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01 May 2013

12 Great Gifts for New Moms

Check out my latest Boston Mamas post, “12 Great Gifts for New Moms.”

These days it seems that baby announcements from friends roll in about one per week and I spend my weekends cuddling squishy newborn after squishy newborn (no complaints here!). I’ve realized that often we focus on gifts for the new baby and sometimes forget the person who has been through the most — the new mama! In today’s Boston Mamas post, I share some of my favorite gift ideas for new moms…

Read the rest of the article on Boston Mamas.

TalkingThirty | No comments

27 Mar 2013

Around Boston • Babies & Parenting • Mommy World

How to Reduce Anxiety around Doctor Visits

Check out my latest Boston Mamas post, “How to Reduce Anxiety around Doctor Visits.“

BostonMamas.com

Visits to the pediatrician have become a nightmare since our little one has entered toddlerhood, a stage in which he’s old enough to remember past experiences (particularly painful ones like shots) yet still too young to comprehend everything and be reasoned with. From the moment we enter the waiting area until we leave the building, he is in hysterics, occasionally resulting in an incomplete exam. Anxiety over visiting the doctor is common for kids, but can become stressful and troublesome when it is so severe that it interferes with the doctor doing his/her job. In my post, I offer some tips we have found helpful to reduce anxiety around these visits.

Read the rest of the article on Boston Mamas.

TalkingThirty | One comment

25 Mar 2013

Around Boston • Babies & Parenting • Celebrations & Entertaining • Mommy World

Kidville (more like KidHeaven)

This past Saturday, we attended the ribbon cutting ceremony and grand opening of Kidville in Wellesley. Our schedules have been jam-packed lately, but we decided to make it a priority to check this place out as we’ve been actively looking (surprisingly without much success) for fun, new, educational activities in our community to entertain our little guy. I’m so glad we went because this is precisely the type of local family-friendly venue that we have been searching for!

Their all-in-one resource facility is quite impressive and I’m pretty sure it was the most fun-filled morning of my almost-two-year-old son’s life thus far. Afterall, it’s not every day that he gets to climb a rock wall, swing from uneven bars, bounce on a massive trampoline, construct a giant soft block tower, and dance in the front row of a live Rockin’ Railroad concert!

As usual, we arrived a few minutes early and were officially the first family to visit Kidville Wellesley! Exciting! As we waited for the rest of the families to file in (and file in they did — there must have been hundreds of people there), we were warmly welcomed by one of the co-owners, Harvard Pan. And during the ribbon cutting ceremony, we were pleasantly surprised by the thoughtful shout out to Talking Thirty by co-owner, Cathy Tai.

Kidville Wellesley Ribbon Cutting

So what exactly is Kidville? Kidville Wellesley is a new play and learning space in Wellesley Center (in the location of the former Rugged Bear store in Wellesley Center) geared towards serving families like ours with active little tikes. They offer a variety of classes in music, art and gym for babies, toddlers and kids newborn through 6-years old. They also offer a preschool alternative program (Kidville University – KVU) and summer camps.

The interior of Kidville Wellesley features high-ceilings and large open spaces tastefully decorated in bright, bold colors. It contains classrooms, a retail boutique, and an awesome indoor playspace that made my toddler shout “YAY!” upon first entry. There’s even a little salon there where the wee ones can get their hair cut while sitting in an adorable tiny red airplane. How cute is this?!

Kidville Wellesley Salon

We’re always looking for new places to entertain C. Unfortunately, most of the children’s places we’ve been to lately from children’s museums to indoor playgrounds have been a bit old, run-down and just icky sticky. So, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Kidville’s facility is brand new, spacious, uncluttered, and immaculate. A germophobic mama’s dream! I really hope it stays this clean in the years to come.

We began the morning by enjoying some open gym time in the enormous indoor playspace. This place had just about everything — rock climbing wall, oversized trampoline, balance beam, uneven bars, basketball hoops, soft padded blocks, tumbling mats of all shapes and sizes, and swings hung by chains from the ceiling. My little guy was beyond thrilled to explore it all. I just wish it were socially acceptable for thirty-something adults to climb on, jump off, and swing from all the play structures, too!

Kidville Wellesley Playspace

Kidville Wellesley's Climbing Wall

Kidville Wellesley's Playspace

Basketball at Kidville Wellesley

By far, the highlight of our visit was the Rockin’ Railroad Concert. A live 4-piece children’s band led by a conductor and co-conductor enthusiastically played a set of upbeat toddler tunes, some familiar and some refreshingly new to us. To make it extra exciting, they even brought out a bubble maker and some special puppet friends during the show. The conductor’s genuine enthusiasm for the music and encouraging manner seemed to instill confidence in my very-shy-lil guy to get up and shake his baby booty! It was indeed a rockin’ musical adventure enjoyed by both children and parents alike.

Kidville Wellesley Rockin' Railroad Concert

Kidville Wellesley's Rockin' Railroad Concert

Kidville Wellesley Rockin' Railroad Concert

It’s hard to find words to express our enthusiasm for this place. Let me just say this: When we got home, our normally-nap- resistant little man voluntarily took an EXTRA nap because he was just that exhausted from all the festivities. That’s HUGE and pretty much guarantees that we’ll be back for more.

All too often, we visit kids’ venues only to find that Connor is too young to participate in many of the activities. What I enjoyed about Kidville was that the environment, equipment, and activities were safe and engaging for even very young toddlers and babies.

Music exploration at Kidville Wellesley

I’ve already decided that we are just going to HAVE to have one of Connor’s birthday parties here someday. First, he just has to make some new little friends to invite. Maybe he’ll meet them at Kidville.

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post; however, I did receive a complimentary goody bag from Kidville/Koop Communications and a complimentary introductory semester of a Kidville class. All thoughts and opinions in this post are my own.

TalkingThirty | 7 comments

08 Jan 2013

Around Boston • Babies & Parenting • Career/Working Moms • Mommy World • Relationships • Self-Improvement

How to Encourage Shared Responsibility at Home

Hope everyone’s new year is off to a really great start!

Please check out my latest post on Boston Mamas, How to Encourage Shared Responsibility at Home.

BostonMamas.com

TalkingThirty | No comments

11 Dec 2012

Around Boston • Babies & Parenting • Celebrations & Entertaining

10 Ways to Green Your Holidays

Check out my latest post on Boston Mamas, 10 Ways to Green Your Holidays!

BostonMamas.com

And since it seems I hardly ever have time to post these days, Happy Holidays and best wishes for a really fabulous 2013!

TalkingThirty | One comment

29 Oct 2012

Around Boston • Babies & Parenting • Product Reviews • Yummy Things

Baby-friendly Boston: Turner Fisheries Restaurant & Bar

Now that we’re parents of a very active and vocal toddler, we find that we rarely go out to dinner anymore and we very rarely head into Boston. But a few weekends ago, we decided to venture out of the ‘burbs on a Saturday night for a family dinner in the Back Bay. After learning about their Kids Eat Free program, we ended up at Turner Fisheries Restaurant & Bar at the Westin Copley Place. Most locals would probably not consider Turners to be family-friendly, but we were pleasantly surprised by our experience there.

Immediately upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by a friendly bartender and were seated promptly by the hostess. We were particularly impressed with the courtesy and attentiveness of the restaurant manager, who brought over to our table a box of colored pencils and a little fish-themed toy for baby C and even showed him how to wear it on his finger. Later, after noticing that C had tired of those toys, she returned with a shiny toy truck, much to his delight!

Our waiter was a mild-mannered gentleman who occasionally entertained C with his smiles and waves from afar. Without us asking, he knew to move tall glasses, hot dishes, and flatware away from the baby’s reach. Since we didn’t have to bother with rearranging things on the table as we got settled in, we were able to focus on keeping the baby happy and maybe even relax a little ourselves (a rarity when dining out with a wee one).

As mentioned previously, kids (up to 12 years of age) eat free between 5:00 – 7:00 pm, Monday – Saturday, with the purchase of an adult entrée. We ordered C the Baked Haddock with rice and green beans. It was C’s first time having fish EVER and he’s become a rather finicky eater lately so we weren’t too optimistic that he’d actually eat it. But we ordered it anyway, and were frankly shocked when he DEVOURED it. Both Jack and I tried it and agreed that the haddock was subtly flavored, moist, and delicious. We also appreciated that without even requesting it, the baby’s food arrived very soon after we ordered (thank goodness because he was hungry and, like most toddlers, is still working on his patience!) and well before our own entrees arrived.

The adult food was also quite exceptional. In a nutshell: Fresh seafood, well-sized portions, and pleasing presentation.

One of the unexpected highlights of the evening was the delightful bread basket assortment which included a delicious walnut raisin bread. We tend to order calamari as an appetizer everywhere we go, and we were very pleased with their unique version of fried calamari. Quite different from the standard calamari served with marinara on the side, Turner’s Crispy Calamari, topped with peppadew peppers, capers, and roasted garlic aioli, was nicely flavored and not too oily or dry (as is often a problem with calamari).

Although our entrees were a bit saltier than we would have liked, both were excellent. I ordered the Seafood Risotta which included Maine lobster, bay scallops, Caribbean shrimp, littleneck clams, and mussels, and the hubby ordered the Orange Crusted Tuna with edamame succotash and ponzu glaze.

A few words about logistics. Street parking in the area can be hard to find. If you plan to visit, I’d recommend valet parking at the Westin Hotel. The restaurant will validate parking and it ends up only being $15. Also, just a heads up to those of you who bring your enormous strollers everywhere– we had to walk down two flights of stairs to get from the hotel lobby to the restaurant. Perhaps there is another entrance, but I thought that was worth mentioning to you mamas out there.

On our ride home, we realized that we both forgot to try their award-winning, gluten-free clam chowder! Guess this just means we’ll have to return to Turner Fisheries again soon!

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post; however, we did receive complimentary meals from Turner Fisheries/451 Marketing for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions in this post are my own and I only feature products and services on Talking Thirty about which I am genuinely enthused.

TalkingThirty | 10 comments

11 Oct 2012

Babies & Parenting • Mommy World • Product Reviews

Happy Changer, Happy Mama

For about the first year of his life, baby C was an angel during diaper changes. I could take my time cleaning every inch of his adorable little tush, readjusting the fasteners as many times as I wanted until his diaper was on perfectly. My mom would stand by and marvel at how good he was about getting his diaper changed. As a naïve, first-time mom I thought to myself, “Well, of course he is. What else could he do?”

Silly me.

Around the time he turned 10 months, our once easy little baby began to boldly protest every diaper change. As soon as we took off his dirty diaper, he would flail, squirm, wiggle, writhe, and flip over non-stop. Every single diaper change was a battle. Wet diapers were somewhat manageable, but poopy diapers were simply a disaster. It got so bad that I actually had a few nightmares about poop being smeared on my walls and clothes. And of course, above all else, I was really stressed and worried that the baby might fall off the changing table during one of these fits.

Surely I couldn’t be the only mama to have struggled with this so I reached out to my Facebook friends for some advice. People suggested distracting him with toys, singing silly songs, and just using brute force (without hurting him, of course) to keep him lying still. We tried everything. Nothing worked. It became a daily struggle and I was at my wits’ end.

I googled for solutions and somehow (by the grace of God!) happened upon the Hulabye Happy Changer. Invented by Los Angeles physician and momtrepreneur, Erin Kelley, the Happy Changer is a soft fabric vest that secures to a standard contoured changing pad and prevents the baby from rolling over during diaper changes.

Hulabye Happy Changer. Source: www.hulabye.com

Sounds great, but I was skeptical about whether it would actually work for us (after all, Connor is a really big baby). After several months of use, I’m thrilled to report that the Happy Changer has worked wonders for us! I’m not being melodramatic when I say that this is a product that has honestly changed the quality of our daily lives and saved us so much stress and worry.

What I love about it is that it’s so easy to put the baby into the vest and takes only a few seconds. You just slip his arms into the armholes and velcro the fabric across his chest and you’re ready to go. Also, since it’s made of soft flannel, I am confident that it’s not hurting him even though it’s holding him securely. As a neat-freak, I appreciate that it is machine-washable. I also love all the cute patterns it comes in.

I only wish that there were other, different kinds of closures (perhaps snap buttons) in addition to the velcro closures to keep the baby in the vest after he has learned to pull apart the velcro. Now that baby C is 15 months old, he has learned to rip open the vest. It still works for the time being, but I fear that our days of using the Happy Changer may be numbered. Regardless, I would still gladly recommend this fabulous product to any new mama.

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post; however, I did receive a complimentary Happy Changer from Hulabye for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions in this post are my own and I only feature products on Talking Thirty about which I am genuinely enthused.

TalkingThirty | 8 comments

10 Oct 2012

Babies & Parenting • Celebrations & Entertaining • Mommy World

Baby costumes

I have never really been a Halloween person. Sure, I dressed up, went trick-or-treating, and ate my fair share of KitKats as a kid, but Halloween has just never excited me in the way that it excites others. But now that I have a baby, I simply cannot wait for Halloween! My favorite thing in the whole wide world is babies in costumes. Just makes my heart melt to see their chubby little faces squished into silly little costumes. I have an entire board on Pinterest dedicated to it.

Last year, we dressed baby C up in a baby lion costume, but Halloween was officially canceled in many Massachusetts towns due to a three-day power outage. Very disappointing for his first Halloween. So we had to settle for taking a few pictures indoors in the dark.

This year, for his first REAL Halloween, we’ll be dressing him up in a baby lobster costume. As soon as we brought the costume home, I just couldn’t wait to put him in it. Here’s a sneak peek:

What is your little one going to be for Halloween this year? Are you dressing up, too?

TalkingThirty | 6 comments

05 Oct 2012

Babies & Parenting • Health & Wellness • Mommy World • Pregnancy & Childbirth

Post-weaning Blues

Several months ago, I stopped nursing baby C for a number of reasons but primarily because it was growing increasingly difficult and stressful to try to fit my pumping schedule into my full-time work schedule. I was able to breastfeed C through his first 10 months of life and it’s honestly one of my proudest accomplishments thus far, but the weaning process brought with it some unexpectedly dark days.

For months, I had been eagerly anticipating all of the wonderful things that could happen once I finally stopped breastfeeding: No longer having to drag myself out of bed at 2:00 AM to pump, the freedom of being able to eat meals without referring to the food guide pyramid taped to my fridge, finally being able to indulge in a glass of Riesling at dinner, and of course, reuniting with my beloved Keurig and enjoying guilt-free sips of Wolfgang Puck’s Hawaiian Hazelnut coffee each and every morning. Woo hoo! I simply could.not.wait!

I was totally unprepared for the adverse effect that weaning would have on my emotional well-being which I attribute to my temporary hormonal imbalance. Although I don’t believe that I actually suffered from full-blown Postpartum Depression (PPD), almost a year after my child was born, I experienced many of the symptoms of late onset PPD, including a sudden sense of emptiness, chronic low-level anxiety that I had never felt before, and persistent feelings of guilt and regret. I became very critical of decisions that I had made in the past (things that I now see as inconsequential) and worried that they might have detrimental effects on my son’s future. In general, I grew intensely worried about the baby. I am an overprotective mama by nature so this just brought me to an extreme. I felt like I had to protect him from every little person, place, or thing that we encountered.

Many of the medical professionals that you see right after childbirth, from your OB to your child’s pediatrician, inquire in one way or another about whether you are experiencing any symptoms of PPD. All eyes seem to be on you watching like a hawk for any possible signs. But after several months postpartum, assuming you show no signs of distress, everyone seems to stop asking about it.

In general, there seems to be very little awareness about late onset PPD and very little information available to the parenting community about the possibility of developing it after weaning. I chat with some of my most experienced mommy friends on a daily basis and have never heard any of them talk about this going through this before. I read about 8 pregnancy books when I was expecting (yes, I tend to overdo it) and don’t recall reading about this once. Surprisingly, even a Google search doesn’t yield much information from reliable sources on the topic.

For me, just being able to identify and have a label for what was going on in my body/brain was enormously helpful. I talked about how I was feeling with my hubby so that he could lend extra support and I felt comfortable confiding in my very best friend who I knew would never pass judgment. I made a concerted effort to try to occupy my mind with exciting short-term projects such as planning C’s birthday party and work-related events. After a few months, my hormones seemed to have leveled themselves out and thankfully things have gone back to normal.

In writing about this, I’m not hoping to gain sympathy, attention, or anything of the sort. I’m just hoping that perhaps someday this post might be informative or helpful to another new mama going through a similar experience.

Has anyone else dealt with symptoms of late onset postpartum depression after weaning?

TalkingThirty | 4 comments | Tags: Featured

02 Oct 2012

Around Boston • Babies & Parenting • Mommy World