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!"

Today's Post is Brought to You by the Letter L

L is for Lightweight

     Laura had her 15-month check-up last week. She has only gained a few hundred grams since her 12-month check-up, which is not enough. She has severely fallen off the bottom of the growth chart. It would be one thing if she were just small, but she has barely been gaining any weight at all, which is not normal. This has actually been going on since she started solid foods. She was small when she was born, but did a good job catching up in the first few months when she was exclusively breastfed. Once she started on solid foods though, her weight gain started tapering off... a lot. The doctor has finally decided it is time to be concerned about it, and suggested we stop breastfeeding so often (she still nurses about 8 times a day) so she would be hungrier for food. He also suggested giving her two bottles of full-fat cow's milk per day in place of feedings. From what I can tell, there is no reason why she needs cow's milk when she can have breastmilk. It doesn't have more calories than the rich hindmilk, and breastmilk is produced specifically for her. Giving her milk from another species, a species whose digestive system has relatively little in common with the human digestive system, seems odd to me. Cow milk is for baby cows. And, as such, I am not resorting to that yet. She does get (organic) cow's milk a few times a week to provide variety, like any other food I give her, but it's not something I would like her having every day, let alone in place or something I can make for her. For now, I am trying to cut out her 'snack nursing' so she is hungrier at mealtimes, and make sure she takes a full feeding when she does nurse, so she gets to the fatty hindmilk.
    And on the topic of the doctor's visit... I mentioned that Laura seems to have 'lost' a few words (thank you, baby, all done, etc.) that she used to say, which seemed strange to me. He replied with, "Oh, are you worried about Autism?"
     Ahhh!

     "No... it hadn't actually crossed my mind."
     "Oh, okay, well I wouldn't worry about it for right now, then."

     Hmmm, okay great. Like I'm not going to worry after you go and say something like that! :/

     After we got home I went and researched symptoms, and alarmingly, Laura did seem to match up with a handful:

• Does not consistently respond to his/her name.
• Doesn’t follow directions.
• Seems to be deaf at times.
• Seems to hear sometimes, but not others.
• Used to say a few words or babble, but now he/she doesn’t. Okay, she still talks, but she is missing words that she used to say, which is apparently a big red flag.
• Has odd movement patterns such as flapping arms or shaking body, especially when excited.
• Seems hyperactive much of the time; is always “on the go.”
• Is often uncooperative or oppositional during daily routines.
• Seems to prefer to play alone.
• Is very independent for his/her age.
• Walks on his/her toes. (Sometimes)

      No one else seems to share my concern, and honestly, I hadn't thought of it until the doctor brought it up. Please, other moms of one-year-olds, tell me your kids do some of these things too! I'm sure she's fine, but still something to keep in mind, especially since the younger they are diagnosed, the more likely treatment is to be effective. And the other thing is, is that Autism occurs as a range of severity, so it's possible she could just have a mild case. 

L is for Laughing

     On a lighter topic, Laura has recently developed this horrible-adorable Fake Laugh. I mean, she uses it when she is happy or excited about something, but it just sounds so forced and ridiculous. LOL

L is for Lawn

BEFORE

AFTER

      Yeah, we have one now. It's sweet. L is also for Letting the Dogs in the Yard Again. Willow was soooooo happy to have her stompin' ground back.

     We still have a strip at the back of the yard that is "au naturale" (read: weedy) because the yard is sloped there and we are still hoping to build a retaining wall to level off the sloped part. So we are currently trying to teach the dogs to do their business there instead of on our beautiful new grass.

L is for Legumes

     Okay, maybe this one is a bit of stretch seeing as I'm pretty sure we didn't actually plant any species of legumes, but legumes is French for vegetables, and this weekend we finally got around to planting our vegetable garden! I'm really excited and have no patience to wait for the seedlings to sprout. We planted a few things early in the house, all of which died except the peppers. I gingerly transplanted our mostly-dead tomato seedlings, but I'm pretty sure they aren't going to make it, especially since, despite my best efforts to be gentle, Laura thought she would help by squishing and smashing the mud bombs (aka tomato soil pellets) on the ground. :/

L is for Line-dried Laundry

     (See what I did there? Two L's. If we were playing Scattergories, I'd get double points.) :)

Last summer when we were taking down the old shed, I almost got rid of our clothes line. Now, I am sooo glad I didn't! We could really stand to save a few bucks at the moment, and now that it is finally nice enough, drying our clothes for free outside is a great way to do that! And it's way better for the environment, too! Brings me back to the good old days when we lived in Australia and our house didn't even have a dryer... mmmm crusty towels <3

L is for Lack of Laptop

     This weekend my laptop spontaneously died while Marisa was using it. It is currently at the computer hospital, and though it was looking grim, I'm hoping for good news later on today or tomorrow. Please pull through, we're all rooting for you! 

Anniversary Weekend

     Yes, I realize it is Tuesday already. It's the first chance I've had to sit down for long enough to write a new post, though. 
     Also, can you say hot today? Wow. I just looked up the weather and apparently it's 32, feels like 38 with humidity. It is days like today that make me realize why eternal damnation in a firey hell would be considered torture. We'll just say I'm not one for the heat. I get all red, and sweaty, and then sometimes people get confused and think I'm dying because I look so awful. True story. I really much prefer fall, winter, or spring over days like today. Or at least some A/C.


     But enough of that. On to the real post. 

     Last week was my and Josh's 4th wedding anniversary. 
     I've had lots of people tell me how hard it is to be married, and sometimes they're right. I mean, sure, we've had some ups and downs, but for the most part, I have really enjoyed being married for the last four years. Josh is so easy to get along with, so devoted to me, so funny, so supportive, and really just so great in so many ways, that it has been a pleasure. I consider myself lucky.
     Since Marisa is staying with us and for something to do, we decided to celebrate our anniversary by visiting Niagara Falls. Saturday morning we all hopped in the car and drove down, dropped off our things at Josh's cousin's house, had a bite to eat, then hit the town. We had a gorgeous day for it, too. 

      We hit up the Maid of the Mist first. Laura less than enjoyed it. I think she thought the world was ending because everyone she could see was wearing blue bags, people were screaming, and worst of all, she was getting blasted with tiny droplets of very cold water! Poor baby. She calmed down by the end of it, though.

     
     

     After that we walked the walkway along the falls, enjoying the view and the sunshine. 

Laura trying to jump into the fountain 

     When we got to the end, we took a beer break, and then ventured down to do the Journey Behind the Falls. I found it to be less than spectacular. Got a nice pic of the Maid of the Mist, though.

    After that we headed back to Adam and Adele's for a BBQ dinner. They were really great hosts. :) We hung out for the rest of the night on their patio. After I got Laura to sleep, I drove Marisa down to see the falls lit up at night.

     Laura decided to wake up at 3:30am for the day, and proceeded to keep us awake for 2.5 hours until we finally had to let her cry in her playpen to go back to sleep. Not the highlight of my weekend, for sure. 

     We were very tired Sunday morning, but got up to make our reservations for brunch at the Skylon Tower. Brunch was nice, but the view was even better! 

     We went up to the observation deck after to have a look around, and then headed back to Adam and Adele's. We visited for a little while longer and then hit the road home. Had a nap when we got back, and a quick dinner, and then to Josh's baseball game.

     All in all a great weekend!

Home Hair Cut

15 month picture with Chester

     Laura turned 15 months old today. I've been taking a series of pictures of her with Chester every month to see how she's changed. Looking at today's picture, I realized her hair has grown a lot in the last little while.
     I've never given her a full out home hair cut yet, only lopped off her mullet and trimmed her bangs. 

First trim of the bangs  at 12 months
(always done while sleeping in the past)

She was coming due for another trim of the bangs, and after seeing this picture, I decided today was the day that I was going to give her the first trim of the rest of her hair, too. 
     Her hair hasn't grown exactly evenly since I cut her mullet off, it seemed a little longer around her ears than at the back. So I figured I would just sort of even it out and let it all grow back together at the same length (and hopefully rate). The problem is, Laura doesn't nap in her highchair anymore. And, by the point in the day I made this executive decision, she had already had her nap, anyway. So there really was no way around giving her this haircut while she was awake. 
         
     Enter Sesame Street. 

     So I put her in her chair, set her up in front of the TV, turned on her Sesame Street Rock 'N Roll DVD, and went to town. To my surprise, she was actually very tolerant of me cutting her hair while she was awake, so I can't even blame the somewhat ridiculous end result on her being wiggly and uncooperative... 

     The first problem was that I cut her bangs a little shorter than I usually do. By accident. I was worried I would get between her and the TV and then she would move or jerk or push my hand away while I was cutting them. So yeah... too short.

     Then, after her bangs, I went to trim the back to make it all the same length, and I guess I got a bit carried away, as it too turned out much shorter than I originally planned. I was actually having a lot of fun by this point, though. It's like playing dolls and hairdressers... except the repercussions affect real live people now. :D The idea of this somehow made me giddy.

     So there you have it. Laura's first pretty much bowl cut. But, as the Great Cousin Becca said, "Every little girl has to rock a bowl cut at some point!" Sorry Laura, I guess it's a right of passage. Now that I have a little experience, hopefully next time we'll do a better job. :) Thankfully, hair grows back, and we can still manage pigtails for now.


     Josh was not impressed when he got home.