Author Archives: Stephanie

Cupcakes For Two

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When I saw this post on How Sweet It Is, I knew I had to try it! So today before making lunch, Jax and I whipped up some. I also made a mini batch of chocolate frosting. The cupcakes were tasty, though I agree with the comments that they were heavy – more like muffins or bread. Mine also took 20 minutes to bake. Our oven always takes forever. Jax provided moral support throughout the whole process. I gave him a small bowl and spatula to “help” with.

To make your own, follow the cupcake recipe here (I added some mini chocolate chips to mine.) While they are baking, grab the ingredients for your frosting:

  • 2 oz melted semisweet chocolate*
  • 1.5 c powdered sugar
  • 1/2 stick butter, chopped up
  • 1.5 tbsp milk
  • .5 tsp vanilla
  • pinch of salt

Throw everything in the blender! Yeah, I’m lazy. Mix, stopping to stir regularly until you have delicious, chocolatey frosting. I added some unmelted chips because I wanted to match them chocolate chip cupcakes. I had more than enough, but I don’t like to pile on frosting. *I melt my chocolate in the microwave on 50% power, stirring every 20 seconds.

We cooled the cupcakes in the fridge while we ate lunch, the frosted them and enjoyed!

Yummy!

Toddler Nursing – A Taboo Subject?

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This week (August 1 – 7) is World Breastfeeding Week. The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) was founded in 1991 to “protect, promote and support breastfeeding”. Their day of promotion and celebration has since become a week-long event.

Jax will turn 18 months this Friday. We are still nursing, a year and a half into this journey. If you’d asked me before I had him if I thought I’d still be breastfeeding at this point, what would I have said? “I hope so!” I’m certainly glad I have the benefit of a lowered risk of breast cancer (my mother died of it when I was little), not to mention the nutritional gains for Jax.

I’m not here to tell you how great breastfeeding is (and extended breastfeeding.) More governments and organizations are beginning to realize the importance of promoting breastfeeding. And, I’m not here to say that more moms could be successful at breastfeeding given the proper resources, aide and patience (I recommend this book – I loved it!) Like vaccinations and circumcision, breastfeeding discussions can get everyone all hot and bothered. Let’s just leave it at: it isn’t always for everyone, but it is wonderful if you can! This post is just about my experiences.

How much does he nurse? It depends… On a normal day, he nurses: when he wakes, before his nap, in the afternoon/before nap if he has a 2nd one, before bed and a couple times overnight. He has a healthy appetite for solid foods and drinks water with meals. If he is teething or in a growth spurt, it’s anyone’s guess how much he’ll nurse! We are nursing a lot this week. Yes, it’s a big commitment, but one I don’t hesitate to make.

The question I get asked most often is, “How long will you nurse him? I’m not really sure the answer, but most likely, as long as he wants/needs to. I don’t see myself nursing a 4 year old. I think it’s unlikely he’d go that long without self-weaning.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that “There is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychological or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer.”

Research done by Anthropologist Katherine Dettwyler, PhD states, “The natural age of weaning for human children is between 2.5 years and 7 years. (via Breastfeeding.org)

I definitely am aware that not everyone is comfortable around an older baby nursing, so I no longer do it in public if I can avoid it (though I always was discrete and covered up in the past.) He is good about waiting until home, and I can always take him out to the car if I need to. (There are exceptions – like our all-day outing in NYC. I can nurse in the baby carrier without anyone knowing.)

What are your thoughts on extended breastfeeding past the first year? The subject seems so taboo, but I’d love to hear others’ experiences.

Homemade Baby Ice Cream

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You may have seen “1 ingredient ice cream” recipes before. But, I call it baby ice cream! I recently had an ice cream party for my birthday, and since all the guests were bringing babies, I whipped up a batch of this frozen banana puree for them. Two out of three babies loved it!

Here’s what we did:

This is really tasty – and not just for babies! You can add a dash of vanilla for an adult palate if you’d like. It’s really good with chocolate syrup!

Cloth Baby Shoes

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We have a little niece on the way this autumn so I am excited to get to look at girly craft projects to do. One thing I’d like to try is sewing some little cloth baby shoes. You can make them with fabric scraps and there are plenty of free patterns out there (and lots of affordable ones for sale on Esty.)

Shwin & Shwin has super cute pleated mary janes I want to try. HomeSpun-Threads has several. I really like the kimono shoes and the ballerina slippers. Michael Miller Fabrics has a simple but cute cloth shoe pattern. The ribbons on these Etsy ballet slippers won me over!

Now I just need some toddler-free time to get downstairs to my sewing machine…

Thrift Store Gems

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I got lucky at the children’s thrift store in town today and got two great books for $0.75 each! Good Night, Gorilla is an adorable bedtime book that I knew we needed to add to Jax’s library. And, Good Dog, Carl has been my go-to baby book when I am putting together a baby shower gift – especially for my dog-loving friends. The illustrations are beautiful and whimsical. Makes me want a big, sweet Rotti to babysit Jax!

They had some other gems such as Goodnight Moon and The Going-To-Bed Book, but we already have those.

What are some of your must-have books for your toddlers?

Sweet Edible Playdough

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Sweet is an understatement!

I wanted to introduce Jax to playdough, but I wasn’t sure if he would try to eat it. I looked online, and most edible recipes involved peanut butter – something we haven’t added to his diet yet. I finally found one made with powdered sugar. Way more sugar than I’d want him to eat, but I planned to teach him to keep it out of his mouth.

Turns out, he thinks it is way too sweet to eat anyway! We had fun playing with it, but it gets a little sticky in warm toddler hands after a while.

Here’s the process:

Glass Instagram Photo Magnets

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As soon as I got my iPhone, I started using Instagram. It’s fun, free and lets you make your less-than-exciting cell phone photos interesting with filters. But what do you do with the tiny square photos it saves? While I always have mine set to save the original hi-res photos, I wanted to do something with the processed images. So I thought of the magnets I’ve made as gifts for years.

little tins are great for gift sets

Supplies:

  • Clear glass floral marbles (shaped like flattened globes) – avoid the iridescent kind, they are hard to see through.
  • Strong, round craft magnets. I find these in the craft store in various sizes.
  • Your Instagram photos (or magazine clippings, pretty paper, etc…) printed to fit your chosen size of marbles.
  • E-6000 glue
  • Scissors (and I sometimes use a circle punch the size of my magnets, but it’s currently lost.)
  • Toothpicks for glue spreading.
  • Optional: metal tin for giving your magnets as a gift set (found in craft stores.)

Are Toy Kitchens For Boys?

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I have my heart set on creating a little play kitchen for Jax in his playroom with adorable wooden food and a DIY kitchen set (my inspiration above is made by Melissa & Doug.) I think it would be a super fun project to take a piece of old furniture and convert it with paint and a little creativity. I loved my play kitchen as a child and I think Jax would too! He will be at the age where kids start playing pretend soon.

But, can toy kitchens be for boys? My husband’s initial reaction was no (and he is an amazing cook!) I say, why not!

What do you think?

Loving It: Woodsy Owls

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I’m loving all the sweet woodland owls that have been popping up on baby items. They look whimsical and retro and work for both boys and girls. Here are some cute options I found while “window shopping”.

MagnaDoodle Pocket Review

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When we started planning a road trip from the DC area up to Long Island, I realized I’d need to think up ways to keep Jax amused on the 6 hour trip. He loves to color, but I didn’t want to have crayons thrown around the car. But we found a great replacement: a MagnaDoodle Pocket!

I ordered ours from Amazon because we have Prime free 2-day shipping and the trip was coming up fast. I hid it until we hit the road.

Jax figured out right away how to draw on it. It writes very smoothly and erases in one sweep unless you’ve colored really dark. He loves sliding the stylus back into it’s hole in the side, and he can’t drop it because it is attached. The lever for erasing is too stiff for him to use just yet (it takes me two hands), but he learned to hand it to me whenever he wanted it erased. The size was perfect for his 17-month-old hands and fit easily into my purse or our small day-trip diaper bag.

The MagnaDoodle was a huge hit, both in the car and on our train ride to Manhattan. I’ll definitely consider buying a bigger one with more features as Jax grows. I like the stamps this one comes with.

Beco Gemini Baby Carrier

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Beco Gemini Baby Carrier

I’m a huge fan of babywearing and I’ve tried many different carriers including the Maya Wrap ring sling, Baby Bjorn carrier, Infantino Flip carrier and the Moby Wrap. My absolute favorite is Beco’s Gemini carrier!

I started out with the Maya Wrap ring sling and Moby Wrap. I loved them, and they were both great for a newborn. Jax was my little blizzard baby, born in Snowmageddon 2010, so the Moby kept him warm and snugly. The ring sling was so convenient for carrying him around and nursing without anyone noticing. Once Jax was big enough, I started using the Baby Bjorn for longer walks. Soft-structure carriers have a lot of advantages (no long tails to drag in the dirt while putting it on like the Moby, for one), but as Jax grew, it became clear that the Bjorn just wasn’t cutting it. My shoulders and back would start to ache right away while carrying him. I loved that Jax could face out (his favorite!), but I also wanted to be able to carry him on my back while I did chores (like the Ergo can.) Enter the Gemini…

I got the Beco Gemini in their old Lucas pattern (a gift from Jax’s grandpa!) right after it was released. I chose that pattern because we have two very hairy blonde dogs and I was sick of dog hair showing up on the chocolate brown Bjorn. Unfortunately, they don’t sell that pattern anymore, but the new Apple and Ginger patterns are so adorable!

We left for a weekend at the beach right after it arrived and it worked out so well! I have never had any shoulder or back pain with the Gemini. And, Jax is 25 lbs to my 100! He looks so big strapped to me that amazed strangers ask me what kind of carrier we are using to make carrying him look so effortless.

The back carry is easy to learn after a few tries. Jax always falls asleep like that. The hip carry was awkward, so I don’t generally do that one. I usually have him in the front facing-out position and when he gets tired or wants to nurse, I flip him to front facing-in. One of the great Gemini features are the snaps at the base of the carrier where your baby’s bottom is supported. It has a nice wide base when they face in that keeps their knees up in the right position. To switch to facing out, just snap the base to the narrow setting to allow room for chunky baby thighs!

Other details I love: The padding waist support is super comfy and was the only one I’d found that fit my small waist. All the straps have loops of elastic at the end so you can wrap up the extra and not have them dangling everywhere.

 Jax and I adore this carrier and I can’t recommend it enough to someone planning to do a lot of babywearing! We’ve even dancing in a flash mob together using it! What’s your favorite carrier?