I am so proud of myself. I called two of my Congress-people today. California has two bills going through the works, SB1713 to ban BPA and SB1313 to ban PFC's.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1144/t/1874/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=3192
This link makes it easy, you click on a link to look up who your representatives are (by where you live) and they even give you talking points. It was so easy, both secretaries I talked to were friendly and seemed to hear what I had to say.
For the rest of the day, I felt really good about myself for doing this. I hope others will do it too.
I promise more pics of G soon, maybe not tomorrow b/c it's supposed to be the high of the heat wave and we may be off to cooler AC pastures (the mall). Today the house hit 82, yuck.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Lots of Catching Up!
Yes, I've been quite remiss in blogging lately. I'm not sure what the excuse is. Part of the problem is uploading photos. The photos that E shot on the camping trip were in RAW format, which means they take more time to process (i.e., he wants to fiddle with them). So that's mostly the hold-up, getting pics uploaded. I'm in the process of uploading pics, there may or may not be any in this entry, but if not now then soon.
G had her 6 month birthday on Monday. We can't believe how time really is flying. 6 months! I was extremely anxious about this too, for a number of reasons, the main one being getting her shots again. If you don't remember, G had a bad (in my mind) reaction to her 4 month shots and spiked a fever by evening and we had 2 failed attempts to give her Baby Tylenol which involved a lot of spitting up. The other thing on my mind was starting solids.
6 months is like the golden milestone. I might even argue that it is more significant than double digits of turning 10, the Sweet 16, being able to vote and go to war at 18, and the one everyone looks forward to, drinking at 21. For each of those milestones, there's just one or two rewards. 6 months is in anothe league, opening the floodgates of opportunities! At 6 months, G can now go on a cruise (she was not allowed to go on a recent cruise with E's family because she was 2 weeks shy of the Big Mark), she can start eating solid foods (meaning watery rice cereal and extremely blended baby food), she can use bug repellant and sunscreen, she can have ibuprofen, her doctor's visits are now every 3 months instead of 2, the list goes on. We didn't do much to celebrate all her new freedoms, just laid low after her shots to help her recover and be as comfortable as possible.
Well, I guess we did do one thing, we signed up G for a gymnastics/tumbling class. Since it was our first, I asked E to come to participate and document the experience for us. G had a blast! The class only had 3 babies in it, the others were about 8-9 months. G never once looked scared or fussy, and because of that, the teacher used her to demonstrate the moves throughout the class. The class uses music and movement to help the babies develop their muscles to get them ready for crawling (which the other two could already do) and walking. There are a number of "exercises" that we learned to do with G to help her muscles, for upper body, lower body, and back. G's favorite parts? Jumping, the bubbles, the rubber balls, and rolling in all sorts of new ways (horizontally with Mommy & Daddy, and vertically along a steam-roller type of thing).
G had her 6 month birthday on Monday. We can't believe how time really is flying. 6 months! I was extremely anxious about this too, for a number of reasons, the main one being getting her shots again. If you don't remember, G had a bad (in my mind) reaction to her 4 month shots and spiked a fever by evening and we had 2 failed attempts to give her Baby Tylenol which involved a lot of spitting up. The other thing on my mind was starting solids.
6 months is like the golden milestone. I might even argue that it is more significant than double digits of turning 10, the Sweet 16, being able to vote and go to war at 18, and the one everyone looks forward to, drinking at 21. For each of those milestones, there's just one or two rewards. 6 months is in anothe league, opening the floodgates of opportunities! At 6 months, G can now go on a cruise (she was not allowed to go on a recent cruise with E's family because she was 2 weeks shy of the Big Mark), she can start eating solid foods (meaning watery rice cereal and extremely blended baby food), she can use bug repellant and sunscreen, she can have ibuprofen, her doctor's visits are now every 3 months instead of 2, the list goes on. We didn't do much to celebrate all her new freedoms, just laid low after her shots to help her recover and be as comfortable as possible.
Well, I guess we did do one thing, we signed up G for a gymnastics/tumbling class. Since it was our first, I asked E to come to participate and document the experience for us. G had a blast! The class only had 3 babies in it, the others were about 8-9 months. G never once looked scared or fussy, and because of that, the teacher used her to demonstrate the moves throughout the class. The class uses music and movement to help the babies develop their muscles to get them ready for crawling (which the other two could already do) and walking. There are a number of "exercises" that we learned to do with G to help her muscles, for upper body, lower body, and back. G's favorite parts? Jumping, the bubbles, the rubber balls, and rolling in all sorts of new ways (horizontally with Mommy & Daddy, and vertically along a steam-roller type of thing).
Arm & shoulder exercises:
Here we are under the parachute:
G just woke up from her nap, so more to follow...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Happy Little Camper
It's been a while, but Monday the Internet was down, and since then, I've been busy.
The camping trip was a success! G had her own little tent inside our tent (which was the smallest tent by far of all the families, and we were not the smallest family). She did so well, we didn't need any of the extra clothes that we brought for her, not even the warm ones because it never really got that cold, and we were putting her down to sleep earlier anyways (because she was waking up at dawn with the rest of the kids running around and making noise). E & G did one little hike up to something called Balancing Rock (pic to be entered later after E processes all the pics he shot in raw). Then, Saturday afternoon everyone went to the beach, but we stayed at camp b/c G was taking a nap. Overall, it was relaxing and fun hanging out with friends. There were about 20-25 kids total there, my guess is that most were under 8 or 10, most of the families there had 2-3 kids per family. Everyone commented about how G seemed like such an easy baby and that she never made a sound (except for when I was feeding her, but that was in our tent).
What else is G doing these days? Now that she is such an expert at rolling, she does it all the time, and sometimes we have to go back into her room to flip her over because she has rolled onto her tummy before going to sleep. G is now practicing her sitting techniques. She can sit for about 1-2 minutes at most, but usually she falls over within 30 seconds. Will post a pic of this too once it gets off of the camera. I am also preparing for when G turns 6 months and can start solids. I will be attempting to make her baby food, so that she can have fresh and organic foods. I'm excited about it, but sad and nervous as well. Excited and nervous to try making her food and hoping it works out in terms of time and effort, sad that her nutrition will no longer come from just drinking breast-milk.
In other news, the other day I went out to run errands and realized (already parked outside the store) that I didn't have G's stroller in the trunk. We had taken it out for camping over the weekend and had forgotten to put it back. Oops. I almost just went home, since G was sleeping in her car seat. Instead, I decided, to use her carrier and continue shopping. It actually turned out well, I managed to get G into the carrier without waking her up, and was able to push around a regular shopping cart with plenty of room to pick up all the stuff I needed (the big stuff were plastic bins for sorting and storing G's hand-me-downs that we've been getting from friends). After she woke up, she looked around and seemed happy. It was such a success, that I did this again to go grocery shopping today, except that she started out awake, then fell asleep midway through, and I was able to get her back into her car seat still asleep.
It's a great feeling to know that I can handle taking her out running errands and adapt on the fly and learn new (and sometimes better) ways of being out with her. There are definitely benefits to using her carrier versus the car seat - preventing flat head, facilitating bonding/attachment through close contact, allowing G to have a better view, just to name a few.
Now all I have to figure out is timing cooking dinner since G always seems to be awake when I need to cook (the hour before E comes home). Today's strategy: cook when she takes her nap in the afternoon, and reheat when E comes home. I'm also going to look into things that take longer to cook, so that I can do it earlier also when she's napping, like roasts or stews that you stick in the oven for hours. We also have a new household rule that there will be no cooking in the house when the inside temperature reaches 80 degrees. Today the inside high was 79, oh well. It was ok, because since I had just gone grocery shopping I had sort of planned a meal already (mixed white/brown rice, spinach with garlic, and ground pork, tofu, squash with black bean sauce, my feeble attempt at cooking Asian style. E is much better at the Asian cuisine, while I am better with the American/Italian/French stuff).
The camping trip was a success! G had her own little tent inside our tent (which was the smallest tent by far of all the families, and we were not the smallest family). She did so well, we didn't need any of the extra clothes that we brought for her, not even the warm ones because it never really got that cold, and we were putting her down to sleep earlier anyways (because she was waking up at dawn with the rest of the kids running around and making noise). E & G did one little hike up to something called Balancing Rock (pic to be entered later after E processes all the pics he shot in raw). Then, Saturday afternoon everyone went to the beach, but we stayed at camp b/c G was taking a nap. Overall, it was relaxing and fun hanging out with friends. There were about 20-25 kids total there, my guess is that most were under 8 or 10, most of the families there had 2-3 kids per family. Everyone commented about how G seemed like such an easy baby and that she never made a sound (except for when I was feeding her, but that was in our tent).
What else is G doing these days? Now that she is such an expert at rolling, she does it all the time, and sometimes we have to go back into her room to flip her over because she has rolled onto her tummy before going to sleep. G is now practicing her sitting techniques. She can sit for about 1-2 minutes at most, but usually she falls over within 30 seconds. Will post a pic of this too once it gets off of the camera. I am also preparing for when G turns 6 months and can start solids. I will be attempting to make her baby food, so that she can have fresh and organic foods. I'm excited about it, but sad and nervous as well. Excited and nervous to try making her food and hoping it works out in terms of time and effort, sad that her nutrition will no longer come from just drinking breast-milk.
In other news, the other day I went out to run errands and realized (already parked outside the store) that I didn't have G's stroller in the trunk. We had taken it out for camping over the weekend and had forgotten to put it back. Oops. I almost just went home, since G was sleeping in her car seat. Instead, I decided, to use her carrier and continue shopping. It actually turned out well, I managed to get G into the carrier without waking her up, and was able to push around a regular shopping cart with plenty of room to pick up all the stuff I needed (the big stuff were plastic bins for sorting and storing G's hand-me-downs that we've been getting from friends). After she woke up, she looked around and seemed happy. It was such a success, that I did this again to go grocery shopping today, except that she started out awake, then fell asleep midway through, and I was able to get her back into her car seat still asleep.
It's a great feeling to know that I can handle taking her out running errands and adapt on the fly and learn new (and sometimes better) ways of being out with her. There are definitely benefits to using her carrier versus the car seat - preventing flat head, facilitating bonding/attachment through close contact, allowing G to have a better view, just to name a few.
Now all I have to figure out is timing cooking dinner since G always seems to be awake when I need to cook (the hour before E comes home). Today's strategy: cook when she takes her nap in the afternoon, and reheat when E comes home. I'm also going to look into things that take longer to cook, so that I can do it earlier also when she's napping, like roasts or stews that you stick in the oven for hours. We also have a new household rule that there will be no cooking in the house when the inside temperature reaches 80 degrees. Today the inside high was 79, oh well. It was ok, because since I had just gone grocery shopping I had sort of planned a meal already (mixed white/brown rice, spinach with garlic, and ground pork, tofu, squash with black bean sauce, my feeble attempt at cooking Asian style. E is much better at the Asian cuisine, while I am better with the American/Italian/French stuff).
Friday, August 15, 2008
Horizontal 360
It's official, G is now mobile!
Yesterday afternoon I put G down in her crib for her nap and walked out, as usual. She fussed a bit before going down, also typical. However, for some reason, her fussing sounded different, so I went into her room to peek at her and the first thing I saw was a head, the BACK of her head. That's strange! When I got closer, I realized that she had rolled over and was on her belly with her head up. Sigh, silly baby! So I put her back on her back (also redirected her b/c she had rotated) and said goodnight to her. She promptly fell asleep.
Last night when we were playing with her before bed, she rolled over again, from her back to her belly. She had rolled from her back a few weeks back, but since then had only rolled to her side, and then from her side to her belly. Last night, not only did she repeatedly roll from back to belly, but after a few minutes looking around and playing on her belly, continued her journey and rolled again to her back. We have now determined that she is outgrowing her playmat because she can roll from one side to the other (and partially off of it).
G has also discovered that she can grab the arches (which she previously enjoyed kicking) and sway the whole thing with her hand. She is also big enough that she can now grab the toys that hang from the top of the arches.
G is also laughing more, which is soooo much fun! She never laughs when you repeat whatever it was that made her laugh in the first place, which makes things challenging. But this time she laughed when I was singing to her (a made up song about going camping).
We are getting ready to take G camping. It will be her first camping trip and we are hoping she will enjoy it. It is always difficult (especially because we are newbie parents) to know how much is the right amount to pack. It's only car camping, so we don't have to worry so much about weight, but we also don't want to overpack too much, but we want to be prepared for whatever surprises G might have for us (like when she pooped 4 times in one day on Wednesday).
Yesterday afternoon I put G down in her crib for her nap and walked out, as usual. She fussed a bit before going down, also typical. However, for some reason, her fussing sounded different, so I went into her room to peek at her and the first thing I saw was a head, the BACK of her head. That's strange! When I got closer, I realized that she had rolled over and was on her belly with her head up. Sigh, silly baby! So I put her back on her back (also redirected her b/c she had rotated) and said goodnight to her. She promptly fell asleep.
Last night when we were playing with her before bed, she rolled over again, from her back to her belly. She had rolled from her back a few weeks back, but since then had only rolled to her side, and then from her side to her belly. Last night, not only did she repeatedly roll from back to belly, but after a few minutes looking around and playing on her belly, continued her journey and rolled again to her back. We have now determined that she is outgrowing her playmat because she can roll from one side to the other (and partially off of it).
G has also discovered that she can grab the arches (which she previously enjoyed kicking) and sway the whole thing with her hand. She is also big enough that she can now grab the toys that hang from the top of the arches.
G is also laughing more, which is soooo much fun! She never laughs when you repeat whatever it was that made her laugh in the first place, which makes things challenging. But this time she laughed when I was singing to her (a made up song about going camping).
We are getting ready to take G camping. It will be her first camping trip and we are hoping she will enjoy it. It is always difficult (especially because we are newbie parents) to know how much is the right amount to pack. It's only car camping, so we don't have to worry so much about weight, but we also don't want to overpack too much, but we want to be prepared for whatever surprises G might have for us (like when she pooped 4 times in one day on Wednesday).
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Consumer Info
I was asking a mom friend the other day about the velcro hooks she had on her stroller handle and her husband started to tease me about being like Consumer Reports. Well, I have a lot of mom friends, so why not ask their advice instead of re-inventing the wheel? His take was that if they had to go through the trial and error, then we should too, but I think it makes sense to learn from other people's trial and error. Plus, just because it works for some people, doesn't mean it will work for you because it depends on your needs and preferences, so it's not just about, does it work or do you like it? Yes, I'm sort of crazy when it comes to researching G's stuff, but I feel good about doing it and like that I'm trying to provide her with the best possible environment that I can. I guess it's part of my love language! Here's where I go mostly:
The Soft Landing: Everything sold here is BPA free, plus there are articles to read, and a blog with news and info. We will be making a purchase there soon for G's feeding supplies, just waiting for the bibbity bibs to get in stock. I can't believe she will be 6 months in a few weeks (the magic number for starting solids). It's possible to buy items from elsewhere for cheaper, but I believe in good service, I appreciate their time and efforts and the service they provide, so I'm willing to pay a little more for it to support them. What they do makes my life easier, and if they go under, it will just be more work for me to have to call companies, etc, to get the info I need.
Giggle: This store just happened to be around the corner from where we used to live in SF. They do a lot of research into their products so I feel safe buying a product that they carry. I browse their website frequently. For example, I saw this at a baby store, I wanted to buy it for G on impulse. Just before we got up to the register, I had second thoughts because I wondered about the paint (it's comprised of painted wood and some kind of stretchy cord) because of all the recent toy recalls about lead paint. So I put it back and didn't buy it. Later, I saw it at Giggle, specifically asked them about the paint, and felt reassured and confident that it was safe and bought it for G (btw, she totally loves it, it makes a very light tinkling sound and it's so easy for her to grab and the knobs are perfect for her to suck on).
I use Amazon and Babycenter to read reviews, but I don't put too much stock in them because I find a lot of people just say things like, oh, my baby didn't like this, which I don't find helpful. I also subscribe to several blogs, many on green/healthy parenting.
The Soft Landing: Everything sold here is BPA free, plus there are articles to read, and a blog with news and info. We will be making a purchase there soon for G's feeding supplies, just waiting for the bibbity bibs to get in stock. I can't believe she will be 6 months in a few weeks (the magic number for starting solids). It's possible to buy items from elsewhere for cheaper, but I believe in good service, I appreciate their time and efforts and the service they provide, so I'm willing to pay a little more for it to support them. What they do makes my life easier, and if they go under, it will just be more work for me to have to call companies, etc, to get the info I need.
Giggle: This store just happened to be around the corner from where we used to live in SF. They do a lot of research into their products so I feel safe buying a product that they carry. I browse their website frequently. For example, I saw this at a baby store, I wanted to buy it for G on impulse. Just before we got up to the register, I had second thoughts because I wondered about the paint (it's comprised of painted wood and some kind of stretchy cord) because of all the recent toy recalls about lead paint. So I put it back and didn't buy it. Later, I saw it at Giggle, specifically asked them about the paint, and felt reassured and confident that it was safe and bought it for G (btw, she totally loves it, it makes a very light tinkling sound and it's so easy for her to grab and the knobs are perfect for her to suck on).
I use Amazon and Babycenter to read reviews, but I don't put too much stock in them because I find a lot of people just say things like, oh, my baby didn't like this, which I don't find helpful. I also subscribe to several blogs, many on green/healthy parenting.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The Blessing of Good Sleep!
The other day, G woke up after we put her down for the night. She was crying and eventually she spit up, so I had to change her and the crib sheets (luckily it only got to the first two layers, she's got 6+ layers on her bed for just this type of situation), and also feed her again. Oh well. It was probably our fault because we changed her sleeping routine slightly.
Two nights ago, G woke up again about 30 minutes after we put her down. After a few minutes, I went into her room. At first, I just put my hand on her chest to comfort her, no good. Then, I sat her up, which stopped her crying, but when she laid back down started up again. Eventually, I picked her up, but stayed by her crib, in her room, in the dark. We talked about how it was night-time and how she was supposed to be sleeping in her crib by herself. After a few minutes, I put her back down in her crib, and she didn't cry. Yay! Then we said goodnight to her and walked out of the room, and she didn't cry. Yay! A few minutes later she was asleep, double yay! We're very proud of G's sleeping habits. She's a good sleeper, even if she's too distracted to sleep when we are out (I tried to put her in a friend's crib when we were out on a play date, she just kept looking around and not sleeping, oh well).
Two nights ago, G woke up again about 30 minutes after we put her down. After a few minutes, I went into her room. At first, I just put my hand on her chest to comfort her, no good. Then, I sat her up, which stopped her crying, but when she laid back down started up again. Eventually, I picked her up, but stayed by her crib, in her room, in the dark. We talked about how it was night-time and how she was supposed to be sleeping in her crib by herself. After a few minutes, I put her back down in her crib, and she didn't cry. Yay! Then we said goodnight to her and walked out of the room, and she didn't cry. Yay! A few minutes later she was asleep, double yay! We're very proud of G's sleeping habits. She's a good sleeper, even if she's too distracted to sleep when we are out (I tried to put her in a friend's crib when we were out on a play date, she just kept looking around and not sleeping, oh well).
Monday, August 11, 2008
New Stroller & Weekend Fun
We finally got our stroller last week! It's been a roller coaster ride. (The recap: bought our stroller back when G was a few weeks old, had issues w/ one of the wheels, returned it for another one, then found out that the company was updated several features and so we decided to return the second one to wait for the upgraded one, which was delayed several times and just finally became available). Here she is for her first fitting.
What's the first thing we did with her once it was assembled (I'm a pro at assembling them now, it was the third one!)? We took her for a walk around the neighborhood and to dinner (one mile there and one mile back). She loved it, and even took a nap during dinner. The sun/bug cover should be coming soon, already ordered. We like this stroller because of its versatility, it is the only one on the market that converts from a single stroller to a double, and it fully reclines for newborns too (not that G needs that feature anymore, but we had originally intended to get it when G was first born - she can still use the recline for naps). It is also rugged enough we can use it for light jogging and hiking. The second seat is currently being used by G at home as a bouncer. We are hoping this is the only stroller we will ever have to buy.
This past weekend was the SJ Jazz Festival. We've gone in the past for fun outdoor lindyhop, and had hoped to go again this year but none of our dancing friends were free. We did end up going with some of our church friends, because of the kids, we ended up just hanging out by a restaurant (in the shade with bottomless drinks and a courtyard for the kids to run around) listening to jazz by a Christian jazz band (the drummer of the band was our friend's drum teacher). E & G took a little trip to one of the official stages to listen to some blues, but we didn't all make it down there.
Sunday we went over to visit G's Tai Po and Tai Gong to celebrate Tai Gong's birthday. It was interesting because it was the first time that it was mostly the grandkids (and one great-grandkid) because one uncle/aunt is in Sacramento and the other uncle/aunt is in Taiwan with the two younger kids. I think that because G looks so small, Tai Po thinks she's more frail than she actually is because she didn't want us to let her stand or jump (which is what G loves doing all the time).
What's the first thing we did with her once it was assembled (I'm a pro at assembling them now, it was the third one!)? We took her for a walk around the neighborhood and to dinner (one mile there and one mile back). She loved it, and even took a nap during dinner. The sun/bug cover should be coming soon, already ordered. We like this stroller because of its versatility, it is the only one on the market that converts from a single stroller to a double, and it fully reclines for newborns too (not that G needs that feature anymore, but we had originally intended to get it when G was first born - she can still use the recline for naps). It is also rugged enough we can use it for light jogging and hiking. The second seat is currently being used by G at home as a bouncer. We are hoping this is the only stroller we will ever have to buy.
This past weekend was the SJ Jazz Festival. We've gone in the past for fun outdoor lindyhop, and had hoped to go again this year but none of our dancing friends were free. We did end up going with some of our church friends, because of the kids, we ended up just hanging out by a restaurant (in the shade with bottomless drinks and a courtyard for the kids to run around) listening to jazz by a Christian jazz band (the drummer of the band was our friend's drum teacher). E & G took a little trip to one of the official stages to listen to some blues, but we didn't all make it down there.
Sunday we went over to visit G's Tai Po and Tai Gong to celebrate Tai Gong's birthday. It was interesting because it was the first time that it was mostly the grandkids (and one great-grandkid) because one uncle/aunt is in Sacramento and the other uncle/aunt is in Taiwan with the two younger kids. I think that because G looks so small, Tai Po thinks she's more frail than she actually is because she didn't want us to let her stand or jump (which is what G loves doing all the time).
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