Singing to my baby

I make up songs for Joseph quite frequently. He is a music lover and has stopped to listen to piano songs in movies we've been watching (such as Pride and Prejudice). It seems like singing things, even ordinary everyday things like "let's change your diaper yea yea yea" or "time to take a bath! hooray!" make him smile even if he's not that excited about it.

And, of course, the other reason is to make him smile just for the sake of seeing him smile! I have a 'special' little ditty I made up for him that I've been singing to him since he was born. Each and every time I sing it to him he smiles. It's one of the best things ever!

My mom (first-time grandma) also has a song she made up for him that has been repeated quite frequently, and he has the same reaction. (However, the rest of the family has gotten tired of hearing it... but she doesn't care! :)

I may not sing in public ever, but at least I can sing for my favorite audience and get rewarded with love.

Reflections on logos

Today I'm taking a break from mom posts and instead posting about something near and dear to my professional heart: logos.

As a marketing professional with a background in graphic design, I've designed logos for bands, companies, et cetera. I won't claim to be a professional designer, but I've done it.

That being said, something that irks me to no end is when companies change their logos. I read a press release today about a company launching new logos with its' structure change. I do understand the theory behind changing a logo with corresponding corporate changes--i.e., this is a 'new' company, so we should have a new logo!--but I think that, in most cases, the change isn't needed. If your brand/logo has positive, long-standing associations with it, why change it? Change the rhetoric, change the way you do things, but keep a well-designed logo in place!

Examples of bad logo changes:

• The Gap
• This change was so bad that the Gap went back to the old one...
• Old logo on R below, former new logo on L

• Xerox
• C'mon, really? What does the "shiny marble" really add? Oh well.
• Old logo on L below, new logo on R

•  Best Buy
• Yes, let's swap our totally recognizable logo for a new blase one!
• Old logo on L below, new logo on R

Well, that's the end of my rant for today. Anyone else have any other bad logo changes they can think of?

Making baby... food

You thought I was going to title this something else, didn't you?

As a new mom, I didn't know anything about feeding babies. Thankfully the What to Expect the First Year book was given to me so I could learn the basics. I also received four different baby cookbooks that give some information, but a lot of it is contradictory to the other books. Asking other mothers and the doctor for insight (mostly) resulted in replies like "oh, you know, just start them with a little and see what happens." AAAGH. My nerd-like instincts to read everything available aren't very helpful when the information is vague.

However, the cookbooks have been helpful because baby food is rather pricey (especially if you are buying organic) and Joseph rapidly progressed from 1 solid 'feeding' a day to 3. (He'd like to advance to more, but we are holding steady for now since I'm trying to make sure the breast feeding stays steady too!) I started making my own baby food and think it's super easy! If you're interested, read on for the basics of how to do it yourself.

To make baby food, you don't need very much. My recommended tools are:

1. Steamer basket - this is the one I bought: Progressive International 11 Inch Stainless Steel Steamer Basket
2. Baby food containers - I like Fresh Baby So Easy Baby Food and Breast Milk Trays and Annabel Karmel Stackable Food Pots (or just use glass jars!)
3. Food processor - we were given one for Christmas a year ago, whoo hoo!

Place the steamer basket in a pot with enough water at the bottom to avoid burning the pot (which I did once and had to toss the carrots as they tasted metallic... yikes!). Bring to a boil and let steam (covered) for 6-12 minutes, depending on the type of food you're cooking. Dump the results (carefully... don't get burned!) in the processor along with some or all of the water from the pot (based on your preference). Puree to desired consistency, cool, place in containers, and freeze! It'll keep for up to 3 months.

Types of foods to try: sweet potatoes, carrots, sweet peas, green beans, butternut squash, pumpkin, pears, apples. Most of these need to be peeled and cut up before steaming. (Also, it might be easier to do squash and pumpkin in the oven and scrape the ooey goodness into the processor after.)

In summary, pretty much anything you can get at the store in a jar you can make yourself! I have yet to try meats but they will be coming up on the menu soon! :)

Also, for the lazy moms out there (can I get a what what?) ripe bananas and avocados are super easy-- just mash them up, add some breast milk for texture--and they have been a big hit with the little guy!

And, on a side note, I've stopped giving Joseph rice cereal. It just seemed like it was constipating him (which also has happened with bananas and carrots too) and I think he is getting enough iron from the milk without needing more. Anyone else have any thoughts on that?

Guilty pleasures and actors/models

I don't view myself as a celebrity stalker. I dislike the concept of paparazzi. I'm not into reality shows. I don't even watch TV (we don't have one, although we do have Netflix via a Wii and a projector).

However, I know more about the love lives and activities of celebrities than most people. How so? My 'guilty pleasures:'

• Reading celeb magazines (i.e., People) in waiting rooms. 
• Looking at the red-carpet photos the night after a big event (i.e. the Oscars).

I'm sure other people out there do the same thing... but I cringe from telling people this (although now that it's on my blog, it's out there for all to see!). Perhaps it's because I'm supposed to be 'smart?' Or because, quite honestly, who cares who is dating whom or working on what movie? Regardless, it's something I find myself gravitating towards every time I'm at the doctor's, dentist's, or anywhere else with magazines.

On a semi-related topic, how does this whole beautiful people dating beautiful people thing work? Do people just walk up to each other at events/parties and say, hey, we should be beautiful together? Is it all the work of managers/publicists? Is it just because these people get thrown together because of their 'fabulous' lives and they realize that they like each other?

Delicious and dairy-free?

Q: Is it possible to make delicious foods that are also dairy-free?
A: You betcha!

Since we found out that Joseph had a cow's milk allergy/intolerance, I've changed to eating dairy-free. That has been hard for me as 1) I like cheese! And lots of other dairy products! and 2) I was used to using cheese, milk, sour cream, etc. in my cooking. Although I haven't been able to find alternatives that work for all of my favorites, I have been able to use alternative products in many of my favorite 'treat' recipes. This has helped me to feel less deprived as I'm avoiding dairy.

Every once in a while I plan to post the results and/or recipes for my dairy-free experimenting. Today we will discuss the hot cross buns I made for Easter!

Original recipe: Martha Stewart's best hot cross buns

My dairy-free version (substitutions are in bold italics):

Ashley's Delicious Dairy-free Hot Cross Buns

• 12 Tbsp Earth Balance soy-free, melted and cooled
• 1 cup So Delicious vanilla coconut milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 1/2 tsps instant yeast
• 1 Tbsp coarse salt
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Zest of 1 orange
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/3 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 4 Tbsp Earth Balance soy-free, melted
• 2 Tbsp wildflower honey

1. Butter a large bowl (with Earth Balance); set aside. Take second large bowl and mix together the sugar, salt, butter, zests, eggs, and yeast until smooth with wooden spoon. Place 1 cup coconut milk in a small saucepan, over medium heat. Heat until milk reaches 110 degrees on a candy thermometer. Pour milk into other ingredients. Add flour, and mix until dough forms. Continue kneading, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, until smooth.
   
2. Add raisins; knead briefly by hand. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead briefly to evenly distribute raisins in dough. Shape into a ball. Place dough in ('buttered') prepared bowl. Turn to coat with butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour or so.
   
3. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Turn dough out onto floured work surface. Knead briefly and roll dough into a log. Cut log in half and cut each half into 6-8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a tightly formed ball. Place on prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart. Cover baking sheets with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until buns are touching and doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
   
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees with racks positioned in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Snip crosses into top of buns with kitchen shears. Transfer buns to oven and bake until golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes, rotating baking sheets after 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.
   
5. Meanwhile, melt butter in microwaveable bowl. Add honey and mix. Brush mixture over buns with pastry brush.
   

 Enjoy! My family had these and couldn't tell that there was no cow's milk or butter in them.

Cloth diapers - the sequel

Here's the skinny on some of those other cloth diaper questions that I had when starting (and you might have if you're considering cloth):

Overnights: Now that Joseph is bigger, we realized that using the same type of diaper for day and overnight wasn't working anymore, so I investigated overnight options. There are lots of opinions out there, but what we found to work best so far is using the Fuzzibunz covers (since that's all we have! :) but stuffing them with Bigger Weeds hemp prefolds wrapped around the small Fuzzibunz microfiber insert. We also have recently purchased a medium-sized LoopyDo hemp/microfiber insert (recommendation from the Luvaboos' store owner and mom) and really like it - absorbs very well and is easier to assemble and clean than the prefold/insert combo. I’ve ordered some more of them and will be discontinuing use of the prefolds as they are more bulky.

Timing-wise, he’s now in a diaper for 10-12 hours with no bad results that I’m aware of.

Other cloth diapering moms have also recommended Drybees or other special “overnight” diapers. I haven’t tried any of these but if you have comment and tell me what worked for you!

Cleaning: At first, my hesitation about cloth was cleaning (otherwise known as, what to do with the poop?). However, things haven’t been that bad. I will be honest and say that smells are a problem from time to time, but honestly the worst smells have been pee (surprising to me!) and the smell of the diapers when you put them in the washer after they’ve been sitting for a day or so. The poop didn’t really smell that bad, and breastfed poops are pretty mild in terms of volume and leaking. The diapers (covers and inserts) do have some stains on them, but I’m looking forward to sunning them once spring is officially here in Rochester and seeing the dingy diapers turn clean again!

Switching to solids: So far, Joseph LOVES solids. So what has this meant for his diapers? Well, not too much of a change actually - in fact, they’ve actually gotten a little better to change! (Yes, I was surprised too.) Although the poops are bigger (occasionally) and more “formed” (yes, this is the part where I gross you out with TMI!), they actually come off the cover more easily (so far!) and (if caught early) don’t stain as much as some of the breastmilk-only poops did.
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Well, that’s it for my cloth diaper series! I hope you learned something and that you investigate the option seriously if you haven’t done so yet. Good luck and have fun with your diapering adventure!

Breastfeeding and culture

I've been thinking about this a lot lately as Joseph continues to grow: how long will I keep breastfeeding him?

There have been several incidences when I was thinking about not continuing anymore (ex: two days ago when the teething monster reappeared and bit me several times! tears and stress my friends.) but if I take things on a day-by-day basis these kinks tend to work themselves out and we've been doing really well overall.

However, will I keep breastfeeding once he is 1 year old? How about 14 months? 2 years? (Of course, this will depend on him too - if he self-weans I'm not going to keep pumping or try to get him interested in starting up again.)

One of the things I've been thinking about in conjunction with this is the cultural taboo of breastfeeding once your baby can walk/talk/reach your breast without aid. Girls in my eighth grade class used to share stories of a little girl called 'B' who was 4 or 5 and would ask her mom for milk in public. The negative connotations were obvious: ewww that's gross! She's too big to breastfeed! And ewww moms are old and shouldn't be sharing their boobs in public!

Now that I'm grown-up (and I do use the term loosely ;) I have a much different perspective. I think breastfeeding is the best for a variety of reasons, but I still find that I have an aversion to older kids breastfeeding. I watched the movie Babies when it came to the Little and was rather shocked at the nonchalant way in which the African mothers would hold out a breast to their kids (and possibly others' kids too?) of various ages. (Of course, there may be economic reasons for continuing to breastfeed too, but I think it's more cultural than anything else.)

I had another shock when I attended a La Leche League meeting and saw a mother with two kids tandem feeding - on one side was the 2-year old (or maybe older?), standing up and suckling, and on the other side was the 3-month old baby. That weirded me out! (Plus the older kid was sort of jealously staring at the baby while nursing.) And of course there is the obvious reference to the Grown-Ups movie with the "48-month old" demanding milk from his mom.

So is this merely the by-product of the culturally ingrained prejudice against breastfeeding for longer than 1 year? Or is it just weird? Tell me what you think.