Birth Matters October 2018 By Laura Maxson, LM A Bellies, Birth and Babies event is the perfect place for new and expectant parents to come together with birth and parenting related professionals to explore options. Putting on this kind of free event is what Birth Network of Santa Cruz County was born to do. In fact, Birth Network was born twenty years ago this fall, becoming the first nonprofit organization in the nation founded to promote Mother-Friendly Childbirth. Mother Friendly in this case refers to the Mother- Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI) created in 1996 by the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services. The MFCI has withstood the test of time to…
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The Super Stoked Surf Mamas of Pleasure Point Catch a Wave with Filmmaker Elizabeth Pepin Silva
The Super Stoked Surf Mamas of Pleasure Point Catch a Wave with Filmmaker Elizabeth Pepin Silva By Suki Wessling When filmmaker Elizabeth Pepin Silva was young, she made the conscious choice to forego having children in part because of her passion for surfing. “I didn’t know of any women who had been pregnant and kept surfing,” remembers Silva. “I think if I had met the Mamas during my childbearing years I might have made a different choice.” When Katie Loggins learned she was pregnant the first time, she didn’t hesitate to get back on her board and keep surfing. “Ashley was already pregnant, and Jenny and I found out we…
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You Want to be What?: Halloween 2018 for Kids and Tweens
You Want to be What?: Halloween 2018 for Kids and Tweens By John Koenig It’s October, and Halloween decorations and costumes have already been in the stores for at least a month! Hopefully, preparing your young one for the Big Night will be an autumn breeze this year, but if you’re anticipating trouble in the form of indecision, expense, or culture clash, now is the time to prepare and resolve Halloween nightmares before they begin. Halloween can be one of the most fun times of the year for parents and young ones to share, but potential problems are numerous. Is the costume your kid has their heart set on a…
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Live Like Coco, Read Like Coco
Live Like Coco, Read Like Coco: Growing Program Gives 5,000 Books to Local Students By Linda Kissinger Thousands of local public school students will get a special gift to celebrate their birthdays this year: a free book of their choosing, courtesy of the Live Like Coco Foundation. The Birthday Books From Coco literacy program launched in 2015 in memory of Coco Lazenby, a 12-year- old Pajaro Valley School District (PVUSD) student who was killed in a car accident on August 8, 2015. The program has grown significantly since launching, and now includes 10 public schools in Santa Cruz, Soquel, Aptos and Watsonville, serving nearly 5,000 elementary school students. “It’s so…
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It’s the Spookiest Time of the Year: Always Amused October 2018
It’s the Spookiest Time of the Year: Always Amused October 2018 By Eric Chalhoub October is the start of the fall sea- son — the days become shorter, trees become bare, orange becomes the common color, and zombies start to roam the streets (in larger numbers, at least). It’s also one of the best, if not busiest, times to visit a theme park, and locally, we’ve got one of the best Halloween events around. California’s Great America’s 11th annual Halloween Haunt got the spooky season underway Sept. 21, and will continue to run Friday through Sunday nights up to Oct. 28. This year, the event sees a new maze (Tooth…
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Help Kids Get to School Safely: Here’s How You Can Get Involved
Help Get Kids to School Safely: Here’s How You Can Get Involved By Karen Kefauver At times, we may wax nostalgic, and say, “Back in my day, we all biked and walked to school, because it was safe, but now…” While your kids may roll their eyes, it’s true; times have changed. According to the National Center for Safe Routes to School, in 1969, 48 percent of children ages 5 to 14 years old usually walked or bicycled to school. By 2009, that number dropped to 31 percent for the same age group. Is that steep decline just a sad fact of modern life? Fortunately, there’s a chance to help…
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Trick or Treat: Halloween is Really Scary for Kids with Diabetes
Trick or Treat: Halloween is Really Scary for Kids with Diabetes By Tony Hicks Jenny Urban discovered her 6-year-old son, Chase, had Type 1 Diabetes – five days before Halloween. “It was a rapid adjustment,” said the Half Moon Bay resident, with a laugh. “It became a totally different holiday for him.” And for his mom, who suddenly found herself monitoring the now 14-year-old’s blood sugar, monitoring how much exercise he was getting, and how much candy he could have at night’s end, when kids traditionally sort and compare their loot. Celebrating what’s supposed to be the creepiest day on the calendar gets even scarier for some parents each year,…
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What’s a Dentist’s Eye View of the Sweets Given Out at Halloween?
What’s a Dentist’s Eye View of the Sweets Given Out at Halloween? By Dr. Megan With the advent of the Trick or Treat, there could be some levels of concern, thoughts, or even fear in every parent’s mind, contemplating how to handle the situation with their children. It is considered a joyful experience to which many children are looking forward. How can we let them enjoy the full adventure without a constant concern about the volume of all the sweets brought in? Parents who have met me, probably know how I try to spend some time talking about what sugar does to the brain. You read it right. I’m not…
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We Asked, You Answered October 2018
What Are Your Halloween Traditions? We Asked, You Answered: October 2018 By Ann Carin Niland “We usually go to the mall and roam around there. We don’t do the usual traditional neighborhood way. It’s just the thing to do.” Chris Ruelas, of Capitola, has two kids, Jacob, 12 and Anicia, 5 “We decorate our house. A little bit spooky but not too spooky because they’re still young. And then we do trick-or-treat at night. We usually go to the New Brighton area to trick-or-treat. We meet up with their cousin, who is Nathan’s age, we do a little bit of trick-or-treating and then we go home.” Jillian Mickel, of Live…
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The First Baby Picture on a Camera Phone was Taken in Santa Cruz
The First Baby Picture on a Camera Phone was Taken in Santa Cruz By Brad Kava On June 11, 1997, Santa Cruz in- ventor Philippe Kahn was waiting dur- ing his wife, Sonia Lee’s 18-hour labor when the idea struck. He wanted to send out pictures of his daughter Sophie, when she was born at Sutter Maternity and Surgery Center. He had a cell phone and a camera, but up to then, no one had thought to link them. He thought about how clumsy it would be to take the photo and upload it to a laptop to email it out, and with time on his hands, he zipped over…
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Local Restaurant Owners do Their Part for Families
Local Restaurant Owners do Their Part for Families By Suki Wessling When your family is welcomed into a restaurant by the staff, that doesn’t happen by accident. According to the managers of local restaurant mentioned by parents as particularly great with kids, there are simple things that let families know that kids are welcome. “I’m a relatively new parent, I have a 17-month-old, and I know the challenges firsthand of dining out with a kid,” says Yogi Shapiro, manager of Dharma’s in Capitola. “I can see now why having something as simple as a toy, a plastic dinosaur, actually helps. It keeps them focused.” Parents mention that Dharma’s is a…
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Kid Friendly Restaurants: Recommendations by Local Parents
Kid Friendly Restaurants: Recommendations by Local Parents By Suki Wessling In my years of taking kids to restaurants, I found that it was hard to predict which ones would be welcoming. One former beloved local institution, when we visited, claimed that their high chair was “broken.” It turned out that their high chair was always “broken”! One rather fancy Italian restaurant doted on our older child when he was a messy toddler and always had a clean chair for him. You can’t necessarily judge by the kids’ menu. “I’ve always found that even if there isn’t a kids’ menu, or if there is a lame one, just order sides!” points…
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Your Letters and Thoughts October 2018
Your Letters and Thoughts October 2018 Vote Yes for Sales Tax On September 21st, the community will break ground on the long-awaited Felton Library project, the result of a decade of planning and a vote by Santa Cruz County voters to support Measure S, a 2016 library bond measure that is already providing funding for new li- braries throughout the county. While the Felton Library Friends are proud to see the new library come to fruition, we are equally proud of how it has evolved over the years. The project is no longer just a place to read, study, or connect with your community and the rest of the world.…
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Adjusting to Parenthood: Ask Nicole October 2018
Adjusting to Parenthood: Ask Nicole October 2018 Nicole M. Young MSW When my son was a newborn, I remember feeling frustrated that I couldn’t make sense of his eating and sleeping patterns – because there were no patterns yet. I couldn’t tell if he was crying because he was tired, hungry, wet, or had gas. Every time I tried to take a nap while he was sleeping, he woke up as soon as my head touched the pillow. When my daughter was a newborn, she was colicky and could only be soothed if we wrapped her tightly in a blanket and turned on the vacuum cleaner – even in the…
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Editor’s Note October 2018
Editor’s Note October 2018 Of course, there’s no cutest baby. All babies are the cutest. But we wanted to see who could take a photo that really showed how cute their baby is, and man, we got some winners. All of them. We left it to you to vote and you really turned out to the polls and kept the race close. One baby ended up on the cover, but we put all of them in this issue. They were all great photos. The winner of the contest, Michelle Bell, said she was sad for the other contestants when she found out she won. She was also happy to have…
