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Seoul: 24 hours, 24 adventures
Big. Safe. Spectacular.
We already know why Seoul is the greatest city in the world, but to really experience the Korean capital you've got to throw yourself into it.
You probably can't fit all of the following adventures into a single day -- though if you did, you'd return home with the greatest one-day slide show ever -- but tackling even three or four of them will give you a very big bite of a very flavorful city.
Choose your time frame below
1. Eat breakfast the local way
Every morning, hurried and hungry locals grab easy, cheap breakfasts from one of the smiling (usually) ladies behind a rusty "pojangmacha," or street stall.
The busiest stalls are in the Yeouido business district and Gangnam station area, where students flock for early-bird English classes.
The most popular order is "toast." Far from the bland and buttery Western version, "toast" in Seoul means a toasted sandwich stuffed with a full omelet, shredded cabbage, special sauce and other ingredients.
Other pojangmacha items include handmade doughnuts, gimbap, mini-burgers, dumplings and fried rice.
In afternoons and evenings, stall menus switch to heavier fare or alcohol-friendly snacks.
Yeouido station, 3, Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu (영등포구 여의도동 3); +82 2 6311 5261
Yeoui Naru station, 85-1, Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu (영등포구 여의도동 85-1); + 82 2 6311 5271
2. Brunch with the fashionable crowd
Standing on a street corner with half an omelet dribbling down your shirt not your thing? Join the more fashionable crowd in the Sinsa-dong neighborhood, which is known for its fancy brunch options.
Sinsa-dong is also a great area for some early window shopping through numerous alleys filled with small boutiques, hat and shoe shops and a five-story Forever 21.
Options for a leisurely brunch include:
Bucella (sandwiches, soups and salads), 534-22 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu (강남구 신사동 534-22); +82 2 517 7339
The Flying Pan (pancakes, omelets and desserts), 540-22 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu (강남구 신사동 540-22), +82 2 514 5585
Noda Bowl (rice bowl with various toppings of your choice), 535-23, Sinsa-dong, Ganganam-gu (강남구 신사동 535-23); +82 2 515 9634
3. Recover with hangover stew
Hard-partying Koreans have created an entire cuisine to cure the hangover; the remedies are even more effective than Red Bull and Taco Bell.
The favorite medicinal grub is haejang-guk, particularly the seonji haejang-guk, a spicy beef broth with congealed cow blood and bean sprouts.
Other variations include steaming bowls with just bean sprouts (no blood) or dried pollack fish.
Many hangover stew joints are located in business districts and cater to red-eyed men and women who come running during morning and lunch breaks.
Making haejang-guk and curing drinker's flu since 1937, Chungjinok is the go-to choice of CNNGo staffers who shall remain nameless.
Chungjinok, 24 Jongno 1-ga, Seoul (청진옥, 종로1가 24); +82 2 735 1690
4. Walk along the river, say hello to Seoul
To know Seoul, you've got to know the Han River, the artery that flows through all aspects of local life, leisure and commerce.
Starting from the centrally located and popular Jamwon Hangang Park, a walk along the river can take anywhere from 10 minutes to three or four hours.
Along the way are views and photo ops of everything from dull white and gray apartment stacks to lines of modern skyscrapers, from colorful bridges to the dramatic mountains that surround the city.
The banks of the river are home to 11 parks, and another is under construction. These are often filled with locals eating at riverside cafés or playing tennis, basketball or volleyball.
Jamwon Hangang Park, 221-124 Jamwonro, Seocho-gu (221-124 잠원로 서초구); +82 2 3708 0531
5. Get the celebrity treatment (in English or Japanese) at a hair salon
You haven't experienced a beauty salon until you've had your look shaped up in Seoul.
Elite customers (that means everybody, both men and women) start by checking out new styles on an iPad while sipping on complimentary bevvies with snacks, trying out new shades of nail polish and gossiping away about the latest celebrity scandals.
At the many Juno Hair salons around the city, English- and Japanese-speaking staffers dressed in black greet you with big smiles, ready to attack any of your needs.
Pick a stylist and talk about your ideas while the condition of your hair is assessed prior to the most expert cut you've ever had.
Other celeb touches include personal makeup consultation and medical check-ups and treatments for your scalp.
Avenue Juno, 63-13, Cheongdam-dong, Gangam-gu (강남구 청담동 63-13); +82 2 2138 0605
6. Make a cheap meal out of side dishes
Many department stores and underground shopping malls offer traditional Korean side dishes, making for an easy, fun and non-intimidating way to sample an array of Korean flavors.
At most markets, small portions of the tasty, colorful dishes are prepared early each morning and sold to busy housewives and hungry workers looking for quick snacks.
At Eunma Underground Shopping Mall, a dozen or so shops are dedicated to local side dishes. The Eunma Jeon shop is famous for its "jeon," or traditional pancakes.
In the more traditional Namdaemun market, Soyoung Banchan specializes in smaller portions of everyday side dishes such as kimchi, japchae and stir-fried anchovies.
There are too many dishes and flavors to recommend, so the best strategy is to wander around picking up whatever looks good.
Eunma Underground Shopping Mall, Eunma Jeon, Eunma Sangga, 316, Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu (강남구 대치동 316 은마상가); +82 2 556 5172
Lotte Department Store, 1 Sogong-dong, Jung-gu (중구 소공동 1); +82 2 771 2500
Soyoung Banchan, 50-30, Namchang-dong, Jung-gu (중구 남창동 50-30); +82 773 9337
7. Check out a crazy fish market, with few other tourists
Fish markets around the world have often been turned into tourist attractions -- Tsukiji in Tokyo and Pike Place in Seattle are two examples.
In Seoul, however, Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market has become a favorite of chefs, restaurant buyers and local fish lovers, without attracting much outside attention.
Even you're not buying, a walk along the market's narrow alleys provides an exhilarating cacophony of people shouting, chanting, throwing and, of course, chopping and wrapping fish.
Since you're already starting to smell like one, why not enjoy the freshest fish imaginable right on the spot?
The system is simple: choose the fish you want and the operator of whatever stall you're standing in front of will pull your choice from the tank and chop it up.
Next, carry your fish to one of the restaurants lined up on the second floor and hand it to the chef, who will cook it for your lunch on the spot.
Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market, 13-8 Noryangjin-dong, Dongjak-gu (동작구 노량진동 13-8); +82 2 814 2211
8. Grab a ginseng latte
Yes, Koreans like to show off their takeout coffee like it's a new Prada bag, but don't be fooled. Not all coffee is created equal -- or is actually coffee.
Local chain Caffe Bene serves a Grain Latte made with five different grains, while Tom N Toms' specialty is the sweet and soup-like Sweet Potato Latte.
But the crown for most original latte goes to A Twosome Place's Red Ginseng Frappe.
A cup of foamy ginseng, anyone? It's actually pretty tasty.
Tom N Toms, 24-31, Chungmuro 1-ga, Jung-gu (중구 충무로 1가 24-31); +82 2 774 8163
A Twosome Place, 705-1, Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu (강남구 역삼동 705-1); +82 2 3453 2355
9. Get your fortune told … maybe accurately
Extremely popular in Seoul, saju is an Eastern fortunetelling philosophy that can be startlingly accurate.
For the most accurate results, saju seers require the precise time (to the minute) of your birth. Most will begin by talking about your personality and personal history.
Future predictions often revolve around when employment, soul mates, the best age to marry and whether you'll have a daughter or son.
If you have a Korean friend willing to tag along, Sotdae Saju Café is a comfortable place to relax and listen to saju readings. Costs range from ₩20,000 to ₩40,000, depending on the type of reading. Readings take about an hour.
Sotdae Saju Café, 2/F Hanyang Sangga, 660-8, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu (강남구 신사동 660-8 한양상가 2층); +82 2 514 7179, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.
Saju Café Eros offers Japanese and English readings. 56-77, Daehyeong-dong, Seodaemun-gu (서대문구 대형동 56-77); +82 2 363 1810, ₩3,000-₩10,000 won, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
10. Find out how beautiful you are (or aren't)
Seoul is famous for the "enhanced" good looks of its people.
If you're curious what it would take -- and how much it would cost – to measure up to local standards of beauty, a quick plastic surgery consultation will provide the (perhaps unsettling) answers.
Anyone can get a "check-up." No fees are required, although you may feel like you deserve to get paid after listening to a plastic surgeon describing the flaws on your face and body.
Kangnam-Samsung Plastic Surgery, 6/F Hyobong Building, 1306-1, Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu (서초구 서초동 1306-1 효봉 빌딩 6층); +82 2 599 7400. Consultations available in English, Japanese and Chinese.
11. Step into a Korean time machine
Cafés in the Byeoldabang chain may look like ordinary shops, but they're really places where time runs backward for nostalgic Korean eaters.
Customers young and old come to enjoy old-school Korean treats and reminisce about the good old days.
The most popular order is the traditional dosirak, or bento, in which ham, bulgogi, steamed rice, egg and kimchi are fit into a rectangular tin can. Once the lid is closed, the tin is shaken until the gooey egg yolk and kimchi cover the rest of the ingredients with a sweet and spicy sauce.
It may look unappetizing, but the result is a tasty mixture of salty, spicy, nutty heaven that Koreans will never leave behind.
Byeoldabang Miss Lee, 2/F 144 Gwanhun-dong, Jongno-gu (종로구 관훈동 144 2층); +82 2 739 0939, open 10 a.m.-midnight.
12. Visit the most beautiful museum in Korea
With 10 hanok structures, 2,000 pieces of ancient furniture and a posh French restaurant, the Korea Furniture Museum lives up to its reputation: surprisingly stunning yet notoriously exclusive.
"Even if we only receive a very small number of visitors each day, we want every single one of them to experience the history and culture in its entirety," says museum deputy director Shim Jong-hyun.
He means it when he says "every single one" -- tours are very personal and in-depth.
Tours and restaurant by appointment only. Guided tours: ₩20,000.
Korea Furniture Museum, 330-577 Seongbuk-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul (성북구 성북동 330-577); +82 2 745 0181
13. Break your spice meter
Not afraid of a challenge? Even if it may mean a ruined tongue and tears flowing down your reddened cheeks?
Sinddeok restaurant offers tteokbokki dishes (the iconic, red-orange spicy rice cake goes for ₩2,000 here) in four spice levels.
The entry-level curry tteokbokki has a nutty flavor.
The higher the level, the darker and spicier the sauce becomes.
For anyone who needs something to cool down, Sinddeok shops offer a sweet plum juice. It's far better than soda, which will tingle your tongue even more after spice.
Drink a cup and you're ready to go back into spicy battle.
Sinddeok, 1328-11, Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu (서초구 서초동 1328-11); +82 2 598 3516
14. Grill your own meat … or watch a pro do it
Meat is without doubt one of the most important ingredients in the Korean cuisine.
The quintessential meat experience starts with the grill right in the middle of the table at a barbecue restaurant, where piles of meat and other items are brought and diners grill their own food.
It takes timing and skill to conjure the soft, juicy texture Koreans approve of, so pay attention to the more skilled practitioners before picking up those tongs and scissors.
Budnamujip is renowned for its high quality meat and great service, while Bulzip Samgyeopsal serves delicious pork barbecue 24 hours a day.
Budnamujip, 689-12 Yeoksam-dong Gangnamgu (강남구 역삼동 689-12); +82 2 2088 3392
Bulzip Samgyeopsal, 292-46 Sindang-dong, Jung-gu (신당동 중구 292-46); +82 2 323 3384
15. Play a round at Pebble Beach
A city with four beautiful seasons, Seoul nevertheless sometimes contends with heavy rains, scorching heat and heavy snowfalls.
None of this deters Seoul's golf-crazed locals, who, no matter what the weather, get in their swings on numerous screen-golfing venues around the city.
Players don golf shoes, rent or bring their own clubs and knock real balls into famed golf course scenes displayed on large video screens.
Cameras record every swing, so players can review what they're doing right and wrong.
Design Screen Golf, 150 Yeomni-dong, Mapo-gu (마포구 염리동 150); +82 2 704 0753, ₩20,000-₩30,000 for 18 holes
16. Photograph ancient Korean houses
It's hard not to notice the hanok, or the traditional Korean houses, lined up along the streets of the relatively quiet neighborhood of Bukchon.
The area is an outdoor museum, with hanok transformed into many different shapes and purposes; a dentist office, supermarket, shops, galleries, and guesthouses.
The village provides guided walking tours and leads visitors to the most photogenic places in the area.
Bukchon Culture Center, 105 Gye-dong, Jongro-gu (종로구 계동 105); +82 2 3707 8388
17. See the sites from a great height
For the past 25 years, the 479-meter N Seoul Tower has been the place to get panoramic views of Seoul.
With a recent facelift and starring role on several popular television dramas, it's also become a popular date destination.
Whether for a family trip, proposal or solo adventure, the tower is indeed Seoul's mightiest tourist attraction, but one that even locals have to visit, at least once.
N Seoul Tower, 103 Yongsan-dong 2-ga, Yongsan-gu (용산구 용산동 2가 103); +82 2 3455 9277; tickets ₩9,000 adults, ₩7,000 students
18. Scream on the Comet Express
With sprawling indoor and outdoor areas, Lotte World is one of the best amusement parks in Asia.
It gets better after 4 p.m., when all the kids and families have gone home.
With smaller crowds, shorter lines, parades and most attractions operating till late at night, this is the time to enjoy such scares as the Atlantis Adventure roller coaster, which applies 3.8 G forces to riders; the completely subterranean Comet Express coaster; and terrifying French Revolution loop coaster, which runs the indoor section of the park at blood-curdling speeds.
Lotte World, 40-1 Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu (송파구 잠실동 40-1); +82 2 411 2000
Monday-Thursday 9:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday-Sunday 9:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Night opening Monday-Thursday 4 p.m.-10 p.m., Friday-Sunday 4 p.m.-11 p.m.
₩31,000 adults, ₩27,000 students, ₩23,000 children
19. Get lost in a sprawling market
What good is an adventure if you don't get a bit lost?
The alleys and passageways of cramped Namdaemun market are a great place to wander aimlessly.
Some alleys have specific themes, with streets devoted to the hard-boiled hairtail fish dish, sundae (a type of Korean sausage), traditional souvenirs such as Korean pop idol socks and even ginseng.
Each alley leads to a new street to another passageway and so on.
Namdaemun market, 49 Namchang-dong, Jung-gu (중구 남창동 49); +82 2 753 2805
20. Leave Korea for an hour
The Itaewon area is famed among Koreans for its foreign cuisine, with the nearby Gyeongridan street emerging as the block for a temporary break from all things Korean.
If you need a break from bulgogi and kimchi, there's Mi Madre for Spanish, Buddha's Belly for Thai, Le Saigon for Vietnamese, Pizzarium for Italian, Taco Chili Chili for Mexican, Sydney Seafood for Australian and Teaism for Japanese.
Wait, which city are we in again?
Mi Madre, 2/F 568 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu (용산구 이태원동 568 2층); +82 790 7875
Buddha's Belly, 119-7 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu (용산구 이태원동 119-7); +82 2 796 9330
Le Saigon, 673 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu (용산구 이태원동 673); +82 2 790 0336
Pizzarium, 529 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu (용산구 이태원동 529); +82 2 312 7580
Sydney Seafood 2/F 671 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu (용산구 이태원동 671 2층); +82 2 790 2722
Teaism 258-13 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu (용산구 이태원동 258-13); +82 2 792 0474
After midnight
21. Get scrubbed by a stranger
When it comes to exfoliation, sweet-scented products just aren't enough to satisfy the tough skins of Koreans.
The intense Korean exfoliation experience, also known as "ddae-mili," might sound rough, but there really is nothing like it.
Customers first jump naked into the warm water of a bathtub and wait until the "scrubbing" professional calls them individually to the exfoliation corner, where they lie down on a plastic bed.
Now comes the rough part. The scrubber cleans your entire body with a very coarse bath mitten.
Soon your skin will be so soft you won't remember the embarrassment of lying down on a cold plastic bed, stark naked, waiting for a stranger to rub you from head to toe.
Sillloam Firepot Sauna (English- and Japanese-speaking staff), 128-104, Jungrim-dong, Jung-gu (중구 중림동 128-104); +82 264 3944
22. Buy trendy clothes under the stars
Yes, Doota and Migliore malls have great deals and are still hip places to shop for nearly everything.
But plenty of shoppers consider Dongdaemun Jeil Pyunghwa market to be the city's fashion leader.
The market is open from 10 p.m. until 4:30 a.m., so you know this isn't the place where suburban moms and cubicle prisoners get their latest looks.
The narrow alleys are such a zigzagged maze that visitors may find themselves roaming the same stalls over and over.
The trick is to grab the best deal when you see it, as it's likely to be gone soon. And, in any event, short of a trail of breadcrumbs, you might not be able to find your way back to the same shop.
Remember to check out what the clerks are wearing. They often sport the hottest and hippest styles in the city.
Weekdays 10 p.m.-4:30 a.m., Sunday 9 p.m.-4:30 a.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Dongdaemun Jeil Pyunghwa market, 775 Sindang 1-dong, Jung-gu (중구 신당 1동 775); +82 2 2252 6744
23. Drink the local poison
Korea distills its share of traditional liquors, but the best way to appreciate them is to mix them up.
Commonly known as "the bomb," a mix of soju and beer is the most popular blend of Korean favorites. Street stalls and restaurants are full on Friday and Saturday nights, and most pour the bomb.
The cheapest and the most local way to drink is to sit beneath a tented street stall on Jongro street ordering simple side dishes to go with the happy bombs.
Find Jongro street at 46 Doneui-dong, Jongro-gu (종로구 돈의동 46); +82 2 6110 1301
24. Eat one last time
Getting around and learning about a new city can be tiring, which is why Seoul has so many 24-hour shops, cafés, fast-food chains and bars.
For something hearty, visitors can try samgyeopsal (strips of grilled pork belly) at Wonjo Ssambab, even at 4 a.m.
For those who don't want to get out of bed, delivery is a Seoul eating mainstay. You can even have Chicken McNuggets delivered to your hotel.
Wonjo Ssambab, 167-3, Nonhyun 1-dong, Gangnam-gu (강남구 논현 1동 167-3); +82 2 548 7589
Yangchonri, 411-10, Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu (강남구 도곡동 411-10); +82 2058 1245
McDonald's, +82 2 1600 5252


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Buddy Treybig, his bull neck burned the color of crawfish, steers his boat up the Lower Colorado, looking out the cabin for signs of life. There are birds on the staves of the dockside shore – herons and plovers and death-glare hawks – but Treybig isn't checking for them. Drum and sport fish promenade these waters, but Treybig isn't here for them, either. He's looking for fauna of the two-legged sort: other fishermen bound for Matagorda Bay, once the crown jewel of Texas estuaries. In the horn-of-plenty days a decade ago, so many vessels dragged its splendid reefs that fights would break out once the men got back to town – the locals trading punches with Vietnamese transplants and sometimes burning boats when things went squirrelly. Now there's no one but him in the channel; Treybig's rivals have either left for Louisiana or chained their fleets to the pier in Matagorda, too broke to buy the gas it takes to fish. "You'll see when we get up in the bay," mutters Treybig. "I'm the only one still dumb enough to do this."
It's been a long, dry haul in the southeast quadrant of the state. The majority of Texas has been in a record-busting drought for most of a decade, and the last three years have been especially thirsty ones for communities on the Colorado River.
Not to be confused with the other Colorado – which, in wet years, runs from the Rockies to Mexico and irrigates farms and cities in seven states – this one is the largest body of water that begins and ends in a single state. The river and man-made lakes created to store its volume are all in desperate shape. From its source in Dawson County, just south of Lubbock, through its southeast meander to the Gulf of Mexico, you can park your car and walk across streams that once would have swept you to the sea. Drained by demand from boom-town cities in the power corridor of central Texas and by a run of relentless heat that cut its inflow and hiked up rates of evaporation, the Colorado is under existential stress, and much more pain is in the forecast. Every reputable climatologist, including the state appointee, is predicting another decade of recurring drought and steady upticks in heat. That's hard news for all the many life-forms that drink, swim, and make their living from this river. But it may soon prove a blessing for one rare species: private-equity firms, called "water marketers," which stand ready to reap huge profits from disaster.
Buddy hooks a left to the Intracoastal Waterway and takes the Mad Island cut to the Matagorda; there, the bay is forked by land, splitting into East and West Bay. Out on West Bay, it's eerily still, the raw morning cowled in February gloom, the prow of the Elaine Marie churning mud. Treybig and his deckhand, Erik Jacobson, lower their nets to the milky bottom to drag for oysters and shrimp.
"Used to be, you could make $100,000 a month [gross] just shrimping, never mind oysters," says Treybig, chomping the tip of a cigarillo into submission. "My hardest decision was going East or West Bay. Now the East Bay's dead and buried, and this one's dying right behind it."
For decades cool, fresh water flowed hundreds of miles south to these bays, released from the Colorado's main storage tanks, lakes Travis and Buchanan, above Austin. Once the river reached here, its fresh water mixed with salt water from the Gulf to create a glorious nursery for fin and shellfish, with just the right saline-and-oxygen mix to spawn endless supplies of hatchlings. En route to the Matagorda, the river watered the soil of south Texas' verdant rice fields, sustaining a $200-million-a-year industry; farm towns like Wharton, El Campo, and Bay City; and a dreamscape marshland for ducks, geese, and egrets – the largest winged migrations in the delta.
Then came the drought. The river's inflows shrank, and lakes Travis and Buchanan bottomed out as if someone had pulled the stopper. Three years ago, when they dipped to below 40 percent full, and rich homeowners saw their lakefronts slip 60 feet down dry cliffs, political heat was trained on the stewards of the river to cut off releases to downstream farmers. The board of directors of the Lower Colorado River Authority, who were empowered by the state to regulate releases, voted to stop flows to most of the growers, and allotted the bare minimum to the bays and estuaries – just enough to keep them alive until the rains returned. Instead, the river shrank, and for three springs running, those rice fields have stood fallow, putting all but a few farmers out of business. Meanwhile, water in the bay has turned brackish and sick, host to great swarms of parasites. Algae bloom in the shallows like stinkweed. Snails bind to oysters and suck the meat right out of them. An organism called dermo kills whatever the snails don't, and there's even a vicious bacteria that can eat the flesh off your arm.
"Don't fall in with an open cut," warns Treybig. "That shit gets on you, might have to chop off the limb."
He orders Jacobson to haul up the nets and loosen their bottom knots. Onto the deck spill tiny baitfish and two or three shit-caked oysters. Treybig bends to scoop a crab, smaller than the width of his hand.
"Ain't crab season yet, but should be way more than one here – and do you see any shrimp at all in this mess?"
He hands me the crab and clears the deck, chucking the small fry overboard. His workers will circle back on smaller boats, mining what's left of an oyster tract that used to be the glory of the Southwest. With luck, he'll limp through this year, then mortgage his soul for a bigger boat and chase Gulf shrimp up to a hundred miles offshore.
"I love this bay – been on it since age six – but you can't fight drought and city hall. In three years, they killed something God himself made, Rick Perry and his fat-cat boys in Austin. It could rain from now till May Day, and I hope it does, but how you gonna fix what's dead?"
I hold out the small crab writhing in my grasp; its blue claws strain to cut loose.
"Can I toss this one over the side now?"
Treybig shrugs.
"Or keep him for bronzing," he says. "He might be the last one down there."
Everywhere in life, water flows downhill. In Texas, it flows to money.
Shortly after Rick Perry's election in 2002 (he took over when George W. Bush was elected president), he and the wealthy men who'd financed his run declared the Longhorn State open for business. Brandishing cash from the Texas Enterprise Fund – a $300 million job-stimulus program enacted by the Texas legislature – Perry toured the country via donor-funded flights to woo companies to move their operations to his state. Untroubled by the stress of new industry on his dwindling lakes and rivers, Perry sweetened the state's already pro-business sales pitch – lax regulations, anti-union laws, and freedom from state income taxes – by offering mammoth checks to relocating firms. In just the first couple of years, he committed $50 million to Texas Instruments, $40 million to Sematech (a semiconductor consortium), and $20 million to notorious subprime lender Countrywide Financial. Perry bragged that these grants would net huge returns in high-paying tech jobs brought to Texas.
It was cutthroat capitalism, and it cashed out in spades. Perry lured companies from other states, then the residents of those states followed them down to Texas, revving the home-building and retail sectors and growing the state economy during a world recession.
In 10 years, Texas added nearly 5 million people, or about one-fifth of its current population. Most of them settled in the middle of the state, where Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas–Fort Worth bloated like beached blue whales. Three of the fastest-growing cities in North America, they metastasized up and down I-35, disgorging tract homes, carpet lawns, and backyard pools on what had mostly been red-clay scrubland, and turned one-horse exurbs like Buda and Round Rock into booming bedroom towns. Overnight, Austin grew a big-town skyline, as condoplexes and luxe hotels thronged the downtown grid, pricing families out and bringing executives in to $400-per-square-foot apartments. "It's a very vibrant place now for young folks with money, but they're a tiny sliver of the population," says Brian Rodgers, a local activist-investor who decries what has happened to his city. Citing Census Bureau charts and fiscal-impact graphs, he maps the stark shift in demographics: vast hikes in rents and property prices; a job market churning mostly service-sector jobs paying $30,000 or less a year, with more than 40 percent spending a third or more of their income on housing.
A decade of drought and unchecked development in cities such as Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Lubbock has overwhelmed the state's traditional water sources: its rivers and lakes. Now the vast reserves of underground water, including the Ogallala and the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifers, are being fought over. Under the "rule of capture" law, brokers can sell water from surrounding regions to the booming metros, draining the reserves of smaller communities, many of which are already in dire straights. This summer the water supply in more than 30 Texas towns could run dry.
"Middle-class buyers got pushed farther and farther out," says Rodgers, "and the rich ones moved to where the brown folks aren't. Route 183 now, it's all huge homes as far as the eye can see."
Some of the jobs Perry bragged about materialized, but certainly not in the numbers promised. According to a 2011 report by Texans for Public Justice, a political watchdog group based in Austin, only 37 percent of the jobs that Perry's office claimed were created by the Enterprise Fund actually existed. Instead, Texas leads the country in minimum-wage positions and has by far the most uninsured workers. But for Perry's political mega-donors in the construction and retail trades – Doug Pitcock, CEO of Texas' largest highway and bridge builder; Charles Butt, a billionaire supermarket owner; and Robert Rowling, a hotel and health-club magnate – life in Texas has never been better. House prices are up 20 percent from 2009, new developments carpet the hills west of Austin's limits, and high-end malls fill the spaces in between with a stadium-size Whole Foods and Neiman Marcus. Those donors and many others have thanked the governor handsomely for his help, contributing $102 million to his campaign fund or to the Republican Governor's Association, a shadowy slush-pot formerly headed by Perry that raises tens of millions of dollars a year. Best of all, they've handed him a robust plank when he runs again for president in 2016 – 10 years of high employment without raising taxes. The stump speech will practically write itself.
But in the teeth of Perry's national ambitions blows a gust of something bigger: the hot, dry fact of climate change. From the Mississippi River to practically all points west, a massive system of oven-door air has moved in and set up shop. California's drought, its worst in four decades, shut down farms in the Central Valley, where nearly half of the nation's produce is grown. Ranchers in New Mexico, facing their fourth year of drought, sold their herds before they died of thirst or heat prostration. The snowpack in the Rockies, which feeds the other Colorado River and is the lifeblood of Las Vegas and Phoenix, shriveled to levels so low that pipes in some of the storage lakes it supplies couldn't capture its flow.
And so on, from Oregon to grain-belt states like Kansas and Oklahoma: They've faced droughts before, but this one is different, particularly in a place like Texas. Over the course of the last decade, the arid state has run desperately short of rainfall. Reservoirs everywhere have thinned or tapped out – Lake Meredith has nearly gone dry, parching Amarillo and Lubbock; Lavon Lake dwindled to half its size, threatening supplies for Dallas and Fort Worth; and the majestic Rio Grande ran so thin that the city of El Paso put in doomsday restrictions, closing laundries and car washes and ordering its residents not to bathe or wash their clothes. It could always be worse, though: They could live in Wichita Falls, a city of 100,000, northwest of Fort Worth, that's less than two years from running dry. There, they'll be drinking their own wastewater, once it's been treated at the plant. They won't be alone: Other cities in Texas are planning so-called "toilet to tap" conversions.
"It's something we're all headed to," says Lubbock's mayor, Glen Robertson. "It's not a matter of if; it's a matter of when."
The heat that rolled in stayed for months, stretching summers to the breaking point. In 2011, Dallas suffered 40 straight days of triple digits. Austin obliterated its record for 100-degree weather, posting 85 days, total. The state at large shattered dust-bowl marks, posting the three hottest months in American history – a truth that barely inconvenienced the governor. Taking the podium to road-test his run for the presidential nomination in 2012, Perry denied climate change at every turn, famously calling it a "doctored" crisis and "a contrived, phony mess." He did so while much of his state shoveled ashes, following the worst fire season in history: More than 31,000 blazes burned 4 million acres, or about half the national lands lost to fire in 2011, and cost Texas more than half a billion dollars in razed homes.
In its worst drought ever, the state set no limits on car washing, sprinklers, or the building of backyard pools, nor did it ask frackers, power plants, or row-crop farmers to use less water and recycle. What's more, in the disaster plan that each state files with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state didn't consider drought as a major threat, saying it had more than enough supplies to tough one out. Rather than face facts, Perry kept right on selling, handing checks to Fortune 500 firms: $21 million to Apple, $12 million to Chevron, $7.9 million to Visa, and so on. What he didn't impart to companies making the move was that what little water Texas had was already committed to existing clients and no new reserves were being secured for the thousands of transplants arriving daily. (The last reservoir built here was in 2001; the next one is still on the drafting table and won't be ready for 20 years.)
Absent any higher governance, Texas' cities began a frantic search for water to fill their lakes. Dallas, whose residents use ungodly amounts to nourish their lawns and fairways – almost double the average rate of New Yorkers and San Franciscans – tried to buy supplies from the Red River in Oklahoma, which went over about as well as you'd expect. Oklahoma filed suit against the out-of-state grab, stomping Texas 9–0 in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling while talking some prairie trash along the way. Regarding Texas' purchase offer, Oklahoma State Senator Jerry Ellis remarked, "That'd be like giving steak knives to Jack the Ripper."
Treybig in search of what shellfish remain in Matagorda Bay.
Meanwhile, everywhere you looked, fights were breaking out between cities in need of water and the rural counties that had it. That water – the last true stockpiles in the state – wasn't sitting around in lakes and streams, though. It was far underground, beneath ranches and farms, in nine vast, fragile reserves called aquifers. One of them, the Carrizo-Wilcox, had the very bad luck to flow under Bastrop County, a pipeline's distance from Austin, San Antonio, and the thirsty suburbs along the booming tech corridor I-35. For the past three years, it's been under siege from third-party players with grand designs, speculators who have signed leases with Bastrop landowners to buy up the water under their soil and sell it, for astronomical profit, to those wealthy cities. (In other states, groundwater is a public utility regulated like rivers and streams; only Texas has no laws barring private investors from buying and selling it as they choose.) A rural board has fought them off on behalf of Bastrop County, whose populace wouldn't fill the Austin stadium where the University of Texas plays football. Gnashing their teeth, the speculators sued, saying their God-given right to sell someone else's water has been violated by the board. That case is headed to district court this fall, and every eye in Texas will be watching. If the speculators prevail – prove they're entitled to all the water they've paid for, even at the expense of Bastrop's residents – there will be a gold-rush run on counties with ample water and sparse populations to protect it. And then it won't be rice farmers and oystermen going broke, it'll be people in cities paying ransom rates to shower, and rural families waking up to dry wells and faucets as the aquifers they drink from drain and die.
They've been saying it in Texas since the first Anglo planters dug their crude canals for pecan trees: Whiskey is for drinkin'; water is for fightin'. Except that even then the canard rang hollow: Water is for stealing. In the 1860s, U.S. troops drove native tribes off their eons-old oasis, Comanche Springs, enabling settlers to transform the Chihuahuan Desert into a delta of produce farms. A compact was struck among the Panhandle's growers to share the water fairly among each other. But in Texas, "common interest" is happy talk for socialism and never stands the test of avarice.
In the 1950s, along came Clayton Williams, an oil and cow magnate who dug dozens of gas-fired wells on his ranch and drew all the water out of Comanche Springs. His neighbors, rightly outraged, sued in three courts – and lost to him each time in landmark trials. The courts said Williams owned every last drop he could suck from the caves beneath his soil, and tough luck for his fellow landsmen with shorter straws. That law, called "rule of capture," defines Texas' approach to problem solving. It honors the state's right to control its surface water, but grants absolute ownership of below-ground water to whoever owns the land above it. The owner of that water can largely do what he likes – hoard it, waste it, or sell it at profit – even if it bankrupts his next-door neighbor and tanks the ecology of his county.
Williams' win was great news for tycoons and oil extractors, exalting the claims of the big ranch owner over the greater good of his townsfolk. Sixty years later, when surface water is dying and Texas can't support the population it has, let alone the people still coming, it has emboldened a new cast of cutthroat investors, including Clayton Williams' son, Clayton Jr. Claytie, as he's called, is an oil-and-gas scion who could easily have been invented by Molly Ivins. In 1990, he ran for governor and was ahead by double digits in all the polls. Then he wisecracked that women being raped should "just relax and enjoy it."
Like his father, he's monopolized the springs in Pecos County, pumping 41 million gallons a day to water his cattle and telling a reporter, "It's my land, and I have the right... If I didn't pump water, [the land] wouldn't be worth anything."
In 2010, he decided to double down, making a deal with a utility company in Midland, Texas – his firm would build pipelines to send Pecos County water 100 miles away to that booming oil town. Shortly thereafter, oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens struck a deal to pipe groundwater, for $103 million, to 11 cities, including Lubbock and Amarillo, replacing the depleted Lake Meredith. Like Williams, Pickens drew from a depleted source: the Ogallala Aquifer in West Texas, which sat below land he owned or to which he leased the water rights. One of the world's great underground bodies, it irrigates crops in eight states, brings drinking water to millions, and, for decades, was presumed to be boundless. But in Texas, the drain has been so rapacious that levels in the Ogallala have dipped hundreds of feet, bottoming out completely in shallow sections.
To stem some of the damage done by the rule of capture, and to protect the state's reserves from men like Williams, Texas created local groundwater boards to regulate sales to outside parties. In Williams' case, the system worked: His deal was voted down by the county board. Not so with Pickens and his Mesa Water holdings, which won local board approval to sell water to the 11 cities. Pickens made out grandly at the expense of the Ogallala, while hiking up future water costs for residents; groundwater is much more expensive than surface water, as it must be pumped farther and treated twice, not once. "It'll be on your water bill and mine," said Norman Wright, chairman of the Canadian River Water Authority, which struck the deal on behalf of the 11 municipalities and took out bonds to pay Pickens' price.
Though Pickens had hoped for a far more lucrative strike – his real target was the Dallas–Fort Worth nexus and its 7 million total residents, but the costs of piping water there proved too great – he'd written the game plan for future investors. Lease the water rights to farms you don't own, bundle that water to fast-growing cities from Dallas to San Antonio, then bulldoze the groundwater boards with top-shelf lawyers and pay for studies "proving" your claim that the aquifer won't be tapped by your withdrawals. In other states, progressive politicians could be called on to fight such stunts.
But in Texas, there is no opposition party. "Democrats are the same as Republicans here; they're all in bed with developers," says Linda Curtis, who runs the Texas League of Independent Voters, a coalition fighting the Keystone Pipeline and the ravages of sprawl on state resources. She says people like herself and her green-shoots cohort of hydrologists, lawyers, and Sierra Club types are the only ones fighting Perry's growth machine on behalf of small towns. She and her group were key players in the defeat of the governor's grandest ambition, a grid of superhighways called the Trans-Texas Corridor that would have cost Texans billions in tolls collected and put much of that money into the pockets of his contributors – the road-building and construction lobbies. Now Curtis' focus is on the water fight brewing mere miles from her house in Bastrop, a town of 7,000 that's a half-hour's drive from Austin. For Curtis and her neighbors, the politics are personal, and the stakes could not be higher.
Now abandoned, Carlos'n'Charlie's was a lively shoreside party spot on Lake Travis.
"If you look to your right, you'll see how close we all came to being burned off the face of the map," she says, driving north on Highway 21, which zigzags across Bastrop State Park. "Labor Day weekend, 2011, this whole forest went up in smoke, ate 5,000 acres and 1,600 homes. And if the wind had shifted just the slightest bit, mine would've gone up with them." Record heat and dryness had turned the pine trees into pipe bombs; the resin in their pulp literally exploded when lit by flame, kindling the worst fire in state annals.
"Climate change and drought – those aren't just concepts; we're living them every day in Bastrop County."
Like most of her neighbors in this brown-collar town of mechanics and landscape workers, Curtis gets her water from Aqua Water Supply Corporation, a local utility with shallow wells that pull groundwater from the Colorado River. But the source of some of that water is actually treated sewage flowing downstream from Austin. It contains enough iron to clog Bastrop's wells, and enough estrogen from excreted birth-control pills to cause horrid mutations in frogs and fish.
"We've got quite a bunch of six-legged toads," says Phil Cook, a senior water expert who recently retired from Sierra Club Texas. "Bastrop's dirty secret is that it treats water for iron, but not estrogen and other drug compounds. That'd be way too expensive for their small system."
Understandably, then, the town went looking for other sources, and found a sweet one beneath its feet in the Carrizo-Wilcox. The aquifer, which begins in Louisiana and drains southwest across Texas to the Gulf, has enormous reserves in deep-diving strata, which drop 2,000 feet below the soil. Bastrop signed a contract to pump a tiny portion of the Carrizo from beneath the land of a nearby ranch, and presented its request to the Lost Pines District, the groundwater board in its county. The deal – for 6,000 acre-feet of water a year, or enough to serve 20,000 people – would have been granted without objection in other years. Suddenly, though, Bastrop found itself in line behind claims brought by End Op and Forestar, the equity firms with grand designs on Bastrop County's water. Between them, they demanded permits to pump 101,000 acre-feet (enough to serve the needs of 400,000 people) and pipe that water to counties south and west, to the rich, booming suburbs of Austin.
"Outrageous," seethes Curtis, who mobilized her neighbors, bringing large crowds out for public hearings. "You pull that much water, and our local wells won't reach it. We'll be sucking dry pipes while they get rich."
Last year, Lost Pines sided with Curtis, granting the companies just a quarter of what they'd sought.
"I thought that was fair," says a water consultant who represents outfits like Forestar, though not in this case. "Sometimes the amounts they want are scary – and those board members have neighbors they have to face."
But following the Pickens playbook, both firms protested, going for a hearing before a judge. The judge ruled for Lost Pines in the Forestar claim, saying the board was simply doing its job. Infuriated, Forestar launched the nuclear option: filing a civil lawsuit in district court against the Lost Pines board and its members.
"Under the takings claim – that Lost Pines deprived Forestar of earnings from that water – the company is demanding damages equal to that loss from each of the 10 people on that board," says Cook. "These are middle-class folks who don't get paid to do this job and here they suddenly stand to lose their life savings in multimillion-dollar judgments. Forestar may be vicious, but it's not stupid. If I were a member, I'd give 'em what they asked for, then resign my seat in a second."
To defend itself in the likely years-long war against an army of $800-an-hour lawyers, the board has built a fund of roughly $1 million, which might see it through one trial and a round of appeals. It has no money to hire lawyers for its members, though, which leaves them on their own against deep pockets.
"Even if the county stepped in to pay their fees, Forestar's set the precedent for these fights," says Cook. "It's 'Give us what we want, or we'll make your lives hell – and we've got the money to do it.' "
Indeed, most observers think the end is near: The big-foot firms will eventually squash the rural boards and appropriate their water for urban clients. According to the latest survey by Forbes, three of the 10 fastest-growing cities in America are in the state of Texas, and those cities have the votes and rate-payer bases to create a supermatrix of water. Last fall, Perry's backers pushed through Proposition 6, a $2 billion fund to start digging for pipelines, among other projects. That money is mere pocket change tossed in the fountain: Perry's Water Development Board plans $50 billion in spending to bring water to users, and most of it won't be falling from the sky.
"This is the new normal for Texas weather, so access to groundwater is essential," says the water consultant, who thinks equity firms should be honored for their vision, not feared as resource raiders. "People don't want to spend any money – they want to use conservation. But in a state that's as rich as most other countries, there's a point when you have to build projects."
But even with new pipelines, local boards will have to compete with water brokers for what resources remain. As the city of Bastrop recently learned, the power to control water is shifting already: Its request for 6,000 acre-feet a year has been blocked by Forestar's lawyers. The company has threatened to sue anyone whose permit is granted before it gets its full allotment. Bastrop's children, then, will have to go on drinking water bearing the hormonal waste of Austin's women. That's horrid publicity, but Forestar's flacks can spin it: Hey, at least you're not living in Wichita Falls.
Depending on whom you ask, the price to deliver groundwater is five to 10 times greater than for surface water. It costs $1 million per mile just to lay the pipes, not counting what you have to pay property owners for the right to raze their homes. Then there's the cost to treat it for solids and condition it so it doesn't clog your pipes. When you add in the fuel charges to pump it uphill, you've created a resource pricier than oil and surely in shorter supply. In the crudest terms, there's a fortune to be made, and a new class of commodity kings are jockeying to get there first.
It's too soon to know who the winners will be; there are court fights ahead and likely a legislative deal to gut the local boards altogether. But it's clear, even now, who the losers are: any Texas counties not growing at warp speed, and their residents who lack the means to move to cities.
"We're losing this generation of kids down here; they're up and out the door the day school's over," says Buddy Treybig, the Matagorda fisherman who presides over his town and its dying bays. He isn't the mayor of Matagorda (population 700), but he might as well be, practically speaking. He sits on all of its boards, raises the money to feed its poor, and speaks for the coalition of farmers and watermen in this hard-bitten county of 36,000. "Between my two sons, I thought that one of 'em would stay and work this boat with me," he says. "But if you were their age, would you stick around when all your friends are moving north?"
Linda Curtis in Bastrop State Park, the site of a 2011 wildfire that burned 34,000 acres of land.
He sends me across the bridge to the county seat, Bay City, where Chamber of Commerce executive director Mitch Thames gives me a guided tour of south Texas' post-water future. We drive to see Harley Savage, the 83-year-old foreman of a rice-farming clan that's been here since the 1820s.
"We're five generations, and my grandboys are willing, but this business is done by next year. Been through everything you could think of and came out of it OK, till Austin got so big it took our water."
Returning to Bay City, past shuttered stores that sold equipment and seed to farmers, we pay a call on Joe Crane, who runs a rice-drying plant and has 80 employees he calls family.
"Third year with no water – I've got no choice; we're looking at significant layoffs. Rice farming'll go east, to Mississippi and Tennessee, but we can't move east with it."
We meet Jonathan Fehmel, whose family has been spraying farms in this county since 1948. "We had 20 planes going from dawn to sundown, dusting thousands of acres a day. Now, it's only maybe 1,500 acres that still got water, and we've sold everything but our airstrip. We're trying to lease that, too, if you know someone."
That night, I sit with Treybig over a steak dinner, his mood as bloody as his ribeye.
"I'm up at four in the morning seven days a week, trying to catch enough to keep my oyster plant going, while the governor's out braggin' about the 'Texas Miracle.' We don't need more people, 'less they're bringin' some fuckin' water. What we need's a real miracle: two months of rain."

subset: commoncrawl


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These advertisements from Greenfield, Massachusetts, in the 1840s show the transition from the canal/stagecoach era in the early 19th century to the era of the railroads. For several decades, passengers and goods moved through the region in a variety of ways. Products from Albany, New York, for example, traveled to Westfield, Massachusetts, by railroad and then to the "Cheapside" section of Deerfield by canal boat. By the late 1850s, however, railroads had almost entirely replaced canal transportation in the region. (Note the photograph of the Second Cheapside Railroad bridge).
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B. and M. and Street Ry. Bridges at Cheapside
Three Bridges over the Deerfield River
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View of Cheapside
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CNN unveiled a new prime-time schedule to advertisers Thursday that further moves the cable channel away from a reliance on hard news and political chat.
Most significantly, CNN is getting out of the talk show game in the 9 p.m. hour, a crucial time slot for cable news channels and one where the network has struggled for years. Instead, CNN will rotate between original series and documentaries.
CNN once owned that hour when "Larry King Live" was a must for politicians and newsmakers. But Fox News and MSNBC developed their own loyal audiences and King's ratings tumbled. King's successor, Piers Morgan, fared even worse and he was pushed out earlier this year.
New shows for the 9 p.m. hour include "Somebody's Gotta Do It," hosted by Mike Rowe, best known for his Discovery Channel series "Dirty Jobs." CNN said Rowe's new program will be a tribute to "innovators, do-gooders, entrepreneurs, collectors, fanatics -- people who simply have to do it."
Also slotted for 9 p.m. is "The Jesus Code," which the network said "will take viewers on a forensic and archeological journey through the Bible." John Walsh, the host of the long-running "America's Most Wanted," is getting his own CNN show called "The Hunt" about ongoing criminal investigations. Lisa Ling, who previously had a documentary series on OWN, the network co-owned by Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications. will have her own series as well.
CNN also said it will air a documentary in that hour once a week.
"The best journalism is, at its core, great storytelling," CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker said.
The network will continue to air "Erin Burnett Outfront" at 7 p.m. and "Anderson Cooper 360" at 8 p.m. At 10 p.m., CNN will launch a new one-hour program called simply "CNN Tonight."
Follow Joe Flint on Twitter @JBFlint.


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Blog Archives
Month 36: Review – Lil Baby Chaps from EC Wear
Over the summer I was delighted to be asked to review L'il Baby Chaps from EC Wear. I could totally type a review in between kid wrangling right? The package arrived when we were away on a summer trip and when we got back it was BLAZING hot. They were cute and had that nice fresh pressed pristine look that you know is going to be destroyed in 15 minutes of use. Unfortunately, I had to wait a month before the weather even permitted using them on Itty Bitty's little brother Mini Moose.I wanted to drag these chaps through a good course. Put them through the paces like a good Household Scientist.
Daddy Man thought they were a little weird, but he is used to my wack-a-doo ways and just went with it. The chaps were actually quite lucky for a week before a stealth poo took them out. They were used day and night. It did take two runs through the washer, but the orange-yellow stain did come out (by the way, never ever *rub* baby poo stains. Gentle agitation will get it out most of the time, if you rub it embeds the poop deep into the fibers where you can never get to them. When out and about, a few people even commented on cleverness — they saw the advantage even with non-EC — what better way to show off those pretty cloth diaper covers!? Traditional pants covering skull heads with rockin' guitars or bows, playful monkeys, and fruited polka-dotted butts is a crime!
EC Friendly: I was actually quite surprised how nicely the chaps fit and accommodated a prefold and belt, and when we were on an extended outing it was a bonus to be able to put on a diaper cover and not have to fuss with pants. No bulk! Potty opportunities with them were just as easy as without them…a big bonus in my eyes. We had no incidences where they got wet and they never got in the way. I don't want anything to make a pit stop more difficult. It was also nice to be able to remove the prefold and leave the boy unfettered but still keep his legs warm if it was chilly. Made for really cute baby tush photo ops too!
Legwarmer Contender: I love legwarmers. I have
several babylegs and the one major advantage the chaps have over these legwarmers is that they don't slide down. Some of mine are worse than others as far as having to pull them up constantly, but that problem was non-existent with the chaps. The big disadvantage for me with the chaps though is that they are a one trick pony…I can not use them for arm warmers for myself or Itty Bitty, and they will not grow with him and I can't use them on Itty Bitty. For some people that is okay, but I want to squeeze every penny and stretch out use as long as possible.
Washability: As I mentioned, the chaps did get blasted with a poo bomb, but because they do not cover the buttocks the stains were secondary transfer. We actually used them many times without needing to wash them. And when they did need washing (poo incident aside) it was because they got dirty from crawling. Of course, for the benefit of the review I did wash them many extra times with the other laundry to give them a proper showing. There were a few stray strings that cropped up, but nothing unraveled and the fabric stayed soft after drying. I did NOT run them through super hot — it was either air dry (which left them a little stiff which was easily softened from body heat and wear) or low temp drier. The fabric of these chaps was a light cotton. On a curious note, the chaps always seemed to make their way through all of the laundry bits to be right at the drier door whenever I opened it as if eager to get back to work…
Wishlist: While I like the chaps and they are a nice addition to the wardrobe, I am always in preference of products that can do more than just one service. In this economy where you look to save money by reuse and versatility and the growing trends to upcycle, I'd like to see this product be all that it can be.
- Adjustable or more expandable elastic band — One of my main annoyances with the chaps was the elastic waist. It isn't that it was neither loose nor tight for regular wear, it just can not grow to accommodate size and it was also not tight enough to double as a prefold belt. I am using a headband as a prefold belt (I've got a little thrift going), but I had been hoping the chaps waist band would have been stretchy and snug enough to do double duty. At the very least, I wish it had been adjustable to get the exact snugness I felt was needed.
- Leg Hems to Let Down — The single most irritating thing to me about clothes and EC is that there is always too much butt room in clothes and when they grow big enough for the butt, the legs are to short! Chaps eliminate the butt problem obviously! On the other hand, I wouldn't say that my Littles are exceptionally tall, but still I found the chaps really limited in growing room. If the hems had extra fabric to cuff attractively and then fold down for length as the baby grows that would be better than sliced bread.
- Totally Crazy Peachy Keen Idea — My dream baby chap would be one that was a winter knit with a little stretch that could bet detached from the waist band so that they could be used as leg warmers or arm warmers on a toddler. I'd clap my hands with glee and do the Snoopy Dance!
I know that I ask for a lot from clothes, but I do my best to get my Little' clothes to go more than one season and to do more than one thing if at all possible. I LIKE the baby chaps, they are extraordinarily easy to EC with, they are attractive, and I like supporting companies like EC Wear — Made in the USA. It feels good to support the home turf. I think they would have a real winner on their hands if they made some small adjustments so that their products would showcase extra uniqueness and have that lasting power a lot of parents look for.
Go to EC Wear and judge for yourself. Order one and give it a go then pass it on to a friend and let them run it through the wringer. If you live in the USA, support this US based business and if you live next door go local! I hope you come back here and tell me how the little chaps survived in your home. As for mine, once Mini Moose outgrows them I think they will be reborn as doll wear because they are just too pretty to part with.
Visit Brother Blog: Pottytunities for Two
Month 36: Happy Third Birthday!
Happy Birthday Baby Girl!
Our birthday theme was Pirates (read daily doses here)! This will be the last year I pick her party theme and we are going to give her a small allowance of fifty cents a week (she likes coin operated rides).
Three years. How can it be? I feel like I've documented and made note of every moment, treasured it, and squeezed it and yet I feel like I'm barely hanging on to the tail of a time comet.
Itty Bitty is leaving her toddlerhood behind and moving towards childhood — what most USA parents call pre-school age. There are still glimpses of baby now and then in a Big Cry or sleepy plea for Mah-mees (nursing). We nurse every night before bed and it saddened me that I had to all but eliminate daytime nursing to rare occasions because of latch pain and the feelings of aversion unless I am engorged. I hope Itty Bitty remembers the comfort and not the sad denials.
Itty Bitty has had no potty incidences this month, she requires no toilet insert or step stool, and most of the time she cleans herself and asks for assistance for a messy output. She's used the little potty in an "Peemergency" once or twice, but looks quite ridiculous with her knees practically hitting her chin. Public toilets still require help as the toilets are set up quite high and are occasionally of questionable cleanliness. Itty Bitty also likes to cue her brother, though most often he gets too excited in her presence and won't finish a pee!
There's been a renewed resurgence in learning songs, role play with My Lttle Pony, interest in friends by name, and she loves her new play kitchen. We've spent more time on counting and numbers, crafts, reading, and art. Itty Bitty took time to learn her new age and work her fingers to make three (American folks don't use the thumb to indicate three). She also knows her last name, address, her parents' names, and her birth date (we add new personal info as she commits the others to memory). Itty Bitty still has trouble with personal boundaries, not understanding why others do not accept hugs or why others dislike physical play. We've also seen the growing territorial behavior with communal toys and disinterest in taking turns, but at the same time a slowly growing trend of cooperative play rather that "you do it this way not that way" play. Itty Bitty isalso learning that baby brother has a voice and is not afraid to scream and cry if she takes a toy away from him and "trades" don't always appease.
When her brother was born in February, Itty Bitty suddenly sprouted a halo of hair and she looks so toddler-like in those pictures, but now she has lankier limbs and her face has changed. At the beginning of summer Itty Bitty was a half inch or inch short of reaching tricycle pedals, and now at the end of the season she is just the right size. We haven't tried her on the Radio Flyer Big Wheel yet, but she still might be a hair too short. We tend to buy her things older than recommended age, but you never know what they can do unless the opportunity is there.
Did I mention Itty Bitty's non-stop conversational chatter and the repetition of phrases? Did I mention Itty Bitty's non-stop conversational chatter and the repetition of phrases? Did I mention Itty Bitty's non-stop conversational chatter and the repetition of phrases? Did I mention Itty Bitty's non-stop conversational chatter and the repetition of phrases?
Oh and making unnecessary noise when I or her brother are trying to nap!
Happy Birthday Itty Bitty. May your adventurous, inquisitive, sociable, determined, odd-bird personality mature and thrive. When you are grown with your own Itty Bitty I hope you embrace her every mismatched ensemble, backwards shoe, inside out shirt, dirt smeared face, puzzle cookie offering, and cold nose, sticky lipped kiss. And may her 30lb self step on your toe every day.
Phrases of the Month:
I love my brudder. (I love my brother.)
The baby crying, give him you moolk. (The baby is crying, give him your milk!)
Is it my birthday?
But he likes it {baby peeking out of the square storage ottoman}, Momma, I pud him innit.
Visit Brother's Blog: Pottytunities for Two
Month 35: Beach Trifecta
Our fifth anniversary was this year and we went back to the same beach for the weekend in Gloucester, MA (Wingaershek Beach and Good Harbor) that we went to for the last two years (Diaper Free at the Beach and Beach Redux).
Itty Bitty had a grand time playing with what she called "the goose" (seagulls) and we named the relentless pursuit Beach Geese Bowling. Daddy Man was run through the ringer and was exhausted from all the physical activity. Unlike other years, it wasn't oppressively hot so the water and ambient temperature were very pleasant. I spent a lot of time in the water with Mini Moose. You can read about the daily details of our beach bum days on Little Brother's potty blog starting here.
We set up camp much closer to the beach public facilities this year and I remembered to bring the little potty this time and a storage container to make it more pleasant to carry to the loo. Even though Itty Bitty doesn't need the little potty, I encouraged her to use it in our sun tent so she didn't have to contend with the walk with a full bladder. I wanted to set her up for success and make it easier on myself sincev Mini Moose is still so little. I encourage my EC peers to not be afraid to travel with EC babies. I find that catching during outings easier than in the house. I don't know if it is the activity, the mental clarity, the fresh air, or proximity to Mother Nature — but it has an effect!
Itty Bitty has had no mishaps this month. My only role is still "messy poop butt wiper" ad soon she will not call upon me even for that. She still stays dry all night with no potty breaks needed which is on average 8-10 hours, but up to 13 hours! We are cosleeping and she does stir in the night and resumes slumber after checking for me and plastering herself against my back, so it isn't a coma-like sleep. She usually uses the big toilet preferentially without the insert unless she decides she'll be there a while and wants to be comfortable. She uses the little potty once in a while and empties it as always. If her underwear is dirty from a wiping mishap she puts it in the hamper and helps herself to the underwear on the shelf (I think I mentioned that some time ago that once she learned to use door knobs and was tall enough she no longer needed me to get her underwear — there is a closet by the bathroom which is where I keep underwear, socks, and cloths).
Other Non Potty Notables:
At the beginning of the summer, Itty Bitty was just an inch too short in the legs to use the tricycles we had for her and couldn't quite manage them very well. Now she can touch the pedals without effort. I am both happy and pouty — I'm sure you parents understand!
She has been practicing brushing her own teeth for the past year and has gotten quite good, though she has trouble still with the motion for brushing the surface of the molars and can't get behind the tooth surfaces. Our next dentist appointment she will have her first cleaning since she did so well at our last "look and see" visit.
Itty Bitty and fit right into her role as Big Sister. Perhaps, with a bit more enthusiasm than I expected and that presents a total opposite set of issues such as how to help her to give her brother space. I was prepared for rivalry, not smothering! Hah! At first I resisted, but decided it was better to embrace the love and let her hold him for short times while sitting even when he was newborn, and then later show her how to properly pick up Mini Moose when he was strong. He loves it when she picks him up. Go figure! Itty Bitty also enjoys wiping up spit up from his face. They have toy "arguments", of course, and for some reason she wants to ride him like a horse. We don't expect perfection around here — it's a process!
Can you believe Itty Bitty will be THREE next month!?
Month 34: Look Mommy, No Seat!
At the end of last month, when we were out and about I forgot to bring our Primo Travel Potty Seat. Our outing trips are usually pretty avereage or short length and Itty Bitty had an epic capacity, so if we made a pitstop before leaving it is rare that she needs a potty stop on an average errand. We'd gone out to eat and I had diapers for Mini Moose, and was so used to not needing a travel seat for a 2 hour outing that I was taken by surprise when Itty Bitty announced her urgent need! No big deal really, we've had to do the balancing act a couple of times before. Off we went to the bathroom and we discovered that she had grown big enough to balance herself on the seat without needing me to offer support(the bathroom was very clean)! When did that happen!?
After that discovery, Itty Bitty didn't began to experiment with not using the insert on the toilet at home right away until after we returned from our annual Ohio trip (Read about it here at Brothet's Blog — June 28 to July 9). Once she did, however, she quickly disvcovered that without the insert she could hoist herself backwards easily without the aid of a stool and was able to balance with little effort. She has been very keen to use the toilet this way, though if she desires more tush comfort she still will choose the insert from time to time, and if in an extraordinary rush will use the little potty though she looks ridiculous on it with such long legs! She is no longer adamant about emptying her own potty and is more ambivalent if it is messy leaving it for me without argument. She's gotten quite good at self wiping and only asks for help if she notices if it is especially difficult.
We had a couple of notable toileting matters:
When I got home from work Daddy Man said they played outside for a while and that, "I was busy with Mini Moose and when I looked up I got an eye full of Itty Bitty dropping trou to squat and pee outside the sandbox."
Oh dear, I knew peeing the baby outside was going to come back to bite me in the butt! I'll need to have a conversation with Itty Bitty. It's a proud thing that she didn't pee in the sandbox and took initiative, but she's not an in arms baby and just taking a whiz outside whenever she feels like it is not necessary unless it is an emergency or where facilities aren't available.
Itty Bitty decided to play in the toy corner and got herself stuck. As she tried to extricate herself and was almost out, her bladder let go. I heard the waterfall and she was standing there like a deer in headlights. It got cleaned up easily and I made a mental note to remind her occasionally to assess bathroom needs–only after it has been a couple of hours. She'd gone to the bathroom successfully several times today and even had a big poop, so it was just a situational accident.
I came home to a too quiet house. Turns out that Itty Bitty went back to attention seeking behavior. Had a tantrum when they got home because she wanted to stay outside but the baby was wanting to eat and was hot. Daddy Man let her stay in the jeep for 15 minutes to try to diffuse the situation but the baby was too hot and was really wanting mommy milk. He said it spiraled from there because he couldn't give her attention. G-Ma stopped by and not even that changed things because Itty Bitty wanted Daddy Man. I guess, now that the Mommy situation was corrected she was seeking to fix the Daddy situation. After G-Ma left and Mini Moose was on his second bottle and was just about asleep Itty Bitty apparently had had enough. I am told she stood by him on the couch, lifted her leg, and peed.
She's done that once before with him ("War and Pees" from Cause and Effect Month 21).
He cleaned it up calmly and ignored the behavior (he held it together — he wanted to spank but knows that's a big no no with me–that's a big loss of control and he's a strong dude who can hurt you when he's just playing around even when he's being careful ). Daddy Man put some water in the tub and left her to it. She cleaned herself up and that was that. She was mellowed after, he said. Perhaps she felt mortified with herself or realized it was an impulse move that had the opposite effect of what she really wanted. Too bad toddlers don't come with sim thought bubbles.
There were no other errant pee incidences or acting out this month. Funny how two incidents were unrelated to the situational pee, but had the common thread of wanting to be acknowledged. Another attention seeking moment unrelated to pottying did happen another day: Itty Bitty's Trip to the ER Jul 18. and the Aftermath.
Sorry that this post was late and backdated nearly a month, I totally forgot about it!
Visit Brother Blog: Pottytunities for Two
Quotes and favorites of the Month:
"Come on Mom, Let's go!"
Itty Bitty enjoys watch a math centered cartoon called Cyberchase (Sigh-chase!), enjoys My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Po-nee!). Wild Kratts, Dinosaur Train, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse have fallen out of favor.
Month 33: Unperfect Practicality
So, I was reading a blogger today expressed that she felt like she needed to be a perfect parent and resentment over the choices she made to breastfeed, cosleep, homeschool, baby wear, EC, etc. under that "perfection" and the pressure and added stress from a controlling husband. She felt like she was trained to be at everyone's beck and call.
Oh my.
It's a awful thing to have a spouse and community and/or family putting a lot of pressure on someone to be "perfect". That can suck the happy out of Disneyland no matter what you do. I don't think there is joy in that situation even if one strollered and never babywore, diapered 3 years, bought the latest in baby fashion, or bought into the best exclusive preschool. Soul suckers in one's life still find a way to steal or spit in your cheerios.
Children in general take a whole lot of commitment and an enormous amount of time no matter what! The investment of time just comes with the territory. I don't mouth feed my baby like Alicia Silverstone because it wouldn't make me happy to do so, not that I think anything is wrong with it or that I think I'm better or she's better. It makes them both happy, it harms none and that's what matters. Though, I admit, I share grapes out of my mouth with my kids (I peel the flesh away from the skin with my teeth while in my mouth and would give my then under 15 month old daughter the meaty bit with my fingers, and I occasionally still do it if I am getting begged and I refuse to give up my whole share to the food hoover). No one told me to do that and I didn't read about it…I just did it. No reason other than it was easier than getting up for a knife.
Babywearing, EC, breastfeeding, BLW, cosleeping, unschooling…these aren't strange dogmas…they are merely lost arts modern parents are trying to reclaim in a world that thinks it is weird and assumes you want to be perfect. They are things parents of yore did because it was practical, free, and made them happy! Children learned through play and watching adults , EC in a world without diapers just made sense, breastfeeding was something everyone did because that's how babies eat, families slept together for warmth and safety, they wore babies to keep their hands free and keep them safe.
I don't do things because I want to parent perfect (what does that even mean!?) or because I am pressured to, but because babywearing is easier than lugging around a heavy stroller packed in my teeny tiny car and it keeps my hands free (I have a jogging stroller specifically for jogging because I am not getting naturalized exercise); I breastfeed because I can, it is free and doesn't require me to wash bottles, buy or carry formula; I use old fashioned cloth diapers because I hate the smell of disposables, they are low cost, and have multi-uses; I EC because I can see when my babies have to pee and it is just easier than changing a diaper or trying to later wrestle a 30lb 2 year old into one, it lightens the load I have to carry, extends the baby wardrobe and extends the functionality of my cheap prefolds, and I hate poop scraping; I follow babyled solids and don't do purees because frankly I am lazy and cheap…I don't want to buy jars, don't like how they taste, and don't want to spend an afternoon pulverizing mush in a blender either — so I give what we eat. I co-sleep because I don't want to get up in the middle of the night and I…like it — simple as that.
It's not a spiritual ritual for me. It's not a philosophical set of rules I follow. I am not trying to please anyone. It's practicality. It feels good. I get strange looks sometimes for putting my baby on the floor rather than in a bouncer — I don't have room or money for those things (to unforeseen benefit). The floor works nicely and they can't roll off. LOL! I don't think I do "more" than your average parent or invest more time. I am always looking for ways to make my life less complicated. Learning something new might be complex at first, but experience tells me that short term investment nets long term gains.
I think the blogger was so right in saying that parents have lost their way in being confident in themselves and enjoying their kids and do things in a way because they like it and it makes sense for them, not because they are told to do it, or that's the way it is done, or feel like they have no choice or support. We've lost the ability at times to hear advice neutrally and take it or leave it as we like at our leisure.
Why the competition aura? Most of it is artificial and taking things the wrong way. Happy people like to spread the news of what they learned. Humans love to share and enjoy attention. Take a look at any playground and listen for the, "look at what I can do!" from little excited voices. Do we ever really outgrow that? A child doesn't mean "I am better than all of you," they are saying, "look what I have discovered, I have learned something new, who will join me, I can help!"
I think most of us are just lonely and feel like if we express joy in what we do, we might sound like a goody-two-shoes, know-it-all, perfect-parent-wanna-be. We don't often get a chance to grow up in the company of other women as support and most of us learn parenting on the fly. We gain experience isolated, silently observing, whispering, and with trepidation. That pressure often bursts out online in one topic rambles the moment you find like minds because the relief is just so great! It changes from feeling like you are selling illegal goods in a seedy alley, to a collective, "Ahhhhhhhh! So you pee in the shower too!?"
I think learning and following your instincts is a good thing, but there is a lot of static out there getting in the way of letting us … dare I say … play it out.
It's a pity that the joy is sucked out of everything these days. I hope my blogs on EC shows just how delightfully unperfect it is and that I am far from perfect! There are days I want to make my reader's laugh, or be less skittish. Sometimes I want something crazy to happen so I can use a phrase like Poop de Grassy — it's a shame such a cheesy pun hasn't been used yet in context. I just want to ramble, share my toys and pass it on.
Tag. You're it!
Visit Brother Blog: Pottytunities for Two
Month 33: No Problem. I Got It Covered
And indeed she does. I only notice Itty Bitty's pottying habits when she calls upon me to assist with "Messy Poo" wiping, if the fan needs to be turned on because she left a toxic cloud, public toileting, or to clean up an epic mess she can't handle herself. There were two mishaps this month:
Jun 7
Itty Bitty had a gigantic miss today. The thing is she was in the bathroom in the middle of getting on the toilet when the sphincter let go on her! She removed her underwear, got in the tub, and called me. The girl can hold a lot of pee, but at least it was in the bathroom and she remembered not to wade through it like a creek. What can you do except be a little cross about waiting too long, but also be so pleased that she followed a planned protocol all her own! If I hadn't been so tired and on my last nerve, I would have been much less annoyed at clean up! Isolation can do that, because if another adult were around to take it all in with me, I would have been chest puffing and bragging while sopping up mega pee with a smile.
Jun 16
Itty Bitty had a big miss late in the day when we were home. She was on her way to the bathroom but miscalculated the distance to the door because she had to go the long way around since Daddy Man blocked the short way through the garage … again… with his tools in front of the door. We don"t have a back door direct to the backyard. She realized too late that she didn't have the extra 30 seconds and as the dam burst she leaped off the walkway into the flower bed! I have to commend her efforts for trying not to leave a big puddle in a walking path. She look a bit mortified, but I was proud of her just the same for trying to find a solution! I now know to bring out her potty seat so that she doesn't have to trek so far and I don't have to disrupt her brother to follow her because there is no direct site line to the front door (she can open the door herself, we just don't have a fenced yard and I don't like not being able to hear or see her exit or enter the house).
And that is all there is to report on Itty Bitty's potty adventures. She is still dry all night long, waits to go to the bathroom downstairs in the morning unless it is urgent and she uses the potty I have out upstairs for just such an occasion. She takes care of her clothing, wipes her self (unless it is really messy then she asks for help), empties her potty, flushes the toilet, washes and dries her hands. She also empties her brother's potty bowl, cues him when I do, and brings me fresh prefolds if I need them for him.
She is more…energetic and assertive…these days, but I know that's because she doesn't always get all her monkey energy out, misses her needed 3pm nap, or she wants more attention than I give or doesn't want to wait to nurse…so it can spiral into Destructo Girl. I am still working on finding balance in an unbalanced world. I'm working on my volume. Damn if I don't hear my mom's tone of voice flying out of my mouth sometimes! I try not to so hard, but it just slips out like diarrhea of the mouth. Ugh! I'm working on finding my own words to push these negative reflexes out of service.
And…I just made my mammaries leak all over by thinking about nursing. I am not sure whether to be amused or annoyed.
Itty Bitty has had some trouble learning about boundaries. She is very affectionate and is a Space Invader (hahahaha) and doesn't respect personal boundaries. I've had to talk to her daily about giving Mini Moose some breathing room because she wants to kiss him, pat him, hug him, touch him, stroke him, sing to him, and has discovered she can make him laugh. She's having trouble expressing her displeasure over being asked to control her physical contact desires and has begun razzberrying/spitting in response. I'm working on finding words for her to use, but man it sure gets my hackles up! She's only two and a half, I remind myself constantly. Itty Bitty recently encountered aggressive rejections of her overtures of hugs and kisses and pats and hand holding and overall "in your face" behaviors at our first "in house" play date. She got conked in the head by a toy and had her finger bitten. Of course, I'm not happy my Baby Girl got hurt, but at the same time it is an important lesson for her to learn about boundaries, reading body language, and accepting "no thank you" for an answer without crushing her loving spirit. She's a very physical being and she just needs to develop some self-control. The other day she poked me with a plastic piece from the stem of a silk flower (on purpose) and my instinct was to take it and poke her hard with it because it really smarted when she did it…thankfully I stopped myself and she got startled at how fast I yanked it from her fingers and growled. Yep, I growled. It really hurt! She looked really upset and distressed and didn't ask for it back.
Daddy Man barked at her once this month when she deliberately hit his laptop with a stick and scared her out of her skin (big voice he has…it can go right through you). I couldn't see her at the time but I felt the fear and knew the look on her face before the first sound escaped her mouth and I even got to say, "You scared the crap out of her you need to comfort her and apologize." before the most horrid horrified piercing cry escaped her mouth followed by fat tears! They made up immediately and Daddy Man has been very careful about his volume. It's very important to me that when we screw up, that we apologize for being butts. His patience needs some refining when he gets annoyed, and he needs to relieve me more often (or rather at the right time and for a good length of time) so that I can have a chance to refill my big, fast depleting tank–especially when I haven't had a chance to get out of the house (getting out is so important but it doesn't always happen). And for goodness sakes man when you strip when you get home from work, FOLD…YOUR…PANTS! Ahem…sorry…sometimes you got to let out a little nag. Anyway, when I get to recharge I have such an easier time heading off potential toddler troubles and I love seeing the two them interact listening to music, him showing her how they work, her helping him build one, or just when they hang out and play their special games. She loves her Daddy Man and I do too!
Anyway, I think we all have a lot of learning to do!
Visit Brother Blog: Pottytunities for Two
Quotes of the Month:
"No problem. I got it covered. Alright?"
*asking me a question like what my/dad/brother/her name is* "Yes, you're right!"
"The baby crying, feed him!"
"Pss Pss Pss" (to help potty her brother)
"No No. Naughty kitty not for you!"
"I don't want to right now, okay?"
"We will save the day!"
"It's my turn okay?"
"Play me mommy?"
"Listen eesic on your speakers daddy." (she still says eesic for music)
"Pick me up. Be careful I heavy!"
"You love me? I love you to."
I have to do a lot of translating but Itty Bitty can carry on a pretty long conversation.
Month 32: It's Not Complicated
Every ECer has heard a variation of just how complicated the process must be and how there is just no time for "ordinary" or "hardworking" moms to do this. Hey, I am as boringly ordinary as you can get and I don't relish making more work for myself! We all work hard inside the home, and some of us also have additional duties working outside the home full time and part time.
What lack is not ability, but perspective!
Jorje from the Diaper Free Baby Facebook group posted a video that demonstrates succinctly how something so basic can be made into a tangled mess of unnecessary complications. Watch it until you begin to feel extraordinarily flabbergasted at the rigamarole and then move the slider to time 3:00 and keep your eyes peeled for something so simplistic it wasn't even mentioned.
Breastfeeding Infant Management: Part 3 (1935 Europe)
After watching that video anyone would be disheartened and feel like failures! If there is one thing humans are great at, it is making mountains out of mole hills. Let's face it, unless battling a nasty infection no one medicates their nipples! I'm willing to bet the idea for nipple sanitizing came about because if you didn't sanitize bottles of the day, babies would get sick and possibly die. Sterilize bottles teats ergo sterilize living nipples. Kind of backwards thinking! I confess that I've nursed through a puked on nipple with a newborn, and let the toddler latch on a nipple crumby from my lunch. The nipples are lucky to get waterfall from a shower! My babies are marathon nursers, if I followed the advice in the video it is very possible my breastfeeding attempts would have failed or ended before I hit 3 months.
The best advice is the most simple. Only when there is a problem is more refined help needed.
Doubt #1: I don't have time to watch for every twitch!
Who has time for that? I don't watch every twitch any more than I swab my nipples after the "gimme that side" breastfeeding Watutsi. I don't hover staring at my baby until I catch the signal for hunger. Just like everyone else (bottle or breast) I learned the likely times the baby wants to eat (after naps, after a rousing game of goo-goo-coo), or when I "sense" hunger with my mommy super sense, or physical and audio cues like hunger grunts and fist slurping. Sounds complicated, but it isn't. We all become very fluent in the language our baby speaks and we seamlessly can translate toddler-speak that is unintelligible to the world! Elimination Communication is just like that. If we can make breastfeeding as complicated as the video and convince busy women that it is THE way to do it, what do you think the diaper companies have done in in the last 40 years? Think about the clip at 3:00 — it required no explanation.
Doubt #2: I don't want to push it and mess up!
Babies hate diapers. They do! They stiff leg, roll, arch, kick, scream, twist, flail, noodle and if able, run away from diaper changes and remove even the most anti-removal contraption to get it off. I helped diaper two siblings, so I know that a diaper change can leave both parties sweating and upset. That happens every day, several times a day. It is exhausting just thinking about it! It can get so dread inducing that it can get to the point where parents begin to test out the "12 hour holding power" just to avoid the ordeal. I get it, but, Umm…eww. EC isn't about pushing, it is about being proactive rather than reactive. Get the waste in a pot so it doesn't have to scraped off kibbles and bits or spigots and dingles. Problems that I see occur with EC generally have to do with lingering diaper habits, not because of pushing. Parents have been made to be afraid of toileting! Why should we be afraid of a place we go to several times a day? Parents are confident with the changing table, the powder, the diaper rash cream, the diaper genie (or complex wash routines), and the wipes…but run screaming from a 6 inch tall piece of molded plastic? You've got the instincts and know how already, it's just buried under all the static!
Doubt #3: It will be for nothing because they all regress.
If I could just do a "Heinz Duffenscmertz" and zap that word from the English language …
I despise the word regression. It is a word of foreboding, it is negative, and it underestimates the abilities and intelligence of children. Our culture is so negative when it comes to children and the ability of parents. Too many "can'ts" and too much "defeatist attitudes" if there is a small blip in a process.
First, let's address "it's all for nothing." If I gave you a 25 cents a day, except on Thursdays and Saturdays and the month of June ,would you tell me, "Don't bother. No sense in collecting loose change if I can't get it every day." Free money is free money, right? Why is free money less valuable if you aren't guaranteed to get it 100%? Every pee or poop in the potty is one less uncomfortable state, one less diaper, one less fight, and money and time saved. Even if you had only 2 successes per day for one year, that would be 730 fewer diaper changes! At 10 cent's a diaper that is $73 dollars. What would you buy with that surplus?
Next, the "R" word. When our babies fall, they aren't regressive walkers. They lost their balance and tripped…they get up, brush off, and keep locomoting. When a toddler visits the playground after a long winter of growing, and seems awkward on equipment they had mastered last year, they haven't regressed climbing! Their limbs are longer and they are stronger, so they must make adjustments to muscle memory. They are going to trip and conk their heads on openings until they get used to it. Children grow, their bladders grow, their sphincters get stronger. Drop the "R" word and take a different view.
Visit Brother Blog: Pottytunities for Two
Give EC a second look. It is about intention not perfection.
You'll be surprised how liberating it can be.
Month 32: Itty Bitty Role Model
Things are quite uneventful on the potty front. Itty Bitty has had no accidents, other than the potty emptying kind! Big potty vs Little potty is pretty 50/50 as far as preference. Daddy Man and I are only called upon for messy poo bottom wipes or public toilet help. She is my helper for her brother getting me prefolds, putting dirties in the pail, emptying his potty bowl and generally loving on him. She can't resist touching him or kissing him when he is napping though. She sings to him, asks to hold him, announces if "baby frew up!", tells me "baby crying feed him!" and tries to give him toys she thinks he might like (or a snotty cold…eww). We usually have to get her out of his face and space! If she wants to nurse, it is the only time she asks me to put him down. I would happily nurse them together if I could, but the difference in their suckle pattern drives me bazookers for some strange reason. I wish I didn't have to ask her to wait s much, but now that we hit the three month mark, growth spurts won't be so frequent.
Her hair has gotten longer very quickly and is all curl; she has also grown too tall now to run a mad dash on the top of the gym padded fort. Daddy Man witnessed a running-head-bonk wipe out! Stunned, dazed, but not hurt. Itty Bitty was a little confused and dizzy. She can also climb the steep side of the climbing wall making the four and five year olds drop jaw and giving the adults apoplexy. Her vocabulary is astounding, her dexterity with tracing letters on the leap pad still unbelievable. We've had a few meltdowns (she misses her late day nap more that she should) and we are all learning not to get on each others nerves. Sometimes I just want to be alone for ten minutes and she just want my attention. I've been so tired and wanted to just get something done in the neverending chores piling up that I've forgotten just to let her help and to not get mad when she asks me 4,345 times in a row if she can help, or makes a mess because she didn't wait as I asked. I want to stop apologizing for yelling, and just not do it in the first place! This time in her life is so short, I don't want to wish it away or waste it. Got to work on my zen!
I thought that this month I would have Itty Bitty show off her potty talents in a little pictoral. I forgot to have her put on a cool mask so in some shots she is headless. Clothes for modesty of course, she is still a born streaker!
Visit Brother Blog: Pottytunities for Two
Quotes of the Month:
"I sowwy. You angry? Me hug you makeit bedder?" (melts the heart doesn't it?)
"Aww I too big. (trying to sit in a box) I too little pick me up?" (yes sweetie, you are still my baby)
Month 31: Have you…Done the Pee Pee Dance Lately?
Thought Dilemma: Why does my toddler do the pee dance instead of just going to the bathroom! Arggh!
Familiar Behavior: Have you done the pee-pee dance lately? I do the pee-pee dance when I'm trying to juggle 3 or more chores at once and I put off a pit stop.! 🙂 So many things can distract me on the way to the toilet…finding a baseball cap where it shouldn't be, which leads to the desire to glare at DH, then on the way to put it back in the closet, I find a jacket not hung up..again, more spouse maiming fantasies, then there are towels to fix…again, sometimes a 2yo wanting to go potty first, and by the time I remember to go I'm doing the Pee Pee Bunny Hop while emptying the dishwasher!
I know how big my bladder is…I've known for years. It stopped growing a long time ago. That means I know exactly what it feels like just before I might just wet myself and that gives me the time I need to run to the bathroom. I also have a bigger and stronger sphincter. I'm not going to lie, there are a few times when a couple of drops have escaped and not just because of pregnancy.
It is very easy to forget that toddlers are people too and they have the same behaviors we do. Just because we don't know what they are thinking, doesn't mean their thought process isn't important or doesn't have a logical flow leading up to the event. It's tempting to want to throw your hands up and slap on a diaper because…well…that's what our society does. We place value on our floors, carpets, couches, and our time. That means that often we seek avenues to protect those things immediately with what we've observed a thousand times instead of trying something else. Honest to goodness we ALL do it. We'll keep on fixing that rolled up carpet a thousand times won't we? Try instead to behave as if the diapers didn't exist. After all, your solution to your own pee-pee dance isn't to run out for a pack of depends, right?
Visit Brother Blog: Pottytunities for Two
So, my friends, have you done the pee-pee dance lately? Tell me! Make me laug


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Learning Index >> Ceramic Decoration: a selective guide to pots in the collection of the Crafts Study Centre
No 47: Tall tankard, 1950 (P.84.28)
This is one of the first batch of saltglazed stoneware pots to have been made and fired at the Oxshott Pottery, run by Denise and Rosemary Wren; they were pioneers in reviving this medium for studio use. Rosemary Wren made this tankard when still a student at the Royal College of Art. It is thrown and bears three types of relief decoration: sprig-moulded roundels, roulette lines in a grid, and turned rings at the base; the exterior is toasted to a glossy dark brown colour in the coke-fired, saltglazing kiln which the Wrens themselves designed.


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Tiny Houses have continued to charm and excite imaginations with yet another headline by NPR featured on the Yahoo! homepage. It is obviously that Tiny Houses have an innate charm and spark conversations across the globe about how we live or more specifically, what we live in.
The Japanese have long endured crowded cities and scarce living space, with homes so humble a scornful European official once branded them rabbit hutches.
But in recent years, Japanese architects have turned necessity into virtue, vying to design unorthodox and visually stunning houses on remarkably narrow pieces of land. In the process, they are also redefining the rules of home design.
Few Americans would consider a parking-space-sized lot as an adequate site to build a house. But in Japan, homes are rising on odd parcels of land, some as tiny as 300 square feet.
Link to full story: here


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Checking in on the… Atlantic 10Posted by nvr1983 on February 4th, 2009
College Chalktalk is the RTC correspondent for the Atlantic 10 Conference.
By CCT Staff | February 4, 2009
B.J. Raymond (Sr.), Xavier
The versatile guard-forward had a superb week for the A-10 leaders, averaging 22.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in two wins. Raymond posted a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds in Xavier's dismantling of Charlotte. In a tight win over UMass, Raymond scored 22 – several of them clutch – and grabbed five boards. For the week, Raymond shot the ball at an incendiary 69.5% clip.
Kahiem Seawright (Sr.), Rhode Island
Seawright anchored the Ram attack, leading Rhode Island to a 2-0 week as they knocked off Temple and La Salle. The forward averaged 21 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals in the frame. Against Temple, the senior led the way for Rhode Island, netting 17. In the Rams' overtime win over La Salle, Seawright paced his team once again, scoring 25 points and hauling in eight rebounds. The forward shot 62.5% in the two contests; 15-for-24 from the floor.
HONORABLE MENTION: David Gonzalvez (Jr.), Richmond; Andrew Nicholson (Fr.) St. Bonaventure