Baby Tip #647

To ease teething pain, make a momsicle. Freeze breast milk or formula in whatever convenient container is available and let baby teeth on it. Since baby's mouth is small, it's better to use small containers. Or, break of bits and give them as ice chips.

(This is not my original idea, though I am rather proud of my name for it.)

A formal petition

It's time to take a public stand. There is no backing down, no compromise. The offense is too great! We demand fair and equal treatment for all!

Recently, I encountered a vast lack of sensitivity and understanding from the owners and operators of public and private facilities. How is a mother supposed to go and do if she is barred from entering?

In what way? you ask.

By plastering signage at every entrance prohibiting food and drink. What am I, as a nursing mother, save my child's food and drink? Does this preclude me and those like me from attending or visiting as others do?

Add your voice to the cause.

Now that you mention it, the Little Princess has found some rather creative places to need a bite, to include:

• Home, in every room in the house, save the master bath and the closet
• The birthing center where she was born
• A bench at the Botanical Gardens
• The shower
• The stationary car. Several parking lots have become quite fine eateries, and also several rest areas.
• The moving car...with someone else driving, of course.
• Several thousand feet up in an airplane
• Every other moment at church
• Our church Easter activity 
• Her doctor's office
• My doctor's office
• A stall in the grocery store bathroom, as well as one at the Renaissance Fair
• The dentist's chair
• A bookstore
• During bookclub
• The home of friends and family
• A restaurant booth
• Daddy's desk at work  

Quite the list.

Milestone

She's survived 6 months with me as her mom. Thrived even. Go Itty Bitty!

Shooting for many more.

A Retelling

The Prince and the (Mr.) Potato(head)

Not to long ago in a land not very far away, dwelt a King and a Queen. They lived happily ever after in a very fine mansion on a hill with several of their children. One day, they received visitors from a neighboring kingdom. Their son-in-law had brought their eldest daughter, the Princess, along with the grand-baby Princess to see them. What a lovely reunion. My, how the little one has grown! Careful or she may bite you with her newly minted teeth!

Well, the King and Queen, as much as they admired their son-in-law, more especially since he had brought their adorable granddaughter, still felt some trepidation as to his real character. Was he, in fact, worthy of such a coveted position? In order to prove his true colors, they concocted a plan to test him. One generally uses peas at the bottom of several feather beds for these sorts of things, but that seemed a bit messy, so they resorted to something a little different.

"Your arm's off!"

"No it isn't."

"I packed an extra pair of shoes and your angry eyes, just in case."

Unfortunately, the maid foiled their brilliant plan as the guests arrived before she had put on sheets.

And to this day, they must patiently rely on the Princess and her excellent judge of character to vouch for him...until the next visit.

Motatoes

Last year, I noticed one bushy little plant and another spiny looking plant growing in our backyard. We hadn't planted anything yet, but the one looked vaguely like a tomato and the other looked like onion. I left them, just to combat the urge that most desert dwellers have of removing all green things (as they are generally weeds). Turns out it was, in fact, a tomato and not, in fact, an onion. Still not sure what it is. This winter blessed us with a few hard freezes, so the tomato plant died, while the unidentified spiny thing still lives on, but not without bestowing some lovely tomatoes. None were ripe before I picked them in order to avoid the freeze, but after sitting in a sunny window long enough, they did ripen. Tasty!

Once we came to the runty, end of the line, last to ripen, tomatoes, I realized I should save some seeds. How does one save tomato seeds? A consult with Dr. Google revealed that the seeds must ferment in order to something, and such and such, and so forth. I understood enough to place the seeds in water for a while,  with regular rinsing, until scummy stuff starts growing and then go from there. Dutifully, I put the seeds in water on top of the fridge and ignored them... for several days, a lot of several days, until I noticed that a few, or all of them actually, were sprouting. Apparently the soak had worked and these were viable seeds. So we put them in a pot and now, for the first time ever, I have grown a tomato plant from seed. Proud moment. Hopefully they will survive to be more than the current 2 inch height.

Made in the USA

Growing up living so close to my grandparents, on both sides, (which I humbly recommend for all children...and the parents) taught me a lot about obtaining material stuff. I inherited the 'do it yourself' gene, which permeates my every, every day. One example: Grandpa and Grandma made toys for all the grandchildren for several years. One year it was marionettes, another year it was Jacob's ladders, and another year was a stuffed ball. My brother had one of these. As I scrounged around for gift ideas for our little lady, I realized that diaper cream and clothes the next size bigger didn't make for much excitement at Christmas, even though she wasn't even 3 months old. So I decided to make a ball too. I played on the Notre Dame theme in honor of her father, who is a devout fan, even without being a devout Catholic. I even added a handle just for little hands. It's a little lumpy, but she likes it!

How? Cut 12 pentagons out of fabric. Sew the sides of sets of 5 together to form 2 rings. Add another pentagon to the 5 sided edge of each ring, then sew all but 2 edges of the rings together, wrong side out. Turn it right side out, decorate, if desired, and stuff. Then sew it closed...however you can manage. Then play!