Holiday cookies with a twist… November 30, 2007

I thought this was funny, only because I am the culprit of the ABC cookie. Yes, I hate to admit (having a lot of those today),I usually don’t fully eat a cookie at one sitting (with kids, who can?), I’ll eat the cookie in sections.

Anyway, on Perpetual kid. I found a cookies cutter that (takes the fun of it for some of us) makes an ABC cookie, an Already Been Chewed Cookie.

At least my cookie is left untouched, and Perpetual Kid would have to agree, explaining, “Watch as your friends leave them behind on the tray. The Gingerbread set includes 3 designs-one missing a head, one missing a leg and one missing an arm(ouch!). Their loss is your gain.”

Gotta love it!

Oh, Memories….

I was watching my morning dose of Good Morning America this morning and learned today is the 25th Anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Although, now he kinda freaks me out, when we were kids my sister and I were all about Michael Jackson(I can’t believe I am admiting this).

I remember the day my dad bought home our first VCR (beta) and along with it he bought home our first tape, The making of Thriller! I must have been like 7 or 8. I can’t tell you how many times we watched that video. And we knew the dance by heart and we would do it all the time!(get your fix on youtube.com)

(For some reason this reminds me of Jennifer Garner in 13 going on 30, where she gets all her co-workers to do the Thriller dance at that party! Anyway……. )

I can’t believe I am admitting this but I think I still know some of the dance today! Watching it on Good Morning America sure bought back memories!

A little Remedy here, A little Remedy there…. November 29, 2007

Well, I scoured the internet on teething remedies and came up with some obvious and some I had never heard of before. I don’t know if I am brave enough to try them, although, they are all-natural remedies( maybe I’ll try a itsy-bitsy dab of the vanilla extract), but I will share them. I did find one that had something to do with belladonna. That didn’t seem right to me and maybe it is, but I was watching CSI or one of those shows and that was the ingredient involved in a crime scene investigation, so that one I didn’t even post.

1. Calm down, if you are stressed and ridden with anxiety your baby will be too. (no really?)

Parenttime.com suggests all natural remedies, such as

2. Pure vanilla Extract. Rub the gums with a dab of pure vanilla extract. The alcohol will create a warm sensation that is temporarily comforting. Vanilla is known as a soothing agent.

3. Clove Oil. Clove oil contains oils that are warming and numbing properties. But watch out they said, too much can upset a babies stomach.

These don’t seem so bad. My mom swears my grandma used the clove oil on their gums when she was a baby. (I have never used these ingredients, nor am I promoting the use of them, but I would call a doctor before using any of them)

I can’t believe I found this one. It was by babytipsonline.com

4. Chicken Bone. Yes, a chicken bone, like you might give your dog. They even cautioned, watch for slivers. I don’t think that is a good idea.

5. I am going to share one I got from my doctors. It wasn’t for teething, it was for colic. But I think it could calm the baby down. My son had a bit of colic for the first couple months of his life and what really helped, suggested by one of doctor’s at my office (not my regular doctor) was Chamomile Tea. He suggested to brew the tea and give him 4 oz (2 oz tea and 2 oz water) once or twice a day. We did this just once a day, during his colicky period and it helped. So I am thinking that at night when Sophia is all worked up from the teething pain, this might help to calm her a bit.

I know teething doesn’t last forever and is over faster than you can really think about remembering it, not that we would want to. But when you are in the trenches, you are in the trenches, all I can ever do is stay calm (and scream on the inside), but stay calm because when you think about it, if all we really have to deal with is teething pain, it ain’t so bad!

What sleep? (ode to teething part II)…..

You tricked us Teething

disappearing, and letting us get some sleep

But now you’re back and with a vengeance.

We say to you as we weep ….

Oh sleep, Oh sleep,

Please come to me,

my little angel has been teething

and waking at 1,2 and 3.

I wish she would sleep

and silence this house.

her moaning and groaning

is keeping us all up and about

we tried Tylenol and Orajel

(and by the look on her face,

I am sure she

thinks it tastes like hell)

Nothing works for more than an hour or so

please teeth come through

and give our baby some rest

and us get some sleep

so are days will be happier

and our nights without a peep.

If anyone out there has some good teething remedies,

don’t hesitate to chime in,

you’ll help us tremendously

and put on my face

a big grin.

The “PBS” Generation November 28, 2007

I grew up on The Flinstones, The Jetsons, Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street, the PBS generation.

The first episodes of Sesame Street are being released to DVD. But wait, don’t run out to buy them for your kids, because they are recommended for adults only!

Supposedly, Oscar the Grouch is too grumpy, Snuffleupagus was not “real” he was Big Bird’s imaginary friend and Cookie Monster eats too many cookies and no vegetables.

Are they Kidding? or just too uptight?

It’s the recent generations that have serious attitude problems and are overweight and I doubt that Sesame Street is to blame.

I’m not grumpy, well, sometimes but believe me, that has nothing to do with our “green” friend. I don’t eat too many cookies now, nor did I when I was a child, simply because my parents didn’t give them to me. And my sister was the one with the imaginary friend and I am pretty sure she grew out of that.

We watched Sesame Street because we could relate. Not just to Oscar: everyone is grumpy sometimes, or the Cookie Monster: we all know you can’t eat all those cookies (as my son would say, “silly cookie monster”) or Big Bird: Snuffleupagus was fake and we knew it but he was cool.

We could relate to the message, and the beautiful and colorful array of characters that touched their screens and showed us it was okay to be different.

Choo Choo Muffins November 27, 2007

I don’t know how my mom finds this stuff, but check them out, Cast Iron Train Muffin Pans.

Now your little Thomas the Train lover can have pancakes and muffins shaped like his favorite blue engine. (My son will absolutely love these and be disappointed every food does not go in them.)

At just $5.95, how can you resist these muffin pans form Terry’s Village. (They also come in Gingerbread and Snowmen shapes, perfect for the holidays.)

As the catalog states, and I sure will show true, ” it turns out cute little locomotives and train cars that your little ones will gobble up”.

Now, if I could just get them to eat their veggies!!

Sleep-Sharing

Last night my daughter Sophia had trouble sleeping, so we put her in our bed, just for a bit, to calm her down. After she fell asleep we put her back in her crib, which is in our room. Our son George also slept in our room until just before he turned one. First, an Arms Reach Co-Sleeper

(I recommend this for any mom, you don’t have to get up , your baby is literally in arm’s reach) and then when he got to big for that, we transitioned to a crib, and off and on(less on) in our bed.

Does that make me a co-sleeper or as Dr. Sears would put it, “sleep-sharing”?

I guess I would be a part-time sleep sharer. We never used it as a, “let’s all go to sleep in the same bed” type thing, more of a “parenting tool”, if that is the right word or makes any sense.

My son had trouble sleeping the first couple months of his life (now he sleeps like a rock). So, rather than let him cry and become completely unsettled, I put him in our bed. I know he knew we were there for them, he nestled in his little spot and usually if he was between the both of us, one hand touched either parent(Sophia does the same), comforting himself and to be completely honest, us at the same time. Once he fell asleep, I would happily put him back in his own bed.

Since age 1, he happily sleeps in his own bed in his own room. Occassionally, when he has trouble sleeping, he comes to our bed for less than an hour and once he is calmed down, he immediately wants to go back to his own bed.

Sure, there are times I wouldn’t mind having them in our bed, and wrap my arms around them, because soon enough, as they grow, that is the last place they want to be.

On the other hand, after a hard day, that is the one thing I look forward to, that I can have to myself, time with my husband. To find the comforting place, that lefts me forget, relax and revive, my nook.

Toys with Integrity November 26, 2007

This Christmas, Go green (and lead-free), with Imagiplay’s adorable toy selection.

I found out about this website from Celebrity Baby Blog (another one of my guilty pastimes) and when I explored I found out they have some very cute items.

Such as wooden puzzles

play sets

and book ends

…just to name a few.

More impressive, I thought, was their statements, “Every toy we produce is earth friendly, child safe and people kind. That is our commitment to our children and their planet”, and “we are committed to finding other materials to make high quality toys with minimal impact to the earth and producing our toys in a way that respects and benefits everyone involved in the process.”

Now, I am no hippie, but with all the issues surrounding our toys today, this definelty sounds like a safe and promising alternative.

Hint, Hint! Hopefully my sister will be giving my 2 1/2 year old the zoo play set for Christmas. Just an idea!

Banana Bread Weather

If you haven’t guessed, I love cooking.

More than cooking, I love baking.

I love this recipe and for the life of me, cannot remember where I got it. But, I make it during the winter season usually every other week. It is the only recipe for banana bread my husband likes, that is if I add a ton of Walnuts.

It is easy to make and one of the only recipes I found with strong coffee included in the ingredient mix. It seemed strange to me at first, but it works. Warning: I am usually very health conscious, but this recipe is not.

Here it is:

1 1/2c. butter

1 3/4c. brown sugar

4 eggs

2 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract

1 1/2 teaspoon Orange zest (I don’t always add this)

4 c. flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons Cinnamon

2 c. puree ripe bananas (puree or mash the banana and mix them in 1 c. strong black coffee)

1 cup or in my case (or in my case 1 1/2c. ) chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease (or and non-stick spray to bread pan)

In a small bowl combine with a whisk, flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar and eggs. Stir in vanilla and orange zest.

Then add banana mixture , dry mixture and walnuts.

Bake for about 40-50 minutes or until toothpick or fork in center comes out dry.

Tip: For an extra little something, I add a crumble topping(1/2c flour, 1/2c.brown sugar and 1/4c. butter) to the top of the bread before baking.

Elf on the Shelf November 25, 2007

During one of my guilty pastimes (checking out the website, I’m Not Obsessed), I came across this really cute idea for the holidays, Elf on the Shelf.

Elf on the Shelf, was created by a very creative mother, as a way of keeping her kids behavior in check on the holidays. The “Elf” would take his post at different locations around the house, watch the kids behavior and report back to Santa each night.

What a super cute idea!

Even cuter, on the website you can register your Elf’s name, play North Pole fun and games and receive a special letter from Santa.

And if Jennifer Garner likes it, it has to work right?

(photo from Imnotobsessed.com)

If only it were that easy! I’ll try anything!

Pssst! Also a great gift idea