Future Freshman

Ivy League Expectations (or not)  Pre Iylah days, Brede and I lived in Harvard Square.  It's still one of our very favorite places in Cambridge and we go back often to enjoy our favorite restaurants and coffee shops:  Borders, Darwins, L.A. Burdock    

Today we spent a lazy Sunday afternoon in Harvard Square enjoying brunch, shopping and just walking around for old times sake.  As we meandered through the Harvard CoOp  I saw a baby onsie similar to this: 

I've also seen this bib for sale from various vendors in the Prudential mall:

At first glance, these  can be cute and laughable - ha, ha so funny but then I give it a second thought. Would you want to subject your child to such high expectations?  What statement are you trying to make by dressing your child in these items?

Perhaps I'm being overly sensitive about this but here's a little secret - I graduated from MIT with both an engineering degree and MBA.  My best friend and her husband went to Harvard.  I have countless friends from business school or in my Management Consulting firm that have had the distinction of graduating Harvard.  Yet I would never, ever buy Iylah this bib or onsie (or the corresponding MIT ones), and it's not for a simple rivalry of "that little school up the river"   

I don't want to subject Iylah to these expectations.   Ever. 

I don't want her seeing pictures of herself wearing this bib or onsie and thinking "oh, my parents really wanted me to go to Harvard or MIT" and thinking that she's a disappointment or that we love her any less if that path doesn't materialize.   

For one, I think it's pretty unrealistic and it shouldn't be a goal in itself.  There are plenty of other goals in life far more worthy.   Secondly, that's an incredible amount of pressure to put on a child.   Perhaps I've just met too many parents who've obsessed over this to the detriment of their kids.   Is your child any less smart or less valuable if they don't go to some big name school?  Would you really love them any less? 

MIT or bust....  

My parents never expected me to go to MIT or  really any Ivy League school.   Sure, they were  proud when this did happen but it wasn't ever an expectation for either me or any of my siblings.  They just wanted us to find our way in life and be happy.  

I do not wish that Iylah will be a future Harvard or MIT freshman.  My wish for Iylah is three-fold:

1.)   Be happy - Iylah, I want you to find a path in life that will allow you to be happy and find joy everyday, whatever that path may be.

2.)  Self sufficient - I wish that you'll be financially self sufficient. This doesn't mean needing to be rich by any means but just having the financial means to support yourself so that you don't have to rely on or answer to anyone but yourself.   

3.) Respect and be thoughtful of others.  Be humble, thoughtful, value and respect others no matter how much money they have, where they came from, what school they did (or didn't go to), or what they believe.   

These three things I wish of you.   

Love.
Your Mommie.   


   

  



  

The Blustery Day

A Breeze on the Charles 
Today is a very blustery day in Boston.  Grey, wet and damn blustery. 

From weather.com - Note the text in red under the "Right Now" column.

It reminds me of that Winnie the Pooh story where it becomes so windy in the Hundred Acre Wood that piglet blows away.

Oh dear, hang on Piglet!!

This morning Iylah had her 4 month vaccination appointment near Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).   We only have one car, which Brede now takes to work so I knew we'd be walking.  I bundled Iylah up in her little pink jacket, hat and put on her socks.   

As we walked out the door I also grabbed Brede's GoLite down jacket.  I've been stealing this lately because it's so light weight and warm.  Yes, I know it was a bit overkill for just a fall day but despite living in Boston I'm a total cold wuss.   

As we exited the Pediatrician's office it was REALLY windy, worse than when we had walked over.  The clouds were swirling around and the sky was dark.  At that moment I did consider taking the T (Boston's subway) back home instead of walking, but I love walking.  I'm trying to fit in 10,000 steps each day. I was also fully prepared for any rain with our stroller rain cover in tote.   A little wind and rain wasn't going to stop me!! 

Evening view of the Longfellow bridge that connects Boston, MA to Cambridge

Sunlight flairs over Longfellow towers (courtesy of  Pinterest).  This bridge is often called the "salt and pepper bridge" because these towers look like salt and pepper shakers.

As we walked over the Longfellow bridge I began to regret not taking the T.    The wind incredibly strong. The canopy on Iylah's stroller acted like a giant sail and I really struggled to keep the stroller on course and push it uphill against the wind.   My hair blew loose from my pony tail and began whipping me in the face and eyes. I squinted my eyes to avoid all the dust that was blowing in the air.  

And then... 

A HUGE gust came.   Waoooshhhhh...

It blew Iylah's little pom pom hat (pictured in this post) onto the roadway.  I love this little hat so I quickly put on the stroller brake and began watching the cars to judge if I could safely hop onto the roadway to retrieve it.     

As I watched Iylah's little hat blow down the roadway a fellow pedestrian approached.  I was hoping he'd save the day and say "Step aside,  I'll retrieve your hat" but  instead he commented "Was that your jacket?? - the blue one??" 

Oh crap.  Despite the crazy wind it was not really that cold so I'd had Brede's blue down jacket stuffed in the undercarriage basket of Iylah's stroller.   The pedestrian continued "It's in the Charles".   Sure enough I looked over the bridge railing and saw the blue jacket.  IN THE RIVER.  Double crap.  In the chaos of chasing down Iylah's little hat I hadn't noticed that the gust has also taken Brede's jacket. 

My face fell.  Oh man...   The pedestrian felt sorry for me and proceeded to chase down Iylah's little hat. So I now have the hat back.  But not our $200 down jacket.

Since we are leaving Boston soon I'd been contemplating how to leave a piece of myself behind.  I just hadn't counted on it being quite this offering.    Charles River gods, I hope you are pleased.  And now warm. 

P.S.  -  This sign also blew down and it was BOLTED to the bridge pole.   To look on the bright side I guess things could have been worse. This sign could have hit Iylah.   Perhaps I do owe a "thank you" to the river gods.  What do you think?  

"Bike Lane" sign that blew off the pole

P.S.S.  -  I'm contemplating how I should break the news to Brede.  Maybe I'll just let him read this blog and cook him a really nice dinner. Oh wait- I'm a pretty bad cook.  Maybe Legal Seafood takeout? 

Pumpkin Patch Continued (the final products)

Oh the glow

The previous pumpkin patch post wouldn't be complete without showing the final products right?   As a goodbye to Boston we hosted a carving party at our house.   

It was pretty bitter sweet. I hate goodbyes.  I've really gotten to love Boston and New England and it was really hard to say goodbye to the things that matter the most - all of our dear friends out here. 

Iylah had the chance to hang out with many of our good Boston (and NH) friends:

Soakin' up the Natalie love. 

Chillin' with baby buddy Benjamin 

Ed, are you really feeding her beer?  

Carving was a success.  The final products were top notch. 

Check out the pumpkin below that our dear friend Natalie carved of the headless horseman FREE STYLE by using just the ShipYard beer label as a guide.  Pretty talented eh? 

Ed and Shelly carved us a dear little "SF" pumpkin as a tribute to our departure for the West coast. Here's Iylah admiring their work.. 

Happy Halloween 

And Iylah didn't end up drinking ALL the pumpkin beer.... 

 

Just a lot of milk instead....  (much better than pumpkin beer, at least for now).  

Pumpkin Patch

Shopping for Pumpkins

I've been excited about celebrating Iylah's first Halloween, and what Halloween would be complete without a visit to the pumpkin patch?   

We didn't exactly have a pumpkin patch nearby... and Iylah isn't exactly old enough to actually pick out a pumpkin herself, so we did the next best thing and headed to Russo's in Watertown, a local supermarket that is pretty famous for their produce selection.    

Check it out, what do you think of all these pumpkins?  

Oh yeah, chillin' in the pumpkin patch...

Boo!!!

Warmin' up my toes... it's chilly out here!!

This one.  I want this pumpkin.  Do you think I can carry it home? 

Happy Halloween everyone!!  

Tummy Time Tricks

Back to Sleep 

One of the things that we've learned as a new parents is the importance of giving Iylah  "Tummy Time"(we like to refer to this as TT).  Tummy time builds neck control and upper body strength that is needed for eventual sitting and crawling. 

In 1992, in an effort to reduce SIDS cases (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), the  American Academy of Pediatrics started a Back to Sleep campaign recommending that all infants be placed on their backs to sleep.   The resulting decrease in the rate of SIDS was pretty remarkable: 

Source: CDC's National Center for Health Statistics; National Infant Sleep Position Study (funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

Although SIDS rates have decreased, back sleeping has resulted in developmental delays in when babies now start to roll-over and crawl.  They simply don't have a chance to build upper body strength as frequently as when they were placed on their stomachs to sleep.   Hence, the recommendation now for daily "tummy time" to ensure babies have a chance to develop upper body strength.

Iylah doesn't really like doing tummy time.  Initially she would cry and cry when placed on her stomach so admittedly Brede and I were TT slackers early on.  Now that she's a bit older, I've started to kick tummy time into high gear and try to give Iylah her TT at least 3x a day.    

Iylah will now tolerate tummy time although it's still not her favorite.  Two things have recently helped:

1.)  Buying a stand-up crib mirror 

2.)  Playing a game of "roll-over"

The mirror is particularly helpful for entertaining Iylah while she's on her tummy.  Babies are fascinated by mirrors!  Distraction = more tummy time.  I think of this as almost analogous to my habit of watching reality TV while putting in time on the treadmill.  Distraction can be a good thing at any age... 

 

Here is Iylah staring at her reflection in her little mirror:

Who's that? This strange baby keeps looking at me!!

Side note - Check out the bald spot on the back of Iylah's head from sleeping on her back and rubbing her head back and forth during the night.  

This bald spot makes me feel HORRIBLE but it doesn't seem to bother Iylah at all.  Her Pediatrician has assured me this is quite normal and happens to a lot of babies as a result of back sleeping.  Hopefully all the hair will eventually grow back.... 

Our second trick for tummy time is the "roll-over" game we play.  Some babies start to roll over on their own starting around 3-4 months.  Iylah hasn't mastered this skill yet so I help her out.  I'll basically say - "Iylah, it's time to roll-over,  do you want to roll-over?"  Then I'll subsequently gently roll her over from her back to her stomach.

Are you ready?  Ready to roll-over? 

Here we go....

Almost there...  Iylah usually grunts at this point - "unh, unh, unh".... 

Ta, dah!!! I made it!! 

Wow, check it out, a whole new perspective!  

Oh yeah.... I'm goin' places.  Now if I could only figure out how to crawl!! 

Happy Tummy Time!! 

PS - Both Iylah and I love the Sassy Baby Crib and floor mirror.  It stands up easily on it's own and Iylah is highly entertained by the bee and lady bug because they make noise (yes that decoration in the lower left corner is supposedly a lady bug). 

Leaf Peeping (Part II)

Lake Willoughby

Vermont how I love thee... let me count the ways.    On day 2 of our 1st weekend in Vermont we attended the fall foliage festival at the Bread and Puppet Theater in Glover, VT (granola political leaf peeping at its best) followed by a trip out to Lake Willoughby, a stop that had been recommended by our waitress at the Wildflower Inn. 

The lake was incredibly gorgeous and rivaled some of my favorite lakes in Colorado.  Check out these lake shore views bursting with Vermont fall foliage:  

I love the blazing red reflected in the water. 

Another view of the lake

All this beauty calls for a little romance... 

We also had a lot of fun shooting some portraits as the evening presented the PERFECT light for photos.  In between shots we munched on a picnic of bread and Cabot cheese sandwiches, pasta salad, apples and cashews and played with Iylah.  Here are few of my favorite shots: 

Lakeside family portrait

Wide awake - playing with her Dad... 

Very happy grandparents 

I also LOVE this next series of Iylah with Nana Terri.  Iylah's feet were getting a bit chilly so Nana tried to bundle her all up!!  There was a lot of squirming involved: 

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You may wonder how we got Iylah to smile so happily in many of these photos.  There was a lot of behind the camera make the baby smile magic going on.  I tried my best to capture some of these candid "entertain the baby" antics:

These next three photos are of Grandpa Bob performing his now famous finger buzzing, bop, gonna get you motion... it was AWESOME!  Even I was entertained.  We'll have to ask him for an encore at family Christmas.  

Ready? Iylah are you Ready?  Look over here... 

Bzzzz.... bzzzz...

Bop, gottcha!! 

I also love this next photo, it such a very candid portrayal of super proud grandparents.  Hold still for the camera Iylah! 

As we left the lake it was pretty much dark but I was able to capture one last glorious sunset on the water of the far lake shore.  I love how this photo pretty much summed up this lake..... magical.   Lake Willoughby, I will be back someday. 

Leaf Peeping (Part I)

Chasing the Elusive Peak - Northern Kingdom 

For the last several years Brede and I have attempted to catch the gorgeous New England fall foliage up in New Hampshire and Vermont (otherwise know as "leaf peeping" in New England vernacular).   We've always timed our trips a bit too late missing the elusive "peak" color burst.  Don't get me wrong, the tail end of color has still been absolutely beautiful but staring at mostly bare trees and gorgeous leaves on the ground we've always wondered what would it be like to catch everything turning at once?  

This year we had two sets of grandparents visiting us in early October. Grandpa Bob and Nana Terri one weekend and Grandpa Mark the next weekend.  It was the perfect excuse to set out once again on a "leaf peeping" adventure. 

We bought this pin in a gift store in VT.  It's a "leaf peeper" get it - ha, ha.  It was just so stupid I couldn't resist

We realized at our little Mazda 3 wasn't going to cut it with three adults and all the baby gear so we rented a Subaru Forester and packed it to the brim with luggage.   Side note - one of the biggest surprises of parenthood is just how much "stuff" is required for baby.  Iylah is 13lbs but her "stuff" probably weighs at least 50lbs and I'm not even kidding...   The days of quick and easy packing are over (sigh)

The rental Subaru packed to the brim 

After a few hours of driving the countryside began to get pretty gorgeous.  We passed through Franconia Notch  in NH just as the sun was starting to set. 

Shortly after Franconia  notch we rounded the corner and came upon a hillside exploding with fall color. The hill was literally bright red from all of the turning Maple trees.  At that moment I knew we'd finally found it - we had hit the peak! I was so excited that my exclamations of "wow - check out that hill side... ohhh...look over there...etc."  actually woke Iylah up from her nap! 

Yes, these hills are really that red (not just a camera setting) - check out the white 55mph sign against the hillside

The hills ablaze -  fall foliage against the setting sun 

We arrived at our final destination the Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville, VT in the dark.  It was so fun to wake up the next morning to such a beautiful new landscape.  We'd hit a goldmine - it was classic Vermont: farm animals, a barn with grain silo, mooing cows and lush fields overlooking the fall foliage.   We couldn't have asked for a prettier setting to spend the fall weekend. 

Iylah and I out and about exploring

Posing by the barn with Nana Terri and Grandpa Bob

I was particularly excited to show Iylah all the farm animals on the Inn's property. We've been singing "Old MacDonald" song and I kind of feel like a fool when I make all the animal noises and Iylah has absolutely no idea what I'm talking about because she's never actually seen a horse, donkey, goat, pig, etc.   These things exist... I swear!! 

The barn had the cutest little donkey.   Unfortunately, Iylah was not interested in the donkey or really any of the animals but Grandpa Bob had some fun giving the little donkey some lovin'  pets 

Scratch your little ears

We spent the entire morning outside just exploring the Inn's spectacular grounds. Yes these photos are real.  Vermont really does look like a Cabot cheese or Ben and Jerry's commercial. 

Lush green pastures with cows.  The cows were really loud and mooed all morning! 

Nana Terri & Grandpa Bob - walking the grounds and soaking up the fall...

The hill across the road - part of the network of Northern Kingdom trails

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Self portrait of Brede and I on the star gazing hill 

Building where we stayed  - isn't this cute?

Not only were the pasture lands lush and green but the Vermont farm was brimming with flowers. Brede loves to take photographs of flowers so I'll leave you with a few pictures that he snapped on the Inn's grounds.   Don't you think these almost look fake??? 

Happy fall foliage!!!  

P.S. - Stay tuned.  More spectacular fall photos of Vermont to come...