Friday, July 22, 2011

Bathtime and Personalities Emerging??

This is our now 3-year old taking a bath at 4 weeks of age.  He was inconsolable for weeks in the bath (and even is now, sometimes).



This is the new baby at 4 weeks old, taking a bath.  Notice he is ok with being in the water, and wants to hold hands.


So it is an interesting idea that personalities are set already, and it is just a matter of letting them unfold.

Maybe it is the nature vs. nurture debate all over again... notice the water running onto our first child and with the second, we gently set him into a warm bath.  Also notice Daddy doing the first baths and Mommy in the second photos.

Maybe there is also something to be said for personalities and birth order.

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Plain Shorts Upgrade

These shorts were plain blue hand-me downs, sitting on my desk because the waistband elastic had come loose.

I couldn't resist making them cuter...

I added a stripe down each side.  I didn't even fold over/ hem the appliques, since I used knit scraps (Michael Miller knits guitars and dinos).

Since he helped with them, I wasn't able to get a photo of them before they HAD to be worn... so we both took pictures for a bit...



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New Pillowcase to calm a TODDLER

Our 3-year old got a spill on his pillowcase from his bedtime snack.

It caused a major crisis and he refused to go to sleep without a case on his pillow (and we, of course, had no backup).

Mama said she could sew one in 6 minutes, so off I went with the dirty case to find some soft fabric in my stash.


I found a flannel remnant with giraffes on it (score- they are his current favorite), and set to work.

I cut around the current pillowcase, leaving room for a seam allowance.  I then cut a second piece, leaving room to cross them over in the middle.

Then I cut the back piece in half and hemmed it.  I put it and the front front sides together and stitched all of the way around, overlapping the back pieces (I should have overlapped a bit more).  I then stitched again all the way around with a faux serge (wide zig zag).

Viola! In 9 minutes (including photos)...

But, what?? You fell asleep without it???
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Kids' Cooking Idea: Birds in a Nest


Or are they called eggs in a nest?

Regardless, it's good toddler fun to use a glass to make a circle in a slice of bread. They also can peel butter for your skillet.

After they do that, the grown-up can put the butter into a skillet to melt. The toddler can crack the eggs into a bowl (one at a time), then the grown-up puts the bread into the skillet, and an egg into each piece.

Turn it down to medium heat, flip when it looks like the whites are setting, then take it off soon after.

It is fun to dip the middles into the "liquidy part" in the center.

Yum! (Plus he eats these crusts...)
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Monday, July 18, 2011

Book Review: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan


"Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants."  This is how Michael Pollan says to eat.  He explains his 2008 book In Defense of Food in the introduction as a handbook of how to take his ideas from his 2007 book The Omnivore's Dilemma and put them into practice.

When The Omnivore's Dilemma was published, it took the world a bit by storm.  Pollan ended up mainstream, telling us that the Standard American Diet (SAD) was not the best way of eating.  He did this in a roundabout way, never quite offering an alternative, but offering plenty of stories and giving us quite a good read.

In In Defense of Food, Pollan takes his argument that much further.  He divides the book into three parts: 1. The Age of Nutritionism, 2. The Western Diet and the Diseases of Civilization, and 3. Getting over Nutritionism.  He clearly lays out this thesis in his introduction, then argues his points using plenty of evidence.  His high school English teacher would be proud of his straightforward writing in support of his argument and ample use of evidence.

I liked his first section on the Age of Nutritionism.  He approaches the topic with a bit of dry humor and explains it in an interesting and informative way.  His argument against low-fat eating, and explanation of how we (as a society) began to think about foods as fuel and about them as a mathematical equation of nutrients is compelling and made me stop and think.

I found the second section on the Western Diet a bit dull and repetitive, but I enjoy reading books supporting the ideas of Weston Price and have read so much on the topic that nothing he said was groundbreaking for me (my favorite cookbook is Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon).  I can appreciate that he is helping bring these ideas more mainstream, and perhaps using the notoriety he gleaned through the popularity of The Omnivore's Dilemma.  He does explain how the Standard American Diet has been evidenced to make us sicker, and briefly catalogs these diseases.  If you have never read about this before, it will open your eyes.

In the third part, he gives practical suggestions of how to, "Eat Food.  Mostly Plants.  Not Too Much."  Again, I found his suggestions repetitive, but again, I love reading about this topic.  My favorite suggestion of his worth repeating is to only eat food that your great-grandmother would have known was food.  He also points out how difficult it is to decipher which foods are processed sometimes, and gives some ideas about how to do this.

Overall, this is a good read, especially considering that Pollan's credentials are merely those of a thorough researcher and excellent writer, but those are enough to make his points.









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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Through the 3-Year old's {camera} Lens

My 3-year old has our old camera and grabs it often to take photos.

Here are some of the things he thinks are camera-worthy...




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Friday, July 8, 2011

Sweet Potato Cookies or Cupcakes or Cake



leftover sweet potatoes (3-6 baked, skins on) - or baked pumpkin 
about a stick of butter, melted is easier
about 4 T coconut oil
teaspoon cinnamon
some nutmeg (about a teaspoon or half of one)
up to a teaspoon of ground cardamom
about 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
about 1/2 t sea salt
1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans (sprouted would also work)
1/2 cup homemade flour (sprouted and dried and ground buckwheat or wheat)-- or whatever flour you like to use- up to 2 cups (more makes them more like cookies and less like pie)
4 shredded carrots (did these 1st in food processor, then switched blade)
2-5 eggs (more makes them less like cookies and more like pie)\
scant teaspoon baking soda
2 bananas
nectarine

I think that's everything- these are very forgiving...

Bake at 325 for 25 min in cupcake cups or as cookies or an hour in a round cake pan

The icing we did was blended blueberries and bananas (2 bananas and 1/2 cup blueberries). Could also add 1/2 cup soaked cashews but we were impatient and didn't have any made.

These are modified from Nourishing Traditions.



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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Newborn Mei Tai Hold

Carrying in the Mei Tai works well- by adjusting the height of the carrier body by tying the straps under the baby's body. Otherwise, it isn't tight enough and the baby slumps a bit inside.
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