Sunday, February 28, 2010

Sunday adventures

This morning Reed had the idea of us all having a family adventure out at Stone Lagoon. The drive north is always beautiful, today it was even more so as the ground was heavily saturated from the rains and a high tide. On the drive, I started to tell Reed that I had wished we had brought North's fishing pole, but then realized that I really felt differently. I want my kids to have adventures in which they can enjoy nature's wonders without being caught up in the process of taking/killing something else. I want to develop their sense of curiosity, not be drawn into a uni-directional focus each time they step outside of their house. So today was a good day to leave the fishing pole at home. Even though North loves, LOVES the idea of fishing.

Stone Lagoon is a beautiful beach site. The ocean floor rises very sharply up into the shoreline so the rip currents are very strong and the waves unpredictable. As a result the air is often very misty and the sounds of many birds adds up to a very picturesque setting. I like to walk along the shore up to beyond the point of the lagoon to where the sea stacks begin to pile up.

However, that is my memory of Stone Lagoon pre-kids.

Now as we take two kids and two dogs, the time is not so lovely or relaxing. The dogs always need lots of supervision so that they don't run into the ride-tide fueled killer waves, and North needs to be watched closely as he doesn't know how to read the waves either. So we didn't stay too long. Too stressful. Not enough negative ions to cover all that stress.

Instead we drove back to Trinidad, got some lunch, and scored the best surprise ever! A couple who has a draft horses were exercising their horses by offering wagon rides around town. Normally the horses participate in parades or are hired out for special events, but as the horses were feeling frisky this morning, the couple decided to hook everything up to the wagon and walk around the town. Trinidad is cool like that I am learning. So we rode around for a while. North loved the bells on the horses. He wanted to feed them carrots but the horses were huge! And we had already eaten all of our carrots up on the drive to Stone Lagoon.

Later that afternoon, North and Reed dug up the thistles growing in our yard and North painted. Early baths and dinner rounded out the day for the kids.

I haven't spent any time with just North since Sky has been born, so tomorrow I think I will take just him into town to get more paint. I am currently reading a great book, "Siblings without rivalry" and so am having a lot of reflections as to the way I interact and talk to each child. Having time to really listen to North is something that needs to be added to each of my days. He has been really mellow about the introduction of Sky, I want to make sure I am on top of his developing feelings. I am really enjoying thought process that is coming with the reading of this book.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Saturday thoughts

Today I left the kids! I had planned for a couple hours for myself to go to the beach with the dogs, but with the tsunami warning I wasn't sure I could follow through in that idea. As it was, the police had blocked off the entrance to Trinidad State Beach so the dogs and I walked along the bluffs and looked at the waves for a while (yes, the dogs looked at the waves too). No great waves of disaster, I guess the coastline is safe for another day.

Reed has been diagnosed with 28 food allergies plus an intolerance to gluten. He has been so amazingly positive with the radical eating change. He has been eating lots of rice and fruits and veggies, plus drinking more water. He has had more energy for working out and while not losing a ton of wight, he has lost a good deal of the puffiness in his face and torso.

I, on the other hand, am experiencing an empathetic grumpiness. I can't imagine giving up gluten foods or garlic or eggs or onions, or...the Reed's do-not-eat list goes on and on. I love eating bagels and oatmeal, egg sandwiches. I am trying to be supportive and not eat those foods around Reed, but I failing horribly with the positive attitude. I NEED REAL CARBS!

I picked up a huge bag of carrots from the Co-op a few days ago. North loves carrots and Reed can actually eat them. The carrots are from a farm a few miles inland. I love winter carrots. The frost/freeze makes the sugar stronger so eating a carrot is like a dessert. I am not even going to attempt a gluten-free carrot cake yet. I will most certainly ruin the loveliness of the carrot taste.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

You know when....

You know you are deep in Mommy-hood when one goes out for much needed retail therapy, but instead of buying a new pair of shoes, you get an umbrella for one child and a cozy jacket for the other.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Skyler and North: February 2010

This month Skyler learned to crawl and North learned how to pee and poop in the potty. Sky learned to yell and North discovered that he was 2. Sky now carries a magnet in his pocket that draws him irresistibly toward any surface in which he can pull himself up onto. North discovered a new activity of riding a little car down our driveway at breakneck speed. Life has been wonderfully busy.

With Sky learning how to crawl, he has officially shed his newborn babyhood. He is now an independent person who crawls into rooms to investigate toys and objects. Sometimes I will find him in the bathroom hanging on to the edge of the tub, banging onto the side as if to say "When do we take a bath"? He and North bathe together now with large splashes created by both boys frequently soaking whomever is lucky to be perched outside of the bathtub.

When we are all moving around upstairs, Sky will crawl into the playroom to touch and move toys as he discovers how he can explore play ideas. He feels the wooden blocks with his mouth. He knocks over the towers that I build for him and he shakes rattles and other musical tools as we play.

However, with this new found independence in Sky, I must remember to use my patience more often. He doesn't like to lie still for diaper or clothing changes. I have to use a doll or make funny faces to hold his attention as I race through the necessary changing. Earlier in the month, Sky wouldn't eat much pureed solid foods, yet I could tell that he was feeling frustrated when we were eating during mealtime and he wasn't. So I started offering him large chunks of banana or pear and now he is feeding himself throughout most of our meals. It is messy, but the concentration and happiness that I see on his face is worth it.

The 6 month well-baby check up went well although two issues came up. Sky had an surprise ear infection that needed treatment. And then when it came to the shot time, it was explained to Reed and I that the nurse had given him the wrong combination dose during the previous visit. So while I was annoyed, there wasn't anything to be changed at the time and Sky got his whooping cough vac. In the future, as the nurse has the shots on the tray, I will re-state, "so this is the so and so?" I don't like my kids getting unnecessary extra chemicals.

Cuddling with Skyler continues to be my favorite time with him. He snuggles in the sling easily when he gets tired or overstimulated. I have found more ways to get my daily tasks done with a child in a sling then I was able to when North was a baby. Things really are easier with the second child.

North has always been very vocal with his ideas and now I am seeing a further expansion of that development. He talks out rudimentary storylines as he plays in addition to showing the beginnings of imaginative, independent play. Yea! Finally!!

He usually gets jelly bean rewards when he pees and poops, but the other day he peed right after brushing teeth as we were getting ready for bed. I didn't want to go downstairs for the candy and then brush teeth again so I made a bargain with him. If he waited through the big sleep time without fuss, then he could have two jelly beans when we went downstairs in the morning. The next morning as the four of us cuddled in the bed there was no mention of the jelly beans but the minute his feet hit the bottom step he was reminding us of the promise. What an elephant that kid is.

The 2's have been pretty kind to us lately. If I keep North in check with his whining and praise him for using his happy, strong voice we seem to avoid some of the power struggles that can ruin a day. North is getting squirrelly when we are at grocery stores and at other errands, I can tell he is no longer content with just looking around, he now needs to be more involved. Telling him what we are doing or purchasing seems to help. I wonder how much longer until I can give him a calculator? I would love if he would take over as the budget manager.....

I would like to finish the final phase of potty training with North soon. He hasn't had an accident for over a month as well as sleeping in underwear during night time and naptimes. But I am still reminding him to go potty as well as helping him with his pants. So I have offered him extra beans for the self-motivated potty-ing, so far it has been working.

On the sleep front, because Sky was waking up and crawling (off the bed three times!) I was forced to make him nap in a crib during the day. I nurse and rock him to sleep then roll him onto his belly as he sleeps. No fussing, no crying. Nighttime is even better as I get him out of the crib when he wakes and bring him into our big bed. I love to curl my body around him, smelling his sweet scent. He is a very peaceful sleeper and a joy to share a bed with. Normally he sleeps closest to me, but lately he has been moving over by Reed and patting his face before snuggling up to sleep next to his Daddy.

North sleeps well in his own bed most nights, but in the wee hours of the morning Reed will bring him into the big bed. As the day lightens, North will tickle Sky as they play together. Reed and I pretend to sleep, but honestly, I can't imagine being anywhere else.

10 years less.....for our children

I have always loved the humor of the British chef, Jamie Oliver. Netflix has a cooking video/ stage performance of his that is really funny. Lately Jamie Oliver has been focused on bringing awareness towards children's eating habits within the larger culture of our shared food environment. I found this video on a local dad's blog today.

The clip is 20 minutes long, but I wouldn't post it if I didn't think it was important for everyone. Take a look.