Daddy's Parenting Style

So what happens when you leave Daddy in charge of the boys? Two words: zip line. Alternatively, those two words could be: emergency room.

It all started with a family trip to the zoo this past Friday morning. Anyone who has visited our beloved Riverbanks Zoo probably has heard the loud howling of the siamangs and seen their gleeful acrobatic swinging on trees and ropes. Enter my husband. He and Milo decide that we should have a system of ropes attached to our backyard play fort so they can swing around just like the siamangs. One trip to Lowe's hardware store, a couple of hours in the backyard using power tools, and they've installed a zip line that traverses our yard, starting at the play fort. Frankly I think this is a recipe for our first trip to the emergency room (I know, amazing, I've got two boys, ages 4.5 and 2.5, and we've not yet broken any bones), but the boys (my husband included) think this is ultimate fun. I guess Daddy is a whole lot more fun than Mommy. And that's okay.

Bisphenol-A Free Update

Well, we've received our Sigg bottles, which are now all the rage, seeing as bottle inventory on the Sigg website is vanishing rapidly. I suppose everyone is now in a Bispenol-A-induced frenzy. I must say, despite the annoyance at having to purchase new bottles and child cups, it was very nice to purge my cabinet of Bisphenol-A-laden items. I can't help but wonder about the melamine plates and bowls that are left behind and clearly scream "Made in China."

Anyhoo, I do like my Sigg bottle very much; it is very snazzy. I only wish that the mouth of the bottle was bigger to accommodate normal sized ice cubes. Oh well. The boys seem to like their pirate-themed water bottles too, and quickly figured out the mechanism for opening the sport lids. Their only criticism of the bottles is that they become cold to touch when we add ice water to the bottle. I don't think this will be much of a concern once we hit the 100 degree weather of the Columbia, South Carolina, summer.

To follow up on my earlier post on Bisphenol-A, Zola is not sucking on poison (phew!). Thankfully her Nuk pacifiers seem to be okay. For those interested, good and bad pacifiers are listed on the following sites: Squidoo and Z Recommends. Also, Zoe b sells organic, phthalate, and BPA-free goods, including the Natursutten pacifier, which I think is a little pricey. And, those wonderful folks at Z Recommends have created a guide to safe teethers. Sadly, many of Milo's and Calder's baby toys will be heading for the garbage shortly. I guess they've gotten a lot of use/abuse anyway. That's all for this afternoon until I get the urge to rant about phthalates.

Mr. Afi Koman

Following in the tradition of Christmakah, this Passover we have continued with our practice of incorporating the fun parts (and only the fun parts) of various religious holidays into our secular household. Milo had made an afikoman cover at preschool which I thought it would be a shame to let go to waste. So tonight, during our dinner of matzah ball soup (ok, so we do the food, too), I wrapped up a piece of matzah in the cover and made a big deal of hiding the afikoman in the next room for the boys to find after dinner for a prize (money). The boys were psyched, at first. But excitement grew to boredom for Milo and fear for Calder. In Calder's mind, "afikoman" became the name of a person who was hiding somewhere in the room and was going to get him "with a sword." His personification of the matzah, along with his pronunciation, led me to think he might have been worried about this guy showing up. Sounds similar, no? In the end, Milo found the afikoman, and negotiated some shekels for him and his brother as a reward. Only afterwards did he realize he forgot to get some for Zola. He refused to share his prize with her, but Calder offered her a dollar. All she needs now is a bank. Now, all is quiet, though I wonder if Calder is upstairs, awake in bed, wondering when Mr. Afi Koman is going to pop out.

What A Great Way To Start The Day

Yesterday morning it was Calder's idea to snuggle Zola in his bed, and Milo had to join in the yummy goodness.

Puppet Theater

After our recent visit to the Columbia Marionette Theater the boys have become excited about puppets. As we were walking our dogs around the neighborhood the other day, Calder jumped up onto a hilly area and proclaimed that he was on the puppet stage. Later on in the walk both boys were asking about the mechanics of puppet shows and Calder was calling himself the "Music Man"--I'm guessing the guy in charge of the music at the show.



I offered to make the boys a puppet theater and two days later, cardboard-a-flyin', contact paper-a-stickin', fabric here and there, and the boys have a theater. They are thrilled and have been performing often and noisily. Mostly Max (from the Maurice Sendak book "Where the Wild Things Are") has been beating on a parrot puppet. It's Milo's version of the Punch and Judy show, with a lot of musical interlude (mostly furious drumming by Calder) and various other puppets thrown in by Calder. Milo has also played his guitar on the "stage." The air here is thick with creativity and joy. Yay!

Three Months Old

Zola is three months old today! Hooray! Zola spent her three-month-old birthday going for walks with Calder and our dogs Beacon and Cleo, and hanging at the playground with Calder, Milo, and friends.

On a fashion note, Zola is wearing her Mommy's little red dress, which Mommy's Grandma Lucy made for Mommy when she was a baby! Many thanks to Gramma Bienkowski for keeping this treasure.

My Boys Are Growing Up

MILO

I did it. Yesterday I admitted that very soon I will be the parent of an elementary school child. I registered Milo for kindergarten. Starting in late August Milo will be enrolled in the public Montessori program at Caughman Road Elementary School, from 7:30 am to 2:15 pm daily. As is standard with Montessori programs, Milo's classroom will be multi-age, with three to five-year-olds (traditionally three-year old preschool through kindergarten). After next year, assuming we are pleased with the program, Milo will progress to the next multi-age classroom full of six to eight-year-olds (traditionally first through third grades). We were pleased with the Montessori program on our visits to the school and were happy that Milo was selected as part of a district lottery to attend the school. The Montessori program is somewhat of a school within a regular public school and the teachers are very dynamic and committed to the Montessori theory of learning. We think Milo will enjoy doing "work" every day and that he will fit well into the non-traditional (i.e., less rigid) classroom setting. Milo loves working on projects and the Montessori lessons, which are very much self-directed, should appeal to him. We hope! Assuming we like the program, Calder and Zola will follow Milo to Caughman Road. In 2012 the Weinberg Three could all be attending Caughman Road together. Ah, to think I will have to wait four years for such glorious convenience.


CALDER

On a related note, Calder will be starting preschool in August in the three's classroom at the Columbia Jewish Day School, where Milo spent the last two years. I pretty much have to drag Calder out of Milo's classroom at the Day School every day, so I don't think starting school should be much of a problem for him. Everyone at the Day School knows Calder too, although that may be equally because he is super cute (I'm not biased) and he's infamous for throwing mega tantrums as I drag him down the hallway at school. Although Calder will only be attending school three days a week (Wednesday through Friday) from 9 am to 1 pm, I truly will miss him everyday. I suppose only a mother would miss daily tantrums and fierce independence (okay, maybe he's not that bad).

Bisphenol-A Free

Okay, anyone wondering what keeps us stay-at-home moms like myself busy (aside from child-rearing, cooking, and house-keeping) can just read here. For the past few days I've mostly been going crazy wondering if my children have been exposed to too much Bisphenol-A, a substance used in the production of polycarbonate plastics that has estrogenic properties and has been shown in animal tests to cause health problems. While I had recently purchased some Born Free bottles for Zola (on the off chance that Justin or a babysitter could give her a bottle once in a blue moon), I'd not really pondered the health problems associated with Bisphenol-A or the prevalence of this substance in EVERYTHING. That is, until last Wednesday when at the playground some random mom mentioned a news story she'd watched and then my underused brain just went into hyperdrive. Suffice it to say I've now spent too much time in front of my computer trying to figure out which of the products we constantly use are harmful. There are some really good websites that help review baby/kid gear for harmful chemicals, such as Z Recommends, which has a handy Bisphenol-A-free shortlist, and the Green Guide has some good general information. Sadly, however, many of our favorite sippy cups and water bottles are now verboten, including my beloved Camelbak water bottle and the boys' favorite Nalgene water bottles. The alternatives are expensive, but hopefully worth it. The boys and I will be happily sipping from our aluminum Sigg bottles soon. But don't even mention pacifiers or teethers. I still haven't figured those out yet. Zola could be sucking on poison! All this worrying is brought to you by the wonderful product we call plastic. Happy Sunday everyone!

March Photos

Now that we are halfway through April I've finally uploaded some March photos here, including some photos from our friends Matt's and Cheryl's visit to Columbia, and the boys playing in snow flurries in PA. Enjoy!

Columbia Marionette Theater

Today I took the Weinberg Three to see "Aladdin" at the Columbia Marionette Theater. The boys enjoyed viewing the show while perched on my lap. About ten minutes into the show Zola decided she did not want to nap in her car seat and joined her brothers on top of Mommy! Everyone was happy through the hour-long show. Milo especially loved seeing the marionettes backstage after the performance. Milo's favorite character was the Genie, Calder loved the "Puppets, Mommy!!!", and everyone wanted to go on a magic carpet ride.

I took all of these pictures before we left for the theater.

Breastfeeding 101

Yesterday Milo had a few questions for me as I fed Zola.

Milo: Mommy, what does your milk taste like?

Me: I don't know--I think it's somewhat sweeter than the milk you drink.

Milo: Are they different flavors (pointing to my breasts)?

Me: No, I think the milk in each breast is the same (did you really think one was chocolate flavored milk???).

Milo: Well, can you try it? Can't you just . . . try it Mommy?

Me: Uh uh.

Milo: Well, does it feel good when Zola drinks?

Me: Hey, why don't you go get a book for us to read.

Editorial note: I have modified the exact wording of our above discussion for obscenity purposes because this is a family blog.

Potty Time

Calder now wears underwear! It has been a week now since our trying week of multiple wardrobe changes and sprints to the bathroom, and Calder is potty trained. After months of Calder proficiently using the potty when asked to do so, but not ever telling us that he needs to use the potty, we decided to go cold turkey and tossed out the diapers (except for bedtime). Calder seems to (mostly) have the hang of telling us when he needs to use the potty, and thankfully, most of the time his underwear is dry when we arrive in the bathroom.