hot baby finds dot com

my discoveries while raising the second of two kids

Borders is the new library

Are public libraries a thing of the past? The other day we were in Borders’ children’s section and I suddenly noticed how crowded it was—people sitting in the aisles reading prebought books, parents and grandparents reading stories to their kids on the reading couch. What a consumer culture we live in where bookstores are cropping up like weeds and choking out the wholesome, community-oriented, benevolent public libraries.

After that day in Borders I decided to start taking Evan to the Kaneohe library after school regularly. The first time we went, Evan could not keep his volume level down. I fought with him for the snacks we brought because food and drink are not allowed. I had to get a new library card because the one from my childhood was not even in the system anymore. But, it was nostalgic. I couldn’t believe they still use the same date stamp that they used when I was 6. Most of the people there were grandparents with their grandkids and adults taking advantage of the DVD rack.

   

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Borders_is_the_new_library.zip (116 KB)

Colic Woes

Our neighbors have to put in their earplugs from 7-10 pm every night, because Cole has been “exercising his lungs.” He has been having colic in the evenings. He wants to nurse, but he gets mad when the milk comes out, fidgeting, sputtering and crying. It’s an, “I’m in pain!” cry—you the type. Nothing consoles him—not standing, rocking, swaddling and he’s uncomfortable in any position. Last Saturday I stumbled upon these homeopathic drops for colic. It comes in these sterile single dose vials, like refresh eye drops. When Cole is in one of his fits and nothing is working to soothe him, I’ll drop one of these into his open (crying) mouth once every 15 minutes. The most I’ll give is 3 in a night. It seems to work—helping him to burp and settle temporarily.

Other things I’ve found that help:
  1. Burp him really well all day—make sure he burps several times after every feeding
  2. Make his last big feeding in the late afternoon
  3. Pump before bedtime so that he doesn’t get too much milk, but he can still suck
  4. Breastfeed him sitting up, where he is sitting almost totally upright
  5. Offer the pacifier if he’ll take it

Last night was the first night he didn’t cry too much. But it never fails—as soon as I say, “I think his colic is over,” we’ll have the worst night ever. So I’ll keep my expectations low and the colic drops handy.

No white flakes on these shoulders

Evan had major cradle cap at 5 weeks old. It started out as just dandruff, but eventually covered his whole head with a thick crusty layer of waxy puss. Shandis had mentioned to me that this organic shampoo totally cleared up Addison's cradle cap. So I bought it online to have on hand if Cole should get it. As soon as the white flakes appeared in Cole's dark black mane, I busted out the shampoo. It's called Lil' Sprout moisturizing shampoo by D'Organiques. I still don't really know if Cole would have gotten it as bad as Evan, but if he would have, then this shampoo is his saving grace. It smells awesome anyway, and I feel good about using it on him instead of the Johnson and Johnson's head-to-toe that I used to mindlessly buy when it would go on sale at Longs.

               

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No_white_flakes_on_these_shoul.zip (3671 KB)

Weleda, Calendula, what the...

Cole woke up with a bright red rash on his cheeks one morning--I suspected it was from all the cheese I ate the night before (Evan had a similar reaction to dairy at around the same age). But I didn't want to start using steroid creams on Cole like I did on Evan. That's when I remembered that a girl from Stroller Strides had told me about Weleda baby cream. She got it at Down-to-Earth, but I ended up finding it at Whole Foods and picking it up there. She said it's good for any rash and that it's the only thing that clears up her son's diaper rash. This is an all natural baby cream made in Switzerland. It contains Sweet Almond Oil, Beeswax and certified organic Calendula, which is the magic ingredient. No artificial preservatives, colors or fragrances. It cleared up the rash in about 2 applications.

   

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Weleda_Calendula_what_the....zip (1004 KB)

Are Wii Fit yet?

Dave somehow convinced me to let him buy a Wii right before Cole was born, even though I’ve always been an anti-gamer, watching my brothers grow up with over-developed thumbs thanks to Nintendo and Playstation. Dave’s reasoning: “Would you rather have me away from home playing golf or at home playing Tiger Woods golf on the Wii?” He should’ve been a lawyer. I think we were excited about the Wii for all of 2 weeks. Then he was out on the golf course again. But letting Evan and Austin play Wii boxing is sheer entertainment.  

Wii Fit is great if you have never exercised before or have a sedentary lifestyle, in which case any amount of movement would be beneficial. One night I did it for an hour—going from yoga poses to step to balance exercises and strength drills. I did break a sweat, but I was pregnant, so just walking upstairs would’ve made me break a sweat. I think if you already have good body awareness and form, it’s a good tool. But your form can be totally off because all it can measure is weight distribution from your feet. What about hip alignment, keeping your chest up, shoulders down, head in line with your spine, etc. etc.? As my personal trainer friend said, “It’s hilarious that some people actually think of that as exercise.”

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"I mant to be batman!"

At our friend’s daughter’s first birthday luau last Saturday, there was a lady doing facepainting on the kids by hand. She did it with such ease and speed that I thought she must be a professional painter or something. But she said, no, she just does this for a living. Her name is Lisa Starr Tong, Confetti’s Fabulous Face Painting, http://www.confettionthego.com / 754-6591. I got her business card to kick start my vendor-search for Cole’s first bday party, which is a mere 45 weeks away.

Balloon Monsoon was there as well, and of course Evan asked for a spider. It was so cool-looking that he didn’t even care that it wasn’t red and blue. Http://www.balloonmonsoon.com / 455-3186

         

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First_Bday_Luau_Vendors.zip (268 KB)

Green Time has nothing to do with the environment

I walked into Green Time at Manoa Marketplace thinking it was a store full of environmentally-friendly products for tree hugging consumers. Wrong. It’s a misnomer—the ESL owners either aren’t aware of the implications of “green” in the modern English language, or it was a ploy to lure unsuspecting people like me in there. Anyway, their hot sellers are these cute plush animal rugs (brand is Bestever, made in China). Donna gave us a giraffe for Cole, which is what made me check out the store. He loves it.

                     

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Green_Time_has_nothing_to_do_w.zip (471 KB)