Cold Spaghetti

“What are the must-haves for new parents?”
“What are the items you have used the most?”
“What do you not need?”

I’ve been asked these questions a lot lately as friends are getting ready to have their first children. Now with my second baby, I’m re-using a lot of things and wondering, myself, what I should keep for my future nieces and newphews and what I should pass on.

Some things I use everyday:
– Boppy Pillow (I consider this a must-have)
– Aquarium Take-along swing (loved by both kids)
– Cloth diapers (the thick, pre-fold variety)
– Good nursing bras

As kids get older:
– Robeez shoes
– Beyond Play toys and art supplies
– Toilet seat trainer
– Blocks, legos, music toys

Things that weren’t used/didn’t get:
– Baby carrier (Will hated it; Kate seems to be okay with it)
– Baby bath tub (we wash the kids in the sink)
– Crib toys/mobiles

Any moms out there have other suggestions I can pass on to new moms??

I just found out that my favorite bumper sticker, “Republicans for Voldemort” is based on a cartoon called Goats, specifically, from this run. Due to the popularity, you can buy your bumper stickers and t-shirts through their site. Maybe I’ll write them and see if I can talk them into making kids t-shirts and onesies. Awesome!

Curious about all the different digital photo printing options, I performed my own head-to-head comparison of four services: Kodak Gallery (formally ofoto), Snapfish, Shutterfly, and Winkflash. I chose these four because they are among the options available to Picasa users and allow me to send photos in bulk with one click from Picasa. (I highly recommend Picasa, it’s free, easy to use, and allows emailing, blogging, and ordering photos with one easy click — love it!) My Wal-Mart photo experiences have been awful.

All the pictures are in and here are the findings:

All pictures were ordered last Thursday evening (August 3rd). Delivery/Shipment Info:
Snapfish: ready at local Walgreen’s on Friday, August 4th (next day). No fee.
Kodak Gallery: picked up at local CVS on Sunday, August 6th. $1.49 processing fee.
Shutterfly: arrived by mail Monday, August 7th. Most expensive shipping determined by number of photos.
Winkflash: arrived by mail Wednesday, August 9th. .99 cent shipping on all orders.

Some perks: Shutterfly and Winkflash offer white borders on photos. Shutterfly allows you to put comments on the backs. All of these are free.

I compared about 15 different photographs… outside bright light, action shots, inside shots, shots that had been doctored, shots that were cropped, etc. The ones taken outside in bright light had the least color variation between companies. Inside shots varied the most, some had huge variation in color! Our least favorite photos were Snapfish. They were the most drab, dark, and irregular in color. Our favorite were Shutterfly. These were the most consistently color-true, warm, and attractive. Winkflash got second billing, although their photos were usually darker than the others, making whites not so “white.” Kodak, who we’ve used for years now, was okay but inconsistent and got a third place ranking. Some photos were great, but others were washed out and dull. A few favorites were so washed out that it knocked them down in our outlook.

In terms of cost, with online coupons, specials, and money back from fatwallet, I didn’t see much difference. In other words, I didn’t consider it a big factor for comparison; quality and ease of ordering were more important.

I also like Photoworks, who were not included in this comparison. I used them to print photos for Kate’s birth announcements because they were the only company I could find that would do 3 1/2 x 5 inch prints. They are out of Seattle, so shipping takes a little while longer to get East and the shipping costs are similar to Shutterfly, based on number of pictures. I really like the quality of the photos I got from them and would use them again — however, because they aren’t available through the Picasa program, I won’t go out of my way to use them. It’s too time consuming to load photos one-by-one and I am not interested in installing their photo program to speed up the process.

Does anyone have other recommended photo services??

My friend and fellow PhD candidate, Eva, came by yesterday for a visit. Eva has become the go-to gal for the Department of Homeland Security, who, having recently figured out that many New Orleans area residents speak spanish, hired Eva to record Public Service Announcements for broadcast on local spanish radio and television stations. (Apparently no one in the local Department of Homeland Security can read aloud in Spanish. Interesting.)

It was great to talk to her. I gained some insight into the exploding Latino migrant population (clarification: exploding, yet, invisible Latino population) and some of the existing services (clarification: first come, first serve limited services capped at approximately 1 person per day). There is a great deal of work to be done here… it is a great time to be here if you are someone who is interested in disaster services and infrastructure building!

We also talked a bit about dissertations (*gasp!*) I vocalized a little of what I’m thinking about and enjoyed hearing positive, thoughtful feedback; it was an excellent mini mental recharge. As a result, I am having a hard time focusing today. What I really want to do is dive back into literature reviews and make contacts!

“Will, your shoes are on the wrong feet.”

“No. My feet on wrong.”

* What does discipline mean to you? *
* How do you discipline? *
* What do you want your children to learn from discipline? *
* How were you disciplined? *

These were some of the questions addressed in a seminar I attended, “Disciplining Your Child From Zero to Three” with developmental psychologist Dr. Pat Blackwell. Dr. Blackwell came to Abeona House at the bequest of our director and gave this free seminar to staff and parents.

I learned:
– Discipline is teaching. And next to love, is the most important thing we give children.
– Toddlers think on the outside and are unable to process cause and effect — there is no filter, so they “try” everything to see what will happen
– Discipline starts in infancy. When babies are left to cry, they are less able to self-regulate emotions.
– “Mr. Rodgers” style conversation of describing emotions and situations works very well with toddlers
– Toddlers cannot feel empathy. However, we can use modeling to teach empathetic behavior so that when they are able to process those types of emotions, they understand how to deal with them appropriately.

Since the seminar, I’ve realized:
– My goal in disciplining is to build my child’s self-esteem and self-control through teaching, not to force them to blindly obey through authorative power
– Specific descriptions of how something makes me feel works well as a motivator for Will
– Modeling is not the best tool to use with Will at this time, or maybe my skills here are weak
– All of these things sound much easier and sensible in a room of adults with no children present.
There definitely are no “answers” for how to get a toddler or preschooler to listen at every moment. Dr. Blackwell made me feel better by stressing that discipline is a life-long learning process. I feel better just knowing that this isn’t suppose to be easy!

What to do with two kids in the hot morning air? Today’s solution: get thee to the shade of the park. It was a full morning with geese, ducks, squirrels, birds, and turtles. Question: there were at least two types of turtles in the water today. One seemed like the standard box turtle that we normally see. The other were larger (much larger) and had pointed heads and snouts… are these snapping turtles?



It was a fun morning, until the heat became too much for Kate and she asked to be brought inside. I felt pretty happy about our morning adventure… until I saw it was only 10am and there were 2 hours to go until naptime! Doh! 

Activity: prints of hands and feet made with tempura paints
Soundtrack: REM’s Automatic for the People
Colors: blue, yellow, pink
Kate got into the action, too. (Note her blue foot, below.) She also took a brush to the head.
Some final products. Top picture is Will’s hands and feet. The bottom shows a hand and foot for each of us (Mommy, Will, and Baby Kate.)
Kate’s hair. Restored to it’s fluffy you-name-it-color after bathtime paint removal.
 

It’s official! My Dad, my Brother, and Paul are goin’ in the hole, the Big Hole, The Grand Canyon.

My Dad has been talking about doing this for years with “his sons” and they officially booked it yesterday. Weeks of research went into the planning. They finally decided on 8 days rafting the Colorado, through the entire Canyon, all the way to Lake Mead. They leave Las Vegas May 11th.

Dad is very excited.

I am all for the boys spending a week in the hole. My role as mother to young kids and as food source for Kate precludes my rafting abilities. But I do not think that us girls should necessarily miss out on an adventure. Any ideas? Anyone know of any kid-friendly resorts or itineraries that include kids activities (ie: structured babysitting while Mom gets a massage?) I think that would be a really good way to occupy ourselves while Paul is gone!

But looks aren’t everything!
(The band-aid on Kate’s tummy is from Will, who decided that a band-aid would help Kate’s tummy “feel better.”)