adventures | The Science of Mom

Feb 19

International Travel with Kids: 10 Lessons Learned

Guest poster Sarah Ruttan returns to share her top 10 tips for traveling abroad with young kids.

Stamps in their passport: The highs and lows of travel with children

Guest poster Sarah Ruttan on traveling with kids: "I’ve come to believe that this same idea is true for travel. Sure, we could stay close to home for the first few years. Everyone would sleep more, and lots of potential public meltdowns could be avoided. Yet, we’d be missing something along the way. Those early family trips build our family culture – they give us an opportunity to begin to teach our kids about the world around us, even if in small ways on local outings. Great moments – and memorable family stories – come from these journeys."

Camping with Baby: A Photo Essay

We took BabyC camping for the first time a few days ago. We hadn’t been camping since I was 20 weeks pregnant, at which point I was already too uncomfortable to be sleeping on the hard ground. Before my pregnancy though, Husband and I did a lot of outdoor exploration together – hiking, camping, climbing, backpacking. Being outdoors together grew our relationship in the early days and strengthened it as the years went by. There is nothing like being out together on a multi-pitch climb up a rock face, just the two of you, to erase any doubt that you trust the other person wholly and completely. And nothing quite like tackling all the tasks of setting up a camp and getting a one-pot dinner cooked after a long day of backpacking to make you glad you are on the same team. These experiences have shaped who we are as friends and as husband and wife.

But now we have a baby in the mix. There are no more multi-pitch climbing expeditions or long backpacking trips in our near future. That’s the way it is, we thought. We’ll make do with car-camping. I was excited about the trip. Read more

Sep 10

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Exploring and Enjoying Food with Baby

At almost 10 months old, BabyC spends at least two hours per day in her high chair. She loves finger foods and takes her time with them. For me, this is a great time to catch up on the dishes or work on preparing a meal, all the while chatting with BabyC, replenishing her high chair tray, and listening to some music together. As much as I value that productive, multi-tasking time, I’ve been making a real effort to prepare food for both of us and sit down to enjoy meals with her. Due to his hectic work schedule, my husband is rarely both home and awake during our meals, but we’re sitting down to eat with Dad too when we can. I want BabyC to know that mealtime is family time.

Here, BabyC examines the ingredients of lasagna, a dish we can both enjoy. BabyC now notices when I have something on my plate that she doesn’t have, so it is nice to eat the same foods.

Mealtime is also a great time to explore the tastes and textures of foods. We’ve been having a lot of fun with this lately. I pull the high chair up to the counter so that BabyC can watch me prepare food. Fruits have proven to be the most exciting. Try handing your baby a fresh peach, a kiwi fruit, or even plopping a whole cantaloupe on her tray. Let her smell it and feel the texture of the skin. When I put the cantaloupe in front of BabyC, she was clearly impressed with the weight of it. She tried to pick it up with both hands, but it was too heavy for her. She looked up at me inquisitively, and I agreed with her, “That is a very heavy cantaloupe, isn’t it?”