Poor baby.

Nina has very few toys. In fact, everything she has (not including books) fits inside her tent.

No matter how many toys Nina might have, though, it looks like right now her favorite thing is her blue horse.

So much for sticking to the No Plastic Toys rule.

Back to square one.

So. I started this blog a couple of weeks ago, but couldn’t decide how I would present myself in the blogosphere. For some reason I thought it would be easy, that words would just fly out of my fingers and I would have a witty, polished, google-worthy blog. Never mind such facts such as (1) I really just started this blog to keep in touch with friends and family; or (2) I’m not a writer by trade and words rarely fly out of my fingers; or (3) I’m not a pundit, which means no one will be googling me anyway. But silly as it may be, not having the perfect blog persona was starting to stress me out! I mean, in previous incarnations of my self I know exactly what I would have blogged about.

Por ejemplo: If I’d started it in 2001, it would have been about my love affair with Chicago. Any time between 2002 and 2006, it would have been about running. And, if I’d started it while I was pregnant, it would have been about veganism, animal rights, and the environment.

What I do know is, when I started this blog, the one thing I didn’t want it to become was yet another blogumentary about all things mommy.

Well, I’ve come to the realization that, at least for the time being, all that other stuff from my pre-Nina life takes a backseat to motherhood. I still love Chicago, but now my love affair has taken a turn for the bittersweet as we are getting ready to move to North Carolina. The last real distance I ran was only eight miles, and it was the day before I found out I was pregnant. And while I am still a vegan, I’m not militant about it and don’t have the energy or desire to be an activist right now. I’m sure shades of my previous selves will find their ways into this blog, but like it or not, right now I’m all about being a mommy.

So, I’ve become a cliche. Motherhood really has changed everything. I’m still not quite sure what this blog will end up being about, but there will be lots of stories and photos of Nina posted as I try to figure things out.

my little bookworm

I am a bibliophile, a bookworm through and through. My parents taught me to read at an early age, and as far back as 2nd grade I can remember wanting nothing more than to read, read, read. I had my nose in a book every chance I could get – in the car, at the dinner table, in the bath, during church. My parents were pleased that I was so taken with the written word, no doubt, but since they weren’t avid readers themselves, the didn’t really get it. As I got older, it became obvious that my predilection for books was something that set me apart from the rest of my family. It exasperated my mother, who could never fathom why I would rather read a book than watch tv or go shopping. “You just wait!”, she’d tell me. “Just wait until you have a daughter of your own, and see how you like it when she always has her nose in a book!”

Cut to 20 years later, when I do have a daughter of my own. Suddenly my mother’s words are ringing in my ears, but instead of the intended meaning, I worry that my daughter won’t like to read, that my mother’s words will become some sort of reverse jinx.

Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case. J

the Chicago AP’s heaven that is Be By Baby

I know I’ve said it’s easy being crunchy in the city, but I owe a lot of it to a wonderful store called Be By Baby. For a crunchy-hippie-baby-wearing-cloth-diapering-co-sleeping-attachment-parent like myself, this place is a dream come true! Cloth diapers stacked a mile high, and the same price as what you will find on the web. A huge array of wraps and carriers, from the mainstream Ergo to mei tais made by a local WAHM. A great selection of nursing supplies and clothing, wonderful natural puzzles and toys…I could go on and on. And they offer classes on just about anything you can imagine. This store celebrates attachment parenting, is vegan and eco-friendly, and they host more playgroups, meet ups, and classes than you can shake a stick at. Spending money at this store has been guilt-free retail therapy for me, but for every time I’ve spent money, there are twice as many times that I’ve just dropped in to discuss APing in the city, get help with a new way to wear the baby, or just let the neenster stretch her little legs and run around the back room. Be By Baby is so much more than just a store, and I will truly miss it when I move.

deal breaker

Oh wow. I can’t believe I waited this long to look at the program schedule, and at the same time, I’m really glad I didn’t do it any sooner. I’m referring to the program schedule for WUNC, the NPR affiliate station for my new place of residence. Obviously, there will be no Eight Forty-Eight. I get that. And I suspected I would no longer get to hear Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, which is ridiculous because not only is it the ONLY rock and roll talk show on the air, but it’s awesome. But I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Science Friday missing from the line up…and then I remembered that it is actually on in place of Talk of the Nation on Fridays in most cities. I called the station to confirm. Whew. That could have been a deal breaker. Of course, I will still be subjected to the inanity of Click and Clack.

laissez faire parenting

I gave the baby french fries. Okay, she’s a toddler, not a baby, but still. I gave her french fries. Bad mommy.

We also let her watch Sesame Street a couple of times a week. But she’s learning about triangles, so it’s all good.

I Heart Chicago

Sixty days until the big move. This is a good thing, but I’m really really really going to miss Chicago.

Shades of Green

Living in the city pre-baby, I always found it easy to be green. I didn’t own a car, I belonged to a CSA, I did my part to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. It helped that on a cultural level being green was a novelty, the hip thing to do. I did it for all the right reasons, but it was still pretty easy.

Becoming a parent has catapulted me from green to crunchy. I do things with conviction! Gusto! Passion! I don’t think twice about schlepping diapers to the laundry room at 5 am on a work day because we are running low – I don’t enjoy it, but I do it without a second thought.

So, how am I crunchy? Let me count thy ways:

-cloth wipes and diapers
-natural childbirth with a midwife and doula
-co-sleep
-babywear
-selective vax
-follow an AP/natural parenting philosophy
-extended bf
-made our own baby food
-follow a vegan and mostly macrobiotic diet
-follow a vegan lifestyle
-migrating away from processed foods
-participate in a CSA
-buy locally
-use only cloth shopping bags
-use cloth cleaning rags
-reduce, reuse, recycle
-huge supporter of the gifting community (freecycle, etc)
-line dry
-use “green” cleaning products
-starting to use natural cleaning products
-very limited amount of television
-walk, bike ride, then use CTA for transportation, drive as a last resort

On the move

We’re moving from Chicago to North Carolina, and I’m starting this blog as a way for family and friends to see what we’re up to. Who’s to say how it will evolve?