H update

Stole this from an email to a friend. . . .

We've finally bit the bullet and are taking H home one afternoon a week.  She still really should be coming home every afternoon, but logistics wise, I don't know how to pull that off.  ([Lil'S's] nap is 11 to 1 or 2, and he doesn't do well with interruptions to that--I don't want to mess with his sleep in order to get H her sleep.  [S] will be coming home this Tues to pick her up, and I have to find someone to stay with sleeping [Lil'S] while I get her next Tuesday, but at least we'll have Christmas break after that, right?)  She's been getting stomachaches that have been increasing in frequency since we started her eye drop treatments, so it's obvious she needs her sleep so that she can better handle the stress of it all.  Although she's only "allowed" 12 absences, her principal said he wouldn't be coming after us for them.  They usually only make a big deal if absences are really excessive.  Phew!  A friend of mine told me today that her son missed 18 days for various reasons through his kindergarten year, so that made me feel better.  I hope I'll be more likely now to give her a school holiday when she needs it.  Yes, she may be missing out on some academics, but there's a ton she's missing out on learning here at home too.  We've been unable to expect even the most basic of responsibilities because she's just too tired (or wired) to follow through on things regularly.  If she wasn't so much better when she's well-rested, I'd think she had severe ADHD.  Honestly, she very well could have mild ADHD--her sleep has made me wonder, as difficulty falling asleep has always been a problem for my ADHD brothers and I--but she wouldn't be able to receive a proper diagnosis if she's not getting the sleep that it's obvious she needs.  She may be asleep by 6:30 most nights, but the fact that she starts zoning out or tantruming at 5:30 (usually mid-dinner) shows she really needs to be asleep sooner.  (And then there's typically the 2:45pm and 4pm crashes and the 9am and 10:30/11am ones on weekends. . . .  How do I keep forgetting those??)

I wish S and I were more assertive.  I mean, I can be assertive with people I know well, but with those I don't know well, I'm often more passive.  I think we'd be bringing her home more often were we so--and I certainly would have been bringing her home from the start!

A big blessing this past week is that H hasn't had a cold--S and I have mild ones, but gratefully H and Lil'S have been spared since theirs ended around Thanksgiving.  H had various colds all of Oct and nearly all of Nov, on top of school and eye treatments and sleep dep, so it's been a great relief for her to be better in at least that aspect.

5 Best Toys

S emailed me this blog post.  It fits right into the whole frugal ways to entertain/educate your kids that I've been into lately.

5 Best Toys of all Time

Love it!

Fun, Helpful Ideas

Over the past couple months I've been reading a few books on toddlers: Things to do with Toddlers and Twos, The Toddler's Busy Book, and Super Baby Food. The first two I found at the library in desperation and the third was included with the stack of boxes (and boxes and boxes!!!) of baby and toddler boy clothes we received from a co-worker of S's.  It's been fun to implement some of those ideas and find ways to use random stuff around the house to quickly keep BOTH my kids busy learning about the world around them.  Here are a few of the things I've tried out, as well as a few ideas I've come up with, complete with pictures if I ever get around to downloading and posting them. ;)  (I liked Things to do more for Lil'S because it was more applicable to his age and elaborated on toddler development; The Toddler's Busy Book had more activities for ages two and three, although many of them were things that H would still get a kick out of.  I also liked Super Baby Food for its collection of frugal living tips.  I haven't yet read Tightwad's Gazette, but I'm sure they share a number of great ideas.  Of course, it again leaves me wishing I had enough skills to sew--or even enough whatever it is I'm lacking to actually sit down long enough to do the sewing I can do--but ah, well.  Maybe someday.)

bubbles in a bag:
zip-top bag + water + dishsoap = 15 minutes of toddler happiness
Of course, you have to watch for leakage every now and then, but if it's a good brand of bag, this item can be left on the counter and tossed to the child whenever you need a moment to finish something up without "assistance".

dishwasher:
Let him help put clean utensils in the kitchen drawer; you stand there and praise him while putting them in the right places in your holder ;).  Sure, it's not as efficient as doing it yourself, but if you wouldn't even touch it otherwise since you'd be involved in something else with him, you might as well do it with him and the have the job get done.

Let the kid take off with the empty bottom shelf = 15 minutes of toddler happiness, excepting intermittent points when the big shelf gets stuck on kitchen chairs, etc., in our narrow kitchen.

hand vac = 25 minutes of toddler happiness
Lil'S can't hear any vac in our house without running and begging to use it too.  When I'm done with it, I pass it off to him and let him run down the battery.  So, it does cost a bit in electricity, but it keeps him happy and me free to do something I need to do, and I know he'll be busy the whole time the battery's still running.  (I also avoid tantrums if I wait until the vacuum battery is dead and the vacuum is discarded. ;) )  Oh, and there's the added perk of him occasionally successfully vacuuming escaped bits of food or tracked in debris.  That always make me happy too.

oil/water bottle
drinking bottle + water + mineral oil + food coloring + super glue = varies
He got more excitement from kicking the thing than watching the bubbles and waves, but H enjoyed the cool liquid effects for a few minutes.  I think I needed a different bottle, like a clear kid shampoo one that's wide and narrow.  However, it's much better than a ball for learning early kicking skills because it rolls straight, rather than every which way!  :)

bathtub toys
I seriously want to toss out our cool squirty toys that are growing mold in them in favor of a small collection of "toys" like these.  And, from the Super Baby Food book, I'm looking forward to getting mesh-bagged oranges so that I can use the mesh bag as a bathtub bag.  (Or maybe I have one hiding under my kitchen sink.)  I have a plastic tub for toys stacked in the closet, but as there's a little distance between the tub and closet and as I have to wait for toys to dry before putting them in the plastic container, unlike a mesh bag over the tub, it's more likely a couple toys will just hang around the bathroom counter or floor from bathtime to bathtime.  A mesh bag hanging on the curtain rod will improve the chances of the toys actually being put away as well as free up the use of the plastic box (such as for the craft materials I need to remove from my nightstand to make room for infant care supplies over the next few months) and the shelf it's sitting on.

yogurt cup with a hole in the bottom = 30 minutes of toddler happiness

2 cups, each with a hole in the bottom = at least 20 minutes of t.h., because now he could pour from cup to cup!

small bulb syringe + cup = at least 20 minutes of kindergartener happiness
squirting air bubbles into the water, squirting water into the cup, etc.
*beware of child removing bulb part and toddler putting it in his mouth

cool mom tool: pastry blender
So, I actually had to buy one of these because I don't bake often enough to already have one on hand, but I think the 2.50/3.50 I spent on it is already worth the fact that I can mash a hard-boiled egg (for egg salad) with it in six seconds flat.  It was recommended for mashing up soft fruits for baby, and I'm looking forward for figuring out other uses for it as well.

cool snacks:  anything dip-able . . .
Like banana slices dipped in the wheat germ I got on clearance and have had sitting in the fridge growing old the past year.  Nice to finally get that being used!  I called the wheat germ "crunchies" when offering them to my friend's food-avoiding three-year-old, and she ate the whole banana.  Sunflower seed butter, honey, yogurt, etc. also work great.

Yes, I caved and bought Lil'S a bottle of $6 sunflower seed butter.  I figured if he's going to be jealous about my and sister's peanut butter sandwiches and lacking in good nut proteins for at least one more year (allergist says not till age three :( ), I might as well get him some kind of substitute that's good for him and quick and easy for me.  And, the baby food book kept talking about sneaking in seeds, so it rubbed off on me as well.

Continuing on the kid foods concept. . . . The Super Baby Food author actually recommended skipping the little, hand-sized food mill and opting for your everyday pastry blender, regular blender, and food processer for baby food prep.  She talks about making large batches of food that you then refridgerate/freeze in individual portions.  I did some of that with H and less with Lil'S 'cuz I'd often just take too long and sometimes it would just go bad 'cuz I'd forget it, but I'm considering giving it another try. (I also did weekly mac'n cheese or pasta and sauce before my brain disappeared with this pregnancy.  One pound of pasta and one jar of sauce gave me lunches from Monday-Friday.)  If I don't start this next little one on solids until 6 months, as is now recommended, I'll really only have more like 4-6 of the major food prep sessions.  Not too bad.

S is really great at that kind of thing--he's taken over our bulk meat cooking--so it's easy for me to just say, "Hey!  S can totally do this!"  However, as I already think/say this for way too many things, it's really something I'm going to have to figure out and tackle on my own if it's going to get done. . . . Okay, realistically, I think he's still going to have to be there helping me stay focused and organized in order to get it done!  Anyway, Super Baby Food outlines monthly, weekly, and daily ways to sneak food prep into your typical everyday activities--that are supposed to be done but often aren't around here--in quick and efficient ways, so I have the feeling that if I can do even some of the ideas in the book, not only would it be easier and cheaper to feed baby boy much healthier foods, but I also just might get a few more other chores done around this place as well. ;)

Sunshine Lavender Farm (very belated: 6/11/2011)

Every summer Sunshine Lavender Farm owner Ann opens up her farm (to those subscribed to her email listings) to celebrate the lavender harvest. Visitors can tour the farm, make lavender crafts, drink lavender lemonade (yummy!), and buy fun lavender gifts for home and body. We knew the children would see their grandmothers this summer and purchased them both some lovely lavender soap.

As Lil'S wasn't walking yet and wasn't very interested in hearing about lavender, he entertained himself during the tour of the lavender field by eating rocks . . . lots of them.

One of many varieties of lavender Ann grows on her farm.

We were honored by a visit from the Butterfly Lady who introduced us to the monarch butterfly. . .

and taught us about its various senses--

all of them!

Time to release the butterflies!

S had one land on his finger.

(I think S took this one.)

Hoping the butterfly would climb on a finger.

(Where's my rotation option? ;) )

Ann explained what it's like to raise honeybees, which pollinate her lavender and kitchen garden. She is joined by a good friend from Argentina (?), another honeybee expert.

buzz!

We enjoyed our family outing.

Days like this happen much too rarely for us!

Conference Request

Sigh....I finally did it. I didn't want to do it, but it had to be done and probably should have been done long ago.

Hi Mr. R[...] and Ms. M[...],

When would be a good time for us to meet to discuss H[...] further? Without her mid-day naps she has continued to act overtired at home, has had constant colds since the onset of school (excepting 3 weeks in Sept) that have often worsened her asthma, and is not handling well the additional stress of her vision treatments (has been complaining of stomachaches 2-3 times a week since we started them back up). She really needs more sleep. I do hope we can work something out to let her get it.

Thank you,

R[...]

Lil'S Language at 19mo

New "Words"

bbbbb with his lips for "car"/"truck"
ba-ba-bbbbbb for "balloon" (Thanks awesome Kroger Balloon Lady for the free Halloween balloons! My kid is now saying another word!)
mmm/ma for "more"
heh for "hi" (Around last week he started waving at nearly everyone he'd see, and at least a few days ago he started trying to say "hi" too. Cute!)

Lil'S - new signs


down (point downward; only rarely asks to get down by pointing down lately, did more when 18mo--forgot to include in earlier post, but he understands you. If you're lucky he'll do it--much more likely to do it if you say something like, "Yes Sam sit down, yes Sam eat"--if you sit, you can eat; but if you don't sit, you don't get to eat! We know he's done eating when he makes a game out of this by continually standing in his chair.)


thank you (yeah! he's just started signing this! open hand moves to and away from chin)


rain (both hands raised and lowered, often wiggling fingers; this is a request for the Primary song "Rain is Falling"; we often sing this during mealtimes when we're bored but not done eating yet)
where (typical gesture with hands palm up at shoulder level, although it's not ASL. He'll do it too sometimes, shaking his hands back and forth. He was probably signing this last month too.)


come! (this is his own sign; sweeps a hand in front of him and then over his opposite waist/shoulder; also may hold out a hand and open and close the fist)


bird (thumb and forefinger make a bird's opening & closing beak in front of the mouth; he'll do it usually reaching in the direction of the bird)


still teaching (when I think of it!):
water
apple
pain
butter


should teach him:
shoes
sock
draw/color
trade
bread
cracker
dance
baby
doll
open
close
bike
book
fork
boat
put away


Here's the source we've used for ASL signs. There may be some down the road that we'll need to simplify, but we'll do that as we come to it.

S, this one's for you!

Fudge Babies Low-starch, sugar-free treat--one that's easy enough (and cheap enough!) for even me to make!
;)

You know I love you!
:}{:

More Paleo Recipes

So, I know I'm supposed to be saving recipes in a folder on my computer, but I never actually use it, but I do use my blog. Maybe if I actually saved them there I'd use the folder. What a concept.

Anyway, thought I'd post these to share. They are some more meat & veggie dinner ideas--not that I'll likely use these ones, but they all sound very good. OH, and there's a muffin recipe too. :) Starch-free. Not that we'll ever likely buy almond and coconut flours (okay, actually, if this diet does work out well for S, I'm sure we probably will give in at some point for special occasions), but it looked SO GOOD and makes me want to try it. (Note that I'm not telling you about my attempt at baking goodies--as in, not a cake mix, which I do actually have to take on tomorrow night or Friday morning for H's school's Fall Festival--for the first time in over 2 years (probably longer than that....I was dealing with heavy fatigue from a med I was on when I got preg with Lil'S) that happened Monday, but I guess it's wasn't all bad as the kids loved the cookies and .....Guess I'll have to write about that after all.....)

Crispy Red Potatoes (Okay, so NOT for S, but VERY MUCH FOR ME! Stumbled on this the other night through a friend's blog. With my lactose-intolerance, the title of the blog just kinda seemed to be shouting at me. I very happily bought potatoes today. I've been craving them.)

Veggie-Beef Balls (Have I mentioned Paleo blogs are pretty handy in finding low-starch meals. Gluten free can be sometimes too, for dinners at least. At least I always enjoy reading them, even if I don't actually use them. ;) )

Maple Pecan Muffins Mmmm.....

Pumpkin Pie Pudding Not that Lil'S can currently have the eggs in both of these. . . . You'd think I'd have searched out a lactose-free, egg-free, starch-free food blog by now. Ha! I didn't find a blog, but did just find. . . .

Gluten-free, Grain-free, Egg-free, Dairy-free Snickerdoodles LOL!!! I LOVE the internet!!!!

I had a funny image of writing a grain-free, egg-free, dairy-free, food-free blog. ;) I'd kind of not have anything to post, but it's amusing to me how everyone has a totally different view of what's "healthy". If you've grown up with the government's recommendations, just start looking around and you'll find all sorts of interesting info. I personally think Harvard is a good place to start. . . . I'm a bit of a Harvard fan. Considering some of my 3 fav non-fiction books have come from Harvard grads--and H's eye dr is actually a Harvard grad too--it's pretty easy to become one. But, I digress, and could continue doing so, but I'm supposed to be going to bed soon. (Yes, EARLY. H's still waking at night, and Lil'S has come down with croup again. I'm really hoping tonight will be uneventful anyway.)

And, of course, the recipe S emailed me that has started this whole thing tonight:

The Bacon Chicken I joked to S that this HAD to have been envisioned by a man! (It actually was posted under the husband's name, but that's not necessarily a guarantee he was actually the one who wrote it.)

Why I'm Seriously Tempted to Homeschool

Two emails I sent off yesterday. It's been a long week.

Hi Ms. M[...],

I just wanted to apologize for the interruptions (backpack, lunch, barrette, etc.) this week. This week's been a rough one on H[...]--and thus the rest of us. Although she's normally been asleep by 7 lately, it's too late for her, and she's progressively been sleeping worse at night, culminating in 3 a.m. wake-ups where she's been unable to fall back to sleep at all (Mon) or to not be able to go back to sleep for a couple hours (Tues, Wed, Thu). We finally got her to bed at 5:45 last night and interrupted her sleep cycle at 12:40 a.m. (which often helps habitual wakings but isn't a guarantee). Gratefully, last night she finally was able to sleep the entire night, not waking until 6:07. What a beautiful thing to hear her calling this morning, "Mom! The clock says 6-0-7! Can I get out of bed now?"

We are re-doubling our efforts to be done tucking her in at 5:45 p.m. at the latest so that she can get a full 12hrs of sleep, which is how much she appears to need. (before school: 10 at night, 2 during the day) We will also continue letting her nap at least on Saturdays, early release, and no school days. (We try for an early nap Sundays, but it often doesn't work because she naturally wants to sleep around the time we're supposed to be going to church. We've actually missed church a few times this past month just to let her sleep, she's been so worn out.) She was able to nap 3-4x each week the first couple weeks of this past month (staff workday, keeping her home from church & 2 days of school with her cold), which allowed her to stop waking every other night--simply heavenly--and is probably why it was so easy to slip into letting her stay up until 7. However, upon returning to school for the whole week last week and our not getting her to bed before 7 p.m., she started waking briefly again and then finally couldn't go back to sleep, like I mentioned. Hopefully we can stick with this insanely early bedtime because otherwise I think I'm going to lose it myself! (She's already lost it a number of times.)

I'm grateful she's naturally such a well-mannered child because otherwise I'm sure her sleep deprivation would be much more obvious during school hours!

Thanks,

R[...] :)

The ironic thing is that Miss H was honored at a reception Thursday morning for being a "Terrific Kid" in the area of responsibility. Or maybe that was a necessary positive to help rebalance the scale so we didn't completely slide off into insanity. . . . She really is an amazing kid. This sleep thing just tends to hide that, which is why this full-day school thing is really killing me. I hate the effect it so easily has on her and the rest of us. But, I guess that's life. It's supposed to be hard, right?

Hi Ms. B[...],

First I want to tell you I'm impressed with your website! Nice job! I'm glad to learn what my daughter is learning in her classes as I take her education seriously. I appreciate you sharing not only what activities you're doing with my child but also what your expectations for her are.

My kindergarten-aged daughter H[...] S[...] (Ms. M[...]'s class) has exercise-induced asthma. Maybe you've already been informed of this, but I wanted to make sure you were aware as she's told me she's been having symptoms during P.E. Her asthma is generally mild, but it affects her ability to give her full 100% during physical activities. Her typical outward symptom when she gets active is coughing, although the less apparent symptoms are dizziness and foggy thinking. She's supposed to be receiving a dose of xoponex (similar to albuterol) before P.E. to prevent her symptoms, but this generally hasn't been happening. Apparently the dr only writing "as needed" on her medication form and then my request on all the additional health forms I filled out that she receive it before P.E. wasn't enough for her to be getting it then. Earlier in the week her doctor faxed a note clarifying that she needs it before P.E., which the nurse confirmed with me was all that was needed for H[...] to be given it regularly before P.E. However, H[...] said that she still wasn't given her medication today. Hopefully she'll start receiving it regularly next week.

I know you have lots of kids to keep track of, but if you could keep an eye out for her, maybe ask her how she's doing during/after vigorous activity every now and then, I would really appreciate it. I've talked to her about her need to raise her hand and let you know if she starts having symptoms, but she is still young and may not do so. If she does start having symptoms, she needs to sit and rest and have her xoponex so that she's symptom free before continuing activity.

Thank you so much for your help,

R[...] S[...]

There were a lot of other things I could have written in both emails, but I am very proud of myself for showing a great deal of control. To be honest, I think I've already "lost it" a couple of times this week. But as far as these emails are concerned, A+ for responsibility on my end!

Fall's Fun Pictures (Sept-Oct)

H was a little MUCH too tired to go to church Sunday, so while waiting for Daddy to come home, I let the kids get some fresh air while I tried to get some cute fall pictures.  I know it sounds crazy to say my 5-yr-old was too tired to go to church, but when you need 12hrs of sleep a night and only get 10, bad things happen.  Mama was feeling the same way, however, and appreciated the excuse to take a long nap.

Too bad my camera's not focusing when I zoom in.

baby blue eyes

These next two are from today.  I finally got to Target to exchange the fun Halloween shirts my thoughtful mom-in-law sent the kids.  I lucked out--there was just one of each in the next size up. :)  Happy day!  Lil'S liked the dog on his shirt.  I usually don't talk about what's on his clothes but did this time, and he smiled and pointed at it a few times and gabbed a bit.  Yup, that would be approval.  Thanks, Grandma!  Oh, and in the picture above, Lil'S is pointing down to tell me the handle of the wagon keeps falling down.

 H came home with round gold paper listing her name, grade, and teacher.  There was a post-it note attached saying she was a top reader for the Read-a-thon fundraiser held at school at the end of September.  I don't know if she was a top reader for her class or for her grade, but I guess I'll find out eventually. . . .

Man of the House

 A package from Grandma!

I got croup.

H and her cousin J

Lil'S found a puddle while H and I were playing ball with a neighbor.  I finally ran to grab the camera when he was lying on his tummy in it, splashing with his hands and kicking his little feet with the biggest grin on his little face.  Too bad I missed that photo opp.

H had to get into the fray once she saw a camera was involved. ;)

General Conference of the 

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Sunday Session

2 Oct 2011

Here's a bunch of pictures of our crazy crew by the end of Conference.

love the marker all over him

Lil'S's artwork (the black, I mean) 

very original piece by H . . . I think she said it's a girl on a boat in the rain (round blue circles). 

Couldn't decide which one of these I want to post, and I can't remember which one S preferred, so you get to see both of them.  ;)

I'm a Mormon! 

 I'm a cute little copy cat!

 As a child, I always wanted to grow watermelon in our family garden, so I was very eager to try planting it on our oversized, too-hot-to-grow-anything patio out front that was in desperate need of SOMETHING to make it look less bare.  We planted a few patio watermelon seeds in the two pots by our front door, and they grew four watermelon that we were so excited to watch grow bigger.  Well, they didn't grow bigger!  But life also happened after a while, resulting in our complete neglect of them.  Finally, the poor plants withered and died in the hot August sun, and the two surviving little watermelons sat . . . and sat . . . and sat there on our front patio, reminding me of their abuse every time I happened to chance by them. (We use the side door for our regular comings and goings.) 

Sometime in early September they were spotted by Miss H: "Our WATERMELONS!  We need to eat them!" and I Eore-ishly did the duty of a good mother and picked a watermelon from its shriveled vine and carried it inside, hoping she'd forget about it so that she wouldn't be disappointed when it was green or rotten inside.  A whole week later (things tend to get lost on my counter tops, but I guess there was a little procrastination in there as well), she discovered the little watermelon again and insisted we have it for dessert as we'd discussed during previous months--if it was any good, I again forewarned her, dreading the moment she'd find it was all moldy from sitting on the counter for eternity.   

Imagine my surprise when Daddy cut into the little melon and--

It was yummy!  

A little over-ripe, sure, but still yummy!

One happy H and one very relieved and thrilled mama behind the camera.  It was cute to watch the kids drink the juice from the rinds of those tennis-ball-sized melons.  We all really had a blast.  I'm looking forward to planting something again next year that--at least if I water it every now and then the first month or two--will actually bear some sort of fruit, despite my inattentiveness.

I found this "present" outside my door one day. :) 

I'm grateful I was feeling well that day so that I could kindly thank her for it and then later on talk to her calmly about the marker on the baby blanket!  I think it's still sitting on my dresser, waiting for me to attempt to get the marker out.  Such is my life!

Lil'S is 18 months!!!

(Actually, he's technically 19 months in a few days, but that's the life of a blogging, pregn mama with inconsistent internet service!)

Smiling for the camera is not a concept he's learned yet.

(Of course the camera lens was dirty when I attempted to take pictures. . . . You'd think I'd have done that enough times that I'd check it before the photoshoot!)

 Mom, why are you playing peek-a-boo with the camera in your hand?

To get you to smile for a picture, my child.

No, you're not going.

All About Lil'S

Little Mr. S has been on an independent streak the past month or two. Here are all the things S and I can think of that he likes to do on his own.  Not letting him do these things--or not knowing in advance that he wants to do these things--usually results in a shriek of frustration and a very cute angry face.

- unload utensils from the dishwasher--actually into the drawer!

- get his plate from the dishwasher and put it on the table

- turn on the bathtub faucet

- put on his shoes and socks (Or at least randomly shriek at me and try to grab the sock/shoe from my hand and bang it against his foot.  Gratefully this outburst is usually short-lived as this is obviously an area where he's needing much more development before he'll be able to actually put the shoe/sock on himself.)

- drink from a cup that doesn't have a sippy lid

- get his own bread out of the bread bag

- put his milk cup back in the fridge

- open and close the microwave door (S says he stood there letting him do that over and over for like five minutes.)
- steal fruit from the fruit plate and giggle as Mom chases him down

- climb up into one of the kid chairs to color at the kid table

- climb into his kid-sized car!  (PHEW!  new this past week or so)

- use the baby potty (No! Really! He's potty training himself! Not that I seriously think he'll go diaperless before this next baby comes, but if I were a dedicated, consistent mama, there would be high chances of that!) 

- use the baby potty standing up  

Yes, this morning my 18-month-old placed his potty where he wanted it, stood back, and let it go.  ACK!!!!!  After grabbing the potty and trying to catch what was coming, my initial thought was, "I really thought he had better control than that!"  But then realization dawned on me.  This afternoon I asked S, "Has [Lil'S] seen you use the bathroom standing up?"  S gave me this am-I-in-trouble-for-something? look and slowly replied, "Yes."  After I told him what happened, S defended himself, "You told me you wanted me to teach our boys how to do it" I just laughed, "Yes! But when they're like three!!!  Not 18 months!!!"

I still can't believe that happened, but then again, with how imitative Lil'S has been lately, I really can!

Other things Lil'S likes to do

- anything that has to do with water (Drinking it, playing in it, washing his hands, splashing in puddles, etc. Ah, that's probably where the potty training has come in. Not only do we wash out the baby potty, but he also gets to wash his hands afterward.  Bonus!)

- play outside! (I know I said it already, but he's finally mastered climbing into the car by himself! I haven't seen if he can go forward yet, but at least he can scoot himself backward.)

- color! (He is a drawing fanatic. He loves to sit at the kitchen table across from H and draw while H does her homework. He will seriously sit there for a whole hour! Too bad he likes to eat crayons and bite the tips off markers and colored pencils. . . .)

- play with toy cars and trucks

- push things around (doll strollers, real strollers, plastic drawer sets, library book carts....)

- read (He probably reads books with us or by himself for about 20-60 minutes day!)

- go with Daddy in the mornings to see H off on the bus

bye, Daddy

- watch Daddy leave for work on his scooter in the mornings

- sit on Mommy's lap and watch the cars go by while waiting to get H from the bus. (Well, actually, the past couple weeks he's been wanting to go onto the highway to see the cars up close; I might have to start strapping him in the stroller again to get sister from her bus. . . .)

- shriek at Mitzie to see her jet away (His shrieking phase would have been short-lived had she known not to react to him!)

- be Mr. Social (I had some friends come over Monday afternoon, and he immediately led them into the house and showed their 3-yr-old boy his toy truck. Another time, he sat at lunch with a 3-yr-old girl, chatting away like a perfect gentleman taking a woman out to dinner for the first time. As nap time approached, he started getting a little looser, and by the time the meal was over, he was as loopy-doopy as any man who drinks a little too much on a first date with a pretty woman.  Hilarious!)

- walk around the house with the hula hoop (Been a fav since the moment he learned to walk.)

- let us know when we forget to remove the oven knobs that are within his reach (Hey, Mom, I can reach this!)

- smile at Mom/Dad sweetly while she/he tucks him into his crib on good nights (I. LOVE. THIS. I can't even express how much I love this!)

Things he wants to do that we won't let him do.

- play outside at 7 in the morning (Mom's COLD!)

- walk around the house eating (But Mom and Dad do it!)

- open and close the oven door (new and gratefully short-lived)

- sit in a chair without his booster (He's been one happy man ever since Saturday when I washed his booster and didn't get it strapped back onto his chair.)

- get what he wants to eat out of the fridge

- stand on the kid table (new the past few days)

- climb onto the kitchen table (Also new. . . . Can you tell he's not much of a climber? Some kids'll be on top of the fridge by 18 months.)

First Words

Lil'S has mostly been doing monosyllables, but every now and then the past couple weeks he'll do the typical "na-na, ba-ba-ba" thing.  So, he's a bit behind.  We'll wait until he's two to get him evaluated.  (Ha, when I'm busy with a newborn? Maybe we should just make an appointment now for when he's two just so it's on the calendar!)

- Ma (Mommy)

- Da (Daddy, truck, down)
- mao (As in "meow", not the Chinese dictator. That's the way I taught him to say "meow" when I noticed he was only using one syllable at a time. He used to go over to Mitzie and sweetly chat with her while petting her. "Mao . . . mao . . . mao. . . ." Too cute.  They had a great relationship until he decided to experiment with shrieking.)

- ba (ball, although he only said that for a week or so, if that)
- na-na (Hannah, banana; usually only once every month or so, although I think a couple times the past few days. . . .)

newest word:

yeah! (very hoarse and very exuberant)

newest mode of communication:

A growly yell whenever he doesn't get what he wants. (Thanks to the Baby Sign video Daddy brought home for Lil'S during his breathing treatments, we had at least two days were he decided signing was a better way to get want he wanted. If only that had lasted. . . .)

newest sound:

Some funny "la-ol-lu" thing he's done with his tongue every now and then the past couple days.

First Signs

me!

ones he made up: 

(I love these.)

- tickle

- me! / for me! (I've only seen him do this three times, but I still lucked out and got a picture of him doing it when I didn't expect him to!) 

more!
(Sometimes I wonder about his eyes, too.
Well, we'll find out at H's appt in Jan/Feb.
Her dr. offered to check him out then too
 since it's genetic.  She's awesome.)

ones we taught him: 

(not as much fun, but necessary)

- milk

- eat

- please

- help

- bath (much more exciting here...water's involved!)

ones we're still teaching him

- drink

- water (At first I was surprised he didn't pick this one up immediately, but it is a more complicated sign, and he's always been at the latter end of the normal development range for his motor skills. For example, he just started pointing at things this past month or two and at things in books this past week. . . .  That's a little behind isn't it?  At least I was thinking it was. . . .)

- sit (Although this one is pretty pointless. I've really just been using it lately to add emphasis when telling him to sit, not that it necessarily helped much. ;) When would we want him to use the sign, telling us to sit?  Maybe if he wants us to read him a book?)

And, now in case you haven't heard or seen enough of Lil'S, here's a video of his cuteness.

Elana's Pantry

The other day S emailed me a post about a low-starch Strawberry Shortcake recipe. It was from the blog Elana's Pantry, a gluten-free foodie blog written by a mom of two boys. I don't know how S came across it, but I was proud of him for looking to gluten-free resources for ideas on his low-starch diet. I've found them to have some great ideas every now and then. While perusing Elana's site, I was suprised with 1) how she used highly nutrient-dense foods (the way I generally shop is by judging how much nutrition I'm getting for my money), 2) how very simple the recipes are (that's the only way I cook), 3) how her kids loved what she cooked (if kids are intro'd to healthy foods simply by making it available in a pressure-free environment, they'll eat it and sometimes love it more than we do!) and 4) how in love everyone was with everything she did (WOW, YOU MEAN SIMPLE AND HEALTHY CAN BE POPULAR???).

Part of me was just dying with the thought that, you mean, I could totally be doing my own blog about these things I've learned to do so simply (cuz they wouldn't happen otherwise in my life!), and everyone would just love it!? No way!!! The other part of me was simply in love with her for having learned what she has and for sharing it with others, despite the fact it's SO OVERLY EASY. It's true she does use some fancy oils (walnut, grapeseed) and salts, but those are no problem to replace with our typical olive or canola oils. Maybe they won't be quite as tasty, but hey, she's very obviously on a different food budget than we are!

Anyway, here are some of the ideas I gleaned from Elana's Pantry. Thanks, Elana for the ideas, new and old. I'm looking forward to more of them.

How to Store and Prepare Kale This is for those of you new to kale and greens in general. . . . Greens are not something I grew up eating. S just picked them up a year or so ago for us to try out. He's come up with a couple ways of cooking them that we like, but it's time to do something else so we don't just get sick of it. He can't have cabbage anymore, so kale and whatever other greens we decide to try out now have to be the replacement for meals the whole family can enjoy.

Simple Braised Greens

Sauteed Kale

Kale with Cranberries

Lemon Kale Chips

Oven Roasted Broccoli

Chestnuts with Brussel Sprouts

Squash Fries Squash, winter squashes at least, are now officially off S's list as well--who'd a thought cabbage and winter squash had moderate amounts of starch???--but the kids and I can eat them when H gets home from school.

Acorn Squash with Cranberry Apple Stuffing

Dairy-free, Egg-free Ranch Dressing I'm guessing the vegenaisse will be more expensive than the Tofutti sour cream replacement S and I have been using to make my mom's delicious dill dip all summer. However, it would be egg-free, allowing me to actually share this with Lil'S when it's just him and me eating at lunch time. If I have to hide and sneak my food around the kids, I'm much less likely to eat it, and what's the point of that?

S just arrived home from Kroger with both kids in tow. He only left an hour ago. How does he do that???

;)

Better go--Happy Eats!