Belly Rolls

Middle is no longer my own—
still attached to me, allowing me
to connect limbs to limbs, yes, but
now inhabited by another. No longer

viable to bend in half, to pick up items
from the floor, put on shoes, pet my
dog, shave my legs, etcetera. There is
a bulbous skin-tight element and often, Read more »

Donate Old Strollers to Homeless

While walking down Venice Beach in Los Angeles, I noticed a man dressed in the ragged attire of the homeless and, in front of him, I was shocked to see a baby stroller, much like my own, what I refer to as the SUV of strollers, the jogging stroller. Obviously, I was very upset to learn that he was homeless with a child, but as we passed him, there was no baby on board, but instead the stroller was filled with his belonging and a small dog was perched on top taking a nap. After this sighting, I saw several more around L.A., San Francisco and Portland, tres west coast.

I know I’ve been living out in the boonies for a long time, but when did homeless people trade in the old trusty  shopping cart for new fangled baby strollers? It doesn’t seem like they would hold as much, though they may ride better in today’s urban landscape. Isn’t there a poor mother out there that could put that stroller to better use?

BPA Found in GLASS Baby Jars

You stopped buying plastic toys and all your plastic water bottles are BPA free. You finally feel like you have gotten a grip on that nasty estrogen-mimicking chemical when this study comes out of Canada saying that traces of BPA have been found in baby food in glass jars. Apparently, the plastic lining on the lids leaks bisphenol-A. Sorry mamas, but toxins are lurking everywhere. Stop buying baby food in jars. Invest in a food processor and take advantage of summer’s farmers markets. Good luck!

First Leg of West Coast Road Trip ’09

Our fancy "retro" paint job on this fixer upper

Our '66 Cardinal Travel Trailer

When my daughter was six months old we spent five weeks on the road with her driving to New Orleans (from New Mexico) and back. Things were different then. We owned a ’77 Dodge Santana Camper Van and my daughter did not walk or crawl. We sold the van and bought a travel trailer so that we would no longer have three vehicles. More importantly, my daughter, at 20 months, walks and talks, all the time. Yet, the adventerous ones that we are, we are taking another five week road trip, this time to Los Angeles and up the coast to Portland, OR. We have managed the first part of our trip and made it to L.A.

I put a lot of preparation into this trip from fixing up our ’66 Cardinal travel trailer (including setting it up with a solar power system) to packing all our basic needs, but my biggest priority was entertainment. Read more »

Heart to Heart

In the soft blue hovering
haze of dawn you hold
my belly between your
hands and head, soft curls
and rough brush of unshaven
cheek, you whisper in a
voice that is between you
two only, soft and silly
and turning over rocks to
discover what lives beneath.
I laugh; baby learns your Read more »

Vaccines?

Choosing whether or not to vaccinate my baby was one of the most difficult parenting decisions I had to make. Back in the day, people were happy just to have vaccines, but nowadays, there is so much controversy around them, you can’t take it lightly. When it was time to take my daughter to her first doctor appointment, I knew that I had to go equipped with the necessary knowledge or be bulldozed by an M.D. Read more »

Acupuncture after Pregnancy

I started seeing an acupuncturist for my shoulder. I don’t know what is wrong with it, but it hurts. I can imagine straining it while lifting a baby several times a day, carrying a baby on my back or simply nursing hunched over. While I thought I was getting treatments solely for my shoulder, I actually learned that I needed much more as a woman recovering from childbirth and pregnancy. Read more »

Love: The Ergo Baby Carrier

The Ergo Baby Carrier

There are plenty of baby carriers on the market, but my favorite is the Ergo. Although a big fan of the sling, especially when my daughter was a newborn, I still used the Ergo for when we went out hiking, wearing her on my front and using the newborn insert that you can buy separately. Read more »

My Daughter’s Favorite Toys are Not Toys At All

My daughter has a whole box full of toys. Admittedly, I filtered through most of them and put several superfulous toys in a bag in the closet, but she still has plenty of fun ones to play with. Yet, the stackers, blocks, pull toys, nest toys, toys with wheels, and toys that look like telephones and computers all lie dormant in their place. Instead, here is a list of my daughter’s favorite toys:

1. Post-it notes: Who knows how she first came in contact with this ingenious office invention of the twentieth century, but ever since, she can’t pass them without wanting to peel them apart, stick them on furniture and sort them into piles. Read more »

Co-sleeping: Safe or Dangerous?

Our Co-sleeping Set-up

According to the BBC World News, the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) just released a study that says co-sleeping or bed sharing with your child, has been implicated in about half of SIDS cases. According to this study, the risk is greatest if either parent smokes, has been drinking, has taken sedatives or is “very tired,” and that small babies, such as preemies are particularly at risk.

According to Dr. Sears, attachment parenting guru who has written two books on the topic and done extensive research on the risks of SIDS when co-sleeping, there is nothing to worry about. In fact, he believes that co-sleeping can actually reduce the risk of SIDS.

The best advice is to do as you would with all things parenting and follow your instincts. As for my husband and I, we knew we wanted to co-sleep, but did not think we would be comfortable with a baby in bed with us. Read more »