The little monkey goes swinging

And boys will play...

Conspicuous Consumption

ah, the training starts early in the Raden home:

Places to take your kid(s) in Seattle

These were passed on from another Seattle mom:

restaurants/coffee places:
Tougo Coffee at 18th and Union
Mosaic in Wallingford
Tot Spot in Woodinville
Serendipity in Magnolia
My Coffeehouse in Madison Valley
Madrona & Montlake alehouses
Tutta Bella
Vios

outings:
Seattle Art Museum & Asian Art Museum
Children's Museum at Seattle Center
Science Center
zoo, zoomazium has toddler time at 10 and noon daily
aquarium & zoo, can buy combined membership
playground (baby swing), soon can visit wading pools
Volunteer Park Conservatory
walk around Green Lake
Mockingbird Books in Green Lake has storytime at 11am
Everett Childrens Museum

classes:
Spanish and sign language class at Phinney Center
classes and toddler gym (Miller, Rainier, W. Sea., Northgate recommended) at community centers--check out kingcounty.gov for details
Nurturing Pathways class at Queen Anne community center
Music class at Green Lake community center
library story times
swim (Mt. Lake Terrace, classes at W. Sea. Y)
waterbabies
safe and sound swimming

other tips:
using a lightweight stroller or the ergo makes the bus easier
gocitykids.com
redtricycle.com

Spontaneous Clapping

i think my child is secretly practicing new activities and then bringing them out to see if he can shock me. Yesterday, while on the changing table getting ready for bed, he started clapping his hands. Not just putting them together, or touching the fingers of one to the palm of the other (both of which I've seen him do before) but really clapping. Like, "hey i'm excited to have clean pants and go to bed." So i looked at him and smiled and then started clapping my hands. He gave me this, "WTF?" look as if to say, "I've never seen you do that before?"

I had a moment where i thought, oh my god my child is going to have to learn everything spontaneously. I haven't taken the time to teach him how to clap, how is he going to learn other things. Completely ignoring that a) he already clapped by himself, without my focused input at all and b) i have an amazing nanny that spends two days per week teaching him how to do these things and c) there's a cute 18month old running around showing him how to do a bunch of stuff and d) kids learn by observing stuff.

So moral of the story: mommy is going to freak out about everything. When its bad its really really bad and when its good its still anxiety provoking. I called my sister a week ago to ask if that sense of guilt that i'm not doing enough ever goes away. She left me a message that said, "Short answer,NO. You worry that you are/aren't breast feeding. that they aren't getting enough calories. that they are being exposed to the right books/games/toys etc. then you send them to preschool and worry about what other people are going to teach them and you try not to freak out when they come home to show you how cool it is to blow bubbles in milk or snort pixie sticks." I thought, shit what have i gotten myself into? the stuff you don't know/learn/pay attention to before jumping off this cliff.

happy mothering, ;)

best travel advice ever

this site has the most comprehensive and well thought out travel advice i've seen yet. I know its too late for some (sorry T) but i'm really glad i finally found something that seems helpful.

www.deliciousbaby.com