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.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
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!
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!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, August 13, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
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.
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.
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