No Words

But she does communicate!  Kinda.  The Peach has several signs in her arsenal and only prefers to use them when she actually doesn't NEED to use them.  For example, I can ask her how she says "milk" and she will do the sign.  But, if she sees her milk up on the counter she will absolutely lose her bananas if I ask her to show me the sign.  She just wants the milk.  NOW.  She is a smart cookie.  She knows that I understand her needs.  So she doesn't see any reason to start speaking.  She is 17 months old and she doesn't have a single word.  Not even MaMa.  Oh how I want to hear her call me MaMa.  Her doctor doesn't seem to be concerned because she is communicating and doing all of the necessary babbling.  Her advice was that we need to start requiring her to communicate.  So, when she desperately wants the milk on the counter, we need to wait for the sign.  The boys HATE this.  "Just give her the milk!" B says.  I do admit that I end up just giving her the milk.  It is pretty torturous to watch her be so sad.  She will figure it out.  I know she will.  Eventually.  But for now, I have provided a little video of her favorite signs.  The turkey still wouldn't show me "milk."

Water Kefir

Image Source

We are not big soda drinkers in our house.  We never have been.  I am not sure why.  I don't really care for it, and neither does my husband.  But, the kids LOVE it.  Of course they do!  When I heard about water kefir, I knew that my kids would like it.  What is water kefir?

Water kefir is a fermented beverage that is full of beneficial bacteria, easy to flavor, and so easy to prepare!  It tastes similar to a fizzy lemonade and is chocked full of micronutrients and enzymes as well!  For those people who are looking for a healthy alternative to soda, water kefir would be great!  So, how do you make it?

Water kefir is first cultured by introducing the kefir grains into sugar water.  The beneficial bacteria and yeasts present in the grains metabolize the sugars and turn it into lactic acid.  I simply put my grains into a half gallon mason jar and filled it with six cups of water.  To that I added 1/2 cup of organic sugar, half a lemon, a slice of ginger and some raisins.  I placed a coffee filter over the top and secured it with a rubber band.  Two days later I strained the water kefir into two flip top bottles.  I capped them and left them on the counter to ferment for another day.  The result was a ginger ale flavored fizzy drink!  The second time I made it, I let the first ferment go for three days and the result was a less-sweet beverage which I thought was better.

Okay, this is all fine and dandy, but where do you get water kefir grains?!  You can always get extra grains from a friend - they multiply!  I found my grains at Cultures for Health.  They arrived dehydrated, so I just followed the directions for hydrating them before I could make my water kefir.

This drink is fun and ridiculously easy to make.  The kids love it and I do too!  Please remember that drinks like water kefir and kombucha are rich sources of beneficial bacteria and can have a detoxing effect.  They should be consumed in strict moderation (no more than 2 ounces per day to begin).

The Bonk

The science behind bonking is complex and I don't really want to dive into it here.  To simplify it bonking is when long-endurance exercise depletes the body of glycogen, the fuel the body needs for performance.  When glycogen is gone, the body turns to fat and burns that for energy.  This shift causes a burst of fatigue and performance collapses.  I am pretty sure all of us have seen video (or real life examples) of people bonking during sporting events.

At our home, every night at EXACTLY 7:30pm E bonks.  I have desperately wanted to capture this on video or in pictures, but I haven't yet.  E doesn't actually bonk in the way that athletes can from time to time.  Every night we are out front playing in the yard.  E is laughing, playing, cracking jokes, and being his jovial self.  But as soon as that clock strikes 7:30pm, he turns into this whiney, complaining,crying, blubbering mess.  This is usually when we know it is time to come inside and get these kids ready for bed.

I do hope to capture this phenomenon on film someday.  It is really quite comical.  7:29pm: happy go lucky!  7:30pm: BONK!  Amazing, really.

A Nasty Habit

T-Minus a handful of days until my husband and I leave for an amazing cruise to Alaska and the Black Cloud is creeping into the nooks and crannies of my soul.  I'm doing it again.  For months and months I have been anticipating this trip.  I have been researching all of the port cities, planning my wardrobe, dreaming about DAYS of alone time with my husband.  Lately the excitement has been palpable.  And, just as expected, the guilt and worry over things that are out of my control have started to settle in.

• Oh my gosh, I am leaving my kids for 15 days.  That is a LONG time.
• Is that too long?  I hope they don't get homesick.  What if they are homesick?
• I haven't been apart from The Peach for longer than two days.  Will she be okay?
• What if something happens to one (or all) of them and I can't get to them right away?
• What if something happens to US?  What if our plane goes down or the ship sinks?

That is just the tip of the iceberg.

I have never been more aware of my own mortality since becoming a mother.  Well, perhaps, that one time in 1999 when my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I were in a roll-over accident in the middle of nowhere Texas.  That changed things for me.  But back then it was a bit different.  It was more like this feeling that since my husband and I had survived that accident, the other shoe was about to drop.  And that pissed me off because I wanted to experience more life - getting married, having kids, traveling, having grandchildren.  Those feelings of impending doom went away over time.  But, since having children, they have morphed into a whole new set of neuroses.

Is this just one of the costs of motherhood?  Or am I simply bananas?  I have three pieces of my heart walking around outside of my body.  Exposed.  Vulnerable.  When I leave them, for longer than a day, all of the what-ifs creep in.  I'm not there.  I don't have control.  That is the fuel for the Black Cloud.

Fortunately, the knowledge that my children will be safely tucked away with my own mother and father in their cozy cabin in Pinetop helps to keep the Black Cloud at bay.  They will be safe.  They will be happy.  They will have FUN!  I know all of this to be true.

So, go away Black Cloud!  Planes don't crash every day and I don't think I have ever heard of a cruise ship sinking (besides the Titanic).  This will be an amazing trip and I know I will be bummed out when it is over.  However, I am certain that what I have waiting at home will help ease the vacation hangover.  So, from now until I leave, I need to cool it with the worst-case-scenario thoughts and just go with it.  Frankly, I don't have the energy to be excited and worried at the same time.  Being excited sounds like more fun.

(Please keep in mind that comments referring to cruise ship accidents will not help my neuroses.)

More Adventures in Potty Talk

E has started to refer his private part as "Black Beauty."

Should I be concerned?  When will this end?  I have a feeling that all of the correcting and redirecting won't help much.

Sigh.

Raising Children

Image from Logophilia

I have been thinking a lot lately about how I can make sure that I raise loving, good people.  My husband used to think that since we are good people, we will raise good people.  While part of that may be true, there is a lot more that goes in to it.  Parenting is tricky.  It's hard.  There is no one right way.

How do you teach a child to be supportive and encouraging to his brother?  When the older child always has to be first, better, faster, bigger, than the younger brother, how do you teach him that it doesn't matter?  How do you teach him to boost his brother's self esteem?  How do you teach the older child to let the younger child win once in a while?  How do you teach a child empathy?

How do you teach a child to do what he is told, even if he doesn't like it?  How do you teach a child who has to defend himself and say his side of the story RIGHT NOW to wait?  How do you teach a child healthy ways to manage stress and anger?  How do you teach a child that he doesn't have to be right all of the time and it is okay to admit to mistakes?

As a parent how do I avoid losing my bananas when a child pushes me to my own extremes?  How do I make sure that I don't say things that I most definitely don't mean?  In times of stress, where do I find the patience and love that I try to teach my children daily?

Most days, parenting is fun.  The kids are hilarious and delightful.  We have so much fun together.  But some days I wonder how we managed to get this far.  This is truly an adventure.  Most definitely the hardest thing I will ever do.

Good thing they are cute.  And have squishy faces that make me want to kiss and squeeze them all day long.  That makes the hard days a bit easier.

The Reverse Food Pyramid

I recently stumbled upon this Nutrient Dense Food Pyramid courtesy of Sandrine Hahn of Nourishing our Children that addresses where our priorities should be.  I love it.  And, I think our country would be a much healthier Nation if we were all to follow guidelines such as those in the picture above as well as the Weston A. Price Foundation's Healthy 4 Life dietary guidelines.

I think people often wonder why our Nation is suffering from obesity and why our children are diagnosed with Type II Diabetes.  Perhaps we should look at our Government's dietary guidelines.  What if they are wrong?  A critical article published in the journal Nutrition towards the end of last year addresses this very concern.  While it is quite long and not necessarily "light reading material" it is still interesting to read.  I am the first to admit that I am not a scientist.  But, I am a reader, researcher, and advocate for my own health and the health of my family.  Just like all mothers out there!

Based on the picture above, how great would it be if we weren't afraid of animal fat!?  I have read a lot of interesting information on the subject of saturated fat and I am glad that I am no longer afraid of butter.  Or whole milk.  Or cream.  I made the switch to real whole milk last summer and I don't have any added pounds.  I put butter on all of our vegetables, I scramble my eggs in bacon grease (when I have it) and I don't feel guilty about it.  The Weston A. Price Foundation is a great resource for information about Traditional Food as well and also has a bunch of research to comb through.

I think it will be really hard for the majority of Americans to switch to a more Traditional Diet.  I feel really lucky that I live in a country where I have the power to choose the food that I eat.  That being said, I still gag a little when I think of consuming organ meats.