Bringing up Bebe

Wow, life has become so busy it takes Teller coming down with bronchitis for me to be able to breathe for a minute. I took Teller to the zoo on Saturday and he was being such a good boy! At first I attributed it to my new parenting read (bringing up bebe) (more on that later) but then I realized he was sick and burning up. He is such a good kid when he is sick! I took him to the doc yesterday and they put him on antibiotics. He is doing much better today and I took a couple of days off work to keep an eye on him. He still naps for 3 hours during the day so I really don't know what to do with myself. I have scrubbed the carpets, dusted the fans, sewed a couple of tablecloths for an upcoming tea party and made a pot of black beans. Now, im just waiting for five o'clock.

Sunday, Evan and I are going on a very belated birthday fishing trip. after the trip, we a re going to scoop up Teller and head to Gulf Shores for a few days. I can't wait. Teller has been talking about it everyday for a month. Evan says next beach trip, we tell him the day before. He has the most incredible memory. A couple nights ago, Evan asked me why I had to make bread in the morning. Teller said "Antonio is out of town daddy, he is visiting his girlfriend Tiffany in New York. Mommy is teaching Matt to make the bread." I swear to god. We both sat there with our jaws dropped.

So I have read my first ever parenting book, bringing up bebe. `So so good. Already the tantrums have stopped. Seriously. And a lot of things I thought I was doing right but wasn't sure were confirmed so I'm a lot more confident in what I'm doing. Main points- teach patience, constantly. Make them wait and they will get used to it and won't demand. Set boundaries but give lots of freedom within boundaries. Stop yelling and start explaining. In the grocery store the other day Teller started talking really loud. He does this for attention in any public place when he starts getting bored. I started to get really mad and then stopped and explained to him why he could not yell at the grocery store. I said "do you understand?" He said "yes mommy, I understand" and that was the end of that. Now it doesn't always work but a lot of the time it does and still shocks me. I try and give him different foods for lunch so he doesn't get bored with his meal. His teacher told me this was wrong and children LIKE to eat THE SAME thing everyday. I thought there is no way that is true but I tried it out. Of course it did not work. You are teaching them not to try new things. I still can't believe she told me that..and that I actually tried it out. Who wants a child that will only eat hot dogs and raisins?? Let them try everything, over and over, till they like it. We went for Vietnamese the other night and Teller shockingly ordered his own dinner. "I'll have the wonton soup with the little tiny noodles. and chicken spring rolls. with peanut sauce." I was so proud.

Evan and I are going on a California road trip in July. We are flying to San Diego and spending the weekend there then renting a car and driving to San Francisco. I am secretly hoping Evan falls madly in love with San Fran and demands we move there. And then he finds a job making a lot of money and we have more adorable little Cali babies.

What about TARTINE??

Tartine is good. It's busy and people love it. I am there about 50 hours a week and have been off on weekends the last couple of months. It is an ideal job. The pay is a little crappy but I do write off a fair amount of things. The benefits of working for yourself definitely outweigh more money. I don't think I could ever work for someone else again and I know I would not want to be a pastry chef again...I also would be too scared to open a restaurant in a city far far away that I don't know very well. On the other hand I could not stay at home. So I guess it's NOLA for now...maybe.