What 'The Baby 1973' Taught Me About Letting My Kids Grow Up
I was elbow-deep in a mountain of crusty toddler pants at eleven o'clock on a Tuesday, stress-eating stale Goldfish crackers while waiting for Etsy orders to print, when an old late-night movie caught my eye. Have y'all ever heard of...
When Should Babies Start Talking? A Real Mom's Messy Timeline
I was sitting cross-legged on my faded floral living room rug, aggressively thrusting a plastic cow at my nine-month-old son, Wyatt, and loudly mouthing the word "MOOO" like a deranged person. He just stared at me, blinking slowly, probably wondering...
11-month-olddevelopmental milestonesgross motor skillsorganic baby clothesparenting anxietytummy time
When Should A Baby Start Crawling? A Dad's Messy Timeline
I was standing in line at a Portland coffee shop yesterday with my 11-month-old strapped to my chest like a very heavy, drooling backpack, when I got hit with three completely contradictory pieces of developmental advice in the span of...
Panic vs reality: exactly when do babies start to talk anyway
I was sitting on the beige rug in my living room, aggressively holding a wooden block in front of my ten-month-old's face, enunciating the word block like I was teaching a hostage how to defuse a bomb. He just stared...
When Can a Baby Sleep With a Blanket? (The Honest Truth)
It was 2:14 AM on a Tuesday in late November. I was standing in my hallway in a pair of stained fleece sweatpants, clutching a breathtaking, hand-knit merino wool heirloom blanket to my chest like a shield, staring at the...
A Letter To Myself About The Chaos Of The Baby Crawling Phase
It's 2:14 PM on a Tuesday. I'm wearing black yoga pants that haven't seen the inside of a gym since 2018, and a gray t-shirt stained with breastmilk and what I'm desperately hoping is just mashed sweet potato. I'm nursing...
The Great Baby Basket Delusion: From Wicker Beds to Foam Hoops
I'm standing in the hallway at 4:17 a.m. holding Florence, who's currently rigid with fury, staring at a pristine, Β£150 woven baby basket that looks like it belongs in a Victorian bakery. Before the twins arrived, I'd thoroughly convinced myself...
Raising an Antiracist Child: Why Colorblind Parenting Fails
It was a Tuesday in 2019. I was standing in aisle four of our local Target, wearing a pair of violently pilled gray yoga pants with a mystery stain on the knee, clutching a lukewarm iced coffee like it was...
How to Survive the Feral Baby Hyena Phase of Human Toddlerhood
It happened at exactly 3:14 on a Tuesday morning. I was attempting the treacherous transfer from shoulder to cotβa maneuver that requires the stealth of a ninja and the steady hands of a bomb disposal expertβwhen Florence woke up. She...