Magazine

A tired dad holding a baby with a small bald spot on the back of its head.

Debugging The Baby Don't Be Bald Panic At Two In The Morning

It was 2:14 AM on a Tuesday when I found myself hovering over the crib, shining my iPhone flashlight directly onto the back of my 11-month-old son's head. I was trying to measure the exact radius of the bald spot...

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A dad overanalyzing the exact thickness of a vegetable spear for his baby

The Cucumber Protocol: From Slippery Hazards to Teething Hacks

It's 6:15 AM in our Portland kitchen, and I'm staring at a cutting board with a digital caliper in my hand. My wife, Sarah, is pouring her coffee, watching me measure a wet green vegetable down to the millimeter. "It...

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Dad and 11-month-old daughter looking at high-contrast board books on a playmat

How I completely debugged our library of baby books for girls

It's 2:14 AM on a Tuesday. I'm sitting cross-legged on the nursery floor, surrounded by a mountain of glossy cardboard. My wife, Sarah, is blissfully asleep down the hall, and our 11-month-old daughter is currently executing a sleep cycle that...

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Dad holding a teething toy in front of a blue patterned nursery wall

Why We Tore Down The Nursery Walls At 3 AM For Blue Paper

It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was staring at a wall painted a shade the DIY shop had optimistically called 'Sunshine Morning' but which, in the harsh glow of a dimmable nightlight, looked more like 'Aggressive Custard'....

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Toddler reaching for a plate of barbecue ribs on a bamboo blanket

Baby Back vs St Louis Ribs: Surviving The Family BBQ With Toddlers

My brother-in-law's backyard in Naperville smelled like hickory smoke and impending disaster. I was holding a lukewarm paper plate of potato salad while watching my toddler, who was wearing nothing but a diaper, aggressively gnaw on a piece of barbecued...

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Two toddlers squatting in tracksuits eating rice cakes

From Fragile Newborn To Full baby_gopn1k

I found Maya in the kitchen at 6:13 AM this morning, squatting perfectly on her haunches in the corner by the bin, wearing a matching velour tracksuit and aggressively chewing on a teething rusk like it was a cheap cigar....

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A messy baby eating semolina porridge in a highchair

The myth of the aesthetic baby suji bowl and what to do instead

Scraping hardened semolina off the ceiling fan wasn't exactly what I pictured when my mother-in-law told me suji would be the perfect first food for my son. I'm standing on a dining chair with a butter knife, chipping away at...

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Toddler testing balance on a three-wheel sit to stand infant scooter at the park

Why The Sit To Stand Infant Scooter Is A Major Motor Update

For the last eleven months, I operated under the assumption that tiny children on wheels were basically just tiny teenagers, meaning I had at least five years before I needed to worry about wheeled mobility devices. I was sitting at...

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A baby pressing laptop keys while a tired dad drinks cold coffee

Surviving the Inevitable Baby Keyboard Smash in My Home Office

"asdfghjkl;'" was the exact, unedited message I sent to my accountant last Tuesday at 9:14 AM. I'd love to claim it was an avant-garde statement about the futility of modern tax law, but the truth is considerably shorter, louder, and...

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