Mommy Monday: Venessa Goldberg

Today's Mommy is Seattle mom Venessa Goldberg. She is a pastry-chef by trade and currently runs her own business called Infamous Pastries.At home with her husband, Joe, young daughter and twin step-sons, Venessa is dedicated to eating locally--keeping chickens and growing a large porion of the family's produce.

1. How long have you been a mom?

I've been a mom 9 months, and a step-mom for (officially) 1 ½ years. 2. What is your baby's name? My daughter's name is Lillia Simone 

3. What inspired this name? We wanted a name that was sort of unique but not too out there. On my Mom's side of my family, the girls in my generation, as well as my only niece, all have names that end with an a so we took a name we liked--Lily--and gave it an a at the end. This also made it a little less common of a name. Simone came from my husband's family. Ashkenazic Jews have a tradition to name new babies after family members that have passed, and so we took the s from a Great Grandmother Sara and chose a new name with her in mind. Simone is also the feminine variant of Simon, which is a common and meaningful Jewish boys' name.

4. What is the cutest thing your kid has done this week? Oh boy! That's a tough question because I think everything is cute! We play on an urban grown-up kickball league, and she's a total flirt at the games. We all have team waterbottles and she loves to drink out of them. My teammates all think it's a hoot. She's like our unofficial team mascot!

5. What is the product that you needed when your baby was six months old and under that surprised you the most? We kind of went the way of less is more as far as baby stuff goes. The product I would say we used the most, before 6 months, that I never would have expected was probably the beaba baby food machine. Lillia decided she was ready for solid food sometime during her 4th month. I held her off on food until I could get a second-hand food mill so that I could make all of her food. I hadn't planned on needing it so early!

6. How many bibs does your baby use in a day? Just one. I tend to use the same bib for mealtimes for a day or two. For one thing, she's not too terribly messy, and also, I have a pretty high tolerance for mess. I figure, it's going to get filthy anyway, why not let it get really dirty. Less laundry for me. We don't use bibs to catch drool from teething. She prefers not to wear them if she can get away with it, even at mealtimes.

7. What is the baby product that you cannot live without? Our gDiapers. We love them! They're great for at home because it's just a cloth diaper with a few convenient features like velcro, and you don't have to change every piece every time. And with the disposable/flushable/compostable liners for when we aren't at home, it makes life pretty easy.

8. What is your baby's favorite sleepy time companion? The white noise machine. She sleeps much much better with it turned on. Especially when her brothers are here, because sometimes they forget that the baby is sleeping. Also, it lets us play music and have guests in the evenings without being too worried that every little sound will wake her. She never got too attached to a blanket or buddy--yet!

9. How did you decorate the baby's room? Did you have a theme? Second-hand gear? Is it just like the other spaces in your home? It's woodland themed. We moved into a new (to us, it's really 100 years old) home when Lillia was just a few months old, and prior to that she slept in our bedroom. When we moved in I started putting her room together from ideas I saw here and there and it just kind of turned out woodland themed. It's about half and half new vs. gently used. Most of the decorations are hand-made by me, to fit the theme. It's been kinda fun!

10. What baby gift that you have received did you treasure the most? My grandmother made a quilt for Lillia that we use every day. She called it the drag around blanket and intended for it to get some use. It's definitely been through a lot in only 9 months!

11. What is the most practical baby gift you have received? My mother-in-law recently purchased us a tray for the tripp trapp chair we bought second hand. We noticed that when we eat dinner at her grandparent's house where they have a more traditional high chair, she eats a lot better because the finger foods are easier to reach. The tray has been great, even though it was a bit spendy. Thanks Grandma!

12. If you were recommending something for a friend to bring to someone's baby shower what would it be? Fun toys and board books. This is something we received almost none of, and it would have been great to have them around in the beginning instead of having to go out and buy everything as we needed it. Also, something for the new Mom!