Two Wheels One Baby

Sleeping
To prepare for having a baby in an open air loft with one bedroom, we knew we had to be crafty with the baby sleeping arrangement. We had no idea what to expect with baby temperament, but we knew from reading books and talking to other parents that for the first two months, you have to get up so much during the night that it may be better to keep baby close for convenience.

Kyle mentioned that he read something in his dad book, Be Prepared (really funny book, btw), that a newborn can safely sleep in many makeshift beds, including dresser drawers. We have a nice external california closet in our bedroom with drawers that are perfect bassinet size. In my attempt at baby minimalism, I simply bought an organic mattress from Absolute Organic Baby to custom fit the drawer. In addition to the drawer option, I wanted something more portable, so after extensive research, I found the baby Miyo Baby Hammock (shown left) designed by New Zealanders. You can see a video demonstration of the sling here. The hammock is great because it mounts to any standard door frame and folds up nicely for travel.

For the first few months, colicky Annika traded beds A LOT. She went back and forth from the drawer, to a boppy pillow on our bed, to sleeping next to me in bed. We have just now gotten into a more regular sleeping schedule with the hammock. Now, at almost 5 months, Annika loves the Hammock.

Secrets of getting ready
Annika LOVES white noise (clothes dryer, hair dryer, sleepmate white noise, microwave fan), so I have the pleasure of drying my hair with a toy attached to the cord for visual stimulation. She goes nuts!
Ice Skating
We bundled Annika up in her polar bear outfit, courtesy of Auntie Cory, to brave the 28 degree weather (10 degree wind chill), and go skating at the Fresh Pond dog swimming area. During the summer, it’s nice to take the dogs here and sit on the benches, but it makes for a perfect ice skating destination in the winter. The wind was too much for Annika so I got maybe 15 minutes of skating in, but it was really nice. I also fell on my tailbone because I was skating backward while playing with Gordo (our pug) and someone had thrown a rock on the ice while it was melting (since frozen). My skate hit the rock and I hit my ass. ouch.

Life is stressful – this afternoon I had to run the following errands in a snowstorm:
1 – pick up dry cleaning
2 – buy dishwashing detergent and cereal
3 – pick up produce share in condo lobby

Everything I needed to get fit into or on our stroller. I love this thing.

It’s the Quinny Buzz stroller and in addition to the bassinet shown, we have the traditional stroller and car seats attachments.

The stroller also came with a nice rain guard (shown) and a mosquito net.

Best Valentine’s Day present ever was having Kyle for a three day weekend because of President’s Day.

Speaking of presidents, we watched the documentary produced by Edward Norton, By the People on Friday night. The documentary film that was originally about a young senator who had the ability to inspire the youth turned into a behind the scenes play by play of the 2008 election primaries. There were great scenes of the Obama family, Axelrod, Plouffe and interviews with big media. The best part about the film was that it transported me out of this negative gridlock that is our political system back into the time of hope. I have to believe that Obama will move us beyond this crap.
Kyle took Annika grocery shopping on Saturday while I worked out and bought ingredients to make Shepherd’s Pie. I made some gluten free crust for it and it turned out really well.
On Sunday morning, Valentine’s Day, I made Gluten free banana pancakes that turned out oh-so fluffy, apple chicken sausage, bacon and a feta-tomato-onion scramble.

Pancake Recipe:

• 2 c. Bob’s all purpose gluten free flour
• 1 tsp. xanthum gum
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt

• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp. oil
• banana
• 1 tbsp. cinnamon
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. honey
• 3/4 c. soy milk
• 1/4 c. goat yogurt
• 1/4 c. applesauce

Mix wet ingredients in blender. Sift dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients gradually.
Since Kyle and I aren’t hip on the Vday consumer thing, we rode our bikes with Annika in tote in the Burley trailer to Target and Crate & Barrel to spend gift cards that we had received. Kyle had his eye on some ear phones at Target and I wanted more lighting for our loft. After 5 minutes of hard core decision laboring at Crate & Barrel, we decided on this beauty.
Biking with Baby:
When I was still pregnant, I often thought about how I could bike with Annika. Because I cycled every day of the pregnancy until 2 days past my due date, I was jonesin’ to get back in the saddle after she was born, but I new it would take careful consideration. I was concerned with functionality, ease of use and safety, of course. We have owned a Burley Trailer for about 4 years now. It was originally bought for towing the dogs or camping. I was pretty dead set against using the trailer to transport Annika because my only experience with it was on dedicated bike trails, not street traffic. But, I knew there was no way she was going to be on the bike in a seat until she could wear a helmet so the trailer was my only option.
Kyle harnessed her car seat base into the trailer so getting her in and out would be a simple click away. And as far as the safety issue is concerned, she is strapped into the car seat just like she would be in a car. Both the roll bar on the car seat and the roll bar on the trailer protects her head. Technically, this rig is not legal for her because Massachusetts law states that all children must wear a helmet, but I would argue that she is much safer this way than a child wearing a helmet, sitting in a seat mounted on the bike.
Pros:

1. protects her from the elements – wind, cold, rain, street dust
2. efficient – not that much heavier
3. load bearing – I can toss a bunch of stuff in the trailer with her
4. sturdy – absorbs shocks from street potholes and bumps
5. compatibility – switches between different bikes
6. safe
7. snooze machine – she passes out!

Cons:

1. set up – takes about 5 minutes to attach the trailer (luckily we’re blessed to live in a condo that provides an outdoor bike shed)
2. big footprint – hard to store
3. expensive

And to top off the Valentine’s Day, I bought this appropriately branded Cabernet, Cyles Gladiator, from Darwins LTD. on our hot chocolate pit stop. I’m a sucker for labeling. Speaking of labeling, I just visited the wine’s website and it turns out that they are banned in Alabama because it’s deemed pornographic. Oh Alabama, I’m speechless. If anyone wants to buy me a present, I’d love the t-shirt, ‘banned in Alabama’ from their website.

My first post as a mom! Life has been pretty crazy, especially with a semi-colicky baby.
Baby Stats:
Name – Annika Karin Ramey
Age – 4.5 months
Weight – 14 lbs.
Height – omg, I just had the pediatric appointment yesterday and I cannot remember. Just found her paperwork and she’s 25.5″
Dimeanor – colicky for the first 3 months and this has been slowly tapering off. We think she’s intolerant to cow protiens and peanuts from my breast milk.
Loves – bathtime, reading, standing up, her jumper, walks, sleeping in the burley trailer while mommy rides bike, mommy and me aerobics
Hates – childcare, sleeping for more than 3 hours, getting dressed, strangers holding her
Tolerates – lying on the floor for short periods of time, car rides
The picture above is us celebrating New Years 2010.
This posting was prompted by me winning the honor of reviewing a piece of baby gear: the Puj Tub. In prior posts, I have mentioned my preference for living modestly in a minimalist environment – less stuff, more life. This is somewhat difficult to do with a baby, but we have made it work. Our apartment is a one bedroom open air loft and the only separated space is the bathroom. Annika has traded off from sleeping in a drawer with an organic mattress, next to me in bed, on her boppy pillow on an ottoman next to our bed, and in a sling that mounts to the door frame in the bathroom (where she’s napping now).

Because we have little space and my design taste leans toward clean, modern lines, I jumped at the chance to review the Puj Tub because I was already familiar with the tub after doing some pre-baby online research. Becoming parents has made my husband and I want to become engineers…there’s a huge market opportunity to design for people like us that don’t need a bunch of gear, but rather a few very functional items.

Why do I like the Puj Tub?
1 – stores by hanging flat so it can drip dry
2 – it’s white with no frilly embellishments
3 – the tub fits in any residential bathroom sink

Why the Puj Tub may not be perfect for a colicky baby?
1 – bathtime has always been Annika’s favorite activity….even when she was crying herself crazy, we could put her in the sink surrounded by warm water and she’d immediately settle down. The more immersed she was in water, the best. Since we only have a stand up shower, the sink is our only option, but whenever we have traveled with her and a bath tub has been available, she has loved bathing with us, floating on top of the water on my legs.
2 – because the Puj Tub is designed to be safe (can’t fault them for that), it allows for Annika’s bum and a little of her belly to be covered.
3 – Annika has always liked stretching out rather than sitting and the tub is condusive to a perpendicular position.

With all this being said, this is the only tub that works with our lifestyle. If Annika was more of a sponge bath baby, then it would be perfect!

Check out the Puj Tub for yourself at Puj’s new website for baby bath tubs!