Plane crash Clarence, NY

Our thoughts are with the victims, families and friends of last night's Continental plane crash in Clarence, NY just outside our hometown of Buffalo.

how will cnbc viewing affect baby development?

Even at 8 weeks, I see my son recognizing the television as he would another person in the room speaking (As I type, Go Diego Go! is buying me 15 minutes to the next feeding). The TV isn't on all day, but I have to wonder how my news-phile tendencies will affect my son's little brain.  Will my son trend toward finance? Will exposure repel him? Will it matter? Will he be irreparably scarred after a Jim Cramer segment?

There have been reports of passive TV watching being harmful to attention spans, but at what age? My older child, now 12 yrs old, started to show behavioral issues by age 2 from too much tv, to which we promptly cut tv time down to 1 hr a day from 2 hrs, but is there anything out on infants and benefits/detriments of tv? If so, doesn't that include the oh so hyped Baby Einstein series?  We tried to sit thru a Baby Einstein video and while my son was somewhat engaged, how do parents survive them? 

Why do i bother drinking coffee?

Caffeine seems to have the same effect as pushing the 'door close' button of an elevator. It's there for one to use, but doesn't seem to speed things up meaningfully more than if one had waited it out.

new parent...again

On December 14, 2008 we welcomed our happy little addition, Martin Moore Akeakamai Jarnot. As we celebrate him turning 2 months, appropriately on Valentine's Day, I've got enough sleep to reflect on the past 8 weeks and gather thoughts to look beyond the next naptime.


Being a new mom again is much different than I remember from 12 years ago. First, the gear is SO much better (a bazillion luxury strollers, more velcro diapers, and sleep sacks!). Second, the rules are different (no crib bumpers??). Finally, the baby's different...they really are who they are from the start, no?