Tiny Iron Fists

Petit a Petit Pour Ma Petite!

One of the toughest decisions a new parent has to eventually make is, who's going to take care of my kid when I have to go back to work? And unless you have the luxury of being a stay at home parent (yes, I consider it a luxe to be able to afford to raise your own kid), at some point in time, you're going to research childcare, be it a nanny, daycare, preschool or some other gathering of kids and caretakers.

I did a ton of research (that overlapped with my quest for the best preschools in west LA) and eventually stumbled upon a French immersion daycare in Santa Monica that was owned and operated by a friend-of-a-French-friend. I made an appointment to visit and never looked back.

I can't tell you how much Lulu loves her daycare, Petit a Petit. I feel the same and decided to share my Yelp review with you, in hopes that it might help you learn a thing or two about daycare and more importantly, learn about Petit a Petit:

After researching plenty of daycare and nanny options for our daughter, LMPP, we were thrilled to find Petit a Petit via friends who knew the proprietor, Manuela de Sousa.

Upon meeting the two caretakers, Manuela and Gabrielle, I instantly knew that Petit a Petit was the perfect daycare for our daughter - it was structured, yet not stuffy (something most people expect when you mention French-immersion-anything). The atmosphere is friendly, caring and familial.

Even though I didn't know either caretaker personally, I felt as though I was leaving LMPP with "friends" and frankly, didn't worry much at all from the start. They made the home to daycare transition easy for me, explaining weekly how LMPP might react to my leaving. And sooner than I thought, the routine of daycare was normalized for her.

LMPP has thrived at Petit a Petit. She is half French, with a native French-speaking father and although LMPP only spends two days a week at daycare, her language speaking abilities have exploded. The French immersion experience has been a positively awesome experience for her.

Since the number of children to caretakers is also low, LMPP gets a lot of attention and often when I drop her off, I get barely a wave goodbye (she's so happy to be at the daycare)! LMPP knows that she will spend all day with friends playing, singing, and learning French and often talks about "school" and her "classmates" before we arrive.

The French immersion daycare is operated out of a townhouse in Santa Monica close to several freeways for work commuters. For quick drop offs in the morning, we temporarily park in the alley with our hazard lights on and for pick-ups, we park in the alley parking lot a few doors down.

Aside from the terrific food, activities, and company, the best thing about Petit a Petit is their small enrollment size. Because the group is so small, Manuela and Gabrielle really get to know each kid. And they always take the time to tell me how LMPP did that day and fill me in on things parents want to know (Did she poop today? How was her appetite? Did she do anything special? How long did she sleep for? Any accidents?).

And to further explain Manuela and Gabrielle's dedication to our daughter's wellness and progress in hitting milestones, we potty trained LMPP at 20 months. She wears underwear only and although she has had a few accidents here and there, both Manuela and Gabrielle are super patient with her and their eagerness to be consistent with LMPP's underwear at school, allows for her to be accident-free at home and elsewhere, and we REALLY appreciate that!

I've had the pleasure of referring friends to the facility and now my architect friends have their son attending Petit a Petit too.

Good luck getting a spot should one open up!

We were lucky to stumble upon such an amazing program. While it is not a school, I know that Lulu has learned a lot since enrolling. She is thriving at Petit a Petit and we can't thank Manuela and Gabrielle enough for loving her, the way we do.

Outfit: babyGap toddler girls' top and Jaxxwear leggings.

Eye Spy 2010

Even with the loss of Silvio's grandfather Marco Rea, my father Lieutenant Colonel Chuong G. Hong and our beloved cat-dog Godzuki, 2010 was the year of love. So many people surrounded us. And so many people openly loved Lulu.

THANK YOU to our extended family (born-into and adopted) for your friendship. 2011's going to be the best yet!

How To Make A Monster's Inc. "Boo" Costume

When I was growing up, I was always a wee bit envious of the kids at our elementary school rocking homemade costumes for the annual Halloween parade. In fact, I remember really loving my friend Jennifer's hand sewn pumpkin costume in the third grade. It just looked so damn soft. Believe immigrant-kid-me, I didn't mind that we got boxed plastic-poncho costumes with the stiff masks with knife-sharp-cut-out lips. But I had fantasized of having a homemade costume once or twice.

Last Halloween Lulu was five months old and not really mobile yet. We stuck her in pirate pajamas and carried her around like baby booty. This year, Lulu could actually walk around and trick-or-treat and I was excited by the prospect. While brainstorming costume ideas, Silvio commented that Lulu looked like the character Boo from Monster's Inc. I searched everywhere online for something really cool and instead found cheap-looking costumes that cost too much money.

This Halloween I was feeling ambitious. I googled "Homemade Monster's Inc. Boo Costumes" and stumbled upon Coolest Homemade Costumes. I read about how each parent made their Boo costume and it seemed easy enough. My more-experienced-sewing-friend Karen agreed and also offered to help me with this endeavor.

Following are instructions for making a Monster's Inc. Boo costume. It's easier than it reads and it's not as hard as it looks (embrace safety pins)!

MATERIALS:

LINCOLN FABRICS - Total with tax $25.60

2 Yards Purple Lamay at $6.50/yard         TOTAL = $13.00

2/3 Yard Silver Lamay at $6.50/yard         TOTAL = $4.33

1/4 Yard Felt at $8.00/yard                       TOTAL = $2.00

Batting                                                      TOTAL = $4.00

MICHAELS - Total with tax $8.75

2 4" Styrofoam Balls at $3.49 each           TOTAL = $6.98

1 Chenille Pipe Cleaners                          TOTAL = $0.99

99 CENT STORE - Total with tax $1.09

Deluxe Mop With Handle                         TOTAL = $0.99

MATERIALS DONATED BY MY FRIEND KAREN - $0.00

3' Velcro

Several Dozen Safety Pins

Thread

Hotel Sewing Kit

Black Sharpie Marker

2' Extra Fabric For Inside of Hood

COSTUME GRAND TOTAL = $35.44

 

SEWING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Take the pre-measured purple fabric and fold it in half. Layer batting inside of the fabric. Safety pin closed. Run the fabric with batting through a sewing machine around the edge to create a stuffed rectangle. Run the rectangle through the sewing machine in the same direction three or four more times to create the "quilted look". For the armholes, cut out crescent shapes on each side at the same height. Run the frazzled edges through a sewing machine to close up the cutouts.

2. Roll the purple bodysuit into a tube. Sew the soft loop tape Velcro and fastener on opposite sides of the ends of the tube. Make sure they're lined up properly and can seal shut.

3. Cut different sized and shaped teeth from felt.

4. Mark the middle of the body tube with a piece of tape and sew the felt teeth on the top edge. Sew one tooth at a time starting from the middle, outwards.

5. To create the hood part of the costume, fold the pre-measured purple fabric in half, stuff with batting, and cut out a crescent shape. Sew felt teeth on the top part of the hood starting from the middle, outwards.

6. To create hair on top of the hood, take different-sized chunks of mop threads and sew them randomly all over. For larger chunks of hair, try braiding smaller groups of thread together.

7. To create monster eyes, take a supersized black Sharpie marker and color in half of each Styrofoam ball. Then color in two circles in the middle-front to represent pupils. Twist black pipe cleaners together to create eye-antennas and stick one end of the pipe cleaner bunch into the colored-in part of the Styrofoam ball. Take the other end and sew it into the hood.

8. We ran out of time to properly assemble the costume and ended up safety pinning the hood to the body. If I had more time, I would've sewn this part together. Also we didn't actually measure Lulu or the fabric (we eyeballed it) so the body tube was a little roomy for her. Instead of sewing in elastic straps to help keep the tube up, I used safety pins to keep it together.

9. Even though I bought silver fabric, I had Lulu wear a grey sweatshirt as a shortcut for the arms. I didn't have the energy to figure out how to sew arms together and the grey top worked fine.

10. Lulu wore grey leggings, socks and sparkly silver shoes. We put two mini pigtails in her hair to complete the ensemble.

Lulu's Monster's Inc. Boo costume was created in a little over 24 hours. This was the first time I had ever made a homemade Halloween costume without throwing a bunch of store-bought items together and I have to say, I'm pretty proud of what walked the streets Halloween night! Random people yelled and pointed "Boo!" as Lulu waddled down the street and several homeowners declared her costume the best one they'd seen all evening. I'm proud to be a mom that makes homemade costumes. And I'm excited again for Halloween.

Lastly, there is no way I would've been able to have made this costume without the help from my very kind and generous friend, Karen Chen [thank you, Karen!!!!!]. Seriously. She totally sewed the body tube and hood for me and helped me layout the plans for the costume.

If you ever decide to make a Boo costume, I'd love to see your finished product. Feel free to share links or photos in the future. Good luck, enjoy our photo album, and Happy Halloween!

Learning About The Ladder

I'm a fan of learning through "dangerous" play and hope to enroll Lulu in the Tinkering School someday. We pulled out the ladder to install art in her bedroom and she immediately ran to climb it. I showed her how to manueveur up and down the ladder, how to find her footing, and explained to her how she could fall off. Guess what? She got it and proceeded to climb up and down, up and down, up and down, etc. without incident. Not bad for an almost-17 month old. And yes, I know accidents can happen, but like, hello!!!, falling's okay too. And besides, I was nearby.

RELATED: Little Thinkers/Tinkerers and Big Think Interview with Lenore Skenazy

Outfit: James Perse Baby Long-Sleeved Tee and American Apparel infant cotton spandex jersey legging.

Dogtown Play Date

I spent the morning with my friend of several decades, Mana and her son Bodhi, who will (hopefully) be a friend to Lulu for her entire life. While playing in the park, Bodhi and Lulu  made friends with a wonderful local girl, "A". The hours were spent well, building sand castles, monkeying around and chasing seagulls. The image captured above is a reminder to us all that we need to play more! Viva impromptu Dogtown play dates!

Outfit: Polarn O. Pyret short sleeve and Baby Gap shorts.

Pumpkin Patch Party Time!

It was a dark and stormy afternoon, however Lulu loved her first visit to a pumpkin patch. Joined by the too cute Turner twins and adorable Amani, we really enjoyed Shawn's Pumpkin Patch in Culver City. Lulu wasn't thrilled about being pulled in a wagon, but she loved the petting zoo, moonbounce, and pumpkin hunting in the hay bale maze! We didn't get a chance to ride the train or ponies, but hope to make it back before Halloween. Go with your family, it's spooktacular!

Monkeying Around

After watching the big kids climb the metal net at the park so many times before her, Lulu gathered the courage to do it herself. She walked right up to it, put her hands on the middle bar and stood on her tippy toes in the sand. I showed her how to place her feet on the bottom bar and she figured the rest out herself. I didn't touch her, as much as I wanted to and I let her wobble around and find her balance. Lulu climbed without hesitation and was happy to reach the platform. Success was hers! She excitedly went down the slide and immediately circled back to do it all over again. This clip is her second attempt at climbing the jungle gym. I'm so proud of our little monkey!

First Day At Daycare!

Today was Lulu's first day at daycare*. And it was easier on the both of us than I had imagined. So many parents before me warned of this bittersweet day. They said my kid would be bawling. She wasn't. They also said I would cry. I didn't. In fact, I remembered to call once in the late afternoon only because I felt guilty for not checking in earlier. I left a message on their answering machine saying there was no need to call me back unless necessary. The proprietor of this childcare center is good friends with our buddy Carole so I felt like I was dropping Lulu off with friends, not strangers!

In preparation for today, I can honestly say, I didn't prepare. Which is pretty out of character for me (I'm an over-researcher). I packed what the center told me to bring for Lulu: sunscreen, diapers, and a change of clothes and also packed a pacifier, her favorite blanket, snacks, and a sippy cup. I didn't go online and read about other people's "first day at daycare" experiences. And I didn't feel I needed to. Which is funny because now that the day is over, I've checked in online and all the "first day at daycare" resources have headlines about preparing, preparing, and more preparing for this momentous occasion. Let me tell you, I didn't and we were fine!

We arrived at 9:45 a.m., I hugged Lulu and said a quick good-bye (she actually ran off to play) and returned at 5:15 p.m. When I arrived to pick up Lulu, we were both very happy to see one another. After hugs, Lulu continued to play while her new caretakers gave me the lowdown on the day. They said she was timid at first and hung with the adults only, but that after her two hour nap, she woke and was ready to interact with the other children. Lulu ate well (she wasn't crazy about broccoli), slept very well, and had a really fun time at the park. She liked to play with the train set, build things and was very specific about how she wanted to stack her blocks. Overall, she seemed to be a good fit with the other kids. This was great news!

I'm thrilled that this milestone was such an easy one for the both of us. I'm interested in seeing how Lulu grows and deals in the weeks to come. But mostly, I'm happy for Lulu to get to play with so many wonderful people all day. And it doesn't hurt to have a few Fridays off now too!

*I've intentionally kept this daycare's name private. If you are a friend and interested in learning more about this facility, drop me a line!

Outfit: Polarn O. Pyret Play 'N Learn Habitat T, First Smile khaki pants and Nowali Swedish moccasins.

Eating Yogurt

Sometimes you just have to give it them. Today Lulu decided to feed herself yogurt. The whole container. Some of it ended up on the floor, her bib, and body but most of it actually made it into her belly. I don't mind the mess. Learning's messy! And Lulu was having so much fun eating, it gave me a much needed break. Yahoo for yogurt!

I Wear My Sunglasses Inside

Outfit: Old Navy body suit and Baby Gap pleated skirt.