Back from Vacation

I apologize for the silence of the past few weeks. We just returned from a road trip to Bozeman, Montana to visit Marco's parents.

We've been visiting Bozeman for almost 10 years and each time it changes. Sure, the town itself has exploded in both good and bad ways. But what I'm talking about is how our 1,000 mile drives to get there have evolved over the years.

We used to drive alone and stop when we felt like it, sometimes driving all day and into the night. Then we did the drive twice when Annabella was an infant. The first, when she was two months old, we stopped every two hours so I could nurse her, but there were still long periods of time when she napped. And then there was our first Christmas as a family, where we'd intended to fly, but missed our plane and ended up just getting in our car at the airport and driving the rest of the way to Montana. The way there was pretty easy, considering, but on the way back the roads were closed in Tahoe for 6 hours. I was still nursing, but Annabella was also eating baby food. If you have the opportunity not to feed your child strained spinach in her car seat, I suggest you run with it.

Last year was our first trip with the boys and the first time we discovered that removing a seat in the minivan gave us room to strap a laptop to the top of the cooler with bungee cords so we could play the Toy Story DVD seventeen times in a row. The boys still cried a lot, mostly because I think they truly believed that we had moved into our minivan and this was where we were going to live from now on. But at least they napped. This year, not so much. And when I say "not so much," I mean "not at all."

But, once we got to Marco's parents house all the angst-filled hours of "Are we in Montana, yet," "Can I get out of my seat," and "Can you come back here and pick up that toy I just dropped," were replaced by lots of swimming, lounging, and spectacular views that made it all worth it. And, of course, all that granny and grandpa time is worth twice that long in the car and I'm not just saying that because they read this. Granny and Annabella share a fondness with pigs that is too similar not to be genetic and nobody gives better rides on his mower than grandpa.

We also rented a cabin nearby for a few days where we stayed with old friends while the kids stayed with the Morrones. We took a day trip to Yellowstone to commune with the elk and the bighorn sheep, followed by a soak in the hot springs at Chico. If you ever make it to Western Montana, I highly recommend either a day trip or a longer stay at Chico Hot Springs Resort. Unless drinking a frozen margarita while sitting in a really hot pool staring up at the Montana sky is not your idea of a good time.

Jumping Monkeys: Episode 8

Sorry for last week's break. Did you miss us?

Interview:

Jennifer Niesslein, author of Practically Perfect in Every Way and co-founder of Brain, Child Magazine.

Links:

• Baby Toolkit
• Family Style - movie reviews
• Kids in Mind - movie reviews
• No Impact Man
• Ascent Stage - Create a Lego mosaic of your child using Photoshop.
• Typomatic - ASCII-o-matic
• Crayola Anti-Roll Crayons
• Children's Books for Geek Parents
• Show Us Your Dirty Wow Wow
• How to Choose a Digicam for Your Fast-Moving Kids - Leo recommends Digital Camera Info.com
• 5 Second Rule - Wikipdedia article on the 5 Second Rule
• Amazon Subscribe and Save
• Google Checkout

Book Pick:

The Secret of the Old Clock: Nancy Drew Mystery Stories 1 by Carolyn Keene. For your free audio book, go to www.audible.com/monkeys.

Leo also recommends Summerland by Michael Chabon and Flatland.

Moments I Want to Remember

The three of them are crouching over something on the cement porch.

Annabella: Don't touch it.
Huck: What is it?
Annabella: A baby fly.
Milo: Is it moving?
Annabella: No
Milo: Why doesn't it fly away?
Annabella: Because it's wings are very sore.
Milo: Sissy, is that your baby fly?
Annabella: No. It's the world's baby fly.

*

Huck brings me a tiny plastic car that he's broken. "Mommy," he says. "Look what I made into pieces."

*

We are driving from California to Montana. Everyone is melting down. I start to sing "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain" and the crying gets quieter. Then I remember that I have this song on my iPod, so I connect it to the car stereo and play it. Everyone cheers up instantly.

When it's over, Huck asks, "Can we hear that again?" I turn it on again. When it's over Annabella asks, "Can we hear that again?" I turn it on again. When it's over, Milo asks, "Can we hear that again?" I turn it on again and ask Marco, "How many times are we going to play this song?"

"As many as it takes," he says.

*

Review: Body, Soul, and Baby

I am not a fan of pregnancy and parenting books. You might think that means I have no business reviewing one. However, the sheer number of parenting books I've read in my life and the fact that I am not pregnant and not planning on ever being pregnant again makes me uniquely qualified. At least according to, well, me.

Body, Soul, and Baby is a new book by Dr. Tracy W. Gaudet, Director of the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine and founding executive director of Dr. Andrew Weil's Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. As the book's title and author's credentials suggest, Body, Soul, and Baby combines mainstream and alternative medicine to help new mothers througout their pregnancy and the birth of their baby. When the Parent Bloggers Network asked me to review this book, I was fascinated since all of the pregnancy books I've read we're strictly of one camp or the other.

It's been five years since I found out I was pregnant the first time. Sure, I remember the bad parts, like that time I puked into my lunch bag as I commuted over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. But I also remember the ethereal feeling of having a new person growing inside me. My body was changing, but that was only the least of it. A new life! Inside of me! I really wanted my OB to talk about this aspect of my pregnancy, but she was all business. Most of the time she couldn't even be bothered to look up from her clipboard when she asked me if I had any questions.

According to Gaudet, I had a pretty typical experience. She writes that modern pregnancy feels a little like a conveyer belt. "A time of internal wonder has been reframed almost entirely as a time for external worry." Gaudet doesn't claim that you won't have some fears throughout your pregnancy, but she aims to guide you through these fears, by addressing the real changes that are taking place within.

During my second pregnancy I made more of an effort to find an OB who was more open to answering questions. And for many of my appointments I saw a midwife who hugged me after each visit. Still, there aren't many doctors working today who are going to be able to help you with the process of self-discovery as well as Gaudet does in Body, Soul, and Baby.

Like the standard pregnancy books, Body, Soul, and Baby is organized by the stages of pregnancy. Unlike the standard books it focuses on meditation, reflection, observation, and other non-traditional ways of handling the changes that pregnancy brings. Gaudet also covers all the basics that you'll read in conventional pregnancy books.

When I first found out I was pregnant with Annabella a friend who'd recently had a baby made me promise that I wouldn't read What to Expect When You're Expecting. She said that the fear the book instilled in her, with all it's worst-case scenarios, far outweighed the usefullness of it. I made the promise to her and then promptly broke it. I'd ask you to make the same promise, but you'll probably break it and read What to Expect too and that's OK. Still, if you're pregnant or trying to get pregnant and you're at all interested in intergrative medicine, I encourage you to pick up a copy of Body, Soul, and Baby too.

Jumping Monkeys Episode 7 Show Notes: CafeMom

Episode 7 is ready for you. Yes, I mean you.

Listen at TWiT

Subscribe at iTunes

We interviewed Tracy Odell of CafeMom.

Join the Jumping Monkeys CafeMom Group

SPEND, SAVE, GIVE

SPEND:

Pleo: $200

YouTube video

SAVE:

My Grocery Deals 

via ThirftyMommy

GIVE:

Roots of Empathy

Playpumps International 

BOOK PICK:

Where the Wild Things Are, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Dr. DeSoto, and Owl Moon

LINKS:

Baby Monitor picks up video from Nasa

via Boing Boing

Power Trips for Tots

Image of woman riding a Segway and pushing a baby stroller

via Dadsmacker

1/2 Marathon: Part 2

As some of you know, I've been training for my second half marathon. My first one was last October in San Francisco. Today was the day and I finished with a time of 2 hours, 4 minutes. My goal was to do 10 minute miles and I averaged about 9:29. I also beat my time from the last race by 14 minutes. It feels pretty great.

All the family came out to cheer me on at the finish, which always gets me through that last stretch.

The Problem with Chain Stores

We just got back from a visit to Chicago for a wedding and to see childhood friends. One of Marco's best friends lives there and has a daughter (Lindsey) who is 4 and a half. She is one of Annabella's best friends and it doesn't seem to matter to either of them that they only see each other twice a year.

On our first day in Chicago our friends had to work, but Lindsey stayed home so the girls could play together.

Me: I think we should try to find a bookstore.
Lindsey: I know a bookstore that we'll all really like.
Me: Do you know what's it's called?
Lindsey: No, but I know exactly where it is.
Me: Great! Where?
Lindsey: Right next to Starbucks.

It's Funny Because it's True

Got twins? Then you can relate to this post from DoubleDad of the DadLabs:

Taking the Twins to a Kegger

Jumping Monkeys Episode 6: Matt Haughey

Jumping Monkeys Episode 6 is here, now with daddy goodness.

Listen on TWiT

Subscribe at iTunes

We interviewed Matt Haughey of Metafilter, PVR Blog, and A Whole Lotta Nothing.

Matt reads DaddyTypes.

LINKS:

• MetroDad's Open Letter to All Toddlers
• Land of Nod Nodcast Podcast
• Dover Publications Samplers
• Parentography
• AmazingMoms

Thomas Train Recall: Update

Last month I (and everyone else on the Internet) warned you about the Thomas Train recall. We only had a handful of those trains and I took them all away as soon as I heard about the recall. They're beloved toys, so I was pretty surprised when a week went by and none of my kids noticed.

Something must have jogged their memory, because last week there began in our house a rising chorus of "Where's my trains?" that turned into a steady roar that no amount of "They had lead in them," "They were poison," or "Congress and the Consumer Products Safety Commission don't make testing kids toys for toxic chemicals a priority," seemed to appease them.

So, I found out which trains were part of the recall and boxed them up and sent them back to the company. The kids got the lead-free trains and they were so much cooler since they hadn't seen them in several weeks.

I don't suppose anyone else has received replacement trains yet?