Thursday, January 8, 2009

Sitting pretty

As of today I can say that Caroline can sit up. She has spent time in her bumbo seat, the exersaucer and on my lap gradually building up her strength. If you balanced her just right she would sit for up to 5 seconds without falling over. Tonight though she sat on the kitchen floor for over 2 minutes and was reaching for toys. Bummer that I had just taken off her cute shirt to get ready for bath time when we did this exercise. I promise she does not usually go around only wearing her jeans. Katherine was playing with her new tea set and Caroline wanted to join in the party. We have already had so much fun playing "tea party". I think both of my girls look so big in this photo. Caroline is sitting on her own and Katherine has her hair in a ponytail bun "just like mommy".
Caroline wonders what all the attention is for.
She would have sat longer but Hooligan decided to come and sniff her. That cold nose to the bare belly startled her into falling over (I caught her).
I have been excited for this phase because I think that Katherine will have even more fun playing and interacting with Caroline. Next phase is mobility. Hopefully I will have a month or two where she is sitting but remaining where I put her.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Happy Birthday Sam

Sam's birthday was last week. It is a crummy time to have a birthday, sandwiched between Christmas and New Years. It is always a little hard to get together with people.

I took the girls to get their pictures taken and then we surprised Sam by stopping by his office for lunch. He was the only one at work so we were able to eat in the conference room. It was fun for him to show all of us what he does. Katherine's favorite part was playing in a shipping container.

I had Katherine paint the wrapping for the pictures. She had a lot of fun and was so proud of her masterpiece. I love how she is holding her palate like a real artist. Sam grew up eating birthday pie instead of birthday cake so that is what I made. Of course Katherine loved singing "Happy Birthday" and she blew the candle out for him.

Of course daddy loved the new pictures of his girls.
Happy Birthday Sam!

Monday, January 5, 2009

More portraits

After successfully getting a Christmas photo of Katherine and Caroline together I hoped to get some cute pictures of Caroline by herself. I had a horrible experience a few weeks ago at JCPenney so I was hoping that Portrait Innovations would do a better job. They took well over 100 photos and 90% of them were good so I had a hard time narrowing it down. Here are some of the best ones as well as some of the funny ones.




I did make sure to dress Katherine in a coordinating outfit in case she jumped into pictures and there was anything cute. She did insist on getting in the photo but then she was not very cooperative.


This one makes me laugh. I promise I really do have a cute daughter. She was just all scrunched in the bean bag chair, she would not smile and she would not let me brush her hair.
Caroline was doing so well that I wanted to try the diaper shots with her cute baby legs (legwarmers). I thought they were pretty stinkin' cute as well.


Saturday, January 3, 2009

Christmas portraits

I never had the girls' portraits done in their Christmas dresses and my last photo experience with Caroline did not have good photos so I decided to try again. I went to Portrait Innovations to take the girls' photos as a birthday present for Sam. It is not easy to take photos of a 5 month old who cannot sit unsupported and who rolls over any time you put her on her tummy. It is also nearly impossible to get a photo of Katherine who currently hates to smile or cooperate, even with the bribe of a lollipop.

First we have the bored preschooler holding a squirmy, uninterested baby.
Then a still uninterested preschooler with a rolling baby.
Katherine, please don't strangle your sister. You have her in a "choke hold".Finally, both Katherine and Caroline are looking at the camera with pleasant looks on their faces. This is the winning photo and I considered the outing successful.
Next we decided to try for some good individual shots. Here is a very happy but very rolly Caroline. First up, Katherine. The photographer tried to get a smile or really any expression from her by asking her to look in the box. Not a great idea since the box was empty.
Then we tried standing but Katherine was leaning on the presents...until they all fell over.
Finally a cute shot. I think her little pointed foot is cute.
Next up, Caroline. Since she can't sit on her own, we put her in the box. She is full of smiles.

Then we put her on the floor. She was very happy and smiley, but she just would not stop rolling over. As soon as we would put her on the floor she would roll before the photographer could snap a photo.
Finally I was able to get out of the way and the photographer was able to take a photo before she flipped.
Last we did profile shots and they made a composite picture with both girls on it. It is a little cheesy and larger than I typically frame but it was free with the package I got.

Oops, I think we overdid it.
I was very happy that I got some great shots in the Christmas dresses. We then changed clothes to get better pictures of Caroline. There are a lot so I will wait and post them later. I have a ton of photos so if you want any, let me know.

Save hand made and resale items


I love shopping at consignment sales and thrift stores for my kids clothes and toys. I have saved our family hundreds if not thousands of dollars and I have some very well dressed kids. I love handmade toys. There are some adorable items on etsy. We received some really fun and creative handmade toys for Christmas.

I have read a number of blogs lately that have mentioned the H.R. 4040, the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) signed into law August 14, 2008 and going into effect on February 10, 2009. If you have not heard about this, it is a law that requires that all items intended to be used by children under the age of 12 be tested for lead and phthalates prior to being sold. Sounds like a good idea since those are things that we don't want our kids to be exposed to, but the testing is so expensive that it will force many business to shut down, businesses like consignment and resale shops, stores on etsy which sell handmade toys, and boutiques that sell kids clothes. Many of the items that my family uses will no longer be legally sold.

There are many articles in newspapers and on blogs that discuss this issue (see below). It is a law that appears to have been passed hastily without considering how it would actually play out. On February 10 massive amounts of untested inventory could be headed to landfills and many businesses will have to shut down. Many of these businesses sell items that have no threat of containing lead or phthalates but because they cannot afford the testing they will not be allowed to sell their goods.

I just went to this link to send a letter to my Senator and Congressmen about this issue. It is already written out and I just added to it. Take a moment to read about this issue and voice your concern.

What can you do?
1) Email or call the CPSIA - the office of the CPSC 888-531-9070
http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/newleg.aspx
Comments on Component Parts Testing accepted through January 30, 2009.
mailto:Sec102ComponentPartsTesting@cpsc.gov.

2) Email or snail mail your representatives.
http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/issues/alert/?alertid=12274476

3) Call your representatives. For their contact information just enter your zip code.
http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/dbq/officials/

4) Make your voice heard by voting on this issue. The top 3 in each category will be presented to President-elect Obama.
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

5) Sign the petition.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/index.html

6) Spread the word! Write about this on your blog. Tell others about this issue and encourage them to do the same.

7) Join others in fighting this cause.
Facebook group
Twitter search
http://cpsia-central.ning.com/notes/Notes_Home



Articles and blogs
I Heart Handmade
Press coverage
Mom4life

Friday, January 2, 2009

A New Year's Tradition

Happy New Year to you all. We had a wonderful time bringing in the New Year with friends. Katherine spent the night with friends and Caroline slept through the entire party in a pack in play in the closet (don't worry, we had a video monitor so we could check on her).

Our family has a New Year's tradition of having a "Baby New Year" when there is a baby so this year Caroline is "Baby New Year". She is such a happy baby and has made several resolutions for the year. Her goals include learning to sit, crawl and walk as well as learning to eat solids and communicate.


To show you some of our other "Baby New Year" photos, me bringing in 1973. I think Caroline does actually look like me in this photo. At least she resembles me more than Katherine does.


Here is Katherine bringing in 2007.