tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-333142012009-07-02T13:06:33.005-05:00For those of us who didn’t get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn’t always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, not to breastfeed.Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.comBlogger757125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-2779828251484018172009-07-01T12:51:00.003-05:002009-07-01T13:04:05.679-05:00

The bags are just about packed and everything's all set to go. The housesitter is moving in tomorrow right after we leave. We're flying into Columbus, Ohio then driving to Chicago for my cousin's wedding and then to Kentucky to visit my brother in law and sister in law. Then back to Ohio to fly back home. Road trip, baby! Normally I don't pack snacks for flights or really many toys because

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-73898549830934283642009-06-29T10:19:00.002-05:002009-06-29T10:30:43.823-05:00

A couple months ago, we received a letter in the mail saying that the town had opened another section of full day kindergarten and our older (OS) was on the waitlist for it. I was excited about it. I called to find out where on the waitlist he was, and since he wasn't the first or second spot, I just assumed that he wouldn't get into the class. Plus the secretary said as much. Still when the

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-5009310475751476282009-06-26T17:29:00.004-05:002009-06-26T19:13:49.461-05:00

Happy Birthday, Big Giraffe. I know this past week I told you that the reason I write birthday posts for the kids is so that there is some sort of documentation about the little, but important events in that year that don't always make it into my blog posts. I won't even mention the baby books which are pretty much empty and collecting dust. Did you think I would forget about you? Without

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-56837749574861669602009-06-24T18:19:00.003-05:002009-06-24T19:50:19.287-05:00

The day had come at last! We are liberated from schlepping around giant bags of baby items for every outing. No more bottles, baby food or diapers (even for overnight trips). No more stroller. I wanted to do cartwheels across the floor. I was pretty excited...that is until we went on our first outing to Davis Farmland carrying our lunches, the boys' swimsuits and towels. Where was I going to

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-56505407614168971902009-06-21T14:07:00.008-05:002009-06-21T14:49:00.434-05:00

Happy birthday, YS! It's hard to believe that you're already three.When I look back over the year, it's hard to pinpoint each and every accomplishment because there were so many and the year went by so fast. Let me give you some of the highlights. Right after you turned two, we went on vacation with Suzanne and friends and you had a blast. From swimming in the pool, to your first water park

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-75061366663133593042009-06-18T15:55:00.003-05:002009-06-18T16:22:03.973-05:00

Today was my younger son's (YS) playgroup birthday party. I can't believe that he'll be three this weekend! Just yesterday I was at Davis Farmland and reminisced about how three years ago I felt my first contractions and thought I was going to give birth among the goats. The pregnant goats and I go be roomies. Because YS is the baby, I wanted to do something extra special for his playgroup

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-45049189739403560212009-06-17T20:25:00.002-05:002009-06-17T20:52:47.020-05:00

I lived in Hoboken, NJ for two years after college. While I loved where I lived, enjoyed my job and of course reveled in the whole social scene, I realized I was getting a little stressed out. Studying for the LSATs didn't help. I decided to take yoga. Once a week for about two years I showed up for yoga at the Y. I would take my mat, get setup and enjoy an hour all to myself. While the

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-31529026580830901442009-06-11T06:54:00.002-05:002009-06-11T08:06:27.260-05:00

June 9th was the Big Giraffe's and my anniversary. We've been married for eight years! June has always been a crazy month for us. We joke it's like other people's Decembers. In addition to our anniversary, it's also his birthday, our younger son's birthday and Father's Day. That doesn't even take into account any graduations or end of the year school parties or even any early summer day

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-25924669385051099492009-06-08T19:02:00.004-05:002009-06-08T20:26:26.235-05:00

Summer's here! Alright, really it's officially two weeks away. My younger son is a summer solstice baby so the first day of summer is on his third birthday, June 21st. I have to admit that before I became a parent, summer was take it or leave it. This was particularly true during my first couple years after college where there was limited AC in both my apartment and at work. Summer mainly

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-77947252198096469032009-06-06T18:55:00.003-05:002009-06-06T19:06:31.806-05:00

It is the end of an era. A major milestone has passed. History has been written. Now my older son (OS) will be able to say, "Back when I was in preschool." That's right, OS has officially finished preschool. A chapter in his life has been completed. Forget end of the year classroom parties and recitals. The schools should really take the money they spend on them and hire a bunch of

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-66373324896063882009-06-04T07:11:00.002-05:002009-06-04T07:34:06.976-05:00

Yesterday I picked up a beaming OS from preschool. All the kids were lined up and wearing crowns. OS's had the biggest crown of all and had "Happy Birthday OS!" written on it. He also had a big birthday sticker on his shirt. He could barely contain his excitement. As he teacher helped him into the car, he explained that they had celebrated all of the summer birthdays. Everyone got to make a

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-17624439226898151712009-06-01T18:08:00.005-05:002009-06-02T07:24:13.127-05:00

A couple months ago, I a received an email saying that our outdoor parenting group was organizing a hike and picnic with llamas. To say that I was excited is an understatement. I immediately put down the deposit. The Big Giraffe, while enjoying the club immensely, has always appeared to be somewhat skeptical of whether or not he should belong to this club just by the fact it is an outdoor

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-54481771419220182502009-05-30T08:28:00.003-05:002009-05-30T08:49:14.022-05:00

Since breast cancer runs on my dad's side of the family and since his side of the family is Jewish, my ob/gyn referred me to a high cancer specialist back in August. I knew I was being weird about it, but I just couldn't get myself to call for that appointment. Finally in December, I forced myself to call. I had been warned that it takes a long time to get an appointment. The receptionist

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-8358378147290503382009-05-27T11:37:00.002-05:002009-05-27T11:52:51.945-05:00

I always thought it was wrong to lie to kids. The key word is "thought" not "think". After all remember the whole chant "liar liar pants on fire"?While I do try to always tell the kids the truth, or at least age appropriate truths, there have been times where I have to weigh morals vs. hurting feelings, pain vs. truth, truth vs. going insane from having to listen to a temper tantrum. This

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-15631402972878297932009-05-26T13:27:00.003-05:002009-05-26T16:25:49.862-05:00

A long long time ago, the Big Giraffe and I went on a couple of fabulous vacations including a spontaneous trip to Paris. Walking along the Seine hand in hand in hand, we looked forward to our future; to other fabulous vacations. Some day we vowed not only would we come back but we would also visit other places like London, Ireland, Hawaii and Glen New Hampshire. Alright definitely not the

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-78756831809767553672009-05-21T12:36:00.003-05:002009-05-22T04:12:56.769-05:00

Our backyard used to be a horse exercise track. No, not a race track, but a place where horses could gallop around outside. Over time, the land was divided up and new houses were built on it. Depending on where on which part of the track has your house, your land is either relatively flat (bottom of the track) or just flat in front of and under your house with the back completely slanted (side

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-89137200753287908532009-05-19T08:12:00.003-05:002009-05-19T09:19:13.388-05:00

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I have the world's smallest family. Alright maybe that's an exaggeration but really I have one brother and only 4 cousins on my mom's side. I do have one cousin on my dad's side, but she's much older and I've only met her a couple times. The good news is that since I only have a few cousins on my mom's side, I have a good relationship with them.

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-55423520085001800572009-05-13T13:43:00.004-05:002009-05-14T12:19:16.951-05:00

Two triathlons in two weekends equals too tired! Yes, I would compete two weekends in a row again, but the second tri wore me out even though it was shorter. This past Sunday was the first time I've done a specific triathlon for the second time. The Sudbury Sprint was the first triathlon I did last year, and I thought it would be fun to do it again to try and beat my time.The race started out

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-56401675960041896532009-05-05T18:05:00.006-05:002009-05-06T08:27:16.626-05:00

This morning started off fine. Well, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement. I came home from the gym to find our older son (OS) already in a time out. Then I had the pleasure of giving him two more time outs over the duration during which he got dressed and ate breakfast. As he was finishing breakfast, I looked at him to see if he had any food on his face. That's when I noticed a dot moving

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-14352614186432947252009-05-04T18:47:00.003-05:002009-05-04T20:54:35.516-05:00

Sunday was the big day: my first triathlon of season 2. If I said that I wasn't nervous particulary after my wretched bout with stomach flu, I would be lying. I stuck to my dairy free diet for 24 hours before the triathlon, as per the suggestion in Runner's World for dealing with Runner's Gut. It was soy milk city over here! Sally HP even got me a soy latte from Starbucks. Do I dare say this

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-60834272540339864142009-04-29T20:19:00.007-05:002009-05-01T10:39:49.646-05:00

When I started this blog, it was to be able to talk about what it was like to formula feed a baby. However, I quickly realized that it also was a great way to let family and friends know what was going on with us. This is a post for them.Today started out like a pretty regular Wednesday. I headed out to the gym and got home at my usual time. My routine is to walk in the door, wash my hands

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-78113421984378669942009-04-28T16:08:00.004-05:002009-04-28T20:57:59.659-05:00

I can already see the Big Giraffe rolling his eyes when he reads the title of this post. You can just file it under "things you like to talk about with your friends." Plus being able to talk freely about bodily fluids seems to be like the stamp of parenthood. Last night our older son complained of having a stomach ache. As usual I didn't take him too seriously because his complaint didn't

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-52733023857392876692009-04-27T12:10:00.004-05:002009-04-27T12:25:47.842-05:00

A bunch of you have asked if I'm going to BlogHer Chicago this year. The short answer is unfortunately no.I really wanted to be able to attend. In fact I even voted for Chicago in the BlogHer location poll shortly after BlogHer San Francisco last year. I had a great time last year and I had a great time the year before when it was also in Chicago. Plus I'm from the suburbs of Chicago so it's

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-68750218572529404122009-04-25T20:35:00.004-05:002009-04-25T21:14:11.054-05:00

Dear Big Giraffe,I hope you are having a great time with your friends. I really am glad that you're getting some time to yourself. I know your Blackberry died and so we've been playing phone tag today. I thought I would let you know what's been going on with the boys for the past 24 hours.Yesterday we went to an egg hunt. The boys loved it. Unfortunately, our younger son (YS) left his purple

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33314201.post-18340857364875519212009-04-22T15:44:00.003-05:002009-04-23T04:02:49.001-05:00

So far my older son's (OS) spring break has been a lot of fun. Yesterday the boys and I met up with some friends and saw Monsters vs. Aliens. Today we went to the zoo. The boys were all excited about it.About a half hour into our zoo trip, we visited the indoor elephant and giraffe house. OS and his friends were particularly excited to watch the zookeepers give the elephants baths. Alright,

Alex Elliothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567976812466320977alexelliot@flexibleparenting.com3