9 months

Nine months for my inside baby to grow from the size of a sesame seed to the size of a watermelon, and now, nine months of my outside baby growing from fitting on papa's forearm to being almost half as long as I am.  I am still amazed at how quickly they grow, how quickly they change, and how quickly the months fly by.

Blink, and you miss things.

I now understand why parents always think their kids are smart.  When they first come into the world, babies are completely useless.  They can't even hold their heads up.  So, in contrast, when they learn to roll over or babble, you think your little one is a genius.  It's even a developmental milestone when they look for something they dropped.  Way to go!

when to buy organic

via

I've been told I should get organic food for my baby.  I haven't really been vigilant about it.  But here's a list of when it's recommended and when we can get by without, from the Environmental Working Group:

Dirty Dozen (buy organic)

apples
celery
strawberries
peaches
spinach
nectarines - imported
grapes - imported
sweet bell peppers
potatoes
blueberries - domestic
lettuce
kale/collard greens

Clean 15 (lowest in pesticides)

onions
sweet corn
pineapples
avocado
asparagus
sweet peas
mangoes
eggplant
cantaloupe - domestic
kiwi
cabbage
watermelon
sweet potatoes
grapefruit
mushrooms

Hope that helps.

read to live more

"In a very real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read...  It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish."

- S. A. Hayakawa

relaxing to boost productivity

Moorea, French Polynesia

Happy year of the snake!  Today is Chinese New Year, and it's supposed to symbolize your year ahead.  So, I intentionally spent all day with my husband and baby girl today, and it was wonderful.  I hope my year ahead is filled with more family days like this.

Also, in my current mission of creating more of a work-life balance, I really appreciated this article that my writing buddy sent me from the New York Times.  I hope you find it useful, too.

Relax!  You'll Be More Productive
By Tony Schwartz

THINK for a moment about your typical workday. Do you wake up tired? Check your e-mail before you get out of bed? Skip breakfast or grab something on the run that’s not particularly nutritious? Rarely get away from your desk for lunch? Run from meeting to meeting with no time in between? Find it nearly impossible to keep up with the volume of e-mail you receive? Leave work later than you’d like, and still feel compelled to check e-mail in the evenings?