Editor's Note: October 2019

Lou Reed called having a baby “the beginning of a great adventure,” which we love. But it’s also like a roller coaster ride, with ups and downs and questions, questions, questions.

It seems the more we know, the more we need to know. Do I vaccinate? Do I send kids to day care? How long should I breast feed? How early is too early to start applying to colleges? If my kid doesn’t play violin by age 2, am I failing as a parent?

Growing Up is all about being a resource to answer your questions. We are lucky to have some of the greatest experts in town contributing and we can help guide you down the path for every age…right on up to grand parenting. Our annual Pregnancy & Birth Guide is a great place to start looking for what expecting parents can expect and where they can find the best services in the county.

Our October birth issue is one of our most fun times. We’ve had more than a thousand people vote for the best baby photo and we got so many great entries. You’ll see some top contenders inside.

We also have some great baby advice. Nicole Young writes about how to say goodbye to your most precious infants when you have to leave.  Jan Pierce covers singing to your baby and building a library for them.

For older kids, Eric Chalhoub writes about going to school at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Yes that’s for real! Mary Gaukel Forster covers places for teens to search for careers. That’s a resource you won’t find anywhere else.

We also love to celebrate Santa Cruz success stories. Alex Fowler went from riding on the Aptos pump track to building tracks for the Olympics. Chris Zephro started a mask making company with $250,000. He sold $20 million of them last year. Marc Monte turned his love of fireworks into $4 million of charity for area schools, libraries and parks.

Clueing us in to what happens behind the teacher’s desk, Lisa Catterall deals with some tough issues: what happens when a whole class fails a test and what do you do when they start talking about things that may not be appropriate in a high school class.

And on the fun side—this is Halloween month after all—writer John Koenig traces the history of scary rides, starting 200 years back and ending up at our Boardwalk. It’s a scream.

Enjoy the issue, thanks for supporting our local community publication and for growing up with us in Santa Cruz.

Brad Kava
Jennifer Ford
Steve Dinnen