses. I imagine these drastic measures might be more necessary if the toddler is scratching like crazy at the bites, but Eleanor is only just figuring out that they itch. It just looks worse than anything.

I called my mom, as I often do when I am in a state of panic over some little thing with the kids, and she reminded me that children's liquid Benedryl will work wonders on bites. I do remember having the pink stuff dabbed on many a mosquito bite in my childhood. So, we gave it a try. I opted for a cotton ball instead of a q-tip due to the large quantity of skin to cover. It was a bit sticky on her arms and legs but worked like a charm. Vince actually commented on the improvement of her "rash" when he came home.

So, I just wanted to sing the praises of liquid Benedryl. I personally think the stuff is great when taken internally too -- since I am allergic to tree nuts, I am pretty sure it has saved my life a few times. The liquid stuff especially since it works on contact. Anyway, that's all for now.

10 Things to do with a 20 Month Old Busybody and a 5 Week Old Tagalong

Eleanor is a busybody. We love her active spirit but we need to keep her occupied while caring for our 5 week old Henry, who at this point just tags along for the most part. When both Vince and I are home it is is not as much of an issue but once he goes to work, it sometimes gets a bit hectic around the house. I should mention here that I am a huge proponent of being outdoors. In fact I think this is one of the most important things for kids, being outside that they can connect with nature in real and meaningful ways. However, with the exceedingly hot and humid days that DC is famous for, it is nice to have some no-fail indoor activities to keep us all from going stir crazy. I am a northern winter girl, after all!

Here is a list of indoor things we like to do during the day:

1. Read -- Eleanor loves books. LOVES them. This is her favorite way to pass time when we are indoors. She has her favorites from our bookshelves and also enjoys getting "new" books from the library. I can't tell you how many of our own books I have memorized, which actually comes in very handy when trying to deal with Henry and read at the same time. Sometimes it takes Eleanor a couple of days to get used to the library books but, for the most part, once we have read them a few times she enjoys them. She is fairly gentle with books; we have only had a few ripped pages, usually when she is overtired. If I notice that she is getting tired or frustrated, we stick more to board books until the morning or after her nap. Reading with her has saved me on many occasions from going crazy when I am so tired at the end of the day. We just curl up, with Henry if he is up, in the big orange chair and read until Vince gets home.

2. Puzzles & Games -- My family has always loved doing puzzles and playing gamesWe have passed countless Christmases with one jigsaw puzzle after another laid out on the card table in the living room. Sometimes we would sit down and work at the puzzles, sometimes we would just put in a piece here and there as we passed by. We also had many board games throughout the years, many of which are still in my parents house and are brought out when we are all home. Mom and Dad often played bridge with family friends and Nana is always up for a game of Scrabble. Now it is Eleanor's turn to learn the joys of playing together. She has several wooden puzzles and recently received a jigsaw puzzle with extra large pieces as a gift. We like to work on these puzzles together, they often keep her occupied for a good chunk of time. She also has a memory matching game that she enjoys. Though she doesn't play in the traditional way yet, she does enjoy dumping all the pieces on the floor and showing me matching pairs -- or sometimes just a single piece with a picture she particularly likes.

3. Draw -- Eleanor often asks to "dwa dwa". We have a little drawing station set up on the screened in porch where she has a table, two chairs and a huge box of crayons. She also has markers but I keep those separate from the crayons because they require slightly more supervision since she can't quite get the caps back on yet. We also keep her stickers out there so she can create like crazy. I do have to watch her a bit with the stickers though, for some reason they seem appetizing to her and often end up in her mouth. Henry often hangs out in my arms for these drawing sessions.


4. Housework -- This may seem like an unlikely way to have fun but Eleanor is a huge help around the house. And, I think she enjoys it too. I was recently reading a post on another blog called Oh My Stinkin Heck (I know, funny name!), about teaching kids to help out with housework. I had started this post before reading it but it ties in so nicely here -- maybe someday when we are able to remodel a kitchen we can make it more kid friendly too. When Eleanor and I do housework together, we choose things that are well suited to a toddler. She helps me sweep with her little broom (usually in an area I've already swept), she throws things in the garbage or puts things in the recycling (she needs a bit of help knowing which goes where -- but not much), and she puts laundry in the dryer or helps me hang it on the line when the weather is nice. Sometimes she gets a bit sidetracked and some laundry will end up on the grass or the recycling will come out of the bin instead of going in, but generally she is a very conscientious worker. We are working as a family on putting things away before nap and bedtime now in an effort to keep the house from looking like a hurricane has hit. I think it is working and keeping Eleanor entertained!


5. Tend the Garden & Water Plants -- We planted a garden for the first time this summer. How lovely it is to have a yard! Although the garden is technically an outdoor activity and this is supposed to be about things you can do inside on a hot day, the garden is close enough that we can go out do a quick bit of gardening and make it back inside without getting overheated. Plus, we usually pick a few things from the garden and then have something fun to eat or cook with once we are back inside. Eleanor loves helping water the plants, both in the garden and in the house. She requires some supervision in the house with the watering can but does a good job. Usually after the plants are watered, she'll carry the watering can around for a while and do some pretend watering. One other thing that I will lump into this category is filling the bird feeders since we bring them inside to fill. We have a finch feeder and a hummingbird feeder out front and Eleanor enjoys helping with these tasks, especially mixing up the hummingbird nectar. And, I can say that the birds like it too -- we've had lots of goldfinches, sparrows and hummingbirds this summer.



6. Cook -- Eleanor is a bit too small yet to cut or measure things but she can stir and pour like a champ. She likes to help making her "mush" (oatmeal) by pouring the ingredients into the pot. She takes special pleasure in grabbing the handfuls of raisins that go into the oatmeal and chucking them in. Once the stove is on, she still likes to "sheee" (see) by standing on a chair but she knows that the stove is hot and she must not touch. We recently made pretzels, our first major cooking project. I got the recipe here and they were quite good. She got a bit bored during the kneading part but it was otherwise a huge success. Next time I would probably use the mixer to knead because she enjoys watching it go around and around. There is a nice blog called Z Recommends that focused their posts on food recently, inspiring me to attempt the pretzel project.


7. Web Cam Calls -- I am pretty rigid about no TV for Eleanor and Henry during the day but the exception to the rule is web cam calls to our family. Having family spread across the entire country - and Canada too - it is hard to see everyone as often as we would like. The web cam is a wonderful way for Eleanor (and soon Henry) to know her family. It is much better than the phone because she can see what is happening on the other end. Eleanor loves to sing songs with and "show" books, toys, etc. to whoever we are talking with. Our family enjoys it as well; in fact, I'm not sure who loves it more, Eleanor or the grandparents.

8. Bath & Sink Play -- Eleanor loves water. She loves to go to the pool but the one in our neighborhood only allows un-potty trained kids in the baby pool. So, for anyone over 3 feet tall (me) or too small to go in the pool yet (Henry) the pool is a difficult option during the day. Instead we play in the sink or the bathtub. I think Eleanor could play at the sink for hours. She stands on a chair with a tiny stream of water coming out of the tap and a cup or spoon to "wash". This is actually a good way for me to get a few dishes done too! Usually there is a fair amount of water that ends up on her and the floor but water is easy to clean and at she is happy. On really hot days, I'll just fill up a few inches in the bathtub and let a thin stream run from the tap. She could sit and splash around in the water, with only a cup for a toy, indefinitely. She also has some bath crayons that she likes to cover the tile and grout with.


9. Dance & Make Music -- I think Eleanor is going to be like me, in that she loves to dance. It brings a huge smile to my face every time some music comes on and she starts bopping or twirling around. For example, the other day we were out at a restaurant and some classic rock came on -- Eleanor and Vince started shaking their heads with the same hilarious expression on -- I wish I had a camera. During the day, if she seems like she may be headed for a meltdown, I just put her favorite CD on and away she goes. (I'll write more about her favorite CD in another post, this one is already getting quite long.) She also enjoys singing, especially to songs with actions such as the Itsy Bitsy Spider. We don't have many "real" instruments around the house but she often pulls a pot or the salad spinner off the shelf in the kitchen and uses it as a drum. I am so glad that she enjoys music so much.


10. Individual Play & Toys -- Henry is so small still that sometimes he just requires my undivided attention. Eleanor is pretty good when this occurs and can occupy herself with her toys. She has been blessed with more toys than any one child really needs thanks to our wonderful friends and family, so there is always something for her to play with. She has some favorites -- her "dahl dahl" (doll), her stacking blocks, her tent, etc. but she can also be just as amused with the pillows off the couch or my yoga mat. In fact, just two days ago she started doing somersaults by herself on the yoga mat. I have a feeling she will be to tall to be much of a gymnast, but you never know!

Why Blog?

We have been publishing our website for nearly two years now but I wanted to start this blog for a couple of reasons.

First, I have been reading a lot of parenting blogs recently and they have inspired me to write more about our little monkeys, the things they like and activities we do with them. I hope that our family and friends will like reading this format and maybe some other folks will enjoy the posts too, just as I have enjoyed other parents blogs.

Second, the blogger format is so much easier to work with. All I have to do is type down my thoughts and hit the publish button. I have learned a lot already and plan to keep learning so that I can make it more interactive and fun to read. I'll start adding pictures now too so that all of my wordiness doesn't get too boring!

Now that you have the reasoning, I will also mention that in the first few posts I had started out calling Eleanor our Howler and Henry our Squeaker, but decided to just use their first names. I will eventually incorporate our pictures from Flickr and our kids names are listed there anyway so there is no sense in excluding them from this blog.

Hooray for Sleep!

Last night our little Squeaker miraculously slept from 9:30 pm to 3:30 am! And then, after nursing, until 7:15 am! I think that kids know just when the sleep deprivation is really getting to their parents and they kick the sleeping in just before the parents totally lose it. In this case, I think we also had a few helpful little things that made our Squeaker sleep better.

First, he is one month and one week old now, which means he has gained some weight since birth and probably doesn't need to eat as frequently. We will find out how much he weighs at his two month check up in 3 weeks but I have read that after babies reach 12 or 13 pounds, they are more likely to sleep better.

Second, our friend Sarah let us borrow an Especially for Baby inclined sleep positioner to try out. We thought that maybe since our Squeaker seems to get fussy after feeding that he has a bit of reflux and the slight incline might help. It seems to be working very well after two nights of use. We have a mountain of baby and toddler stuff but this is one thing that we never bought -- so thank you Sarah!

Third, we have been reading a book that Vince's aunt gave us as a gift for our Howler. It is called Good Night, Sleep Tight: The Sleep Lady's Gentle Guide to Helping your Child go to Sleep, Stay Asleep, and Wake Up Happy by Kim West and Joanne Kenen. This book was a good guide for us while we were teaching our Howler to sleep and the same techniques seem to be coming in handy with the Squeaker. Like any parenting advice there are probably a million ways to do it but we have taken what we like from her practices and made them our own. I think the things that have worked with the Howler and now seem to be working with the Squeaker are: putting him down drowsy but awake, nursing upon waking instead of nursing to sleep, and keeping to some sort of a schedule.

We are most likely not out of the woods yet in terms of night wakings but I think this is a good start. And, there is nothing like several consecutive hours of good solid sleep to make the parents feel refreshed and capable!

Fried Cheerios

I am not entirely sure where my mom got the idea for fried Cheerios as a snack but it was one of my favorites growing up. There was a point in my life where I made and ate this snack every day after school.

It is a rather simple recipe: melt about a tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium high heat, add some Cheerios, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and eat. Some people have told me that this is a weird idea, but it should really be tasted before coming to any conclusions. In my opinion it is incredibly good.

I decided to introduce our little Howler to this culinary delight yesterday. I can say that she enjoyed the treat very much -- maybe even as much as I do. Once the snack was cool enough, she gleefully grabbed very large handfuls and stuffed them in her mouth while exclaiming "mmm". I do very much love being able to share little things that I enjoyed as a kid.

Library Books - week of July 13, 2007

I have decided to include our Howler's reviews of some of the books that we get from the library. We have just started visiting the Little Falls Library in Bethesda, MD and they have a lovely children's reading room. Our little Howler loved sitting on the floor and reading through the various board books. She also thoroughly enjoyed pulling the picture books off the shelves -- my clue that it was time to pick some books and head home. Our little Squeaker slept soundly the entire trip but the librarian did take notice of him and correctly guessed that it was his first visit to the library. She even gave him a small sippy cup that said "Read to me". Very cute.

Once I get the hang of this blogger format, I will begin adding pictures and (hopefully) make it more exciting. In the meantime, enjoy the reviews and I am going to catch a quick nap while both little ones are sleeping.

So this week we just picked three books:
1. Digger Man by Andrea Zimmerman, Illustrated by David Clemesha
Our Howler loved this book about a little boy with a little brother (just like her) who buys a digger and does lots of work with it. She especially liked the illustration where the digger is deep in mud. The only problem I have with this and other books about machines, engines, cars, trucks, etc. is that they seem to be almost exclusively boy focused. If anyone knows of books which focus on these types of motorized vehicles and have a girl as the main character, please let me know! We do have one at home that is just pictures of trucks, no characters, and she loves that book too.

2. Creation by Gerald McDermott
This is a beautifully illustrated vision of the creation story in Genesis, told in a way that is, according to the author, "welcome to everyone, regardless of the direction from which they come". I actually just grabbed this book as we were heading for the check out desk because the illustrations caught my eye but our Howler has really enjoyed reading it. There are lots of interesting animals, birds and fish illustrated on the pages dedicated to that portion of the story and she has had fun pointing out the different stylized creatures.

3. Goodnight Engines by Denise Dowling Mortensen, Illustrated by Melissa Iwai
Another book that our Howler grabbed because it had a child playing with a truck on the cover. The child in this book also appears to be a boy, he wears blue and has short hair, but it is less explicit than in the previously mentioned Digger Man. This is a nice goodnight story and, again, lovely illustrations. It is not an especially wordy book but the rhyme is really nice. Also, it focuses on a variety of engines, trains, trucks, cars, airplanes -- all the things a toddler loves. Our Howler was especially taken with the picture of the mommy kissing the child at the end.

What's in a name?

When we were pregnant with our first, the doctor told us during one of the ultrasounds that she had a lot of hair. We began to contemplate what color it would be and decided that it would most likely be red. We also determined (correctly) that she would probably sound somewhat like a howler monkey. Hence the name -- The Red Headed Howler.

Our second is more of a squeaker, though he is only a month old. I imagine that his lungs will develop to full howler potential very soon. Neither the Howler nor the Squeaker ended up with red hair, but the name still sticks.