This parenting thing is so fast paced! I can't believe I'm going to have a 2 year old in two months!! I totally spaced on doing a 21 month blog post so I'll try to make this one a bit longer. In my last post I mentioned wanting to take Calvin to the zoo and also signing him up for gymnastics. I managed to do both :). Mommaw, Norm, John, Calvin, and I spent 3 nights in Columbus. We took Shai along too. We spent a day at the zoo and a day at COSI. It was a lot of fun! Calvin loved the petting zoo at Columbus zoo. He also really liked all the fish. And of course...the elephants! He was beside himself with excitement :). The only snag we hit was when he was tired and needed to nurse to sleep. I took him in a bathroom (bad bad breastfeeding advocacy right?). Cosi was a blast. I didn't think there would be much for him to do but they had a whole half of a floor with a Kidzone that was amazing! Gymnastics was great at first but Calvin just didn't take well to having to stay in specific stations so we decided to take him out for now and re-enroll when he is older. This month has been crazy with getting prepared for xmas. We have been on the go for the last two weeks. Calvin and I did manage to make it to a playdate on Monday though. First playdate since he was 8 months old and we first met Evelyn and Kyrie. We met up with Gage and his mommy Sara. Calvin was a little love bug trying to give Gage kisses and following him around giving him hugs. They even held hands for awhile while we walked around the mall. We got the boys each a balloon and took them to the playplace. Then we got some pretzals and headed for the park. Christmas in the park was packed. Gage was getting tired and fussy so they went home. We decided to stay long enough for Cal to ride the train. He was in awe. He sat still as a statue the whole ride and then got really excited when it was over :). Christmas is just 4 days away and I still have so much to do, but I will be posting a blog post about Calvin's second Christmas with plenty of pics (taken with my new CANON!) So here's what's new with Calvin....
Ready to go to the zoo!
Words/Phrases Dinosaur (dine or dine-sar) train one, two, yay! Wooo! Yay! house Nanna I want that Debbie (bee) Die die (playing with older cousins has drawbacks lol) cartoon on (toon on!) water lemonade ow open close choochoo! gugguggug pretty light
Loving the petting zoo
Spongebob (bob) wheel Go maw, pap, shai house Loki (lo) wait me pee jump hurt I may have to stop listing all of his new words each month because his language is exploding! :)
Actions/Gestures Makes you sniff his foot plugs his nose and "gags" if he smells something stinky covers his eyes and tries to hide if he thinks he is in trouble running toward you and tackling climbing on everything tries to jump
Heading in to Cosi
pats your back when you hug him asks for kisses on boo boos gives kisses on your boo boos Favorite Foods: rice, noodles, pizza, peas, black olives, bananas, oranges
Favorite Color: red
Favorite toys: trains or animals Favorite movie: Despicable Me
It seems like I JUST wrote the 19 months blog post! I can't believe how fast time is passing. In just 4 months my little boy will be TWO! OMG! This month was better than last. I named the baby and it helped me get some closure. Calvin went to a costume contest and trick-or-treating out at the campground and won the contest. It was great :). Hoping to take Cal to the zoo sometime soon. I also am in the process of getting him signed up for some gymnastics classes.
New this month:
Words/Phrases
kiss you on the nose (Squee likes to lick everyone on the nose)
no
Pappy
wait
want ___
orange
red
yellow
blue
purple
yes
rice
noodle
roll
wee
bowl
elephant
Mommaw
cheese
bat
did it
I'm sure there are more but I can't think of them all.
Actions/Gestures
Identifies red and orange semi-consistently
tries to wash himself in the bathtub
helps pick things up, put things into containers etc.
Favorite toy: thomas the train and stuffed curious george
Favorite movie: Finding Nemo
Not much has changed this month other than learning lots of new words. Cal still loves animals, thomas the train, and curious george. He loves coloring now too. Jersi and Gionna had their first birthday this month and we went to their party. Cal had a great time playing in the preschool room.
Calvin turned 19 months old on the 16th. This has been a crazy month for us! I turned 23, lost a baby, John turned 25, and John's grandma died. Lots of downs this month. But Cal keeps me going. Here's what's new with him.
Still comfortably rear-facing :)
Words/Phrases
George
Thomas (mas)
run
fish
juice
hand
Shai (ssssay)
roll dice
money (min)
necklace (lessss)
hair
big
this way
Actions/Gestures
pats his leg when he wants you to come leads you by the hand to show you what he wants
put his sandal on by himself
identifies his hands and fingers
goes down slides alone
Favorite Foods
seaweed salad
gerber fruit twists
bananas
apples
cheese
concord grapes
popsicles
Calvin has become quite enthralled with the tv this month. We have recently decided to cut him down to one show a day, before bed. It's not going to go over well. He absolutely loves Curious George and Thomas the train. I bought him a stuffed curious george off of amazon. He carries it around and sleeps with it.
Lately his favorite way to play involves putting objects in containers and taking them back out. We bought him a cheap set of dominoes and he loves to put them in the tin and take them back out. He also loves playing with coins (with supervision of course). Slides at the playground have been a big hit this month. He goes down even the really big slides by himself. He makes me so proud :).
He loves animals. His current favorites are elephants and monkeys (thanks curious george). He gets really excited when he sees any animal and he likes to make animal sounds. I'm thinking he will be an animal for Halloween this year.
Calvin had his first trip to the fair this month. He loved seeing all the animals and even got to go on his first pony ride. I think in the future we will be saving "animal viewing" trips for the zoo though. Looking those beautiful, gentle animals in the eyes knowing what is going to happen to them is just too much for me. I wish there was a local branch of PETA because I would so be one of the "psychos" that would go to a protest at the fairgrounds >:). I so do not look forward to the day Cal finds out what happens to the animals he loves so much :'(.
I managed to finally go through all of Cal's old clothes. I packed up a bunch of them to sell. I'm keeping a lot of them of course :). It was hard to get rid of them, but I know it's better to not keep everything lol.
As of 8/16 Cal is officially...1 1/2! I can't believe time has gone so fast. Six months ago we were having his 1st birthday, and in 6 months we will be having his 2nd! It just makes me tear up. My baby is becoming a little boy :). It seems like he changes so much every month.
New things this month:
Words/Phrases/Sounds
Wha dis?
Wha dat? Wha is?
Where is/ma/da?
baby
meow
moo
woof
"elephant noise"
mine
read
night
mouth
hat
elmo
Favorite foods
grapes
cherries
pasta
cottage cheese
strawberries
watermelon
Cal has started taking an interest in the potty. We are hoping to officially start potty training soon. He has gone pee in his potty once.
Playtime mostly consists of him using anything and everything as a truck and making "vroom vroom" noises. He also really loves to play with his baby doll. He carries him around and tucks him in, then makes snoring noises and tells me "shhh". He also loves to pretend to be a kitty. He meows and purrs and rubs his head on everything. Then he will try to eat without using his hands. It is adorable.
His favorite book right now is "Another Monster at the End of this Book". He loves when I read it to him and do Grover and Elmo's voices. We read it almost every night. He also loves any books with lift-the-flaps and/or anything that has trucks in it.
This month has been pretty up and down. Cal, John, and I were all sick up until very recently for about two weeks. But we have still managed to go on some fun outings. Cal is getting much more social. He doesn't even take time to warm up most of the time. He will go right up to anyone and tell them hi. He of course has his shy moments though.
He has visited with quite a few babies over the past month or so and he adores them. Gia and Jersi are 10 months old now and full of coos and smiles when we visit. We haven't been to see them recently because Jersi just had hip surgery but I hope we get a chance to go see them soon. Kiki has brought Jarryd over a couple of times and Cal just loves kissing and patting him. We have also gone to see Ellee a few times and even had their pictures taken together. I think he will make a great big brother when the time comes!
When John and I had Cal at Walmart today to get his prescription I saw a very loving dad. It was really touching. He was in the store with his probably 3 year old little girl. He was so playful with her and patient! If she started to run off he would say "remember to stay where I can see you please." she would come back in site and he would say "thank you" and when she wanted to explore and look at stuff he would say something like "yea that's really cool isn't it? It looks like big hands." Then while they were standing in line so he could get his prescription he she kept pulling on the cart that his leg was resting on. Instead of getting irritated or mad at her he said "whoa hey! Be careful, don't pull daddy's leg off!" in a lighthearted way. It was really refreshing and made me smile. One time she got too far out of his site and he reminded her to stay where he could see her. Testing her boundaries she said "but you could see my hand." I half expected him to get stern with her or something but he just said "but I couldn't see all of you. Stay where I can see all of you." Then as they were getting ready to leave she said "I want to push the cart." He said "Oh I think we should do it together (it was very busy in the store). Come on hop on" she got on the cart and he said "Ok now we are going to go find the puppy food and then we're going home." She told him she could help and he told her "great." It was all very positive and playful. They seemed to have a great relationship.
I've been wanting to write up a blog post on CSing ever since Cal was born but I never seemed to get around to it. I finally decided to sit down and write it out. Before I got pregnant with Cal I was totally against co-sleeping. I had heard all the scary stories about babies suffocating, parents rolling on them etc. While I was pregnant I researched all kinds of things to do with babies. From diapering, to feeding, to sleeping, and so on. What I discovered was surprising to me. I learned that co-sleeping can be just as safe (if not safer in some ways) than crib sleeping WHEN YOU FOLLOW SAFETY PRECAUTIONS. There's the deal breaker. Just like crib sleeping has its "rules" so does co-sleeping. Most pregnant women and moms have read about or been told about crib safety. No heavy blankets, only breathable bumpers, no pillows, keep it away from windows and curtains etc. But co-sleeping is rarely mentioned as a safe and legitimate alternative. You may still be questioning or replaying stories in your mind that you have heard or read about. I hope that by the end of this post I will have shown that co-sleeping is not irresponsible or dangerous when done properly.
Myths about Co-sleeping
Increases risk for sids
Unsafe because parents will roll on baby, suffocation etc
Co-sleeping causes unhealthy attachment
Increased risk for SIDS
This is one of the top reasons that many people are against co-sleeping. The reality is that people often confuse SIDS with suffocation. SIDS is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. By definition sids is when a baby dies and upon autopsy there is no known cause of death. Therefore a parent rolling on a baby, the baby suffocating in a pillow or blanket (more on this later) etc. is NOT sids. There is a lot of evidence that shows that sids may actually be reduced by co-sleeping. In Asian countries where babies sleeping independently is basically unheard of the rates for SIDS are the lowest in the world. Babies are born neurologically immature. They are biologically programmed to be close to their mother/caregiver.
Unsafe
Everyone has heard the horror stories. Mother/father rolled on the baby, dog or cat killed the baby, baby suffocated, the list goes on and on. The reality is that co-sleeping deaths are not nearly as common as many would think. A good analogy would be plane crashes vs. car crashes. Everyone knows that plane crashes are far more rare than car accidents. Your odds of dying in a plane crash range from 1 in 5.4 million to 1 in 9.2 million (Source). Your odds of dying in a car accident? Car accidents are the cause of 2.2% of all deaths (source). So why is it that so many people are afraid of planes but not cars? Because plane accidents are far more publicized! The same can be said for co-sleeping vs. crib deaths. Do co-sleeping deaths happen? Yes. But because co-sleeping is less common in our society it is of course widely publicized when a co-sleeping baby tragically dies. How often do you hear of deaths of crib sleeping babies? Not very often? 9,664 infants were injured in crib related accidents in 1996 and 54 babies died. This is not including SIDS. Crib deaths do happen, just like co-sleeping deaths. Why? Because of human error. Parents make mistakes. Whether you co-sleep or put your baby in a crib you can make one of those fatal errors. That being said...
Do I think co-sleeping is for everyone? No, but I do think that the safety precautions for those that DO wish to co-sleep should be more widely publicized.
For anyone who's interested here are the basic co-sleeping safety "rules" (source)
DOS:
Take precautions to prevent baby from rolling out of bed, even though it is unlikely when baby is sleeping next to mother. Like heat-seeking missiles, babies automatically gravitate toward a warm body. Yet, to be safe, place baby between mother and a guardrail or push the mattress flush against the wall and position baby between mother and the wall. Guardrails enclosed with plastic mesh are safer than those with slats, which can entrap baby's limbs or head. Be sure the guardrail is flush against the mattress so there is no crevice that baby could sink into.
Place baby adjacent to mother, rather than between mother and father. Mothers we have interviewed on the subject of sharing sleep feel they are so physically and mentally aware of their baby's presence even while sleeping, that it's extremely unlikely they would roll over onto their baby. Some fathers, on the other hand, may not enjoy the same sensitivity of baby's presence while asleep; so it is possible they might roll over on or throw out an arm onto baby. After a few months of sleep-sharing, most dads seem to develop a keen awareness of their baby's presence.
Place baby to sleep on his back.
Use a large bed, preferably a queen-size or king-size. A king-size bed may wind up being your most useful piece of "baby furniture." If you only have a cozy double bed, use the money that you would ordinarily spend on a fancy crib and other less necessary baby furniture and treat yourselves to a safe and comfortable king-size bed.
Some parents and babies sleep better if baby is still in touching and hearing distance, but not in the same bed. For them, a bedside co-sleeperis a safe option.
DON'TS:
Do not sleep with your baby if:
1. You are under the influence of any drug (such as alcohol or tranquilizing medications) that diminishes your sensitivity to your baby's presence. If you are drunk or drugged, these chemicals lessen your arousability from sleep.
2. You are extremely obese. Obesity itself may cause sleep apnea in the mother, in addition to the smothering danger.
3. You are exhausted from sleep deprivation. This lessens your awareness of your baby and your arousability from sleep.
4. You are breastfeeding a baby on a cushiony surface, such as a waterbed or couch. An exhausted mother could fall asleep breastfeeding and roll over on the baby.
5. You are the child's baby-sitter. A baby-sitter's awareness and arousability is unlikely to be as acute as a mother's.
Don't allow older siblings to sleep with a baby under nine months. Sleeping children do not have the same awareness of tiny babies as do parents, and too small or too crowded a bed space is an unsafe sleeping arrangement for a tiny baby.
Don't fall asleep with baby on a couch. Baby may get wedged between the back of the couch and the larger person's body, or baby's head may become buried in cushion crevices or soft cushions.
Do not sleep with baby on a free-floating, wavy waterbed or similar "sinky" surface in which baby could suffocate.
Don't overheat or overbundle baby. Be particularly aware of overbundling if baby is sleeping with a parent. Other warm bodies are an added heat source.
Don't wear lingerie with string ties longer than eight inches. Ditto for dangling jewelry. Baby may get caught in these entrapments.
Avoid pungent hair sprays, deodorants, and perfumes. Not only will these camouflage the natural maternal smells that baby is used to and attracted to, but foreign odors may irritate and clog baby's tiny nasal passages. Reserve these enticements for sleeping alone with your spouse.
Use common sense when sharing sleep. Anything that could cause you to sleep more soundly than usual or that alters your sleep patterns can affect your baby's safety. Nearly all the highly suspected (but seldom proven) cases of fatal "overlying" I could find in the literature could have been avoided if parents had observed common sense sleeping practices.
It is also a good idea to not allow pets in the family bed with a young infant. My biggest precaution while co-sleeping with Cal is positioning. I put Cal's head up close to the very top of the bed. My pillow is level with his waist (or his legs when he was littler). This is a good way to reduce the risk of rolling on the baby. I also do not allow him to sleep next to John because I know that my husband is a very heavy sleeper.
Use common sense. If you know you are a heavy sleeper for example; use a crib, sidecar, or co-sleeper.
Unhealthy Attachment
I could go on forever about this one. Studies have actually shown that the more "attached" you allow your child to be in early years the more independent he/she will be later in life. Reason being that he/she has a greater sense of security knowing that if he/she wants to come to you for snuggles etc. it will be allowed. So a co-sleeping child may take longer to sleep through the night, or to adjust to sleeping alone. But because he/she will go to bed knowing that you will respond if he/she needs you there will be a greater sense of security. Everyone has their own comfort level for when it will be cut off. But every kid will eventually sleep alone and want their own space.
So to wrap this up I guess all I'm saying is; co-sleeping isn't for everyone. But when done safely it is a great option. I enjoy co-sleeping, and I do it safely. Someday when my son is off at college or married and living away from home, co-sleeping is just one of the many things I will look back on and say "I miss that."
Well Calvin will be 17 months in 3 days. I have once again failed to keep the blog updated. So for now, here are the new things happening with Cal.
Words
bird
bath
work
car
tree
yes
no
pretty
Cal understands most of the things he hears now. He follows directions (when he wants to) and has even tried a couple of short phrases "da buhbye work" etc. He climbs into his highchair at mealtimes and gets down when he is done. He loves when I sing "head shoulders knees and toes" and tries to sing along with the "eyes and ears and mouth and nose" part. He loves to try to mimic everything now. He wants to help lock/unlock the door, to dress himself, feed himself, wash himself, brush his teeth etc. It is amazing to watch him grow and learn.
We took him to the fireworks for the 4th of July. I brought along these huge ear protectors so that the noise wouldn't scare him. He left them on the whole time and kept saying "pree" (pretty). He really enjoyed them and it was a nice family outing.
He is still very attached to me and loves our nursing time. He has cut down on the night nursing a lot (except for during bouts of teething). I am very happy that I stuck with nursing and that I decided to nurse past 1 year. It hasn't been without struggle and frustration but it has been totally worth it.
He is starting to take notice when I get him a clean diaper and he likes to pick which one he wants to wear. The minky ones are his favorites :)
Current favorite foods are: cottage cheese, hummus, beans, strawberries, kiwi, bananas, applesauce (buddy fruits), and sweet potato maki
Out in public he is still quite shy until he warms up to the situation. I guess I'm not surprised considering how shy I am. He likes to wave and say "hi" and "byebye" to people. He also LOVES babies and animals.
His current favorite toys are cars, play food, and anything he can pretend to clean with
We set him up a playroom in the spare bedroom, but he really doesn't like to be up there. I am hoping that will change once the weather cools down and it isn't roasting hot in there.
So this will technically be published 5/12 but in my book it is still Wednesday because I say so ;).
This week has been pretty emotional for me.
Sunday was Mother's Day. Saturday Debbie and I went out for lunch with Calvin, dad, Shelley, and grandma Walter at Dutch Valley. There wasn't much I could eat but it meant a lot to grandma so I was satisfied. For dinner Debbie, Cal, John, and I took Mommaw out for dinner at Cracker Barrel. Then we went to Target for awhile and walked around while John and Cal napped in the van.
John was off Monday night so we went to a cookout at Michelle's with all our friends. It was pretty fun but Cal got restless so we left. I decided we should go to Walmart and get stuff to make quesadillas. While we were there one of John's co-workers saw us and said "I hear congrats are in order. You're an aunt and uncle."
Apparently Sam had her baby and nobody contacted me, Debbie, or Jen. We are all pretty pissed off and hurt over it. I was hoping that the four of us could patch things up before she was born but I see no hope now. I will never be able to forgive her for not allowing us to be there for the birth of our niece. I am slowly getting over it and moving on though. I am hoping I will at least get to be involved in Jarryd's life when Kiki has him. I know I'm not his aunt or anything but Kiki and I have always been super close and I think it would be great for our boys to grow up together.
Calvin is doing great. He has started to say phrases now. The first one was when he was playing he picked up John's old cell phone, put it up to his ear and said "You do what you do. Bye." John and I were just amazed at how clear it was. The next day John was laying on his back and Cal crawled up and said "Daddy bellybutton". Then he pulled John's shirt up and did his "Oh no" sign. It was hilarious. He has also been saying "daddy byebye" and today when we dropped John off at work he said "I love you bye". All of these things aren't perfectly articulated but they are definitely clear enough to understand. He absolutely loves books and we read three every night. He had his 3rd haircut last week and he did great. He sat still the whole time and didn't cry even when she used the clippers on him. He is turning into such a sweet little boy. He amazes me everyday with his affection. He is also becoming quite the little outdoorsy type.
Sorry for the delay in getting this posted I had a couple really busy days.
Some people won't consider this a "hot topic" but I have seen discussions on online groups get extremely heated over this issue. Hopefully after reading this it will clear up why ERF is so important. Please take the time to read the information, do your research, and watch the videos. Or if you do not have time to read this a least PLEASE watch the video. It is under 4 minutes long and it may save your child's life.
Most people when seeing this title will probably be thinking "What the heck is Extended rear-facing?"
Extended rear-facing (ERF) is keeping your child's carseat rear-facing past the "1 and 20lbs" requirements that is law in most states. Most people have no idea that there are significant safety benefits of keeping your child rear-facing. This will hopefully change soon as the AAP recently changed their recommendations. They now state that children should remain rear-facing until at LEAST age 2 (source) or until they reach the maximum height or weight for rear-facing in the convertible carseat.
The most important question is: WHY extended rear-face?
There are many reasons
-It is proven to be 5x safer than a forward-facing carseat.
-The back of the seat cradles the baby preventing severe spinal injuries and even internal decapitation
-Convertible carseats can easily fit a child rear-facing well into their second year and sometimes beyond.
There are a few common concerns that parents have regarding ERF
1. Scrunched legs
-Touching the back of the seat is not a problem. While it looks uncomfortable to us it really isn't for them. When you see a child playing on the floor how do they usually sit? With their legs crossed. Children are naturally more flexible than we are. Even when sitting in a chair most of them curl their legs up under them rather than leaving them dangle when they can't reach the floor.
2. Broken legs
-Many parents are concerned that their child's legs being against the seat will cause a broken leg in the event they get rear-ended. There has never been a single case of a child breaking a leg due to being rear-facing. But even if it were to happen, it is far less of a concern than a broken neck from forward-facing too early. Remember:
Broken leg=cast it
Broken neck=casket
3. Getting rear-ended
-This is a big one and in my experience generally the reason most parents who have read about ERF give for turning their child around. Parents mistakingly think that if they are hit from behind and their child is rear-facing they will have the same risk for a broken neck as a forward-facing child in a head-on collision. And because being rear-ended is the most common accident this is a somewhat logical concern. HOWEVER this concern can be laid to rest also. First of all while being rear-ended is a common car accident it is the LEAST common form of SEVERE auto accident. Also, if you are hit from behind YES your child's head will go forward until the vehicle comes to a stop however it is simple physics that it would be far less severe whiplash than if your child were forward-facing. Remember "an object in motion stays in motion". Your vehicle is traveling say 35mph forward and comes to an abrupt stop, you and your child are going to be thrown toward the front of the vehicle when it stops regardless of what direction you are hit. When forward-facing the spine hyper-extends and can cause internal decapitation in a young child. When rear-facing the back of the carseat is there to cradle your childs neck and spine and acts as a cushion against the impact.
*Car accidents are the leading cause of death of children ages 2-14 in the US
*2.9% of those deaths are caused by spinal injuries
4. Convenience
-This one I simply find ridiculous. Many parents turn their children forward-facing simply because they say it is less of a hassle to put him/her in the car. This one is a no-brainer. Why put your child at 5x greater risk simply because it is easier?
-Many parents say their child "likes it better." How does your child know there is any other way to ride in a car if he/she has only ever been rear-facing? He/she doesn't know the difference. In fact I remember being around 7 years old and fighting with my sisters over the rear-facing seat of my dad's station wagon because I liked looking out the back window and propping my feet up. And frankly when it comes to safety, I will do what is safest not what is easy or what I believe my child will like better.
Well it's my first post for "Vitamix Friday". We have made a lot of tasty things using the vitamix so far but this one is by FAR the best.
Most of this will have to be started simultaniously. Read through the recipe first to be sure you won't skip anything.
Ingredients
1 5lb bag yukon gold potatos
1 pint heavy whipping cream
olive oil
1 red onion
1 jalepeno pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 cup parmesean cheese
1 stick butter
8oz cream cheese
1 can unsalted sweet peas
1 can unsalted french style green beans
1 can sweet corn
5oz fresh spinach
2tbs classico pesto
1 small ginger root
16oz vegetable broth
1. Alfredo sauce-Add whipping cream, 1tbs pesto, cream cheese, butter, and parmesean to a small pot. Cover and put on simmer until everything else is done. Do not let it boil.
2. Finely dice onion, garlic, and ginger root
3. In a separate pot put enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot, and 1tbs pesto. Saute finely diced onion, 3 minced cloves garlic, and ginger root until golden brown.
4. Peel and chop 1/3 of the potatos and boil until tender (about 20 minutes)
5. If saute is golden-brown add vegetable broth and reduce heat to medium.
6. Peel and finely chop remaining potatoes and set aside.
7. Stir alfredo
8. Drain potatoes. Put water back in the pot and add the potatoes you set aside in step 6
7. Add cooked potatoes from step 4, jalepeno pepper, spinach and saute sauce from step 3 to a blender (do more than one blending session if needed). Blend all together until smooth. The end result is pretty nasty looking (think toxic sludge). But trust me, it tastes good (even a non-veggie friend agreed)
8. Open canned veggies and drain. Add them to a pot of water. Cook covered for about 10 minutes on low
9. Stir alfredo
10. Drain potatoes and veggies. Add to concoction from step 7.
11. At this point we separate some out for Calvin so that he doesn't get the alfredo part.
12. Add alfredo sauce.
ENJOY! And if you try it please leave a comment and let me know how you liked it! :)
Anyway, the last time I posted was about Cal's first ER visit. Turns out he didn't get any better so I took him to the pediatrician. He was put on two different breathing treatments and some claritin. It cleared up within just a few days. I give credit to his super mommy-milk for such a fast recovery :).
Cal also started walking. On March 15th, the day before he turned 13 months old he just stood up in the middle of the living room and took off across the room. He practiced and practiced and was walking 90% of the time within a couple weeks. Now he runs everywhere. It is so cute to watch. I love having a toddler! I find myself looking back and missing his tiny baby days though.
Cal is learning new things all the time. He can say a bunch of words now including mom, dad, bellybutton, stairs, shoe, eye, book, byebye, hi, that, this, egg, ball, paci, and bear. He also repeats a lot of other words. He can understand so much now and he surprises me every day with how smart he is. He absolutely loves books. He quietly sits and looks at them a lot. In fact he is "reading" a Disney baby book right now. We usually read about 3 books before bed. He really likes ones with animal sounds. I think he just likes to make mommy feel silly :).
Calvin also got to experience his second Easter. He enjoyed the eggs. He was convinced they were balls and kept trying to throw and kick them. It was adorable. He was holding one and said "ball" to Debbie. She said "no, egg" and he responded "ohh, egg" LOL!
John used his spending money from our tax refund to buy a vitamix. At first I was a little skeptical but after seeing what this thing can do I am soooo amazed. It was worth every penny of that nearly $400. It makes perfectly smooth smoothies, soups, and nut milks. It even heats the soup right in the container. I am sold :)
I've decided that in order to get going on keeping this updated I'm going to try to have a few "theme days" like a lot of blogs I read. So...
Monday: Hot Topics
Wednesday: Random family updates
Friday: Vitamix recipes and experiments
Saturday: Silent Saturday (picture posts)
I think that will be a good start. Maybe I'll add to it as I go.
Cal has had a fever since Wednesday night. Today I finally decided to take him to the er because he was starting to sound a little raspy and was still acting sick. They gave him a nasal swab and a chest x-ray. The chest x-ray was hard to watch because they had to strap him into this contraption and I had to hold his arms above his head. Poor little guy just cried and cried he was so scared :(. Everything came back fine and the doc said that he probably just has a viral infection which they can't do anything for. He said to just keep his fever down and give him motrin every 6 hours and to bring him back if he gets worse. To top off everything when I was coming downstairs with Cal this morning I tripped and really hurt my toe trying to keep from falling. Luckily I didn't fall but my toe is killing me. I think I might have broken it. What a day :(
I finished reading UP awhile ago and I just now have a chance to write about it. The first few chapters where difficult to get through because it is such a "culture shock" for lack of a better term. Now that I've read the whole book I am completely IN LOVE with it! I love how the author including so much research to back up his philosophies. I am so happy that I read this book.
When I had Calvin there were a bunch of videos that every new mom is required to watch before leaving the hospital. Shaken baby syndrome, how to bathe a baby, carseat safety etc. WHY doesn't that carseat safety video include anything like this? If they would show these videos in the hospital and/or in birthing classes it could save a lot of babies. Just had to vent about this somewhere.
I am so glad for WTE and BBC. I probably would have never heard the term "extended rear facing" if it wasn't for those groups. I'm so glad I did and so glad that I researched it when I realized it was a term I wasn't familiar with.
So far I've sewn a total of 4 diapers. I have gotten better with each try but they are still far from perfect. I have tons of fabric to make more including tie dye, space monsters, and light blue plaid :)
Calvin turned one on February 16th! I just can't believe how time has flown! We had his party the 17th at The Skate Place. It went great. John's mom came and brought all his siblings except Marky. Nanna and Chase; Mommaw and Norm; Grandma Walter; Mom; Debbie; Jen and BJ; uncle Jack; Shelly and the two oldest boys; Gale and Terry; Melissa and the kids; Tami, Charlie, Kurt, Cierra & Kaylee; Hayley, Amy & Hunter; John's aunt Diane; and Kiki came too. I was very surprised and honored that Kiki stopped by even with all she is going through right now. Overall it turned out great.
