The Sound of Silence

It has been five months since I wrote Sleepless in Seattle, describing the sleep challenges that we [Baby, Mom and Dad] were having. April seems like ages ago and, in the life of my nearly one-year-old baby, it was. May and early June were huge challenges. He was waking several times between 9:00 PM and 6:00 AM. July was tough too. During those three months we were traveling a lot, we hosted guests on several occasions, and the little man got sick a couple of times to boot.

By mid-July [around nine months old] he started sleeping through the night. We traveled to the East Coast and during that trip he actually began to sleep pretty decently. When we returned home, it took him a few days to transition back to Pacific Time, but even that process went pretty smoothly.

Here are some of the things that helped us [all three of us] get through these last five months:

· The transitional object a.k.a. lovey [Nicholas' is a tiny square piece of fleece with knotted fringe edges] stays in the crib. It's there when we put him down and we put it in his arms if he doesn't grab it right away. Otherwise, we were misplacing it.

· We have a pacifier baby on our hands. We keep several lined up near the crib so that, if he starts fussing in the middle of the night, we can just stagger into the nursery and hand him a pacifier. This saves us the hassle of searching for it and keeps two of us [the baby and the sleep walking adult] from getting too wound up.

· When we travel or have guests stay at our house, we recognize that our little one doesn't respond easily to his night time routine so we take a little more time to hold him before he is put in his crib. It feels like a small step backward but it helps him unwind and relax.

Now with his twelve-month birthday around his corner, I'm waiting for the sleep disruptions to occur for the two weeks before and two weeks after his birthday. As usual, we'll see.

Product Review | Pink with Sparkles

Our latest review comes from Pink With Sparkles creator, blogger and Mama Princess extraordinaire – Dawn Gardner.

"Setting up a playdate on the fly has just gotten simpler. Now every mommy & tot duo you meet will be blowin' up your cell to holla at you.

Every mama knows it's no easy feat to find the perfect playmates for your kidlets. You need to be prepared in a pinch to not let a potential pal disappear without throwing her your digits. Thumbprint Trading Cards has a simple solution for setting up playdates at your crib or theirs…"

To read the full product review, please visit Pink with Sparkles.

Thumbprint Trading Cards | Temporary E-mail Workaround

Dear Thumbprint Trading Cards Customers and Visitors,

It has come to my attention that several messages to info@thumbprinttradingcards.com have bounced back their senders. I apologize for any inconveniences this has caused. I am currently investigating and working on an e-mail/IT solution.

In the meantime, I am posting a temporary e-mail workaround in the event that you are the recipient of a returned message. I will post here again once this issue is resolved.

You can send me an e-mail [a.k.a. conversation] through my webstore. I will be checking my conversations for any incoming mail.

Again, I apologize for any inconveniences and thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,
Chris Guillot

Credits

You know that part of a magazine that talks about the photo session that led to the front cover? It discusses what the model was wearing upon arrival to the set, what he or she had for lunch and listened to while working. It provides the name of the styling team: wardrobe, hair and makeup. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Well that has never happened to me. No one has wanted to know what I wore on set or what is in my iTunes library. Since I only wear make-up when I'm getting dolled up, there's no need to provide credit there. I have self-love and I have self-confidence but I'm just a regular gal. You know what I mean?

But there are times when my eyebrows look so good that if I was in a magazine and there was a section talking about my styling, my aesthetician, Kate Thorbeck, would be credited. Kate is the owner of Surya Spa in Magnolia. I met Kate many moons ago when she fixed my poor brows that had been ruined by a horrible, horrible, horrible waxing experience.

After a recent visit to see Kate, I decided to create an occasion to credit Kate for my excellent eyebrows.

Eyebrows: Kate Thorbeck, Surya Spa
Photo: Emerald England, Emerald England Photography and Graphic Design, LLC

[While this photo was taken a year ago, it's the closet thing experience I've had to a "fashion" photo shoot.]

Website Re-launch! In 3-2-1. Blast off!

I am extremely thrilled to announce the website re-launch of Thumbprint Trading Cards at www.thumbprinttradingcards.com. Thumbprint Trading Cards help you put a face with a name in a high-impact, no-technology-required kind of way. As a double-sided calling card or business card, it makes exchanging contact information on the fly simple.

Our website soft launch was in May 2008. This re-launch brings with it e-commerce capabilities, an extensive FAQ and additions to our portfolio.

For those of you who are new to Thumbprint Trading Cards or who are good friends of the company, please visit our site!

Ink Colors and Fonts for Thumbprint Trading Cards

Welcome to our Ink Color and Font Menu! If you haven't visited Diaper Bag Adventures before, I'm glad you're here. If you have time, please have a look around.

Ink Colors: Due to variations in computer monitors, the appearance of ink colors may vary slightly.

Fonts: Fonts will be properly sized to ensure that text is legible.

If you would like to have a closer look at our ink color and font menu, please e-mail [info@thumbprinttradingcards.com] us with your mailing address and we'll pop one in the mail to you as soon as possible!

Copyright 2007 - 2008 Thumbprint Trading Cards. All rights reserved.

What's In My Diaper Bag?

A few weeks before Nicholas was born, I put together my diaper bag. I knew that I wouldn't want to think about getting it together for our first outing which would be our first trip to the pediatrician's office. When I was done with that, I put together the identical contents for my husband in a bag that had a more masculine feel. When I was done with that, I put together a super duper emergency diaper bag that would reside in the car trunk.

I put together the second diaper bag because I was being considerate. What if JD didn't want to carry my feminine diaper bag while the two of them went on a special father-son outing? I put together the third diaper bag because I was watching too much Jon & Kate Plus 8 and that's what they have in the back of their 10-passenger van.

Almost one year later, the inside of my diaper bag looks really different. It's not that I was carrying the wrong things but now I'm carrying fewer things. I would highly recommend packing one diaper bag before bringing baby home but I would recommend an edited list of things. The second and third diaper bag I would hold off on. [Note from JD - I got over it and just carry the main diaper bag. Turns out that carrying my son is enough of a cue of my manhood that a diaper bag doesn't even register as anything embarrassing.]

My original diaper bag included

· diapers

· changing mat

· baby wipes

· grocery bags for trash

· bleach wipes [for questionable surfaces]

· hand sanitizer

· all-purpose baby ointment

· diaper rash cream

· hand lotion

· disposable latex gloves

· baby outfit

· baby hat, gloves and socks

· receiving blanket

· disposable camera

· mini stuffed animal

· baby rattle

I would instead recommend

· diapers

· changing mat

· baby wipes

· bag for dirty diapers [disposable or re-usable and washable]

· hand sanitizer

· baby ointment or cream

· baby outfit

· receiving blanket

· nursing drape or bottle/formula

· extra pacifier [if using]

Why would I get the rid of the rest?

· Bleach wipes [you can baby wipe questionable surfaces and your baby isn't coordinated enough to move off the changing mat and grab things]

· All-purpose baby ointment AND Diaper rash cream [I'd carry a small container of only one and I'm a huge fan of the ointment because it's also great for those little bitty nail scratches or chapped skin]

· Hand lotion [because I just let my hand get a little dry]

· Disposable latex gloves [you can baby wipe then hand sanitize or wash any poopy disaster. Also, you might want to avoid them if you have latex allergy concerns]

· Baby hat, gloves and socks [I never lost them and they never needed to be changed]

· Disposable camera [the normal camera was always around]

· Mini stuffed animal and baby rattle [Nicholas didn't really focus on toys for several months]

As you and your baby grow together, you'll figure out what you need and don't need in the bag. If you do decide to put together an emergency diaper bag for the trunk, don't forgot to rotate diapers and clothes for growing babies and seasonal changes.