Babies Archives

Welcoming New Life with a Virtual Bris

Life doesn’t stop for a global pandemic. For couples who are expecting a baby, this is certainly true....

Babies, Birth Ceremony, Bris, Circumcision, Mohel, Parenting Challenges

My Alter Ego Carried My Baby

My alter ego’s name is Phyllis. Not as provocative as Sasha Fierce or as precocious as Beyoncé’s new sidekick,...

Babies, Pregnancy

We Aren’t as Different as My Neighbors Think

I grew up in an Orthodox community in Midwood, Brooklyn. My mother still lives there and I live three blocks...

Babies, New Parents, Parenting Stories, Young Kids

My Jewish-American, Mexican-Catholic Daughter Speaks with a British Accent…and It’s All My Fault

There have been a few changes in our home life since Adrian and I welcomed our newest edition, Alma, to the...

Babies, Baby Naming, Parenting Stories

Not a Jewish Birth Story

February 28, 2011 The hardest part of my son’s birth wasn’t laboring at home for a day, or even...

Babies, Birth Ceremony

We Made Our Bris Inclusive. Here’s How.

At just nine weeks pregnant, my doctor ran a blood test and we waited on the results, full of anticipation....

Babies, Baby Naming, Birth Ceremony, Bris

Helen Turns 2 in English, Spanish and Hebrew

I can’t believe my first baby girl is already 2! In the beginning of this journey into parenthood I can remember...

Babies, New Parents, Parenting Stories

Naming Our Past, Present & Future

Quinn receiving her Hebrew name Giving your child a Hebrew name is a long-standing tradition in Judaism. Sometimes...

Adoption, Babies, Baby Naming, Birth Ceremony, Extended Family, Parenting Stories, Young Kids

Now What?

You just spent several hours or days in the hospital giving birth to your child or, in our case, several months...

Adoption, Babies, Baby Naming, Parenting Stories

Loss and Gain

The doctor calls Adrian and me saying, “Congratulations! You’re pregnant!” Adrian hugs me and we lift Helen...

Babies, Parenting Stories, Pregnancy Loss, Pregnancy Stories

Using My Words

I type this while holding a squirmy, feverish 3-month-old in my lap. Shh, shh, shh, I tell him. It’s OK,...

Babies, Grandparents, Parenting Stories

What You Can Do Now for Your Future Baby

Photo by Cory Silken Four months ago, I gave birth to a baby girl. After a long labor and unexpected...

Babies, Parenting Stories, Pregnancy Stories

Hanukkah and Christmas: Getting It “Right”

Elizabeth’s daughter’s first Hanukkah My husband jokes that I only married him so I could finally celebrate...

Babies, Birth Ceremony, Bris, Circumcision, Identity, Religion

Parenthood: Your Next Great Journey

Emily demonstrating the fabulousness of the ring sling when her daughter was tiny Two years ago, when we were...

Babies, Baby Toolbox, Motherhood, Parenting Stories

Two Faiths and Powerful Women

My daughter, Helen Rose Castaneda, wakes up one day at 10-and-a-half months old, pulls herself up in her crib...

Babies, Motherhood, Parenting Stories, Young Kids

To Name or Not to Name: That is the Question

During a recent baby naming ceremony that Moser officiated, the uncle (left) and father (right) help wrap the...

Babies, Baby Naming, Birth Ceremony

Our Attempt at Planning a Family Vacation and Baby’s First Fever

We had been planning our vacation to upstate New York for six months. The hotels book up by the end of August,...

Babies, Identity, Parenting Stories

From Baptism to Bar Mitzvah: Navigating a Dual-Faith First Communion

Sam and Sheri’s father at Sam’s First Communion When my Catholic husband and I decided to participate...

Babies, Birth Ceremony

Leaving Your Work Baby to Have a Real Baby

One of the most difficult aspects of pregnancy for me—especially right now in week 36—is the prospect of leaving...

Babies, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Stories

The Challenges of Keeping Kosher at an Interfaith Birthday

Growing up, my mother’s house was kosher. We had dishes for dairy and dishes for meat and we never mixed milk...

Babies, Parenting Stories, Young Kids

Mourning, Friendship and the Future

Baby Helen meets Liz I was in the seventh grade when my father died. I had already been asked to leave an Orthodox...

Babies, Death & Mourning, Death & Mourning Stories, Parenting Stories, Young Kids

Strolling with Moses on Shavuot

There was a painting that hung in the living room of our house when I was a child. My father’s good friend Mike...

Babies, Parenting Other Holidays, Parenting Stories, Shavuot

The Word They’ll Learn the Best

First words. What was my own first word? Probably “Mama,” though now my mother doesn’t remember. She does remember...

Babies, Identity, Parenting Stories

We Met in the Middle

Adrian and I met working at a restaurant. Some might call it an “interfaith restaurant.” Tucked away in Cobble...

Babies, Parenting Stories

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