Less than Twelve Parsecs

The early days of parenthood brought us many joys, as well as a lot of problem solving. One of the hardest parts was trying to figure out what our tiny newborn needed when she was awake. The solution they gave us in all the books and at the hospital was: Try everything! First a feeding, then burping, then a diaper change, then holding her for comfort and bonding. A simple enough blanket solution. It worked, but it's like finding your kitchen flooded with water when you wake up in the morning and trying to fix it by first checking the mailbox, then wiping the dust on the TV, then opening and closing the bedroom door a few times, and only after that turning off the water faucet. The sequence works, but it's exhausting and highly inefficient because you rarely start with the right step. Yet you are sleep deprived and hungry and afraid of doing anything that might hurt the baby so you just try everything and hope. Had anyone told me that I would soon learn what Mar...

World love -  http://world-love.appspot.com/ Good friends of ours are currently going through the hardest times people could ever face. I've faced that feeling of helplessness and loss last year when my father suddenly passed away. It was the time when I found it hardest to go on with my life. I was simply unable to comprehend the why, and it shocked me to emotional paralysis. I still did everything I was expected to do but carried it on with an empty, numb heart. I was a functioning shell of a human being for a while. What got me through that experience was recognizing how much my father loved me and how much I shared in that love. I shortly started noticing through that wall of sadness how the closest people to me had reached out with their hearts trying to get me through it. It started with an unrelenting physical and emotional embrace by Greg, who in the next days silently did everything I could not. It continued with my brother Alex whom I saw as I came off the ...

We are happy to let you know that Mara is now baptized as a Romanian Orthodox Christian with the given name Mara Ileana! Mara Ileana Tener, freshly baptized as a Romanian Orthodox Christian As per Romanian tradition, we baptize babies at anywhere between 2 weeks and 6 months. We decided that three months was a good time. So far, the only instances when something out of Mara's, or my control got her upset were her vaccines. Those painful experiences happened right in my arms or Greg's, thus we could provide comfort immediately. This would be different. No pain, but possible fear of strangers and strange places, plus getting startled by some unusual things happening to her. And no mommy and daddy to give her that safety rope. First off, to better explain what would happen on that special day, we first have to explain Mara's bath time personality a little bit so that you can understand her better. Mara's Bath Time Mara is very intrigued by bath time: she first ...

Disclaimer: This might not make much sense if you've never seen a baby breastfeeding ;) Her arms shake slightly, her fingers crisply quivering in the morning haze. Her eyes crack open, drinking in the warm light of a sun barely peeking into the room over the richly leaved eucalyptus tree outside, her gaze dreamily seeking. She finds the fingers of her right hand, flexing and stretching wide, and rests her eyes on them for a while. It's fascinating. She's pretty sure she is causing that, but hasn't gotten too proficient at it so far. Still, much better than the last time she woke up. She locks eyes with me, it's the most beautiful, relieved look, and her seriousness breaks into a shy smile, warmer than the sunlight grazing it, mostly lingering on the right corner of her mouth and cropping out the mere hint of a little chin dimple. I smile back and lean in to pick her up. She tenses up in a long feline stretch, from her tightened fists high above her ...

If at some time in the future Mara starts writing numbers backwards, this will probably be the reason.

It's time for another "things we love" post, as recently joined members of our family are looking for a baby monitor recommendation. And speaking of that, love to all of you!! ;-) If you only care about the Angelcare Baby Movement&Sound Monitor  you probably want to skip the first part on how we got it, and go straight to the review of the monitor's features that we liked and finally our story that made us really love this item! Update:  There was a recall issued for this monitor that would affect slightly older babies who are already able to grab and drag the pressure pads wire; all you need to do is call them to get a kit that locks the wires. The monitor is still pretty darn great :-) How we got the Angelcare This particular item was truly a team effort. First, we were given great advice when we were eight months pregnant by our wedding god-parents. +Alpa Jain  told us to get the Angelcare baby monitor with pressure pads, because it was life s...