Happy New Year

Wishing all my readers a safe and happy New Year. We rang in 2007 12 hours early with a playgroup New Year's Brunch and a countdown to noon. Check out the pictures from today and our travels earlier this week here.

We're back

It wasn't quite a vacation, but our trip back East to visit friends and family was pretty successful. We're exhausted, yes, but it was nice to catch up in person with so many of our favorite people. And seeing our daughter connect with her relatives is even more rewarding.

That said, I have a few resolutions for next time.

1) Naps are holy. Honor and keep them like an observant Jew on the Sabbath. If you push the nap too far, it won't happen at all and an over-tired child means a cranky parent. Did I mention Z took a nap only 2 days out of 6?
2) You can never pack enough snacks. Especially those "special treat" snacks that your toddler loves more than anything. A little fruit leather on the teeth is well worth the peace and quiet. Especially after you've listened to whining for an hour straight. And subjected strangers to it too.
3) Each parent deserves a little me-time. A break from all the jolly togetherness and chaos involved in organizing an outing for multiple generations. We didn't figure this out until the very end of our trip. I sent Josh off to the movies and he came back a much happier, more patient man. I'll be sure to squeeze in a massage or just some quiet time on the beach with a book during our upcoming vacation in Akumal.
4) Eat at least a couple pieces of fresh fruit every day. With travel and eating out, I sometimes find my diet becomes a little too carb, meat and sodium-heavy. I feel so much better when there's a bowl of fruit available for snacking.
5) And keep that portable DVD player charged!

More people!

We've packed the past couple of days with friends and relatives, and Z's continued to astonish us with her capacity for recalling people's names. We spent the 25th in Harrisburg with Josh's aunt and uncle. In addition to us and Josh's parents and sister, his cousin Penny was there with her husband and three kids (one 3 1/2 year old boy and twin 3 month old girls). It was a typical Jewish Christmas in that we ate Chinese takeout. Unfortunately we'd already had Chinese food the night before in a typical Jewish Christmas Eve.

On the 26th we took Amtrak from Wilmington to Union Station in D.C. Z loved the train--no surprise there, but I was disappointed that our "reserved coach seats" were essentially meaningless. We walked the length of the train looking for two seats together, but every seat we passed had someone stretched out asleep on it. We finally found empty seats in the quiet car, figuring that if the conductor tried to throw us out, we'd make him find us seats together.

Since arriving in D.C., we've visited with my Grandma Marge, Rick's daughters (my Mom's boyfriend's college-age daughters) and Josh's Grandpa Reuben as well as his Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Gary and their family. The latter we met (along with my in-laws) in a private party room at Maggiano's, the perfect location for lunch when the invitees include an untamed 2-year-old, a frail 94-year-old and an autistic 14-year-old.

Old friends

Well technically they're all Josh's old friends, but having known my husband's high school buddies for about 10 years myself, I'm honored to call them my old friends as well.

We started this morning with a brief tour of the model trains at the Brandywine River Museum. Then Josh, Z and I headed into Center City to have lunch with his high school friend Erica, her husband and their adorable 1 1/2 year old daughter (and they've got another one on the way). Z was delighted to get to play with someone her own size, and she wasted no time helping herself to Adair's toy collection and sippy cups.

We headed back to West Chester for a late nap, which I took--even if Z didn't. And shortly after I woke up, Beth and twin brothers Courtney and Brandon dropped by. In spite of having plowed through two days without an afternoon nap, Z was in fine form, performing all of her tricks and generally charming the crowd. She hadn't seen Beth for about a year, but she instantly reconnected with her very first babysitter.

West Chester

We arrived safe and mostly sane in Philadelphia around 5:30pm today. Z never did take her nap, so it wasn't too hard to put her to bed once we finally got to my in-laws and had dinner. The Philadelphia airport was an absolute zoo. I don't think we've ever had to wait so long to retreive our luggage--at least from a domestic flight!

The quote of the trip: I had taken Z to the ladies' room at Midway Airport for a pre-flight diaper change. As I was packing up the bag, I set her down on the floor next to me. She turned right around and peered through the cracks in the bathroom stalls and shouts, "I see a lady peeing!"

I told her it wasn't polite to look and when the woman came out she said to my curious kid, "You're totally busted." Thank goodness she was a mother herself.

Planes, trains and automobiles

And a 2 year old. That part makes it extra fun. I've spent the last couple of days weighing the must-brings against the nice-to-haves and the maybe-we'll-miss-it-but-it-just-won't-fits. It's easy to pack for a newborn. A couple of tiny sleepers, a handful of tiny diapers and my boobs, which I'd be hard pressed to forget. Maybe a sling or Baby Bjorn so I can keep my hands free for magazines or a smoothie.

With a toddler, the clothes are bigger, the diapers are bigger and the snacks and sippy cups could fill a carry-on. Plus there's the enormous car seat, the baby backpack or stroller and the toddler entertainment: crayons, stickers and paper. Books. And the portable DVD player, which is worth every penny and ever moment of guilt I've spent on it.

And because hope springs eternal, Josh and I pack books and magazines for ourselves. Hahahah.

But in spite of the controlled chaos that is air travel with a 2 year old, I'm looking forward to this trip. We're going to see four generations of relatives and meet Josh's cousins' kids and my Mom's boyfriend's daughters for the first time.

Eleanor, this is for you

Why every parent should blog. I'm giving you until mid-May.

Instant commercial, just add water

Dove just launched a promotion inviting consumers (women, presumably) to create a commercial for Dove Cream Oil Body Wash...an ad that could run on the Oscars broadcast. They've provided an iMovie-like video editing program complete with stock photos, stock videos and stock music. And they're open to you uploading and using your own original music, video, photos and voice-overs.

Seems like a really fun--if time-consuming project. I wonder how many consumers will take the time and effort required to participate. I'm consider doing it myself, but as an Oglivy/OgilvyAction employee, I'm not eligible.

From the mouth of a babe

Notable quotables from 25-month-old Z:

"I don't wanna share my book. Because it's mine."
[After wiggling her plastic ladybug at me] "Don't be scared, Mama. It's just a ladybug."
"I want Weetabix wif peanut butter an' milk. Just like Mama."
"I want Grape-Nuts. Not hot. Warm."
[In the bathtub] "I'm a dolphin! I'm swimming around in da sea. I'm in da aquarium. I'm a man!"
[Shouted through a funnel, megaphone-style] "Don' touch Dada! Don' touch Dada! Don'! Touch! Dada!...Don' touch da candles!"
[To Daddy, while wriggling half-naked on the living room carpet] "I'm rolling around on the floor, Dada! Mama upstairs gonna get me a diaper... I need a wipe too, Mama!"
[After having a taste of Dijon chicken and spitting it out on my lap] "It's not yummy. It's yucky!"
[As Z and I were leaving for daycare this morning] "Bye-bye Dada! I wuv you! Don't come wif us Dada! Say home! Don't come outside wif us!"

And finally, her favorite phrase of all...delivered with a sneaky, naughty look:

"I wanna see it. Show me his belly button!"

How popular is your birthday?

The NY Times story To-Do List: Wrap Gifts. Have Baby. is particularly topical given that Z's daycare provider will be induced on Friday. She's due next week, but her doctor doesn't want her giving birth on Christmas, when fewer doctors and staff will be around. I thought it was interesting that births spike around (but not on) major holidays and that a statistically significant proportion of babies arrive before the New Year, particularly among those upper income parents who best stand to benefit from an income tax break baby.

There's also a sidebar where you can see how your birthday and your children's birthdays stack up in terms of popularity. Lots of June, July and (most strikingly) September babies. I guess the cold weather and holiday merry-making put couples in a family way.

Here's why quotes don't work

I saw what I think was a Honda Element branded with Supermaid Cleaning Service today. The slogan on the side read "A more 'personal' kind of house cleaning." Now, maybe my mind's in the gutter, but when I see a word like "personal" called out in quotes, I start wondering if perhaps the Supermaid employees clean in the nude.

Judging from their website, I don't think the emphasis on personal was intentional.

SNL's Christmas Box

I know, I'm the last person on Earth to see this video. But the combination of JT and actual humor on SNL made my day.

Yummy Mummy?

If there was ever a trend I felt ambivalent about, it's this one. Chick lit gets married, knocked up and turns into Bugaboo-pushing Mom lit. I can see it now, pink book jackets with stilettos and strollers, Prada and pacifiers.

Yeah, I'm the basically the target (if a little younger and poorer than the late-30s lawyer-turned-SAHM with a preschool admissions complex), but I find something so icky about a bunch of publishers chasing a trend and a bunch of author-mommies cranking out cliched manuscripts while their beloved babies nap.

But here's where my ambivalence crops up again. Women have written about motherhood for generations. I loved Toni Morrison's Beloved and I click over to Dooce.com daily. Motherhood is a shared experience and rich territory for writing. What I don't like is the entitled, spoiled-brat tone Mom lit owes to its chick lit predecessor.

Happy Chanukah!

We hosted our Chavurah Chanukah party yesterday in the Temple youth lounge (read: basement). It was perfect for the event since the kids had lots of room to run around and plenty of communal toys to play with. And there was a kitchen, so we could keep the piles and piles of latkes warm.

We're lucky to have found such a great group of people within our congregation. And Z's perfectly positioned among the kids. There are four children older than her, one the same age, and five younger (including two 6 month old boys born on the same day!).

The Office

The best part of last night's hour-long episode of The Office (titled "A Benihana Christmas")? When tool Andy orders a "Nagasaki" at Benihana...an eggnog and saki cocktail. I almost wet myself.

My baby's not alone

"More Americans were born in 2004 than in any years except 1960 and 1990." This fact and many more are summarized in this NY Times article on the Census Bureau's 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States.

Angel baby returns

Z put up 10 minutes of fuss before retiring last night, but she slept solidly from 7:45pm to 6:00am. And she didn't wake me and Josh up until 6:20, opting to play with her aquarium (which, by the way, she has loved since she was 2 months old). When she finally shouted "Ma-Ma!" it was because, "I went poopy in my diaper. Poopy and pee-pee."

Hallelujah!

I deserve a sleep refund

Last night was one of those nights. You know, one of those nights you think you're done with when your kid turns 6 or 7 months old and you've read Dr. Weissbluth cover to cover and done the sleep training thing and--by G-d--it worked?!?

Yeah? Well, last night our angelic 25 month old channeled her inner 2 month old, waking up every hour or so. Only, instead of whimpering for boobie, she would call out--in clear, increasingly loud tones, "Mommy! Ma-Ma! Ma-Maaaaaaaa! I wanna cuddle in the chair with Ma-Ma! I wanna cuddle in the dark! Da-Da! Daddymommy! Mommmmmeeeeeee!"

Overcome with exhaustion by 4:30am, I gave in and brought her to our bed, first eliciting a promise that she would "sleep quietly with no talking." A promise so quickly broken. I was poked and prodded. My hair was pulled and twisted. My pillow was stolen and returned damp with drool.

And then the cat went apeshit, tearing around the bedroom like there was a bonafide mouse in the house (which there wasn't). And so went any lingering hopes of getting Z to sleep. Josh was an angel, though. He took Z downstairs for some early morning PBS Kids so that I could sleep from 5:30 to 6:20.

Lucky Adriana. I'm sure Z will be a real treat at day care this morning.

Babble delivers

I'm happy to report that the new web journal for parents Babble is as good as I'd hoped. It's intelligently written, insightful and frequently funny. And it's really content-heavy; there's a ton to read. For starters, check out their essay on The Breastfeeding Conspiracy. It's a balanced piece by a mom who, like me, breastfed for a year, but still understands that the Boob Nazis from La Leche League need to be taken to task for guilt-tripping women for whom breastfeeding is impossible, physically or emotionally.

Babble's Health & Development section summarizes all of the experts on every imaginable topic, including hot button topics like cloth vs. disposable diapers, tummy vs. back sleeping and natural vs. epidural childbirth, and cleverly charts on a continuum from one extreme to the other.

For my sisters

At the risk of turning this blog into the all-cheese-all-the-time diary, I have to mention that my sister Eleanor and sister-in-law Bethany share my love for a good bowl of macaroni and cheese . And with Eleanor in Australia and Bethany in England, I'm afraid their access to Annie's Homegrown Shells & Cheese (not to mention my homemade stuff) is severely limited. So for them, I present the UK's foremost macaroni and cheese review blog.