COUNTING SHEEP

Think about all the different methods you use to fall asleep.
Watch TV, Read, play on the computer, lay in bed with the lights out and stare at the ceiling...
We all do different things to get ourselves to go to sleep, to stop our minds from racing, to wind down. Most of us have a routine.

Well, routine is super important for babies although I don't advocate adhering to such a strict schedule that your baby flips out when you deviate from it. As oxymoronic as this may sound, schedule some variety into your baby's schedule.

Getting your baby to nap:
Most parents seems follow one of these two methods:

Set Nap Time or Set # Of Hours Awake

Parents who put their baby to sleep at a set nap time are usually prepping the kid for daycare. Daycare has a certain nap time and that is it. Let's say 10 AM. It doesn't matter if you woke up at 7 or 8:30, 10 AM rolls around and you are going back in your crib. The child then adjusts.

Set # of Hours Awake is what I have Joey on and what my mother and sister-in-law used. Whenever she wakes up, 3 hours later she takes a nap. It doesn't matter if she wakes up at 7 or 8:30. 3 hours later is nap time. And she is tired and ready for her nap then. She usually naps for about 2 hours and then she is up for another 3 hours. Naps again for another 2, and then is up until bed time. Some babies may only stay up 2 1/2 hours, some might need a 3rd nap... but you get the concept.

There was a month or so, before I got her onto this routine, that nap time was a real fight for Joey. But now, she doesn't cry, she doesn't complain, she doesn't even fight it, she just goes to sleep. It is a beautiful thing.

GHETTO OR REDNECK?

The wheels and tires were stolen off my car last Monday night / early Tuesday morning.

So I have been asking everyone the following question:

Is it Ghetto or Redneck that I have car up on blocks in my front driveway?

The responses have been varied, but Ghetto seems to be winning.

The arguments:

Redneck people put their cars on blocks themselves.

They are usually in the grass.

It is usually to work on it.

It's Ghetto that they were stolen.

However, I'm white.

We also live in a good neighborhood.

It's a tough call.

Other info:

Yes, the police came out and dusted for prints and no, there were none. They used gloves.

Yes, we have a very well lit house; The MFers unscrewed the floodlights on our house so they could work in the dark.

Yes, we have dogs, ferocious ones. But they had their bark collars on that night. C.J. sometimes barks at made up stuff... all... night... long.

My new wheels and tires have been ordered and should be in tomorrow. Except this time with wheel locks.

All you can do in this situation is hope there is a hell and they will rot in it. When I get to heaven, I will find a nice low lying cloud and piss on them from above.

SEMI HOMEMADE WITH MICHELLE LEE

Even as a grown up, admit it, sometimes you just want a McDonald's milkshake and fries.
And you know you have some secret seriously processed food that you like:
Spaghettios
Velveeta mac & cheese
Fish sticks

Well the same seems to hold true with babies. I'm not saying give them what they want and let them eat processed food. I'm just saying that you, and your baby's food, don't ALWAYS have to be perfect.

Homemade food is better for several reasons:
Fresher
Cheaper (you can buy and process in bulk whenever things are on sale & process from your own dinner preparation left overs)
You control flavorings, additives and contents (organic)
Ice cube sizes make for little waste

Make your baby's food yourself or buy the jars?
That is the question.

The answer for me, was a bit of both.

Joey just didn't like the meat I cooked and pureed for her. But she will eat meat just fine out of a jar. There are some veggies, like green beans, that I had a similar problem with.
Then there is the issue of portability; I need something that will stay good to put in her diaper bag.

So the compromise:
I bought organic baby cereals and organic jars of food (in the large variety packs, cheaper that way) that included meat and the veggies that were troublesome for me to make myself.
The fruits and many other veggies (spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, mangoes, blue berries...) I would process and freeze into ice cube trays myself.

When we were at home, we ate home made (except dinner is a jar w/ meat) and when we were out and about, she got a jar of something different.


This was before the introduction of finger foods and dairy.
Now that we have finger foods and dairy, the culinary world is her world to explore.
And she loves to eat. (For the most part)

Now how much of what to give her is yet another entry.

MOMMY & ME

The lovely palm tree outfit is courtesy of Kaki.

And I still think she looks like me too.

Hmmph!

LET THEM EAT CAKE

The first real food Joey ate, other then rice cereal, was peas.

Picture the scene from Exorcist, now insert your baby. That was pretty much it.

I had read the books, I wanted to do this right. Most babies love fruit, but then they may reject anything that isn't sweet. Starting with veggies might sound healthy, but it is actually more important that your child LIKE eating foods in the first place.

My advice:

Let them eat cake. (not really)
Or fruits, or whatever. Because once you move onto finger food, everything changes.

Joey would scream and cry the minute she tasted broccoli. I mean it really was her arch enemy. But fast forward a few months to the night I gave her soft, over-cooked broccoli florets for her to eat herself, with her own fingers... she couldn't get enough.

Pureed foods just simply don't taste the same as the real deal, even when you are making it yourself like I do.

What to feed your baby first?
Yellow Vegetables. Most "yellow" veggies are actually orange - Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Squash

They are sweet enough to past muster, but not so sweet as to sabotage any future veggie forays.
I have also found that a dash of cinnamon makes the medicine go down. Or carrots & sweet potatoes in this case.

The books talk about not flavoring the food. To let your child enjoy the natural taste. I'm gonna call BS on that one. Joey likes it better with a little flavor. And I don't think I'm ruining her because the food you eat as an adult is flavored. I'm not adding salt, but a dash of cinnamon here and a sprinkle of cheese on an egg yolk there can really make a difference.

I'd like to talk about making your own food vs. jar food, but that will be another entry.

JOEY'S FAVORITE CHAIR

Joey has a favorite chair. It is the right height, she can easily pull up on it and it has holes in it so when she bangs it it makes a nice sound.

Why does it have holes in it?

Because it is a hemorrhoid treatment chair.

You read correctly.

It had holes in it, so that Uncle Chick could sit over hot water and have the steam help. It was one of the pieces of furniture that Mark got from Grammy when she passed.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY HELL

Are you familiar with Greek Mythology? I realize I may be asking some you to remember as far back as middle school, but try.
Remember the stories about hell or hades? I remember thinking how cool it was that the punishments fit the crime. And they were always so individualized. You're own private hell.

Sisyphus, who rolls the rock up the hill just to have it roll over him and have to start over.

The Danaids, sisters trying to fill a bottomless barrel.

Prometheus, chained to a rock and had his liver eaten by a vulture every day just to grow it back and start all over again.

So I was trying to sweep the floor for my baby. So that it would be clean for her pudgy little hands and feet while she pads around the house on them. My mistake? Trying to do this while the baby is awake and uncontained. She just followed me around, playing in the dirt pile. I pick up the pile, she'd run her fingers through the broom. I'd get her out of the pile and the broom, and she'd go and sit when I now need to move the couch back to.

The dirtiest I've ever seen her inside our house is while I was trying to clean it for her.
Go figure.

PAT & MINDY VISIT

To the untrained eye, it might look like Joey is smiling cause' Pat is holding her. Actually, she is smiling at Mindy.

Dude Mom, bright light.

JOEY MADE THE NEW TIMES

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/slideshow/view/28461194/9

Above is the link to the NEW TIMES web page that shows the picture of Joey & I at John Martin's on Monday night for the BURGIES, the Burger awards. Chris, Joey & I went with a bunch of other YELPERS and Maria gave out an award.

The sliders sampler was great. Beef, Buffalo, Turkey & Lamb, one of each.

I don't know if she was in a printed copy of the newspaper, but she is in the slideshow of pics in the online article.

TIME ARTICLES

The September 21 edition of TIME Magazine (Cover: OUT OF WORK IN AMERICA) read my mind. There were some great articles about community service and individual responsibility. Here are the links:

THE RESPONSIBILITY REVOLUTION - When you shop, does your conscious come with you? Think beyond buying green products, do you consider the company that makes the products you buy? Their treatment of workers in factories in 3rd world countries? Their environmental practices? TIME Polls say most Americans do and that businesses with a "halo" around their heads are seeing profits for it.

25 RESPONSIBILITY PIONEERS (You need to keep clicking next to see the other 25 people and corporations)

'A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY' - This is an exclusive interview with the president and 1st lady about volunteerism and social responsibility. The online version is much longer then the printed version in the magazine.

NEW WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE - "If you've got at least 5 minutes, 5 dollars or 5 friends, here are some ways to do some good." This article was only okay in my opinion. There were better examples they could have mentioned, some of which I mentioned in my post a few days ago. But the concept is important.

So what are you waiting for? America needs you. Go help someone.

THIS LITTLE PIGGY

I'd like to start off by saying Dude, you can't make this s#$% up.

.

Only Mark can.

.

So, Mark gave Joey a bath last night. As he was dressing her for bed, he tried to play "This Little Piggy" with her like I always do. Except he doesn't know the words. The following is a close as I can come to what he said. It is not word for word, but more like a feel. It is not as good as the original.

.

The voice he used was cheesy Italian. Think Enzo the baker from Godfather.

.

Noowwww, we have em' some piggies! These a piggies, they a gonna do some s#$%. Thisa little piggy... I don't know, she a went a some where. Shopping. Market. Somewhere.

.

Thisa little piggy, she don't ah eat ah anything. No, wait. we're ah not there yet! Thisa piggy, she ah don't go no where. The other little piggy ah went ah shopping, thisa one stay home don't do shiiiiiittttt!

.

Thisa little piggy, she ah ate meat. Beef. She hada some roasta beef. And she likey it. It taste Gggoooood!

.

And thisa little piggy, I don't know, she ah did crystal meth. Yeah that some f#$% up shiiiittt! (Accent changed to Ghetto for a second.)

.

And thisa little piggy said "I'm outta here" and ran all ah da way ah home. That's it. THE END!

.

Joey just stared at him.

JOEY'S NEW CONVERITBLE

Grandpa bought himself a birthday present.

I know, I know. What, no Porshe? No Corvette?

Well he still has the corvette, and he wanted his new toy to have a big enough back seat so he could carry Joey with him. (Also so that I could borrow it and carry Joey with me.)

So he bought this Mercedes Convertible.

So the question becomes, who looks better in it?

The answer is Joey, of course!

YOU KNOW YOU WANT ONE

We had T-shirts made.

Mind you, everyone takes their turn being boat bitch; it's a guy thing too.

So when all our extended family and friends come to Craven events they show up wearing a RIDE FOR KIDS or SNAPPLE t-shirt.

I'm taking orders for this one now.

(Next year we will have a Caribbean lobster and not a Maine lobster on the front.)

SURFER GIRL

Joey loves her life jacket.

She loves how it tastes, anyways.

Joey's 1st waveruuner ride. She really really loved it!

When I took her out, we got off and swam around a bit too. Her life jacket really is amazing. Don't worry, Uncle Chris came with so I wasn't floating in the middle of the ocean with a baby.

My little Surfer Girl.

I hosed down the dock so it was nice an cool and had less little pebbles on it and let her splash around. She loved it.

She loves her puppies. She likes Cassie more, cause' her fur is soft & thick and nice to pet. But C.J. is better at playing.

I wonder if Mommy will let me put my wet, dirty, sunblock lotioned hand on her camera? (The answer was no.)

I don't understand, why can't I go tubing?

I wanna go tubing! I wanna go tubing!

Maybe if I smile real big and make those funny noises she likes, Mommy will let me go tubing. (answer: I'm crazy, but not THAT crazy. No, not quiet yet.)

HELPING OTHERS

I’m going to get on my soap box now.

Nobody takes the time to help others anymore. And I don’t mean your family and friends, that isn’t an option, that is a REQUIREMENT. Not enough people take the time to help a stranger, help the world, make a difference.

I think it’s unacceptable.

If you go through life, completely absorbed in you and your bubble alone, you are beyond selfish. There is more to the world then you and your family. To help no one, to go through life like that, is to be morally bankrupt.
If you take the time to go to Church on Sunday, trust me, God would much rather you skip ever other Sunday and go in your neighborhood and do some actual good. Instead of sitting on your but listening to the good that Jesus and the other saints did.

Give blood.
Join PTA.
Help out at a homeless shelter.
Write or e-mail your congressman.
Volunteer at an animal shelter.

Not everything takes a lot of time. Sign up for action alert e-mail from one of your favorite causes. (You need to have a favorite cause first) Humane Society. Planned Parenthood. BIOGEMS. NOW. Those are some examples. It takes all of 30 seconds to type your name on the bottom of a pre-made letter that they send you that you can then e-mail to your senator. They even can tell you who that is and what their address is. They really make it easy for you to get involved.

I HATE it when people say they don’t have time. If you don’t have 5 minutes to help someone or some cause beyond your circle of family and friends, then you need to take a good look at your life. Prioritize. You should have 5 minutes to do some good. Granted, maybe you're just going through a rough time right now, but if you NEVER have time... something is wrong. Fix it.

I’m not saying that all of your free time should be spent doing good. You can tell from the pics that I post that I’m having a blast. And I admittedly have been doing less since I had Joey. But I still manage to do something! In fact, here is some of the stuff I do to help others or the environment without ever leaving my house.

1) I have signed up for a lot of action alerts. I e-mail my representatives all the time.
2) Mark & I recycle EVERYTHING! Think, the next time you go to throw that yogurt cup in the garbage.
3) We are committing ourselves to replacing at least one meat dinner a week with a vegetarian one. (That means at least 2 meals, counting leftovers.) America’s addiction to meat, beef in particular, is unsustainable, unhealthy, and horrible for the environment. Here is a link to the recent TIME article about it. Now, I’m not saying we are going to become vegetarians. God or nature (whichever you prefer) gave me canine teeth; I’m supposed to eat meat. And I really enjoy it. But that doesn’t mean I need to eat it every day. I love strawberry cheesecake too, same principal.
4) Using green cleaning products, saving energy, hanging clothes out to dry (in the non rainy months) all lesson our impact on the world and help to save our precious resources.

Now let’s talk about things you can do to help your community. If you live in Miami, sign up to get e-mails from HANDS ON MIAMI. They are a volunteer organization that does all sorts of things around Miami on various days and at different times. Mostly high school kids who need the hours show up, but as long as you want to do some good, that is all it takes. I’ve helped paint a day care in Little Haiti. I helped clean up a Girls Scout Camp after a hurricane. I helped paint the support poles under I95 as part of a beautification project. And the great thing is, you invite your friends and family to join you and you are now multi tasking. Do a good dead, and spending quality time with friends and family.
Then there is RIDE FOR KIDS every January or February. And Baynaza around April or May.

You don’t have to do much, but please do something.

GET INVLOVED!

Okay, I’m done for now. If you took the time to read, thanks.

WELCOME EMMA KATE!

Congrats to Becca & Dan on their new baby girl! Emma was born mid morning at 8lbs 6oz.

Becca had been to the hospital on Friday for her pre-op (they was a planned c-section for Monday) but Emma just couldn't wait! Becca went started labor around 2 this morning. Her actual due date was my birthday, Sept 20. Which, I don't like to share. Already too many other Sept b-days in the way!

So they cut Becca this morning and everything went fine. She is nursing, of course. (Those big old things got to be good for something!)

Her mom was flying in today so she could be there for the delivery on Monday. Oops. She missed it because SOMEONE was in a hurry. Now Luke is a big bro.

For those of you who are friends with Becca on FACEBOOK, Dan is posting updates on Becca's page. Follow there.

CONGRATS AGAIN!

P.S.

Joey wants to know when Emma can come play?

ICE SKATING IN SOCKS

ALL I WANT ... IS MY TWO FRONT TEETH!

Please overlook the displeased face. Focus, instead, on the 2 bottom front teeth that have broke through.

FINALLY! Yeah!

They broke together this past Sunday morning.

Of course, she is far from finished on the teething front and continues to find new things to stick in her mouth.

Some fit better then others.

UNCLE CHRIS BABYSITS

Joey really enjoys it when Uncle Chri babysits. They are on similar maturity levels and so play nicely together.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND IN THE KEYS

So this a group photo from Sunday. We spent the long weekend in the keys and had a labor day weekend / Grandpa's birthday party. Cooked up a lamb in a China box on Saturday. I always love that. Did some snorkeling, fishing, wave running, canoeing, volleyballing and hanging out. Don't play the 80's version of SCENE IT with Maria. I mean, unless you like getting beat, some people are into kinky stuff.

Group photo

GREAT Uncle Tom & Joey

Teta Vesna & Joey

Apparently Grandpa never learned that rule about not shaking up babies.
Joey gave him a lesson... all down the side of his face!



And she wasn't bothered a bit by it!
Who me? Couldn't be!

HELPING DADDY IN THE KITCHEN

Joey loves to be in the kitchen. She particularly likes to help load the dishwasher. She pushes and pulls the rack in & out.

She didn't even hit her head. It is amazing how adept she is at falling. It's almost graceful, if falling could be graceful.

PUTTING THE CARRIAGE IN FRONT OF THE HORSE

1ST BLACK EYE ;(

This happened 2 Fridays ago now. She had pulled herself up onto the magazine rack, a favorite of hers, and when she fell, she caught the corner of the rack with the top of her eye lid. Didn't even make her eye red, just the eye lid. She bumped her nose in a separate incident.

The doctor told me I was gonna raise a black & blue child!

It doesn't look so bad when her eye is open.

Mark loves this picture. He thinks it is the best picture of Joey I've ever taken. He ran into the other room to pull out the picture below. He thinks they look alike here.

I disagree on the best picture ever part, but I do see the family resemblance.

Mark's baby picture.

THE ENERGIZER BABY

So Joey LOVES to stand now. She can't crawl across a room without stopping to pop up in the middle of it. And she is so happy about it too. She knows she done good!

THE COMPUTER IS BACK!

Sorry no posts lately, Mark took the computer to work to have the tech guy look at it. Just plugged everything back in this evening.

May the catch up posting begin!