Family Fun Day

On Saturday, we took a family fun day to the North Carolina Transportation Museum and the Lazy 5 Ranch. John took a morning nap on the hour long drive to the Museum:
We got to take a 25-minute train ride:

John was observant and rather tense for the whole ride, his brows furrowed all the while:

"I hear something" (the train's horn):

The windowsill was hot:

John sat there, tensely holding his arms suspended much of the time:

But John really did love the train and relaxed once we were off of it and in the museum:

John kept pointing to the old-fashioned ambulance and saying "vroom!" and signing OWIE.

We bought our sweet boy a train hat, which he likes wearing:

After lunch at Spanky's Homemade Ice Cream and Deli, we drove 13 miles down a county highway to the Lazy 5 Ranch where cute little donkeys awaited us at the entrance gate:

Amazingly, some drivers fed these longhorn cattle (against the rules) and even let the animals stick their heads inside the vehicles!

John was tuckered out by our long day and fell asleep on the drive home, clutching the new car Daddy bought him at the Transportation Museum:

Copycat

Because of my pregnancy-induced carpel tunnel syndrome, I wear wrist guards on both arms overnight and sometimes during the day. I've explained to John that Mama has owies inside her wrists, even though he can't see them (so whenever he sees me put on my wrist guards, he signs OWIE). This morning he asked to wear one of my wrist guards and was very pleased with himself. I asked to take a picture, in exchange promising him that he could look at babies (himself) in the viewfinder of my digital camera afterward, which is why he is signing BABY in this photo:

Two Recalls

Since many of my friends are cosleeping parents, I want to post this recall of a cosleeper, especially since the owning company is not cooperating in the recall. (And lets say a prayer for those devastated parents.)

Also, many of my friends are the types who buy wooden toys for their kids, so click here for a recall of those.

Anyone can sign up to receive this recalls daily into their email; I like the service since (interestingly) the majority of recalls are of children's products.

Anniversary of my Confirmation

Wednesday the twenty-seventh was the three-year anniversary of my Confirmation (and of my Conditional Baptism and First Penance and of the day Chris proposed marriage to me). For us Catholics, Confirmation is a big deal: it imparts "a special sacramental grace consisting in the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost and notably in the strength and courage to confess boldly the name of Christ" (see here).

Chris gave me a dozen roses, a beautiful card wishing me a "happy birthday into the faith" and thanking me for everything I've given up for our marriage, and three chocolate truffles--one to represent each year. In the evening we went to a weekday Mass, which at our parish on Wednesdays happens to be the Mass in the Extraordinary Form (Latin Mass), our favorite. Chris also bought us a small portion of a gorgeous, decadent chocolate cake for dessert, of which we allowed John to eat a sliver. Here is a photo of sweet, tangible evidence of my full religious conversion three years ago: my delightful 20-month-old boy (signing for MORE cake!):


Thank you to my husband Chris, my confirmation sponsor Erica, the priestly minister (Fr. Novokowsky) and then-subdeacon (now-Fr. Gerard) who presided, and my confirmation patron saints, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Mary Magdalene.

Fun With Clothing

John is decidedly in the age-typical phase of being fascinated by dressing and undressing himself. He loves snaps and buttons and tries hard to figure out where his arms and legs go. He has a couple of pairs of pajamas that are held on by snaps which we will no longer dress him in because he simply will not keep them on overnight. Yesterday, he became enamoured with having one arm through his neck hole and after a time we gave up putting it back to rights.
Here I asked John to show me his tummy:

Meal Planning Success

I am happy to say that this is the fifth week in a row that I have written a meal plan! (I plan dinners only and for Monday through Friday only, generally leaving weekends for flexibility.) This might sound like I am bragging, but really it is a self-condemnation that I have been a married homemaker for two and a half years, yet this is one of the only times I've actually done meal plans five weeks in a row. Yet there have been many stretches when I've gone five weeks in a row without making a meal plan. So, there you go!

This week, I am planning to cook:

Monday:
Steak fajitas (for C.), portobello mushroom fajitas (for me)
Black beans with yellow rice (I have a great Spanish rice recipe I usually serve with this, but it's very involved)

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (any order):

Crumb-coated chicken thighs (something else for me)
Sliced baked potatoes

Yogurt-fried chicken (something else for me)
Green bean casserole

Creamy chickpea curry (with leftover chicken shredded in C's curry)

Friday:
Summer vegetable salad
Polenta

Sunday Photos

John making a little cape for himself:
Mama and John (and Baby at 27 weeks) before Mass yesterday:

John knows that a bell signifies something important. He calls the toaster the "ding-ding" and gets amped up with excitement as it is toasting his breakfast. He was thoroughly impressed with the "ding-ding" (bell) in the trolley on Saturday. And for the past few weeks at Mass, when the bell rings to signify the consecration, John shouts out happily, "Ding-ding! Ding-ding!"

The Charlotte Trolley

This afternoon we rode the Charlotte Trolley, which was a great family outing for all of $5.20!
We happened to be the only riders on a late Saturday afternoon, so we had the conductor and excellent volunteer tour guide--an elderly Mr. Abbott--to ourselves.
As fits his nature, John was very serious when the trolley was driving. He sat still, stared, with his brow furrowed. But when we stopped for 10 minutes at the end of the line before turning around, he was able to relax and have fun exploring the trolley. He kept shouting, "Wow!" Then the train started up again and John turned back to his serious, observant self. Even with his somber mien, at every stop on the route, John would quietly sign for MORE.

I forgot the other day to post that John did something interesting linguistically: he applied the sign for NURSING to a mother other than me. We met our friends the Mills in Greenville, SC, for Mass and a visit. My friend Elaine just had her third baby and said newborn began crying at the lunch table. Before Mama could start nursing her, John saw the baby's distress and signed BABY NURSE repeatedly.

Then tonight at a restaurant, John applied NURSE to another baby-mama dyad and strung together three signs for the first time (when he still hasn't strung together two spoken words). There was a toddler in the restaurant screaming in terror because the waitress had brought a flaming dish to the table. Chris said to John, "That baby is crying, but it's okay, her mama will probably nurse her." Later when the same toddler began crying about something else, John signed BABY CRY NURSE. I thought that showed good observation and empathy!

Crash!

John has recently learned how to stack blocks, which now makes purposefully knocking down the towers hilarious. In this dark video, I said, "crash!" in a funny voice every time he knocked down his tower and he laughed wildly.

Besides yesterday being a chaotic day with my cooking attempts, it was John's favorite day of the week: trash day! The trash collectors seem mighty inefficient to Chris and me, but they must have an organized plan. The main garbage collector comes up one side of our street once, then down the other side of the street. Later, another truck will collect recyclables on each side, another truck will collect green waste, and another truck will collect bulk trash (what didn't fit in our one allotted can). John spends as much time as he can on Wednesdays poised at the front windows, waiting for the "thhhbt! vroom!" (trash truck). Every time he saw a truck, he signed to me that he wanted MORE "vroom"! Now he will spend the next six days asking us about when the "thhhbt vroom" will return.

Today I Cooked a Meal

Today was one of those days when I kept asking myself, "If I can't do this with one child, how will I do it with two and more?" In my calmer, saner moments, I know that we mothers learn how to handle gracefully more and more with each child, but in the chaos of today, I couldn't imagine it.

The day started like any other day and I had only one goal: I planned to make and deliver a dinner for a fellow parishioner who just had her third baby, and I would make double batches of everything to be efficient and serve the same meal for my family. Doesn't sound hard at all, right?

Started our day with the same old routine of nursing the toddler while he slowly wakes up, tromping downstairs to feed the cat, make the coffee, cook breakfast, put away yesterday's clean dishes. There was some excitement because my package of maternity clothing had arrived from JC Penny, so I tried on some outfits (which actually FIT and were PRETTY) before starting my day. Of course, I am glossing over normal life with a toddler. For example, showering, dressing, and doing one's ablutions involve unending intervention with the toddler taking clothes off of hangers, obtaining owies, getting into drawers, putting toothbrushes where they don't belong, and so forth.

John and I trundled downstairs and I chopped the vegetables to saute for my lentil soup. I began sauteing as John was melting down, then sitting crabbily in his chair and yawning. Is it nap time already? John is in that in-between stage of dropping his morning nap, so sometimes he really needs one, sometimes he doesn't. And some days he really needs one but won't take it . . . like today. I turned off the sauteing vegetables and hauled John upstairs to try to help him fall asleep. An hour later, he had enjoyed some quiet restful time, but was absolutely not going to fall asleep and now I had wasted an entire hour of my day.

I realized that I didn't have any disposable Tupperware in which to deliver this meal to the parishioner, so we'd need to go out for errands. Which would mean John needed to eat a snack first. Back downstairs, but the little munchkin refused to eat a snack. Fine, we're going out on errands anyway.

We got in the van. As long as we're going out, I might as well stop by the drug store for a couple of important items, so we went there first. I was driving on fumes, so we stopped by the gas station too. By now, John is signing that he wants to EAT, so I offer him what is normally one of his favorite snack bars. He refused, so I figured he must not be that hungry. Of course, he was still hungry enough to refuse whilst whining and complaining about it. Next we visited the grocery store where I had to walk up and down all the aisles three times before I could find an employee to point me to the Tupperware, which I had walked past repeatedly.

By now it was 12:30, past John's lunchtime, and dangerously close to his afternoon nap time. Plus I am vaguely aware that I have only five hours left to make this meal and get it delivered. We got home and I juggled cleaning the cat's litter box, throwing in a load of laundry, making lunch for John and me, and finally sauteing the vegetables for the lentil soup. I also preheated the oven and put the sweet potatoes inside, not setting a timer because, hey, I'd be back within an hour and it's not like I would forget them.

John ate his lunch and then threw a lot of food on the floor before I could get to him, so we had to go through the rigmarole of forcing him to pick it up piece by piece (which involves six-month-pregnant Mama on her hands and knees too, an increasingly difficult maneuver). Upstairs we went for nap time and I did manage to have him asleep within 20 minutes or so. (Meanwhile, I'm feeling successful that it took only 20 minutes, but wondering anxiously how I could manage even that while caring for two kids.)

The hurricane-toddler finally asleep, I went into my office to do some important paperwork that I really did want completed today. Sometime later I went back to the kitchen and turned on the range to resume cooking the lentil soup when I realized that the sweet potatoes had been baking for 90 minutes by now. Ooops! Thank goodness they were just going to be mashed for sweet potato corn bread tonight and sweet potato pancakes tomorrow morning.

Just as I turned my attention to the lentil soup again, John woke up, so I remembered to turn off the range before going to get him, change his diaper, and so forth ("and so forth" always means the many interludes per day when I nurse him, play puzzles with him, read a few books, tickle him, pick up after him, etc.).

Back to the kitchen we go and now it's close to 3:00. The lentil soup is nothing more than a few sauteed vegetables and I'm supposed to have everything delivered by 5:30. Now I'm really worried. I set up John in his Learning Tower at the counter with a puzzle and peanut butter on crackers. Of course, he coats his puzzle in peanut butter and is asking me to place every single piece in its place, as this is a new puzzle and he doesn't know how to operate it yet. At some point I called Chris (who was working away from home today) in heightened anxiety, asking when he would be home in hopes that he could occupy John while I cooked. No such luck today!

Finally I got into a groove, getting the lentil soup percolating, next tackling the baked chicken, then the sweet potato corn bread. In the meanwhile, John was occasionally playing nicely by himself, occasionally insisting I step away from the kitchen to play with him or read to him, and often trying to be very involved in my work. Every time I opened the refrigerator, he dashed inside and stole a condiment. The dishes were mounting in a tower in the sink, perilously close to crashing down. The linoleum floor was covered disgustingly with food, both from my spills and from my pretending not to notice John throwing food on the ground for attention. (If I'm not mistaken, if a parent doesn't have the energy or ability to properly correct an infraction, it's better to pretend not to notice it so at least the kiddo doesn't think the rules are changing, he just thinks Mom is blind!) At one point I investigated because I heard John in the den saying, "eeeeeew," where I discovered him sitting and staring worriedly at a pile of the cat's vomit on the rug.

Lastly I got the Lactation Cookies (much yummier than they sound) going. I was in "the zone," juggling two ovens, a soup on the stove, and various timers indicating when I had to turn this or stir that. The laundry had been switched to the drier at some point and a second load begun in the washer. John discovered that eating raw oats was good, throwing them was more fun, and eating chocolate chips was the absolute best.

My pregnancy-induced carpel tunnel syndrome has set in, just like it did during my pregnancy with John, and by then my wrists were really giving me trouble from all the physical labor in the kitchen. (Boy, that cookie dough was thick to mix!) Last night I woke up in the middle of the night with both my hands entirely numb, so I think soaking my hands and wrists in ice water before bed will be in order tonight!

I had tried several times today to call the parishioner to tell her I was coming with a meal, but I had an incorrect phone number for her, adding to my anxiety that she was at home, juggling three kids, wondering whether anyone would be arriving with food or whether she would be ordering delivery pizza at the last minute. How happy I was when Chris arrived home, I left John with him, and zoomed down the road to deliver the hot meal to her. (It might sound like I'm bragging because I did this nice deed, but--seriously--I am not. I have been only too aware lately how wretchedly small-hearted I am in Christian terms. It's one thing to make a nice meal in my spacious kitchen where I stay home and can easily afford buying the extra food this week. It's another thing, for example, to be the missionaries at our parish--regular folks like you and me--who recently went to Jamaica to a sanatorium for the profoundly mentally ill and wretchedly disfigured to feed them, bathe them, diaper them, and love them. Yeah, like I'm some heroine.)

So, today it took me an entire day to cook one meal. And now I am enjoying an hour to myself while Chris plays with John. (And while I try to ignore that John is almost continuously calling "Mama! Mama!" through several closed doors.) Downstairs awaits a disastrously messy kitchen, one load of laundry to be dried, three loads of laundry to be folded, and a den scattered with John's toys to be picked up.

Today was nothing special. I have one child. Just one. I'm not my friend Elaine who just had her third child six weeks ago, or my friend Sarah who had her fifth four months ago, or my friend Karen who had her thirteenth (yes, 13) seven weeks ago. Every time I think how fun it will be that John is turning two in fifteen weeks, I am gripped with fear that I am due with a newborn a week before that! On days like today, I think all I can do is keep children alive, breathe, and keep us all fed (because there is always macaroni and cheese from a box, if nothing else). How do I think I can obtain my LLL certification, do a little volunteering at church, meet my new goal of attending one weekday morning Mass per week, and maybe decorate our new home a little?

I will plod ahead, following the mothers who are going ahead of me, but I won't say that I'm plodding ahead fearlessly!

Spinning and Talking

John has an electronic phone (one of his few electronic toys) that plays music. His favorite is "number 8," Pop Goes the Weasel, which plays when he hits the 8-key. He was spinning in circles to that song when Chris began filming the below (and the music stopped playing).

This period of language explosion is so delightful to me. John can now make so many sounds that he imitates our words right on the spot and my new guideline for whether John has acquired a new word is if he actually keeps using it, instead of just parroting it back several times in one conversation. He's learning several new words per day! Recent words are nurse, rain, bye, hi, B (the letter), and read.

In other news, John is now drinking cow's milk! Pregnancy hormones eventually stop lactation, so I was very upset that John refused all other forms of milk I offered him (cow, goat, chocolate, soy, rice, oat, etc.) and was getting no milk at all for about six weeks. It is so important for brain development at this age! I was about to starve him out (refusing him all water until he would drink milk) when a friend gave me a great idea that has worked. Using an opaque cup, I began putting one tablespoon of milk in his water. The first time I put in two tablespoons, John spit it out like it was poison! Gradually I increased the milk every day and John became accustomed to it. It has taken only about a month and this morning he was drinking 100% milk! I note that he still will drink it only from an opaque cup. A clear cup and he rejects that weird white stuff!

FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
(Holy Day of Obligation)

The crowning of Our Lady by Paulo Veneziano
On this day the Church celebrates, in honor of Mary, two solemn festivals; the first is that of her happy passage from this world; the second, that of her glorious Assumption into Heaven.

Death being the punishment of sin, it would seem that the Divine Mother all holy, and exempt as she was from its slightest stain should also have been exempt from death, and from encountering the misfortunes to which the children of Adam, infected by the poison of sin, are subject. But God was pleased that Mary should in all things resemble Jesus; and as the Son died, it was becoming that the Mother should also die; because, moreover, He wished to give the just an example of the precious death prepared for them, He willed that even the most Blessed Virgin should die, but by a sweet and happy death.

Excerpt taken from a sermon by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church

Watering the Plants

Today's video is fairly uneventful, but shows John trying to water the plants in the sun room like Mama does. He keeps asking me to put water in the pitcher. I put in a cup or two and he spills it all over the deck, then signs for MORE sprinkles ["ssssss"] of water. I figure it's harmless fun and the sun dries up the water, so I don't even need to get any towels.

I would love to get video of John talking about an injury, but those moments are usually tender ones with tears drying up, so I hate to go get the video camera. As of late, John has to reenact and explain what happened many times as part of the "healing process." Since he usually falls, what he does is show how he was walking, then does a hand motion to represent falling. He says, "Boom! Down!" over and over again. Then I have to kiss the injured part. Sometimes he remembers injuries for days and will point to the place of the accident and remind me, "Boom! Down!"

A Spider Is Holding Me Hostage

Now that John is saying "yes," he has embraced his new word with vigor. Even though he acquires sometimes four or five words a day, he knows this word is special. He has invented a new game in which he takes a puzzle piece, holds it over the wrong spot, says "no," then holds it over the right spot and says, "yes!" I've taken video twice when I've heard the telltale "no . . . yes! . . . no . . . yes!" coming from the den.

A Spider Is Holding Me Hostage

Chris is on a business trip and it is trash day, so this morning I geared up to take it out myself. The endeavor was rather heroic of me because I had to strap John into the Ergo over my six-month pregnant belly and put a hat on him because we're in the middle of rain, which I didn't imagine would abate before the trash man comes, so I had to go out in it. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I went around to the side of the house and dragged the can into the garage so I could empty our small can into the big can before I proceeded. I opened the big can, noticed a huge spider web across the top, and then saw a spider the size of a silver dollar dart out of the can and onto the handle. I screamed and leapt backward.

I examined the situation and got a broom to try to kill the spider, but by then he had disappeared. I looked for a rope to tie to the can so I could drag it to the curb with a safe distance between me and the spider, but I couldn't find a rope or any other suitable device.

Finally I decided that the can would have to stay where it is until Chris comes home and next week we will request a bulk pick-up since we will exceed our one-can limit.

The can is now inside the garage sitting right behind my van so I think I'm trapped and can't go anywhere until Chris comes home in two days because there is no way I'm touching that can again. I just hope the spider doesn't take refuge inside my nice warm van the way a cockroach did a few weeks ago. (I was leaving an LLL meeting, opened my van door, and a giant cockroach scurried all around the inside where I would have to sit down, which required I be so brave as to kill it on the spot or I would have been trapped across town because there was no way I was getting into a vehicle with a live cockroach.)

I swear, the bugs are bigger here in North Carolina than in Georgia (where they were already decidedly bigger than in California). The other day Chris swears he saw a moth the size of his palm.

I feel like things are crawling all over me now.

First Ice Cream Cone

PHOTOS TO COME IF WE CAN TRANSFER THE PHOTOS OFF OF MY CELL PHONE CAMERA; THERE SEEMS TO BE A MALFUNCTION.

I am feeling particularly grateful today to get to stay home full time with John and future children. I was running an errand, toddler tagging along as usual, when I stopped into Bruster's Ice Cream where I ordered a single scoop, presuming I would share it with John. The woman behind the counter offered John a "baby cone"--a little cone with about one ounce of ice cream, which is free--so I accepted it.

Before I knew it, John was trying to eat his first ice cream cone (ice cream in an actual cone versus a bowl with me spoon-feeding him). We sat in the sun at an outdoor table beneath an umbrella and John made an absolute mess of himself (of course, I had ordered chocolate). He had the most fun and after he had polished off his cone, he signed for MORE.

As I sat there, I thought how glad I was that his first ice cream cone wasn't had on a field trip with his daycare center. Thanks to my husband's support (philosophical and financial) that we would do everything possible to avoid putting our children into paid care outside the home, even if our financial circumstances were dramatically reduced, I've been there for every first John has ever had. I've been there when I'm washing dishes while music is playing and suddenly my baby and I start waltzing around the room, having fun. I've been there every time he's been sick or tired from a rough night or just cranky for mysterious toddler reasons. I've never had to leave him unhappy with paid caregivers. And I've been there for countless times when I'm exhausted, aggravated, irritated, and think I can't take another moment or provide any more care giving, lest I go insane. I'm very grateful to my husband for sharing this goal!

I have a friendly acquaintance--who gave up her law career to stay home with her children--whose littlest son was diagnosed with leukemia a few months ago at age two. I remember getting that email from her one day when her son was first rushed to the hospital and she was told, "I don't know if he is going to be okay." Those kind of things hitting close to home make a parent think. We all feel sure that we will predecease our children, but if something tragic were to happen to John, I would be forever grateful that I got to spend all this time with him.

After John and I got home today, I recounted our adventure back to John, which is something I've recently begun doing. "We had so much fun today. We went in the vroom vroom to the ice cream store. And then you ate an ice cream cone and it was so yummy! Then we got back into the vroom vroom and went to another store. And that's where you told the nice lady 'bye bye!' And then we drove in the vroom vroom and came home to see Daddy!"

John kept piping in to my story, saying, "Cone! Yum! CONE! YUM!" And I felt so grateful to be there to share that spontaneous baby moment with that "baby cone," which I don't think is a small matter at all.

Thanks, honey.

"Yes!"

This age is such an imitative one, a mother can really capitalize on that fact. Last night John was having the grandest time hand-scrubbing my kitchen floor with a wet wash cloth. My happy little servant!
John began saying "yes" yesterday! It was out of the blue when we asked him if he wanted to go for a walk in the wagon with Mama and Daddy and he replied, "Yesh!" with a huge grin. We've since been asking him yes-questions just to get him to say it, although he is usually still shy about it. This morning I asked him, "Do you like to nurse?" and he quickly replied, "Yesh!" That melted this mama's heart. Here is video of John excitedly accepting a snack:

The television experiment continues. On Day #6, we finally watched a TV show as a family with John present, but other than that he hadn't watched TV in nearly a week. (That also means Chris and I are barely watching TV.) John has not been asking for TV, which is such a nice break for the constant requests, then collapsing in a tantrum of whining when I say no. I can't be sure, but I really do think he has been more pleasant and sweet. Whether the cause is the absence of TV or the increase in being involved in my activities or both, I can't say. All I can say is that it is nice.

Playing Ball and Question for Moms

Cute video of John playing ball with Daddy:

Twenty months is a fun age--a newly negative age with many behavioral challenges, but toddlers this age can be so darned cute. Here are some things John likes to do these days:

• Singing "no, no, no" all day, all over the house, in response to nothing.
• Having Mama count his fingers and toes. All I do is count them, "one, two, three, four, five!" in a sing-songy voice. Then he hands me another foot or hand and signs MORE.
• Having his daddy rub his ear, which makes John lie still limply and sign for MORE if Chris stops. I have tried to duplicate the special ear-rubbing, but it's just not the same.
• Wagon rides.
• Reading books all the time, to the exclusion of most toys.
• When daddy "steals his nose." We're surprised John is old enough to get the joke, but he thinks it is hilarious and asks for it again and again.
• Watching videos of babies (including himself).

I have a question for experienced moms: What do you do with your diaper changing table(s)? I have one upstairs in the nursery and one downstairs. The one upstairs is bureau-style with drawers where I store all my diapering supplies, although I actually change John on the bed now. I'm not using the downstairs one at all right now, but I remember those newborn days when the baby needs a dozen or more changes per day. I'm thinking it sure would be nice to have a secondary changing area on the ground floor so I don't always have to haul a newborn (and possibly two-year-old John) upstairs with me. But there's no good spot in this house for a changing table downstairs. I've heard that a lot of experienced moms end up getting rid of changing tables altogether, considering them big and clunky. My question is: Then where do you keep your diaper changing supplies? This question is especially for mothers who use cloth diapers, as we do.

Fun in a Box

Yesterday John spent a good 20 minutes quietly playing in a box of camping gear destined for the garage. Here he is holding a flashlight experimentally on his nose.
Day #3 of no television for John and he hasn't even been asking for it. Interesting.

Above is a blueberry crisp I made last night from a recipe sent by an Internet friend. We were intrigued by the mayonnaise in the crisp topping. The tang of the mayo does not come through in the flavor at all, but the mayo makes the topping the crispiest I've ever had. It was wonderful! Even microwaved on Day #2, the crisp topping was perfect. Here is the recipe:

Blueberry Crisp

4 cups blueberries

2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup regular mayonnaise

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash and pick over blueberries, then place in an 8 inch square baking dish. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, the sugars, and the cinnamon. Stir in the mayonnaise until the mixture looks almost like dough. Crumble the mixture over the fruit. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.

Backpack Invention

Among the treasures John has found while half-unpacked boxes are lying about is my old bicycle helmet. This morning, he successfully used it as a backpack of sorts!

As you can see, he was playing on the stairs and the turtle shell-like backpack struck me as a danger hazard, so I removed him to another area after taking these photos. Then I took away the helmet entirely because the inside black padding is disintegrating with age, leaving a patina of black fuzz all over the house. It was fun while it lasted.

I did an interesting experiment yesterday by not letting John watch television. Normally he is restricted to two TV-periods per day (after breakfast, after afternoon nap), which I think is pretty heroic of us. But his behavior has been particularly challenging and toddler-like lately and I wonder if one aspect is television, which is associated with so many difficulties, even when the shows are "wholesome." The flashing lights, the extremely short attention spans fostered--television in babies and youth is even being questioned as an environmental trigger of autism in predisposed children. (In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under two years old be allowed to watch no TV whatsoever!) All my life, I can't help but to have noticed that families which are TV-free raise quiet, peaceful, inventive children. So yesterday, off went the TV, which meant I had to find more ways to involve John in what I was doing. I let him hand me clean dishes from the dishwasher for me to put away, clean out the lint trap when I changed laundry, be involved while I watered and trimmed the house plants, and water the rose bushes while I did yard work. Overall, it was an incredibly peaceful day with a marked improvement in John's behavior. I did not end the day feeling like I'd been in a war zone. In full disclosure, it was also a really long day for me! Chris was out of town and I got none of the "John breaks" I normally get by having the TV on for periods. Nonetheless, interesting results, so I think we will continue to experiment.

Below is a photo I took a few days ago of John watching television. When the TV is off, I can't suppress his boundless energy long enough for him to sit still for five minutes, but when the TV is on, he'll often lie motionless and glazed, totally ignoring me, for 30-60 minutes. It's actually quite disconcerting!

Climbing With Tools

John has never been much of a climber, but yesterday I was puttering in the kitchen when I saw him out of the corner of my eye push a chair over to the mother's desk area. He climbed atop it and was reaching for forbidden objects when he noticed me watching. I didn't even say anything, but he quickly sat down in his booster seat as if he were just innocently getting ready for a meal.

Radio Flyer Wagon

Today Daddy surprised John with a little red wagon. We did choose the plastic Radio Flyer wagon. Note the two adjustable back rests, safety straps, and four drink/snack compartments! Positive luxury.
John always looks serious and perhaps uninterested when we put him in a wagon, but he is actually extremely pleased and never wants the ride to end. He's just showing his attentiveness in his typical melancholic way.

On another note, we are entering a vibrant new stage as John hits 20 months. His favorite words to sing as he runs around the house are, "No, no, no, no! BANG! Down!" (And that use of the word "down" is his referring to throwing food or toys on the ground--two frequent daily activities. It's the bad kind of down.) He says "no, no, no, no" all day long, singing to himself, saying it to inanimate objects, telling it to me and Daddy. Toddlerhood comes with a whole new host of challenges for parents, I can see that!

23-Week Ultrasound

On Monday I had what should be my last ultrasound in this pregnancy. I am 23 weeks along and everything looks beautiful. It is amazing how the ultrasound technician can show me organs, parts of organs, even the arteries in the umbilical cord!


I don't remember how active John was in utero, but this baby is positively a gymnast! I feel him* having spurts of awake, moving time frequently throughout each day. He was moving a lot right before and during the ultrasound as well, so I got to watch on film as he kept putting both his hands on his face and his thumb in his mouth. (*We did not find out the gender and I am using "he" only for convenience.)

Here is a photo of Baby Lauer from the outside. Yes--to answer the question that may be on your minds--I do look really big for 23 weeks! I've gained about 25% more than I "should" at this point. It is depressing.

And here are photos from the inside! I think this one is a side view with the baby's head on the left, turned toward the viewer:

A foot, toes on the left:
A profile view, revealing that this Baby Lauer seems to have Mama's nose like John does:
Another profile view, not as close up:

Click here to see what fetal development should be happening right now. Click here for a couple of beautiful photos of what a fetus this age looks like.

20 Months In the Making

A few days shy of twenty months after John was born, Chris and I went on our first date alone without him! Officially, our first alone outing was the day before when we left John with his Grandmom so we could go to Target and Lowe's for housewares shopping. That went well, so the next night we went to a lovely dinner at Brio.

Note below: I am wearing a dress instead of a practical-for-nursing top and skirt! My hair is down! (Wait, I thought a mother of a toddler was only permitted to wear her hair in a ratty ponytail?!) You can't see it, but I even dug out an old purse instead of hauling my diaper bag.

The meal was lovely. The food was delicious and the courses served slowly. The atmosphere was improved dramatically by not constantly managing a jumping, dumping, throwing, squealing toddler. Chris and I quite enjoyed ourselves, did not feel nervous, and John had a good time with his Grandmom.