Bowl-cuts. I never thought I would have a child with a bowl-cut, as I like to think of myself as somewhat hip and stylin', but I came to the realization about a year ago that bowl-cuts were sometimes a necessary evil.

We were at the point when Jolie's hair had grown long enough to look gnarly, yet she steadfastly repelled any attempts to have any kind of hair accoutrement stuck in her hair. We're talking hand deflections. Head forcefield protection. Keen… Read More

Last pregnancy, I told a friend of mine who had been through the whole preggers thing already about my difficulties sleeping.

I, being a back sleeper, found trying to stay sleeping on my side a major issue. I tended to flip over on my back anyway and woke up who knows how long later feeling guilty for squashing my innards and major blood vessels with the weight of my fetal sumo wrestler and uterine contents. It also felt uncomfortable yet… Read More

One of the good things about having our daughter potty-trained is not having to deal with messy diapers. You know, that insuppressable groan of horror that escapes you as you peel back a poopy one. Maybe in the beginning it was endearing (we're talking way beginning) but pretty soon it got really old.

It's a dirty job, this parenting thing.

So, I find it always a bonus when Jolie goes in the big toilet, it's like Do Not Pass Go, Go Directly Flushed… Read More

Summer's not over yet!

After we had such a great family vacation at the beach, and especially after seeing how much Jolie loved it, we've vowed to go more often.

I mean, how can we deprive her of such amazing childhood memories?

I'm pretty happy with a lot of our decisions of what to bring to make the experience as painless as possible. (I'm so about making things as painless as possible.)

Things I loved

1. Her cheapo Target-bought "cover-up" which was actually just

… Read More

Crap. Am I a bad parent for letting my daughter watch Baby DVDs?

Because, you know, I don't have enough mother-guilt as it is.

So, you may have heard about this study published today in the Journal of Pediatrics on the association between media viewing (including educational children's shows like Sesame Street and the like, noneducational programs like most cartoons and kids' movies, Baby DVDs/videos, and adult television) and language development of children under 2.

If you haven't, it's like all over… Read More

My girl met the ocean this week.

It wasn't love at first sight.

Actually it wasn't love at third or fourth sight either.

It was like one of those marriages that starts out with shaky dates - he's wearing something scary like a bolo tie. She's got a green booger hanging out of her nose. Yet somehow, on that 5th date (and with serious matchmakers trying to make it happen), MAGIC.

Yeah, kind of like that.

We couldn't wait for our yearly vacation to the beach… Read More