24-Hour Disaster

     They say bad things happen in threes. Hopefully that is not the case for us! Our life for the last (slightly less than) 24 hours has been somewhat disastrous around here:

      Last night Josh and I were discussing the lack of progress our vegetable garden is making. I pointed out that we should probably be watering it more than we are, and suggested Josh mow the lawn and then turn the sprinkler on to quench our collective greenage. He agreed as long as I went in to get dinner started. While I was busy coordinating dinner items while simultaneously trying to watch Laura, he yelled in to me to close the windows upstairs because he was imminently ready to turn on the sprinkler. I ran up quickly and shut the guest room window because I knew I had had it open earlier in the day, but what I failed to remember was that Josh gets way too hot to sleep at night (as we have no air conditioning) and has to leave our bedroom window open. So, because I wasn't the one who opened it and was preoccupied with dinner/ Laura, I forgot to check and make sure it was also closed. It wasn't. (Do you like how I transferred the blame, there? ;)) When we finally went to go to bed at 11:00, we realized that the curtain, duvet, pillows, sheets, mattress, and floor had all received a good watering along with the vegetable garden and lawn. Great. Just what I wanted to be dealing with when I was about to go to bed. So we spent 15 minutes changing sheets and hanging bedding to dry before bed and decided we would air out the mattress and pull the nightstand away from the wall in the morning to let it all dry out during the day. 

DISASTER #1

     This morning after breakfast Laura made her way up to our room only to discover a grand new play area! Did you know that box springs are a great playground for a one-year-old to jump and roll around on? Neither did I. So I just sat on the floor in there and watched her for a good 10 - 15 minutes. Then I decided I was going to paint in the guest room while she napped today, and so went in there to prep while she was otherwise occupied. I was moving a shelf out of the way into the nursery when I came back to discover terrible terrible disaster #2. Laura had gone into the guest room during the 60 seconds it had taken me to move the shelf and tipped over the entire bucket of paint. It had a lid on it, but it wasn't on tight, and so I came back to a centimetre deep, two foot wide bright turquoise puddle of paint soaking into the beige carpet.
"OOOHHHHH NNNOOOOOOOO, Laura NOOOO!!!"
     She was covered in it. She must have sat in the puddle, because there was paint covering the entire tops of her feet, pretty much up to her ankles, and the bottom of her (beautiful and expensive) cloth diaper were all Carribean Sea coloured. She started crying because I was freaking out. I put her in the tub while I frantically tried to scoop up as much of the puddle of paint back into the empty can as I could. Not only had she managed to dump the entire can of paint and coat herself in it, she also got bright turquoise paint on our clean white duvet that was in the guest room drying out from last night's fiasco (and also on a variety of other things that were in there.) Additionally, there are coordinating turquoise footprints in the carpet leading away from the puddle. There was no way I could deal with this myself. Laura was screaming at the top of her lungs in the bathtub thinking the world was ending, and as soon as any of the paint dried, that would be the end of my hopes of trying to get it off. Josh was already planning on coming home for lunch today, so I called him and told him to come home early. When he got here he dealt with Laura while I tried to salvage the rest of the paint covered items. There was obviously no hope for the carpet... I tried using the Green Machine to suck up as much paint as I could, but it is stained beyond hope. There was a power bar casualty. The duvet I'm not sure about yet... I doubt I will be able to get all of it out, there will likely be a faint turquoise stain, which isn't too bad since it won't be visible once inside the cover. The paint came off the diaper cover, but the fleece inside will probably remain turquoise for some time, as will the insert. My clothes got in the line of fire and are probably ruined, and there was also a reusable bag that was hit, but it was the one thing that came clean.

DISASTER #2

     I said to Josh, "Could this have possibly been any worse?" to which he replied, "Laura could have drank the paint." Good point. Well played. I also came up with, "Well, at least we hadn't already replaced the carpet in that room," and, "at least I was able to save most of the paint (although there is probably significantly more hair in it now)".
     So now what? Well, hopefully our mattress from fiasco #1 will dry out and not grow mould. And as for disaster #2, I guess we will be replacing the carpet in Laura's new room. We have a new student coming next week, though, and something tells me it's not going to happen before then. I guess she is going to be living in a room with a large, ocean-coloured stain on the floor. Ugh.

Daddy's Girl

     This week Laura and Daddy have done some bonding. Laura is becoming more and more proficient at "using her words" (especially when reminded to as she starts having a fit) and, though she is unintelligible probably 90% of the time still, it is becoming easier for Josh to understand her needs.

     A few weeks ago I decided that I would continue nursing Laura before bed, but I would not be going back in if she was crying before she fell asleep, as every time I do it she only ends up crying harder when I leave again. This was now going to be Daddy's job. In a few short weeks he has become amazingly good at calming her down and getting her to go to sleep. I guess she knows that Daddy means business when he comes in and tells her it's bedtime. It's awesome.

    This week, however, she invented a new game that involves throwing all of her stuffed animals out of her crib, and then calling out mournfully, "Daddadddaaddadaa". He smugly goes up there to comfort her, because, after all, she is calling for him, only to find that it's because there are stuffed animal casualties all over the floor. He picks them all up for her and tucks them back in together. Five minutes later, repeat. lol. The other night she did it three times. He started seeming less smug about her calling for him at that point. :)

   
     Anyway, it's nice that they are able to share more moments like this now, and that Josh is happy about becoming more involved. I like that. :)

O Canada

     We had a glorious Canada Day long weekend here. Weather was great and we got to spend some quality time together as a family. <3 

     Friday morning we went berry picking. Josh generally isn't an outdoors kinda guy, and he also hates all fruit, so needless to say, he was less than excited about the idea. Once we got there though, he decided it was less awful than he had anticipated. "It smells like candy out here! I wish I liked strawberries." 

      We proceeded to pick one large basket of strawberries (and it only cost $6!) with which I'm not quite sure what we are going to do I ended up making pie. mmmmm. And Saturday morning we had crepes with strawberry/peach puree that were amazingly delicious (although Josh didn't like them and Laura threw hers on the floor for Chester. :S)    

     After berry picking we went to the beach for a little while. Laura has always enjoyed the water, and the few times she has been in the lake this year we were at a rocky spot that is not easily maneuvred by a one-year-old. So I had been wanting to take her to the sandy beach where she could play and run around freely. The water was a little cold, though, so we didn't spend much time swimming. I think she still had fun.

Daddy showing Laura how to make sand castles

      We came home in the afternoon for a BBQed lunch (what would Canada Day Weekend be without a BBQ?!) and so Laura could nap. I also took the opportunity to grab a snooze. I was laying on the couch wishing I had a blanket (but was too lazy and comfortable to go get one) when I realized Chester would do just as fine a job keeping me warm. So I invited him up and we napped together on the couch. <3

       I also used Laura's nap time to make some Canada Day cupcakes and cut up our haul of strawberries. (I can get so much done now that she finally naps well!)

   

mmm freshly picked strawberries :)

     After Princess Laura awoke, we took a family bike ride downtown to check out what was going on. Unfortunately, it appeared as though we had missed most of it, so we went to the grocery store to pick up a few things instead.

     We came home and had meatball sandwiches on garlic bread (buns) for dinner, at Josh's request, and then headed down to the park to watch fireworks in the evening. Laura seemed really interested in watching them this year, unlike last year when she slept through the whole thing. ;)

     The rest of the weekend we just kinda laid low and played around the house enjoying good food and each other's company. Sometimes it's just nice and refreshing to have a long weekend together where we were not stressing about going somewhere or about entertaining guests. <3

Mama Bear

     Hear me roar.

     Sometimes I get very protective of my baby... like when we are out shopping or something and she says a friendly "hi" to someone who doesn't reply... it kind of makes me want to run over to them and give them a shake, "Don't you know that my adorable little daughter just said 'hi' to you?! Say hi back!!"

     It's bad enough when strangers give her the snub, but when people who are supposed to love her do it, it sends me into a fiery rage. I won't go into details, but it will suffice to say that I am quite upset with a certain someone today.

     God help the first boy who breaks up with her.

New Skills

In the last month or so Laura has been learning and practicing some new skills/ games:

1. Peek-a-boo in the curtains

2. Peek-a-boo with her hands

 

3. Walking backwards

4. Going down the slide

 

... and this is what happens when we take her diaper off! :)

Homemade Bath Paint

     It's Friday!! ... and it's been a lonnng day.

     It has been rainy for the last few days, and I am getting a bit of cabin fever; it's officially summer now and I want to enjoy the outdoors! Also, Laura has been pushing her bedtime further and further back, going to bed around 9:30 the last few days, and frankly, I would prefer her asleep earlier than that. And because I am the parent, I get to decide these kinds of things. So today I didn't put her down for a nap to see what would happen, but that coupled with the cabin fever was perhaps not the greatest combo. She wasn't too bad, but I found it draining trying to keep Her Moodiness entertained and happy for the entirety of the day. I was racking my brain to come up with a fun activity to get us through the last hour before Josh got home, when I remembered a blog post I read by my cousin-in-law, Jen. She got the idea for bath finger paints from this blog. Isn't blogging great? I love idea-sharing. :)

     We still have about a hundred bottles of baby soap that were given to us when Laura was born (clearly people were worried we weren't going to bathe her), and everyone has cornstarch and food colouring on hand, right? So, although I didn't find the post with the recipe until after Josh was home, I was still able to quickly whip up a batch while I was making dinner for some post-dinner, pre-bedtime fun. :) Too easy.

I think she liked it :)

     Jen's blog also inspired me to go to the dollar store for some retail therapy (and to get more supplies to have on hand for rainy day activities) after Laura was gloriously in bed at 7:15.

Blueberry Princess

     It's been a while since I've posted because, sadly, my laptop has passed away. RIP. You will be greatly missed.
     I now have a much crappier, but new, PC laptop that I am still getting used to. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have a computer at all, but I had a very deep and serious relationship with my Mac, and I feel like we've broken up or something. It's like the end of an era. 

 

     Anyway, on to the real post: (Do I do that a lot? lol, seems like it)

cooking up steamed salmon & asparagus,
avocado & mango, chocolate tofu pudding,
and pureed squash & potato with coconut milk

     Today I decided that I am not going to worry about what people say about Laura's eating/ weight gain issues anymore. No more stressing = happier mealtimes for everyone. Since her check-up three weeks ago we have steadily been progressing towards different eating habits: 1) nursing after meals and snacks instead of before, and 2) trying to incorporate more calorie-rich (but healthy) foods.

 
     I went to our local breastfeeding group today and was given an awesome little booklet called "Eat Right, Be Active: A guide for parents and caregivers of toddlers 12 - 36 months" put out by the Ontario Public Health Association. Score. Amongst much other useful information, there is a page that contains information on what serving sizes should look like for 12 - 24 month old toddlers specifically (as opposed to 24 - 36 month old toddlers, for which the recommendations are slightly different). They even have a toll-free information service where you can speak to a registered dietician.

It says:
     Offer your toddler a variety of foods from each food group in Canada's Food Guide every day. For toddlers under 24 months old, there is no recommended number of servings for each food group. However, you can use the following chart as a guide on how much to offer. Let your toddler decide how much of it to eat:

Vegetables & Fruit: offer dark green and orange vegetables every day

• 1/4 - 1/2 medium vegetable or fruit
• 1 - 4 tbsp cooked, grated, or chopped vegetable or fruit
• 2 - 4 tbsp (1 - 2 oz.) 100% juice  

Grain Products: offer whole grain products every day

• 1/4 - 1/2 slice bread
• 1/8 - 1/4 bagel, pita, or tortilla
• 5 - 15g dry cereal
• 2 - 8tbsp hot cereal
• 1 - 4 tbsp cooked pasta, rice, bulgur, couscous, etc.

Milk & Alternatives: offer 2 cups of homo or breastmilk every day

• 1/4 - 1/2 cup (2 - 4 oz.) homo milk
• 15 - 25g (1/2 - 1 oz.) cheese
• 2 - 8 tbsp yogurt

Meat & Alternatives: offer beans, lentils, and tofu often, and fish at least 2x/ week

• 1 - 4 tbsp cooked fish, poultry, or meat
• 1 - 8 tbsp tofu, lentils, or beans
• 1/4 - 1 egg
• 1 tsp - 1 tbsp nut/ seed butter

      I have previously looked for this kind of information online, but never found exactly what I was looking for. As per this guide, Laura was eating about 6 - 10 servings of solid food per day (not including breastmilk) before her last check-up (I had a few days documented for the doctor). This guide says they should be having at least 13 - 15 servings per day. So we have been making efforts to increase her solid food consumption: when she asks to nurse, I offer her food first. It seems to be working in getting her to eat a little more, and she will still ask to nurse when she is done if she wants a drink.

     She is still a picky eater, and doesn't like meat of any kind, really. Chicken? No. Beef? Nope. Pork? Only in the form of ham. Sometimes. Fish? Maybe if it's undetectably pureed into something else she does like. She won't even eat eggs. So, she eats tofu a couple times a week, and we try to give her lentils and beans and things with other sources of proteins like cheese and nut/ seed butters. She isn't big on vegetables, either. I can coax her to eat them if they are pureed and being spoon-fed to her, but if I cut them up and put them on her tray they end up being pitched over the side to the dogs. She doesn't really like bread, either. So she gets her grains in the form of oatmeal, pasta and rice, oh and of course goldfish crackers. She does like cheese and yogurt, but if there is one thing she is really good at eating, it's fruit. Especially blueberries.  

"All gone!"