Crab Ride

I just had to add this photo from our Orlando trip. This was at Sea World riding some fun rides with Pippa. I could believe she was allowed on this one but she loved it! You might have to look close to find her. She's sitting between Sto and I....

Kids At Play

Ah, the sweet smell of vacation. I know with a set up like that you must be expecting me to jump into some crazy story involving chaos and bad smells. But, I'm here to proudly report that our recent vacation to Florida was incident free! It may be true that my definition of 'incident' has become more lax over the last couple of years. But in any case, we all had a great trip and no one got hurt, sick, or lost. Though, Pippa sure tried to get lost a few times. Sto had a minor heart attack one night when she could not be found in her bed. After an exhaustive 10 second-that-felt-like-eternity search she was discovered to be fast asleep on the shelf of the night stand! And during waking hours she seemed to be easily distracted and liked to wander off to explore. While I applaud your natural curiosity, Pippa, let's not do that in the middle of Disney World. Thanks. Of course, it would have been easier to keep track of her if she would have agreed to sit in our really cool new double stroller. Or stand. Or just ride in any one of the multiple positions made possible by it and thereby being the main reason we bought it. (Our 6th stroller, I might add. No lie. I could outfit the Duggers.)

This vacation we brought my mother in-law. We thought she would enjoy spending time with the grand kids and, of course, we could then take advantage of the babysitter and have a little fun of our own after the kids went to bed. It was a good move. She was a welcome addition to the trip and next time we would like to bring my mother to spread the wealth of fun around a bit. One such night, Sto and I got all gussied up and went out to a fancy shmancy dinner at a place call Norman's. It's a 4 star restaurant owned by a famous chef (Norman, I assume). We knew the night was going to be good when we started ordering our appetizers and our 'first plate' at the same time and the waiter said, why don't we just start with the first course and take it from there. No rush. Ahhh. What a pleasant change of pace. And the food was amazing, the grounds beautiful, and the company even better.

Our days were spent playing as a family. We ended up settling into a pattern: Hang around the resort and play until after Lincoln's morning nap and then head out to one of the parks, followed by 'naps' and then the pool. We did Sea World twice, Animal Kingdom on day, and Epcot one day. Sea World was great for Pippa. Totally on her level. She loved the dolphin show and still likes to talk about how they jumped out of the water. Lincoln, on the other hand, liked nothing about it. The very first animal to jump suddenly out of the water scared him half to death and I spent the rest of the show trying to calm him down in the back of the theater. Theme parks can be very scary for babies, apparently. He would also predictably ball every time the roller coaster went past. I just kept a steady supply of snacks on hand to keep him distracted. The poor boy ate so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that he is still refusing them 2 weeks later!




I think Animal Kingdom day was our favorite day, though. It's basically a glorified zoo but it was really awesome. We waited in line for the Safari 'ride' and it was so worth it. They load you onto a Jeep and you drive though the park with all sorts of animals just milling about. The giraffes were right next to us! Very fun. The last day we did Epcot with Fred, Myron, and Myron's sister and family. What fun that our trips overlapped!  But it turned out to be a scorchingly hot day and we took off a little early. No problem, though. It just left more time for the pool! Pippa could not get enough. There were 4 different pools to play in and most of them were zero entry so Pippa just loved it. Lincoln loved it too, as long as you didn't get too close to the big pirate ship shooting water at us. (Obviously, much weeping resulted if you did.) It took us a few trips to the pool to get the whole plan down, though. I don't know what it is about pools, but those kids where guaranteed to poop within 15 minutes of getting there. Every time! It's the worlds best laxative apparently! Thank god for swim diapers....which we doubled. But now we are well rehearsed for the community pool this summer. Can't wait!

9 Month Holla'

I can't believe Lincoln is 9 months old. Yes, 9. Nueve. Nine. He's come so far from his first few days. He is now 19.15 pounds. That puts him around the 25th percentile (though I find myself caring less and less about that stupid percentile chart. Funny how as a new mom I was obsessed with it, as were my friends. I've come to realize that comparing our children to other people's children is almost always a bad idea.) And he's 28 inches which also puts about the 40th percentile (there's that pesky percentile again!). So he's tall and skinny, though really, no one can really call those thighs skinny!

He is a very entertaining kid and very easily entertained, too. He just thinks everything is fun and love exploring and getting into things. He love to bang things together and laughs at the sound it makes. I showed him the light switch the other day and he out right laughed at it. How great is that?! In his eyes, everything is awesome! Fancy new toy? Awesome! Daddy's old sticky sock? Also awesome!

He's full on crawling now, too, which he's been doing for several weeks. Funny how I was worried for a while there that he might skip crawling and jump right to walking. (You know that whole connection between crawling and reading thing?) Silly me. I clearly had nothing to worry about. In about a week he went from his usual army crawl to a super fast hands and knees crawl. And he loves to be chased down the hallway. We play this game on a daily basis and it always has me and Pippa laughing just as hard as he is! He also pulls up to stand and is starting to cruise on the furniture. And he seems to be perfectly happy getting down again by just letting go and plopping down on his bottom. Thankfully the cloth diapers give him a little extra cushioning.

He loves games of all sorts. He like the usual one, of course. Peek-a-boo. Pat-a-cake. But he also thinks it's hysterical when you hold a toy in your mouth unexpectedly. He'll keep taking it out and putting it back in again. He also likes to put object in and out of a container. (That's advanced right? I know, he's a genius.) He like to mimic the sounds we make too. Screams in particular. And Sto and I agree that he definitely refers to him as Dada. He likes to dance to music and will beat the floor to like a drum.

Play play play. That pretty much sums him up. It's probably part of the reason he doesn't nap well....still. He's a lot like a puppy. He plays hard until he just falls to sleep. Then he wakes up after a short nap and want to play play some more. He's doesn't wake up well, though. Sort of takes after me in that way. He takes a while to wake up and spends the first few minutes confused and grumpy. It's actually pretty cute. But he sleeps through the night well, getting up around 5:30 and back to sleep again until 6:30 or 7. Or like today, 8. Not surprisingly I found a new tooth today. That makes 7!

Love my growing boy!

Learning As I Go

Spring has sprung! It is suddenly 70 degrees and sunny around here. Perfect weather in my mind. I could easily take 365 days just like the one we are having. Warm enough not to need shoes and get a little sun on your face, but still cool enough to wear skinny jeans and a simple top which is pretty much my uniform these days. And, I might mention, that Pippa has now entered the stage where she likes to dress herself. And clearly, her too-too is one of her favorite items. At least I managed to get her to wear something that sort of goes with it. Though, I have to admit she usually does a pretty good job picking out her entire outfit. Things don't often match, but at least she picks pants, a shirt, and a sweater. Another current favorite are her leg warmers. Very chic.

What better way to take advantage of the great weather than packing a picnic and heading to the park. We had a great time there and now that both of my busy kids are sleeping away in their beds, I can sit back and say I'm glad we went. Though, I've learned a few valuable lessons for next time. And here they are:

When taking two small, very active, children to the park alone for multiple hours...

1. Take a stroller. If for no other reason than to carry the diaper bag, picnic basket, water proof blanket, and coats. And, yes, I brought coats. Just in case. I've made the mistake before of thinking it was warmer than it actually was and having to withstand the condescending looks from other mother's who thought my children were about to die from exposure. Not that I care one iota, but like the boy scouts always say, be prepared. Another good reason to have a stroller handy, I realized, is because Lincoln does not do quite so good at eating roasted squash fries while crawling all over the blanket, and grass, and me, and his sister. Containing that ball of excitement would have been helpful.

2. Pee before you leave the house. Though, if I had a stroller, I suppose it wouldn't have been an issue.

3. Wear comfortable shoes, preferably something that will allow you to run across the massive field to catch Pippa, who does not want to leave, and then run back to where you dumped your baby and all the bags (all of which could have been safe and secure in a stroller!). This way you wont have to worry about breaking your ankle from wearing notoriously unstable clogs. (Though, they are offally cute.)


4. Put hand sanitizer in the picnic basket. This way when you remember half way through lunch that you didn't wash anyone's hands you can casually bring it out and act like it's the second time you've done it during the meal, thereby appeasing the mommy mafia who surely is watching and taking notes. (I know my husband is rolling his eyes and thinking it's all in my head, but I assure it's not. They really are watching.)

So, some valuable lessons learned and a great time had by all. And now, my friends, it's time for my nap!

Baby Led What?

Baby Led Weaning. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. It's a concept I stumbled across when I started making baby food for Pippa. It's a style of starting a baby on solids that basically skips the pureed stage of the game and jumps straight to table food. The thought is two fold: First, babies should learn to chew before they learn to swallow which isn't possible if you are shoving pureed food in their mouth for them. And, second, that when babies are allowed to control how much food they eat they are less apt to get in the habit of over eating. I found it all very interesting when Pippa was a baby and incorporated some of the concepts into her diet, like giving finger foods at a young age. I think it's good for development and we noticed that Pippa became very good with her fine motor skills early and is not a very picky eater now. But I didn't jump head first into it. I liked the idea of making baby food and everything everyone tells you has to do with purees and cereal, etc.

Well, true to Lincoln's personality, he had a different plan. He sure does like to do things his own way. I started solids in the form of purees at about 6 months and you'd think I was trying to kill him, what with the gagging and retching and all. He'd see the spoon coming and clamp his mouth shut tighter than Fort Knox. I figured he just wasn't ready yet and took a break for a couple of weeks. But it never got any better and we were both getting frustrated. Then I had the idea to just give him some of the steamed peas I was about to puree and see what happened. Wouldn't you know it, he ate every single one he managed to get his little hands on (which was quite a few, to my surprise)! He loved it! He wanted nothing to do with the spoon with the very same pureed peas on it, though. So, I ditched the mush and ordered the official Baby Led Weaning book. And there has been no looking back. I cannot believe how quickly he took to it and how much food he eats already! He eats 3 meals a day plus snacks and dropped one milk feeding. He basically eats when and what we do. I do have to make slight alterations to our food, obviously, to make it safe for him but it's a lot easier to do that than make baby food! Yes, it's messy. For sure. But that doesn't bother me.

Now we have real family meal times where everyone (i.e. me) gets to eat at the same time. Sto and I sit around the table and really feel the weight of our bounty. It's a wonderful thing when both your kids are happy and thriving....and covered in food.

One Crunchy Mama

It's funny how motherhood effects us. I'm thinking specifically of how it gets you thinking about our environment and what our kids get exposed to on a daily basis and how to make things safer, more natural, and less toxic. I've always been pretty green but when I had Pippa I took it to another level. We bought cloth diapers, I started making my own cleaning products from vinegar and essential oils, started eating even more organic and local, etc. I even recently tried to get all the members of my crew to take cod liver oil. It's supposed to be THE superfood! I even bought the peppermint flavored one with 'KIDS!' written on it. And Pippa even took a spoonful happily....the first time. And never again. It's seriously disgusting. No amount of peppermint or orange or strawberry flavoring is going to mask that fishiness!

And now, in case I wasn't crunchy enough, my latest obsession is raw milk. I've been doing a lot of reading about it's health benefits and found a good source for it locally so I decided to give it a try. It helps that our nanny has been drinking it for a while now and recommended it. And it's really good! Why raw milk, you ask? Well, to sum it up, it's just plain better for you. Pasteurizing milk destroys a lot of what is good about the milk in the first place. Not to mention, milk from big dairy farms comes from cows that are fed poor quality animal feed instead of grass, pumped full of hormones to force them to lactate at unnaturally high levels which ultimately gives them mastitis, so of course, then they need lots of antibiotics too. Gross. I take my milk the way nature intended to be, thank you very much.

We don't drink much milk in the first place. But let me tell you, it makes fantastic yogurt! And I've been straining my yogurt through a cheese cloth for a few hours to get it really nice and thick the way Greek yogurt is. De-freaking-lish. And I just got an ice cream maker and gave it a whirl with the raw milk. It wasn't the greatest because it doesn't have as much fat as the recipe calls for but still good. (Did you know that commercial ice cream has a sort of antifreeze in it? Why must they ruin everything with chemicals!!!)

So with all this homemade stuff, organic everything, recycled everything, cloth diapers, homemade cleaning products, glass instead of plastic, natural child birth, home birth, and breastfeeding, I think I've become what they call a crunchy mama. And while I don't think that outwardly I appear to be the natural nut that I am (I hope), I don't think you have to talk to me for very long to figure it out. I realize many people would consider me to be sort of crazy, but I accept that. I can laugh at myself. And the ability to laugh at yourself is what keeps you grounded.

To The Mattresses

I've been sort of MIA lately, if you haven't noticed. I fell off the face of the earth. Retreated into my cave. I went to the mattresses. I hunkered down for a war. Well, maybe not a war, but a few battles anyway. For the last several weeks my household has been struggling with sickness, teething, and severe lack of sleep. I don't have a problem admitting it was a little rough, and while we aren't completely out of the woods yet, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So now that I've well exceeded my allotted number cliche's for this post I'll try to sum up what's been going on. It all started this fall, really, when Lincoln started getting cold after cold. I expected him to get sick more often that Pippa did at that age, of course. I am realistic and definitely not a germaphobic parent. But when he got his 6th cold at 5 months old I'd had enough! But everyone was telling me not to worry about it. Just think, they'd say, he won't get sick when he starts kindergarten. You're just building his immunity, they'd say. And yes, there is truth to that but something just seemed out of balance to me. So I heard about a homeopathic pediatrician I decided to give it a go. Couldn't hurt, right? It was a long, two hour visit but I walked away from there feeling like someone had heard my concerns and I wasn't crazy! I walked out of the office with a battle plan and a diaper bag full of natural remedies.

And it looks like they are really working because I was basically sick for the entire month of January. Pippa and Sto got sick too, but Lincoln hasn't! I even had to take antibiotics for strep throat. What adult gets strep throat?! I was not pleased to expose Lincoln to amoxicillin and he did end up getting a hive-like diaper rash followed by a yeasty diaper one. Great. As if he wasn't grumpy enough simply from his gassy tummy and constant teething. Two weeks later I got severely sick again and was worried I was going to need yet another antibiotic? I basically started freaking out. I hadn't taken antibiotics in 10 years and suddenly I needed 2 in one month? I was so concerned for Lincoln that I was going to attempt to pump 7 days worth of milk in 24 hours and supplement him with formula if I had to. And, to top it off, none of my usual sitters were around to help out. I was sick as a dog, coughing with almost every breath (and really in need of a steroid but because of the breast feeding that was out too), and totally sleep deprived coughing all night and Lincoln still getting up at least twice a night. Lincoln also chose to stop napping during all of this. He would only fall asleep for 20 minutes twice a day if I was lucky. Clearly he needed to sleep more and if I didn't also have Pippa to take care of, I probably could have gotten him to fall back asleep in my arms...except that I would inevitably have a coughing fit and wake him up.

So what do you do when you are drowning? You call you mom, that's what you do. And she came. And it all got better. Of course, the next day I started feeling better and new I was over the worst of it and didn't end up needing any more antibiotics, thankfully. But it was still really good to have her and Levi there to help out. And I was able to nap!

So for the last couple of weeks we have all been relatively healthy. I have a cabinet full of natural immune boosters to help. And I break out the hand sanitizer so often that my new nanny made a nontoxic one for me. (Sweet!) (Well, vinegary actually. But still great!) Lincoln started napping a little better, too. Though now he's cutting his 6th tooth in the last 2 months so he's back to crappy cat naps for a while. I'm still far more tired than I think I should be but I'm dealing. Oh yeah, did I mention that I've been trying to study for my NP certification exam? That's been slower going than I'd like but it's at least a step in the right direction.

So now that I've gotten all that mess out of the way, I'll try to get back to posting more regularly and write about funny, cute stuff. Here is a cute picture to tide you over.