How you doin' on those resolutions?

It's Jan 31 and time to look at the progress of my New Year Resolutions (NYRs). Hope you're staying strong!

Achievable:

• No more chips or fries -- 31 out of 31 days!
• Attending church every Sunday -- 2 out of 5 Sundays
• Attending small group -- 0 out of 2 meetings
• Reading the Bible and praying everyday -- a handful out of 31 days -- gotta improve!
• Date night with hubby at least once a month -- eek -- 0 times
• Going to the gym at least once a week -- went once a week for 3 out of 4 weeks

Lofty:

• Blog everyday -- 30 out of 31 days
• Take a picture a day for capturng.com -- 30 out of 31 days
• Lose 8 lbs. -- 0 lbs lost, which isn't surprising since I only went to the gym 3 times this month

Pff! I wish:

• Learn to sew -- nope 
• Develop personal style -- I did start a Pinterest board 
• Go on The Price is Right -- nope
• Go on the Wheel of Fortune -- nope
• Get on The Amazing Race -- nope

I'm definitely crave fries when I'm eating out and chips when it's 10pm at night. I need to practice Christianity everyday. We have to have a date night in February -- it's Valentine's Day after all! And maybe I could increase my gym usage to twice a week. January's been a tiring month because my son and I are always sick at the same time.

As for blogging, I'm hoping to continue a post a day. Here's BlogHer's February badge and theme -- relative.

As for picture taking, I hope to continue a photo a day -- I can just imagine the album/calendar/poster/wall art I can create with all those images!

Maybe I'll pick up sewing. Maybe I'll take a class. Who knows. As for the other items on my "Pff! I wish" list, at least I started a Pinterest board. I even bought new items in January to serve as wardrobe foundations.

So, all-in-all, not a bad start to 2012. Here's to always growing, learning, maturing, and improving! 

Feel free to share your resolutions and progress too!

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Day 31: Fun at the Please Touch Museum in Philly

For those that haven't been, the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia is the size of a serious museum yo (that's Philly talk yo).

Because I'm a geek, here are images of several museums to compare with Please Touch Museum.

Day 30: What does the "organic" label really mean?

When I got pregnant, maybe even before then, the hubby and I decided to eat more organically. We dove in head first and starting buying all of our food at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Our grocery bills got a bit out of control, so we decided to limit our organic food purchases to meat, meat products, and the Dirty Dozen.

[Source: Eggland's Best]

Day 29: The missing puzzle piece

I bought this cool wooden puzzle from a nearby second-hand children's store, Emma's Closet. The pieces cover-up light-sensitive sensors, so that with each piece you put down, a phrase of "The Wheels on the Bus" plays. And when all the pieces are in their places, the song continues to "the driver on the bus..."

Day 28: Jasper's favorite activities

I don't talk much about the dogs on this blog, but just had to share these photos of Jasper, the 6-month-old puppy. His favorite activities are:

Getting beat up by Coco. Just kidding! They're just playing!

Social media overload? Nope.

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Day 27: Those aren't yours

Here are a few of the dogs' things that my son, J,
has just grown to love "playing" with.

The dogs' toy, the dogs' crate...

Recent instagrams

In case you don't have Instagram (lisacng), or don't follow me on Twitter, which is very likely that you don't, but you should, here are some recent snapshots of life taken with my iPhone 4S. Enjoy!

Happy 3rd birthday, Coco!

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18-months!

This week, J had his 18-month well-visit. He had 0 shot. WOO HOO! The only annoying, but understandable, thing that happened was the doctor stepped out for 15-min to take a call from a specialist about one of her very ill patients. Well, at least it was warm (he was only in his diaper) and J found safe things to play with in the office.

Anyways, J's growth is steady. Still big. Still tall. But at least in proportion. And no concerns about this development either. Yay! Check out J's list of words here.

15 month
Height 33.5 in (75th percentile)
Weight 28 lbs, 2 oz (75th percentile)
Head circumference 18.75 in (50 percentile)
*** Online percentile calculator

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Day 26: Thankful Thursday

Today, I'm thankful for a happy toddler, and I didn't even have to read Happiest Toddler on the Block.

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Mommy Mysteries 001

Because every good blog has a "series" of some sort, I'm staring Mommy Mysteries. I even have a link on the left to a dedicated link on the left sidebar.

I was inspired to start this series last night as I was playing with my son and he was poking my belly fat. Let's see how far this series goes. Please share (and receive credit) for contributing your Mommy (or Daddy) Mysteries!

So, without further ado...

Day 25: Happy toys

The hubby made the comment that he likes this monkey because it has a nice smile.

Um...right...because all of the other toys are so vicious.


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Day 24: LOOK. AT. THE. CAMERA

We traveled to Philly over the weekend for some family Chinese New Year time. Our 18-month-old (officially!) didn't nap Saturday, Sunday or Monday, except in the car for 30-min. Repeat, DIDN'T.NAP! A big thanks to the hubby's parents for letting us nap though.

Anyways, we got home around 9:30 pm on Monday, and after unpacking and having a bowl of ice cream, I was too cold and tired to post anything. Oh well. I'm not beating myself over it.

Since I won't have photos up until later, I thought I'd share a tidbit from our visit to the amazingly fun Please Touch Museum. If you are in the Philly area, I highly recommend it for young kids! When I post photos, I'll give a more in-depth review of the place.

 

On to the tidbit. We all love taking pictures of our kids, especially when we're in a fun place. But there was this one dad that was just hilarious and borderline annoying. He had one of those low, bellow-y voices that carry across the room no matter what volume he spoke at. But he was speaking loud when he said:

Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Maggie. Look at the camera. Maggie. Maggie. LOOK. AT. THE. CAMERA. Maggie. Maggie.Maggie. Maggie.Maggie. Maggie. MAGGIE. LOOK. AT. THE. CAMERA!

At least he didn't cuss, right? Dude, it's ok if she doesn't look.


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Day 22: Crockpot secret

First off, Happy Chinese New Year Eve!

 Soon it'll be the year of the mighty dragon and our mothers will be saying to us:

You should have a baby this year because it's the year of the mighty dragon.

Since I posted yesterday about the possible scandal of whose hands are in Rachel Ray's Look+Cook book, today's post is scandal-free. Today, I'm talking about the slow cooker. I don't know about you, but that was one of the first appliances we put on our wedding registry. I had never used one before but the thought of "setting it and forgetting it" was awesome! I hope have haven't infringed on any trademark with that quote.

We have a Crock-Pot, and everyone who sees it always makes a comment that it's HUUUUGE. It's "family size", ok? Plus, I like to make a BIG batch, eat it for like four meals straight, and save myself prep work and my hubby from doing lots of dishes.

I've only found one really good recipe out of the manual/cookbook that came with the Crock-Pot. It's for Carolina Pulled Pork, and the meat is moist, easy to pull apart, and goes great with vinegar on a toasted bun. But other than that, other recipes just make my house smell like really weird onions, so I've kinda put it away.

However, America's Test Kitchen put out a book last year called Slow Cooker Revolution, and I immediately had to have it! I find any recipe by America's Test Kitchen is foolproof because they've actually tested the recipe several ways to get the best results. So get their book if you want more use out of your slow cooker. They have recipes for stews, soups, casseroles, braises, sauces, desserts, and more.

But here's a tip for beef stew, and possibly other types of stew, from the book: To ensure vegetables get soft, but don't disintegrate into mush, wrap veggies in foil pocket and place on top of stew during cooking.

PERFECTO! We had the yummiest beef stew in a long while. Since I have a toddler at home, I didn't add any spice to it, but I sure do love a spicy beef stew. I topped mine off with some sriracha.

Got any slow-cooker secrets to share?

If you have this book, whadya think?

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Day 21: Whose hands are inside Rachel Ray's new cookbook?

Back story first. I received Rachel Ray's (RR) 30-minute express lane meals as a bridal shower gift, but don't like it much because (1) it has very few pictures, and I'm a visual girl, and (2) I tried a few recipes and was disappointed.

One day, last year, there was nothing to watch on TV so I tuned in to RR. She was doing a cooking demo and showing off her newest book Look+Cook. It looked pretty cool.

First, there are lots of pictures. It's called Look+Cook because the steps for 80% of the recipes are illustrated by several steps (the other 20% are in back and just text -- she put kid-friendly recipes here). You'll see photos of the ingredients thrown into the pan/pot, other ingredients added later, and of course, the final product. Thus, the concept is that you might not even have to read the directions. You can just look and cook!

Second, you can go online to watch some (or all?) of the recipes in action. I haven't done that yet but seems like a great feature.

Third, her recipes seem much more accessible (read "easier") in this book. No way did I make any of her 30-minute express lane meals in 30-minutes. But the ones in her new book seem pretty doable.

Ok ok ok, so now back to the post title that first intrigued you to click here :P

The only problem I have with the book are RR's hands. If you look at the cover, her hands are super smooth and, I think, airbrushed, but I could be wrong. If you know RR's editor/etc., please set the record straight. I'm not here to slander anyone!

But if you look inside, all the photos show hands that are rough -- almost manly. Now I don't want to say that RR has manly hands, but if they are hers, boy are her hands manly.

But if they aren't hers, why aren't they hers? Unless that's standard practice in the cookbook world. Slap a famous cook/chef on a cover, call the recipes his/hers, but make someone else make all the recipes and snap away. The famous cook/chef doesn't have time for photos for his/her own book.

What do you think? 

Whose hands are inside Rachel Ray's new cookbook? 

Submit your response(s) below!
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Day 20: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Two days ago I told you that my son's favorite word is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Here's where it's been in action.

1. Hubby told me this funny story: We were at The Playseum. Both J and another boy were eyeing the toy shopping cart. Both make a run for it. They get to it at the same time. J lets out his fiercest NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO accompanied by an angry eyebrow furl. The other boy is shocked, scared, and thus runs away.
2. One of us is reading to J. He likes to sit in our laps. Puppy comes along, wanting some lovin' too. J says NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and pushes the puppy away. This is MY time! Puppy happily obliges.
3. Hubby goes to pick up J from daycare. The kids are in the gym. Hubby bends down to say hi to another boy. J runs over, says NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, and (gently) pushes the other boy away. That's MY daddy! The other boy is confused. No boys were harmed in this incident.

He's not a bully, right? 

He's just being a toddler and learning to exert his independence?

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Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for open communication between me and my hubby.

On our honeymoon, almost 4 years ago

I'm even more thankful because he's usually the one that says.

Maybe there was some miscommunication. Let's work on it together.

Ok :)

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Day 19: You should know, you're a biologist

NickMom.com recently posted 9 most unintentionally confusing things mom say to their kids, and it reminded of silly things I say to the hubby. For instance,

You should know, you're a biologist.

Or some derivative of that.

My most recent use was when were giving our son, J, amoxicillin for a sinus infection. We were using a syringe to give it to him. I was in the habit of first pouring the amoxicillin into one of those little plastic measuring cups they give you with cough syrup. I would then fill the syringe from the cup.

[Source: Posion.org]

Well, one time J spit out a good amount of amoxicillin (imagine that). I needed about a 1/2 mL more, so I asked the hubby to get me some. He proceeded to stick the syringe that had already been in J's mouth into the bottle of amoxicillin! Of course I yelled,

You're putting the contaminated syringe into sterile bottle of amoxicillin? What are you doing? You should know better, you're a biologist! Would you contaminate your samples at work like that?

The hubby chuckled because he and his coworkers were just joking about that their spouses use the "you're a biologist" excuse all the time. Hey, in this case, I was justified. Anyone else with me?

Sometimes, I'm not justified. I admit it. Like when I ask about a physical ailment or why the body does such and such. His response is always,

I'm a biologist, not a doctor!

Ugh, there's a difference? Hehehe...

UPDATE!
By the way, I think those little plastic measuring cups are inaccurate because 1 tsp (5 mL) in the cup was about 0.75 4.75 mL (thanks for catching that Talking Thirty!) in the syringe. I tend to believe the syringe more because I remember that we should measure our liquids in pipets/graduated cylinders rather than beakers. Anyone else remember this?

Good ol' meniscus [Source: Volstate.edu]

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Cross-posting to BlogHer worked for me

Proof that cross-posting to BlogHer and their January "soup" did increase my readership (read this post on how you can do it too)!

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Day 18: How I didn't teach him to talk

Remember my OCD about tummy time and other milestones? Well, here's another one: talking to my infant (now toddler).

The screaming phase

Don't know if you remember reading this too, but almost as soon as a baby's born, you're supposed to encouraged to narrate the world to them. So I was a good student, and every morning I'd take J downstairs, read to him out of a book, and then walk around the first floor narrating the things I saw.

We're in the kitchen now. Oh, isn't it a beautiful day? What are you thinking? Did you have a good night? Good, because I'm really tired!

And when we went outside with Coco for her walk, same thing.

Isn't it a beautiful day? Do you see the trees? They are green. The sky is blue. Do you hear the cars? I have to bend down and pick up Coco's poo. Let's go home now.

First off, was encouraging me to narrate the world to J really just therapy for me? Seems like it, huh?

Second, the only words he knew before 16 months were Mama, Mum Mum, and Baba. No matter how much I narrated. 16 months of silence! Maybe the bilingual thing slowed him down.

Nevertheless, he spoke when he was ready. And boy, is he ready now! From 3 words all the way to 25 (on last count). His favorite is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. We really have to stop asking yes or no questions!


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Day 17: Our day off and my online haul

The day started out with a peaceful, take-our-time breakfast. The hubby and I chatted about photography -- purchasing accessories, new lenses, and possibly taking a course together. Other classes we chatted about were cooking, swimming (low on my list *wink*), and tennis lessons. We're trying to be proactive about spending time together! After breakfast, we went our separate ways because I had some shopping to do and he had some WOW to play!

P.S. I added an effect to my original photo in Picasa! And added a watermark. Who knew?

Sadly, I went home empty-handed after a trip to the mall. It really irks me when that happens, but I didn't let that stop me because I went home and did some crazy shopping online! Here's what's coming in the mail!

Ann Taylor Woodland Cable Crew Neck Sweaters, $15.95 after SHOPANN 60% discount (today's discount is WEEKEND for 40% off). Buy through ebates (referral link) for 2.5% cash back!

Ann Taylor Loft Petite Saddle Shoulder Cardigan, $20 and $16 after SHOPSALE 60% off. Buy through ebates (referral link) for 3% cash back!

All prices after ONSAVEBIG 25% discount (today's discount is NEWYOU for 30% off!)
Old Navy Women's The Diva Skinny Jeans, $22.13
Old Navy Women's Poplin-Stretch Dress Shirts, $19.88
Old Navy Women's Cable Knit Sweaters, $16.88
Old Navy Women's Cropped Cable Knit Sweaters, $12.97, How could I resist for $13? And cropped means it could be a shorter length! Buy through ebates (referral link) for 2% cash back!

So I guess the only thing I didn't get off my wishlist was a gingham shirt. No biggie because I got plenty! I just hope some of it fits! Ah, the risk of shopping online...

Are you taking advantage of any sales today?

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Day 16: The shortest weekend since...since...

This past weekend seemed like the shortest weekend since...since...since before our son, J, was born. I mean, when you're the only source of entertainment for a little person with a really short attention span, time passes kinda slowly. But J's almost 18 months old, and recently he's been playing more independently. Some of his favorite activities include playing with Mega Blocks, playing with the puppy (Jasper), and carrying bottles between the kitchen and dining room. I can actually just sit back and watch. It's so much easier than having to carry him from room to room, upstairs, downstairs. And so much less tiring than bending down to support him as he went from room to room, upstairs, downstairs.

Also, it's amazing how engaged he is with his environment now! Before it'd be hard even to take him out because he wasn't really all that interested in the world. Again, we'd be his only entertainment. And of course he wouldn't be allowed to crawl around, so you could imagine how bored he was just sitting in his stroller and/or in our arms. I'm still not sure how we got through the hour wait at the department of motor vehicles a few months ago.

So now, we just need to brainstorm more ideas for weekend activities besides the play area at the mall. Luckily, we're around a lot of museums and a lot of them free. Woo! I'm just looking forward to warmer weather since being outside at the playground is one of my favorite weekend activities!

What do you like to do with your kids on the weekend?

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Day 15: The Asian squat

Last week, on my photography blog capturng.com, I posted a photo of J and titled it "Asian squat". What is the Asian squat, you ask? It's when you can squat with both feet flat on the ground and hold that position for hours at a time. Yea, I said hours. Both images of my boy, J, were taken as part of a 366-photo project at my photography blog, capturng.com. I'm also posting images to Flickr, if you have an account. He's a really good Asian-squatter, isn't he? And I was worried about his development! I mean, and I was not worried about his development *wink*!

I rummaged through some old family photos to see if any one else in our family is a good Asian-squatter. I only found one. I was sure I'd find some Taiwanese cousins, but I must have left those pictures with my mom.

I'm on the left, and my sister's on the right. She's not doing a very good job though. See her knee touching the floor? She's got a lot practicing to do. Plus, look at the spread in those toes! Cheater.

I bet the daycare teachers find the Asian squat very odd. I use it a lot when dropping my son off. It's good for getting down to his level to take his jacket off, put away his things in his cubby, and to receive my farewell hug and kiss. I'm usually pretty balanced, unless I'm wearing a heel. Then maybe I take J down with me as I fall in slow motion. It's ok. We're low to the ground already anyways.

Try the Asian squat. You'll find it very useful!

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Day 14: Why I'm no longer concerned about milestons

Before every one of my son's wellness checkups, I'd read the relevant chapter in What to Expect making sure that at least he was reaching the "should" milestone and maybe even reaching the "maybe" milestone. He was always behind. Future J, thank goodness you haven't let this define you!

Rolling over at 3 months. Nope.
Playing peekaboo at 6 months. Nope.
Crawling at 6 months. Nope.
Talking at 6 months. Nope.
Walking at 12 months. Nope.

Since I don't have my book with me at all times, I used this list of milestones.

I went OCD trying to help my son rollover when the doc sounded concerned at his 6-month checkup. Every chance we got, he was on his tummy. He still didn't rollover until he was close to 9 months -- when his body told him it was time. No biggie, right? It's not like he wasn't sitting up or anything by then.

Next milestone I fretted over - walking. Everyone in my son's daycare class was walking by the time we started going. Don't get me wrong, he was a very good and fast crawler. He also had his own three-legged gangsta crawl. At his 12-month check up, the doc wasn't too concerned about him not walking, but at 15-months, he gave us the number to Infants and Toddlers.

I wasn't going to call except that the teacher at daycare told me a sad story. She said that when all the kids are running to the door to go outside and play, J's crawling behind them, protesting, because he doesn't want to be left behind. *Cue tears*

I called Infants and Toddlers and a few weeks later, my son was toddling around. Ironic, no?

These days, my son wants to walk everywhere...and on his own...no hand-holding. He also likes to run sometimes!

So hopefully I've learned my lesson and will stop comparing my son's development to what's considered "normal". He'll do what he wants to do when he can/wants to do it. Gosh, I hope I can remember this because the next big thing is going to be potty-training!!!!!!

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Day 13: Goin' shoppin'

I recently tweeted how awesome it'd be if my hubby and I both had off of work, but our daycare was still open. He said he'd play WOW and I'd go shopping. Don't judge us! We love spending time with our awesome boy, but sometimes Mom and Dad need a day off! Can I get an "amen"?

Well, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is coming up, and lo-and-behold, our daycare is actually open! I'm surprised considering they have in-service days, half-days for Parent-Teacher Conferences, two weeks off for Winter Break, and a week off for Spring Break...but that's my only complaint because otherwise I love them!

So, as promised in my tweet (follow me on Twitter), I'm goin' shopping!

I am currently obsessed with cable knit sweaters and gingham as worn by Extra Petite, Alterations Needed, Petite Little Girl.

J. Crew Honeycomb cable sweater | Gap Gingham Shirt | Gap 1969 Lightweight Real Straight Jeans

Other options are:

• Crewcuts Girl's Mohair Cable Popover, as seen on Extra Petite
• H&M gingham shirt, as seen also on Extra Petite.

What would you do with a day all to yourself?

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Day 12: The lies they tell expectant moms about sleep

[Source: Learn Something Everyday]

It's every new expectant mom's rite-of-passage to read a lot books like What to Expect, subscribe to Parents magazine, and gather lots and lots of advice from mommies...at least I did. Besides how many diapers and onesies will I need?, the other questions I had were related to sleep.

How much will my baby sleep? How do I get him to sleep? Do I let him cry himself to sleep? When can I expect to get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep? I know...selfish! And according to What to Expect, if my objective after having a baby was to get him to sleep through the night, I shouldn't be should rethink why I'm having a baby. Uh-oh.

Anyways, I let that particular comment go. Because, very much like that comment, many things that books and magazines and even *gasp* moms tell you about sleep are...wait for it...lies! Ok, maybe not lies but certainly not-always-applicable truths! Let me try to put into one paragraph the lies I was told. 

--- If your baby won't go to sleep on his own, try to have as little physical contact with him as possible. Try speaking to him first, then maybe patting his back. If all else fails, you may rock him, but only for the minimum amount of time necessary because if you coddle him too much, he'll never learn to sleep on his own, have sleep issues into his childhood and even into adulthood. He won't survive college (because he can't fall asleep of course) and will move back home with you, where you'll have to rock him to sleep every night. ---

Oh my goodness, I was sooo afraid to coddle my son too much! I talked to him -- no luck. I patted his back -- no luck, especially when he's supposed to sleep on his back! I rocked him for 5 min., let him cry for 5 min. Repeat rinse repeat. No luck!

Sleep-deprived and out of options, I weighed my alternatives. I certainly don't want my son to have sleep issues into adulthood...But I really want him (and me!) to get some much needed sleep...So, I'm just going to rock him as long as needed, and if that doesn't work, I'm going to hold him. I just knew that I'd regret these decisions -- he's going to be 30 years old and still need me to rock him to sleep!

Well, ya know what?! Even after all those combined hours of rocking and coddling, he's been falling asleep on his own pretty well starting around 5 or 6 months. There are times, of course, when he still needs a few hugs at 18 months. And we've been known to sit in the rocking chair sometimes as he tries to fall asleep. When he wakes up in the middle of the night because of nightmares or teething, we do go in and rock him a bit.

But you know what?! I enjoy it most of the time. Sometimes, I just him to hit the sack immediately. I've had a long day and don't have the patience for rocking, singing, and waiting! I enjoy the times I need to soothe him because he rests his tiny head on my shoulder, wraps his arms around me, breathes in and out so deeply -- it's just all so heartwarming. Usually, he'll have "enough" of all the coddling, lean towards his crib, and I'll know he's ready to go back to bed. So it seems like no harm, no foul! Whew!

I know every child is different, and maybe I just got lucky, but I just think that some advice is given with these warnings that are way too exaggerated! I mean that stuff about sleep issues into his college years, I actually read somewhere! So, expectant moms:

Take all advice with a grain of salt!
Follow your instincts and your heart!
Get your baby (and yourself) to sleep anyway you want/can!

P.S. The only advice I really take is try never to wake a sleepy baby!  Show some love. Leave a comment below
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Day 11: Boost your readership some more!

Last November (2011), I participated in blogroll for the event, and I received an all-time high of 146 pageviews! That may not sound like a lot, but hey, it was only like in the "tens" before, so 146 was a big deal for me!

So that's my first word of advice to boost your readership beyond posting RSS and email subscription links to your blog. Post your blog to other sites like BlogHer (for women), which gets many more pageviews that me! BlogHer agrees, by the way! Post your January posts on BlogHer now (which I need to remember to do too!)

After you've boosted your presence, be sure to post to social networking sites. Like I said in my last post, you can automatically tweet your posts and post them to Facebook (or do it "manually" like I do). When you tweet, be sure to add hashtags to your tweet so that people can search that hastag (or aka category) and hopefully find your blog!

Another great way to make your presence known is to read other blogs, perhaps those that blog about similar issues (or not), and build relationships with them! Follow them on Google Friend Connect, Twitter, Facebook, and whatever they're using! Then, read their posts and comment -- interact! It's always fun to meet new people who have similar interests to you. I used to scoff at online dating but look at me now, I'm online friending!

Lastly, a great gadget/widget to add to your site is from Link Within. At the bottom of all my posts, you'll see thumbnails of posts "You might also like:" -- that widget was created by Link Within. They have widgets for Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress (self-hosted). The "Other" option may just give you code that you have to insert somewhere. Glad I have Blogger! Anyways, the Link Within widget encourages readers to click through older posts that they may otherwise not have clicked to using your "archives", "labels/tags", or search engine.

In summary, to increase your readership, my advice was:

1. Cross-post to sites like BlogHer.
2. Utilize social networking! Post to Twitter and use hastags! Post to Facebook and include a thumbnail. People love visuals!
3. Read others' blogs and interact with them!
4. Install Link Within on your site to encourage people to click to other posts. Hopefully they'll want to subscribe and interact with you!

Again, hopefully this helps and hopefully you'll boost your readership and help boost mine! Happy blogging!



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Day 10: Publicizing your blog

For me, the way I've improved my blog is by reading other blogs. The really good ones have the following features:

• Great & relevant content
• Great visuals -- whether in posts, e.g. photos or images
• Good blog layout, easy to use 
• New blog posts regularly

Here are three blogs I draw inspiration from:

A Cup of Jo by Joanna Goddard hosted on Blogger. I love the simplicity and elegance of her posts. They all follow the same format. She finds the most incredible fashionable things around the web. She also blogs about her family and cute son, Toby.

Extra Petite by Jean hosted on Blogger. Her content is always relevant to petite clothing/fashion. Her photos are beautiful. Her blog layout is clean and easy to use.

From Me to You by Jamie hosted on tumblr. I love the graphics on this blog. Her photos are also gorgeous!

Ok, now onto the nitty gritty technical details of...

Expanding readership

• How to "burn" your feed (or blog url) so that people can subscribe to new posts using an RSS reader (I use Google Feedburner) -- Read more about feeds and RSS
• Other things to do in Feedburner: allow people to subscribe by email -- automatically add links like "email this" or "share on facebook" to the bottom of your feeds -- automatically tweet your posts
• Automatically share posts on Facebook

Of course, this is only one way to do all of these things. I decided to use Google products because it puts everything in one place -- easy peesy. If you have comments or other suggestions, please share them in the comments below or email me. 

Day 9 : The answer to "what's that smell?" is "I have an 18-month-old"

They say that the sense of smell is heightened in pregnant women, which is why some of them are constantly fighting their gag reflex. Lucky me, my sense of smell is heightened all the time! It must be because I have impeccable taste (*cue cheesy drum roll*) (if you don't get my joke, too bad, I made myself ROLF anyways *wink*).

Back to the question that'll forever be asked (whether out-loud or silently) of passengers in my car...

What is that smell?

Now, I can't blame it entirely on J -- my almost 18-month-old -- because it's not his fault. He was sick. But it only takes one "situation" for that smell to forever impregnate the interior of a car. No matter how hard you try, you're going to miss a spot on the carpet, upholstery, and/or car seat (seriously, how many nooks and crannies are in this thing? I really don't want to make my husband uninstall it and take it apart to clean it).

So, currently, my car smells like:

Lysol dual-action wipes | Resolve carpet cleaner | Febreze
Plus, I believe, oatmeal, milk and goldfish crackers

By the way, the Lysol dual-action wipes were great because one side of the wipes is rough (has "teeth"), which was good for trying to dig out what's encrusted into the nooks and crannies of the carseat's safety belt. Gosh, why can't they be smooth, like the belts they use in cars? Is there another industry for making child safety belts/harnesses? Did they all decide that the belts have to be grooved and thus harder to clean? Thanks so much!

Anyways, even though I'll be knocked senseless every morning by the mixture of smells, because of my impeccable sense of taste *wink*, I'll get used to it within a minute. Isn't the nose/brain both amazing and kinda easily fooled?



Making a paste of baking soda and water 
is too many steps, even if it'd help. So...
Please only share your easy suggestions 
for getting that smell out of my car ;).

Day 8: Parents brag-plaining

What's brag-plaining, you ask? It's when someone is speaking in a complaining tone but actually bragging at the same time. And anyone can do it, not just parents.

Wired Momma listed 8 pretty hilarious parenting brag-plains (this only a partial list):

1. Why can’t my kids ever sleep until 8AM? 
I would always complain that J only slept until 5:30am or 6:00am, but then I read what Wired Momma wrote, and I felt bad -- there are kids out there that only sleep until 4:30am!? And I'm talking about after a kid is sleeping through the night, like mine at 10 months, not sleeping until 6:00am at 6 months or anything.

The next two aren't really brag-plaining, but still annoying to hear ;).

7. I’d like to think my attentive parenting is the reason Annie never throws a tantrum.
Oh, I'm certainly attentive. At 17 months, I know what sets J off into a tantrum -- don't touch that, don't play with that, don't go there, don't don't don't. You'd be annoyed too, right? If your kid doesn't throw a tantrum, congrats because he/she is just pushing it off until he/she's older *wink*. Psych. I don't know.

8. Little Sarah is just so advanced. Of course, we read to her every night, play puzzles and never let her watch TV.
Sometimes I buy into the whole "TV is bad for kids after 2" research. Sometimes I remember back to my childhood and how much TV I used to watch -- I turned out fine. So I'm going to try not to feel guilty if I let J watch Sesame Street for a few minutes, or if he wants to YouTube his favorite songs again. You should see the size of the smile that comes on his face when we watch Hot Potato or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. You should also see the tantrum/tears that start when we have to pull him away from it!

Alright, so maybe I'm a bit cynical. You can't stop parents from bragging about their kids! I do it. I know!

But sometimes the awesome Facebook posts and the I-love-being-a-new-mom posts in the blogosphere are just reminders of how surprisingly extreme parenting has been for me -- high highs and low lows. Though one wise parent pointed out to me that bragging about the positives of parenting is good for the survival of the species. Imagine if all we ever heard were complaints, we'd certainly stop procreating! I know I was duped *wink* -- nah, just kidding, I wouldn't trade being mom to J for the world!

Though please stop me if I ever start brag-plaining or bragging too much! I'm trying to keep a real picture of parenting here!

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Day 7: Hopefully it's a short-lived stomach virus

For those with a weak stomach, feel free to click-away from this post ;).

J, my 17-month old, threw up twice yesterday -- once on the way to daycare. Great, now we're never going to get that smell out! So I cleaned him up when we got to daycare -- changed his clothes, gave his jacket a rinse in the sink -- meanwhile, one of the teachers whispers to me There's a stomach virus going around. Yesterday, so-and-so had diarrhea...so I'm just telling you...we'll call you if anything happens.  

GREAT! Right after J gets over his sinus infection, another illness comes right along to take its place. I just knew that I'd be receiving a phone call from daycare later that day. I did.

I spent the rest of the day slowly giving J water, which he threw up half hour later. I also gave him yogurt, which he threw up an hour later. And that night, he threw up again. It's a good thing we have a good supply of sheets and SleepSacks.

Luckily, he seems to be doing better this morning. He's keeping down milk, water, Cheerios, rice and potatotes. He's napping right now, and I'm hoping he doesn't throw up and we can all get some rest! I mean, look at this face! I wish I looked this good with a stomach virus. I feel a bit queasy, but I was sure to wash my hands a lot yesterday and today so hopefully I stay well.

via Instagr.am (lisacng)

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