Howard County

Food For Thought

I thought this was interesting and I thought I'd share the link. I don't know what my opinion is yet because I haven't done enough research, but it seems something worth sleuthing out.

What's that Lassie?

Not that I'm comparing my son to a dog, but... At this age he can communicate with me. It's up to me to figure out what it is he's trying to say."Mommy, put me in the stroller and take me for a walk to the Bagel place by the grocery store."


So we did. We walked the mile to the bagel place. I got a Kona Coffee, YUM! Then we walked back. On the way there I found about 7 cans and bottles and I just stuffed them below the stroller. Turns out the bagel place doesn't have recycling, the grocery store doesn't have recycling.... grrr... On the way back I collected more and more and more recycling. I'm not saying I don't trust people, it's just that I don't trust people to pick it up let alone recycle it. It's ALL recyclable.

By the end of the walk this was how much I collected. I'm not kidding. What's the matter with people?!

This is Jack showing me that he likes his new $10 picnic table. He might not know how he's supposed to use it, but he seems to find it amusing. Score! (I got this table on the Maryland Mommy website in the area for Buy/Sell and Trade. They have lots of great deals.)

Yesterday

We went here.

Then we went to Davids (Natural Food Market). I have my NEW FAVE store! I like Trader Joes just fine for some things like fresh caught fish, ice cream sandwiches and specialty breads. I like the Giant for milk, bread and eggs, but I like Davids for basically everything else. Talk about selection!! And the prices are reasonable (and sometimes lower than TJs or Giant)!

We got Jack on pro-biotics because his system still isn't back to normal from last weekend's bug. As soon as I have info on it's effectiveness I'll update.

Temper Temper!

Someone, and I'm not naming any names, has been quite willing to share his frustrations lately. Whether I'm taking something away that he shouldn't have or he's playing with a toy and things are not going his way it's been quite 'dramatic' at the Fruitcake household as of late. He throws himself on the floor, arches his back, and kicks his legs. It's all very sassy.

The problem with this is, despite the new attitude, how can you get mad at that face?

Addiction

I have a crush on Dr. Drew Pinsky. I'll admit it. I have fond memories of his Love Line wisdom. His celebrity rehab show reminds me what I loved about my Psych and Counseling classes in undergrad and grad school. So, in a previous life I could have been an LCSW or an addiction counselor.

With this in mind I must voice my concerns about Jack and his addictive behavior. Today after nap we had a snack and then we went downstairs to play. I brought the crackers with me so during that critical 3:30-4:30 period before daddy comes home we can enjoy a little pick me up. Within 20 minutes of coming into the basement Jack spotted the box of crackers on top of the mantle behind my tea mug. He promptly sat down and started to cry. I gave him a few crackers and tried to hide the box somewhere else. Every time I moved the box he would find it and then fall to pieces on the ground in front of it until he got some more crackers.

I think Jack has a cracker addiction. Should I try to help him kick the habit or should I just enable the crap out of him?

Status Update:

Siiiiiiiiiiick.

So first Jack had a little stomach bug, then yesterday Matt was not so hot. He was feeling better in time for dinner so we went to the Melting Pot and enjoyed cheese, Coq au Vin and chocolate fondue. I ate so much that I was literally busting at the seams, I had to unbutton my pants at the table. Then 2 am rolls around and it's my turn to be sick. Well, oh. my. goodness. it was awful. I feel mostly better now, but I'm a little weak.

So we went to Carter's Birthday party and I'm just hoping against hope that no one we saw there will get sick because of us.

Fondue? Fon Doo!

Today was Carters 3rd Birthday. I cannot believe it! Here he is hanging in the sand at Play Wise Kids.

Jack took interest in the vehicles.

No, seriously, we couldn't pull him away.

We finally gave Matt's parents their Christmas present.

For their Condo at Penn State.

We went out to the Melting Pot while Matt's parents stayed home with Jack. Sometimes his early bedtime (6pm) gets in the way of other things, but I have to say, it's VERY nice that we can put him to bed and then go out to dinner. It makes the baby sitters want to come back because it's an easy job. Putting a small child to bed is hard enough sometimes when you know the routine and do it every day. I can't imagine how overwhelming it would be to put a kid to bed when I didn't 'know what I was doing'.

Brenna, I hear you with the frustration. Sometimes I get there too, probably not as often, but having an opinionated child might not be the easiest now but I bet you'll worry less when he's older. Amedeo is going to be that kid who has no problem standing up for himself and saying what's on his mind.

Tellin it like it is.

Woah! So someone is either not planning a second baby of their own or someone is calling me out! Show yourself, and prepare to duel.

First Date

Sometimes first dates are awkward.

Tonight we had Lindsey and Cady over for dinner. Cady and Jack sipped from their sippy cups and made moon eyes at each other. (Really I'm sure they were thinking 'Normally I dine alone... who sat this other small person near me?")

So this begs the question: Have you ever had an awkward first date? What made it awkward? Who was it with?

My first date with Matt started out pretty awkward, but then it got comfortable. Mostly the tight acid-wash jeans threw me for a loop, but that's just aesthetics. It would be like not buying a house because you don't like the paint color in the living room. ;-)

And then there were 5

Today Melanie hosted the mommies and we descended upon her. Leora was there in all her walking glory. She has transitioned to walking as the preferred mode of transportation. (Apparently she also likes carrying.)


Jack and Amedeo fought over the position known as 'chief button pusher' which we women folk call being a man.

And Mel beat me to the punch here... but the joke is that Jack and Jill went up a hill (or in this case climbed on a table.

Tonight during an innocent game of Peek-A-Boo a 5th tooth was discovered. Jack's left I2 tooth has come in. Our little man is growing up.

President's Day

Jack looked for deals in the ads from Sunday's paper.

Then he pulled stars out of the sky just to prove he could. I'm so proud that my son is so gifted!

Then we has green beans and peanut butter sandwiches for dinner. (Peanut butter is a BIG hit!) It was the fastest thing we could make. We were running late tonight because Emily 3 showed us the mother of all consignment stores in Hillendale, MD. It's enormous!

Them's Fightin' Words

I read this article in the Washington Post Magazine titled "Can One Household Save the Planet?"

This picture is from the Washington Post Magazine. Yes, I stole it, but I'm giving them credit!

And it got me all fired up! So I wrote this:



Dear Mrs. Mundy,

I read your article in the Washington Post Magazine. I was excited by the title and I assumed this article would help me live a greener life. The article started out well; I related very much to it as I am a mom of a 1 year old and many of the green-living choices add to my already overwhelmingly busy life.

As you discuss CFL lights I began to realize this article was going to be upsetting to me. I have also purchased the 'natural light' CFLs and was very annoyed to find that they were blueish and hospital-like. You could have taken a little responsibility for the error and acknowledged to readers that if you had read the packaging more closely or done some online research prior to your purchases you would have come home with CFLs that could dim or the CFLs that claim to be most similar to incandescent bulbs in color. You also site that the labor saved by not changing your bulbs as frequently is cancelled out when you have to take a trip to Home Depot to recycle the CFLs because of the mercury. This is incorrect for two reasons 1- incandescent bulbs are also supposed to be recycled and 2- when the CFL bulbs do burn out where do you go to replace them? Home Depot? Because if you do, it's not really an extra trip to recycle the CFLs, now is it? You could have also recommended to your readers that collecting bulbs and making one large bulb-recycling trip may be the best way to save time and energy.

I also had a laptop that took forever to start because mine was 5 years old. I turned mine off and unplugged it every night and in the morning I would turn it on and then go make myself some tea so that in the 5 minutes it took my tea to steep hopefully (fingers crossed) my laptop would have started up. I am disappointed that you are telling readers that unplugging your new laptop is something you won't do because you're afraid of frying the hard drive. By shutting down your laptop when not in use your hard drive spins down as much as it is going to. Leaving it plugged in, does nothing. In fact, it's worse for you lithium ion battery to leave it plugged in because it is best for the shelf life of the battery to never reach full charge.

Regarding organic food, your article rightfully addressed the confusion consumers experience when deciding between organic food packaged in plastic and non-organic food packaged in other materials. The plastic packaging on nearly all foods is recyclable just like the plastic bag covering my morning Washington Post. There is certainly a pro/con discussion every family should have when choosing between cost (buy cheap not organic not local), health (buy organic even if it isn’t local) and the planet (buy organic and local whenever possible). Your article could have drawn attention to stores like MOMs, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and Roots which all offer a cornucopia of local and/or organic food options which are often cheaper than organic foods sold at super stores. Roots, for example, sells local organic milk. MOMs sells local organic meats. My personal favorite is joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) where membership will buy you local and organic (or at least low in pesticide and fertilizer) foods for a price that even cheap grocery stores cannot beat. You can also buy meats direct from local farms, there is a turkey farm near my home that I can call and pick up a fresh organic turkey the very same week for the same price a butterball would cost someone at Giant.

I made the choice to cloth diaper my son before he was born. For the first 2 months he wore disposables because as I said "I'm not trying to be a hero" I didn't want to wash diapers by hand in the middle of the night. When I made the switch it was terrible at first. I was so annoyed that I had promised myself that I would do this because it was so much more work and being a new mommy was overwhelming enough without the added stress of washing diapers by hand 8 times a day. After about 2 weeks of annoyance it just became part of the routine and it didn't seem to be a huge inconvenience anymore, it was just something I did. My point is change is never fun, especially when you're creating more work for yourself, but if you hold on through the adjustment period it's very rewarding to know I'm doing the right thing for the planet.

There are plenty of frustrations and inconveniences and added upfront expenses incurred when going green. As a reporter I'm disappointed that you seem less informed about green living. I'm also very discouraged that your article makes going green seem 'too difficult' to do for the average family. There were many opportunities to turn your frustration into an opportunity to educate your readers. For example: If you had complained about the frustrations with CFL lights and then said "My problems could have been curtailed by taking some extra time to read articles online or the packaging more carefully in the store." There are CFLs that work with dimmers and they are marked as such at local hardware stores.

Those of us who are doing the right thing by going green find it disheartening when an article that could have been informative about green living had too much whine and not enough cheese.

Sincerely,

Emily Newton
Environmentally Conscious Busy Mommy

Well, that's different

This Valentine's Day we had a romantic fire in the fire place while we watched a movie. Resident Evil: Extinction. That's not weird, right?

Success!

Not that I'm trying to jinx myself... but I think switching Jack's nap times is actually working! Yesterday I successfully kept him happily awake until 11:00am. When he went down for his nap he fell asleep immediately. He slept until 1:45! I'm bummed that I will probably be missing moms group for quite a while because he'll be asleep during our normal meeting time, but if I get 3 hours free in the middle of the day to eat a normal lunch I say it's worth it!

New and Old

Good old swim class...We started a new session of Mommy and Me lessons at Kids First Swim School. Jack spent most of the class trying to swim away from me. This should be interesting.

The we went for a fast walk around Centennial Lake. Followed by some playing on the playground. This was new to us because it was our first time playing here!

We tried to bribe Jack to go through the tunnel with food. He wasn't interested. Who is this kid? Despite Jack's tunnel reluctance he did have a good time on the slides.

Mommy is silly.

Wanted

Have you seen this sweet baby? He used to be a good napper. He only cried when he needed to be fed, changed or held. I have reason to believe he has been replaced by a larger child who cries when frustrated and because Daddy is gone. He is also known to scream when he's tired but is unwilling to pick a nap schedule that works for me.

I have read that the transition from two naps to one can be quite difficult. Many women talk about weeks or even months of chaos, crabbiness and tantrums. Since he usually goes down for his first nap 2 to 2 1/2 hours after he wakes up in the morning (which means he's AWAKE from 11 am till 6 pm) so I'm trying to push the morning nap back slowly at 15 minute intervals. Tomorrow we have swimming class which starts when he used to go down for morning nap. I'm hoping that this activity will provide entertainment and distract him from his exhaustion before nap.

I find myself trying to think of new bizarre ways to keep him entertained as I tortuously deprive him of sleep. It's quite the interesting challenge.

Ahoy, Mateys!

Today was Jack's pirate themed birthday party. I may have gotten a little carried away with the theme.I made this sign.

I made this flag.



On the menu we had: Hummus, me Hearties; Swabbies Salsa; Grog; Wench's Wine; Land Lover Meatball Sandwiches; Seaworthy Shrimp Salad. Like I said, I might have gone a little overboard.

Here we have Emily, Lindsey and Emily hanging out in the basement.

Upstairs we had some more adult conversations Uncle Tom, Grandpa, Mr. Bob, Mrs. Linda and Laura stayed in the baby-free sanctuary.

Maya clearly had something to say!

Here's the birthday boy!

I baked carrot cake, my dad decorated it. He's got skills.

Jack ate his cupcake surrounded by his friends. Pictured in chairs l-r Brooks, Amedeo, Jack, Colin and Cadence. Standing above is Bayli (4) and we also had Maya (2), Andrew (2), Callie (2)and Carter (2 almost 3) who are not pictured here.


Bayli modeled her goody bag.


So did Andrew!

Now that's some booty!

No Time

No time to post! I feel like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. I have so much to do and so little time! All I have to say is, Martha Stewart, eat your heart out.

Ahoy!

Welcome to the World

Sierra Elizabeth born 1.29.09

Joy

We had a very joyful day today celebrating Jack, Brooks, Cadence, Amedeo, Christian, Jaden, Jillian, Jocelyn, Andreas, Leora and Ria's First Birthdays. Brenna hosted us in her home and everyone brought something- food, drinks, paper plates etc.

Jack dressed up for the occasion.

We did a gift exchange Leora and her mommy got Jack a very cool book and a colorful shape sorter. (I had been thinking about picking up a second sorter because we need one for upstairs play times so this worked out perfectly and it has different shapes and colors than the one I had.)


Then we ate cupcakes. Jack enjoyed his very much. I enjoyed mine as well, yummy!

Then we sat for a picture. Almost everyone made it Archana was at work but Ria came. Emily 3 and Sarah were both at work and their babies were in daycare. Here we have top row left to right: Alexandra (Andrea's sister and her son) Andrea and Andreas, Melanie and Jillian, Brenna and Amedeo, Emily 2(me) and Jack, Emily 1 and Brooks, Lindsey and Cadence, Marla and Leora, Dana and Jaden ... and bottom row Denise and Jocelyn, Tammy and Christian and Archana's Mom and Ria.

With one year behind us it makes me excited to see what the coming years will bring. More babies? More mayhem?

If you are wondering how the acupuncture is going, let me tell you- fantastic! I haven't used my inhaler in days (previously I was using it at least once a day.) I feel calmer and I did experience some of that illusive true joy today. (more on that later) My doctor has already graduated me from weekly treatments to bi-monthly treatments.

Regarding joy- I went on a hike into the woods behind the neighborhood today because I needed some 'found materials' for a project. On my way there I passed 5 cardboard boxes with the plastic wrap still attached from Deer Park bulk bottles, about 10 individual bottles, 2 cardboard soda can boxes and a bunch of other cardboard. I wandered to the woods, got what I needed and brought it home. I then grabbed a garbage bag and went back out to collect all the recyclables -because everything I passed is recyclable. As I was bending over in the mud behind the bushes a woman walking her dog walked by and said "Oh, that's so nice of you to do that. Thank you." And then I felt it, that warm fuzzy feeling- joy. So now I'm going to do that more often. When I come across a situation and think to myself 'Ugh, someone should do something.' or 'That shouldn't be that way.' I'm going to do the right thing, because it makes me happy.

The Stats

Jack weighs 24 lbs. 9 oz.
He is 31 inches tall.

He is walking and he can say 3 words. When I got home and told my mom the story from the Pedi's office she asked "Which 3 words?"
I said "Daddy, Kitty and cracker."
She said "I haven't heard Jack say cracker."
Jack said "Cracker."

Perfect timing, Little Man.

The Big ONE

Yesterday (January 31) we celebrated another friend's big ONE.

Jack wanted to wear his favorite shirt because it's ironic.

We went to the Emily, Seth and Brooks's house. Emily turned 30 and Brooks turned 1. While we were there Cady and Ethan enjoyed the magnets on the fridge.

Then Brooks brought all the kids into his room for a rowdy party and he showed us his flash-face. Later we had a sham-WOW demonstration.

Today we celebrated Jack's first birthday.

He woke up to some presents from GiGi and Grandpa. He got one from Mommy and Daddy too, but those are not pictured here.



Then we went to dinner at the Victoria gastro pub. Jack spent some time walking around the restaurant. He made friends with a little girl eating with her mother at the restaurant. He made such an impression that she sent over a yummy banana dessert.

Did we mention that she's 6? (This really happened and it was too cute!) Jocelyn (the friend Jack made) came over to make sure he enjoyed his dessert. I really almost died. Our waitress showed up with this bowl and the candle already lit and then she said the little girl wanted him to have it and I had to fight myself to hold it together. It was just so sweet.

He loved it, the cold of the ice cream was surprising to him at first but that didn't stop him from digging in. He ate the WHOLE thing. He liked it so much he dunked his fries in it!

Our food was amazing. We all had a terrible time choosing from the menu. I totally recommend this place, it's a little pricey but oh so tasty and the things that are on the menu are truly unique! Jack, for the first time in his life, was full. He actually started refusing food! Those of you who know, know what that means.

Happy Birthday, Little Man!