When can babies have water: surviving the summer hydration wars
July in Chicago is a specific kind of swampy misery. Two years ago, the air conditioning unit in our third-floor apartment wheezed its last breath right in the middle of a heatwave. I was sweating through my nursing tank top,...
Figuring Out the Baby Booster Meaning Before You Lose Your Mind
It was 8:14 on a Tuesday morning, I was wearing my husband Dave's faded college sweatshirt that smelled faintly of stale Cheerios, and my third cup of coffee was already cold. I was sitting at the kitchen island filling out...
Wait, Are Baby Bonnets Safe? My 2 AM Infant Hair Loss Panic
It was exactly 2:14 AM on a Tuesday. I know this because my glowing phone screen was mocking me in the dark. I was sitting in the nursery rocking chair wearing a maternity tank top that smelled strongly of sour...
Why Baby Bellas Are Just Portobellos in Denial (And Perfect for Bab...
I was standing in the vegetable aisle at Sainsburyβs, a twin balanced on each hip, desperately trying to distinguish between a punnet of white mushrooms, baby bellas, and portobellos. That's when I learned the great agricultural lie of our generation:...
Debugging the Baby Bag: The Mobile Hardware You Actually Need
I'm standing on the wet sidewalk outside Stumptown Coffee on SE Belmont, holding my eleven-month-old son at arm's length like he's a highly unstable radioactive isotope. It's forty-three degrees, misting in that relentless Pacific Northwest way, and my child has...
To Past Me: Losing Sleep Over That 7 Month Old Baby Kidnapped Update
You're sitting in the rocker right now, the wood creaking on that one lopsided floorboard in the nursery, clutching a cold cup of coffee from yesterday while the baby finally sleeps on your chest. The glowing screen of your phone...
The reality of a six month old baby and the sweet potato incident
I fed my son his first sweet potato puree while wearing a cream cashmere sweater. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was letting him hold the spoon. Within three seconds, he sneezed, and my kitchen looked like a...