Category: Parenting

  • 34 Weeks of Lydia

    I started last week’s update by saying that Lydia’s cold was a thing of the past. Ha! That cold is long gone, but, as of today, she has a new one. Oh well. I can feel what is almost certainly the same cold in the back of my throat, and am very much hoping I…

  • Three Axes Model of Parenting?

    Arnold Kling has talked about the three axes model of political views. Conservatives care about civilization-barbarism. Progressives care about oppressors-oppressed. Libertarians care about freedom-coercion. Most people I meet in person don’t seem to be as dogmatic about parenting as they are about politics, but there seem to be distinct axes for sure. Conservative types do…

  • 33 Weeks of Lydia

    Lydia’s cold is a thing of the past. She’s been totally fine pretty much the whole week, and more active and engaged now that she’s over it. A few days ago, I was thinking that it was still a pretty peaceful period, without any major changes on her part. But the last few days have…

  • 32 Weeks of Lydia

    Lydia’s not 100% over her cold–she still has a bit of a stuffy nose–but it was a mild one to begin with, and it’s been a pretty calm week. She was fussier than usual at the beginning of her cold, but that basically meant wanting to be held more. I made a list of things…

  • 31 Weeks of Lydia

    How quickly they change! As of this week, Lydia is officially seven months. And the separation anxiety has calmed way down to the point where I’d say she’s back to baseline. Assuming it makes any sense at all to talk about baseline behavior for babies, which maybe it doesn’t. She did get a bit of…

  • 30 Weeks of Lydia

    Probably the most notable feature of this week was increased separation anxiety. Quite interesting to watch. I do think that, because of her own increased mobility, Lydia has much more of a concept of people leaving than she used to, and she doesn’t like it! The most classic thing she has been doing is crying…

  • 29 Weeks of Lydia

    Lydia and I had a pretty happy week this week. The weather has been warm and beautiful, so we’ve gotten out to playgrounds multiple days, and that worked well enough that I want to make it a very regular habit, at least when it’s nice outside. I still haven’t been to the playgrounds closest to…

  • 28 Weeks of Lydia

    Lydia had her six-month doctor’s visit this week. Nothing too eventful there. We’re doing the normal vaccine schedule, and it’s been working really well to have her in the wrap for her shots. That way she’s right up next to me and she can nurse right afterwards. Here are some stats: The scale said 7.56…

  • 27 Weeks of Lydia

    Six months plus one week! I’m tired right now, but tiredness has not characterized my week overall. We were both pretty happy this week. We’ve been doing solids for another whole week, so that still feels pretty new. We also went to the zoo today, which was maybe the first kid activity I planned for…

  • Preventing Peanut Allergies

    My default position when I started looking into peanut allergies was that exposure to potential allergens (particularly the ones outside our evolutionary heritage) would sensitize children to that allergen in the future. Eliezer once described changing your mind as the penultimate technique of rationality, and I always enjoy the opportunity to stretch that particular muscle.…