Perhaps epic is too strong of a word. It was a slightly larger than moderate fail.
The majority of the meals I made tasted terrible and ended up in the garbage. I'm usually not an idealist, but I must say, I am surprised I failed at this. I thought this was going to be an awesome idea, yet here I am feeling foolish. I did not save any money. I threw my money and my time into the trash, wasting it nearly completely. The food tasted bland. It needed salt. It all smelled great while I was cooking it, but perhaps the freezer zapped the flavour? Is that why commercial freezer meals are loaded with sodium? Everything needed salt!
A couple recipes did turn out though. Smoked Paprika Chicken Thighs was my favourite. It's a marinade you pour over raw chicken in a bag and freeze. When you want to thaw it out, the chicken sits in the marinade in the fridge, slowly thawing, and by the time it's ready to cook, it's perfectly marinated. Nothing else is worth mentioning.
So, my master plan of stocking my freezer with food to eat for when baby comes is a bust. I've had to come up with a new plan. There was a sale on Smart Ones at Superstore, an okay tasting TV dinner, so I bought about 2 dozen. I also got individual microwaveable soup and Chef Boyardee bowls. I've been finding great deals at Costco and stocking up the pantry with easy meals and snacks. A lot of it is organic, but let's be honest, it's still convenience food and it's not Primal.
It's not the best food, but it will do in a pinch. I know my limits and for my son's first month of being alive, I need to cut corners where I can so I can focus on the new baby and caring for myself. I don't know how much time I'll have. I don't know how much energy I'll have. But to have those convenience meals on hand that can be prepared in less than 5 minutes will definitely save my sanity if I feel myself start to spiral out of control. It's like a little safety net. One less thing for me to worry about.
As it stands now, I am still eating grains and gluten. I hope to be completely Primal again by the New Year. Tesla and Bob will need more time to be weaned, so it might be a slower transition for them and Christmas isn't going to do me any favours either. I just hope both sides of the family are more supportive this time around.
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Thursday, December 5, 2013
A Forced Fast
Tesla is 15 months old. She's growing in all ways and watching her develop and learn brightens my day. She's got this sparkle in her eye all the time. But there's one problem - she's been refusing to eat vegetables for a couple of months now. Even the vegetables she used to eat before. I'm trying not to create a power struggle, but I don't want this type of eating habit to carry on throughout her years.
Now, I've read more than my fair share of parenting articles, especially ones related to food, and yet I'm at a loss for what to do. You see, it's not as straight-forward as all the mommy-blogs make it out to be.
My job is the serve healthy, balanced meals. The child's job is to decide what and how much to eat, if at all. Forcing, coercing, bribing, cutting deals, rewarding, and punishing are all big no-nos. Young children never intentionally starve themselves and they will eat when they are truly hungry.
Well, that's all great in theory, but in practice, I'm having a very hard time with that. You see, I did a little experiment just to gauge how far I could push things with Tesla. In the morning she had breakfast and ate until full. At 9 am, I serve a snack to the daycare kids and if Tesla is hungry, she gets a snack too. So, she had a snack at 9 am.
At 11 am I serve lunch. This is when my experiment began. I put 2 slices of cucumber, 2 cherry tomatoes, and 2 slices of red pepper on her plate. She freaked out. I knew she would, but these are foods she used to eat, so I wanted to see how long it would take for her to try them again. I excused her from the table because she was angry about her lunch options and 10-15 minutes later I put her back in the high chair and offered her plate again. She cried about it, but then she picked up a slice of red pepper, took a bite, chewed, and spit it out. She was done with lunch after that, so down she went.
She threw a fit, begged for different food, begged for milk, but all I would offer her was water or her veggies. She eventually went and played, but she was cranky and not much fun. She even took a nap for a bit, but it wasn't as long as she normally naps. She was probably too hungry to sleep.
At 3 pm I served the afternoon snack. I grabbed her plate of veggies from the fridge and offered them to her. She cried, but it was different sounding. Like she was defeated. She ate 1 cherry tomato and that was it. She sat there for 10 more minutes, pouting, while I hoped she would try another bite, but she didn't. She was miserable.
Except for that one cherry tomato, she hadn't eaten in 6 hours! I felt like that was too long to make her go without eating, and she did try the cherry tomato, so I gave her half a cup of fresh pineapple, which she devoured greedily. She wanted more food, something, anything but the vegetables, but I refused and made her wait until supper at 6 pm where she got a new, different meal. She was so hungry!
I felt evil. I can't imagine doing that to her every day. Won't she be malnourished? How is she supposed to grow and develop if she's skipping all her meals? A lot of kids refuse foods because they have small appetites. Not Tesla! She's always had a big appetite and during my experiment she was clearly hungry and asking for food, but by limiting her options so severely, isn't that just another way of trying to force her to eat it? (Something you're supposedly not supposed to do.) Making her choose between this or nothing isn't exactly giving her a choice. On the flip side, I run the risk of raising a super picky eater by catering to her all the time.
So, then what's a mom to do? Where do you draw the line? If she's hungry, she's unhappy, she can't sleep well, and she's miserable to be around, throwing fits like crazy. Does she even understand why I'm not feeding her? Probably not. This popular tactic doesn't work on children who can't comprehend what's happening.
And I ain't some softie parent either, oh no! I'm the tough one. I laugh in the face of tantrums. But seeing her face, so angry and confused when I wouldn't feed her, broke my heart and it just didn't feel right. She's too young to implement this sort of food rule. Even if she ate just enough to survive, (remember, they won't starve themselves to death) it's not enough for optimal growth and development. I will try again when she turns 2. She eats meat, she eats fruit, and she eats dairy. That's good enough for me for now. There are kids who eat less.
Now, I've read more than my fair share of parenting articles, especially ones related to food, and yet I'm at a loss for what to do. You see, it's not as straight-forward as all the mommy-blogs make it out to be.
My job is the serve healthy, balanced meals. The child's job is to decide what and how much to eat, if at all. Forcing, coercing, bribing, cutting deals, rewarding, and punishing are all big no-nos. Young children never intentionally starve themselves and they will eat when they are truly hungry.
Well, that's all great in theory, but in practice, I'm having a very hard time with that. You see, I did a little experiment just to gauge how far I could push things with Tesla. In the morning she had breakfast and ate until full. At 9 am, I serve a snack to the daycare kids and if Tesla is hungry, she gets a snack too. So, she had a snack at 9 am.
At 11 am I serve lunch. This is when my experiment began. I put 2 slices of cucumber, 2 cherry tomatoes, and 2 slices of red pepper on her plate. She freaked out. I knew she would, but these are foods she used to eat, so I wanted to see how long it would take for her to try them again. I excused her from the table because she was angry about her lunch options and 10-15 minutes later I put her back in the high chair and offered her plate again. She cried about it, but then she picked up a slice of red pepper, took a bite, chewed, and spit it out. She was done with lunch after that, so down she went.
She threw a fit, begged for different food, begged for milk, but all I would offer her was water or her veggies. She eventually went and played, but she was cranky and not much fun. She even took a nap for a bit, but it wasn't as long as she normally naps. She was probably too hungry to sleep.
At 3 pm I served the afternoon snack. I grabbed her plate of veggies from the fridge and offered them to her. She cried, but it was different sounding. Like she was defeated. She ate 1 cherry tomato and that was it. She sat there for 10 more minutes, pouting, while I hoped she would try another bite, but she didn't. She was miserable.
Except for that one cherry tomato, she hadn't eaten in 6 hours! I felt like that was too long to make her go without eating, and she did try the cherry tomato, so I gave her half a cup of fresh pineapple, which she devoured greedily. She wanted more food, something, anything but the vegetables, but I refused and made her wait until supper at 6 pm where she got a new, different meal. She was so hungry!
I felt evil. I can't imagine doing that to her every day. Won't she be malnourished? How is she supposed to grow and develop if she's skipping all her meals? A lot of kids refuse foods because they have small appetites. Not Tesla! She's always had a big appetite and during my experiment she was clearly hungry and asking for food, but by limiting her options so severely, isn't that just another way of trying to force her to eat it? (Something you're supposedly not supposed to do.) Making her choose between this or nothing isn't exactly giving her a choice. On the flip side, I run the risk of raising a super picky eater by catering to her all the time.
So, then what's a mom to do? Where do you draw the line? If she's hungry, she's unhappy, she can't sleep well, and she's miserable to be around, throwing fits like crazy. Does she even understand why I'm not feeding her? Probably not. This popular tactic doesn't work on children who can't comprehend what's happening.
And I ain't some softie parent either, oh no! I'm the tough one. I laugh in the face of tantrums. But seeing her face, so angry and confused when I wouldn't feed her, broke my heart and it just didn't feel right. She's too young to implement this sort of food rule. Even if she ate just enough to survive, (remember, they won't starve themselves to death) it's not enough for optimal growth and development. I will try again when she turns 2. She eats meat, she eats fruit, and she eats dairy. That's good enough for me for now. There are kids who eat less.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Milk vs Juice
I drink water. A cool glassful on it's own, or often I'll add a frozen lemon wedge or a squirt of lemon juice. It's so refreshing! It's the perfect drink to rehydrate or accompany any meal. I rarely drink anything else. (Except my guilty pleasure of chocolate milk.) So, naturally I want Tesla to drink water too. And she does! But I think that she needs some liquid calories too.
My pediatrician recommended she drink no more than 16 oz of milk a day, (or 2 cups if you understand metric better.) He made no mention of what she should drink at other times and we never talked about juice.
I was doing some research online and from multiple sites I read that children should drink unlimited amounts of milk and water, but only 4-6 oz of 100% juice. They claim that juice has too much sugar and too many calories compared to milk and that drinking sugary drinks all the time can fill their little bellies leaving not enough room for real food. Also, the more sugary drinks a child has per day, the more likely the child will be obese.
For the past month, Tesla has been drinking:
10 oz of 3% milk a day
5 oz of Bolthouse Farms 100% fruit juice smoothie (assorted varieties) and
5 oz of Bolthouse Farms 100% Carrot juice daily.
She eats 4 meals a day, so at each meal I offer a cup of milk or juice to drink and the rest of the time she has water. I see milk and juice as a supplement to the meal. She's been drinking her food for her whole life, so I see milk and juice as an extension of that. She can quickly and easily get some of the calories and nutrition she needs without having to spend all that extra time in her high chair.
But I still can't wrap my head around why milk is "healthier" than juice. Why should I cut out one of her juices and replace it with milk? Honestly, I don't believe one is necessarily better than the other. They both have their place. Yes, the juice has twice as much sugar, but it's natural sugar she would have eaten anyway had I fed her all the ingredients in the juice raw.
I think the reason why whole milk is pushed over juice is because A) Dairy is a made up food group that we don't need to consume, but it happens to employ a lot of people and many people make a profit off dairy farming, and B) there is fat in milk and infants and toddlers require a high fat diet for proper growth and development, but so many children exist on carbohydrates, their milk is the only thing they consume that has fat in it.
Tesla eats a high fat diet just like her parents do. The only foods we have trouble getting her to eat are non-starchy vegetables. (She tries a bite or two, but usually just spits it out.) She'll eat them if they're mixed into her omelet, or blended into a drink or smoothie though. It just makes sense for me to give her 100% fruit and vegetable juice. She doesn't need more milk.
Raising a primal baby is so much harder than raising a SAD baby. When she's bugging me for a pre-dinner snack, I can't just throw some goldfish crackers or a cheerios into a bowl to distract her. Any of the acceptable foods to give her are either messy or a choking hazard, except for a stick of cheese, but sometimes she's already had cheese, so there's a fine line between how many ounces of cheese I want her to eat in a day. Filling up a sippy cup with 100% Orange-Carrot juice... vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, potassium... that's pretty quick and easy for an appetizer and damn nutritious too.
As she gets older the juice will be less necessary because she'll be eating more well rounded. I don't think I'm making her at risk for being obese by feeding her twice the daily recommended limit for juice. She's tall and her weight is average, plus we brush her teeth every day. She eats a hell of a lot better than most other kids I've met, and she eats more variety too.
Only time will tell if I'm making a good, healthy choice for my daughter.
My pediatrician recommended she drink no more than 16 oz of milk a day, (or 2 cups if you understand metric better.) He made no mention of what she should drink at other times and we never talked about juice.
I was doing some research online and from multiple sites I read that children should drink unlimited amounts of milk and water, but only 4-6 oz of 100% juice. They claim that juice has too much sugar and too many calories compared to milk and that drinking sugary drinks all the time can fill their little bellies leaving not enough room for real food. Also, the more sugary drinks a child has per day, the more likely the child will be obese.
For the past month, Tesla has been drinking:
10 oz of 3% milk a day
5 oz of Bolthouse Farms 100% fruit juice smoothie (assorted varieties) and
5 oz of Bolthouse Farms 100% Carrot juice daily.
She eats 4 meals a day, so at each meal I offer a cup of milk or juice to drink and the rest of the time she has water. I see milk and juice as a supplement to the meal. She's been drinking her food for her whole life, so I see milk and juice as an extension of that. She can quickly and easily get some of the calories and nutrition she needs without having to spend all that extra time in her high chair.
But I still can't wrap my head around why milk is "healthier" than juice. Why should I cut out one of her juices and replace it with milk? Honestly, I don't believe one is necessarily better than the other. They both have their place. Yes, the juice has twice as much sugar, but it's natural sugar she would have eaten anyway had I fed her all the ingredients in the juice raw.
I think the reason why whole milk is pushed over juice is because A) Dairy is a made up food group that we don't need to consume, but it happens to employ a lot of people and many people make a profit off dairy farming, and B) there is fat in milk and infants and toddlers require a high fat diet for proper growth and development, but so many children exist on carbohydrates, their milk is the only thing they consume that has fat in it.
Tesla eats a high fat diet just like her parents do. The only foods we have trouble getting her to eat are non-starchy vegetables. (She tries a bite or two, but usually just spits it out.) She'll eat them if they're mixed into her omelet, or blended into a drink or smoothie though. It just makes sense for me to give her 100% fruit and vegetable juice. She doesn't need more milk.
Raising a primal baby is so much harder than raising a SAD baby. When she's bugging me for a pre-dinner snack, I can't just throw some goldfish crackers or a cheerios into a bowl to distract her. Any of the acceptable foods to give her are either messy or a choking hazard, except for a stick of cheese, but sometimes she's already had cheese, so there's a fine line between how many ounces of cheese I want her to eat in a day. Filling up a sippy cup with 100% Orange-Carrot juice... vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, potassium... that's pretty quick and easy for an appetizer and damn nutritious too.
As she gets older the juice will be less necessary because she'll be eating more well rounded. I don't think I'm making her at risk for being obese by feeding her twice the daily recommended limit for juice. She's tall and her weight is average, plus we brush her teeth every day. She eats a hell of a lot better than most other kids I've met, and she eats more variety too.
Only time will tell if I'm making a good, healthy choice for my daughter.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
A Primal Birthday Party
My little girl's is turning a year old in a few short weeks. She's so bright, funny, and totally adorable every single day. I just want to squish her with all of my love! If you know me, you know how much I hate celebrating my birthday 6 bloody times in the month of April. And how I hate celebrating it again in the month of May even more. There's the dinner with my family, the dinner with Bob's family, dinner with Bob on my actual birthday, and then the going out with friends party, and then the going out with the other friends party. And there's the random people who couldn't make it to any of these events and so we do lunch. For my birthday. Ugh!
Well, let it be known that Tesla also hates more than one birthday celebration by association. She's getting one party. If those invited can't make it, too bad for them. See ya next year! Literally, it's all the family from far and wide and a few honorary aunties that happen to live close. One big mega party!
Due to the eating restrictions I have placed on myself and Tesla, Food for this party is going to be essential. Also, there will be one vegetarian in attendance. This is my chance to introduce primal eating to a bunch of people at once and show them how rich and delicious our diet is. We can eat satisfying and filling meals without ever using grains!
The menu I've prepared for our Sunday brunch birthday party consists of:
- Spinach and avocado quiche with cheese. No crust obviously, and no meat so the vegetarian can have some.
- Greek yogurt and mixed berry parfait with a topping of toasted nuts and seeds on the side so the birthday girl can have some.
- Bacon wrapped prunes. Not vegetarian, but I gotta eat some meat at this meal! This is the one thing I haven't taste-tested it yet, but it got rave reviews online.
- Spiced Paleo cake with maple cashew frosting. This will be Tesla's birthday dessert. After much consideration, I think I will make a tray of dainty squares instead of cupcakes or a layer cake. Paleo cakes just don't rise and a layer cake would be a lot of work. This way, everyone can sample the cake and I don't have to listen to "a small piece place," 15 times while cutting the cake and then have all this dessert left over.
And my mom is going to prepare some non-primal foods as well. Apparently my menu is "interesting" and she's worried certain people invited aren't going to be able to eat anything because it's too weird for them. That's fine. I know this menu will be a hit. Yeah, it is different from what is normally served, but it's not like I'm trying to feed people goat's tongue wrapped in lettuce or something. I thought I chose really normal foods. Well, they're normal to me.
There's always opposition every time someone comes along and introduces a new dietary restriction, but over time it becomes normal, acceptable even, and people accommodate it. Bob's sister was saying that when she decided to become a vegetarian almost 20 years ago, her family didn't approve and the best they could do for her was buy 2 Michaelina's a week, those frozen microwave dinners. Everyone had a laugh and we looked how far the family's come.
I hope I can have the same happy ending because eating this way is really important to me. Not many people seem to get it right now, but over time I hope they will.
Well, let it be known that Tesla also hates more than one birthday celebration by association. She's getting one party. If those invited can't make it, too bad for them. See ya next year! Literally, it's all the family from far and wide and a few honorary aunties that happen to live close. One big mega party!
Due to the eating restrictions I have placed on myself and Tesla, Food for this party is going to be essential. Also, there will be one vegetarian in attendance. This is my chance to introduce primal eating to a bunch of people at once and show them how rich and delicious our diet is. We can eat satisfying and filling meals without ever using grains!
The menu I've prepared for our Sunday brunch birthday party consists of:
- Spinach and avocado quiche with cheese. No crust obviously, and no meat so the vegetarian can have some.
- Greek yogurt and mixed berry parfait with a topping of toasted nuts and seeds on the side so the birthday girl can have some.
- Bacon wrapped prunes. Not vegetarian, but I gotta eat some meat at this meal! This is the one thing I haven't taste-tested it yet, but it got rave reviews online.
- Spiced Paleo cake with maple cashew frosting. This will be Tesla's birthday dessert. After much consideration, I think I will make a tray of dainty squares instead of cupcakes or a layer cake. Paleo cakes just don't rise and a layer cake would be a lot of work. This way, everyone can sample the cake and I don't have to listen to "a small piece place," 15 times while cutting the cake and then have all this dessert left over.
And my mom is going to prepare some non-primal foods as well. Apparently my menu is "interesting" and she's worried certain people invited aren't going to be able to eat anything because it's too weird for them. That's fine. I know this menu will be a hit. Yeah, it is different from what is normally served, but it's not like I'm trying to feed people goat's tongue wrapped in lettuce or something. I thought I chose really normal foods. Well, they're normal to me.
There's always opposition every time someone comes along and introduces a new dietary restriction, but over time it becomes normal, acceptable even, and people accommodate it. Bob's sister was saying that when she decided to become a vegetarian almost 20 years ago, her family didn't approve and the best they could do for her was buy 2 Michaelina's a week, those frozen microwave dinners. Everyone had a laugh and we looked how far the family's come.
I hope I can have the same happy ending because eating this way is really important to me. Not many people seem to get it right now, but over time I hope they will.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Sippy Cups
I'm making a parenting choice that all the books disagree with. I put liquids other than formula in Tesla's baby bottles. (Gasp!) Tesla hasn't mastered the sippy cup yet. She's not even close. So why should she be excluded from trying new things just because the experts don't want her to try them in a bottle?
Tesla drinks broth, vegetable juice, fresh fruit juice and water in her bottles.
Apparently the whole thing is that doctors want babies off of their bottles by the time they're a year. By giving Tesla drinks other than her formula in her bottle, she going to apparently be even more attached to her bottle and not want to let it go, thus making it harder for her ween.
If I give her liquids in sippy cups, she will make the association that bottles are for formula and sippy cups are for everything else. When I stop giving her formula, it won't sting as much not being able to have a bottle.
Here's the thing: Tesla isn't attached to her bottle. Not even a little bit. I've never given her a bottle to go to sleep. She absolutely loves table food and I think she actually prefers it to her bottle. In August when I start to ween her off of her bottle, I know it will be a piece of cake.
But I still have 2 whole months, plus some days for Tesla to learn how to use her sippy cup "on time." I'm not really worried about it. Tesla has already shown that she will do things her way when she wants to. She's often offered a sippy cup with water and she really doesn't get it. She just likes to shake it and throw it. It will come to her.
Until then, I want Tesla to be able to enjoy soups and juices because it shouldn't matter how she gets her nutrition, it should just matter that she's getting it and she's trying new things.
Tesla drinks broth, vegetable juice, fresh fruit juice and water in her bottles.
Apparently the whole thing is that doctors want babies off of their bottles by the time they're a year. By giving Tesla drinks other than her formula in her bottle, she going to apparently be even more attached to her bottle and not want to let it go, thus making it harder for her ween.
If I give her liquids in sippy cups, she will make the association that bottles are for formula and sippy cups are for everything else. When I stop giving her formula, it won't sting as much not being able to have a bottle.
Here's the thing: Tesla isn't attached to her bottle. Not even a little bit. I've never given her a bottle to go to sleep. She absolutely loves table food and I think she actually prefers it to her bottle. In August when I start to ween her off of her bottle, I know it will be a piece of cake.
But I still have 2 whole months, plus some days for Tesla to learn how to use her sippy cup "on time." I'm not really worried about it. Tesla has already shown that she will do things her way when she wants to. She's often offered a sippy cup with water and she really doesn't get it. She just likes to shake it and throw it. It will come to her.
Until then, I want Tesla to be able to enjoy soups and juices because it shouldn't matter how she gets her nutrition, it should just matter that she's getting it and she's trying new things.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Crawling
Let it be known that on the 25th of April, Tesla crawled 2 steps. It looked very awkward and creepy like Tool's music video for Schism, but none the less she crawled!!! For pretty much the entire month, she's been working on getting into the correct position and getting stronger at holding herself up. Just this past week she's been really trying hard, getting into position and rocking. I just wanted to scream at her, YOU ARE SO CLOSE!!!
And of course when I praise her while she's in the act, she turns to look at me, beaming, and falls over. If she started crawling on my actual birthday on Saturday, that would be the best gift ever! Oh, and a thousand dollars would also be the best gift ever lol.
My little baby's almost 8 months old. Her wardrobe needed to be refreshed again, so I picked out the too-small clothes and brought in all her cute new ones. So many clothes, so little time. I wish I had that problem! I don't exactly get dressed anymore...
Yesterday Bob looked at me eating my supper, slouched on the couch and he laughed at me and told me I was really attractive looking. I hadn't showered and I was wearing grey sweat pants with baby spit up on them, and a brown Neil Young shirt. Of all the perks of working at home, I think I abuse the casual dress code most often.
Why should I get dressed up in nice clothes and do my hair and make-up, just so I can get puked on, and have dirty hands touch me with food and paint and slobber, all for less than 30 minutes face time with parents? Nobody really cares what I look like, and I don't really care what I look like. If the daycare was my garden, my sweat pants are my gardening gloves.
I know I could look better. I'm a stay at home mom, not a stay at home slob. At least I gussy myself up when I leave the house with Bob and Tesla.
And of course when I praise her while she's in the act, she turns to look at me, beaming, and falls over. If she started crawling on my actual birthday on Saturday, that would be the best gift ever! Oh, and a thousand dollars would also be the best gift ever lol.
My little baby's almost 8 months old. Her wardrobe needed to be refreshed again, so I picked out the too-small clothes and brought in all her cute new ones. So many clothes, so little time. I wish I had that problem! I don't exactly get dressed anymore...
Yesterday Bob looked at me eating my supper, slouched on the couch and he laughed at me and told me I was really attractive looking. I hadn't showered and I was wearing grey sweat pants with baby spit up on them, and a brown Neil Young shirt. Of all the perks of working at home, I think I abuse the casual dress code most often.
Why should I get dressed up in nice clothes and do my hair and make-up, just so I can get puked on, and have dirty hands touch me with food and paint and slobber, all for less than 30 minutes face time with parents? Nobody really cares what I look like, and I don't really care what I look like. If the daycare was my garden, my sweat pants are my gardening gloves.
I know I could look better. I'm a stay at home mom, not a stay at home slob. At least I gussy myself up when I leave the house with Bob and Tesla.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Run To Rona
...Or in our case, drive to Rona and walk around with no intention of buying anything for half an hour.
Everyone is always suggesting to everyone else to take a walk. You can't just jump up and take a walk when you have a baby. You have to time things. Will she get hungry on the journey? What's the weather like? You have to get the damn stroller ready and diaper bag ready. It's way more work than what's it worth usually.
I really wanted to go for a family walk today. The problem is that it is too cold and too windy and there are too many puddles. Dragging the stroller down the stairs is annoying. Bundling Tesla up is impossible because she just kicks off her blankets and she would get way too bored having to sit in a reclined position with the weather shield over her, not able to see a thing. Going for a walk just doesn't work right now.
We needed a place to go that was big and cost nothing. The mall was out. It's too crowded and I would buy something. Superstore, Walmart, and any large discount stores were out. I would find something to buy and the aisles are too narrow.
I said to Bob, it needs to be somewhere spacious where I would never buy anything. Rona!
Tesla had just woken up from a nap and eaten. We didn't even pack a diaper bag, we just threw her in the car-seat and drove on over. It was the perfect place to walk around; It's a temperature controlled environment, the aisles are long and wide, there's not a lot of people, tons for Tesla to look at while sitting up in the shopping cart, and there wasn't a single thing I wanted to buy!
We were there for a total of 45 minutes approximately. We started at the garden section on one side and briskly made our way through each and every aisle until we got the other end of the store, pausing only a few times to look at something interesting. It was fun and I would do it again, but it would be more fun to go to a park!
Being active is hard when the weather sucks and there's no room for spontaneity. In 2 to 3 months the weather will be nicer, Tesla will be older, more mobile, and it will be a lost easier. I don't actually know if that's true, but I'm just saying that to make myself feel better. If walking around Rona's garden section pretending I'm outside is what I have to do from now on, so be it. It's better than nothing, right?
Everyone is always suggesting to everyone else to take a walk. You can't just jump up and take a walk when you have a baby. You have to time things. Will she get hungry on the journey? What's the weather like? You have to get the damn stroller ready and diaper bag ready. It's way more work than what's it worth usually.
I really wanted to go for a family walk today. The problem is that it is too cold and too windy and there are too many puddles. Dragging the stroller down the stairs is annoying. Bundling Tesla up is impossible because she just kicks off her blankets and she would get way too bored having to sit in a reclined position with the weather shield over her, not able to see a thing. Going for a walk just doesn't work right now.
We needed a place to go that was big and cost nothing. The mall was out. It's too crowded and I would buy something. Superstore, Walmart, and any large discount stores were out. I would find something to buy and the aisles are too narrow.
I said to Bob, it needs to be somewhere spacious where I would never buy anything. Rona!
Tesla had just woken up from a nap and eaten. We didn't even pack a diaper bag, we just threw her in the car-seat and drove on over. It was the perfect place to walk around; It's a temperature controlled environment, the aisles are long and wide, there's not a lot of people, tons for Tesla to look at while sitting up in the shopping cart, and there wasn't a single thing I wanted to buy!
We were there for a total of 45 minutes approximately. We started at the garden section on one side and briskly made our way through each and every aisle until we got the other end of the store, pausing only a few times to look at something interesting. It was fun and I would do it again, but it would be more fun to go to a park!
Being active is hard when the weather sucks and there's no room for spontaneity. In 2 to 3 months the weather will be nicer, Tesla will be older, more mobile, and it will be a lost easier. I don't actually know if that's true, but I'm just saying that to make myself feel better. If walking around Rona's garden section pretending I'm outside is what I have to do from now on, so be it. It's better than nothing, right?
Monday, April 15, 2013
Running Errands
Bob and I ran a few errands yesterday. We entered IKEA for the first time to spend a gift card I received at Christmas. That place is set up like an airport. We got some shelves to hold my daycare stuff on, as well as a wooden train tracks set with magnetic trains and one of those roll up mats to drive mini cars on. IKEA is totally obnoxious and I will not be going back any time soon. It was difficult to navigate and it felt like we were walking forever.
After we got out we went and ordered my birthday cake from Baked Expectations. It's a Lemon Chiffon cake oh la la!
Then we went to Perkins to eat. We didn't have Tesla's travel high chair with us so we had to use one of Perkins' booster seats. Surprisingly, Tesla sat very well despite the chair having little back support and no safety straps. She did cute things like try to eat the table and read the menu upside down. We don't go out to eat in a restaurant often, but the waitress remembered our baby from the last time we were there lol and we overheard her tell someone she thought our baby was the cutest thing ever. Yay genetics!
At one point near the end of our stay, I was holding her steady while she sat on the edge of the table facing me. It all happened so fast, so I can't speak to exactly how it all went down, but essentially Tesla took a nose dive right into the booth and hit her head on the booster seat.
She screamed her head off like I have never heard her scream before. I said, Oh shit, and I quickly scooped her up and tried to comfort her, but I was killing myself laughing. It was so funny. There wasn't many people around us, so I don't think anyone really saw what happened, but Bob just hung his head and shook it as if to say he disapproved of me as mother in that moment and sort of tried not to laugh.
I reassured Tesla I was sorry and I wasn't trying to kill her. We're cool now.
Finally we stopped off at Canadian Tire where I bought a couple bins with lids to store daycare stuff in. The person ahead of me at the self check out left his 5 cents Canadian Tire money and I got to keep it. Sweet!
Bob put up the shelves and I filled them up. They look fantastic. I actually wouldn't mind getting some more but it's hard to say where I'd put them.
It was a good day running errands and the weather was nice. I look forward to our next outing.
After we got out we went and ordered my birthday cake from Baked Expectations. It's a Lemon Chiffon cake oh la la!
Then we went to Perkins to eat. We didn't have Tesla's travel high chair with us so we had to use one of Perkins' booster seats. Surprisingly, Tesla sat very well despite the chair having little back support and no safety straps. She did cute things like try to eat the table and read the menu upside down. We don't go out to eat in a restaurant often, but the waitress remembered our baby from the last time we were there lol and we overheard her tell someone she thought our baby was the cutest thing ever. Yay genetics!
At one point near the end of our stay, I was holding her steady while she sat on the edge of the table facing me. It all happened so fast, so I can't speak to exactly how it all went down, but essentially Tesla took a nose dive right into the booth and hit her head on the booster seat.
She screamed her head off like I have never heard her scream before. I said, Oh shit, and I quickly scooped her up and tried to comfort her, but I was killing myself laughing. It was so funny. There wasn't many people around us, so I don't think anyone really saw what happened, but Bob just hung his head and shook it as if to say he disapproved of me as mother in that moment and sort of tried not to laugh.
I reassured Tesla I was sorry and I wasn't trying to kill her. We're cool now.
Finally we stopped off at Canadian Tire where I bought a couple bins with lids to store daycare stuff in. The person ahead of me at the self check out left his 5 cents Canadian Tire money and I got to keep it. Sweet!
Bob put up the shelves and I filled them up. They look fantastic. I actually wouldn't mind getting some more but it's hard to say where I'd put them.
It was a good day running errands and the weather was nice. I look forward to our next outing.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Milestones
I hate researching milestones because it makes me depressed and anxious about my baby if she isn't meeting them, plus I also feel really pressured to "help" her meet all these milestones. She is almost 32 weeks old ie 7 months old and I decided to look up where she should be at because I haven't done it in a couple months.
Of all the great things she's accomplished in her short life, it's never enough is it?
Alright, that's probably a bit excessive. All babies develop at their own pace and these are just guidelines blah blah bah. Still... it does make me feel guilty because I am a stay at home mom and I should be dedicating my whole day to my baby, spending every waking second with her, playing educational games and encouraging her brain development through a variety of stimulating activities. That's what all stay at home moms do right? (lol)
Running the daycare does take time away from Tesla. I have to play with everybody and because Tesla is such a content and quiet baby, it's easy to pass over her and focus on the kid screaming PAY WIT MEE! PAY WIT MEE!
But today I took a stand in an effort to spend more time with my daughter and really focus on getting that crawling and babbling thing going. Mornings are now dedicated to playing with only Tesla. The daycare kids can amuse themselves or play with Tesla too. It's only for 90 minutes. When she goes down for her morning nap I'll focus on the other kids.
I know there's nothing wrong with Tesla, like, she's not autistic or anything. And she was premature, if that still counts for anything. Some kids just never crawl. As far as the babbling goes - she's always been a quiet baby, hardly crying or making any noises really. She has gone ba-ba-ba on occasion, but perhaps the lack of babbling is an extension of that.
Of all the great things she's accomplished in her short life, it's never enough is it?
- She can feed herself real food. She swallows it.
- She's been putting herself to sleep and sleeping through the night for 4 months now.
- She can roll all over the place and rolls over to things she wants.
- She also reaches for things she wants.
- She can follow sound, movement, and turns when you say her name.
- She loves jumping.
- She loves being read to and sung to, and Bob and I do it several times daily.
- She can sit unassisted for less than a minute, longer if there's a toy in front of her to lean on.
- She can squeal, laugh, blow raspberries, and roll her R's.
Alright, that's probably a bit excessive. All babies develop at their own pace and these are just guidelines blah blah bah. Still... it does make me feel guilty because I am a stay at home mom and I should be dedicating my whole day to my baby, spending every waking second with her, playing educational games and encouraging her brain development through a variety of stimulating activities. That's what all stay at home moms do right? (lol)
Running the daycare does take time away from Tesla. I have to play with everybody and because Tesla is such a content and quiet baby, it's easy to pass over her and focus on the kid screaming PAY WIT MEE! PAY WIT MEE!
But today I took a stand in an effort to spend more time with my daughter and really focus on getting that crawling and babbling thing going. Mornings are now dedicated to playing with only Tesla. The daycare kids can amuse themselves or play with Tesla too. It's only for 90 minutes. When she goes down for her morning nap I'll focus on the other kids.
I know there's nothing wrong with Tesla, like, she's not autistic or anything. And she was premature, if that still counts for anything. Some kids just never crawl. As far as the babbling goes - she's always been a quiet baby, hardly crying or making any noises really. She has gone ba-ba-ba on occasion, but perhaps the lack of babbling is an extension of that.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Stupid Saturn
If bad things happen in threes, I guess having our one and only car break down yesterday means the curse is broken for a few months?
Bob tried to start his car after work and quickly realized he could not. I won't get into the specifics of what's wrong because I honestly have no idea. I just know that the hunk of junk is going cost us about $1000 in repairs.
It only makes sense that it's going to cost us so much. The car had to be kept overnight and I asked Bob was his cut off was going to be. You know, how much are you willing to spend on this car before selling it to the scrapyard? Bob said, a thousand.
We need a car. It's hard getting by with just one car, but no car would be a nightmare. We can't afford to buy a new car. We can't afford to buy a used car. One of the reasons why I chose to open a home daycare was because we couldn't afford to get a second car and I needed to earn a living some how.
The car is more than 10 years old. It's a p.o.s. car. Driver's side door has no door handle. The knob to roll down the window always falls off. Cigarette lighter doesn't work. Heat doesn't work properly. The windows aren't sealed properly anymore and it is really loud when you drive. Only one speaker works. Car mats have holes worn right through them. Windshield wiper blades need replacing. Tires always need air in them.
Ah, but engine is good. All those other complaints are just cosmetic stuff that doesn't really matter. The thing still drives. (Well, up until yesterday it still drove.) I still hate it. Plus it's a Saturn and I hate those cars. They're too low to the ground. I don't like sitting with my knees higher than my belly button.
We have this baby, and this baby has gear. We need a larger, more comfortable vehicle that suits our lifestyle. I sort of wish the repairs to the car would astronomical, like three thousand dollars or something stupid, that way we would be forced to get something else, and that something else could be more like a crossover or a hatchback.
Seriously, we never lock the doors because we both secretly hope someone will steal the damn thing and set it on fire.
Ultimately, it's Bob's decision. It's the only car he's ever owned, so he's pretty attached, and he's taken pretty good care of it. They weren't made to last forever, but he was hoping to get at least 2 more years out of it. If I had to choose to between the Saturn and the bus, sigh, I guess I choose the stupid Saturn.
Bob tried to start his car after work and quickly realized he could not. I won't get into the specifics of what's wrong because I honestly have no idea. I just know that the hunk of junk is going cost us about $1000 in repairs.
It only makes sense that it's going to cost us so much. The car had to be kept overnight and I asked Bob was his cut off was going to be. You know, how much are you willing to spend on this car before selling it to the scrapyard? Bob said, a thousand.
We need a car. It's hard getting by with just one car, but no car would be a nightmare. We can't afford to buy a new car. We can't afford to buy a used car. One of the reasons why I chose to open a home daycare was because we couldn't afford to get a second car and I needed to earn a living some how.
The car is more than 10 years old. It's a p.o.s. car. Driver's side door has no door handle. The knob to roll down the window always falls off. Cigarette lighter doesn't work. Heat doesn't work properly. The windows aren't sealed properly anymore and it is really loud when you drive. Only one speaker works. Car mats have holes worn right through them. Windshield wiper blades need replacing. Tires always need air in them.
Ah, but engine is good. All those other complaints are just cosmetic stuff that doesn't really matter. The thing still drives. (Well, up until yesterday it still drove.) I still hate it. Plus it's a Saturn and I hate those cars. They're too low to the ground. I don't like sitting with my knees higher than my belly button.
We have this baby, and this baby has gear. We need a larger, more comfortable vehicle that suits our lifestyle. I sort of wish the repairs to the car would astronomical, like three thousand dollars or something stupid, that way we would be forced to get something else, and that something else could be more like a crossover or a hatchback.
Seriously, we never lock the doors because we both secretly hope someone will steal the damn thing and set it on fire.
Ultimately, it's Bob's decision. It's the only car he's ever owned, so he's pretty attached, and he's taken pretty good care of it. They weren't made to last forever, but he was hoping to get at least 2 more years out of it. If I had to choose to between the Saturn and the bus, sigh, I guess I choose the stupid Saturn.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Teeth
The trip to Grand Forks was the most fun I've had in a while and before it was over I was already counting down the days to next year's trip. We brought back about $500 worth of stuff, (groceries, clothes, baby, alcohol...) and you have no idea how amazing it felt to blow through that money so fast. Bob and I have been living paycheck to paycheck for a long time and I saved up for this trip for 3 months.
I've known for a while that I have a bit of a shopping addiction, but I only brought cash down with me so there was no way I could get myself into any trouble. Once the money was gone, that was it for me. In three hours I had blown through 3/4 of my allowance. Bob paid for our meals, so at least I didn't starve.
Due to the poor timing of the hockey games, (they played 3 games in a day,) we didn't get to have a big party where everyone got drunk together because everyone was so tired, but Bob and I did have a hilarious night of drinking with 3 other members of the team in their hotel room. Last year Bob and I put together a video of the weekend with a highlights reel of footage I shot at the games and also a montage of party footage. I only shot 2 games, and didn't get any drunk-cam type stuff, so I don't know if there will be a video. It's nice using my skills to shoot and edit once in a while. I wish I could do it more often.
Anyway, I missed my baby just 5 minutes after leaving the house. I had pictures of her on my camera and I flipped through them and watched the videos of her eating avocado. The second day of the trip I enjoyed myself and stopped worrying about her. The final day though, my sister texted and told me that Tesla's 2 bottom teeth were coming in!
That's it! Back to Canada!!!
The whole way home I just wanted to hold my baby and see her two little teeth. We were practically driving in a whiteout, so it took forever. We even played car-ride games to help stay awake. We finally get home and I'm so happy, I rush inside to say hi to my baby... I pick her up... She looks at me... And starts crying! I guess I'll be keeping these cute hair barrettes all to myself if that's how you want to play it.
She warmed up pretty quick. And her two little teeth are adorable. It's hard getting a picture because her tongue is always in the way and the teeth haven't fully come in, otherwise I would have posted that by now.
Next year at this time she'll be 18 months old and I don't know if we'll be bringing her with us to the next Grand Forks hockey tournament, or if we can find someone to house-sit again for us, but I'll post the advertisement now: Attractive Couple Seeks Mature, Responsible Person to Take Care of 1 Baby and 3 Cats in Their Home For a Weekend in March, 2014. Serious Inquiries Only.
I've known for a while that I have a bit of a shopping addiction, but I only brought cash down with me so there was no way I could get myself into any trouble. Once the money was gone, that was it for me. In three hours I had blown through 3/4 of my allowance. Bob paid for our meals, so at least I didn't starve.
Due to the poor timing of the hockey games, (they played 3 games in a day,) we didn't get to have a big party where everyone got drunk together because everyone was so tired, but Bob and I did have a hilarious night of drinking with 3 other members of the team in their hotel room. Last year Bob and I put together a video of the weekend with a highlights reel of footage I shot at the games and also a montage of party footage. I only shot 2 games, and didn't get any drunk-cam type stuff, so I don't know if there will be a video. It's nice using my skills to shoot and edit once in a while. I wish I could do it more often.
Anyway, I missed my baby just 5 minutes after leaving the house. I had pictures of her on my camera and I flipped through them and watched the videos of her eating avocado. The second day of the trip I enjoyed myself and stopped worrying about her. The final day though, my sister texted and told me that Tesla's 2 bottom teeth were coming in!
That's it! Back to Canada!!!
The whole way home I just wanted to hold my baby and see her two little teeth. We were practically driving in a whiteout, so it took forever. We even played car-ride games to help stay awake. We finally get home and I'm so happy, I rush inside to say hi to my baby... I pick her up... She looks at me... And starts crying! I guess I'll be keeping these cute hair barrettes all to myself if that's how you want to play it.
She warmed up pretty quick. And her two little teeth are adorable. It's hard getting a picture because her tongue is always in the way and the teeth haven't fully come in, otherwise I would have posted that by now.
Next year at this time she'll be 18 months old and I don't know if we'll be bringing her with us to the next Grand Forks hockey tournament, or if we can find someone to house-sit again for us, but I'll post the advertisement now: Attractive Couple Seeks Mature, Responsible Person to Take Care of 1 Baby and 3 Cats in Their Home For a Weekend in March, 2014. Serious Inquiries Only.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Weekend Without the Wee One
Tomorrow Bob and I leave for our trip to Grand Forks. His hockey team plays a fun tournament there every year against some teams from their league, but also against some American teams too. I'm not really sure how this tradition came about, or whose idea it was, but what I do know is that it is a boys weekend and the boys like to get drunk.
Women and children are allowed to tag along. This woman will not be bringing any children along with her though. Last year at the tournament I was in my first trimester, super sick, and a huge sober bitch. I need alcohol and I need a vacation. I might even smoke a flavoured cigarello just to really live it up!
My sister will be staying at my apartment, tending to the cats and baby. She is inexperienced to the point that my mother will be visiting frequently. (Mom's idea, not mine.) However, I have every confidence that she will get along fine. She had better. I'm not driving back to Canada if something goes wrong. Someone will have to die before I cut this vacation short. I am operating under the assumption that this is the only vacation I will have for the rest of the year.
Here's what I'm most looking forward to about our trip:
Cheers, to no responsibilities.
Women and children are allowed to tag along. This woman will not be bringing any children along with her though. Last year at the tournament I was in my first trimester, super sick, and a huge sober bitch. I need alcohol and I need a vacation. I might even smoke a flavoured cigarello just to really live it up!
My sister will be staying at my apartment, tending to the cats and baby. She is inexperienced to the point that my mother will be visiting frequently. (Mom's idea, not mine.) However, I have every confidence that she will get along fine. She had better. I'm not driving back to Canada if something goes wrong. Someone will have to die before I cut this vacation short. I am operating under the assumption that this is the only vacation I will have for the rest of the year.
Here's what I'm most looking forward to about our trip:
- Sleeping in.
- Not cooking.
- Not cleaning.
- Swimming.
- Drinking.
- Shopping.
- Peace and quiet.
- Making fun of Bob when he throws up.
Cheers, to no responsibilities.
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