The Sweet Flypaper of Life

Water Babies vs. Aqua Tots

2012-02-02T01:46:00.000-05:00

We started swimming "lessons" with Olivia three weeks ago, and it hasn't been as successful as I was hoping. Her reaction to the water is to curl up like she's a newborn again for the entire half hour we are in the pool. I thought maybe she was overwhelmed by all of the people and noise, but she usually likes this and can often be lulled to sleep by it. Local baby guru Ann Keppler said it's the temperature of the water and suggested we try water babies because the pool is much warmer. I was reading about them and it also sounds like the other parts of their facilities are also more baby friendly.

For example, at the local park district pool, there's only one changing table in the bathroom and there's always such a crush of people waiting for showers, that little O is freezing before we get one. They have two family bathrooms, but these are usually taken, and by people with kids who can dress themselves even though they are supposed to leave them open for younger kids. Poor Olive is so cold and stressed by the time we leave, and acts funny the rest of the day.

Water babies claim to have changing areas poolside where it's warm. Some of their pools are even saltwater which could be less irritating than chlorine. Their classes also seem to be more geared towards babies whereas the one we've been going to are really for toddlers. Of course, then park district's classes are 1/3 of the price.

What have been your experiences with babies and the water? Has anyone tried water babies? Is it worth about $20 per class?

Baby Supplies for the first few weeks

2012-01-31T15:01:00.002-05:00

Since I had over two months off before baby O was due, I went a little crazy nesting. I definitely over bought both clothes and gear. I thought it would be useful to re-visit those first few weeks and figure out what was really essential to get before the baby came. Everyone says not to bother buying clothes because you get so many as gifts. I would say that wasn't totally true for us. I was especially concerned because we didn't have any family to pass clothes down to us. However, we had many generous friends with kids who gave us outgrown baby clothes, which was wonderful.

One of our favorite items were the little snap up gowns like the one baby O has on below. For newborns, this was a great second layer over a onesie or shirt to keep them warm and is also easy to put on because you don't have to worry about putting it over their head. Some people complain about all the snaps, but I didn't mind. The flip over arms to cover her little hands so she wouldn't scratch herself (and to keep them warm) was also nice. It was long enough to cover her feet so we didn't necessarily need to put socks on her. These also convert to rompers when they are a bit bigger, but we mostly used it in gown form.

Like many people, we were also fans of the little side-snap t-shirts. They were great to wear before the umbilical cord stump fell off in lieu of a onesie. Later on, they were also a great underlayer for extra warmth under the onesie. I preferred the long sleeve ones for this reason, and because they have the little flip up hand covers. We were able to use these longer than even the newborn onesies since they didn't outgrow here as quickly and were great for layering in the perpetually cool Pacific Northwest weather.

At our baby shower, we had our friends decorate onesies, which was a lot of fun. Even better, is to have them decorate onesies of several different sizes. That way you don't need to worry about them growing out of them before you can wear them all. I would say they don't need more than half a dozen or so in each size. (Of course, our little one didn't spit up much, so we don't go through them as quickly as some might.) I try to take her picture in each one as she wears them and send it as a thank you to whomever made it.

My sister, a post-partum nurse, suggested I get the "my brest friend" nursing pillow. The name kind of threw me off, but once she showed me how to properly position it, this was great to use when baby and I were both new to breast feeding. It's also supposed to be good for those recovering from a c-section, which I was at the time. It was convenient to be able to clip this on and then be able to walk around if I forgot something without having to re-position it. The one place this didn't work that well was in the nursery rocker, since it's kind of wide. This was definitely more comfortable to use on a couch. I bought a second cover for this, and did end up having to change it a couple of times after spit ups and diaper blowouts. Little O did outgrow this after a couple of months, so a used one might not be a bad idea since you can wash the cover.

We gave little O sponge baths, and then proper baths once her umbilical stump fell off, in the tub below. The sling was great for when she was really tiny, especially for sponge baths. Once the stump was off and the belly button area was healed, we stopped using the sling and sit her on the infant side, where she was able to lean back. This tub also happened to be the perfect size to hang lengthwise from the sides of our bathtub, which made it easier to bathe her.

While still in the hospital with little O, my husband and I practiced swaddling her with the hospital blankets. We couldn't get it down as well as some of the nurses who were expert swaddlers. When we got home, we loved using the velcro swaddlers by Summer infant and Halo, because they were quick and secure. My mom gave us some and I also bought some used since they grow out of them so quickly. Little O would fight the swaddle initially, but it really did help her to sleep better since her random limbs flailing would end up waking her up.

When she was tiny, O loved spending time napping in a vibrating bouncy chair, like the one below. The toy bar comes off, which makes it easier to take them in and out. She loved the vibrations and there were many nights in the beginning when she would only sleep in this. It's also easy to carry around the house so you can keep an eye on the little one while eating or doing housework. One of our friends, was kind enough to pass theirs down when they were finished with it. Otherwise, these are easy to find used, and don't seem worth it to buy new since they outgrow it so quickly. It's easy to remove the seat and throw it in the wash. The only downsides to this chair are that it's easy to forget to turn off the vibrating and we stubbed our toes on the wide base all the time.

While she was in her nocturnal phase, my husband found that a swing really helped him soothe the baby. (In addition to the other S's suggested by Dr. Karp.) This can be a lot bulkier than the chair above, but we were able to fit it in the nursery and used it to help her nap when swaddling and white noise wasn't enough. O liked it better in the position not shown below, where you can swing front to back rather than side to side. We took off the play console and she's never used it. They also make more compact versions of this that sit lower to the floor. I wouldn't spend the money to buy this new since it's only used for a short period of time. They are easy to find used on craig's list and easy to clean. I was able to wash the entire seat portion in the washing machine, as well as the toys on the mobile.

Getting ready for baby: Maternity "Gear"

2012-01-23T00:00:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited that a couple of my friends are expecting, and I've been thinking about what
stores and items I really loved when pregnant. One thing you're not prepared for is how sensitive your breasts get. You don't want anything touching them, so it's hard to sleep sometimes. I loved these maternity/nursing tanks from Cantaloop because the material was really soft. It also provided coverage and stretched over my huge belly. It's also been great now that I'm nursing. They were on sale on zulily, so I didn't have to pay full price for them, which was even better. Cantaloop also made a great support belt that I wore like a belly band. It helped keep my pants up and made my belly feel a bit less heavy.

I used to love wearing spanx pre-pregnancy to smooth away all the lines and bumps under clothes, but I didn't want to squeeze my poor baby. I was happy when I found maternity "spanx" from Motherhood Maternity. They were less expensive than the actual spanx brand, and they worked just as well. Even better than smoothing out lines, it also gave me much needed support when I was wearing dresses. Without these, I often felt like my belly was dragging downwards during my third trimester.

Speaking of dresses, these were the most comfortable things to wear, especially during the summer when my belly was huge. I found that a lot of the empire waist and wrap dresses that were already a part of my wardrobe worked just fine. For example, none of the outfit below was maternity - except maybe my tights. Since the weather in the Pacific Northwest is mild, and my third trimester wasn't until the summer, I also got away without buying a new winter coat. Instead, I wore my regular coat unzipper and/or wore sweater coats like one below, also undone.

My propensity for empire waist clothing, also paid off when it came to tops. Believe it or not, the top below is from Anthropologie (as many of the tops I wore while pregnant were), and managed to stretch out and accommodate baby quite well, even towards the end.

I did buy quite a few maternity items though, particularly pants (like the grey jeans above). I found that full maternity panel, skinny jeans worked best. Some of my friends managed to wear a belly band with their regular pants throughout their pregnancy, but this only worked for me through part of the second trimester. After that, I tried the low rise and knit/stretch panel pants, but these did not work so well because they just don't stay up. This is also why I favored the skinny jeans. In addition, it is impossible to find petite maternity clothes, and skinny jeans were easier to avoid hemming. Instead, I just scrunched them or folded them up.

I didn't want to spend a ton of money on clothes I'd be wearing for just a few months, so my favorite places to shop were Old Navy, Gap, Target, and H&M, which all sell maternity clothes in some of their locations. (I only bought a couple things online, as trying them on was important, since my body kept changing.) Old Navy had great basics. I got one of my favorite pair of jeans there as well as some tops and summer dresses. Gap was a bit pricey, so I only bought things on sale here. However, this was a good place for more work-appropriate clothes. I found a great black wrap dress here, as well as the grey jeans I was wearing above.

I love Liz Lange's line at Target. I also shopped here the most frequently because every store carries maternity. I got some great dresses and tops here, like the one above - I can't believe I was that big towards the end! I also found really comfortable maternity tank tops which were nice for layering. I also got a cute bathing suit here, although Old Navy's are definitely lower priced. H&M's maternity line is called Mama, and they carry some cool and stylish options. I loved their jeans, but they didn't work fit me as well as Old Navy's, but the price was not that much higher. It's also harder to find a store that carries it, so I more often bought regular tops that worked with the belly, at my local, non-maternity carrying H&M. I was interested in checking out Forever 21's maternity line as well, but none of my local stores carry it. (I read somewhere, that it's only carried in states with high teenage pregnancy rates, so I guess Washington isn't one of those states?)

Towards the end, my foot swelled up and I could no longer fit in my regular shoes. I am so grateful it was summer by then and that school was out, because it meant I was able to live in flip-flops. I also had more dressy and supportive sandals, similar to the ones above, that I wore whenever I needed to leave the house.

Crafts: Sewing Kid's Clothes

2012-01-22T10:57:00.002-05:00

Before baby, I was in frantic nesting mode, and sewing for friend's babies and my future baby. One day, my friend Liz came over and we had a crazy sewing day. It was great sewing with her because she just dives in, which helped push me along to get more done because I can be quite poky and too precise about it. I managed to make a skirt and a dress that day.

Here's one of the finished dresses. I realized afterwards, that i managed to sew it so the fabric pattern is upside down, but it's still a cute dress! I used this tutorial and some math skills to make it. Of course, little O won't be wearing this for awhile.

I also made the skirt above for our friend's daughter. This may have been the tutorial I used, but I'm not sure now. Looks cute, but the proportions were funky. I learned that it's hard to make clothes for kids when you don't have them there to measure!

During another crafting day with my friend Becky, I made this cool travel blanket, using this tutorial. It's not perfectly straight, but the beautiful echino fabric I used makes up for my lack of sewing skills.I have yet to use this with O, but she's getting attached to her toys, so it might be good to start using it soon.

Hungry Monkey

2012-01-20T19:59:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading a terrific book called Hungry Monkey: A food loving father's quest to raise an adventurous eater. The title made me think of how I think M wants to raise our little one. I also have food on the brain since it is about time to introduce little O to solids. My mom, who is a pediatrician, has been pressuring me to start since she was four months because she thinks O is ready. Meanwhile, my sister-in-law (another pediatrician), and O's actual pediatrician say I should wait until six months so she can get the maximum benefit from breastfeeding. Ann Keppler, local baby guru, also thinks we should wait until six months. Many of her reasons are given here.

The book was an enjoyable account of the author's first few years with his daughter. He lives in Seattle, in the Capitol Hill area, so he often referenced local places, which made it even more appealing to read. Every chapter concluded with a few recipes that his daughter liked, and also gave suggestions of how little ones could help with the cooking or baking. As a new parent, it's reassuring to read about how other parents actually introduce solids and handle diet and pickiness. I know some of my friends think I'm a bit crazy to worry so much about it and that it's all just common sense. However, I don't get the same information from everyone, which makes it confusing. My husband was allergic to a lot of things as a kid, so I worry that O might be the same way. Also, I was an extremely slow and picky eater as a kid. My parents used to time me and it would often take me well over and hour to eat. Sometimes I'd get sent to the garage or outdoors to finish if it took too long. I'm not sure if this worked or I just got over being picky, but I'm a world champion at speed eating now.

I want to wait the six months, but O is definitely fascinated with watching us eat, which makes it tempting to start sooner. I bought some whole grain rice cereal, as O's pediatrician recommended, last week. (Ann Keppler is anti-rice cereal, but if we do start her on solids before six months, it seems like a good place to start.) We haven't started her on the cereal yet, despite continuous pressure from my mom to do so. I have given O a spoon to hold and suck on as she watches us eat dinner from her bumbo. I've practice giving her a bit of water from the spoon and from a glass, and she seems to enjoy that as well.

Lately, O seems to suffering from some teething pain, and has taken to furiously rubbing her pacifier, her sophie, or one of our fingers rapidly across her first tooth and gums. This is a little hard on my finger. I've also been reading Baby-led Weaning: Helping your baby to love good food, which inspired me to give O a baby carrot to hold. She held it and soon brought it up to her mouth to rub against her tooth and gums. Her little tooth was like a grater and she soon had tiny carrot shavings on her sleeve and bib. I'm not sure if she actually ate any of the carrot, but she enjoyed sucking it and rubbing her tooth and gums on it. (To make sure there was no danger of her choking on it, I only gave it to her while she was sitting upright in the bumbo and I kept an eye on her the entire time.) Eventually, the carrot got too slimey with saliva for her to hold and she kept dropping it. Does this count as her first food? I'm not sure, but she had fun holding something and gnawing on it while we ate, and we certainly enjoyed watching her.

I'm still trying to decide how important it is to start with rice cereal, or even purees. I'm not sure if I'm totally on board with baby-led weaning, but I like the idea that not everything has to be spoon fed and mushy. I am still unsure about seasoning too. Should the food be left pure and bland, or is a little salt or other flavoring okay? My husband wants to make her some jook (rice porridge), which I'm sure a lot of babies in Asia start off with. What was the first food you gave your little one?

Little O is almost 5 months old!

2012-01-12T09:48:00.001-05:00

It has almost been five months, and I have been sadly remiss about writing about how little O has been progressing. Sometimes it seems like time is moving so slowly, but my husband, M, who doesn't get to spend all day with her, often reminds me how much she is changing. She is no longer the curled up little pill bug sleeping the day away, but is definitely becoming more alert and aware of the world around her. The easiest way for me to remember how much has changed is to do a review in the form of photos:

Since my last update almost 4 months ago, little O has spent countless hours happily snoozing as I wear her. I can't believe she was once small enough to hang as she is above, in the moby. We have transitioned to mostly using the ergo since she is over fifteen pounds and heavy! Now, she is big enough that I have a hard time signing receipts when I'm shopping or eating lunch, as her head is almost covering my face at this point. I also want to practice wearing her facing out in the moby more, as O is sometimes awake and looking around now, rather than automatically falling asleep when I'm wearing her.

Little O has now spent many hours out and about and seems to greatly prefer being out in the world, rather than being cooped up at home all day with me. We've continued going to Friday dinners with our friends, and I am grateful that some of them are happy to hold her to give me and M time to scarf some food down ourselves. She doesn't seem to mind being held by others yet, although I have noticed a preference for Asians, since those are the faces she sees the most. She has spent more time at sports bars watching football with her Appah than I have, and I am grateful for M for taking her out, and for the bars for allowing it, as it has given me a little bit of time away to just breathe and do my own thing again.

Little O has gotten to meet other babies her age thanks to PEPS. It's also been great for M and I to get to meet parents who are going through the same thing as us. We've been meeting every Wednesday evening and it's been interesting to see the change in all the babies. In the beginning, most of us held our sleeping little ones and/or fed them during those two hours. Now, we often put them on the floor together and get distracted as we watch them squealing and batting one other.

Little O got to visit the places where both M and I work. It was fun to introduce her to everyone and so cute that she got her own name badge. Looking at this photo, I can't believe she was ever to cute and tiny!

Since the last update, little O has already had three roundtrip flights! I even did one of those legs solo with her. During these trips, she celebrated her first Halloween, her first Thanksgiving, her baptism, her first 100 days, and her first Christmas. The best thing about all of it is getting to surround her with the loving arms of all of our friends and family. It makes the loss of routine and a good night's sleep worth it. Little O also has her own passport now and we will soon be taking a long flight to Asia for an extended stay so she can meet her great-grandparents and many more relatives and friends.

We have been trying to give little O as much tummy time as we can, although she often doesn't look as happy as she does above. She was also diagnosed with mild torticollis, which meant a couple of visits to a physical therapist and some neck exercises to do with her. Her neck seems to be okay, and now I just worry about her funny shaped head, but I can't complain about her long hours of sleep, even if it might be leading to flat spots. She has also learned how to roll, albeit mostly in one direction and only front to back. I know I shouldn't, but I worry because she is not as advanced a roller as other babies her age, but we practice every day!

O is loving time in the bumbo, as well as her exersaucer and, most recently, her jumper. I've heard that all these things are not necessary and can be detrimental to her development, but it's a nice break from floor time, although I try to make sure it isn't a substitute for it. It also gives me a chance to rush around and do a few chores around the house before she starts crying.

Little O has had numerous facetime and skype video chats with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and great-grandparents. I find it amusing how often my dad will take screenshots as we chat, and how often he accidentally hangs up on us. Her mood varies from chat to chat, but M's mom got the nickname "poop grandma", because for awhile O was regularly and loudly pooping during their video chats. The trend has not continued, and lately she cries since she'd rather be walking around instead of staring into a computer screen.

Little O and I have spent quite a bit of time taking classes. We took a wonderful mommy and me yoga class where I got some stretching and muscle work in between feeding and playing with her. We tried one gymboree class, but found it to be a bit pricey (and I think clowns are creepy). Currently, we are singing songs in Spanish while learning American Sign Language, going to a world music class, and will soon be starting swimming lessons. Seattle Parks and Recreation has been a wonderful resource for affordable classes. We've also attended a few workshops with Ann Keppler, baby guru, and Birth and Beyond.

Little O has been the recipient of many baby gifts, particularly from her lola, who has gone crazy shopping for her. My favorite are the handmade items, especially these cute ducky booties knit by her tita. Soooo cute!!

Little O has had some baby play dates, which are really opportunities for me to socialize with other adults. She does love seeing new faces and places, but has a tendency to make other babies cry - hilarious, but unfortunate. It is great to see friends with babies, I only wish they all lived nearby. I remember in middle school I used to dream my best friend and I had houses next door to one another connected by a bridge, and that all of my friends lived on an island with me. I still kind of wish for that.

Mind in the Making: Seven Essential Life Skills

2011-12-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

Skill Seven: Self-Directed, Engaged Learning

There's probably a while before I need to worry about this with Baby Nam, but as a teacher this is a good skill for me to keep in mind since it's a big part of what I'm trying to teach my 6th graders.

Principles that help children to be passionate about learning:
1. Establish a trustworthy relationship with them
     - babies learn from imitating those they trust
     - learning can't happen unless they feel safe and secure
     - structure and routine are also important to help them in the learning process
2. Help them set and work toward their own goals
     - encourage their desire to explore
     - help them learn to plan
3. Involve children socially, emotionally, and intellectually
    - give them direct experiences
    - multiple experience help them remember what they've learned
    - verbal cues and visual prompts help them
    - give them meaningful and purposeful experiences
    - learning can't take place unless they are taken care of physically
4. Elaborate and extend their learning
     - ask open-ended questions
5. Help them practice,synthesize, and generalize
     - encourage their curiosity
     - have them explain what they're learning - this makes the learning explicit, helps them focus on the principles they are learning so they can apply them to new situations
     - expect them to strive for their best
     - BOTH direct instruction and discovery are important
6. Help them to become accountable
     - make expectations for success clear
     - catch them doing something positive
     - praise effort rather than intelligence
7. Create a community of learners
     - we teach best when we're learning

Mind in the Making: Seven Essential Life Skills

2011-12-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

Skill Six: Taking on Challenges

This is related to how much stress children have to deal with. Many studies have shown that children with warm, caring, and trusting relationships with those close to them are less prone to stress. Giving children some control in managing their stress will help prevent learned helplessness. I found it interesting that a study found that being in child care within the first two years meant children were less likely to be anxious and fearful at four years of age. Our own ability to find support and manage our stress also seems to have a direct correlation with our children's ability to do so.

I wasn't surprised to see that Galinsky had a big section of Carol Dweck's research about fixed versus growth mindsets. Her research as shown that it is more effective to praise students for their effort than their intelligence.

There are two parenting styles that are not helpful in helping kids to regulate their emotions - and both of them involve expressing negative emotions towards their children:
1. Alarmist: parents who see danger everywhere
2. Intrusive: overprotective parents that don't allow their children to explore

How to promote the skill of handling challenges:
1. Manage your own stress (teaching and leading by example seems to come up again and again!)
2. Have friends to turn to when stressed - this will make you less likely to instead transmit this stress to your kids
3. Take time for yourself
4. Don't shield them from everyday stresses, as learning to deal with it is a necessary part of life.
5. Having a warm, caring, and trusting relationship with them will help them to feel safe and secure.
6. Encourage your children to be adventurous and take risks
7. Figure out how they cope best when challenged and/or upset
8. Make sure your expectations are appropriate for a child's unique temperament and personality
9. Give them some control in managing their stress
- help them in coming up with their own solutions for when facing a challenge, and in coming up with an alternate plan if the first one is unsuccessful
10. Cultivate a growth mindset by praising their effort, not their personality

Mind in the Making: Seven Essential Life Skills

2011-12-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

Skill Five: Critical Thinking

This is an important skill that helps in making decisions in every day life. This skill helps is especially important when you consider the easy access they now have to information through the internet. It will help them determine what is valid and reliable knowledge. The first step in developing this skill is theorizing and learning from others.

As a science teacher, I am always trying to teach the skills that Galinsky emphasizes in the chapter. It is important to be able to think scientifically and understand cause and effect.
1. Focus on the evidence
2. Gather new evidence
3. Interpret the evidence

How to promote critical thinking:
1. Observe them to determine what theories they are coming up with to try and understand the world
2. Encourage their curiosity and guide them in solving their own problems whenever possible through experiments, clues, and suggestions
3. Encourage their passions and interests
4. Give them accurate and valid information (that's age and developmentally appropriate)
5. Help them find other experts to learn from
6. Help them evaluate information from others (rumors vs. reality)
7. Encourage critical viewing skills (when watching tv, especially ads)
8. Model problem solving for them:
     - Identify the problem
     - Determine the goal
     - Come up with possible solutions and evaluate their effectiveness
     - Choose a solution and evaluate its outcome - if it doesn't work, try something else

Mind in the Making: Seven Essential Life Skills

2011-12-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

Skill Four: Making Connections

This has to do with categorizing information and being able to figure out what's similar, what's different, how things relate to one another and finding new connections. Even infants have an object sense, a space sense, and a number sense. This is an important skill as it helps them learn and remember things.

How to promote making connections:
1. Give them opportunities to see connections using their interests
2. Acknowledge that making mistakes is a part of learning
3. Promote object sense with open ended toys that let them experience how things work
4. Give them opportunities for exploration and pretend play and be their guide
5. Use words to describe space
6. Play games where they find their way in space
     - hide and seek
   - giving directions when going somewhere
     - geocaching
7. Talk about quantities and how it relates to things you encounter in daily life
8. Give them chores that involve counting
9. Build their sense of approximate numbers - play board games
10. Play games that help them make connections
      - sorting things by color, type, shape, size
11. Help them see things in different ways (face/vase illusion, shapes in clouds, etc...)

Mind in the Making: Seven Essential Life Skills

2011-12-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

Skill Three: Communicating

Speaking in "parantese" to babies might sound silly, but it actually catches their attention better than if you spoke to them as if they were adults. Babies pay attention to tone and facial expressions and are learning about emotional cues and how we communicate as we talk to them. They learn to differentiate sounds and detect words as they listen. Babies learn what we think is important for our words, looks, and gestures.

To encourage literacy skills early on, emphasize:
- expression
- understanding
- enjoyment
- connecting visual with verbal
- the concept of the written word (reading left to write, that there's a beginning and end, a top and bottom, and space around each word)
- interacting with books that you read to them by talking about and discussing it as well as reading it to them
- talking about their ideas
- phonemic awareness (learn to recognize letters and sounds)
- a variety of forms of expression (including drawing and painting)

How to promote communication:
1. Create an environment in the home where words, reading, and listening are important
2. Narrate your children's experiences with talking, looks, and gestures
     - describe what's going on around them
     - give names to what you are looking at
     - play word games like pat a cake and peekaboo
3. Use "extra" talk that goes beyond the here and now and the necessary
     - what if...
     - remember...
     - what do you think...
4. Relate your talk to what is interesting to them
5. Tell stories about your life and have them tell stories about theirs
6. Read (joyfully) with your child
     Suggestions for infants and toddlers:
     - get books they can't destroy by chewing them and books that are tactile
     - point out pictures
     - get books with a catchy refrain they can remember
     - create a tradition of story time
7. Play with word sounds
     - Guessing games with the first letter of words
     - Clap syllables while you say the sounds
     - Help them blend word sounds to make words
     - Alphabet game: children think of words beginning with each letter of the alphabet and you try to guess it
     - Have them practice reading when you're shopping
     - Play with tongue twisters (like "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.")
8. Encourage them to write
     - take dictation when they're too young to write
     - encourage pretend writing
     - have them keep journals

Mind in the Making: Seven Essential Life Skills

2011-12-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Skill Two: Perspective Taking

This involves having empathy and being able to figure out how someone else thinks and feels based on what we know about them. It also involves being able to inhibit our own thoughts and feelings in order to be able to see things from another perspective. Having this skill helps children understand what their teachers want and expect and can also help them learn to read.

How to promote it:
1. Practice it: If children feel listened to and understood, they'll be better able to listen and understand others. Also, children who have a trusting relationship with their parents that makes them feel safe and secure are more able to understand other perspectives.
2. Teach them how to be with other people: part of this is teaching conflict resolution
3. Help children feel known and understood
     - for infants: imitate what they are doing (including sounds)
     - repeat back their words and describe what you see them doing
     - ask questions about what they are doing
     - let them know you've been there and know how they are feeling
4. Talk about your feelings and their feelings.
5. Use opportunities during the day to talk about other people's perspectives
6. Give them time to pretend and try on other people's perspectives
7. Make them aware of their behavior's effect on others.
8. Teach them appraisal skills - how to figure out the intent of others
      - by thinking about people's responses to every day situations
      - by thinking about the intent of character's in books, tv shows, and movies

Mind in the Making: Seven Essential Life Skills

2011-11-30T13:55:00.001-05:00

John Medina, the author of Brain Rules, recommended reading this book by Ellen Galinsky.
She believes there are seven essential life skills that children need. These skills are:
1. Focus and self control
2. Perspective taking
3. Communicating
4. Making connections
5. Critical thinking
6. Taking on challenges
7. Self-directed, engaged learning

I'm going to give a summary of each of these seven skills, both what they are and how to promote them. Here are my notes on the first one.

Skill One: Focus and Self Control
     Executive function could be just as important as IQ - kids with good attention skills are more successful in reading and math
     This skill includes:
        a. Focus
        b. Cognitive flexibility: being able to shift attention from one thing to another, adjust to a change in demands or priorities, or switch perspectives
        c. Working memory: allows you to do mental arithmetic, relate one idea to another,or prioritize what you need to do
        d. Inhibitory Control: this allows you to pay attention despite distractions, stick with something even when its challenging, and to think before you act

     How to promote focus:
       1. Help teach them to how bring themselves under control
       2. Games that help them focus by learning to pay attention:
           - guessing games
           - I Spy
           - puzzles
           - red light, green light
           - musical chairs
           - bell game: everyone walks around carrying a bell - the goal is that the bell doesn't make a sound
       3. Read stories in a way that encourages them to listen
       4. Select video games and tv shows that help children pay attention
       5. Background television can be disruptive and distracting
   6. Make sure they are well rested and have breaks, as this will improve their attention and self-control.
       7. Teach by example!

    How to promote cognitive flexibility:
      1. Play sorting games with changing rules: sort different types of objects (for example flowers and cars in three different colors) - This suggestion reminds me of the card game SET!
      2. Encourage them to pretend and make up stories
      3. Give them puzzles

   How to promote working memory:
      1. Play games that have rules
2. Encourage children to pretend
      3. Have them make plans, follow the plans, and discuss what they accomplished

   How to promote inhibitory control:
      Play games where the rules force them to inhibit what they would do automatically
       - peg tapping: This is a game where you must do the opposite of the other person. For example, if you tap one, the other person taps twice, and vice versa.
        - Day-Night: When shown a picture, you say the opposite of what it shows. For example, you see a picture of daytime, and say night, and vice versa.
        - Have cards with names of colors written in different colors - the goal is for them to say the color they see, rather than read the word itself
        - Simon says, but do the opposite: for example, sit when they say stand

Science and Design

2011-11-23T11:41:00.000-05:00

I was amazed and inspired when I visited my old school's brand new science wing. They start teaching in the space in January, and I know it's thoughtful design that seems to include every possible bell and whistle will only inspire more creativity and innovation in their lessons.

One of my favorite things about all of the rooms was the fact that every single surface could be used as a whiteboard! This means teachers and students are not chained to the front of the room, but teaching and writing can happen virtually anywhere in the space.

Rather than being limited by the size of a traditional whiteboard, the entire wall is one! How cool is that??

Rather than using disposable chart paper, they have portable whiteboards that hook onto the wall, but can be taken down to record lab data with groups, or ideas at tables.

Even the cabinets and the backsplash can be used as space to write. I've dreamed about this, and it's real! I also love the green color here, fitting since this is a biology classroom.

Here's a good example of how the cabinets can be used as a writing surface - a diagram of a parallax angle in a physics classroom.

Even the inside of the cabinets can be written on! This, by the way, is the physics prep room. It's so big and well-organized I wish it was my closet, or even possibly my bedroom! (And that person who you will see in many of my photos is the wonderful science department chair there, who can explain the reasoning and planning behind the entire space much more eloquently than me since he helped design it.)

The plethora of whiteboard space can also be used for science related art. I love this drawing that one of the school's art teachers did of the U.S.S. Enterprise. It's quite appropriate since this is the astronomy classroom!

Even the tables in the student lounge are a whiteboard!

My second favorite thing about the space after the unending sea of whiteboards, was the integration of dynamic, science-related art.

My favorite is this rube goldberg-like kinetic art piece created by a famous Chicago artist for the wall space between the two Physics classrooms.

In between the two biology rooms, they were in the process of installing a saltwater fish tank with actual coral reef (but no living coral). It will be maintained by the store that installed it, which means less work for the already busy teachers.

The new wing is also filled with lots of technology. There are smartboards in every room.

In addition to the smartboard, they also have flat screens above the teaching station (which is offset, so it's easier for the teacher to walk around while teaching). The monitor is attached to the document camera below so a document or lab results can be shown above while other items can be written on the smartboard. The monitor is also hooked up to a video camera that's permanently installed in the classroom. This allows teachers to tape themselves teaching, which means if a student is absent, he can watch the lecture remotely. (I think it would be a bit scary to have every lesson recorded, but it's nice to have the option!)

Here is a crazy huge bank of eight flat screens in the common space between all of the classrooms. These monitors are also hooked up to the video cameras in the classrooms so visitors can watch what's happening without disturbing classes. These are also hooked up to the internet.

Unfortunately, the photo above is blurry, but it shows a monitor in the hallway that will show the energy usage in the building. They've installed solar panels and a wind turbine on the roof, so this will show how much electricity is being produced as well.

You can tell these rooms were designed with a lot of input from the teachers and what they would need. One example are these metal bars installed in the ceiling of the physics classroom. They are strong enough to do chin ups on, but are there for activities like pendulum labs.

I miss having a proper prep room, and the ones here are HUGE! This is the Chemistry prep room. There is also a separate closet (really a small room) for all the chemicals, complete with beautiful wooden shelves (non-reactive material), an acid cabinet, and one for flammable items.

The prep room would also be an enviable office (or studio apartment) since it has huge picture windows that overlook Lincoln Park.

There is even an independent study space for students who might want to do their own research.

Our nursery was on OhDeeDoh!

2011-11-18T17:48:00.000-05:00

I didn't get a chance to post about this before, as it was right after Olivia was born and I was a bit overwhelmed and sleep deprived, but Apartment Therapy's ohdeedoh posted my submission for Olivia's nursery! It was so exciting to see it up there - yippee!

Bright from the Start: Child Care

2011-11-18T17:40:00.000-05:00

A lot of the book Bright from the Start by Jill Stamm repeated what I read in other books, but I found the section on choosing childcare helpful.

Choosing infant day care
What is most important?
1. Who the caregiver is: It's important that there is a consistent individual responsible for your child. A daycare that has the same person looking after your child at the same time every day and offers annual contracts is preferable.
2. Child to caregiver ratio: It should be 1:3 when a child is between 6 to 15 months old according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. (This is also specified by the National Association for the Education of Young Children if the group size is 6 children or fewer.)
3. General environment: It should be safe, bright colorful and inviting.
4. Personal contact: Infants need hugging, holding, and rocking. They also need to be talked to regularly.
5. Openness: You should be able to drop by whenever you wish.

What is less important?
1. The physical building - as long as it is safe
2. New or fancy toys: They should be plentiful, age appropriate, and in good condition. There should NOT be a television!
3. Advanced degrees - as long as they have a basic understanding of brain development and affection for babies
4. Schedules - babies have individual sleeping and eating needs
5. A strong academic program: a play-based curriculum is preferable to formal academic instruction

Other factors to consider:
1. Distance from work or home
2. Licensing and accreditation: the National Association for the Education of Young Children is the highest standard in the childcare industry
3. Cost: higher cost doesn't necessarily mean better quality of care. but paying for a consistent individual giving your child individual attention and responsive care is worth paying for

Interview the Caregiver
- Do they have enough time to love and care for all the children they are responsible for?

Observe the Caregiver
- Do they speak directly to the children? Do they seem to genuinely enjoy them?
- A checklist of what to look for when observing a caregiver interact with a child from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development's Early Child Care Research Network:
   a. Caregiver responds to the child's vocalizations
   b. Caregiver asks the child questions
   c. Caregiver praises and says something affectionate to child
   d. Caregiver teaches the child
   e. Caregiver directs other positive talk to the child (describing objects or events, comforts or entertains the child, sings a song, tells a story)
    f. Caregiver doesn't use negative or directive talk towards the child

Share your expectations
- Have toys on hand that encourage brain-based play (mirrors, colorful books, ...)
- Let them know that developing routins and bonding with your baby is important
- Encourage tummy time (and sleeping on their back)
- Let them know what information you'd like at pick up - what do you want them to tell you about your child? (attention, interests, diet, naps, ...)

Don't be jealous

Toddler Daycare (age 2 and beyond)
- Brain specific things to look for:
   a. Caregivers who hug, let children climb in their laps, etc...
   b. Ratio of 1:4 for 2 years old and 1:7 for 3 year olds
   c. An expanding variety of materials: tactile, blocks, art supplies, dress-up, pretend play
   d. Child-directed pace

Make changes thoughtfully
- Is your child happy?

What do you DO all day?

2011-11-18T17:15:00.000-05:00

The most difficult question I face now that I'm staying home with my baby girl is, "so, what do you DO all day?" I don't have a good answer to this question other than taking care of little O, and that doesn't sound adequate when I say it out loud. There's also all of the house work: vacuuming, washing dishes, cleaning the litter box, doing yard work, cooking dinner, washing baby laundry, our laundry, and cloth diapers. However, most of this are things everyone does, except for spending every moment with an infant. I'm not sure how to make that sound important to those without kids of their own.

Photo Card

2011-11-16T17:06:00.001-05:00

So Happy Holidays Holiday

Create holiday photo cards that create smiles.

View the entire collection of cards.

The Realities of Cloth Diapering

2011-10-03T20:59:00.000-04:00

in a prefold with a size one thirsties cover

After about a week in disposables, Olive was big enough, and we were sane enough, to start using cloth diapers. For the first two to three weeks, we used prefolds and covers. This is the cheapest cloth diaper route and also the easiest to fit on newborns. I bought snappis to fasten the prefolds, but ended up not needing them. Instead, we just folded them to fit the covers, and used those to keep them on. Prefolds come in several different sizes, and I collected a huge stack of infant (7-15 lbs) sized diapers. In addition, I had several new and used waterproof covers in newborn or small sizes. My favorite covers turned out to be the thirsties snap closure covers because they have a double gusset which is better at preventing leaks and gives a better fit. They are also adjustable in size. I got several size one thirsties in cute prints that fit from 6-18 lbs. The aplix (or velcro) fastened diapers provided more flexibility in fit, but the ones I had bought used did not fasten as securely. You also have to remember to fasten the velcro to the laundry tabs before you wash them.

thirsties with an aplix closure

      We probably went through around a dozen prefolds and 2-4 covers a day. (The covers only needed to be changed when poop got past the prefold and onto the cover.) I had read that I'd be doing a load every other day, but I ended up filling the diaper pail within a day. I'm not sure, but maybe it's because my diaper pail and/or bag are on the small side. They say that you don't need to worry about rinsing diapers with breastfed baby poop because it's water soluble, but when it's a large amount, I do it anyways. It's easy to do with prefolds and a diaper sprayer.
In addition to cloth diapers, we are also using washcloths instead of disposable wipes. If she's really messy, we just stick her under the sink to rinse her off. Otherwise, I use a dry washcloth or, if needed, one that's been moistened with a spray bottle of water. The dirty cloth wipes just get washed along with the diapers each night.
      After a couple of weeks of successfully using prefolds, I started getting a few that smelled strongly of ammonia after they were used. That's when I realized that I was using enough laundry detergent for a full load even though I was really washing half a load's worth of laundry (or less) at a time. I'd been using one tablespoon of Charlie's soap, and cut it down to half of that. Once in a while the ammonia smell will come back on 1-2 diapers and I'll do an extra rinse cycle at the end of the next wash. This seems to be working (fingers crossed).
     When the newborn and extra-small diaper covers stopped fitting the baby, I eased my way into using pocket diapers. These are generally more expensive than prefolds, but an advantage to them is they usually have microfiber or some other fiber that wicks the moisture away so they don't feel as wet. Since Olivia gets distressed when wet, I thought this might help. They also take a little less work to put on. You do have to prep them by stuffing them with an insert, but then you just snap or velcro them on as you would with disposable diapers. The smallest one I had was a pair of rumparooz that I had bought because it has a smaller setting than the others and because it has an inner leg gusset, which I thought might also help with a snug fit and to prevent leaking. Sunbaby and fuzzibunz diapers also run a bit smaller.

blueberry pocket diaper

Eventually, Olivia also fit into the bumgenius pairs. In addition to all of the more common fleece/microfiber pocket diapers, I tried some with alternative fabrics. This included kawaii diapers with a bamboo lining and blueberry diapers with bamboo inserts. I decided to try these because bamboo is supposed to be more absorbent and possibly less irritating. The big downside I found to bamboo are that they take a lot longer to dry. Even after being in the dryer, I had to hang dry them for several more hours. I also bought extra hemp inserts, which are extra absorbent like bamboo, but are much thinner and dry faster. The one type of diaper I wasn't that impressed with were grovia's hybrid diapers. The cotton cloth inserts have a nice gusset, but take almost 2 days to dry even after being put in the dryer. I have yet to dry the disposable inserts with them. I liked the pocket diapers so much, that I ordered more of them for when she grows out of the newborn/small prefolds. I ordered more sunbaby diapers because they are the most affordable, but they take over a month to arrive from China!

grovia hybrid diaper

One side effect of cloth diapers are that she has grown out of her clothes a bit sooner because of their bulkiness. This hasn't been a big deal. It will also be interesting to see how it effects our water and electric bills since we now do an extra load of laundry every day. There has been some small poop stains on the diapers, but sunning them (when there is sun) gets rid of them. The one downside to keeping the diapers on longer is Olivia started developing some diaper rash. I found some cloth friendly diaper balm, which helped to clear it up, but I do have to keep putting it on to keep it at bay. Maybe she has especially sensitive skin, because her cheeks have started breaking out from the breast milk too. One of the primary reasons I decided on cloth was to save money. I was just given free disposables and am wondering if I should use them. It would save a bit of time and I'm wondering if it would clear up her diaper rash?

One month letter to Olive

2011-09-20T21:05:00.002-04:00

You are one month old today little Olive and it has been longer than that since I've written a post. So much has happened in the last month and it is remarkable how drastically different my life has become now that you are out in the world. I am just starting to find a new rhythm and routine with you. I want to remember something from the blur of the last month and I love lists, so here is a list of memorable moments from the last 30 some days with you.

Day 1: The day started with being unsure about whether I was in labor or not. You were in distress and a c-section was quickly performed to bring you safely into the world.

Days 2-3: Your appa (father) and I spent the next couple of days learning how to take care of you. You also had your first visitors, your first photo session, and started what seemed like a non-stop feeding frenzy.

Day 4: You had your first car ride as we headed home from the hospital. You met your lola and lolo (my parents) today as well.

Day 5: We took you for your first walk down to Ravenna bridge and back. That evening, you had your first sponge bath at home given by lola.

Day 6: You took a nap in the sun with our cat Maude to help clear away a little jaundice. You had your first day in the moby and enjoyed being snuggled near me. We took a break from breastfeeding after several days of pain (on my part) and I pumped milk for you and you had your first bottle of milk.

Day 7: We had our first outing in the car to visit a lactation consultant. Like everyone else, she was impressed with your strong suck and barracuda like appetite and enthusiasm. She gave us a lot of good advice to help us get better at breastfeeding. Lola read you your first book about noodles and you took a nap with appa. You also had some great tummy time.

Day 8: After a week in disposables, you grew enough to start wearing cloth diapers. We also took lola's advice and used the sink to clean your bum rather than disposable wipes. You had your first visit to the doctor's office today and we were happy to hear you were back to your birth weight.

Day 9: While your lolo and appa trimmed the laurel bushes in the yard, you received your first flowers (from appa's workmates). You enjoy snoozing in the vibrating chair, but are keeping appa up at night - particularly between 11pm to 3am. Your appa and I went out for our first date alone since you were born while lolo and lola watched you.

Day 10: Your lolo and lola left today and I was sad to see them go. However, our friends came to visit, cuddle you, and bbq.

Day 11: This was our first day alone together as appa went back to work. We had a peaceful day at home getting the house ready for more visitors.

Day 12: Your halmoni (my mother-in-law) came to meet you today. She brought you a blanket sewn expertly by your great-grandmother in Seoul.

Day 13: The lack of sleep and pressure from visitors got to your mama today. It's not even halfway through the time with guests, but I am already looking forward to time alone with you again.

Day 14: You went on your second walk today, accompanied by me, your appa, and halmoni. It was a bit longer, but not too long, since I'm still recovering. You also had your second visit to the doctor's for your second PKU test.

Day 15: Today I took my first trip out alone to my own doctor's appointment while you stayed home with appa and halmoni. Your appa and I went out for izekaya that night while your halmoni watched you.

Day 16: Today we said good-bye to our old 32-year old refrigerator as a brand new refrigerator courtesy of lolo and lola was delivered. I can now safely store milk for you in a more efficient and reliable freezer. Your halmoni spent all day cooking lots of Korean food and we now have more space in the fridge for all of it.

Day 17: Today your halmoni went for a long walk so we could have some time alone.

Day 18: This evening our friends came over for a labor day bbq. We dressed you up in a cute dress even though you slept through most of it.

Day 19: Today your harabaji (my father-in-law) flew in and he was very happy to meet you.

Day 20: Today your Tita Sharon flew in to meet you. I drove to the light rail station to pick her up while your grandparents watched you. Your lolo and lola also came back for a second visit and the entire family (including both sets of your grandparents) had a big Korean dinner courtesy of your halmoni.

Day 21: Your halmoni and harabaji left today and you spent the day with me, your tita, and lola.

Day 22: Today we went on an adventure and took you for your first ferry ride. We went to Bainbridge Island so your tita and lola could go to Churchouse yarns. I breastfed you for the first time in public as we ate sushi, and again as we waited in line for the ferry back to Seattle.

Day 23: Today your tita and I took you for a long walk to University Village and back. That evening our friends came over to bbq and hang out with you.

Day 24: Today you hung out with your appa while he watched football. The rest of us went out for dim sum.

Day 25: Today your lolo and lola bought us a guest bedframe while they were out golfing. While you took a nap, we all worked to put it together.

Day 26: Today your lolo, lola, and tita left. I was sad to see them go, especially your tita, who took care of you every night while I caught up on my sleep.

Day 27: Today was only our second day alone together. I spent the day doing laundry and cleaning up from all of our guests.

Day 28: Today I finally got around to framing the Olivia poster that your appa made for you. I had every intention of taking a trip out of the house with you, but I'm still trying to figure out how to do more than just laundry, breastfeeding, diaper changing, and miscellaneous house work.

Day 29: Today we finally left the house and ended up making two trips to University Village. The first time we drove there to get a couple of storage bins so I could pack away maternity clothes and newborn clothes you had already grown out of (can you believe it?) The second time we walked there to get some bum bum balm for a small bit of diaper rash that you had developed. I thought cloth diapers were supposed to help prevent that??

Day 30: Today was the most social day yet, although you slept through most of it. We had brunch with our friend Tal and Dana who now have a 2 year old. The last time we had been to their house, I wasn't even pregnant and their son was barely crawling. Now they've moved to a new place, he's running and talking, and you are over 4 weeks old! Tal, as usual, made a delicious meal that included baked eggs and eggplant with tahini, and ended with grilled figs served with cardamom flavored whipped cream and balsamic vinegar. That night we met up with our friends Heather and Joe who have a practically 5 month old baby girl. It had been over a month since I'd seen her and she had practically doubled in size since she was first born. Kids grow so quickly!

Day 31: On Sunday, you and I went to breakfast at Vios with Allison while your appa went out to watch the Cleveland Browns game.

Day 32: Today it's been a month since you were born. We took our first trip to the eastside to hear Dr. Harvey Karp speak about his books Happiest Baby and Happiest Toddler on the Block. You were one of several kids in the audience, but you were the only one Dr. Karp said hello to personally (when you interrupted his talk with a loud cry). It was even caught on tape!

Happy one month day little Olive. It has been wonderful getting to know you. Thank you for being patient with appa and I as we learn how to take care of you. We love you more every day.

Felt Pouf Mobile

2011-08-17T03:53:00.000-04:00

I decided to make a mobile to hang over the changing table. Initially, I thought I'd make a homemade version of the ugly doll mobile I saw at compassionate comfort's blog. However, I hit a creative wall and didn't have any creatures I wanted to make out of felt. Instead, I turned to a Japanese craft book for felt.

In the book, they used stacks of small felt pieces to make 3-dimensional "poufs" that reminded me of the tissue paper flowers I already have hanging above the crib. I decided to make miniature felt poufs for the mobile to mirror the large paper ones hanging over the crib.

I couldn't read the book's directions since they were in Japanese, so I figured out my own way of sewing the felt together. I'll cover this in tomorrow's tutorial for the mobile.

Saving money when shopping for baby clothes

2011-08-16T03:34:00.001-04:00

Last month I wrote about my exploration of children's consignment stores in Seattle, but how much can it save you? Being the first in my family to have a baby, I wasn't sure that I'd have anyone to hand clothes down to me so I felt the need to stock up on baby clothes, but the prices can be quite steep. Since my initial frenzy of buying basics like onesies and footed pajamas, my friends with baby girls have very generously passed on beautiful clothes to me. This is, of course, the best way to stock your baby's wardrobe if you're lucky. Now, when I'm at the consignment store, I try to find the best deals possible.

Some examples are shown above. The first tunic/dress is from Tea. If you were to buy this new, it would cost approximately $29 or so. The middle romper is from Hanna Andersen and would probably cost $20 or more new. The last is from Oilily, the priciest of the three brands, and would run probably $40 new. That would be a total of $89 or so plus tax. Because these were gently worn by someone else's baby and also off-season (end of summer sale) at the store, this cost me less than $15 total. That's a savings of over $75 or 84% off retail! Of course, if you have an aversion to used clothing, you could probably buy these 3 pieces in more generic versions new at the sale rack at Carter's, but aren't these just adorable? I'm also hoping, I'll be able to trade them in at a good deal for more clothes down the line.

Another alternative to consignment stores, are outlet stores. Thanks to Seattle Moms Deal Finder, I found out that Kate Quinn Organics has an outlet store and showroom close by in Kirkland. Even better, they had a summer special where items were buy one, get one half off. The regular price of a pants and top would be around $44.00. Pants by themselves would cost around $30. For the 3 pants and 1 top above, you'd spend over $100 retail. At the outlet, most pants and shirts were marked down to $7-12. With the buy one, get one 1/2 off deal, I spent around $20 for the items above and they were brand new. Some were even from the current season of clothing - not that the baby will care. That's a savings of $80 or 80% off retail! Also, if the baby ends up not using them, I may be able to sell them for more at consignment if they still have the tags attached.
Again, you could spend even less if you went to a thrift store, a regular consignment shop, or found a mega sale at places like Carter's. However, if you can't resist getting a few adorable name brand outfits for baby, it's good to know you can do it and still save some money. After all, the baby will probably only be wearing it a handful of times. Now, I need to figure out the best system of organization so all these cute clothes actually get worn when baby comes.

Retrospective: Our first year in Seattle

2011-08-15T03:17:00.001-04:00

In preparation for moving over to a computer with a smaller hard drive, I've been trying to streamline my iphoto library, which is somewhere around 45 gb! I was deep in 2008 today, and inadvertantly went into 2009 as well. Here are some highlights from our first year in Seattle.

We arrived in Seattle July 2008. This was the view from our first place - a condo we rented in Lower Queen Anne. It was a wonderful introduction to the city to see such beautiful sunsets and have a view of Elliott Bay.

My husband left soon after we got there for a visit to Korea. I stayed behind to settle in, unpack, and get ready for the school year. I was fortunate that a good friend from high school was visiting. We caught up while we scrubbed ourselves clean at Olympus Spa, a Korean sauna. She introduced me to some of her close friends who lived in Seattle. We ended up having dinner at a friend of a friend's where we had delicious grilled peaches with ice cream.

We took advantage of living near the Seattle Center and walked to Bumbershoot as well as the Folk Festival that year. I remember being able to pick up cheap tickets for the former at Starbucks and still getting in free to the big show (unlike now). We also found great art for our place at Bumbershoot's Flatstock poster sale. At Folklife, I remember the beautiful weather and hanging out on the lawn with friends.

I tried to find my bicycling groove, which has been hard. I loved riding on the lakefront path in Chicago, but the hills in Seattle have been a challenge. That first year, I took a bicycle repair class in Fremont, which forced me to bike once a week, even if it was rainy or cold.

We threw lots of parties at our place - starting with a Halloween housewarming party, followed by a New Year's Eve party (since we had a view of the space needle and the fireworks from the hallway), a pi party, and finally a birthday party for my husband. They involved beautiful views, lots of food, and often included a lot of Rock Band playing as well.

I found a place to dance at Velocity, where I took hip hop and West African dance classes at Oddfellows Hall in Capitol Hill.

Our first June in Seattle, I went to the Fremont Solstice Parade to see the naked bicyclists, belly dancers, and crazy floats. The year ended with a trip back to the Midwest for our wedding and a move to a new apartment in North Capitol Hill.

Tutorial: Re-covering dining room chairs

2011-08-14T03:39:00.001-04:00

Now that I can't think of what else to do to the nursery, I finally faced a project I meant to start several weeks ago - re-covering the dining room chairs. Here's a rough tutorial if you're interested in trying this at home:

1. Examine your chairs to see how to separate the seat from the chair. On ours, there was a screw on either side connecting the seat to the rest of the chair.

2. Separate the seat from the rest of the chair and measure it to determine how much fabric you'll need to buy. (I did a rough estimate and bought 3 yards of upholstery fabric, which was more than enough to cover 6 chairs.)

3. Choose a fabric to cover the chairs. I decided I wanted something less itchy than the original herringbone wool and I also didn't want to spend a lot of money since I wasn't sure how good I'd be at re-covering the chairs. I bought more of a japanese floral print that only cost $6.99/yard at IKEA that I had previously used to make a pillow cover.

4. Use the old fabric as a pattern to make your new covers. When I bought the fabric, I thought it would just be a matter of cutting out 6 pieces (1 per chair) and stapling them on. Then I looked more closely at the chairs and realized the fabric had a seam and was made of 2 pieces of fabric - yikes! Taking off the old fabric was tricky and it involved using a screwdriver and pliers to rip out at least 50 staples. (Thanks to my husband for doing most of that work.) I decided to take off just one cover to use as a template, rather than spend the time removing all of them.

5. Use kraft paper to make a pattern using the old cover as your guide. I gave myself roughly a 1/2 inch border to account for seams and the fact that I planned on putting the new covers over the old ones. In addition to the pattern for the top, I needed to cut out a long strip of fabric for the sides of the cushion. I decided it was easier to just measure the dimensions, rather than cutting out a pattern for that portion since it was basically a long rectangle.

6. Use your pattern to cut your fabric. I was able to cut 3 chair tops across the width of the fabric and was also able to cut the long strips across the width as well. I cut out one set and sewed it together to make sure my pattern was correct before cutting out the other 5 sets. To speed this up, I folded the fabric over so I could cut 2 chair tops at a time. I somehow lost count and ended up cutting an extra one. I used pinking shears to cut the strips of fabric to prevent too much fraying, and used one strip as my template for the others. (It's tedious measuring a 50 inch straight line!)

7. If your cushion consists of multiple pieces of fabric, pin them together and then sew it together. The trickiest part was sewing around the curved edges.

8. Before you start stapling the fabric to the new cushion, make sure it is centered. (I didn't do that with the first one, so my seam is a little lop-sided). Alternate stapling the sides and do the corners last. The staple gun I'd borrowed for the task wasn't powerful enough, but my husband suggested I just pound the staples flat using a hammer, which worked out.

9. Re-attach the newly covered seats to the chair. Before I could do this, I also needed to poke a hole in the new cover for the screws to fit through. I just used a small pair of scissors and the screw to do this.

The newly covered chair looked almost as well-tailored a the old one, which was good enough for me! Not bad for my first try.

Brain Rules for Baby: Practical Tips

2011-08-12T23:59:00.001-04:00

Medina has a nice re-cap at the end for those who want the Cliffs Notes version:

Pregnancy
- Leave the baby alone at first
- Take in an extra 300 calories a day
- Eat fruits and veggies
- Do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a day
- Reduce the stress in your life
- Have a social structure of support (friends, family, other parents - PEPS)

Marriage
- Check-in with your spouse twice a day
- Schedule sex regularly
- Develop the empathy reflex with your partner
- Reconcile deliberately
- Balance the housework load
- Address your sticking points (see John and Julie Gottman)

Smart Baby: Seeds and Soil
- breast feed for one year
- talk to your baby a lot - describe everything you see
- create a creative space
- play opposite day (see Ellen Galinsky)
- make play plans (Tools of the Mind)
- don't hyper parent
- take a critical look at your own behavior - and make changes as needed
- reward hard work (vs. talent or intelligence)
- trade for digital time (with time reading a book, etc...)

Happy Baby: Seeds and Soil
- chart your child's emotional landscape (make a list)
- help your child make friends of the same age
- speculate on another's point of view (to help children also practice seeing things from someone else's perspective)
- read together
- develop an empathy reflex with your children
- practice verbalizing your feelings
- save up for 10 years of music lessons
- guide your child toward a $50,000 career

Moral Baby
- have clear, reasonable, and unambiguous rules
- deliver rules in a consistently warm and accepting environment
- reinforce good behaviors with praise
- explain the rationale behind rules
- punishments should be firm, immediate, reliable, safe, and tolerant

Brain Rules for Baby: Moral Baby

2011-08-12T02:20:00.000-04:00

According to research, kids are consciously lying by the age of three. By 4 years old, they will about once every 2 hours. By the age of 6, the frequency of lies will increase to once very 90 minutes.

The stages of moral development
1. First, kids are just trying to avoid punishment
2. Then, they start to consider the social consequences of actions (peer acceptance)
3. Finally, they begin to make decisions based on moral principles - parent will need to help guide kids to this 3rd stage

How to support the development of a conscience (or moral awareness)
1. Provide clear, consistent rules and rewards that are realistic
     - The hard part: be warm and accepting when administering rules
     - Praise kids when they follow the rules (reinforcing positive behavior)
     - Praise the absence of a bad behavior
2. Provide swift punishment, and be firm and consistent
   - The hard part: administer it in a warm atmosphere - what does that mean? (My husband's suggestion is to not look at it as punishing, but as enforcing boundaries)
     - Punishment by application: Let them make mistakes and learn from them
     - Punishment by removal: giving a timeout
3. Explain the rules: When punishing, make sure you explain why immediately so they understand why they are being punished - this helps kids internalize the morality you are teaching them

Crafts of the week

2011-08-11T02:08:00.002-04:00

I've been spending some time every week crafting with friends and by myself. This week, I finally got around to turning some cute alphabet fabric I found at Pacific Fabrics into a simple blanket. I was inspired by a Purl Bee project, but made some modifications. Instead of using fleece, I used some flannel I had left over from another project. I also sewed the rickrack on in the same way I'd been attaching ribbons to taggie blankets since I didn't have excess fabric to work with. I'm happy with how it turned out even though the rick rack wasn't quite centered.

The blanket looks good with the rocker that's been re-located from our living room to the nursery. The mid-century la-z-boy style chair is something we bought when we first moved to Seattle from a vintage store in the Magnolia/Interbay area. It's really comfortable and I've taken quite a few naps there, especially now that I seem to get sleepy every afternoon. I also sewed the pillow for the chair to give me a little more lumbar support. I used leftover echino fabric and added a zipper so the cover can be easily washed.

I actually spent a day just sewing pillows. I was going buy pillows at IKEA, but didn't want to make the trek. I found pretty cheap pillows at TJ Maxx instead ($10-14 each). They were actually cheaper and more comfortable than the pillow forms for sale at the fabric store too. I was tempted by some cute Ralph Lauren pillows they had, but ultimately the cheaper ones were more comfortable and since I was going to sew new covers, it didn't matter if they were a bit on the ugly side. I used fabric that I had actually bought last year at a massive fabric market in Seoul. I had intended to use the fabric for some big floor pillows, but they work really well with the sofa and the rug. I took the time to add zippers so these can easily be washed. I also made sure to pre-wash them before sewing. This was the first time I tried using a zig-zag stitch to keep the edges from fraying - I wasn't totally happy with the results, so I took time to properly hem some of the sides before sewing it together. This will hopefully help them hold up better when they're washed. This was also my first time sewing with hidden zippers and I used this tutorial to help me with it. I got a bit confused with the first pillow, but since I made four in a row, it was a lot easier by the end.

Brain Rules for Baby: The soil for a happy baby

2011-08-10T02:05:00.000-04:00

A strong bond or attachment between baby and parent is important for them to grow up happy and leads to less emotional conflict, more empathy, and better grades. How parents deal with their child's emotional life has the greatest effect on their future happiness.

6 Parental Behaviors for Dealing with Emotions
1. A demanding but warm parenting style (authoritative) that involves good communication with your children
     a. Responsive: give kids support, warmth, and acceptance; communicate affection (rather than rejection)
     b. Demanding: control behavior by making and enforcing rules consistently; clearly explain rules and encourage independence while still complying with family values

2. Comfort with your own emotions: setting an example for kids so they can learn to be comfortable with theirs

3. Tracking your child's emotions (watch, listen and respond) without smothering or helicoptering

4. Verbalizing emotions: Be able to label your feelings and teach your child to label theirs - this teaches self-soothing which helps them focus and have successful relationships
     a. Surprisingly, studying music for at least 10 years starting before the age of 7 can help children more easily recognize emotional cues

5. Running towards emotions - parents who do this:
   a. Don't judge emotions
     b. Acknowledge the reflexive nature of emotions (rather than denying/ignoring their existence)
     c. Know that behavior is a choice, but an emotion is not - help kids to understand that they have a choice in how they express their emotions
     d. See a crisis as a teachable moment

6. Two tons of empathy: verbalize a child's feelings, validate them, and show you understand - this works because empathy calms people down

Brain Rules for Baby: The seeds for a happy baby

2011-08-09T02:37:00.002-04:00

When we say we want our kids to be happy - what does that mean? I think it has different meanings for different parents. I think for my parents, it meant that some day we would all be doctors making a good living, which didn't happen much to their disappointment.

Here are three different types of happiness:
1. Emotional (I think this is the kind that's most popular with the non-Asian/tiger mom parenting crowd - i.e. most of non-immigrant America.)
2. Moral (I think this is the kind my grandmother always wishes me, since she prays for me every Sunday in church.)
3. Judgemental (meaning being happy about or for something)

Where does happiness come from? George Vaillant, a psychologist, researched this topic and his answer: "The only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people." Friendships, or close relationships with family and friends, are the best predictor of happiness.

Other behaviors that predict happiness:
1. Altruistic acts
2. Making lists of things for which you are grateful (I started doing this in high school - my current list is on the main page of the blog and is called my "Living Like Weasels" list after the Annie Dillard essay.)
3. Cultivating an "attitude of gratitude"
4. Sharing new experiences with someone close to you
5. Readily forgiving the people that are close to you, rather than holding a grudge

Money is not on the list, because it doesn't seem to have a big impact on happiness as long as they don't live in poverty (meaning an income of at least $50,000 or so - I'm assuming they mean that income for the family not per person).

In order for kids to be successful at making friends and having close relationships, they will need to master 2 major social skills:
1. Emotional regulation
     - One thing that kids will need to learn is how to identify and communicate their emotions. To help kids with this skill, parents need to pay close attention to emotions as well as behavior.
     - It will also be important to teach children how to filter their emotions and adjust their behavior so that it's appropriate for the social context.
2. Empathy
     - This skill is partially out of the control of parents, as is the case if your child is autistic.

Genetics and Happiness
    There are two basic ways to react to new things - high-reactive and low-reactive. Most babies are low-reactive and are more socially fearless, prone to take risks, and confident. 20% of babies are high-reactive, and are more anxious, tentative, cautious, and less interested in exploring. Interestingly, high-reactive kids also grow up to be more compliant, better socialized, and generally earn better grades BECAUSE they are more sensitive to their environment.
    However, temperament isn't completely controlled by genes. For example, identical twins do not have the exact same personality. They have found that there are genes that determine resiliency. So far, three have been identified:
1. Slow MAOA (monoamine oxidase): A person with the slow version of this gene is immune to traumatic childhood events.
2. DRD4-7: A person with this variant of the gene will not be as negatively affected (develop insecurities) by emotionally distant parents.
3. Long 5-HTT: A person with the short form of this gene has normal stress reactions that vary depending on the severity and duration of the event. (Those with the short form are much more stress sensitive.)

Additional information can be found on Medina's website.

Brain Rules for Baby: The soil for a smart baby

2011-08-08T03:40:00.002-04:00

If only 50% of IQ is genetic, that means that what we do as parents to nurture our children DOES make a difference! However, before anyone's brain can focus on learning, they must feel safe in their environment. This is good to remember as a teacher too. If kids are worried about the teacher getting angry, they can't focus on learning.

4 Basic Parenting Actions
1. Breastfeeding: Breast milk contains important salts and vitamins. It can prevent ear, respiratory, and gastrointestinal infections. Breastfed babies, on average, score higher on cognitive tests and get better grades, especially in in reading and writing. Some ingredients that breast milk has that are needed by baby are taurine (amino acid needed for neural development) and omega-3 fatty acids.

2. Talking to your baby: The more parents talk to their children (even early on), the better they did at reading, spelling, and writing when they start school - and the higher their IQ. The variety of words spoken, their length, and complexity is nearly as important as the number of words spoken. Giving positive feedback is also important - in the form of interaction (eye contact, imitating, laughter, and facial expressions). Reward a baby's language attempts with more attention.
     Start talking to them as soon as they are born. 2,100 words per hour is recommended - which is considered a moderate rate of conversation. "Parantese" (speaking in a high pitched tone with a sing-song voice) is easier for babies to understand because each word and the sound of each vowel is distinct.

3. Guided play: Make time for open-ended play that focuses on impulse control and self-regulation. This allows for the development of creativity, language, and problem solving. This also helps to reduce stress, and improves memory and social skills. One example of this kind of play is mature dramatic play, and a school program called "Tools of the Mind." (In this program, students make a play plan and they practice pretending in a creative environment.

4. Praising effort rather than accomplishment or IQ: High performers are willing to put in the effort to sustain their focus, control impulses, and delay gratification. Telling kids "their smart" doesn't help them to understand what they need to do to be successful. They will also begin to see mistakes as failures, rather than something to learn from. Praising hard work helps kids have a growth-mindset, rather than a fixed mindset. This will help them to see a mistake as a problem to solve, and will lead to them spending more time working on difficult tasks, rather than giving up when things get challenging.

What to Limit
Something to keep in mind about TV/video games/computers is what content they are being exposed to because

   a. Kids are good at imitation and acquiring information
     b. Our expectations and assumptions influence our perception

1. No television before the age of 2: Television can lead to hostility. Studies have shown that there is an increased risk in bullying behavior with the more hours of tv (and the violence shown) watched before the age of 4. There is also a stronger chance of attention problems with an increase in the number of hours of tv watched before the age of 3. Even having the tv on when no one is watching can cause distraction from more important activities like imaginative play. Research is showing that tv watching can affect reading scores and language acquisition.
    However, after the age of 5, some tv shows have shown an improvement in brain performance IF they involve intelligent interaction. Medina suggests watching these TV shows with them to help them analyze and think critically about what they experience.

2. Don't put a TV in a kid's bedroom. Kids with TVs in their bedroom, on average, score lower on math and language arts tests.

3. Limit video game playing: The risk of video games is their often sedentary nature and the lack of exercise (and obesity) that it can lead to. Aerobic exercise is also good for your brain, and can increase executive functioning abilities. The earlier you start kids on a regular exercise routine (that you do with them), the more likely it will be become a lifelong habit.

4. Don't "hyper-parent": Putting too much pressure on kids can be counterproductive
   a. Extreme expectations stunt higher-level thinking (a good example of this are parents who insist their kids are advanced in math, when really they don't have a clear understanding of the calculations they have memorized)
     b. Pressure can extinguish curiosity
   c. Continual anger or disappointment can cause toxic stress and learned helplessness (and can lead to depression)

Brain Rules for Baby: The seeds of a smart baby

2011-08-07T02:09:00.001-04:00

Smart Baby: Seeds

In this section of the book, Medina goes into the history of IQ tests and the study of brains and intelligence. One thing he covers is the fact that your IQ is not a fixed number, but can vary with your circumstances and environment. The genetic contribution to intelligens is about 50%. Medina sees intelligence as more than IQ. LIke Howard Gardner, he believes there are multiple facets to it.

7 Basic ingredients of Intelligence
1. Memory (crystallized intelligence): the ability to record information

2. Improvisation (fluid intelligence): the ability to apply information to new situations, or being able to reason, problem solve, and learn from our mistakes

3. The Desire to Explore: the willingness to experiment and ask questions - my husband has this in spades - as do many of the middle school students I teach. (What if? Why not? How come you're doing it this way?)

4. Self-control: Executive functions, which control planning, foresight, problem solving, and goal setting, are a better predictor of academic success than IQ. One test researchers did was to see how long kids could delay gratification (eat one cookie now, or wait and you can have 2 cookies later). Having self-control means that they can filter out distractions and stay on task. Some of this is developed through time, some is genetic, but kids can also work to get better at this skill.

5. Creativity: The ability to see relationships between things, to come up with new ideas, to take risks, to cope with ambiguity

6. Verbal communication: Babies are "born with the capacity to speak any language," but can only distinguish between the sounds of languages they have been exposed to in the past 6 months by the time they are a year old. This exposure also has to come from contact with a real person speaking the language directly to the child, and not from an audio or video recording. Therefore, the relationships a baby has are important to their learning. (This doesn't mean you can't learn new languages later on, but it will certainly take a lot more effort.)

7. Decoding nonverbal communication: Scientists have found a connection between fine motor skills and verbal communication. They have found that learning sign language can help improve focus, spatial abilities, memory, and visual discrimination. Again, babies benefit from interacting face to face with others because it helps them learn to read faces and the non-verbal communications that they make. Being able to interpret gestures and facial expressions (emotions) help children to work better in groups and generally be more successful socially (in terms of networking and understanding other people's behaviors or nonverbal signals).

Week in the Life 2011: Wednesday

2011-08-05T23:59:00.004-04:00

After an early morning doctor's appointment, I went to nearby Beacon Hill to a most delicious filipino bakery, Delite. They were already out of biko (a sweet rice cake with a caramel topping), but I was able to get some banana-q's (plantains rolled in sugar and deep fried) and suman (sticky rice cooked with coconut milk in a banana leaf).

I decided to take a spur of the moment stop for some filipino breakfast at Inay's. I was tempted by longsilog and tocilog, but decided the bangus (fried milkfish) would be good for baby.

I rushed back to catch the deep water exercise class at the pool. Is this pregnant mama so out of shape that working out with mostly senior citizens is challenging? Our teacher had us play tag in the water, and even though it was a sweet old lady who chased me, I was determined not to get caught. It really got both of our hearts pumping. When I got home, Maude was asleep as usual - this time on the couch.

Around noon, I headed with my friend to the Eastside to accompany her on some back to school/teacher shopping. It's weird to think it's almost the end of the summer and I'm not gearing up for school, but am instead waiting for baby to make her appearance! After running errands, we went to Peaks for some coconut and vanilla frozen custard. The short walk there in the heat made the custard taste even better. On the way home, I picked up some avocados to make some smoothies later this week.

I finally got back on the sewing machine in the late afternoon and sewed some baby gifts for another friend. Don't you love this color scheme and pattern? I made a taggie, a burp cloth, and a drawstring bag that can be used to hold diaper changing supplies. I used some of the ribbon to make a paci holder too.

Week in the Life 2011: Tuesday

2011-08-04T23:56:00.001-04:00

I spent the morning trying to clean and organize the living room a bit in preparation for the new couch being delivered later this week. Above is the before shot of our coffee table's drawers. A surprising number of pens had accumulated in both drawers - I think they're all the ones that have gone missing from the kitchen.

Here's the after shot - probably doesn't look too different. I kind of separated them into his and hers drawers, which I'm sure my husband will tease me about. I also completely emptied the side table's drawers since I think the table will have to go to make space for the new, longer couch.

I had a light lunch of toast with fig jam and a strawberry, mango, orange, yogurt smoothie.

I went upstairs to our office/guest bedroom and filed away lots of paperwork. It always feels good when I finally face a task that I've been avoiding!

The chores continued when I went to the Apple store to recycle an old laptop battery. While there, I also tried to get help from them on trying to decide whether I wanted to get a macbook air or pro. I like how compact the air is, but wasn't sure how I'd feel having such a small hard drive. I'm most concerned about the space hog that is my iphoto library. I realized it would've been helpful if I'd brought in my laptop. Turns out I have over 45 gigs of photos!! Yikes! That's almost the size of the smallest hard drive option they have.

Afterwards, I checked out a consignment store in Greenwood/Phinney called Labels. They have women and children's clothes and had a pretty good selection of maternity clothes. However, compared to other stores that focus more on children's clothes, I wasn't impressed with their selection. I then headed south for the Fresh Flours happy hour. I got there just in time (I thought), but a woman ahead of me in line bought the only 1/2 off pastries - darn her! I got an orange, currant, oatmeal cookie, a red bean cake, and some lemon pound cake instead.

Brain Rules for Baby: Relationship (Happy Marriage, Happy Baby)

2011-08-03T23:59:00.002-04:00

Moving on to the next chapter in the book:

Relationship
"Parenthood hastens marital decline." The biggest predictor of marital bliss is whether both partners agreed they wanted to have kids.

The emotional environment of babies affect the development of their nervous system. Babies are extraordinarily sensitive to what takes place around them and are constantly learning. They also seek safety. This was scientifically proven using some remarkably harsh experiments involving rhesus monkeys being taken away from their mothers and given surrogate robotic mothers. Scientists also discovered that Romanian orphans (in the 1990's) adopted after the age of four months, were not able to fully recover from the stress they had been exposed to. One effect that stress or hostile environments have on babies is making them unable to regulate their own emotions. Eventually, they will grow up to demonstrate more aggression and antisocial behavior.

What I found most interesting is that if you do fight in front of your kids, it's important to also make up in front of them so that they can learn the important skill of reconciliation.

The four major sources of marital conflict:
1. Sleep Loss: which leads to irritiability (i.e. loss of emotional regulation) and a decrease in problem-solving abilities - I think this is what all our friends with kids have warned us about the most

2. Social Isolation: which can lead to depression - I'm a bit worried about this since I'm taking a year off of work.

3. Unequal workload: which generally means women are doing more of it - another book I read, Spousonomics, covers some good solutions to this one

4. Depression: also known as baby blues, or postpartum depression - and dads can get it too

Solution = Empathy
Be aware of these conflicts and be empathetic towards your spouse - which will help you avoid "perceptual asymmetry." This means taking the time to notice your spouse's emotions and taking the time see and "feel" things from their point of view so that you can determine what's causing their emotion - hard to do when you're irritable and sleep-deprived!

Week in the Life 2011: Monday

2011-08-02T23:59:00.003-04:00

When I finally got out of bed, Maude was napping in the sunny living room.

For breakfast, I had a fruit smoothie with a currant croissant I bought at yesterday's Fresh Flours happy hour.

My view for big chunks of the day. This may change soon since the rocker I've been favoring will soon move into the nursery and we'll be getting a new couch! It looks like Maude moved to a new nap spot here.

I've finally cleaned the diaper covers and stuffed the pocket diapers. It's exciting to have them ready to use. The question is, are there enough of them and will they fit baby Nam??

I did another round of laundry and hung things up to dry in the basement.

I finally got my butt outside to do a little yard work. Last summer, I tried to fill our massive yard waste bin each week since we pay more for the larger size. I haven't been as good about it this summer, but I got close today!

After filling up the bin as best I could, Maude was at the back door waiting for me. I used to be nervous about letting her outside, but having a fenced yard and an old cat, makes it easier.

After going for a quick lap swim, I headed to the local QFC so I could pick up ingredients for dinner. I keep trying to earn enough points for 10 cents off of gas fill up, but I am still not entirely clear on when I have enough points to get discounted gas. You need 100 points ( = $100 spent at the store, or 2 prescriptions filled, or 1 gift card of $50 bought), but I haven't been spending that much in a month, but I think if I spend $50 each month, that might work too. I just logged onto QFC, and found out that you can load a bunch of additional coupons that they offer onto your store card - very cool!

I made "Italian Beef Pie" for dinner, more affectionately known as ghetto meat pie by my husband. I found this recipe in 4th grade? when I was in 4-H for cooking. It's basically layers of ground beef cooked with spaghetti sauce, mozzarella, and spinach and egg. It's a comfort food for us, and I hadn't made it in awhile.

After dinner, Maude commenced following Marshall around the house. She seems to know when it is roughly 9pm, as that's the time he usually feeds her. Here she is waiting for food!

Brain Rules for Baby: Pregnancy

2011-08-02T02:11:00.001-04:00

Last fall, I went to hear John Medina speak about his book Brain Rules. That was before I found out I was pregnant. Now that we're expecting baby Nam, I wanted to read his companion book, Brain Rules for Baby. I knew my husband would appreciate his advice since he focuses on solutions that are supported with research. He gave some clear guidelines for what we can do as parents to raise a child that is well-prepared to face the world. I've included links to his website too.

Introduction
Medina de-bunks a lot of myths that aren't supported by research like...
- Playing Mozart to your womb will improve their math scores - all it does is make them more familiar with Mozart
- Playing language DVDs to infants will help expand their vocabulary - they need to hear and interact with an actual person speaking the language!
- Telling your children their smart will help them gain confidence - this one's the kicker for me as I often see this as a teacher and know from experience that kids who "think" they are smart aren't always willing to work when they face a challenge, versus kids who learn early on that working hard is what brings success!

Pregnancy
According to Medina, there are just 4 basic things, that pregnant women should focus on doing to help their baby's brain development.
1. Gain the right amount of weight: Baby's IQ is related to brain volume and thus birth weight. IQ rises with birth weight, up to 8 lbs. For women (like me), who start out a bit overweight, you only need to gain 15-25 pounds.

2. Eat the right foods: This one has been a bit of a struggle for me. 38 different nutrients are essential for neurological development. The best way to get these nutrients is to eat a balanced diet heavy on fruits and vegetables. I'm glad I've at least been making fruit smoothies, but I haven't always been good about the vegetables. Folic acid and omega-3 fatty acids are critical for brain development. To get this, women should eat at least 12 ounces of fish per week. Yikes! I don't think I've been eating that much!

3. Avoid too much stress: This means avoiding stress that is frequent, too severe, or too much (for you). A good way to meet this goal is to do what you need to to feel in control of your life and the situations you face. #4 also helps with this...

4. Exercise (moderately and regularly): The American College of Obstetrics recommends 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise per day. This will help with labor (hopefully?). Aerobic exercise will help reduce stress, which means better baby brain development. Swimming is a good 3rd trimester exercise as it won't overheat your womb (which can cause miscarriage, or affect eye or brain development). I've also found swimming to be a nice relief to my body, especially my aching feet, wrists, and back!

I have definitely not been doing all four of these things perfectly, but Medina is somewhat comforting in reminding his readers that, "Every little bit counts."

Week in the Life 2011: Sunday

2011-08-01T02:46:00.002-04:00

I'm in week 36 of my first pregnancy. I'm glad I've made this far and hope it continues to go as well as it has been. It feels like a bit of a waiting game now, although I'm sure there are still plenty of things I need to do.

I shook up my breakfast routine and made smoothie this morning. Today I put in greek yogurt, 1/2 a banana, strawberries, orange juice, and some frozen mango chunks.

I'm loving the smoothie maker that my mother-in-law suggested we get. It's by a Korean appliance maker called cuckoo and cost under $40. It's nice because it makes just the right amount and the container can be used as a cup. It also comes with screw-on lids so you can take it to go. Most importantly, it's a lot easier to clean than a big blender.

I'm pretty sure it's only the second time this week that I've had to empty the dishwasher.

This is the view from the nursery right now. I love the fact that there are lots of flowers in bloom. The hummingbirds and bees like it too.

For lunch, I had a pretty typical filipino breakfast of spam, eggs, and rice. Of course, I made scrambled eggs because of the pregnancy. I do miss having fried eggs over easy! I also added furikake, a Japanese rice seasoning of sesame and seaweed among other things.

Sunday is generally a laundry day. Although today, I just retrieved a load that was actually done yesterday. I'm still loving the new front loading washer we got last year. I was surprised to find out top loading is generally considered better for cloth diapers, but I do love the water and detergent savings with the front loader. It's also much gentler on clothes, gets them cleaner, and cuts down the drying time. I'm also trying out dryer balls in the dryer to see if that cuts down drying time even more.

I hung most of the diaper covers to dry. I'm still not sure how much I'll be hang drying vs. dryer drying these. People also recommend hanging them in the sun to sanitize and whiten. I'm not sure how possible that is going to be here in the often overcast and rainy Pacific Northwest, although I could've done it today. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Sunday is also often a day of general cleaning. Today, I had the roomba vacuum the dining room and kitchen while I vacuumed the hallway and bathroom. Hanging up the chairs so they are mostly out of the way helps ensure that the roomba cleans better. However, it often misses the corners of the room, and also doesn't seem to be the best at picking up stray dry cat food.

In the afternoon, I went over to Phinney to check my friend's mail and water her plants for her. I passed this big patch of lavender while there - it smelled wonderful!

I also stopped by Fresh Flours for a snack. This bakery has some of the best croissants in the city. I still need to try their almond croissant. I got there exactly an hour before closing, which meant that there wasn't much to choose from. However, it also meant it was "happy hour" and the pastries were 1/2 off. It a happy surprise, and they still had some regular croissants!

After eating a croissant with some delicious fig jam my sister left behind after a visit, I took a nap. When I woke up, my husband had returned from Home Depot with a "bucket head" shop vac. (It is called this because it conveniently snaps onto a home depot size bucket.) He was happy to have a vacuum for cleaning up all the litter and other mess down in the basement.

A quiet day at home ended with leftovers from last night for dinner. I also got a happy surprise of winning a free pass from MomsAlive to the Jack & Jill consignment preview Thursday night for next weekend's sale in Lynnwood! I get to bring a friend, anyone want to go?

Week in the Life 2011: Saturday

2011-07-31T03:00:00.003-04:00

I got up late and was greeted by a sunny morning. Maude found a sunny patch to sit and ponder the big blue exercise ball that she is for some reason afraid of.

I was excited to have mail to open while I had a delicious breakfast of coffee cake and orange juice.

The last (maybe?) of the diaper stash gathering for now. I scored a pair of free xs fuzzibunz from Kelly's Closet when I ordered the hemp inserts and these cute rumparooz.

We got to Facing East, a Taiwanese restaurant in Bellevue, just as it opened. It's a good time to go if you don't want to wait, but it filled up quickly. First up, were these Taiwanese pork burgers.

My favorite drinks are the mango smoothies - refreshing and delicious!

My husband's favorite was this chicken. It came with deep fried basil and pickled cucumbers.

I'm going to skip ahead to dessert, but feel free to visit flickr to see the rest. We got three different kinds of shaved ice - the red bean and mochi combined with the mango were my two favorites!

After some time at home and an afternoon nap, I went for my regular lap swim at the local Seattle Park District pool. The water was kind of cold today, but there were plenty of swimmers. I got there so close to closing, that they had to unlock the locker room for me. I managed to squeeze in my normal number of laps.

After a shower and some laundry, we headed off to dinner in Queen Anne. I-5 was moving along, but...

we got caught in the Torchlight parade traffic. At least we got some entertainment in the form of parade floats passing us by. There are more photos of them on Flickr.

We finally made it back to our old neighborhood of Lower Queen Anne for dinner at Toulouse Petit.

The food is cajun/creole, and the big booths are especially nice to sit in.

The best thing I ate were the friend green tomatoes, my favorite southern dish. Their version is served with a ton of dungeness crab on top of it.

On our walk back to the car, we marveled at all the random items on the tops of the shelves at the Uptown Safeway.

Week in the Life 2011: Friday

2011-07-30T02:46:00.002-04:00


bowl of cereal eaten

I can still see my feet, from the right angle.

checked the mail

The car seat has been installed since last Friday, just in case.

tempted by all the beautiful, but expensive choices at West Seattle Fabric Company

introduced to Bakugan!


played with lincoln logs

ate sugar snap peas fresh off the vine

gave a girl a pretty dress I made

ate a picnic lunch of sorts

hung out at the beach with friends and their babies

played in the sand

delayed by the Montlake bridge

rock star parking in Capitol Hill!

Strictly Seattle 2011 performance

It was sold out!

a friend takes the spotlight - and rocks it out!

Week in the Life 2011: Thursday

2011-07-29T02:59:00.004-04:00

I'm a few days late, but my friend Liz shared her photos for a project called "Week in the Life" and I decided to join in. I thought it would be a great way to commemorate this last month of our life before it will change in a big way with the arrival of Baby Nam. Here's the breakdown of my first day on the project. More photos of today are in my flickr set. What did you do today? Let me know if you're doing the project too - I'd love to see your week in photos!


my first stop in the morning

I'm still in love with my new sink and vanity. I put together the vanity and my husband did the rest of the work, including plumbing and tiling. It's nice to have storage - which wasn't available with our old cast iron pedestal sink.


breakfast spot

My morning routine this summer is to have a bowl of cereal as I check my e-mail. The dining room gets great light in the morning so it's a nice place to sit.

emptying the dishwasher

Either before or after breakfast, depending on how hungry I am, I empty the dishwasher. It's not a daily task since we don't usually fill it in one day, but it's a morning chore I used to have as a kid, so I'm used to it. (I also love my new Bosch dishwasher that my love installed in May - thank you dear!)

new diapers arrived!

I've been gradually building a diaper stash and just got these new Kawaii bamboo diapers in the mail. It seems they need to be washed differently from non-bamboo?? I have to figure this out. Thanks Sew Crafty Baby for the fast delivery! (It was ordered less than a week ago.)

diaper stash

Getting ready to finally wash and prep the diapers for use. Aren't they cute???

roomba maintenance

Warning for anyone who is thinking of getting a roomba: It may clean the room for you, but you have to clean it! It's not a big deal, but cleaning it, might almost take as long as vacuuming the room yourself. Of course, it doesn't help when you have a cat that sheds constantly and clogs up the roomba with all the hair!

roomba at work

While I vacuumed the living room, roomba vacuumed the bedroom. That is an advantage to having it, it's like multitasking! I do have to "pre-clean" the room and make sure there aren't things on the ground that will mess up the roomba (i.e. clothes, cat toys, power cords, etc...). That isn't a person sleeping in the bed, it's a body pillow.

Maude's daily routine

At least once or twice a day, Maude sucks on something knit, and it's often my blanket. I've been told it's because she was weaned from her mother abruptly? Usually, at the end of the day, she'll carry around a bundle of yarn (that she finds, even if it means digging through my stash) and meow loudly.

vacuuming the cat

When she was younger, Maude was afraid of the vacuum, as most cats are. However, in the last year or so, she has grown to love getting vacuumed. (My husband thinks it's because her hearing is going.) It's to the point now, where she actually at meows at me and sits next to the vacuum requesting some love when I'm vacuuming. It's a good way to get a lot of hair off of her, and she's certainly shedding a lot right now.

laundry

Here's a batch of diaper flats and pre-folds that are washed and ready to go!

craft day

This summer, Thursday has been craft day with my friend from Cup and Penny. She's been working on flower brooches that she's selling at her Etsy shop. Today, I was sewing baby gifts for a friend.

sewing machine

While we sewed, we watched the Project Runway marathon that was on tv. We noticed that all the commercials were aimed at women, specifically stay at home moms? Who else watched the premier episode of season 9 tonight? I'm watching it as I'm writing this. Woohoo!

Rising Sun Farms

After an afternoon nap, I walked to the local farm stand to get some ingredients for dinner. It's nice to have this close by.

making dinner

M helped me prepare for dinner (and tomorrow's picnic lunch too). This tool belonged to his mom, and as he shredded carrots, he mentioned she'd cut herself on it many times. I'm glad no blood was shed this evening.

kimbap assembly line

Laid out in front of me (in addition to my crafting supplies from earlier in the day) are all the ingredients for kimbap. These are the Korean version of maki rolls. However, instead of raw fish, I'm using oh so delicious spam! Since my friend and I are going on a picnic tomorrow, I thought this would make a good dinner, as well as lunch tomorrow. With 7 cups of rice, I made enough rolls to feed at least 5-6 people, maybe more. I ate as I worked.

tomorrow's lunch

Here are the completed rolls - packed and ready for eating tomorrow! My love will have a good lunch at work, and my friend and I will have a delicious picnic. Yum!

Taking a moment to look back...

2011-07-28T02:55:00.002-04:00

2011: This evening I sit in our rocking chair with the cat next to me, resting my swollen feet on an exercise ball.

2010: This time last year, we were spending our last day in sweltering hot Seoul. After 20 days in Asia, first the Philippines and then Seoul, we headed home that day to Seattle.

2009: Two years ago, we were eating watermelon and cucumber salad with grilled chicken in an old yellow house in North Capitol Hill that we had recently moved into. We had recently returned from our wedding in the Midwest, and would soon be off on our honeymoon in Alaska.

2008: Three years ago, we were nearing the end of our cross country road trip that brought us out to Seattle. On the way, we stopped at the Spam museum in Minnesota, in the Badlands of South Dakota, and at Glacier National Park in Montana among other places. Our last stop was Spokane, Washington.

2007: Four years ago, I had just finished up a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah for a Curriculum Mapping conference. I was eager to get home to read the last Harry Potter book that had recently been released.

2006: Five years ago we were in the middle of our trip to Europe. That evening we were hanging out in Rome, Italy enjoying the cooler evening temperatures, and we took a walk to the Trevi fountain.

2005: Six years ago I had just returned to Chicago after a month in San Francisco attending a science workshop at the Exploratorium. I went to Chicago Cycle that day to look at motorcycle gear and spotted this bike in the parking lot. I was missing my love who was in Korea, not just for the summer, but for the year.

2004: Seven years ago, I had just returned from a 2 week Forensic Science workshop that I took at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. I was happy to be back in Chicago with my sweetie.

2003: Eight years ago, I was in Bryan, Ohio visiting my parents. Here's my dad in between playing the piano during Sunday mass. This was a few days after seeing the Black Eyed Peas perform at Hard Rock in Chicago. It was our first summer together since we re-connected.

Baby bump retrospective

2011-07-27T03:02:00.004-04:00

Week 20: My first baby bump picture wasn't taken until Monday, April 4th, the 5th month of my pregnancy. This was the first day of project week. A week in which my co-worker and I led a group of middle schoolers on exploratory day trips around Seattle. I now have even more admiration for my co-worker as she was about a week from her due date that week and walked around the city for several hours a day. I don't know how she did it! At this point, I was still able to wear all my regular clothes with a belly band. Even now I can wear some of the shirts I bought at Anthropologie (like the Ella Moss one below). Probably because I have a weakness for empire waist style tops. Also, because I'm so short (5 feet), they were too long for my torso to begin with which meant there was plenty of space for an expanding belly. My husband was not always around when I thought of taking a photo, so this one was taken in our bedroom's closet mirror.

Week 22: This photo was taken on April 14th, during my spring break. We were visiting my in-laws in Orange County. I notice that my belly looked even bigger when I was wore dresses. This is a dress I already owned. I hadn't worn it in awhile because it made me look like I was pregnant, but now that's okay since I actually am :-) Yeah, I'm one of those people that suffers from a little belly - especially right after a big meal. That combined with my love of empire waist dresses, has resulted in many embarrassing encounters with people asking when I'm due. It's nice to have a 9 month span where that question is actually appropriate!

Week 23: This was taken on a weekend trip to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival with my friend. It's also the first photo where I'm wearing a maternity top and jeans, both from Old Navy. I think that's definitely the best place to get bargain priced maternity wear, at least for casual use. This was taken mid-way through the day, and my big breakfast may have contributed to the big looking belly. I think there was still a lot of bloating happening this early in the pregnancy.

Week 24: This was taken on a visit to Alki Beach after returning the smelly Pottery Barn rug I mentioned in my last post. This was the first and only time I wore this H&M shirt before retiring it to storage. I was sure it would work since it used to be loose on me pre-pregnancy. However, it turned out to be too short once the belly pushed it out.

Week 27: This was at our baby shower, where I was holding my friend's baby. The same friend who was pregnant during week 20 and walking around Seattle with me. I didn't wear this dress again after the party as I realized my breasts had gotten too large for it and I kept showing too much cleavage during the party. The dress, actually sold as a nightgown at Anthropologie, was also a bit short - especially with the baby bump. As per usual, I have on my cozy orange wool Haflinger slippers. My mom started buying these for us when I was a kid, and I still love them! This chair is the "rocker" that's going to go into the nursery soon.

Week 29: This was our first visit to Kubota Gardens in South Seattle. It's not as orderly as the Japanese garden at the Arboretum, but it's free and a lot bigger. It was a hot day and this was the first time I started to feel the effects of swollen feet. I was also getting really dehydrated, but didn't want to drink water and then be forced to use the port a potty at the park. (The creepy looking guy in the background is actually our friend who came to the garden with us.) This not so flattering dress is from Old Navy maternity. It's comfortable, but the diagonal stripes just seem to emphasize the large belly. My mother-in-law was nice enough to buy me some maternity clothes (including this dress that I picked it out) when I visited her back during week 22. I think this might have been the first day where it was warm enough to wear it.

Week 35: It's been awhile since I've taken a photo. Probably because I've been feeling so swollen and beach ball like. Right around the end of the school year (week 30?), my feet were permanently swollen and great at least an entire shoe size. They are also so wide that all I can now fit into are flip-flops. The green flip-flops in this photo were a cheap pair I got at Target that serve as my house slippers now that it's warmer. The top is a non-maternity Ella Moss top from Anthropologie. It makes me feel good that I can still fit into some "normal clothes," albeit clothes that were obviously too big for me before if they fit me now. The jeans are from Gap maternity. They aren't as comfortable as my Old Navy maternity jeans because they don't stay up completely unless I wear a belly band as a sort of belt.

I did buy one pair of comfortable birkenstock type shoes so I'd have shoes that are somewhat supportive to wear during the summer. I'm really hoping my feet will shrink back down, or I'll have to get all new shoes, which would be a bummer - not to mention expensive! The swelling has also led to carpal tunnel in both hands, although the left one is worse. I've set aside the baby sweater I started knitting for baby Nam for the time being. I also have to make sure I wear a brace and keep my wrists straight and elevated when I sleep. That is, when I can sleep. I had no problem sleeping until the last few weeks. Now, I'm so big, that shifting position in any way is uncomfortable and I regularly wake up in the middle of the night. I also don't really want to take naps during the day because it's uncomfortable, especially with the omnipresent heartburn. Swimming has been the best respite from my now lumbering and awkward body. I got a 30 day pass to the neighborhood park district pool and have been trying to go every other day. While I'm in the water, nothing hurts or feels swollen. It's wonderful!

Hopefully, I only have one more month to go until baby Nam's arrival!

Nursery: Part 2

2011-07-26T02:59:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite parts of the nursery is the wall of family photos above the changing table. The silver frames were a housewarming gift our friends got us from Crate and Barrel and the birch frames are from Ikea. I used Snapfish to print out copies of old family photos that my husband and I had digital copies of from scanning our parent's and grandparent's old photographs. It took me awhile to settle on what photos to print out, and I printed out some extras in the different sizes just in case I changed my mind. There are baby photos of my husband and I, as well as photos of our parents, grandparents, and siblings. The bins underneath the changing pad, contain the things the baby will need most (I think). There are newborn sized onesies, sleeping gowns, pajamas, and side-snap tees. The bigger bins contain my growing stash of cloth diapers, towels, and washcloths. I am still unsure where other things needed during diaper changes will go, but I'm hoping I can squeeze them on the shelves below in easy reach.

I found the rug on Overstock. It's actually the second rug we bought. We had a bit of a fiasco with the first one, which was a Craig's list purchase. It was a high quality Pottery Barn rug, but the condition was not obvious when we picked it up, as the house was poorly lit, and the door was wide open. However, as soon as we got it into our car, we noticed it had an odd odor. We used our friend's vacuum/rug cleaner and then I tried to spot clean and deodorize it with several different products (Woolite, Spot Shot, vinegar, baking soda, Febreze,...) After several days, the smell and stains wouldn't come out and it made the entire nursery smell funny. Fortunately, the people we got it from were nice enough to take it back and THEN informed us that their son had spit up a lot as a baby (all over the rug). Yikes! I'm happy we got this rug. It was more expensive, but I like it's more modern pattern and color. I'm glad it's not a typical "baby/pastel" nursery rug.

A lot of the decorations around the crib came from friends and family. I love crafting, so during our baby shower, some of my friends set up a craft table in the nursery and our friends made origami creatures for the mobile hanging over the crib. They also painted onesies for baby Nam. Another crafty friend made lots of beautiful pom-pom flowers that served as baby shower decorations and were re-used as nursery decorations. I'm still trying to decide if I should hang more of them from the ceiling, but don't really feel like drilling anymore holes up there.

The poster, is from one of my favorite Flatstock artists, Diana Sudyka. This Seu Jorge poster originally hung in our living room, but it seemed perfect for the nursery. I have another one of her prints, of a yellow bicycle and the story of how it was stolen and found again, hanging just out of view. Not only do I love her work, but since she is from Chicago, her work reminds me of our old hometown. I've discovered that buying frames at Ikea and then cutting the mattes to the correct size myself makes for inexpensive, but still custom looking frames.

The mural around the crib is a combination of two different vinyl wall decals. One set is from Blik, which I bought using a Groupon for the Velocity Art and Design Store. The other is from WallCandy, and was purchased as a gift from my mom from Tottini, which is next door to Velocity. Because both of them had a woodland/forest theme, they actually worked quite well together, even though their color and designs were different.

baby toys from all over the world

2011-07-25T03:15:00.001-04:00

baby toys from all over the world, originally uploaded by supafly.

go to my flickr site to see where they all came from

Nursery: Part 1

2011-07-25T02:59:00.002-04:00

I've been working on the nursery for a few months now. Just when I thought it was coming together, my husband decided it was time to add three more electrical outlets to the room (as there was only one). He just finished this evening and I am just getting it back in order. I started with the large IKEA bookshelf that is the main storage component in the room. This particular shelf was bought more than 10 years ago, and has moved with me from at least 6 or 7 different apartments until it ended up in our first house. There is a closet, but it's small and awkwardly shaped, and I figured that open shelves with bins were more suitable for tiny baby clothes. I found the bins pictured below at IKEA as well, but more recently. It was in the kid's section and seems to be a good size for onesies, booties, hats, bibs, etc... I had a difficult time remembering what was in which bin, so I made little felt "labels" the I sewed onto the front reminding me what's in each bin.

Above the bins of clothes are the many children's books I've collected and gotten as gifts. My two favorite children's authors are Berkeley Breathed and Maira Kalman. The former is probably best known for creating the character of Opus and the comic strip Bloom County. However, more recently, he has written some wonderful children's books! His book Goodnight Opus is a funny riff on Goodnight Moon and I love it even more. My husband is also a fan of Breathed and Opus - that's his Opus stuffed animal on the top shelf. I was introduced to Maira Kalman in college and used to love walking down to 57th Street Books in Hyde Park and reading her children's books when I was feeling blue. Unfortunately, since then, a lot of them are out of print, so I started buying used library-bound copies. (If her illustrations look familiar, she's done a lot of work in the New Yorker and had an illustrated column in the New York Times for awhile.

The majority of the books - including almost all of the board books, were gifts. I asked everyone that came to the baby shower to bring their favorite book. In addition, many of my 6th grade students gave me books when they threw me their own baby shower. It's great because a lot of them (or their parents) picked their favorites. I wasn't familiar with a lot of them and I still need to go through and read them all.

Don't you love this cute pink bookend? It says "Dreams come true," which is a great thing for our daughter to remember. I got it at Daiso, a terrific Japanese dollar store. Although, I had to go to the one in Seoul to find it :-) More about the nursery to come...

Finance: How Smart Phones can help

2011-07-24T02:57:00.000-04:00

As a teacher, I get inundated with gift cards that I have a hard time keeping track of. Luckily, there are some smart phone apps that can help with that as well as with saving money:

1. Starbucks Mobile Card App: This application will allow you register multiple Starbucks gift cards and will let you pay for purchases using your mobile phone at participating Starbucks (including ones in Target stores). You should keep the cards as a back up since not all stores will let you pay with your card. I still have to try this out. I wonder if airports Starbucks will let you pay with your phone. If you lose the cards, you can report it is stolen and protect your balance (if it's registered - so even if you don't use the app, it's a good idea to register cards to protect them). You also earn "stars" when you pay with gift cards and after earning 15 stars, you get a free drink.

2. Jo-Ann App: I just found out about this application yesterday when I was at the store wishing I'd remembered my coupons that came in the mail. I downloaded this app and was able to use the coupons through it. (You can also present coupons sent to you by e-mail.)

Do you have any other apps to recommend?

Car Seats 101

2011-07-23T02:57:00.000-04:00

Car seats were completely a mystery to me until today. This morning I met with a "child passenger safety consultant" from Children's Hospital. I thought it would be a quick 15 minute appointment, but it ended up taking almost an hour to go through the safety checklist. Here are the major things I learned.

1. Car seats are HUGE and need a lot of space: The most important advice I'd have for new parents is to go to Babies r Us or another store where they let you try out car seats to make sure they fit in your car! I realized during installation, just how little space there is in the back of a VW golf. Even with just an infant car seat (our friends loaned us a Graco), which is supposed to be the smallest kind of car seat, I had to move both front seats up. I'm only 5 feet tall, and my driver's seat position was back to far for the car seat...yikes!

2. A lot of things can void your car seat's "safety": I also learned that as popular as the Kiddopotamus snuzzler is, it isn't appropriate for use in a car seat, since it wasn't designed or crash tested by the car seat manufacturers. However, it is okay to use rolled up blankets on either side of baby's head and a rolled up washcloth between the crotch portion of the harness and the baby's legs because they don't count as "inserts" that could interfere with how the car seat is designed to work.

Although the owner's manual (from 2007) recommended rolled up towels to help get the correct angle for installation, those are apparently no longer considered safe. However, you can use a solid pool noodle (foam cylinder) instead. These can often be provided by the person who checks your car seat installation.

3. It's important to pull all the straps tightly: Attaching the car seat base with the seat belt, was NOT as simple as clicking the buckle. I had to make sure the seat belt was set to "lock/ratchet" mode. Then, I had to hold the car seat down in the center and and tighten the seat belt close to the buckle as much as I could. Once the baby is in the 5-point harness, you also have to tighten the harness so that it is so snug that you can't pinch any slack straps at their shoulders. (There's also a hidden button that helps you easily loosen the harness when taking the baby out.)

4. Car seats expire: The car seat manufacturers claim the materials they are made of wear out after about 6 years.

Nesting and Crafting

2011-07-22T02:58:00.001-04:00

I've been obsessed with getting ready for baby Nam. For me, this has translated into trolling Craig's list, consignment stores, and my Yahoo groups for baby deals, knitting, sewing, and working on the nursery. I've also been surfing the web for inspiration/ideas, which are compiled on my tumblelog. I wanted to compile some of the baby crafting I've done so far.

One of the first things I made were these taggies:

I hadn't even heard of them until my co-worker got one as a gift, but as soon as I saw it, I decided I could make it, and that it would be a good use of fabric and ribbons I already had. I used this tutorial from Craft Blog to make them. Other than the blue whale flannel, I had all the supplies I needed in my stash.

The next two projects I worked on came from purl bee - which has a lot of great craft ideas. One was a a tutorial my sister found for knit baby booties, the other was one for a quilted playmat. The playmat gave me a chance to use more fabric in my stash - one was an echino/kokka linen/cotten fabric with a bird and leaf print and the other is an upholstery weight fabric from Ikea that I couldn't resist. All I had to buy was the quilting for the middle. Then I had to invest some time into hand quilting it.

Next up was more knitting, this time a baby bonnet using my favorite yarn - malabrigo. I found the pattern in a book I borrowed from the library. I hope baby Nam's head is small enough to fit in it.

I've been missing the craft get togethers I used to have with friends in Chicago, and my friends Aileen and Erika obliged by having everyone get crafty at our baby shower. They made me an origami mobile and painted onesies for the baby.

Here's the finished mobile hanging over our Craig's list maple crib along with paper peony poufs made by my friend Becky. I used two different sets of mural stick-ons to complete this corner of the nursery.

After a busy end of the school year, summer began and I got back to sewing. I found an adorable elephant print flannel at Pacific Fabric and Crafts and made some double sided flannel pads - one for the changing pad and the other for the co-sleeper.

I made the mistake of not washing the flannel ahead of time, thinking they would shrink the same amount. I was wrong - the plain, camel-colored side shrank more. Oh well, it still works.

Our generous friends lent us a co-sleeper and a bassinet, but they both needed sheets Rather than buy some, I decided to try making fitted sheets. It was a bit intimidating, but ended up turning out okay. I used this tutorial and did some math to modify the size. I got some cute and inexpensive fabric from Ikea (3 yars for $7.99). The most difficult part of this project was adding the elastic. (I wish I'd known about the safety pin trick, but instead I practically ruined brand new circular knitting needle trying to thread the elastic.) In the end, I didn't even need the elastic in the bassinet sheet and ended up taking it out. Both sheets were for very shallow mattresses and the elastic made them a bit too tight. Here's the one for the co-sleeper.

I'm always searching for ways to use the fabric stash I already have, and decided to make some drawstring bags that could be used for diaper changing kits. I made three for myself and one as a gift. The only thing I had to get was some twill tape for the drawstring. I got the idea from another Christine who has a baby and a blog called Brunch. She provided the link to the tutorial I used.

I stuffed this bag with clothes to bring to the hospital for baby. I stuffed another one with things I would need at the hospital.

Cloth Diapering 101: Is it cheaper?

2011-07-21T02:59:00.000-04:00

I wanted to put together what I've learned from friends, other Seattle area moms, the diaper pin and other websites, and a cloth diapering 101 workshop I took this past weekend at Birth and Beyond.

My mom, a pediatrician, encouraged me to try cloth diapering because she noticed that her patients who do it are less likely to develop diaper rash. Since I'm taking the year off from work, I thought it was worth trying as I would have more time to devote to it and it would save us money - the workshop estimated it would save us approximately $2,000 compared to the cost of disposable diapers.

I decided to do some math to verify this for myself. According to what I found online, babies go through approximately 5-6 diapers per day for the first year. That would be about 2,007 diapers in a year.

Amazon has some of the lowest prices for diapers, and they cost approximately $0.20/diaper. That's about $401.50 for a year of diapers - and of course, this is assuming you can get exactly 2,007 diapers in all the right sizes, which probably won't happen. (And that you get free shipping.) Since potty training doesn't usually happen until after the age of 2, let's make that $803.00 minimum for 2 years (some websites estimate the cost to be closer to $1200 for 2 years.

Cloth diapers prices might vary even more than disposable. It could be as cheap as $6/diaper (for pre-fold + cover bought used) or as much as $25/diaper (for pocket or all-in-ones bought new). Since they are re-used, you only need roughly 24-36 total cloth diapers which could range in cost from $144 - $900 plus the cost of washing and drying them.

Diaper Pin has a cost comparison calculator that estimated that it will take me over 7 months of cloth diapering to break even with the cost of disposable and I would save $356.00 after 1 1/2 years of cloth diapering. Of course, this is if I used the cheapest alternative. In addition, you can save even more money if you either re-use the diapers for multiple kids or sell them to other moms on Craig's list (which can re-coup you roughly 50% of what you invested if they're in good condition). In the end, it looks like if you do it smartly, and/or you stick to it for long enough, you will save money cloth diapering. They can also be really cute compared to disposables :-)

Happiest Baby on the Block

2011-07-20T02:54:00.000-04:00

I heard a lot about this book so I borrowed it from the library. Considering how difficult I was as a baby, I am anticipating payback when baby Nam arrives. Dr. Karp, the author, seems to think that the main source of baby's crying in the first 3 months is due to being born to the world as still developing fetuses and his goal seems to be to re-create the environment that encompassed them in the womb. He claims that many cultures do not deal with colic as a problem because they constantly hold and carry their babies with them. Here's a re-cap of Dr. Karp's advice - at least what I remember of it and think would be important to apply.

Five steps to calming the baby:
1. Swaddling
2. Lay baby on side/stomach (when with you) - reverse breast-feeding hold, football hold, over the should hold
3. Shushing (loud white noise) - hair dryer, vacuum, fan, exhaust fan, running water, radio static, dishwasher, car ride
4. Swinging - rocking chair, dancing, swings, rhythmic pats, hammock, baby carrier, car rides, vibrating bouncy seat, bouncing on an exercise ball, brisk walks
5. Sucking

Top Ten Ways to imitate the Uterus
1. Hold the baby
2. Dance with the baby (I was apparently a big fan of this as a baby)
3. Rock the baby
4. Wrap/swaddle the baby
5. Sing to the baby or use white noise
6. Take the baby for a ride in the car
7. Take the baby for a walk outside
8. Breastfeed the baby
9. Give the baby a pacifier
10. Put the baby in a swing

When and how to wean the baby so they can learn how to soothe themselves to sleep:
1. Wean sucking - between 3-4 months
2. Wean swinging - between 3-4 months
3. Wean swaddling - between 3-6 months
4. Wean shushing - between 3-12 months
(Note: end co-sleeping around 4-5 months)

Spousonomics: Using Economics to Master Love, marriage, and Dirty Dishes

2011-07-19T02:37:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading this book written by Paula Szuchman and Jenny Anderson, two reporters who interviewed economists and couples for a book that has you think about relationships from an economist's point of view. Since my husband is so rational (and an economics major), I thought this would help me to better understand his point of view. Here's a re-cap of what I learned:

1. How to divide chores: It's more efficient to divide up chores (For example, rather than taking turns washing dishes, one person should do this and the other could be in charge of vacuuming.) To decide, which tasks to take on, decide who is relatively better at each task (also called comparative advantage). Splitting up tasks this way should give BOTH people in a relationship MORE time for other things. A 50/50 split isn't always what works - instead, strive for efficiency and meeting the needs of both people in the relationship. Hopefully, the chores you end up with are once you like doing and/or have an incentive of some kind to do.

2. Fighting and Loss Aversion: People don't like losing fights, even when it would be in their best interest. Things to remember about why this happens - rash decision making, choose immediate satisfaction rather than saving for future gains, fear of change. A good technique to avoid the fight in the first place is to wait 24 hours or so and see if you still think what ever was bugging you is worth starting a fight over - not easy to do for an "emotional-reactor" like me.

3. Sex is important: Pew Research Center has found that a happy sexual relationship is the second most important factor to a successful marriage (after faithfulness). To make sure your having enough sex you should clearly communicate when you're in the mood, get into the habit of doing it regularly, and be open about what you want and when you want it.

4. Moral Hazard (or taking your marriage for granted): When we get comfortable in our relationship, we take our spouse for granted and can treat them worse than we should. In order to avoid this, we need incentives to be more responsible in how we treat each other such as investing actively in the relationship, set expectations for each other and work to meet them, and share the "costs" of being in a relationship.

5. How to get him/her to do what you want: Trust them to do the right thing. (This is a big one that I'm always working on!) Forgive them when they mess up, which then gives you a get out of jail free card. Surprise them with thoughtful gestures.

6. Trade-offs (Get over it): As a default perfectionist, this is an important one for me to practice - just reminding myself that things can't be perfect and trade-offs have to be made and accepted. I always want things to be fair and perfect, but real life doesn't work that way, and I have to remember that. One way to get over what seems like big problems is thinking at the margins. Rather than looking for one perfect solution, which is my tendency, try to find smaller changes that can be made that can provide a benefit (but at a cost). Ignore sunk costs (something my husband is always reminding me to do) - which is another way of breaking free of bad habits and perceived status quo.

7. Asymmetric information (why communication is important): Be very clear in expressing your needs (in a nice, and succinct way). Of course, for this to happen, the other person needs to be receptive in listening rather than getting defensive and lashing out (another skill to work on!)

8. Avoiding laziness and procrastination in your relationship: Find a way to help you commit to being a better partner. To do this, you need to figure out what incentive will help.

9. How to sustain a happy marriage: Don't succumb to peer pressure - for me this means not constantly comparing ourselves to other couples, but figure out what makes sense for us instead. Don't be so confident that you take your marriage for granted. The book provides a good quiz to help you gauge whether or not you may be overconfident.

10. Game theory works for marriage too: Think ahead. (Maybe playing more chess will help me with this one.) Learn from past experiences. See things from their perspective. Rather than only aiming for an ideal outcome, also think about what would be an acceptable outcome. Making the first move can give you an advantage. Although the aim is to "win," cooperative strategies often make everyone happier in the end. Hmmmm...maybe keeping this in mind would help me win Catan more :-)

I realized as I was reading this book that so much of this advice are things that my dear husband has been telling me for years. So, this post is dedicated to you, oh wise one. Happy 2nd anniversary!

Children's Consignment Stores in Seattle

2011-07-18T01:26:00.000-04:00

Part of my nesting craze has been focused on getting cute clothes for baby Nam. We are the first in our family to have a baby, so there are no hand me downs from relatives, so consignment stores have been a great resources to build up a wardrobe for her. I've also had many generous friends who've passed clothes on to me. Here's a list of consignment stores I've visited in Seattle.

1. Me'N Moms: I've gone several times to their Ballard location, but they are also in Issaquah and Lynnwood. This store has the best prices I've found by far for baby clothes. They are a great place for basics like onesies, footed pajamas, and receiving blankets. They also have baby gear like strollers (I spotted an orbit there), cribs, vibrating chairs, etc... In addition, they have a section of new items. A friend of mine says they sell any baby clothes they are done with here and use the credit to get the larger sizes they need - all without having to spend much money. What a great form of recycling!

2. Childish Things: A co-worker recommended this Ballard/Greenwood shop to me. It's prices are higher, but they have a pretty big selection of cute dresses and shoes and other clothing above and beyond onesies for babies/toddlers/kids. Even though it's consignment, some of the things for sale still have tags on them. They also have some baby gear for sale and a sizeable and tempting section of new items. I found a cute Ralph Lauren dress for baby Nam on their clearance rack for 99 cents!

3. Sela's Small Couture: I found this little Queen Anne shop because I'm addicted to Macrina Bakery which is across the street, and also love Malena's tacos which is next door to it. They had a lot of cute Janie and Jack, Hanna Andersson, and a few adorable Tea and Oilily items. I bought the most adorable Janie and Jack sweater there with a turtle zipper pull. There's also a small area with a tv and chairs for little ones to sit in as you shop and one rack of new items for sale.

4. Kids on 45th: This little shop in Wallingford has pretty good prices and selection. They have some baby gear for sale too. A bonus is it's close to Molly Moon's and Fainting Goat Gelato!

5. Le Petit Shoppe: This shop is just down the road from University Village in and it's on the pricier side for consignment, but I guess it's because of the neighborhood it's in (Laurelhurst). I found an adorable seemingly new Winnie-the-Pooh footed pjs here. There is also another consignment shop a couple doors down that was for women and children that had some cute baby items, albeit a smaller selection.

6. Bootyland: This shop in Capitol Hill seems to have more new than used items available. Their selection of affordable consignment was pretty slim and not really worth a visit if that is all you're looking for.

7. Majesty: This shop is actually in Redmond, but it was near work so I checked it out. It was on the pricey side, but was well laid out and had baby gear as well as clothes. They often list items for sale on Craig's list.

8. Stella + Jack: This is an online consignment shop based in the Seattle area. They had a sale at a neighborhood coffee shop in Magnolia a few weeks ago. They had a lot of high end items (Hanna Andersson, Tea, Kate Quinn), but it with prices to match. It's usually even more expensive if you buy it online since you have to pay for shipping. However, they will pick up if you're interested in selling to them.

Places yet to be visited:
- Again and a Gain: A shop in West Seattle I've seen them list many baby gear items on Craig's list, but I have yet to make the trek out there.
- Sugarlump: I encountered some of the items from this shop in Madison Valley/Central District area at a boutique sale at Birth and Beyond, but have yet to go to their actual store. It looks from their website like they also have a lot of new items for sale.

Do you have suggestions for other places worth a visit?

Fabric Stores in Seattle

2011-07-16T18:40:00.000-04:00

I've been engrossed in making things for baby Nam, who is due at the end of August. Since I've recently developed pregnancy-related carpal tunnel, I've switched from knitting to sewing. I was able to use some of my small stash to make some taggies and a play mat, but then needed to find more fabric to continue crafting. Here's a list of places I've visited in the Seattle area.

1. Ikea: This is an excellent source for affordable fabric! The selection is limited, but they have great bright and modern prints. Generally, the prices only run about $7.99 a yard - and that's for upholstery weight! I used the billy goats on a bridge print below to make a pillow cover. In the kid's section, they also have kid-specific prints in regular cotton for about $7.99 for 3 yards! I used a cute black, white, and red print from there to make sheets for the co-sleeper and bassinet and still had plenty leftover to make a taggie, some drawstring bags and a burp cloth.

2. Stitches: This is a small fabric, sewing, and knitting store in Capitol Hill that also offers classes. Although it is smaller than most of the other stores, it's selection is so well-edited that I often find what I want here. They have an especially great selection of the beautiful echino cotton/linen fabrics from the Japanese company Kokka. Echino fabrics are pricey at around $18/yard, but I haven't found anything cheaper that is the same in terms of weight (in between cotton and upholstery), design, and color. Stitches has also been a valuable resource for sewing notions, ribbon, felt, etc... I used the echino fabric below to make a playmat for the baby.

3. Pacific Fabrics and Crafts: The Northgate store is fairly close to me and I've also been down to their SODO outlet, which has a bigger selection of remnants. This store has a HUGE offering of fabrics, but you have to sort through a wide assortment of cheesy quilting prints. I do find they have a fairly good selection of kid's prints and flannel (solid and printed). They also have a fairly large selection of notions and ribbon. I recently found a coupon for them in the Stranger or Seattle Weekly, which came in handy. I bought the cute grey flannel print there to make a changing pad cover.

4. Nancy's Sewing Basket: I was excited to check out this shop in Queen Anne, but didn't actually get much there. They did have the same grey animal flannel print above along with several coordinating prints in the same color scheme. They also have a ribbon room with many fancy ribbon options. I think it was a bit too high-priced for me overall. They did have good quality felt there, but it was double regular prices and still wasn't 100% wool. This is a good place to go for highly specialized items like fancy ribbon, buttons, or fabrics, but I'm not sure it has much to offer for everyday users, unless you live in the neighborhood or have a big pocketbook. I do like its proximity to Macrina Bakery though!

5. JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts: Their Ballard store is my go to place for general craft supplies, but I don't actually buy much fabric here. It is a good place to get sewing supplies/notions, especially when they are having a sale. They also have a special discount card for teachers!

Up next...I'd like to check out West Seattle Fabric Company. It's a bit of a trek for me, but I spied some of their selection at the West Seattle street fair and it looked awesome!

a trip to the Prime Meridian

2007-07-12T17:09:00.001-04:00

Greenwich park, originally uploaded by supafly.

Sunday was a sad day of packing and saying goodbye to Marshall as he headed off to India for six weeks, so lets skip to Monday. I decided to check out another Royal Park, Greenwich Park. This is also the home of the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian. Greenwich actually isn't too far from Peckham/Camberwell Green and I was able to take a couple of buses to get there. The parks were beautiful and surrounded on the side I entered by a wall that separated it from the noisy roads bordering it. The park was filled with many parents with strollers and little kids running around. There was a separate, fenced in flower garden in the park as well as a tea pavilion with snacks and a merry-go-round nearby.

There was a large tourist group going into the Royal Observatory when I got there and I actually missed the Prime Meridian line in the crowd. Instead, I headed into a camera obscura room and through the exhibits and actually had to exit and come back in before I saw the Prime Meridian line. It was right at the entrance, but the crowd had obscured it from view!

After leaving Greenwich, I stopped at the National Gallery for a look around the wing of most recent paintings. There were lots of great works of art and it was a relaxing way to end the day.

trip to New Malden

2007-07-11T07:15:00.001-04:00

leaving central London, originally uploaded by supafly.

On my last Saturday in London, a parade went down Peckham as we ate lunch. It was a small parade - one truck with a band and a row of people behind dancing, singing about Jesus and waving ribbons. However, it was enough to create quite a traffic jam. Behind the parade were half a dozen buses. We peered into the bus windows to see how many people were pissed about the exceptionally slow bus ride and wondered if any of them knew what was holding them up.

We headed out of zones 1 and 2 of London and took a Southwestern train from Vauxhall to New Malden (just 5 miles past Wimbledon). We were going there because it's supposed to have the largest expatriate community of Koreans in Europe. Marshall was impressed with how close together all the Korean shops were. Within 2 or 3 blocks of the train station were two Korean grocery stores. Both of them had these back stairwells that led to other businesses, like cafes or a golf store. There were also several Korea hair salons and Marshall went to one for a haircut. While I waited for him, I was entertained by a trio of friends who were all there to get their haircut. The two men were laughing about how much more complicated it was for women when they get their haircut but were baffled as to why. Their female friend proved them correct. She was British-Korean and spoke no Korean so her friend had to translate for the hair stylist. In her words, she wanted it "styled more." What does that mean? In the end, they couldn't agree on anything so she let her guy friend get a haircut while she thought about it some more.

After a delicious and spicy Korean meal and a stop to get kimchi and seaweed for the house, we went to see Shrek 3 at our local theatre - the Peckham Multiplex. It smelled a little funny, but it wasn't too expensive (£6) and wasn't crowded at all. Some people I have talked to loved the movie and others didn't, but we thought it was hilarious!

Jane Austen, fashion, and okonomiyaki

2007-07-10T06:50:00.001-04:00

our finished Okonomiyaki, originally uploaded by supafly.

I started my last full Friday in London by watching a movie about Jane Austen (called Becoming Jane) at the Prince Charles Cinema. It was an interesting movie that expanded on historical accounts of a romance that Jane Austen had. If you're familiar with her books, you will see moments in the movie that could have inspired her novels. It is interesting to wonder why both Jane and her older sister ended up never getting married and what circumstances led to that. (On my way to the movie theatre, I passed an tent in Leicester square set up for poker playing by the World Poker Tournament. I didn't stop to play, but I got a bag of free goodies.)

After the movie, I headed to the Victoria and Albert museum where I walked around their wonderful fashion exhibit. My favorite was a muslin dress from 1819 that had interesting details on the skirt that I think would still look modern today. The gallery was filled with young students taking photographs and making sketches of designs that inspired them. (Apparently, Zac Posen went to fashion school in London and was himself inspired by some of the fashion on display at the V&A. Now his own work is on display here.) There was also a wonderful Chihuly piece hanging in the museum entrance as well as several red lip sofas, which are a part of the special exhibit on Surrealism.

The museum is open late on Fridays, but I decided to go in search of this pub that was recommended in a blog for its sticky toffee pudding. I should've known better since the Abingdon is located in the ritzy Kensington/Chelsea neighborhood. The sticky toffee pudding there was £6.50! I decided I wasn't willing to spend $13 on a dessert, but I did enjoy my walk around the beautiful neighborhood. I found a Waitrose (Seema says its like the Whole Foods of London) where I instead got a sticky toffee pudding to microwave at home for less than £3. (It was delicious, but so sweet that I've had my fill of sticky toffee pudding for awhile.)

I met Marshall for dinner and we walked to Abeno for Okonimyaki only to find out that you need reservations there and they were all booked up so we walked on to their other restaurant Abeno Too where it's first come, first served. It was a lot of fun sitting at the counter (on big boxes that also served as storage for all of your stuff while you ate) and watching them cook your food, but it was also really really hot. By the time we left, we were drenched in sweat and the coolness of the evening was a welcome relief.

science and poetry

2007-07-10T05:31:00.001-04:00

sculpture at the Royal Society, originally uploaded by supafly.

As I'm writing this I am being driven crazy by the construction that starts outside around 9:30 every morning. There's always hammering or drilling happening with the occasional swear word thrown in. The worst though is the constant 80's and 90's music that they play. It's all the cheesy stuff too....that's better - I just put on my noise cancelling headphones and am listening to Blossom Dearie instead. (I could also just move to the front room, but why do that?)

On Thursday I went back to the Royal Society for the last day of the Science Exhibition. On the way, I walked by Trafalger square and the Mall. They were setting up bleachers and big screens in Trafalger for the Tour de France opening ceremonies tomorrow and the mall was closed to traffic. It was lined with new trucks and Tour de France vehicles. I walked over to Carlton Terrace and up the stairs of the Royal Society.

The only quiet exhibit room contained information on primate language. You could listen to different chimpanzee sounds and the researcher's explanation for what it means. They also had a machine that showed pitch and loudness of different primate sounds and a microphone so you could try matching their sounds. I tried a few times, but the room was so quiet so it was quite embarrassing to hear myself trying to sound like an orangutan for example.

There was another room that was loud with the sound of airplanes taking off. They are trying to develop technology for quieter aircraft. One of their simplest and most brilliant solutions was to point the engines up instead of down so that most of the sound was above the plane rather than below it. They also gave out cool portable frisbees.

An exhibit about life in the canopy of the rainforest had many arthropod specimens. There were huge beetles and ones so tiny they looked almost like specks of dust. There were also a few live samples, including dung beetles, a millipede, and a centipede.

In the basement of the Royal Society were the last few exhibits. The clothes of some of the first arctic explorers were on display. I couldn't imagine staying warm in such thin layers of cloth - they must have been cooooold! One of the coolest exhibits let you control a mini ROV (Robot Operated Vehicle) that was in a large fish tank. It's similar to playing the game where you try to pick up things with a robotic claw, except you watch what you are doing on a tv screen and it's hard to do something 3-dimensionally from a 2-dimensional image. Kids were once again overwhelming the exhibit so I just watched them bicker with one another about whose turn it was and how so and so was hogging the machine.

After watching all the exhibits, I walked down to Regent street to Habitat, a store with similar goods for sale as Crate and Barrel. The biggest difference was the in-house wurlitzer organ that was being played when I walked in. There were several old people gathered on couches near the organ and I joined them for a little while.

Next, I walked down to Carnaby street. I was going to get some sticky toffee pudding, but decided I better have something more substantial and sat down in a quiet corner of a pub for sausage and mash instead.

After taking some time to read and rest, I took the tube to the Southbank Centre. I walked through their Operation Soapbox maze, where people could leave messages throughout and then went next door for a poetry slam. All the poets were teenagers and many of their works were about the violence they had seen. The two that impressed me the most were only 12-years old and great beatboxers!

Visiting the Tate Modern

2007-07-09T05:30:00.001-04:00

entrance to the Tate Modern, originally uploaded by supafly.

Wednesday I made my first visit to one of the big British museums. I decided to start with the Tate Modern. I took bus #343 to Borough High street and walked to the Tate Modern from there. On the way, I passed the Rose and Crown, a pub where we ate Thai food last summer when we visited London.

On the ground floor of the Tate Modern was an interesting exhibit on cities. It focused on London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Cairo, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Shanghai and Istanbul. They used photography, sculpture, video, and graphics to compare and contrast the speed, size, density, diversity and form of these ten cities.

Besides the cities exhibit, one of my favorite areas in the museum was the gallery with drawings and sketches by artists. There was one drawing by Alighiero Boetti called "Aerei" that I particularly liked. From far away, it looked like it the blue background of the sky had been created by embroidering blue thread, but when you got closer, it was actually rows and rows of parallel ballpoint pen marks. I am always amazed with artists' ability to put so much time into meticulous detail.

After stopping at the cafe for a snack, I took the Millenium footbridge across the Thames and passed St. Paul's cathedral on my way to a jewelry exhibit at Goldsmiths' Hall on Foster Lane. The building is home to one of the old guilds of London and it had one of the nicest bathrooms I've found in the city. There is a lounge connected to the bathroom with couches and make-up mirrors and I sat there for a while resting.

The jewelry exhibit showcased some of the most accomplished young silversmiths and jewellers in England. My favorite artist at the exhibit was Zoe Arnold, whose jewelry was inspired by stories and poems. They were like wearable illustrations to a poem or story and each piece was quite unique and different from the others.

On my way back down Foster Lane and to the St. Paul's tube station, I found a quiet church courtyard. It was welcome to anyone who needed a space for quiet and meditation. Unfortunately, there was road construction going on right outside, but it was a respite from the dust and business of the street. A dove sat on one of the benches sleeping. On my way home, I stopped for dinner at Food for Thought. It was my second meal there and I liked it because it was healthy, delicious, cheap and filling food. Also, the space is small and you share tables with people so I didn't feel so odd eating alone. In fact, I shared a table with two other people that were there alone.

Royal Society Science Exhibition

2007-07-09T04:52:00.001-04:00

coral, originally uploaded by supafly.

Tuesday I went to the second day of the Royal Society Science exhibition. It was like a science fair for scientists. There were probably more high school age students visiting than anything else so it was crowded with people grabbing whatever freebies they could. Why is that so often human nature - to take all the flyers and pens and random crap that you can? Often, people got carried away and took anything that wasn't nailed down and some exhibitors were left without some of their presentation materials.

Before I went in to see the exhibits I went to hear the presentation about deep sea discoveries that have been made in the Arctic. 60% of the world hasn't been explored and that includes the deeper parts of the ocean. The scientist who talked to us had just returned from a June expedition to the Arctic where he found coral that lived in deep (350 meters), dark and cold waters. Apparently, corals, like trees, have rings so you can tell how successful each year was for them. He showed us the damage that fishing can do. When they get too close to the coral beds, they end up killing the colony which pretty much destroys the entire ecosystem. I didn't realize it, but 98% of all life is on the seabed.

After the presentation, I headed into the ground floor exhibits. The first exhibit focused on research being done on the bacteria that live in our digestive system. Apparently, we obtain most of the bacteria living in our gut when we are babies. They had a series of beakers kept at different temperatures that were supposed to mimic the different parts of the digestive system. They monitored the pH of each beaker because each section has a slightly different pH. You can take the microbe journey online.

The next exhibit was about a three-wheeled, two passenger vehicle that runs on compressed natural gas. They wanted it to have the small footprint of a motorcycle, the comfort of a car and lower emissions than both. The vehicle was called CLEVER (Compact Low Emission VEhicle for uRban transport) and you could sit inside it to see what it was like.

They had an interesting historical exhibit on blackboards. Apparently, at the University of Oxford, they have kept a blackboard that Einstein used during a lecture there in 1931. They didn't bring that with them, but they asked other notable scientists, writers, and philosophers to recreate writing from their lectures on blackboards. It seems that the value of the smartboards now found in classrooms is that it is even easier to save this kind of writing. Rather than having to cart around a blackboard, it can all be saved electronically and displayed on a computer, on paper, or on a smartboard in a completely different location!

There were several more interesting exhibits. At one, they had body sensors similar to what is found in a Wii that you clip on to your ear. It is able to track your position in space. There was another exhibit where you could practice being a surgeon. They had silicon models of skin with a "lipoma" (benign tumor) embedded in it. You could tape the silicon skin onto a real person and perform surgery on them. They had two operating areas and they even put people in scrubs, masks, and gloves. Of course, the exhibit was inundated with kids so I moved on to an exhibit on listening to trees. It seems you can tell the hardness of a tree by hitting it with a mallet. The deeper the pitch, the harder the wood.

After seeing half of the exhibitions, I was ready for a break and spent some time wandering around Regent street. I headed home early to take photos of the house for Marshall, who was desperately looking for someone to take his room while he is in India for 6 weeks. (It turns out the rent in India is much more expensive than the rent in London!)

Lions at RIBA

2007-07-08T16:51:00.001-04:00

lions on the staircase, originally uploaded by supafly.

I'm almost a week behind on this, but I'll have plenty of time to catch up now that my honey has left for India. I'm going to miss him so much and now it's just me in London - plus a house full of people. Abigail (whose dad is the landlord) broke her wrist and is officially staying in London for the summer instead of going to Thailand. Her best friend from New Jersey is visiting. Plus, there's Martin, from Germany who is here as an insurance writer and also Abigail's boyfriend and her friend's boyfriend who is taking classes at the London School of Economics - oh and Abigail's cat who just moved in from Surrey and roams around looking for an open window to escape from. Funny, the house has more people in it than it ever has, but I feel so alone.

Last Monday was a slow day. I always need time to recover from the weekends so I slept in and took it easy. Eventually, I got up, made toast in the broiler and went to the Royal Institute of British Architects to check out their current exhibit. Gallery two had a series of black and white architectural photographs taken by John Donat. He did a lot of "model photographs" and one was of a proposed Mies van der Rohe building imposed on the London skyline. It was so modern that it looked completely out of place - probably why it was never approved and built.

The exhibit in Florence Hall was a collaboration between architects and schools. The students at grade schools worked with architects to plan and design different types of green spaces for their school. There were models, evaluations, and plans by the students presented in clever ways.

After that, I headed home to have dinner with my housemates. Abigail and her boyfriend made some delicious pasta and a salad and we welcomed our newest roommate Martin to London from Hanover, Germany. Marshall was even able to get home from work in time for it and Kier - a roommate in the process of moving out was there too, so it was a delicious meal with lots of good company.

A weekend of wind and rain

2007-07-06T04:59:00.001-04:00

flying kites on Parliament Hill, originally uploaded by supafly.

It has been unusually rainy in England since we've been here. It was a downpour most of Saturday so we spent a good part of the day inside rather than going to the city's Gay Pride festivities in Central London. In the afternoon, we went for a walk through our Peckham neighborhood (we're just in between Peckham and Camberwell Green) and on to Dulwich. Marshall finally got to see the cheap grocery store that I'd found. It's called Lidl and is a German chain. Our new roommate Martin, who is from Hanover, Germany, told us that it is considered nicer than Aldi since it actually sells namebrand products.

We then walked on to Dulwich through a constant drizzle. We stopped at the Sea Cow for some tasty fish and chips (and mushy peas). There was also an argument going on between one of the customers and the guy behind the counter frying fish. I'm not sure what it was about, but there was some yelling and then the guy left.

This is one of at least three fights I've seen in my neighborhood. There seems to be many passionate, hot-headed people here - and you can't blame it on hot weather because it's doesn't usually get above 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The first big fight was on a bus headed from London Bridge back to Peckham. We were on the top level of a double decker and all of a sudden two men in the back started choking each other. One man banged the other man's head repeatedly against he window. A woman that was with them just laughed as they fought. Needless to say, everyone was watching and finally one person went down to tell the driver. The bus was stopped and the driver came up, but he didn't do much. It wasn't until everyone else started telling the bus driver to kick them off the bus that they stopped. First, they clutched each other's shirt sleeves and fought over who was going to let go first. "You let go." "No, you let go." It was ridiculous masculine ego. One of them went downstairs for awhile, but eventually came back up and talked on his cell phone as if nothing happened.

The next big fight I only heard. I was again on the top of a double decker, this time headed into the city from Peckham. I heard a lot of yelling below and the bus stopped. Many people yelled that they had to get to work. Eventually, we all got off and boarded the next bus that came by. On the next bus, several people were talking about the fight. It was apparently between a couple and one threw a glass bottle at the other as their kid sat in between them. A lot of the yelling had been other people telling them they shouldn't fight like that in front of their kid.

Back to the weekend...In Dulwich, I found the best charity shop yet. It was packed with Terry Prachett books! (He's a British fantasy writer.) I had the entire Discworld series, but there was a Johnny Maxwell trilogy he had written that I hadn't read so I bought it. After a few hours in the drizzle, we headed home on a bus to where it was warm and dry.

Sunday started out much nicer and we headed to the Brick Lane Sunday market. It reminded me of the Maxwell street market in Chicago but was much larger. They sold absolutely everything there. We were first bombarded by women selling porn and pirated blockbuster DVDs. Then we passed rows and rows of stalls selling hardware, tools, medicine, cosmetics, food, jewelry...come to think of it, the one thing I didn't see were hub caps for sale. We stopped to look at bicycles (probably stolen) that were being sold for £35 to £65. A steal compared to the price at a normal store. Behind some of the stalls were nice, artsy boutiques selling interesting and expensive housewares, jewelry, and clothing. One boutique had motorcycle jackets for sale - I was tempted by a women's jacket that had just come in, but they didn't have my size. There was also a lot of great graffiti. We stopped at Brick Lane Beigel Bake (open 24 hours) for some delicious freshly baked bagels. I got mine with salt beef (like pastrami) and mustard and Marshall got one with salami and one with butter.

Next, we headed to a couple of neighborhoods I thought Marshall would enjoy seeing. First to Camden town. We stopped to watch some boats go through the locks and then walked through the many food and clothing stalls. We went into one store selling raver gear. They had borg pods on the wall and lots of futuristic clothing under black lights. Marshall was impressed by all the food for sale and tried some lamb tagine from a Moroccan stall. I got an apple, lemon, ginger smoothie and a trio of freshly made cinnamon donuts.

Soon we boarded a bus to Hampstead Heath, which is just North of Camden. We found Keat's house (which I had missed by 1/2 a block the last time I was there). It was surprisingly big and plain. It looked too modern to be his home. We took a few photos and walked on. Marshall realized how posh the neighborhood was when he spotted a Maserati on the street. He had to have his picture taken with it, and then we entered the park.

We walked up to Parliament hill and watched the crowd of people that had gathered to fly kites. It was a windy day and there were many successful kite flyers. One woman and her son were having a hard time getting their bulky bi-plane shaped kite aloft and Marshall was getting irritated with their poor kite flying skills. The person next to them had a simple pentagon shaped kite flying the entire time - sometimes the string would drift towards us and I'd have to move it before it beheaded us. He was also trying to fly a stunt kite which was a lot more challenging, since it had two strings instead of one. Besides the kite flyers, we saw two men with metal detectors (searching for buried treasure?), many picnickers, and families strolling through the park.

When we got too cold, we headed down the hill and into the village of Hampstead to the Hollybush, an old Victorian pub, where we had cider (me), guinness (Marshall), and a sausage roll. We rested our feet and read a little as well. (Reading books in pubs is a common thing, unlikes bars in the US). Then, we headed home, satisfied in a full day of (almost dry) sightseeing.

Happy Canada Day!

2007-07-05T05:35:00.001-04:00

British Library, originally uploaded by supafly.

Last Friday I made reservations to see the Sacred text exhibit at the British Library. Before going there, I stopped at House, a local cafe, for lunch. It was a great place and doubles as an art gallery. They had couches to lounge in and plenty of magazines to read. Then I walked down towards Camberwell Green and stopped in at the Camberwell library to read Time Out and also check out the display of books that were made from last week's art day. As I boarded the bus, I noticed a dog down below wearing sunglasses - everyone on the bus peered down and laughed.

From the outside, the British Library isn't much to look at, but it has terrific exhibits! Before heading in to see the sacred texts, I stopped in their permanent exhibits and found a manuscript of Jane Eyre, a couple of Jane Austen's notebooks, and a copy of Alice in Wonderland (handwritten with the original illustrations) among other things. They had scanned several of the books so you could actually electronically "flip" through the pages. It was amazing!

The Sacred exhibit had some of the oldest copies of the Koran, Torah, and Bible on display. There was even a fragment of the dead sea scrolls. They also had ceremonial music from all three religions as well as information on religious customs and interviews with people about specific events like Bat Mitzvah and Eid.

In addition to exhibits, it is of course a library, but you need to apply for a reading pass to actually access the books. There were also several desks where many people were using their laptops, meeting, and doing work.

Next, I headed to the Southbank Centre for a dance concert. It started out strangely, as a dance with just two people accompanied by a depressing poem. However, the space was soon filled with dozens of dancers from different companies accompanied by a live band. It was a lot of fund and afterwards they had swing dancing and one of the East End Elvises made an appearance.

I sat outside on the South Bank for awhile and read the free newspapers they pass out here every night (London Paper and London Lite) and watched high school students walk by in formal wear on their way to a party on a boat docked nearby. It started to get colder, so I took the tube and met Marshall for dinner. We were trying to find Abeno Too, an okonomiyaki place, but instead ended up at Tokyo Diner, which was a nice place with large portions. The katsu don wasn't as tasty as Sunshine Cafe's though. (I really miss that place!) Afterwards, we found Abeno Too, which looked like a lot of fun - they cook the okonomiyaki right in front of you.

On the way home, we ran into the Canada Day festival at Trafalger Square. We were just in time for the last band's performance. It was surreal to be in London with all of these people dressed in red, waving Canadian flags, and drinking Canadian beer. The night ended with the singing of their national anthem and then we headed home.

a day of science

2007-07-05T05:08:00.001-04:00

cool light sculpture, originally uploaded by supafly.

Last Thursday I went to the Science Museum. I took the tube to South Kensington and was surprised to see daylight when I got off of the train. It wasn't an underground stop! I did head down to the subway (here the name for underground tunnels, not the train system) which connected the station to the many museums in the area. I walked by the Natural History museum exit and a very cool entrance to the Victoria and Albert museum and ended up at the Science museum. Like almost all the museums here it is free - unless you want to check out the IMAX movie, hang out with Bob the Builder, or see their special exhibit on spying.

I headed upstairs, hoping to get away from the crowds of children (when I'm not teaching, I like to get a break from the hordes) to the third floor, which was filled with airplanes and engines. It was quite interesting and I just wished my grandfather, Lolo Pepe, was there too. He's an engineer and would have loved seeing all of these great machines!

Next, I headed upstairs to their displays on the history of medicine and health care. I was surprised to learn they had speculums all the way back in Roman times and snapped pictures of the Gynecological displays for my dad. The scariest object was a rusty chastity belt. I didn't realize they had actually existed. I'm pretty sure the sharp teeth on it would discourage any possible premarital sex.

On the first and second floor, there were some terrific art and science exhibits. One of my favorites was a sculpture made of hundreds of different types of materials. Next to the sculpture, were samples of each material found in it. There was also a huge circular track (pictured above) that would show suggestions visitors had given for reducing our carbon footprint. You could add your own suggestions to it.

After checking out the museum, I met Marshall for dinner. We went to Maroush, well, one of them. There are a chain of these Lebanese restaurants around the city. We had a delicious meal of lamb, rice, bread, and vegetables and then he headed back to work. When he left work at 2am, the police had found the first car bomb on Haymarket street and bus service was suspended in Central London. Of course, Marshall didn't find out until he was waiting at the bus stop for 45 minutes. Then, he had to figure walk further out of the city to find another bus stop. He didn't end up getting home until 5am!

Royal Parks walk

2007-07-02T06:33:00.001-04:00

Pelicans flapping, originally uploaded by supafly.

Tuesday I joined a wonderful free walk through the Royal parks. We met at the St. James tube stop at the Queen Anne's gate exit on Petty France street. The first one there was a nice woman from Tasmania and we were soon joined by a family from the San Francisco bay area and their uncle from Sacramento. Our tour guide Steve was soon there and we set off.

Before heading into the park, we walked down Queen Anne's Gate street at the statue of Queen Anne. With the help of the Duke of Marlborough, Queen Anne joined England and Scotland, making her the first ruler of Great Britain. We were informed that the statue supposedly comes to life every August 1st and walks around. The street had wonderful old homes with great faces carved all around the walls. There was even an old candle snuffer by a front door. We were told that when they used to light the lamps at night, the snuffers were used by the lamp lighters to put out their flame.

Next, we entered St. James's park, which was started in 1530 by Henry VIII and used as a deer hunting park. 1616 is when it was first opened to the public. The lake that is found in the park started out as a canal that connected Buckingham and Whitehall (once a palace, now government buildings). In 1826, John Nash (under George IV) laid the park out into the plan that exists today. We stopped to admire the London Plane trees, which are especially resistant to the pollution in the city. The bark is able to peel off, taking the pollution it has absorbed with it. We walked over to admire the pelicans, which were originally brought to the park in 1664 as a gift from the Russian ambassador.

We soon exited St. James's park and stopped near Buckingham Palace. There were helicopters flying overhead and press trucks parked nearby because Tony Blair was paying his official visit to the Queen to hand her his letter of resignation. Next, we entered Green Park. It is much greener and free of the flowers in the other parks. This is supposedly because Charles II used to like to take his constitutional walks here and was caught by his wife picking flowers to give to another woman. She decided there would no longer be flowers in the park after that. Green park was much quieter than St. James or Hyde park and there were few people there, it was an oasis even though it was right next to Buckingham palace.

We soon got to the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park corners. It was hard to tell, but the Angel of Peace statue at the top of the arch is the largest bronze statue in Europe. Next door to the arch was #1 London, Apsley House where the Duke of Wellington lived. From there, we entered Hyde Park and stopped to look at the dirt road by the entrance, called King's road. In the past it had been illuminated by lamps and provided safe passage between Whitehall and Kensington palace. Near the entrance was a lovely weeping birch tree. We went under the branches, and it was a lovely shaded area where many lovers had carved their name into the bark. It reminded me of the willow tree I used to love sitting under to read as a kid, except the branches were so low here that you really were hidden from the world.

We followed the Serpentine around the park. It is a clay bottom lake that was created by Queen Caroline, George II's wife. Nearby was the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain. It's a wonderful oval shaped fountain that is supposed to represent both the happy and tumultuous aspects of Diana's life. It's a great place to soak your feet on hot day (which we did last summer when we were here). Apparently, a lot of people have hurt themselves, walking in the fountain, so that's no longer allowed.

Next, we stopped at the Lido, where there is a bathing area cordoned off in the Serpentine as well as a cafe. We had tea and snacks and rested our fee a bit. Then we left Hyde Park and entered Kensington Gardens. Hyde Park is the people's park, but Kensington gardens was originally only open to the public (by Queen Caroline) on Saturdays and you had to be "dressed smartly" to enter. At the edge of the gardens, is the huge and gleaming Prince Albert Memorial, which was built by Queen Victoria as a memorial to her husband. It definitely shows she missed him and they just recently put a new coat of gold leaf on the statue of Prince Albert so he really shines! It was interesting to find out that the book the statue is holding is a catalogue of the Great Exhibition, which raised a lot of money at the time and was used to fund many of the museums in the area.

In the last stretch of the walk, we stopped at the Peter Pan sculpture, where an adorable little boy had a hard time leaving because he had to keep kissing the bronze rabbits goodbye. Apparently, J.M. Barry, the creator of Peter Pan, used to walk in gardens while he was writing the play. Our walk ended near the Lancaster gate tube stop. It was a long walk, 3 miles and around 2 1/2 hours, but Steve was a terrific and knowledgeable tour guide and it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon!

£5 hair cuts

2007-07-02T05:42:00.001-04:00

inside YumChaa teas, originally uploaded by supafly.

I felt a bit better by Tuesday and ventured out to Camden for a hair cut I had scheduled a week and half ago when a woman stopped me on the street the last time I was in Camden and asked if I wanted to be a hair model. I was afraid, my hair was going to be massacred by a student, but instead was pleasantly surprised to find out that an instructor would be cutting my hair in front of a class of students.

It took three hours and involved a lot of neck cramps. I also fell asleep at one point and had my hair handled by several students that smelled like candy. However, for £5, I got a fabulous hair cut! She gave me (in hair stylist speak) a reverse graduated bob, also known as an A-line bob. I loved it! It was beautifully cut. I especially liked the bangs. She spent a long time explaining the proper way to cut bangs - I wish I could've video taped the whole thing to show my next hair stylist. I didn't know there was so much technical knowledge involved in a good haircut.

They also spent a lot of time talking about the new scissors they were using which made a fairly loud "snip snip" sound because of two metal pieces that banged against each other. This was to remind the stylists of what they were doing and keep then in the moment and more mindful of their work. They were also saying their salon was in Camden because it was one of the centers of style in London - and there's certainly a lot of individual expressions of style when you walk down the streets of Camden.

After the haircut, I had a nice cup of Chelsea chai green tea at a tea house nearby. It was nice to just sit, sip, and read. Then, I relaxed some more in Regents park before meeting Marshall for a Kellog Alumni lecture at the Royal College of Physicians on "Why Power Corrupts." I got there early, but was pleasantly surprised to find lot of free food and drinks. Feeling more up to eating, I tried some food and had a glass of cranberry juice. I walked around the room, which was actually a library, and looked at the many books locked up in cages. There were a lot of medical and science books, but amongst them was Paradise Lost.

The lecture was interesting and I met a few nice people and was pleasantly surprised afterwards that they put even more food out to eat. We ate, chatted with people, and then headed home. (We made a pit stop in the bathroom at the Royal College, which is the nicest I've seen so far - much better than the so called luxury bathroom at Harrods which had a scary bathroom attendant that glared at me the entire time.)

West End Live weekend

2007-07-02T05:23:00.001-04:00

The London Gay Men's Chorus, originally uploaded by supafly.

We started our second weekend in London cooking pasta carbonara at home. Afterwards, we stopped at Eleph ant and Castle tube stop to check out the all of the stalls surrounding the station, which sold bags, clothes, music, etc... There is also an indoor shopping center that has a Clarke's factory store and Iceland (a cheap grocery store that specializes in frozen foods). It was at this point, as we left Clarke's to go to Iceland, that I realized I had left my trusty marmot rain jacket (which had seen me through a trip to the Amazon and all of last summer's trip through Europe) on the bus. I was totally bummed and have called the bus garage since, but they didn't have it.

Next, we went to see West End Live! in Leicester Square, a free preview of musicals as well as other performances, including the London Gay Men's Chorus which (my favorite) sang Desperado by the Eagles. It was packed with people and we wandered around the different tents surrounding the stage. They all seemed to be geared towards children, but I stopped in the Science museum tent anyway and made a spy decoder as well as a train/robot out of paper that moved. There was another tent where kids could make their own claymation movie, face painting, hair extensions, and henna painting. I didn't want to wait in the long line for henna, but did practice some simple bollywood movies with an instructor. Then we queued to get our picture taken with the rat Remy from Ratatouille. I can't wait to see the movie!

After that, we found a Japanese area in Central London where there were overpriced Japanese groceries for sale as well as many restaurants and a cultural center - all connected to the Japan Airlines office.

We boarded a bus for Islington and walked North on Upper Street to Bierodrome, a Belgian pub and restaurant where we feasted on 1 kilogram of steamed mussels, a bowl of fries, and Belgian mash (really just mashed potatoes with a lot of butter). The pot of mussels seemed never ending, and I'm not sure if it was that, or something else, but I was sick for the next two days.

I lay in bed groaning, watched the first episode of the new season of Top Chef and bought several episodes of My Name is Earl from the iTunes store. I also discovered an entertaining Japanese sitcom called "Attention Please!" It's about a group of young women going to school to become cabin attendants for Japan Airlines. The lead character had been a rock musician, but needed to get a "real job." The show was a great add for JAL, as it made their airline seem super responsible and anal - and who doesn't want that when you're flying?

Marshall was also kind enough to make me Jook (Korean rice porridge). After being able to eat a little, I ventured out on Monday to Harrods. I was amazed at the range of things they sold there. Every kind of food available (including chicken with the head and feet on and Iberican ham) was in the food hall. There was even a Krispy Kreme section where you could sit down and just eat donuts. Upstairs, they had antiques (including chairs from an old space ship) and a pet store (with Chihuahuas and Siamese cats for sale). In the basement they even had a health center and I considered going in, but when I saw that dental floss cost £5, I decided I'd better just go home. I survived the bus ride home and watched more My Name is Earl and Attention Please while lying in bed recovering from something that I ate.

A Day of Art

2007-06-29T05:56:00.001-04:00

more book destroying, originally uploaded by supafly.

Friday started out as a day of art. I first went to the "Gorilla in the Roses" event at the Camberwell Library. David and Davina, a pair of artists, led us in an afternoon of destroying books by ripping them up, typing, stenciling, and sewing on them, and making collages. They were inspired by Joe Orton who, in 1967, inserted a picture of a gorilla into a book about roses at the Islington Public Library. The act of destroying books is entirely against my nature, and it was difficulty to begin. After reading a bit of Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery, I reminded myself there were many more copies of that out there and started ripping out favorite lines. I spent most of my time destroying a London guide book which was fitting and also easier because it was out of date. It was a small group, but we enjoyed ourselves and the artists shares their experience with another event they had done for the Camberwell Arts Festival yesterday where they shared stories with people using the laundromat across the street and asked them to share a story about experiences at the Tumble Wash in return.

After working on my book for a few hours, I left to go to another art event going on across the street, Sweet Obscenities. At Seymour Brothers bakery, Lucille powers was collecting people's swear words on a large sheet of paper and was also piping them onto cupcakes. What a great idea - to take insults that you had experienced and eat it up!

Next, I took the bus downtown and went to see Black Snake Moan at the Prince Charles Cinema. The PCC is just off of Leicester Square, where there are several expensive movie houses, and it is a bargain in comparison. I paid £3.50 and thoroughly enjoyed the intensity between Christina Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson.

Afterwards, I walked around Leicester Square, where they were previewing theatre performances by invitation only for West End Live, which started the next day and was open to the public. Then I walked down Regents street and got some bath bombs at Lush. When Marshall got off of work, I met him at the Apple store (which is bigger than the one in Chicago, there's a glass elevator that reminds me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the middle). We walked down to Brewer street in the rain and had falafel sandwiches at Maoz. Afterwards ,we got on a crowded #12 bus and headed home.

Science in London

2007-06-27T05:48:00.001-04:00

Royal Society lecture, originally uploaded by supafly.

My feet were killing me by the end of the day on Wednesday, so I took it easy on Thursday. I hung out at the apartment for most of the morning. It's been nice because there aren't any other tenants yet and Abigail is often gone, so I had the place to myself. I made myself a tasty lunch of pasta carbonara and sat in the front room reading. Eventually, I decided to venture out and ended up right across the street at the South London Gallery, which is housed at the Camberwell College of the Arts. I checked out the exhibit, Stay Forever and Ever and Ever, just before it closed. I also sat in their comfy lounge reading the latest edition of Time Out. On the way out I picked up one of their free posters which can be cut up into individual cards to build with - very cool!

After dropping of the poster at home, I walked down to Primark and discovered the only store (so far) that has clothes cheap enough to buy when you take into account the currency conversion. They were also stylish. I picked up a pair of pants for £4, a shirt for £6 and a cute orange coat for £10.

Next, I headed to Central London for a lecture at the Royal Society, an "independent scientific academy dedicated to promoting exellence in science." I got there early, but they hadn't let anyone inside yet, so a queue had formed outside of the building, composed of mostly white-haired science fans. The title of the talk was "The LHC: How the world's largest experiment can investigate matter's smallest constituents." The talk was given by Dr. Tara Shears, and she did an absolutely wonderful job of communicating very complicated information in way that easy to understand and follow. Her powerpoint presentation was also impressive in that it didn't have the words she was saying, but was instead very visual in nature - showing graphics or photos that really enhanced and supported what she was saying. (I took lots of notes on the talk if you're interested.)

After the lecture, there was a lively Q&A and then I met Marshall near Trafalger square. We walked to the seven dials and found Food for Thought, a cheap and delicious vegetarian restaurant, right before they closed. We got their special of the day and sat in Neal's Yard (where Marshall picked up more tasty vegetarian fare) to eat.

Guided Walks day

2007-06-27T05:08:00.001-04:00

beautiful Hiroshige wave, originally uploaded by supafly.

Last Wednesday was a day of guided walks. I started the day near Red Lion Square by the Holborn Station tube. The Holborn Street Rangers, a group that provides information about the Holborn neighborhood and patrols the area, led a free tour of the Foundling museum and hospital today. It started at the intersection of Lamb's Conduit street and Guilford Place by the entrance to Coram's Field, which is seven acre playground for children. Unfortunately, I couldn't enter because adults can only enter when accompanied by adults. I couldn't even look in because it is completely covered by a large fence, wall, and shrubs.

We started by taking a brief tour of the Foundling Museum, which tells the history of the Foundling Hospital. This was the first home for abandoned children in London. It was started in 1779 by Thomas Coram, who had been a sea captain in the 1700's. Interestingly, Georg Friedrich Handel helped raise money for the Foundling Hospital by holding benefit concerts where his piece the Messiah was performed.

The original hospital took in over 27,000 children in the 200+ years that it was in operation. Because so many more children needed their help than could be taken in, mothers had to enter a lottery when trying to leave their children there. A white ball meant the child would get a medical exam and would most likely be admitted. A red ball meant that if any of the children with white balls did not get admitted, they would be next in line. A black ball meant they were denied entry. The most interesting part of the museum were the Foundling Hospital tokens that were on display. These were small objects that mothers would leave with their children so they could identify them if they cam back for them. Some were homemade, like a heart sewn out of scraps. Others were just bits of what might otherwise be considered garbage like the label off of a bottle of ale.

After the tour, I walked back down Lamb's Conduit street and checked out the many interesting shops there. There was a charity shop (neighborhood thrift store) which tempted me with books. There was also an adorable bookstore called Persephone books, which publishes forgotten twentieth-century books written mostly by women. The books are beautifully published and every book comes with a bookmark that matches the unique endpaper of the book.

After also stopping in at a bicycle shop, a beautiful little boutique, and an organic food store, I turned on to Theobald's Road and stopped to grab a bite at the Fryer's Delight, which was recommended as a good fish and chips shop. I ordered rock fish - I don't know what that was, but it was too greasy and had a huge vertebrae. The shop was nice though and I rested my feet in a spacious booth that could have seated six.

On the way home, I stopped at St. James' park. It was the most crowded park I had been in yet, but I was still able to find an empy seat on one of the many benches lining the paths. There were some beautiful black swans in the pond there, as well as pelicans and cranes. There was a nice little cafe that had an elevated platform overlooking the pond, as well as big green cushions you could sit on while you enjoyed refreshments. My favorite part of the park was a little cottage off of the pond where the plants were beautifully overgrown.

In the evening, I took my second guided walk of Camberwell (and my second guided walk of the day). This one was on the history of Camberwell, primarily the many Huguenots (French Calvinists) and Germans who moved into the area many years ago. The walk started in Ruskin Park and I hurried up Denmark Hill to get there before it began. Ruskin Park, like Burgess Park, had been made from demolishing homes, many of which had been destroyed during World War II. There was still a remnant left of the house at 170 Denmark Hill . The German composer Felix Mendelssohn had stayed in a neighboring house, which belonged to a relative. While there, he composed a song that he first called "Camberwell Green." He later changed the name to "Spring Song." It's a familiar piece of music that I often used to hear during Looney Tunes cartoons.

Our next stop was a pub called The Fox on the Hill. In 1786, it was the site of the largest entertainment hall in England (at the time). It was called the Denmark Entertainment Hall in honor of the King of Denmark, who was visiting England when it was being built. We walked up Champion Hill to view the Platanes, the only surviving mansion from 1882. There were many other large mansions still up there that had been build at other periods of time. Mr. Herman Kleinwort, the merchant banker who had the Platanes built, moved to Champion hills for the clean air and healthy breezes. From there, he would walk to work in Central London, crossing the London Bridge over the Thames.

Next, we walked through what had once been the mews (and was now dirt road alley) for the grand house and estate of a Huguenot family that had lived in the area. We stopped at what had been the Lettson Estates. Dr. Lettson had been a quaker physician who encouraged people to live in the area because he believe it to be healthy due to the winds and fresh air. He was also a great philanthropist who ended up losing his estate because of his generosity. After passing many more interesting sites (the old dispensary, the minet/cat architecture near Myatt's Field), we ended up at the Sun and Doves (a pub that also displays art, shows films, and has live music), where there was an opening party for the first Camberwell map. They offered us all free food and drinks, a wonderful end to the day! (On the way home I saw a beautiful painting of Hiroshige's wave on the side of a building off of Coldharbour Lane.)

Hanging out with Seema

2007-06-22T05:32:00.001-04:00

How to get in when you're locked out, originally uploaded by supafly.

Tuesday I got a chance to hang out with my friend Seema. We both lived in Lower Wallace house in Woodward Court at the University of Chicago. (Our dorm is now torn down and the home of the shiny new GSB building.) After school, I lived with her and her best friend Shani at the Windermere House, a great old building across from the Museum of Science and Industry. It was one of the biggest apartments I ever lived in and had great views. I hadn't seen her in several years. The last time I had seen her I went to visit her in LA and got a wonderful experience during my first visit to the city. Since then, she had been living in London for a year and was now back in LA. She was in London on her way back from a business trip to Naples.

We met on Regents street in front of the Burberrys and walked down to Wardour street on Soho to eat at Satsuma, a Japanese restaurant with ramen, yakisoba, udon, and sushi. (There seems to be many more Japanese restaurants here than in Chicago.) After lunch, we traveled to Seema's old neighborhood in Islington. She climbed onto the roof of her old building to show me how she used to get in when she was locked out. Then, she convinced the new tenant to let us see her old apartment. It was a nice, light-filled flat and had just been newly renovated when Seema lived there.

We walked down towards the Angel tube stop, stopping in St. Mary Magdalene Gardens to admire the roses. We took a pause at a pub for ginger pear cake with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce (for me) and a beer and chips for Seema.

Next, we took the tube to Old Street where Seema wanted to take photographs of some of the graffiti she remembered from there. While were one Hoxton Square, we found Sh!, a women's erotic emporium. It was pink with frosted glass hearts on the windows and a sign that saying that men were only allowed in if accompanied by women. It was the most warm and welcoming sex shop I had ever been in. Almost as soon as I walked in, they offered me tea!

After that, we took the tube to either Charing Cross or Leicester Square and huddled under an overhang waiting for the downpour of rain to stop. When it slowed to a drizzle, we walked to an internet cafe so she could check her messages and then on to Soho where we met her friends in a queue for Busaba Eathai. I was happy to meet them as they enjoyed food as much as me and gave me many suggestions for inexpensive places to eat in London. Marshall met us for a delicious dinner of different curries and plenty of rice.

Walking around Covent Garden

2007-06-22T05:14:00.001-04:00

a specialty shop, originally uploaded by supafly.

Monday I found a great website with many different walks to take around London. I copied down the Covent Garden walk and set off. First, I stopped at Red Lion Square near Holborn station. There was supposed to be graffiti painting, but the heavy morning rain slowed down the set up. I walked down the Strand, but went the wrong direction and ended up on Fleet street. Luckily, I found a Barclays there and was able to withdraw some more cash. (It turns out Bank of America has a deal with Barclays so they don't charge your a "foreign fee," which from Citibank amounted to $5, so I deposited money into Marshall's account and have been withdrawing from that instead.)

Finally headed in the right direction, I stopped at a patisserie and got a tasty egg, tomato, and mayo sandwich. When I got to Charing Cross station, I began following the walk (also outlined at my google map - it's a lot more convolute than the last walk, but that's because it covered a small area and went down almost every little street, court, and passageway). St. Martin-in-the-Fields, which had been under construction last summer when we stopped by, was now completely closed to the public so I continued down St. Martin's Lane and found Brydges place, the narrowest passageway I have seen yet. (It is just wide enough for one person to pass down it.) Next, I stopped at a model car store where I found vintage motorcycle postcards to give to Marshall for his birthday. He claims there aren't any English motorcycle brands left other than Triumph, so I found evidence of those that had passed on. Down the street was the famous Freed's of London, where many beautiful satin pointe shoes were for sale.

I turned on to Goodwin's Court, which was a very picturesque passageway, still narrow, but wide enough that a tour group had congregated halfway down. At the end, I found a small Italian restaurant that seemed to be subterranean. From there, I passed the Lamb & Flag pub. (There are so many pubs with unique names and placards everywhere I walk around London.) I walked by another familiar site, a row of scooters and motorcycles, but in the midst of this particular row was one painted like spiderman - how conspicuous would Peter Parker be if he rode that instead of the sad little moped he has in the movie?

Next, I found several wonderful bookstores. There was a terrific travel and map store called Stanfords where I purchased my own copy of London A-Z which has detailed maps of every little street and passage in the city (over half of the book is just an index of all of the street names). I also sat in one of their comfortable chairs and read a few books on London. They also have a little cafe that sells fair trade coffee (which seems more available here than in Chicago). I also happened upon Dover Bookshop, which is a great resource for clip art, graphic, and fine art. Their books come with CDs of the images. They also had a wonderful collection of paper dolls, some of famous movie stars and others of fashions from different decades. I think I had some of these when I was a kid. Of course, the exchange rate made everything a bit pricey, but it was fun to browse.

Eventually, I ended up at Seven Dials, an intersection of four streets, one that ends there, thus the name. On Monmouth street, I spied a bakery window filled with the most decadent looking cupcakes. I'm a sucker for sweets, especially cupcakes, so I stopped in and got a lemon cupcake. It was topped with a yellow licorice piece and was filled with lemon curd. I ate half of it before I felt overdosed on sugar, and kept walking. The next interesting shop that I went into was called Coco de Mer. It was a very posh, high end sex shop that seemed to specialize in beautiful leather bondage gear.

From there, I turned into Neal's Yard and passed a much more innocent looking store with beautiful frosted glass windows covered in flowers called Orla Kiely. Neal's yard was a colorful little courtyard filled with all things needed for an "alternative and healthy life." There was a salad bar, a skate board shop, and a bead store (there were many bead stores in the area), but the most predominant business is Neal's Yard Remedies which sells natural "remedies" (skin potions, etc...) and also had treatment rooms and meeting rooms.

Down the street from Neal's Yard is Neal's Centre, which is an indoor shopping plaza that was a bit more hipster in flavor. It contained a vegetarian eatery called Food for Thought that was later recommended by my friend Seema's foodie mates. There was also a Japanese shop called Superdry that contained California surfer wear. I passed several more interesting shops: one specialized in boating supplies, another had the wonderful name "Coffe, Cake, and Kink." I also found a club of sorts called the Poetry Place where members were free to write and read their works. I also found a pub with a hilarious placard called Hercules Pillars. I stopped at the Freemasons museum, but was too late for the last free tour. I'd have to come another time.

After passing a Korean church, I stopped at the statue of a Ballerina across from the Royal Opera House, which was also closed to the public by the time I got there. (I thought the walk would take an hour or two, but it turned out much longer since I kept finding interesting shops to stop in, so that lengthened my trip.) After resting there and attempting to direct a fellow American tourist (how do you direct someone when there are so many little streets that stop after a block?) I found Covent Garden markets. It felt like a more picturesque Navy Pier and I stopped at a U of benches to watch a performer doing a striptease and scaring female tourists by getting close to them and gyrating suggestively. I stopped in at the London Transport museum shop (the actual museum was closed for renovation) and considered getting Tube magnets. (Marshall loves saying "Mind the Gap.")

Next, I passed St. Paul's Church, which had a beautiful little garden with rows of benches that would be perfect for sitting and reading. Unfortunately, it was closed so I kept on walking. Off of Long Acre, I found Cafe Pacifico, which is supposed to be one of the only decent Mexican restaurants and one that was recommended by Charlotte, our landlord's 17-year-old daughter. It was quite pricey for Mexican food (in comparison to Chicago).

I was at the end of the guided walk so I turned back to Charing Cross Road where there are many antiquarian and used bookstores. I found one where all the books in the basement cost £1 each. I considered getting some Agatha Christie to read, but knew I'd read them all and probably had them at home, so I kept walking.

It was Marshall's birthday, so I met him for dinner and we ate out at Mr. Jerk, a favorite of his co-worker. The food was tasty, but more barbeque than jerked. Afterwards, we walked to Chinatown. We had been there last year, but I had completely forgotten. I recognized it when we got there. It was much more lively than we had last been there and we passed at least five artists sketching the area. Close by was Leicester Square, which has at least three movie theatres ringing the square. On the way home, we stopped at The Castle, a local pub, for a pint. I got Scrumpy Jack, a cider with a great name.

Weekend in London

2007-06-20T03:52:00.001-04:00

the festival crowd, originally uploaded by supafly.

Our first weekend in London was a busy one. Well, after sleeping in and waking up around 11am it was. We joined the free guided nature walk that was a part of the Camberwell Arts Festival. It met at the Peckham Library which was just across the street from the cheap grocery store (Lidl) that I found and the fancy Burger King. We got there early so we checked out the modern architecture of the Peckham Library. It had many colored glass panels and was a career center as well as a library.

After finding our tour guide amongst a group of petitioners - Marshall just looked for the person without a clipboard in their hands - we set off down the Canal Road. This was a path that started at the library and had once been a shipping canal, bring lumber to Camberwell Green where it was treated and stored until it was needed elsewhere.

The walk took a couple of hours and we saw many interesting sights along the way. A long line of bicyclists passed near the beginning of our journey. One had a boombox mounted onto a recumbent bicycle with a roof. He blasted music for everyone on the ride. We also passed an old house that now housed a retired work horse as well as some chickens. As we crossed the street into Burgess Park (twice as large as St. James Park) we came upon an outdoor punk rock concert. There were lots of people there and I even recognized one of them - an overweight guy with a fluorescent green mohawk that I had seen yesterday in Camden town.

We stopped to enjoy the lake at Burgess Park. The little girl on our walk would run towards every group of pigeons we saw to get them to fly off. After the lake, we stopped at a beautiful set of walled gardens called Chumleigh Gardens. It was previously "the friendly female asylum for aged persons who have seen better days." What a great description! There was a cafe there so we stopped for snacks and a walk or sit in the garden. It was beautifully overgrown and reminded me of the Secret Garden and all the unkempt gardens that they found hidden away.

After a nice break, we walked to "the bridge to nowhere." This was a bridge that used to provide a way to get across the canal but was now just a bridge over a walking path. It was fun to cross despite it leading nowhere! We exited Burgess park and took some back streets towards Camberwell Green. On the way, we passed an allotment, an open lot that had become a community garden. Apparently, you have to live within a mile of the garden to have a plot and there is a long waiting list to get in. It wass nice to see that people are so eager for some land to grow things in. I wish America had fewer big lawns and more gardens. Our walk ended at the community orchard by Camberwell Green. There were some berries ready to be eaten on one of the bushes (I can't remember what kind) so we all picked some before we left the tour.

After the walk, we went to Southwark Park for the Carnival de Cuba. It was a big festival with row after row of food stalls. Most of them sold jerk chicken. The longest line was for the stall making mojitos. I got a fried plantain as soon as we got there and then we opted for a cuban meal of red beans, rice, chorizo, and hot sauce. I enjoyed their more environmentally conscious eating utensils - sporks and knives made out of wood. I ended up seeing those at a lot of the festivals this weekend.

After listening to some reggaeton and watching salsa dancers (as well as the East End Elvises - these two old guys dressed like Elvis who apparently go to every outdoor music festival), we crossed over to the quieter part of Southwark park and then went to Brick Lane. (After accidentally taking the bus from Canada Water in the wrong direction and finding Surrey Quays - a suburban like area with a movie theatre, bowling, and big chain restaurants.)

I had been to Brick Lane before but had forgotten. It's a bit overwhelming because every Indian restaurant on the street has people in front of it that very aggressively try to get you to eat at their restaurant. They offer you things like free drinks or 15% off of your bill. We went down to Whitechapel trying to find a less intrusive place to eat and found a new restaurant that was quiet and filled with mostly indian people and, most importantly, noone was out front trying to make us eat there.

Sunday we had another leisurely morning. Marshall made a delicious breakfast of fried egg and pepper sandwiches and we ate as an artist put up an art installation across the street. It was a car he had jacked up and had replaced one of the wheels with a resin wheel that played a cello as it spun around.

After breakfast, we went down to Trafalgar Square for the Dano Korean Festival. There they had lots of traditional entertainment like fan and sword dancers and traditional Korean music, but our favorite act were the Korean breakdancers battling with UK b-boys (from Ireland). There was also lots of delicious Korean food and a tent where you could decorate a paper fan (in celebration of summer). The crowd was big and it was the largest concentration of asians I had seen since I'd gotten to London. (I've also seen quite a few language schools where students from Korea go to learn English in London.) We also noticed several Korean girls (from Korea) with English boyfriends and we speculated how many of them were just in the relationship to have someone to practice their English with.

After watching the b-boy battle, we walked down to the South Bank of the Thames for the Coin Festival. This was a festival to honor refugee week and they had many different performers. We listened to African music and watched traditional Indian dancing as well as Serbian dancing. While we sat listening to the music, a group of people next to us passed around a joint. We also saw the East End Elvises again, this time gyrating to African music. I also discovered they have their own flickr group - how hilarious!