Una Loves

The start of both the fall and spring semesters are always crazed. Working only three days a week is wonderful for many, many reasons with, perhaps, the most obvious being that I am able to be myself as me and not as an extension of Una. But I do feel extremely overextended at work as I try to complete five days of work into three. At present, I am in the thick of it at work and am already looking forward to the end of March as this is when I will be able to breath a little more easily. Literally. I will finally have the time to do yoga during my lunch hour rather than stuff my pie-hole while multi-tasking an array of things all of which are completed in a rushed, so-so fashion. I share this only to subtly explain why I haven't found the time to write about what I love best: Una.

As I think about Una, what comes to mind most often these days is her loving energy  radiating on everyone and everything she encounters. She's not a shy child and unknowingly casts spells by romancing those around her. I often find myself falling into her as our eyes lock, but this is what a mother is supposed to do: to be the mirror and to reflect ourselves into the eyes of our children. But it's glorious to watch this 16-month little girl with a fierce sense of independence brighten up every corner with her, "Hi Baby!" that she lovingly squeals to anyone and anything that will take note. Without further adieu, I have made a rather long list of all the things that Una loves. I have also tried to include a lot of new photos, but was having some difficulty with the sizing and arrangement.

People                                   
Lola
Mama (Grandma)
Papa (Grandpa Phil)
Psc, Psc-momma (Pascale)
Mamon (Ammon)
Finn
CuLu (Lucas)
Baby (Hugh and Ila)
Isha (Ishaan)
Kulk-eh (Ulka)
Everyone at the Parkslope Food COOP
Everyone on the Subway

Animals
Ducks (we suspect that Una was a duck in a past life)
Birds
LuLu (All Cats)
Tilda (Matilda)
Ha-ha (For Toby she pants like a dog)
Turtles
Mo-Mos (bunnies)

 

 

Things and Activities
Her baby doll (lovingly made my Sonia)
Zsu-Zsu (nursey)
Trees
Trains
Planes
Pillows
Playing on the bed
Books
Blocks
GoGo (stroller)
Coloring 
Horsey Go-Go
Playing Dress-Up (especially hats and scarves)
Mischief 
Wooden Fruits
Wooden Vegetables
iPhones
Listening to Music
Swinging at the playground
Sitting in big chairs
Nursing
Dancing
Singing

















Foods
Prunes
Blueberries
Banana
Pear
Mango
Apple
Turkey
Chicken
Yogurt
Curry Tofu
Adobe
Pancit
Peter Luger's Steak
Cheddar Mo-Mo Crackers (bunny crackers)
Cheese

The Toddling Toddler

It seems as if Una has jumped off the proverbial high-dive as she toddles, tiptoes, squats and runs all while moving forward, sideways and backwards. It's impossible to keep up with her and protect her every step of the way.  It's both exhilarating and terrifying. Una has figured out  how to pull herself up onto furniture. She can successfully use gravity while wiggling and heaving herself to and fro until she slides herself into an upright position. Mostly she likes to sit on the couch or chair so that she can quietly read books to herself. But yesterday, I walked into the living room and discovered her running full speed down the couch squealing with delight heading for a major head injury. Luckily I ran faster than her and pounced on that baby before a 911 call. As I often murmur to myself, "That baby!"

Una still has trouble sleeping at night. I have decided to give up on all sleep training. She's just not a good sleeper and that is her personality. She is a million times better as a 15 month old when compared to being 12 months old, so I do see progress. She is also a little peanut and likely needs the extra nourishment at night. So, we're hoping to see more improvement over the next few months, but I'm not going to try to train her into something that is clearly an impossibility. Instead, I will luxuriate with the time that I still have with her during our nighttime feedings.  My little baby girl can talk, sing, run, stand on her tiptoes, and impose her will like a force of nature. Before long I know that I will wish for the days when I would gently rock and nurse her to sleep while singing lullabies during the hush of night. It is during the wee small hours when I feel as though I am part of the great wholeness. I'm both awake and alive, but asleep and near death.  During these silent moments, we exist as a perfect circle.  Our ghosts still speak.

As a way to celebrate Una's toddling development, we have given her her own library, chairs, and table. She's a little girl who's on the go. I cannot stop time. I cannot steal it back. I cannot protect her every move. So I hold my breath and prepare for the change that I feel so utterly ill-prepared for: a toddler.

Hibernating

I haven't posted on my blog since before the holiday season. I have a few excuses:
1. I slammed my finger in one of the heavy doors leading into our apartment building. Typing was painful for a couple of weeks. It's healing nicely these days.
2. I had the pleasure of hosting my dear friend, Lorie, over the long weekend once my finger started to feel better.
3. It's January and I've been hibernating, except that there has been an excess of food -- specifically homemade cookies, homemade bread, artisan chocolates, and mojitos because I like to pretend that we're still in Saint Martin.

In any case, happy 2010. May this year's quota of suffering be over.  May wars end (if anyone wants to read the full-text, I'll see what I can do). May there be peace.

To celebrate the promise of a new year,  I'm including the latest results of Una's healthy doctor's report along with the list of our ever growing nicknames for the little bug.

Una at 15 Months
Weight: 19 pounds
Length: 31 inches
Head: 46.5 cm

Nicknames
Baby Beans
Baby Bug
Baby Rice
Beans
Beans & Rice
Bug
Buggles
Buggle T Buggletons
Buggletons
Buggy
Buggy Bugs
Bugs
Bugsy LaRue
Bunches
Bunches of Honey Love
Buttons
Buttons of Love
Cucu-Nucu
Cute-na
Kerplunkett
Lady Love
Love Lump
Monkey
Monkey Moona
Monkey Munks
Monkey Rice
Monster
Moona
Muffin
Munkins Punkins
Munks
Munks & Beans
Nugget
Peanut
Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Plunkett
Plunky
Plunky Brewster
Pumpkin
Pumpkin Peanut
Sweetna
Sugar Lump
Tonkatsu
Una Bug
Una Petunia Buhnoonah
Unachka
Unagi
Unabelle

 

Things That Give Me Joy

 

I've never felt the spirit of Christmas as strong as I have this year, except for maybe when I believed in Santa Claus. But it's different, still.  It's not the gift giving and receiving part of Christmas that I am exciting for as I was when a little girl, but rather the deep connection and longing for family and friends, light and dark,  life and loss that hovers with winter's gloaming. So, in the spirit of those that I love dearly and the reason that I am excited to listen to Christmas music non-stop, bake cookies and pies until my pants feel a little snug, and acknowledge that angels are real while hugging my darling Una, here is mini photo collage devoted to my dearest and closest that I have been lucky enough to have in my life and capture on my iphone recently:

A "p.s." To My Last Post & Tis the Season to be Teething

So, now that we're living in the past, present and future phone wise with our landline, iphone, and Google Voice respectively, I thought that it would be fruitful to share our emergency contact form that we hang on the fridge and store in Una's diaper bag. This was a form that we created based on the advise of the pediatrician that taught our child CPR class at Still Hip. It's supposed to be a reference tool for any sort of emergency situation that we might encounter in the home or outside the home. The form in the diaper bag is supposed to be laminated, but we have simply folded it up and placed it inside a ziplock bag stored within the zipper purse attached to the bag.

Anyway, here are the nuts-n-bolts of our emergency contact form:

1. Una's Full Name
2. Address with all cross streets listed so share with 911 
3. DOB
4. SSN
5 Allergies
6. Known Medical Conditions
7. List Any Medications
8. Contact Information
8.1 Dad (c)(w)
8.2 Mom (c)(w)
8.3 Nanny (c)
8.4 Grandmother (c)(h)
9. Medical Information
9.1 Pediatrician's Information: Phone Number, Address, Insurance
9.2 Nearest Hospital: Phone Number, Address
10. Emergency Numbers
10.1 911
10.2 Poison Control Center
10.3 Gas/Electrical/Plumber: We have listed our landlord's information since he is responsible for these issues

At present we've never needed to use our emergency contact form, but it eases my mind a little bit knowing that it exists.

As the holiday season is in full swing, things are a bit nuttier than usual. To ease into the season, I'm trying to drink less coffee and more tea. Both Una and I finally received our dose of the H1N1 vaccine which should negate a bedridden Christmas and New Years. H1N1 was unavailable for babies 2 years and under in the city until quite recently, so I was excited when her pediatrician was providing doses. I was a bit on the fence to take the vaccine for myself, but then I performed a mini cost-benefit-analysis formula in my head and decided that I'd rather not deal with being sick while taking care of my toddling baby girl not to mention that I wouldn't have to wait in a long line in a weekend public clinic. One issue that we're dealing with that cannot be avoided is that Una is teething in the most extreme way. She has THREE molars cutting all at the same. exact. time. She also has her fourth front bottom tooth cutting too, and I see big white bulges where her bottom incisors will likely cut in the next week or less. Needless to say, Una has been extremely fragile this past week day and night. She's still sleeping much better than she before our trip to St. Martin, but she has been waking up every night this week shrieking (not crying) and shaking in a way that I've never seen before. So, as I try to drink less coffee and drink more tea, I am grateful that I still have a light tan because otherwise I would need to wear makeup to cover my big bags and dark circles (which would also mean that I would need to buy makeup since I haven't really worn any makeup since before Una's birth).

Strike That Reverse It

I have been living without a landline phone since July 2002, that is until yesterday. Michael and I decided that we should have an old-fashioned telephone in our home as a safety mechanism for emergency calls in case our nanny doesn't have a cellphone, forgets her cellphone, or in case our cellphones are not working. I was thoroughly excited for our new hook-up since it also meant that I could call my friends living abroad. However, just  I was enjoying the warm company of our friend Gene while eating some of Michael's delicious boeuf bourguignon with the cable man working on our upgrade, I learned about whole new world of telephone calls: Google Voice. Google Voice (GV), formerly GrandCentral, is a free (of course) Internet VoIP service that started in March '09. It is still invitation only, but our kind friend Gene sent me an invite. In sum: it's fantastic! It looks and feels just like gmail, but for making phone calls. Also, I was able to pick out my own GV phone number which closely resembles my mobile number that I've had for years. The great thing about GV is that calls to Canada are free (!) and calls to France are only .02 a minute. And I have activated my cell phone and new landline into my GV account which means that I can use either device for making calls. I'll probably only use my mobile phone since I'm completely unused to having a regular phone around. Anyway, once I have accumulated some invitations I'll send 'em out per request (US only, at this point).

Swine Flu in the City

I absolutely love this "information visualization" depicting the safety of the H1N1 vaccine. As a mother of a 13 month old baby girl, I would love to get my paws on the vaccine for Una. Despite city and federal efforts, it is still impossible to find the vaccine in NYC. More on that later...

A New, New Year Resolution

It's been a long while since I last posted anything on my blog. I failed to keep resolution number one which I posted on 1/7/08, obviously. I did, however, fulfill my promise to organize and annotate my delicious site. Anyway, a lot has happened since January 2008: I got married, had a baby, and starting working part-time. With all of that in mind, I decided that it was time to resurrect my blog and shift focus -- somewhat. I hope to weave in public health issues that I find interesting. I also plan to blog on family related things too. And I plan to blog whenever I find the time and/or inspiration to blog.

At present, I have been trying to get Una to take her first nap of the day. Nearly an hour has passed. In sum, she's a terrible sleeper/napper. She's 13 months old. We just finished two weeks of the Ferber Method of sleep training. We've been anti-sleep training all along since it seemed pointless to train a baby to sleep when he/she reaches monthly milestones interfering with whatever sleep success one may have achieved. However, after 13 months of sleepless nights for everyone we decided that we needed to change gears. The Ferber Method was gentler than I originally thought. One doesn't abandon the baby all together, but rather allows the baby to cry for measured intervals while visiting the baby, caressing the baby, hugging the baby at each interval. The big change for us was not picking her up. It was extremely rough for the first week, but she's sleeping *much* better. We still have major hurdles each day and night, but at least she is not waking every hour. Unfortunately, the hour has passed and she's been crying throughout which means that the first nap attempt is over. Hopefully we will have better luck a bit later today. In any case, I've attached a photo of Una while she was sleeping for all of three minutes during her fake nap.

A New Year's Resolution

I always make the same new year's resolution: fitter, happier... you know the checklist. Anyhow, this year I am going to strive for a slighter more measurable resolution of:

1. Posting to my blog at least once a week
2. Organizing my del.icio.us tags in a more meaningful fashion
3. Adding notes to all of my del.icio.us sites that i forgot to notate way back when I was just learning how to use this fantastic information management tool
4. Developing my librarything page as this is by far the most interesting social networking site that exists (I have added only two books!! shame one me!)

In a sense this become my fitter-happier song & dance, but in a more notable and meaningful pursuit of eating my broccoli.

A Winter Leave

So begins another month of research leave. This time, however, I will be working from my new home in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I will miss Park Slope and my old apartment dearly, but I am excited to begin a new journey. While on my research leave, I plan to perform an extensive literature review of Web 2.0 and Information Literacy and write/submit a draft that summarizes my teaching experience and use of 2.0 technologies in the classroom. I presented a poster at ACRL's NYC conference this November and folks seemed pretty interested in my experiences as a librarian teaching a course in public health that focused on traditional and 21st century methods of research. Interestingly, this morning I received an email from a colleague out in New Mexico who would like to mentor me in the research/writing process of my paper. We've never met before, but have exchanged emails discussing Information Literacy in Public Health. I am enormously excited to work with him as he's a very, very well-known researcher in the field and his expertise will be most welcomed.

Here's to a healthy and productive 2008!!

A Long Sojourn

I returned from my wonderful trip to Sweden and Denmark two weeks ago. Once I have my photos ready and edited, I will upload them on flickr. The most interesting part of my trip was visiting Free Town Christiania, the self-governing "nation-state", in the heart of Copenhagen. Christiania's mission statement is:

"The objective of Christiania is to create a self-governing society whereby each
and every individual holds themselves responsible over the well being of the
entire community. Our society is to be economically self-sustaining and, as
such, our aspiration is to be steadfast in our conviction that psychological and
physical destitution can be averted."

Unfortunately one is not allowed to take photos while in Christiania. The feeling in Christiania is very post-apocalyptic with incredible graffiti and the obvious consequences due to years of heavy drug abuse. I was hoping to encounter a spiritually rich and meditative quality combined with a progressive activist spirit, but alas I found myself saddened by the lost potential.

On a brighter note, tomorrow I will begin teaching my course Information Research in Public Health ! I have been very busy preparing all the finishing touches on the outline and syllabus which is the reasons I have been neglecting my new blog. I hope to be more active and return to my public health postings within the week!

Moomin Land

I've been extremely busy preparing for my course that I'll be teaching this summer. It's a graduate course on Information Research in Public Health. I've also been extremely busy trying to plan and prepare my trip to Sweden and Denmark. I'll also be staying at Hotel Royal and Hotel Elite. Very swanky, indeed. Not surprising, I haven't had proper time to post on my blog (which I think only 1.5 persons read). Nevertheless, this is not without thinking about public health and traveling! This article sums up nicely the types of things that I've been questioning before my big trip to Scandinavia. According the WHO report, the US is 37th out of 190 industrialized countries whereas Sweden is 23rd and Denmark is 34th. But some experts disagree and criticize the model for using inconsistent measurements. For example, the OEC's report, which is more rigorous and uses controlled measures, found the US at the bottom of 6 industrialized countries. The OEC also reports that the US spends more on healthcare than any other country (a very well known fact), but that citizens receive far less than other countries (again, another well known fact in health policy). Presumably, much of this will be discussed in Sicko which opens in the US on June 29th. If I weren't going to be in Scandinavia, guess where I'd be on the 29th?

The Sugar Cereal Policy Change

While eating my COOP purchased delicious organic granola, raspberries, and soy milk for breakfast I read an interesting article in the NYTs about The Kellogg's Company and their advertisements targeting children. Actually, the Times printed the same exact article twice, but one was printed in the Business section and the other was in the Media and Advertisement section. The brief summation of their new policy is this:

The Kellogg Company announced today that it will phase out advertising its products to children under age 12 unless the foods meet specific nutrition guidelines for calories, sugar, fat and sodium.

Kellogg also announced that it would stop using licensed characters or branded toys to promote foods unless the products meet the nutrition guidelines.

It should be noted that these are voluntary changes. Well, voluntary after being threatened by a couple of angry parents, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. I'm certainly not against these policy changes, but digging a little further into the guidelines I found myself taking issue with some of the details.

The guidelines state:

Foods advertised on media—including TV, radio, print, and third-party websites—that have an audience of 50 percent or more children under age 12 will have to meet Kellogg’s new nutrition standards, which require that one serving of the food has:

• No more than 200 calories;

• No trans fat and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat;

• No more than 230 milligrams of sodium (except for Eggo frozen waffles);

• No more than 12 grams of sugar (excluding sugar from fruit, dairy, and vegetables).

In addition, Kellogg will not:

• Advertise to children under 12 in schools and preschools.

• Sponsor product placements for any products in any medium primarily directed at kids

under 12;

• Use licensed characters on mass-media advertising directed primarily to kids under 12, as a basis for a food form, or on the front labels of food packages unless those foods meet the nutrition standards;

• Use branded toys in connection with foods that do not meet the nutrition standards.

But when reading the NYTs article, I learned the following:

1. Eggo frozen waffles are exempt from the Sodium regulation

2. Kellogg could still advertise Frosted Flakes to children because it has 11 grams of sugar

3. Kellogg said it would introduce Nutrition at a Glance labels on the top right corner of cereal boxes this year.

My response:

1. Why are eggo waffels exempt? Which other items are exempt?

2. Frosted Flakes has *only* 11 grams of sugar per serving? That's shocking. Will they reformulate their products so that they all fall under the 12 gram of sugar per serving since children are their most reliable market (i.e. Cococrispies has 14 grams of sugar. I'm sure it's not that difficult to change the amt. of sugar to be slightly less than it already is)? And besides, 11 grams of sugar is still ridiculously high. Plus, nobody ever eats the suggested serving size.

3. Most people don't know how to read the nutritional facts even if in a pretty snapshot on the top right corner of a product. I'm sure that there are plenty of research based articles measuring the general population's ability to read nutritional information federally mandated to be listed on all food items. I'm sure I can find one before the day is over. :-)

Bees and Honey are Good for You!

I have just read two very interesting articles in The Economist about bees and honey. Both articles were published in the Science and Technology section, but the wit of the editors seemed to have gone down the toilette as they did not see the more interesting article that should have emerged by blending the two articles. Unfortunately, you need to have a subscription to The Economist to read their articles online, but I'll summarize.

The first article, Dying Bees, discusses the Colony Collapse Disorder , when the inhabitants of bee hives suddenly disappear, that is taking place in North America, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Scientists have cast doubt that cell phones are causing the bee colonies to die. They suggest that statistically insignificant data surrounding a study looking at electromagnetic radiation was misinterpreted. Back to the drawing board. Now scientists are looking at the practice of beekeepers such as the constant upheaval and movement around the country in seek of the best rate for *their* pollination services which is causing stress on the hives. Scientists are also research the bee genome along with the overall social networking of bees. The search continues...

The second article, The Medicinal Use of Honey, discusses the benefits of honey in combating superinfections, drug resistant trains of pathogens. Apparently honey was commonly used as medicine long before the discovery of antibiotics and is still used in Australia and New Zealand. Presently there is a massive study at Bonn University Children's Clinic in Germany comparing the effectiveness of a honey based treatment, such as those created by Medihoney, with antibiotics when treating wounds. The preliminary research all points in the direction of honey being a strong contender to antibiotics.

Now back to the editors at The Economist: an opportunity was clearly missed. The level of economic analysis could have been much richer. Perhaps they'll tidy up their reporting on bees and take note of Einstein's alleged insight into bees:

"if the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."

p.s. As I was writing this post in the hot and sunny confines of my apartment a bee found it's way through the security gates on my window. For the first time in my life, I was thrilled to see a bee!

Mini Sojourn

Last week I was working at the library and found little energy at the end of the day to post. I'm working from home for the next few weeks and hope to find a healthy rhythm for regular blogging.

I just read an interesting article in the NYTs that discusses memory and recall, something I struggle with constantly. The article, Decreased Demands on Cognitive Control Reveal the Neural Processing Benefits of Forgetting, describes a study that was published in Nature Neuroscience. In sum, the researchers show by mapping the neural networks of the brain that forgetfulness is an adaptive neural response. If you're interested in reading the full-text of the article, I would suggest submitting an Interlibrary Loan at your public, university, or work library. My library's electronic subscription has a 1-year embargo which means that this current issues is not available. If you're interested in reading more about the cost-benefit-analysis of print versus electronic journal subscriptions, I highly recommend reading this article published in D-Lib Magazine.

XDR-TB

Knowing that there are only a few border crossings from Montreal to NYC, I have been wondering if Andrew Speaker, the man with the virulent strain of XDR-TB, crossed at the Champlain Border. In an interesting article in the NYT, it was verified that the patient crossed at Champlain border near Plattsburgh. I have also been wondering how he was allowed to cross into the county if his passport had been flagged.

Along the border crossing at Champlain, N.Y., an inspector ran Speaker's passport through a computer, and a warning - including instructions to hold the traveler, wear a protective mask in dealing with him and call health authorities - popped up,officials said.

Apparently, US Customs and Border Patrol waived him through the border in less than two minutes

Customs and Border Protection officer swiped Speaker's passport through an electronic reader and an alert displayed on the officer's computer screen. But Speaker wasn't stopped. In less than two minutes he was waved across the border.

The border patrol agent apparently let him through the border because he didn't look very sick.

Congressional investigators, who will be holding hearings on the way the case of the man, Andrew Speaker, has been handled, say that the border agent at the Plattsburgh, N.Y., border crossing with Canada decided that Mr. Speaker did not look sick and so let him go.

Oh, Plattsburgh...

XDR-TB

I've been following the story about the XDR-TB patient in forced isolation. I have been wondering where he went after being in Montreal.

The male passenger flew to Paris from his home in Atlanta on May 12 on Air France 385 and arrived in Paris on May 13. He returned to the United States on May 24 after taking Czech Air 104 to Montreal from Prague. The man drove into the United States that day and entered a hospital in New York City on May 25.

I've been wondering about the likelihood of contracting an illness such as this virulent strain of XDR-TB while being on an airplane. I will be traveling to Iceland, Sweden, and Denmark in a few weeks and would like to know if there is a particularly healthy area of an airplane. I have discovered that TB has been contracted on ships with circulating air, but that was over several days and not hours. I have also discovered that sitting in the middle row and in the middle of the airplane is the healthiest part of the plane.

It turns out that while an airplane provides the smallest volume of air per person of any public space, the movement of air is transverse, i.e., from side to side, not along the length of the airplane. The air descends from the top of the cabin to the middle, sweeping in two circles on either side. Thus the people in the middle section of a wide body jet get the freshest air, with passengers seated to either side getting the air sweeping past the more medial seat mates. The poor soul on the window gets the air from everyone else in the row on their side of the plane (see figure 1 in Mangili and Gendreau). So the seat of the index case is probably critical, although this pattern is "on average." There is enough turbulence in cabin air to allow currents to go several rows front and aft. While it is true about 50% of the cabin air is recirculated, in all but the smallest regional jets it is passed through HEPA filters first. This was certainly true for the transatlantic planes in the current case.

I guess I'll stick to my preference for the aisle seat. :-)

Research Leave

I have nearly completed the first half of my research leave for the academic year 2006/07. I have been quite productive: submitted and received acceptance of a research paper; relearned Nvivo and reanalyzed my data which I hope to present at either MLA, APHA, or ACRL next year; and have started working on my Information in Public Health course that I'll teach during the second summer session. Phew! I'm exhausted just writing about my research leave.