Wednesday, January 30, 2008

"he just won't eat..."
"Oh my kids won't eat anything other than chicken fingers..."
"My little one wouldn't eat a vegtable to save her life..."

Get together with any group of mothers and you are bound to hear something like this. I, personally, just don't get it. Don't these kids get hungry? Don't their parent make them eat fruits and veggies? And what kid doesn't like fruit?

I might be being really smug here, because we never had any problems with boy when he was younger. I came into his life when he was five, and at that point, he ate just about anything, except lettuce. Veggies, fruits, just about anything else, he was good to go. He even ate chinese and indian food at that age.

Precious baby isn't picky either. At two years, four months, she eats most things, and will try just about anything. Last night she ate chicken breast (not fried or nuggets!), broccoli (no cheese sauce) and quinoa for dinner. She eats just about any kind of fruit, most veggies (she's not a big fan of asparagus) and loves rice, noodles, any kind of cheese, nuts, loves every type of bean we've ever fed her, etc.

We try to eat very healthy at home, because Hubby and I are concerned about our health (and weight) but we also want to be a good influence to our children. We've made a point of eating dinner as a family and eating healthy foods and having the kids eat the same things we do. We don't fix special meals for the kids.

Recently, there have been several cook books that promote the idea of hiding veggies and fruits in foods that your kid will eat... like adding pureed cauliflower to macaroni and cheese, for instance. I am of two minds about this. I have a real problem with the idea of hiding healthy food in what appears to be "junk" food... it seems like you, the parent, aren't doing what you should be doing here... which is teaching your child to appreciate healthy foods so that they will make good food choices when they are old enough to do so. And your kid isn't going to learn to eat his veggies this way, he could get the wrong information... that macaroni and cheese is actually good for you.

On the other hand, I know that there are some parents out there with kids that will only eat a few things. I suppose for them, these books are a great idea... But I just think it wins the battle and not the war.

I always wondered about the picky kid, and about what his parents eat. I have an answer. I have a friend who is a very, very picky eater. She often turns down dinner invitations with friends becasue she thinks they will cook something she doesn't like. Her son, age three, is just like her. won't eat anything, other than strawberry yogurt. Which I suppose is better than nothing, but geez, he won't even eat cheerios!

So I guess the question is, is this learned behavior or is it genetic? I've heard of developmental theories that say that children develope food aversions at a certain age as a sort of left-over survival mechanisim. Wonder if that could be true?

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

My precious baby girl is talking up a storm, and sometimes I'm not loving what comes out of her mouth.
She goes to nursery school, and has a lot of interaction with other children her age. Her teachers tell me that they are very impressed with her verbal skills, and that she is very good about using her words to express her feelings, rather than hitting, kicking or biting.
But when she says something like "don't push me!" when she is sitting in her chair eating her cheerios, it just suprises me. The other day, I picked her up and gave her a kiss, and she said,

"Don't kiss me!"

"Why baby?" I asked. "I love giving you kisses."

I guess it was more like a joke for her, because when I said that she started giggling and burried her head on my shoulder.

But I suppose I shouldn't be so concerend, after all, she is the most cuddly little person ever, she just loves to climb all over me and her Daddy, and snuggle up to us for story time, or just about anytime, for that matter.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Precious baby is an addict. And I'm her enabler. I am speaking, of course, of the binky. Precious baby loves her binky. And at two years, nearly four months, I am thinking it is high time to wean her from it.

Yesterday I took Precious baby to Costco. She loves to go there, because she eats all the samples that store employees give out, and she likes riding in the cart. While we were cruising past the frozen food, I noticed that Precious baby had lost her binky. I hoped that she had left the binky in the car, but even then, I knew that was unlikely. At that point, we had been all over the store. I wasn't about to re-trace my steps looking for it. I went over to the pharmacy area, but Costco doesn't sell binkys (that must be the only thing they don't sell...except for ricotta cheese...). I was pretty sure I didn't have a handy spare in the car, or at home.

So I decided we would try to wean her from the binky. I didn't mention it again. We went home, and precious baby played and giggled with mommy, daddy and her big brother all afternoon. At bedtime, we went upstairs and when she asked for the binky, I said, "you're a big girl, binkys are for babies. You don't need that. "

she seemed ok until I went to put her down in her bed. And then she screamed. And screamed. She was not happy about the lack of binky. Her Daddy came upstairs to assist me. I explained that it was binky weaning time and went downstairs. Her Daddy seemed to get her to calm down pretty fast.

But, sensing it wouldn't last, I grabbed a flashlight and looked under the living room sofa, and there, back among the dust bunnies, I saw one... a bright orange and green binky. I reached under the sofa and fished it out. Dirty, but it would be just fine after a wash-off.

I went in to the kitchen and washed the binky. I heard Hubby comming down the stairs... and then, like clockwork, I heard precious baby start to scream again. I looked at Hubby.

"I have one binky in reserve.... do you think we should let her have it?"

"Give me that," Hubby said. He snatched it from the counter and ran back upstairs.

Magically, Precious baby quieted right down. So, I guess it's not time yet. It seems that Precious baby isn't ready to give it up yet, but, I don't think we are either.

Score: Precious Baby- 645,208. Mommy and Daddy- 0.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

1/2 marathon training continues. I'm working on running longer distances now. Last weekend I ran 8 miles... this weekend I need to run 9, and then 10 the weekend after that. Then I need to take it wasy, since the race is mid february and I'll need to lay off the running the week before the race to make sure that my legs are well rested and ready to go.

I'm just getting a little frustrated though... it seems like I'm not losing any more weight... and I really want to keep loosing, because the less I weigh, the easier it is to run, and the less stress it places on my joints. Of course, I also want to be thinner for our trip this summer... but I still have a few months to make that happen. The race is in one month, and I'd like to be lighter... it's hard to run when you're heavy, which I know from experience... when I first started to run again after precious baby was born, I weighed about 190... and boy did that hurt my joints, and even my feet, trying to run at that weight!!!!

I just want to finish the half marathon. I'm not terribly hung up on the time, and I don't have any illusions about qualifying for some other race, but it sure would be nice to maintain a ten minute mile pace. that would work out to two hours, ten minutes for the entire race... I hope I can do that, or close to it... I've been running shorter distances at they gym with an average pace of 6.5 to 7 miles per hour, which is about 8-9 minute miles, so, If I slow it down to a ten minute mile pace, that would do it, right there.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

I love indian food. So does hubby, and in fact, so do B and A, our bestest friends. So on Sunday, we all decided to get together and cook a big indian feast. And did we! When we got to Band A's house, B had already cooked Chicken corma, and Saag Paneer, and somekind of wonderfull eggplant potatoe curry, and a fabulous basmati rice pilaf as well. I quickly got to work on the Lamb Rogan Josh, which is Hubby's favorite... lamb cubes with potato in a rich, tomatoe-y, yogurt sauce, with plenty of sauce left for dipping Naan bread into. It takes a time, because the recipe requires that the dish be cooked until almost all the water evaporates , until the ingrediants are like a dry paste, two or three times before it's ready. So, you have to stand over it and stir it almost constantly, to keep everything from burning. But, at the end, you add in some yogurt and water to make the sauce, and you're rewarded with the best, richest, most flavorful sauce ever. It is so worth it.
Of course, for four people, one teeneager and one toddler, it was all way too much food (B even made two different riattas and made Roti as well!). So, we divvied up the leftovers, and now I have all this wonderful, home-made indian food packed into containers just waiting for Hubby and I to eat.

Friday, January 11, 2008

So this week was my first "kid injury" as a mommy and boy, it was horrible. On wednesday, prescious baby fell and busted open her lower lip on the playground at nursery school. They called me and told me about it, and I came down there to see her. As soon as I saw the cut, I could tell she needed stitches, so off to the ER we went. The doctor came in , and looked at the cut, and at her teeth, which were fine, thank goodness, and said, yes, the cut needed stitches, but that they were going to have to put her under to do it. I guess I can see that, I mean, what two year old, or even adult, would sit still while someone stitched up the inside of your mouth? OUCH!
So they got her into a hospital gown, and got her all hooked up to all kinds of monitors... which was just horrible to see.... I hated seeing my little girl like that! But then they injected her with the drugs to put her under... and that was worse! I was just killing me to see her like that, so little and helpless! I stayed in the room while they stitched her up, but I couldn't watch the procedure... it was just too much. I cried quietly the whole time.
After it was over they waited about twenty minutes and then we started trying to wake her up. She really didn't want to wake up, so it took a while and she was so fussy and I felt so bad. Finally, she woke up and drank some juice and they let her go home with us. For the rest of the night she refused to eat, drank very little, and only wanted to be held by one of us. It was just terrible. I never, ever want to go through that again.
She's better now, and in fact she went back to nursery school today... but the whole episode just, well, haunts me... I was so scared she wouldn't wake up, would have some kind of reaction to the meds, you can imagine. I could envision every single bad thang that could have happened. None of them did, but still, it was an experience that I think was far scarier for me than it was for her.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

So we did have our cowboy christmas, and it was fabulous! Hubby's brisket turned out so, so well, that even the left overs made the best BBQ sandwitches.
The holidays just seemed to roll by this year, and by new years, I was actually glad that it was over. Don't get me wrong, it was fun, and new years especially was a good time, but it was just so busy, so full of going here and doing this and seeing so-and-so, that by the time it was over, I needed a holiday from the holiday. It was actually a relief to take down the christmas tree and come back to work.
Of course, now it's time to think about the spring, which, should start soon, here, and the half marathon. I'm still running and trying to eat better (even though I took the week of the holidays off) and I am happy to say that I now seem to be a size 8. I say that because I can wear my size 8 jeans, and a size 8 skirt, with out feeling like a stuffed sausage. Now, of course, I also have a pair of skinny size 10 bananna republic pants that are too tight... but I'm working on it. I have got to be thinner by the time I run this half marathon, but especially for our Hawaii trip. I just can't go on the trip of a life time as a fatso. And for me, where I am right now, 160, is big. It's better than I was, and I'm trying not to obscess so hard on the scale number, but it's difficult. Although, it was nice to see that I actually didn't gain (and in fact lost about two pounds) over the holiday.