Cora's Room

Boy Do I Love The Swing!!

I went to my friends Ron and Dannica's house yesterday.  They had this cool swing that i could sit in, and go back and forth.  This is soooo cool!  Mommy, Daddy...are you watching??  Get me one of these.

Oh, also.  I thought it was Spring.  I thought we lived by the beach.  Why is it so cold???

My First Seat in a High Chair

Hi Everyone -

Daddy being the ding dong that he is, took my stroller in the car he took to LA to do his radio show.  So, Mommy didn't have any choice but to try a high chair.  I loved it!!

Here I am taking my first high chair seat ever.  Check it!  Apologies for the grainy photo...the lighting was....um....'romantic'.  Bye.

Uncle Wardie Has No Milk!!

Hi Everyone -

Uncle Wardie is in town.  He's been on something called a 'world tour' with someone named Vienna Teng.  Apparently, the world tour takes him really far - like all the way past CostCo in Encinitas.  That's far!

Well, as you see I was tryin to get some milk from Uncle Wardie, but he wasn't giving it up.  Luckily, Mommy swooped in and saved the day with my favorite boobie - a little number I like to call "lefty".

I hope everyone is having a good time out there, and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Stuff Is Hard....

Wow everyone -

I just got this new chair.  I can sit in it, and there is a ferris wheel of stuff on it.  It's all multicolored, it spins, its a real mystery to me.  It seems like every time I touch it, a new thingie pops up to bemuse me.  Look at my razor sharp focus here.  I'm enthralled!

Mommy's 5 tips for using tummy tubs, bucket baths, washpods with infants

Mommy here, interjecting on Cora's blog to talk about tummy tubs. I was surprised to see that Tummy Tubs  or Bucket Baths - I didn't even know they were called that - are big in the news right now (#1 on Google Trends too). Let me offer some tips and backstory as to why we bought ours - and why we continue to use it.

First of all, Cora loves her dunky dunk time.

Backstory: I bought our baby bath tub, the Prince Lionheart washpod, at The Right Start for $24.99. I was pregnant and asked the store clerks about bathtubs. They told me that this one was very popular with the Europeans and that they swore by them - especially for collicy babies. She said that when your baby is crying and out of sorts - putting them in the water was a really calming and she had seen them stop crying on entering the water. Concerned my future baby could have colic - I bought it in a hurry. When my husband saw it, he laughed and said I got suckered into paying $25 for bucket. But Cora did love it and loves it to this day, 5mo.

Tips for using a bucket bath with an infant

1. Add your bath soap last if you're going to use it at all. Seems like a no brainer if you've ever taken a bubble bath - but putting the soap in first will make lots of bubbles, not necessary for newborns. I put warm water in the tub first, then squirt in a little bath soap before putting her in. Sometimes I just use the bathsoap by wash cloth and not in the water at all.

2. Hold your infant in the water in the beginning if you are uncomfortable with sitting her in the bottom. Using the tub was actually a little bit awkward when Cora was brand new. I immersed her in the calming warm water by holding her under her armpits and lifting her in and out. She never cried when I used this tub, even when she was just a few weeks new. The only time she cried - and it was just once - was when someone other than myself put her in the tub.

3. So, how do you wash your baby if you're holding her with both hands under the armpits? I swung both of her arms over my left arm (had our bath soap close by) and washed her with my right hand.

4. Where to use the tummy tub or washpod: I'm sure every mom has a different answer for this. We put the pod in the kitchen sink. When I used it in the bathtub it was too hard for me to bend over and do all this. I wasn't just sitting next to her like the picture on the tub shows.

5. How to wash hair. Sometimes I use the kitchen faucet in spray mode to rinse Cora's soapy head when washing her hair. Just be careful you have the water just the right temperature. :-)

Bonus tip: And of course, don't forget to take her socks off.

I just watched the YouTube demo for how to use a Tummy Tub and I couldn't have put her in like that and just held her head when she was brand new. The act of our baby entering the water (even if we were holding her up) was plenty water comfort for her.

Hey moms, what tips do you have to offer for newbies to the washpod or tummy tub?

Mommy! It's Windy!! Isn't this Spring??

Hi Everyone -

I'm in San Francisco, and it's soooo cold.  I thought we lived in California cause the weather is warm.  Mommy has me wrapped up in my oh-so-cool leopard hoodie.

I'm going back to Carlsbad as soon as we can.  It's warm there.  Mommy!  Let's go!!