Cherry Blossom Festival...Kind Of

We went to a "Cherry Blossom Festival" in downtown Denver today.  Contrary to its name, there was not an actual cherry blossom in sight.  There was a lot of touristy Japanese stuff though.  I was hoping for a little more true Japanese culture, but we still had a really nice time.  Perrin had her first udon and seemed to like it!

The food was really yummy, which was enhanced by my nostalgia for my time in Japan.  I had beef and veggie udon, and some mochi!!  I like mochi.  I was hoping to run across some Totoro loot, or some kind of studio Gibli treasure, but no such luck.  The whole thing felt more geared toward people who just wanted to be out on a pretty Saturday afternoon and be touristy.  

After the festival, we walked around downtown until we realized we were walking toward ice cream.  Really when you think about it, aren't we all always just walking toward ice cream?...Wait...what was I talking about?

So there was this adorable ice cream shop in the Highlands that looked like a giant old fashioned metal milk canister.

I had some caramel banana gelato.  So good.  I love that Perrin is too young to know when I am not sharing equally with her.  I mean she is a baby--what does she care--steamed carrots/ caramel banana gelato--whatever.  

Above is Perrin being super safe--holding onto the train handle while in a backpack worn by someone holding the train handle.  Good girl.  The stuffed deer strapped to the pack was just today dubbed, "Enrique."  I am not sure why the deer is Hispanic, but isn't that pretty presumptuous of me?  What makes me think that Enrique is white?  

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Going to this festival made me think of my time in Japan about a million years ago...another life...  I thought it would be fun to indulge and show off some of my pictures from that time.  Enjoy your Sunday all!

 

 

 

Babies are hard.

One of the things about having a baby (and maybe this is true for a child of any age...oh dear god) that stands out to me as a new parent is just the way in which you can never relax.  Maybe I should speak for myself, but I imagine this is fairly prevalent feeling among parents.  To be honest, I don't know how we do it--live as though walking on egg shells for so long.  Obviously it can be done--Perrin is getting ready to turn one and we continue to carry on, and the current world population is over 7 billion people--so people are managing.  But sometimes, especially when I am over tired and Perrin is in a grumpy mood, I just don't see how we do it.

When she is napping or sleeping at night, I am trying to be quiet and constantly listening for her--even when I am not consciously doing so.  When she is awake and playing or eating you are on edge watching for dangerous things that could go in her mouth, things that can be pulled down or over--always with the looming threat of the cry or at least emergence of the grumpkin. 

I frequently find myself thinking, "Why did no one warn me that I would feel uptight and not be able to relax--for years?"  But why would they?  No sense giving a parent-to-be more to worry about when there is not one thing they can do to make it not so. I have always considered myself a laid-back person; and I still try to put up that front.  But man, this business is not for the faint of heart.

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For Joseph's first Father's Day we ate some breakfast out at The Fat Frog Cafe, then went to the Botanic Gardens in the big city.  Perrin was pretty antsy at the restaurant since she was missing her nap, but it did enable us to eat a Nutella crepe, so bring it on baby.

The Denver Botanic Gardens are so beautiful.  Just walking through the air filled with all those flower smells does your soul good.  

It rained a bit which gave us the opportunity to seek shelter in a sweet little gazebo with an ice cream cone.  Perrin stayed in a pretty good mood all day, but napped surprisingly little.  I guess flowers are just too exciting.  The Gardens also have a wonderful children's area--sort of a mini garden with a built stream for wading and some play areas.  

So happy late Father's Day to you Joseph.  You two make quite a pair.  My favorite pair.  

Parenting Books

A few weeks ago I realized that Perrin was starting to do things that I didn't want her to do, and I wasn't sure when it would start being constructive for me to tell her "no."  This sounds like a petty thing, but when it is your first child and they have not yet had the physical skills or the will to do anything too rotten, it is a very strange feeling to suddenly hold them accountable for their actions for the first time.   

Perrin's main two offenses right now are pushing buttons on the stereo and pulling books off of shelves.  She can be pretty persistent too...she will crawl way out of her way to get around me and whatever I am trying to block her way with to get to the stereo.  I try not to kick up too much of a fuss because I don't want her to do it just to get attention.  So I just say "no" in a voice that I hope sounds firm and authoritative, pick her up and plunk her down in front of something that is invariably less fun than the stereo.  Sometimes this works, sometimes we do this dance three or four times in a row.  

The point being, I picked up a few parenting books at the library and have been doing some reading.  While I know I could raise my daughter just fine without out research, I do appreciate some good scientific research on baby brains and tested advice from people with experience.  

There are three that stood out to me as pretty logical and grounded, but one stood out even from the other two.  It was Brain Rules for Baby, How to Raise a Smart and Happy child from 0 - 5  by John Medina.  This one was just enough science for people who what to know the WHY of it all.  The book refers to a lot of studies and brain research, but isn't dry at all.  He is able to distill lots of scientific information into a manageable about of bullet points that you can really focus on instead letting you wallow in so much information that your brain just rejects it all.  One of my favorite take aways was EMPATHY.  That helping your child develop it is a major advantage for them, now and into adulthood.  He also talks about the importance of modeling it for them in your relationships with other family members.  Empathy is just good for everybody.  

Another book I found lots of useful information in was Simplicity Parenting,  Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids  by Kim John Payne, M.Ed  This one is about simplifying our kids stuff, the speed of our daily lives and our routines (or lack thereof).  Most of what was in this book felt like it really agreed with my instincts, and some seemed obvious after reading it, but it was good to have it stated explicitly so that you could give it conscience thought.  

Lastly, I liked Raising a Self-Reliant Child,  A back to basics parenting plan from birth to age 6  by Dr. Alanna Levine.  This one emphasizes giving your child the freedom to do for themselves that they are able to do on their own-- whether it is feeding, dressing, walking, play.  Lots of this felt fairly common sense, but again, I think it is good to give explicit thought to some of these seemingly common sense things, so that you can CHOOSE to have these behaviors instead of probably/maybe falling into doing them.
 
Ok, P's nap can't last much longer...Here are some pictures of the Perrin happenings this week.  Enjoy the weekend!

 

I need to be folding laundry...

Right now I need to be folding laundry and stuffing diaper shells...but I am having a beer and as I drink it, I am seeing how all the things I thought I needed to do tonight (including showering myself) seem like things that, really, I could probably fit in tomorrow morning before Joseph gets home from his work trip.  I haven't even feed myself dinner and it is 8:20, but it just seems like so much trouble right now.  Perrin is in bed---I just want to sit on the couch with my beer and pet my cats.  I feel like a bachelor- minus the cat part.

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I know numerous people right now who are pregnant with their 2nd and 3rd babies.  There is just something about other people you know having babies that makes you feel like you are running late when it isn't you.  Something in your brain just thinks, I've got to get on this. We are behind!  Why is that?  My only hurry would be (this is going to sound harsh) I am looking forward to having newborn stage babies behind me forever!  No baby #3 for us...and the first months were so stressful that I would like to go ahead and get it over with sooner than later and just get on with the business AND PLEASURE of being with my family who can all hold their own heads up and sleep through the night.  

Ok.  I'm going to get up and do things that need to be done.  Grrr.  Have a nice weekend all!

"You don't want 10 more of me, mama?  But I am so darling and sweet--just look at me!  Oh, and I just threw up a little on the floor over there."
-Perrin