D and I are going to try to do 30 days eating 80% raw foods, and 100% vegan. We are 4 days into it and it's hard, but I'm feeling good. We've been eating lots of fruit smoothies, green smoothies, salads, and wraps. My mom gave us a platter that has a bunch of different sections. We've been filling that up with fruit, veges, nuts and seeds to snack on throughout the day. The only cooked food we've had at home is fallafel and beans. We cheated a little with Baja Fresh the other day, but it was vegan and our only cooked thing for the day. We also had pizza today on accident. How does one have pizza by accident? We took E to Papa's Pizza because they have an indoor playground, and we couldn't resist the smell. So, we got a salad bar and pizza buffet. I managed to stick to 80% raw- I filled up on salad before I let myself have one peice of pizza. D didn't do so well, but he did eat about 50% salad. And he didn't get any soda!
Even if we don't manage the whole 80% for the whole 30 days, just eating vegan and no processed foods is a huge change for D. I'm really proud of him!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Goodwill
We went to Goodwill today and I found a bunch of good stuff, including the board game Sorry! E and I have been having fun with that tonight. I bought her a few books too. I also got a nice stainless steel pan, some wooden spatulas and spoons, a helmet for E, a purse, and a few baskets.
There was one not so nice find though. They had 3 copies of Babywise by Gary Ezzo. I told the manager that the advice in his book has been linked to failure to thrive babies, but she wasn't convinced enough to take them off the shelf. I couldn't afford to buy all of them, but I got one. I should have bought the other two, but at least that one is in the trash where it belongs and not in some unsuspecting mother's hands.
There was one not so nice find though. They had 3 copies of Babywise by Gary Ezzo. I told the manager that the advice in his book has been linked to failure to thrive babies, but she wasn't convinced enough to take them off the shelf. I couldn't afford to buy all of them, but I got one. I should have bought the other two, but at least that one is in the trash where it belongs and not in some unsuspecting mother's hands.
Doing and Learning
Some new things E has been doing and learning:
She's drawing circles and recognizable pictures. Until a month or two ago, it was all scribbles. All of a sudden, the scribbles have turned into actual pictures of whales, dogs, horses, family memebers, houses, trees and other things. I still need her to tell me what they are, but once she does, I can see where she tried to put a nose here or a tree branch there. For a long time she would say she was drawing circles, but they were really lumpy and mishaped. I never said anything though, and never corrected her. Now she can draw really symetrical circles. She asked me to draw some squares and copied them, too. She's also doing up and down lines, kind of like an M over and over, and saying she's writing. She does it from left to right from the top to the bottom of the page- something I've never pointed out to her, but she's seen me do it that way when I write, of course.
She's also noticing that there are letters all around us and wanting to know what they say. She points out big ones especially, like the M on McDonald's and other letters on store front signs. She noticed the sign at our park that says "City of Tigard" and wanted me to tell her all the letters. She's also recognizing some letters and asking me to tell her the ones she doesn't know.
A few days ago, she asked me to write SIGMA, which is the name of her aunt's dog who we saw last week. She asked me to write it over and over- probably about 30 times- and say the letters as I wrote.
She always wants to count any stairs that we go up or down. She likes to count her steps too. There is a retainer wall on one side of our apartment building's parking lot. It's made out of concrete stones, about a foot long. I hold her hand while she walks on top of the wall. We've been doing that every time we go to that parking lot since we moved here. One day a few weeks ago, she wanted me to count the stones while she walked. There are 101 of them, and she had me walk back and forth with her and count them at least 10 times.
She's drawing circles and recognizable pictures. Until a month or two ago, it was all scribbles. All of a sudden, the scribbles have turned into actual pictures of whales, dogs, horses, family memebers, houses, trees and other things. I still need her to tell me what they are, but once she does, I can see where she tried to put a nose here or a tree branch there. For a long time she would say she was drawing circles, but they were really lumpy and mishaped. I never said anything though, and never corrected her. Now she can draw really symetrical circles. She asked me to draw some squares and copied them, too. She's also doing up and down lines, kind of like an M over and over, and saying she's writing. She does it from left to right from the top to the bottom of the page- something I've never pointed out to her, but she's seen me do it that way when I write, of course.
She's also noticing that there are letters all around us and wanting to know what they say. She points out big ones especially, like the M on McDonald's and other letters on store front signs. She noticed the sign at our park that says "City of Tigard" and wanted me to tell her all the letters. She's also recognizing some letters and asking me to tell her the ones she doesn't know.
A few days ago, she asked me to write SIGMA, which is the name of her aunt's dog who we saw last week. She asked me to write it over and over- probably about 30 times- and say the letters as I wrote.
She always wants to count any stairs that we go up or down. She likes to count her steps too. There is a retainer wall on one side of our apartment building's parking lot. It's made out of concrete stones, about a foot long. I hold her hand while she walks on top of the wall. We've been doing that every time we go to that parking lot since we moved here. One day a few weeks ago, she wanted me to count the stones while she walked. There are 101 of them, and she had me walk back and forth with her and count them at least 10 times.
March Visit Pictures
I hardly got any good pictures during my visit to my mom's house, but here's a few.
E and one of her cousins.
My mom and my sister and I with our babies.
My sister holding L and her youngest baby.
E and one of her cousins.
My mom and my sister and I with our babies.
My sister holding L and her youngest baby.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Solids
Doing baby led solids is SO MUCH easier than the way I fed E with cereal and baby food. I don't have to think about what to pack when we go out or remember to bring spoons or bother with pureeing foods. I've been feeding her whatever I'm eating that's healthy. Even if it's not soft enough, I just chew it up for her.
So far she's had:
Avacado
Banana
Apple
Carrot
Tomato
Falafel
Beans
Red pepper
Olives
Mushrooms
Green smoothie (spinach, berries)
Orange
Oatmeal
Pancake
Potato
Cucumber
Peas
Green beans
Plum
So far she's had:
Avacado
Banana
Apple
Carrot
Tomato
Falafel
Beans
Red pepper
Olives
Mushrooms
Green smoothie (spinach, berries)
Orange
Oatmeal
Pancake
Potato
Cucumber
Peas
Green beans
Plum
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Food, Tv, and Videogames
I'm visiting my family in another state right now, and I'll have a bunch of pictures and things to share when I get home. I just had to come post a little news though.
It's been really interesting watching E and the choices she makes. We bought her a gameboy right before we drove here to help pass the time on the long drive. It's a brand new toy and she really likes it. When we got here, she left it in the car and didn't ask for it. D wanted to play it though, so he brought it inside and her cousins ended up finding it and playing with it. She has been really generous with it. She let them play with it for a long time and then wanted it back. While she was playing with it, her cousin asked me to tell E that it was time to share and give her a turn. I told her cousin that it is E's game and that she can choose if she wants to share it. I reminded her cousin that when E had one of her toys that she wanted back, I had E give it back to her because that was hers to choose to share. Then I told E that it was her choice to if she wanted to share, and that her cousin would appreciate a turn. She nodded and kept playing. A few minutes later, she was done with the game, gave it to her cousin, and the 3 of her cousins took turns with it the rest of the evening. It's nice to see her developing true generosity and sharing that is coming from the heart without force and with no guilt attached.
It's also been interesting to watch her food and tv choices away from home. We went to the library and she picked out a few movies and also rented one at the video store. She knows that we will put one on for her any time, either the ones we rented or ones that my mom owns. She has only watched a few over the last few days, some at her request and some at her cousins request. During all but one, she got up in the middle of the movie to go play. She also knows that she can get on the computer any time she wants- she played starfall for a few minutes yesterday. Oh, and there's 5 channels of tv which she hasn't even mentioned.
We got icecream the night before last. She had a few bites of mine and then ran off to play again. Then she shared a small bowl with her cousins and left to play again. I was wondering how I would manage it if she asked for some during the day yesterday when I knew her cousins wouldn't be allowed to have any. I was thinking that I'd have to find some way to let her have some, while still respecting my sister's choice to limit her kids and not have E eating in front of them. She never asked though. Then we all had some again tonight. She ate her bowl very slowly, while alternately playing and snacking on the sunflower seeds on the table. About a half an hour later, she asked for more, but it was all gone. I told her that and she said ok, I'll eat some apple. She also knows that we have chocolate covered bananas, and hasn't asked for those either.
She had gum for the first time today. A year ago I would have had a heart attack over the ingredients and said NO, and there would have been a big fuss and lots of tears. She would have had to watch her cousins have it while she didn't and my sister would have felt bad, or I would have gone way out of my way to hide it from her so she didn't know about it. I still don't like the ingredients, but it felt so much better to just joyfully say YES. Her 2 year old cousin was asking for gum all day, so we all took a walk to the store together to get him and all the kids some. We had a beautiful walk in the sunshine, got the gum, and returned with smiling kids. She had a new experience, and when it was gone that was ok. I'm sure she'll ask for some again, but I'm not going to wait until she does. When we get home, I'm going to go to the healthfood store and see if I can find some with better ingredients. I've been hearing about xylitol in gum and that it's good for teeth, so I'm going to read up on that. I love how saying yes opens up those doors to learning something new.
It's been really interesting watching E and the choices she makes. We bought her a gameboy right before we drove here to help pass the time on the long drive. It's a brand new toy and she really likes it. When we got here, she left it in the car and didn't ask for it. D wanted to play it though, so he brought it inside and her cousins ended up finding it and playing with it. She has been really generous with it. She let them play with it for a long time and then wanted it back. While she was playing with it, her cousin asked me to tell E that it was time to share and give her a turn. I told her cousin that it is E's game and that she can choose if she wants to share it. I reminded her cousin that when E had one of her toys that she wanted back, I had E give it back to her because that was hers to choose to share. Then I told E that it was her choice to if she wanted to share, and that her cousin would appreciate a turn. She nodded and kept playing. A few minutes later, she was done with the game, gave it to her cousin, and the 3 of her cousins took turns with it the rest of the evening. It's nice to see her developing true generosity and sharing that is coming from the heart without force and with no guilt attached.
It's also been interesting to watch her food and tv choices away from home. We went to the library and she picked out a few movies and also rented one at the video store. She knows that we will put one on for her any time, either the ones we rented or ones that my mom owns. She has only watched a few over the last few days, some at her request and some at her cousins request. During all but one, she got up in the middle of the movie to go play. She also knows that she can get on the computer any time she wants- she played starfall for a few minutes yesterday. Oh, and there's 5 channels of tv which she hasn't even mentioned.
We got icecream the night before last. She had a few bites of mine and then ran off to play again. Then she shared a small bowl with her cousins and left to play again. I was wondering how I would manage it if she asked for some during the day yesterday when I knew her cousins wouldn't be allowed to have any. I was thinking that I'd have to find some way to let her have some, while still respecting my sister's choice to limit her kids and not have E eating in front of them. She never asked though. Then we all had some again tonight. She ate her bowl very slowly, while alternately playing and snacking on the sunflower seeds on the table. About a half an hour later, she asked for more, but it was all gone. I told her that and she said ok, I'll eat some apple. She also knows that we have chocolate covered bananas, and hasn't asked for those either.
She had gum for the first time today. A year ago I would have had a heart attack over the ingredients and said NO, and there would have been a big fuss and lots of tears. She would have had to watch her cousins have it while she didn't and my sister would have felt bad, or I would have gone way out of my way to hide it from her so she didn't know about it. I still don't like the ingredients, but it felt so much better to just joyfully say YES. Her 2 year old cousin was asking for gum all day, so we all took a walk to the store together to get him and all the kids some. We had a beautiful walk in the sunshine, got the gum, and returned with smiling kids. She had a new experience, and when it was gone that was ok. I'm sure she'll ask for some again, but I'm not going to wait until she does. When we get home, I'm going to go to the healthfood store and see if I can find some with better ingredients. I've been hearing about xylitol in gum and that it's good for teeth, so I'm going to read up on that. I love how saying yes opens up those doors to learning something new.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Nursing
We've been trying to get a tandem nursing picture, but every time we try L wants to look at the camera. D will have to be sneakier next time!
Baby Pictures
E took these pictures of L. She's getting pretty good at finding what she wants in the screen before she clicks.
And my camera is working again! The screen went all fuzzy like it had been dropped or something. Then D turned it on the next day and it was fine. Weird. I still want a new one though.
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