Ethan is Crawling (this video is from earlier today)

Battling Bacteria

Now that Ethan is eating solid foods my battle with bacteria just became a lot more complicated.

I'm reading this great book by Ruth Yaron called "Super Baby Food" and here are some of her great ideas for keeping your baby and kitchen bacteria free:

• Terry Cloths: Buy a whole bunch of cheap terry cloths (like the kind used to clean cars). Buy a few different colors and use a separate color for wiping your babies face and hands.


• Clean Your Sponge: When you run the dishwasher throw in your sponge.


• Clean Baby Food Jars: Clean the outside of your baby food jars before opening them.


• Cutting Boards: Use separate cutting boards for your meat.

Here are three of my own best ideas:

1. Disinfectant Wipes: I love the Target disinfectant wipes. They are cheap and easy. I use them to clean off toys, his high chair, the counter tops, and the baby food jars.


2. Sterilization Bags: I also recommend sterilization bags for when you first get bottles or pacifiers. You microwave items for 90 seconds and they are 99% germ free. You can get these at target also, I've tried two brands Medela and Munchkin and they were both great and easy.


3. Keeps Things Separate: I have separate tools to clean Ethan's things. I never use our sponge to clean Ethan's dishes.

The Park & March in LA

One of the great things about living in LA is the weather. Today was a perfect day and Ethan & I met up with a bunch of other moms at the park.

He loved the swing and was smiling and laughing hysterically as I pushed him. He also loved seeing the other kids.

Sunscreen is a must and every mom (including myself) was using the same stuff "Coppertone Water Babies" spf 50 in the pink bottle. I also have a sample size for travel which was perfect for the small totebag I brought.

Gymboree

Ethan & I take a music class at Gymboree and he has an unbelievably great time.

Here's a picture of him having a great time drumming on the large communal drum at the beginning of class. He's only 6 months and he's a great drummer.

Blog Updates

Hi,

I just wanted to respond and update you on past blogs.

First, the Ferber method is a cry it out method and I don't think that this is the way to go for everyone. This is simply something that worked great for me and I just want to share my experience.

Ethan was very colicky and as a result picked up some very poor sleep habits and dependencies. He basically always needed to be held and if I would put him down in his crib after he fell asleep most of the time he would wake up and start crying. Just before I did sleep training he slept only about eight hours during a 24 hour period. This is not enough sleep (based on everything I've ever heard or read) for proper brain development.

The key with the Ferber method is to look for cues that they are tired before you put them to bed. In the daytime I wait for a yawn and then do a mini bedtime routine. I also wake him up if his last nap is too long so that I'm not putting him to bed at night when he's not tired. I try and give him 2 1/2 to 3 hours between the last nap and bedtime so that he goes down with little or no protest.

Before Ferber, Ethan would get overtired and have total screaming meltdowns. He cried a lot less when we did sleep training then he cried before we did this.

Cloth diapers. I'm on the verge of buying the Fuzzi Bunz cloth diapers. However, they are very expensive upfront. It's about $150 for the starter kit so in three months they will pay for themselves but it's a lot of money upfront so Ethan has to like them. Wish me luck.

I'm trying to create dinners that are around $10 each (and about 3 to 4 portions) so please feel free to post any great inexpensive recipes.

Love, Stephanie