Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Change the world, one sandwich at a time

Did you know how much a peanut butter and jelly sandwich can change the world? Check this out!

From the website of the Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Campaign:
A PB&J will slow global warming. Next time you have one you'll reduce your carbon footprint by saving the equivalent of 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over an average animal-based lunch like a hamburger, a tuna sandwich, grilled cheese, or chicken nuggets. That's about forty percent of what you'd save driving around for the day in a hybrid instead of a standard sedan. If you were going to have a ham sandwich or a hamburger, you save the equivalent almost 3.5 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

Go to their site to read more.

And pack your lunch!

Monday, May 21, 2007

A little too early for that?!

Although I haven't got a good picture (hard to take a pic of this moving activity...I will try for a video, tho), I am scared to announce that my daughter has learned to roll over.

Here is what BabyCenter says about rolling over:
Your baby may be able to kick himself over, from his tummy to his back, as early as age 2 to 3 months. It may take him until he's about 5 or 6 months to flip from back to front, though, because he needs stronger neck and arm muscles for that maneuver.

Yeah. Well.

She's 3 months old.

Back to front, front to back...across the room!

This is madness. You're supposed to be able to leave them alone still.

Guess not!

Do you think she just wants to be able to chase after her brothers!?

How often do we think about milestones for our children? How often are we rushing to the next stage, wishing they could start school, learn to read, ride a bike, get their drivers' license, walk already, talk already....I have always tried so hard to "live in the moment" with my kiddos, trying to enjoy the stage that they're in (even if I might hate it!) because I know it will be fleeting...But this is a little much for me!

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Big Brother, Little Sister


CIMG3365
Originally uploaded by imabima.
Sometimes taking family pictures can be like pulling teeth. In this case, Sam was begging to be in the pictures with his little sister! So of course, I obliged. Aren't they cute together? This is the best one even though Michael's hand is still in it. Both of them are looking at the camera (wow) and have relatively nice expressions on their faces. I can live with the hand until I figure out how to photoshop it out or something. (I do like the guy whose hand it is, so I think that should count for something!)
Happy Spring!

p.s. Sam is 18 months old and Yael 3 months as of this picture. Hard to believe that in just a few months she'll be that big and he'll be even bigger. Amazing.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

I love Mam Pacis!


Why? Because FINALLY, finally!!!! Yael is taking a paci, and it's the Mam variety. This is good good good because ...

1. It helps her to soothe herself.
2. It keeps her sleeping longer/quieter.
3. It helps her get to sleep easier.
4. It looks different from Sam's pacifiers!

What a lovely list.

Oh thank goodness for pacifiers.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Sam's Words


This week, Sam turned 18 months old! (Yael turns 3 months old next week, and David is 5 1/2!)


Here is a list of all the words Sam can say or sign, as of today (it seems like new ones come every day!)


Eat

Banana

Milk

Cheese

Cracker

Cookie

Fish

Bird

Doggy

Cat (sign)

Tiger (grrr)

Cow (well, he moos)

Out

Outside

Shoes

Car (vroom)

Book

Ball

Hat

Head

Nose

Daddy (but not Mommy, a whole other issue)

D - for David

Shh - for Yael

Baby

Help

Guitar

Bubbles


Not bad. I think there might be some more that I'm missing...

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Great Jewish Children's Books


There's a wonderful organization called the PJ Library, which provides Jewish children's books on a monthly basis to children. It's not national yet, but working on it. The idea, however, is fantastic for parents and grandparents. One way to encourage Jewish life is to encourage Jewish reading.

This is a great way for long-distance grandparents to stay active in the Jewish lives of their grandchildren too. One idea is to buy 12 books, one per month, and send them out monthly with a little note to your grandchildren. Feeling ambitious? Record yourself reading them onto a CD (use your computer for this one) and tuck the CD into the book. Now you have a personalized audio book perfect for your grandchildren, and what a great heirloom for them to hold onto -- Bubbie or Grandpa's voice recorded!

Not sure where to start? Check out the PJ Library's websitefor their list, or see this Listmania List I put together on Amazon (you can just add the whole list to your shopping cart, and no, don't get any kickbacks).

Happy Reading!

Miserable Babies...make miserable moms and dads

So Sam is teething. Hard core. As in, 4 teeth all emerging at the same time. Talk about pain. Poor baby. Coupled with some serious Dad-attachment, it makes for some miserable days. Right now he's sitting next to me, moaning, and watching Baby Neptune. Poor little guy.

Now onto the other baby. Last night she went to bed at (gasp!) 6:30pm and slept until 10:15pm! I was so confused that I did not utilize the amazing amount of time to a) sleep b)do laundry c) do dishes or d) anything else except sit in front of the television and work (play) on the computer. But then...12:45am comes along with her interpretation of playtime! Until 1:45am. Joy.

Seriously, sometimes I am beginning to think this baby stage is highly overrated.

On the upside, last night I set up Amazon Wish Lists for all three of my kidlets. Did you know you can do that? Up until now, I had to set up separate accounts for them in order to have separate wish lists. Now they're safely ensconced under my account, although they're not separately searchable. Still, if you want to buy my children gifts, now you can look at their wish lists. (And since I think my dad is the only person who reads this blog, this is a not-so-subtle hint for the grandparental gift-buying!)

David's Wish List
Sam's Wish List
Yael's Wish List

While you're there, check out some of my Listmania Lists and So You'd Like To...guides!

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Bottles! Another List

We have tried the following kinds of bottles:
1. Avent
2. Playtex
3. Evenflo

and we own a multitude of others.

Yael is not inclined to any of them. She prefers the "real thing."
Eventually she's going to figure it out....right?