The Baby & Maternity Issue 2015
Photo Essay: Backcountry Baby; Around the World while Pregnant; Sharing breast Milk Online; Last Chance: Summer Camp Guide
Adventures in Baby Rearing: Parenting Hasn’t Slowed Us Down
As outdoor photographers and avid adventurers, we’ve made a living documenting our explorations of remote places such as East Greenland and Chilean Patagonia. So when we discovered that Emily was pregnant with our now-2-year-old daughter, Maiana Snow, our 15 years of explorations together simply seemed like training for the most wonderful and challenging adventure of…
Burlington-based Mamava Aims to Make Breastfeeding and Pumping Easier
Burlington businesswoman Janet Stambolian was scrolling through Facebook in 2013 when a photo of the first-ever Mamava lactation suite, at Burlington International Airport, caught her eye. “It looked like a little spaceship,” she says of the freestanding “pod” for breastfeeding mothers. Stambolian grabbed her phone and called Gene Richards, BTV’s director of aviation, who had…
Vermont Moms Turn to Social Media to Share Their Breast Milk
Juliana Taylor’s breast milk feeds three babies: her 11-month-old daughter, who she nurses the conventional way, and the children of two other Vermont mothers who live nearby. Taylor engages in what’s called “altruistic milk sharing” — she produces more milk than her baby can drink and gives away the surplus to local moms in need,…
Pee-Wee Pilates
From the outside, it probably looked like we were doing very little. But believe me: It was hard work. I felt like I’d gotten a workout even before setting foot in Prenatal Method Studio. That’s because I lugged my 8-week-old daughter in her infant car seat up two flights of stairs and through a labyrinth…
When Did You First Feel Like a Grown-up?
Jess Lilly, Burlington Software engineer, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation; Sons Amos, 9, and Damien, 5; daughter Luna, 3 It’s hard to give a definitive answer. I’d say having kids was a major step. When new parents we know talk about staying up all night with babies, it makes me feel like we’ve learned and been…
Sewing Room
Caitlin Betsy Bell got her first sewing machine when she was 6 years old. Her mom sewed a lot, and her two older brothers were involved in a 4-H quilting group. Bell was eager to get in on the action. In middle school, she made little purses and cards by hand and sold them for…
New Beginnings
Evolution Yoga is evolving. The popular yoga studio, which has occupied a brick building on Kilburn Street in Burlington’s South End for the past nine years, is splitting into two separate entities: Evolution Yoga will continue to offer adult yoga classes and physical therapy; Evolution Prenatal + Family Yoga Center will focus exclusively on pre-…
One to Watch: Lucinda Storz
Age: 11 Town: Kirby Lucinda Storz comes from a word-loving family. Her 20-year-old brother, Walker, won the Vermont state spelling bee in 2008, and her 17-year-old sister, Samantha, was runner-up in 2011. Lucinda, a sixth-grader at Thaddeus Stevens School in Lyndon, has won the independent school’s spelling bee every year since she was in first…
Show Me the Money
Sometimes learning pays off. In April, students from across Vermont were recognized for their work in two money-related programs sponsored by the state treasurer’s office. Kids submitted 332 illustrations to the Be Money Wi$e Financial Literacy Poster Contest, showing how to create a plan for their money. Three winners in elementary, middle and high school…
Nature’s Calling!
Most Vermont state parks don’t open until Memorial Day weekend, but the 2015 Venture Vermont outdoor challenge is under way. Between now and October 15, you and your kids can rack up points by sleeping beneath the stars, going on a bird walk, catching and identifying fish, and building a fire without using matches. Oodles…
Coloring Contest
Last month’s coloring-contest judges were a bunch of lucky ducks. They got to peruse more than 70 wacky, wonderful creations from young artists, including a rapping duck, a mathematician named McQuack and duckling royalty. Some kids created whole narratives around their waterfowl — an anxious duck just trying to make it through kindergarten and a…
First Foods
My husband and I love to cook and share meals. So I was excited when our first baby, Eli, was old enough to start eating “real food.” I envisioned making him healthy meals from scratch and enjoying them peacefully as a family of three. Like many things related to parenting, it didn’t go as planned.…
Spanish for Preschoolers
No one is shushing the pint-size kids congregating on a large world-map rug in the children’s section of the Fletcher Free Library. Catchy Latin music plays from a speaker while instructor Constancia Gomez, wearing a furry Russian-style hat and cowboy boots, rounds up stragglers to join her 45-minute class, Spanish Musical Kids. As the group…
Pushing the Limits
Almost 9 years ago, my husband, Jeff, and I took a three-week trip to Southeast Asia. We’d been married for a couple of years and knew we wanted kids soon. We figured the excursion would be our last big hurrah before we started a family. We rode elephants in Chiang Mai, visited temples and night…
How Do New Moms Recognize Postpartum Depression?
The arrival of a new baby brings on many emotions. For some moms, it can trigger overwhelming sadness, anxiety and stress. This month, Dr. Jennie Lowell, a board-certified physician in obstetrics and gynecology at Maitri Health Care for Women in South Burlington, offers new moms and mothers-to-be advice for recognizing and coping with normal “baby…
Traveling Around the World — With Kids — While Pregnant
As a childbirth educator, I teach women that pregnancy is not a pathological condition. I tell them to think of their bodies as incredibly strong and capable of much more than they know. I had an opportunity to put that wisdom to the test myself last year. In early 2014, my husband, Adam, and I…
Write-Your-Own Contest Winners
name: Faith Holzhammer, 11 Town: Orwell Title: “Signs of Love” Congratulations to these talented young storytellers/illustrators who submitted comic strips inspired by graphic novels. Each wins a $25 gift certificate to Crow Bookshop in Burlington. We were wowed by your creativity and artistic ability. Below you’ll find one of the winning panels. Other Winners Silas…
Helping Kids Fit In and Find Friends at Summer Camp
Aidan Gardner of Vergennes can’t wait until June 29. That’s the day the 13-year-old will be greeting old friends back at Camp Killooleet in Hancock, where he has spent the past four summers. The first day at the camp in the Green Mountain National Forest will bring Aidan face to face with pals from New…
Birth Guides: Books About Pregnancy and Childbirth.
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin Written by the country’s most well-known midwife, this 2003 volume shares the benefits and joys of natural childbirth, providing information on how to give birth without technological intervention. “This is a great book for normalizing pregnancy, labor and the postpartum period,” says Rachel Stanton, a labor…
