Grace & Elie

You know how you have those friends that despite time and years, you’re able to pick up on your conversations from where you left off ?! Grace is one those people for me. She was my grad school “sibling”; the university had a program where second year students were assigned to first year students, to serve as peer mentors and she was/is excellent at it.

Through the years, our relationship has morphed into that of the prodigal sibling. We don’t get to talk as often as we used to but when we do, our conversations are deep, purposeful and raw. And often times, involves me picking her brain for advice on motherhood, marriage and entrepreneurship. 

Motherhood and precious Elie were the impetus behind Grace starting her eponymous baby clothing line “Grace & Elie”. The collection is predominantly inspired by her African(Ghanaian) heritage, so naturally, its full of prints and colors that tickle the senses. She worked on this collection right after her son was born – can I say Superwoman! 

When I became a mom, Grace showed up in style and showered Yum Yum with the most beautiful pieces from the collection. Here are few things my Yummers scored from Aunt Grace:

Onesie –  the cotton of the onesie is unimaginably soft and is simplistically designed with a cut out imagery of a dinosaur from a print fabric.

Bib – The bibs were my absolute favorite! The prints are vibrant and colorful and sure to make any spit-up look like a design, lol, more importantly, the back is made of an absorbent terry fabric. I always wiped YumYum’s mouth with the back for obvious reasons, I also loved the fact that all that messiness was nicely hidden.

Dresses – These spring/summer dresses are just gorg! see for yourself! In waiting for the perfect summer event for YumYum to wear them, summer has almost passed me by smh. Anyway, besides obviously being beautiful and comfortable, they  Adjustable!!!  So even though YumYum got them in 18months sizes, she can wear them well past 24 months by adjusting the shoulder ties and the purple dress can be worn as a skirt! How smart is that! Told you she’s superwoman.

Tuck in the straps and you have a skirt! 

I swear to you she wasn't prompted to twirl :) 

Check out more of her designs at Grace &Elie

Emma says thank you Aunt Grace!!!

We are very proud of you.

Politics Of The Playground

Spring finally sprung, it was sunny and deliciously 74 degrees with a hint of breeze. All I could think of at work was taking to Yum Yum to the park for the first time. For her to have a run around , go on the slides, the monkey bar, swings sets  alluhdat  #ambitiousmuch? Maybe a little but that was my plan.

Off we went , armed with juices boxes, cheerios and a couple of Go-Squeeze. We get to the park and the swings were occupied #bigkids. I figured we’ll do other things and come back when the big kids have had their go. We get to the slides and I realize my little lady was to little go on the slides by herself! I hadn’t thought of that; I was so wrapped up in my excitement that I did not realize that the playground equipment seemed to only cater to the big toddlers . Perhaps I could go with her, I thought  to myself. The mom standing next to me saw the look in my eyes and promptly informed me it was actually more dangerous  to go on with her…. Actually, now that I think about it, her kid was the only one at the small slide, I think she was trying to maintain their monopoly of the slide! Huff!

Off to the monkey bars we were!!! I lifted my dear child and tried to show her how to wrap her hands around the bar. Perturbed, she gave me a have-you-lost-your-mind-look followed by an emphatic  Nooooooh and  a pout which would have been followed by tears if I insisted. In retrospect,  what the bleep was I thinking trying to get my 15.5 month old to do a modified pull up?!

So, its back to the swings. Them blasted older kids were still there!!! – these were 11, 12 years olds, swinging upside down with their feet in the seat bucket - a half hour or so later.  Sigh… I guess we’d return after we chase doggies and birdies..... Birdies, a couple of Maltese and a Miniature Schnauzer later we headed back to the swings sets. And those damn kids were still there!!!  a line was beginning to form -  this should pressure them off I hoped.

As I joined the line, “It’s about time these kids got off the swings” one of the moms said. Me being new to this whole playground politics, I simply nodded in agreement, unsure what to do. Let's just get the ranger? I thought, wait.. is there a park ranger? Ugh! probably not. Maybe we can just order them off? but then, I'm sure we could get in trouble for that couldn't we? We should just yell at them from her...Probably not, we could cited for intimidation.. but how do we get them off?! I don't have all day for this, I still have dishes to do and dinner to fix, I murmured to myself. Where were their blasted parents btw? So, I do the typical thing of stewing silently while impatiently looking around in hopes that the adults with these kids will catch my annoyance and come scoop ‘em. #achievedzilch

Another 10 mins or so go by and one of the moms on the line, walked up to the oldest looking big kid, brought the swing to a halt and quietly told her it was time to get off and that they had been on long enough. I was so surprised and was convinced twas about to go doooowwwn. Funny enough nothing happened. Another mom walked up to the other girl and before you know what happening all 4 swing sets were vacated. Finally, we got our turn and my baby loved every second of it!!!

Lesson learned: Politeness gets you nowhere at the playground, man must fight for turn ;) 

Bye Bye Bo Bo

BYE BYE BO BO YUM YUM IS A BIG GIRL NOW

My Yummers is officially 15 months!!! YAY this marks a lot of milestones, in our family, the end to the reign of the almighty binkie (dramatic music).  We initially took  it away when she was 11 going on 12 months, but later re-introduced it when she got sick (is’nt crazy how getting sick can halt a lot of progress?). Anyway, her dad decided that at 15 months she would stop the binkie  - cold turkey (more dramatic music). One of the major reasons we decided to do this now, is because it was beginning to interfere with her eating patterns.  She would literally have a bite and stick the paci back in her mouth. 

We (my mom) officially took it away March 30^th and I must say, the first couple days were something hellish. Oh boy did she cry,  she cried so hard, we almost relented. Then night 2 came and the same thing all over again. It’s been 5 days since and she still gets a little restless at bedtime, but it’s a far cry – literally, from the gut wrenching wails of the first night.

Moms out there trying to stop their little ones from taking the binkie, I encourage you to press on. The first couple nights are the hardest. There are advantages to giving the binkie but the cons far outweigh the pros . Here are some things you should consider if you’re conflicted about introducing it or trying to take it away.

-        Impedes speech development

-        Impedes the development of tongue & lip muscles

-        Causes the tongue to push forward between with teeth , which could result in a lisp!

Besides, if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit that the bo bo is more for you than it is for them.

Bo Bo got kicked to the curb - mommy does the happy dance :) 

Simplicity....

You may have heard of the radio station K-Love, a Christian contemporary station, if you're in NYC its on the 96.7FM dial.  I have been glued to this station ever since The Hubs introduced me to it a couple years back. So, on my way to work when I’m not yip yapping with aroundthegirl.net  , Im listening to the uplifting voice of Casting Crowns remind me to Praise Him In The Storm.  or Laura Story of his Blessings (i cry every time I listen to this song.. everrray time). I digress.

 Anyway, while listening to the station the other morning, Amy – one of the hosts was talking about her son’s 4^th birthday party and how one of the moms had lingered the entire party . At the end of the party, she called Amy aside and thanked her for having a “Simple” party. The lady and her son attended a party the weekend prior where there was an indoor petting zoo. Ludicrous Right? Imagine a goat or lama in the living room crapping everywhere??? Cringe!  

This begs to the question, Who are these “kids parties” really for? Granted, today’s child has a very active social life with  calendars booked 2-3 months in advance. At the same time, we parents also tend to get caught up in the hype of keeping up or trying to out-do the Joneses.

Soooooo, since we did not have a party when Yum Yum turned 1. We have been planning a summer party. And like many moms I’ve been going overboard and over budget, I in fact was going to get a petting zoo!!! hahaha. After that segment, I’ve had to stop and ask myself, will Yum Yum who will be 16months at the time of the party care about a petting zoo and all the other over the top things I have planned? Will the other 16-24 month old toddlers care ?  ….  it’s a No on all accounts. Therefore, there shall be no petting zoo or any other unnecessary “thing”. So as I seat here and restart her party planning  list. One word is more resounding than ever … Simplicity.

Simplicity as in the old pill bottle filled with pennies that Yum Yum would rather play with instead of the rattle that clinks and lights up.