Boston Baby Activities at Examiner.com

Hey everyone! I’m writing a column for Examiner.com about baby activities around Greater Boston. I’ve only written one article so far, but please check it out. http://www.examiner.com/x-53458-Boston-Baby-Activities-Examiner

Another Scary Old Man

So what is it with ClassesUSA and LowerMyBills and pictures of scary old men?

My blog is 5 years old

WOW!

How my life has changed. My first entry was about bars Matt and I frequented…and now my life is spit up and diapers and teething rings. Not that I don’t love it, but it’s all just so different. :-)

Old Man in ClassesUSA and LowerMyBills.com Ads

This grotesque old dude is all over the internet:

I see ads with him sometimes several times a day, for both ClassesUSA and LowerMyBills.com. (Both, I believe, are owned by Experian) I see it when I check my Yahoo mail, news website, Facebook…you name it.

I can’t imagine how they came up with the idea that the mug of a crotchety-looking old man would work for their online ad campaigns. I guess it must yield some website traffic, right? Otherwise why would they use that photo so frequently?

I think he’s scary.

Finicky Baby

Isaac was always a pretty decent night sleeper, until a few weeks ago. He would sometimes flat out refuse his crib. I couldn’t figure out what changed, and I was racking my brain trying to think of what happened. Finally, I realized that I had been using cotton sheets on his crib, as opposed to the flannel ones previously. I didn’t really think that the sheets were a problem, but I thought I’d give it a shot. Anything for a good night’s sleep, right?

And voila! Several nights later, we’re back on track.

Of course, now that I’ve written this, Isaac will probably be up all night!

Weekly Ethnic Food Menus

A few weeks ago, we were given a huge bag of cilantro. That week, we went crazy for cilantro. We made pico de gallo, guacamole, tacos, Spanish rice, and very cilantro-y cilantro chicken!

The next week, we made a HUGE pot of bolognese sauce. That week, we ate nothing but Italian food. Bolognese with angel hair, pizza with bolognese sauce and fresh mozzarella, stromboli also with fresh mozzarella using Trader Joe’s premade pizza crusts, caesar salads, and we also made a delicious tortellini soup. (The tortellini soup was SO tasty and simple! Loaded with carrots and veggies, topped with parmesan cheese)

After that, Matt decided that the following week, we’d have Indian food all week. We made all sorts of goodies that week, too. We started with barbecued tandoori chicken skewers and cucumber raita with basmati rice with a cinnamon stick in it! Later that week we made chicken yogurt curry with raisins and cashews, rogon josh, aloo tikki (potato patties), and Indian spinach simmer sauce from Trader Joe’s. Oh, and also from Trader Joe’s: veggie samosas and lots of tasty naan!

This week, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, it’s been Irish week. A.K.A. “Meat and Potatoes Week.” (And lots of salad to offset the unhealthiness of mass quantities of meat and potatoes) In spite of the Mahoney last name, Matt’s only a little bit Irish. He’s mostly Chinese and also German. Matt did some research online to find some Irish recipes. We started off with shepherd’s pie, and then on Monday Matt made the most delicious thing ever: Guinness Beef Stew in a crock pot. During Monday’s monsoon, boy was it a nice smell to come home from picking Isaac up at daycare! Today is corned beef and cabbage. (Thanks AGAIN, Trader Joe’s, for providing us with corned beef!)

Oh, and since Sunday was Pi Day, Matt also made an apple pear pie which was delicious!

Next week is Chinese, and the last week will be Jewish, in honor of Passover. However, we won’t be doing things kosher for Passover. We’ll just be making some favorites from my family, like the noodle kugel. Oooh, and matzoh brei. Yum, yum, yum.

I’m not sure what we’ll do the week after. Matt was thinking plain ol’ American. We don’t get to dine out at the frequency that we once did, but this way we’re making the yumminess at home all the time!

Rain, rain, go away.

It’s been raining since Friday. I feel like I should build an ark and start gathering twos of every animal.

With the exception of going to the gym yesterday and doing two supermarket runs over the weekend while Matt stayed with Isaac, I had been cooped up in the house with him all weekend long. I guess it worked out, because he had a lingering fever on Saturday from his 4 month vaccinations.

BUT, I do see 60+ degrees in the 10 day forecast.

Walking Naps

I love that going for a walk in the stroller with Isaac is pretty much a guaranteed nap. The weather has been pretty gorgeous lately, so it’s the perfect opportunity for fresh air, sunshine, exercise for me, and an effortless nap for Isaac. Isaac is otherwise not a great napper. (Well, except at daycare…for some reason he naps like a champ there, but at home it’s a struggle to make naps last much longer than 30-40 minutes.) However, on a nice day like today, all I need to do is stick him in the stroller and walk a few miles. I can even get my errands in. Trader Joe’s, CVS, etc.

I know that these guaranteed stroller nap days are limited, so I plan to take full advantage of this for as long as I can!

Isaac at Cold Spring Park on Sunday.

Oh, and by the way…

I’m going to start blogging again.

That’s my big fella!

Sick Mama

Being a new mom, I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. Things that were easy before are not-so-easy now. Namely, being sick. It used to be so simple…camp out on the couch with tissues, orange juice, tea, and the remote control.

Isaac had a cold in January, and a few days later, I caught it. I was by far the bigger baby than he was. Then last week, he caught another cold and I knew it was inevitable that I’d be catching it shortly after. On Sunday morning at 4:30 AM, I woke up with one of those “it-hurts-to-swallow-my-own-saliva” sore throats. Oh no.

Isaac’s at the age where he needs a lot of entertainment. Maybe I can get 20 minutes here and there of him playing on his activity mat or on his bouncy chair. Just enough time to make a cup of tea but not much opportunity to really rest.

I also don’t enjoy the lack of NyQuil. I had only one bad cold while pregnant and I really missed being able to take NyQuil. I didn’t realize that while nursing NyQuil would be out of the question, too. Plus, NyQuil knocks me out so well that I’m sure I’d sleep straight through any night wakings.

So, I just gotta suck it up! Matt can take care of the baby AND me tonight!

Achoo!