So. I've been keeping something from you and I'm not great at secrets. If you've noticed that my restaurant reviews have been heavier on the bread baskets and lighter on the cocktail menus lately, now you know why.
We're having a baby! Baby girl 🎀. I'm 19 weeks and Jamie has absolutely no idea what's coming for him.
I wanted to tell you here first because well....you're my people! The parks that are actually worth the drive, the restaurants where your toddler will definitely throw food on the floor, and now, apparently, the news that I'm doing this whole thing again. On purpose.
Here's why I'm telling you now: next week I'm putting together a special edition of The Sprout focused on pregnancy, newborns, and all the Charlotte resources I wish I'd known about the first time around. If you have a friend who's expecting (or you are!), send them this way. I want next week's issue to be the one you forward to your group chat.
Okay. Enough about me. Let's get into this week.
🌱 What We’re Doing
Charlotte stuff to get on your calendar this week
Saturday is doing a lot this week. Easter events are everywhere (egg hunts at Rea Farms, Wing Haven, and West Charlotte High School, plus bunny photos at The Metropolitan), and Fable in Ballantyne is throwing their first-ever Bunny Party for the Maileg crowd. That last one is where I'll be. If you know Maileg, you understand. If you don't, just know it's a very specific corner of the toy world and Fable is the only place in Charlotte to buy it. Bunny ears at the door, swag bags with purchase, and a Maileg rep on-site. I'm trying to act casual about it.
Sunday has some standouts too. Daniel Stowe is doing Fairy Tale Weekend with carriage rides, costumed characters, a storytime at 10:15, and free crafts (wand making, crowns, fairy houses). Costumes encouraged. The South End Spring Fling at Pritchard Church has free hot dogs, bounce houses, and egg hunts split by age group so your two-year-old isn't competing with a fourth grader. And McDowell Nature Preserve has a drop-in World Water Day thing from 2 to 4 if you need a low-effort afternoon.
✨ A few standouts:
Fable's Maileg Bunny Party (Saturday, all day, Ballantyne). Leave the stroller in the car.
Naturalist Egg Hunt at Wing Haven (Saturday, 10 a.m.). More walking and exploring, less frantic sprint.
Baby Massage at The Bunny Hive (Wednesday, noon). If you're in the newborn fog, this is the gentlest way to get out of the house.
Your featured park, playground, or indoor play spot.
Jamie climbed all the way to the top of a slide at Colonel Beatty Park, touched it, and immediately noped out. It was that hot. We abandoned the big playground, pulled out his tricycle, and walked the path along the lake instead, which turned out to be the better move anyway. Geese, turtles, dogs, and a shaded playground tucked in the trees where he made two new best friends who wanted to play peekaboo for 30 minutes straight.
The Costco Lagoon is back! The Step2 Tropical Splash Lagoon water table is on shelves at Costco right now for $99.99. If you've been on toddler Instagram for five minutes, you've seen this thing. Multiple activity zones, spinners, water slides, fits a few kids at once. If you're planning your backyard summer situation, this is the move before it sells out.
SouthPark Pajama Storytime cancelled this Thursday. If you usually go to the Pajama Family Storytime at SouthPark Regional Library, heads up that this week's session is cancelled. Next one is April 9. Kids wear pajamas, bring a stuffed animal, there are stories, songs, and cookies (BYOM: bring your own milk). Ages birth to 5, free, no registration required. Mark it.
CPR Certification at Spirited Sprout in Waxhaw (Monday, March 23): If getting CPR certified has been sitting on your mental to-do list for months (or years), Spirited Sprout in Waxhaw offers a 3-hour Heartsaver CPR/AED/First Aid course through the American Heart Association. $75, covers adults, children, and infants, and you walk out with a certification card good for two years. Useful for parents, nannies, babysitters, teachers, or anyone who keeps meaning to do this and never does. Bring socks.
MESH Moms Postpartum Pod: If you had a baby in the last few months, MESH Moms is running a six-week Postpartum Pod starting March 20 at Core Innov8tions on Providence Rd. It's a small group (max 10 mom/baby pairs) led by a postpartum doula and rotating experts covering sleep, feeding, separation anxiety, and all the stuff nobody tells you about in advance. Early bird is $300, general admission is $350. It's the kind of thing that sounds like a lot until you're three months in and realize you'd pay double to sit in a room with people who get it.
What I'm Learning
Jamie got sick last week (surprise, surprise) and at the pediatrician I learned something I had completely backwards. Apparently, Motrin has a much higher safety threshold than Tylenol. Meaning: if you accidentally give a little too much Motrin, the margin for error is more forgiving. With Tylenol, getting the dose right actually matters a lot more.
I always assumed Tylenol was the "safer" one because you can give it to babies as early as 2 months, but you have to wait until 6 months for Motrin. In my head that meant Tylenol was gentler and Motrin was the stronger stuff you needed to be more careful with. Turns out I had it flipped.
So if you take one thing from this newsletter today: double check your Tylenol dosing. Use the weight-based dose, not the age range on the box (those are intentionally conservative). Ask your pediatrician for a dosing chart if you don't already have one on your fridge.
I am very much not a doctor and this is very much not medical advice. Just a thing I learned at our pediatrician's office that I immediately wanted to text every parent I know. So here I am, texting all of you.
Here's to correct Tylenol doses, Costco runs that somehow stay under $100 (just kidding, that's never happening), and the kind of week where your biggest decision is which egg hunt to hit first.
See you next week with that special edition I promised. Tell your expecting friends!
💚 Emily / Founder, The Charlotte Sprout
P.S. If you buy the Costco Lagoon, I need to see the unboxing. Tag @thecharlottesprout so I can live vicariously while I'm still in the 'too pregnant to assemble outdoor toys' phase.
Help The Sprout grow. If one idea made your week easier, please forward this email or tag @thecharlottesprout so more Charlotte parents can find us. 🌱
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