Very Merry Bottle?

In continuing with ideas about bottles... One thing that's popular during the holiday season is of course drinking. With the holiday parties and dinners, people are often very fond of putting in their two cents on drinking while pregnant. I'm not a heavy drinker, but I do enjoy the occasional glass of wine with dinner, or cocktail on those rare occasions when I go out. I will admit to finding it frustrating to have a conversation about the topic every time I either decide to drink a half a glass of wine (or not).

So I set out to at least make sure I educated myself. I read all manner of science articles and popular press articles. The bottom line is that most web sites geared towards pregnancy are very quick to say that the only thing that is safe is to have nothing at all. While I somewhat understand this approach because it is very difficult to say how much is "safe" when (most animal studies with negative effects have used high doses in very young animals), it strikes me as a bit like saying abstinence is the best safe sex policy (but of course that's a different conversation). One of the only articles I found that would actually say that some is ok is the one below.

Study OKs Some Wine During Pregnancy | Health News | News & Features | Wine Spectator

Of course it's up to every pregnant woman to decide for herself. Any thoughts from other people out there?

Regardless, a very Merry Christmas to those readers who celebrate and Happy Holidays to all!

Quick Observation

Whitney has started taking great pleasure chewing her food and then spitting it out. Sometimes dramatically. She does this with all kinds of food, even food I know she likes. Today's lunch was an amazing display of crushed peas, carrots and pasta that she managed to dump onto her seat and then sit on. Lovely.

Makeup

Makeup Makes Women Appear More Competent - Study - NYTimes.com

'via Blog this'

I read this article a little while ago, and I've been on and off thinking about it ever since. I don't wear makeup. Not a lot of people in the science world do, and the ones who do, often do it wrong. I've been toying with the idea of wearing some, just to see how it goes. But I'm torn. Am I just giving into the social norms that in many ways I've worked so hard to fight against (by being a woman and a scientist)? Or am I, by being more "feminine", contributing to breaking down those barriers by showing (hopefully) that you can be smart and wear makeup too? I think I'm going to come down on the side of wearing the tiniest bit of makeup (maybe some subtle eye shadow, a little concealer, and some tinted "chapstick"), but that's not my final decision and it would be great to hear what others think.

Air Travel

Recently I took a trip with my DD and my Mom to go to a wedding. Unfortunately, my husband was not able to come with us. The trip required 3 plane trips - one on the way down and a two parter on the way back. I'm not gonna lie - this trip scared the crap out of me. So I did what I always do when I am scared - I planned. I bought these little ear plugs that reviews swore Whit would wear and were supposed to help with the pressure change. I got Whit a book called the "Noisy Airplane" and read it to her several times before we took our trip. I packed her diaper bag full of snacks she loved and her current favorite toys. We were ready. Or so I thought.

Fast forward to the first trip - we got through security no problem - even with the bottle of milk I packed for her. Whit was so excited by all the activity at the airport that I swear someone must have slipped her some crack. Ok, not really - but I was not prepared. She was all over the place! We tried to let her run around a little, but there were so many people I wanted to keep her close. This was precisely the opposite of what Whit wanted. No big deal - right, we would board soon. Except that we didn't, the plane was delayed and delayed and delayed. When the plane finally got there we found out it had hit a bird and we had to change to a new plane at a new gate. By this point Whit was wound tighter than top. On the plane I couldn't even get the ear plugs near her - all she wanted to do was explore the plane - which was overbooked so there was no way she was going anywhere. Cue crying and screaming. Yup, I was that parent. At least it only lasted about 10 min. She had a hard time with landing as well - and I swore I would try the ear plugs next time.

The second trip was actually worse. I had this brilliant idea that we could survive without a stroller - since we also needed a car seat and I didn't want to carry all of that. Big mistake - you need a stroller in an airport - period. So the transfer between flights was not my favorite. Also on this flight, Whitney's bottle raised all the alarms at security. They had to search our bags and they tested the milk itself to make sure we weren't planning to make a bomb or something. On the flight Whit freaked out. The ear plugs were a failure - all she wanted to do was play with them. As we sat on the tarmac she made sure everyone on the flight heard her scream. She was so tired - all the excitement of the trip was just too much. The only saving grace was that she finally fell asleep and slept through most of the second plane ride.

End result - I'm not sure if all my preparation did anything. It might have actually made it worse. One thing is for sure - we will not be taking another plane ride until Whit is a bunch older - unless we absolutely have to.

Ditching the Bottle

My son just turned 2 years old. He still drinks milk from a bottle before bed. Now, I don't think this is a bad thing, but I'm curious about what others think.

Let me explain why I don't think this is bad. First, he's not going to be 10 years old and still drink from a bottle. So I think it just doesn't matter right now. There are some battles you fight, and there are some battles that aren't even worth thinking about.

Second, it's part of our bedtime routine that we all love: potty (optional), bath, diaper, pj's, milk in the rocking chair, 2 stories, good nights, and 2 songs. Many times that bottle is the only time of snuggly peace that either myself or my DH gets with him.

So is it selfish? Maybe. Do I care right now? Not particularly. Tell me I'm not alone.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

And then there were 3

Hello -

I'm Eve - Mom number 3 to the group. Of course I am the last to post when I am the only one working part-time. You would think I would have ooddles of time on my hands. But, no - it doesn't seem to work out like that. Eve isn't really my name, btw. I work in an industry (live theatre) where people look you up on the web ALL THE TIME. Since I want to be honest with you - we'll have to agree to call me Eve. 'Nuff said.

I have a wonderful daughter named Whitney (real name - I would so screw up a pseudonym in about a half second with her). She is 16 months as of tomorrow, has brilliant red hair and loves markers. Loves them with a capital L. Makes me wish I never brought them into the house. Anyway, I digress.

My husband starts a new full time job on Monday, so we are just now entering into the "What the f*ck do we do about child care" phase. Should be good for a couple of posts I am sure. Other than that I need to start working on puppets - pronto. A set for Owen and one for a cousin. :) Maybe I will post the results up here too. I'm not really sure what my contribution to this blog will be - I guess we will both have to wait and find out.

Somebody please tell 'em who the eff I is

G’day. This is Amy. My son Owen is, as of this posting, not quite a year old. He is our Hail-Mary baby, born after three years, six cycles of IVF and what would have been a down payment on a very nice house. Did it suck? Yes. Was it totally worth it? OMG, yes. That little boy just gets more awesome every day.

The Husb and I both work full time. He is a scientist, currently wrapping up The Longest Post Doc Ever, and I work in healthcare advertising.  I used to work at an agency in New York, all MadMen-style (only without the scotch, and fewer office sex scandals).  The hours and commute of that job quickly proved to be far too ridiculous to keep up (also, it sucked), and I’ve taken a more reasonable position closer to home. It's slightly less absurd, but working 45-50 hours a week, and commuting for another ten or so is no picnic.

Herein, I will tell you how much I love and hate everything about working and parenting.

Neuroscience

Because I'm a scientist in a world of science academics at a major university in a sub-field where there aren't that many women, and even fewer with kids, I've chosen to remain anonymous for now. That was actually a difficult decision, because I think one of the most challenging things about being a woman with this career is the fact that there are so few role models. It is difficult enough to be taken seriously as a woman, never mind as a mom and blogger.

So I start from here. I have my Ph.D in neuroscience. While completing my thesis, I had my first child with my DH (dear husband, for those who don't regularly read blogs) who is also a scientist in academia. I'm now a postdoc, and am pregnant with our second child. I'm amazed and probably a still a bit in disbelief that we are about to start this adventure for a second time. I look forward to sharing it with you all.

Obligatory First Post

Every blog has to have that post, you know, the first one. Where the authors try to say something witty and intelligent that will convince you you want to keep reading. So here we are. Three high school friends who took different paths in life but who still have a lot in common. We all have a child under the age of two and we all have careers. So, we thought we would write about it. We'll each be writing a little bit to introduce ourselves, and start to tell our respective stories.