Toddler Talk

Delphinium is now a chatterbox of the first order.  Oh not when we're out in public or around our friends, then she's usually Little Miss Observant.  When we're home together, just the two or three of us, she does not stop.  It all started about six months ago when she was on her changing table early one morning.  She looked up at the picture of a bear holding a jar of honey and said "Bears like honey!  Bees make honey! Buzz buzz!  Mommy like honey!" Before that she'd been sticking to two word "sentences."  Now the lid was off the jar.

She does ask the usual toddler questions of "what that" and "who that" quite a bit, but she also uses more complex little tidbits that she's learned as well.  When choosing something she will often start by saying "Hmm let me see..." She loves to announce the next activity or destination, so we get a lot of "Mommy and Del go to the library!  Get new books!" She also likes to offer commentary about the people she sees so "Baby cry.  His mommy say 'no no baby no cry." is quite common  The other day, out of the blue, she said "Nice pants Mommy."

Then there are all the South Africanisms she has threaded through her vocabulary.  I assumed she had an American accent (I am around her waaay more) until I took her to visit some of my old co-workers, and they admired her cute little accent.  She says "plasters" for bandaides, "wee" for pee, "bum" for butt, and both tomatoes and vitamins come out with a South African flair.  It's incredibly cute if you ask me.

This morning on the way home from toddler class, she was sitting in her seat and singing along to the music.  As we turned off the main road I turned down the sound since it no longer needed to compete with the sound of the engine.  I assumed the change would go unnoticed.  Pretty soon a voice from the back said "Mommy! Mommy!  Muse more LOUDER!"

Vegetarian Food on Chow

For those who like to cook meatless Mondays, or those who cook vegetarian every day, Chow has wonderful collection of recipes for you!  The 36 ideas run from soups to casseroles to pizzas, and they offer a wide variety of flavors from all sorts of international cuisines.  This is not your mother-in-law's eggplant parmigiana.

Blog Changes

Gah!  Not only am I forced to use Chrome, but there is an entirely new blogger to contend with!  I suppose if I don't want to be classed as a bitter old lady who hates all new tech, I will have to give these things a try.  Just forgive me if I accidentally post pictures of my cat.

Second Second Birthday

In all my gushing over Baby's fabulousness, I forgot to record what we actually did for her birthday  Well actually it was for her birthdays.  One celebration simply was not enough, so we opted to break her events up into two.  First we held a toddler party at her music class.  Two year-olds and near two year-olds only!

Kindermusik and Miss Anna did a wonderful job of throwing us a party where all we had to do was show up with food and guests.  They did the set-up, clean up, and all the other hosting jobs.  It was FABULOUS.  Being pregnant and planning a party in our home for lots of people was just not in the cards for me.  This way the kids had an absolute ball singing songs and playing games, and when it was over we walked right out the door!

That was over the weekend; on her actual birthday we went out for fondue with her uncle and cousins.  Since going I've read that The Melting Pot is not suitable for children under six, but we did not find it to be so.  She enjoyed the cheese and broth portion of the meal, but the choc dessert was what really made her happy.  Given that chocolate and fruit are pretty much her most favorite treats ever, I knew it would be thus.  Her face when she ate her first bite was priceless, and then her face when she was finished was pretty funny as well.  Happy birthday Baby.

Birthday #2

Whew!  The baby just turned two!  I am obligated to say "where did the time go?"  Besides it is true.  I really am amazed by how quickly that baby business is over.  I guess that's a good thing given how intense it can be, but I'm sure I'll still miss it from time to time.  At least her dad and I can pat ourselves on the back a bit and say "we did it!"

She's turning out to be a lovely little person, and I get such endless fascination from watching her unfold.  She's clever (such a little scientist), she's kind (out of the blue I got a kiss on my nose the other morning), she's funny (jokes are a new discovery), she's brave (loud noises and new situations don't phase her), and she loves with an open heart.  She lives for those days when Daddy stays home from work, we go to Grandma's house, or her cousins come for a visit. 

She loves to play outside, go for walks, do art projects, play with dolls, trains, animals, and anything that can be organized.  She makes tea for anyone and everyone, and if you are lucky you might get a side of imaginary blueberries.  She also loves to read stories, and you can find her sitting on the couch with a huge pile of books.  Sometimes she wants a grown up reader, while other times she prefers to peruse them herself.  Sometimes I even get "go away Mommy" if she's in a really singular frame of mind. 

Thanks to everyone who's helped us along the way!  All those friends who came to see us or asked us over for a playdate.  Everyone who's chatted us through a rough day, or met us for lunch when we were barely coherent.  Most especially to Grandma who has been there at every turn, so kind, so patient, and so willing to help.  We could not have done it without you.

Oh the Itching!

I normally get a few early spring sniffles, but this year it's gotten more than a little out of hand.  I spend a good chunk of my time wiggling my ears, blowing my nose, and sneezing, sneezing, sneezing.  It wakes me up at night, and it haunts me all day.  Someone told me that pregnancy can make these things worse, but with my first baby I had no trouble at all.  No post today due to itchiness.

Discipline Help

I'm sorry to report that Delphinium is not perfect.  In fact, she's becoming quite willful at times, and it takes all of my creativity to find ways around her, um, difficulties.  Mostly I just try to ignore the silly stuff (oh I can see you are screaming because you only got two dried berries in your cereal today) and I still do a fair amount of distraction and redirection (you cannot paint Mommy's purse, but you can paint this cardboard box). 

The real trouble comes when she does something that absolutely must stop NOW.  Running away in public is not common, but occasionally the whim catches her.  I catch her up and make her stick right next to me (how does one accomplish that at nine months pregnant?).  The other sticky one we are facing is hurting the cats.  She can be incredibly sweet to them, and I find her giving them kisses and patting them carefully.  Then, out of the blue, she will pull their tails enough to make them yowl.

This is where I'm trying to use time-outs, and I make her sit on the step for a minute followed by a kitty apollogy.  We've talked and talked about how hurting is not nice, we don't hurt our friends, etc. but it does not seem to be helping much.  Any great ideas, oh parents, or should I just give the time-out more time to work?

House Hunting Round #3: Part 3

Still going!  We've seen 33 houses to date, and none of them have been exactly right. Now that everybody knows about the baby, we can admit that, yes, we do have a deadline by which we need to get this done!  Our realtor calmly assures us that we are not crazy (our wants and our budget do match up) and that we will be moved in to our new place before the baby comes.  Sometimes I think about the amount of work ahead of us, and it makes me want to hide under a blanket.  Then again, having a nicer (with a real kitchen instead of a postage stamp) house where we see more of Daddy each day would be a very good thing indeed.  As I mentioned before, the average person sees 40 houses before they buy, so I'm really hoping that "our" house is just around the corner.

Pinterest?

Does anyone have any experience wtih Pinterest?  It seems to be the hot new thing in some circles.  Several of my facebook friends keep talking about it, and I've even visited the page, but I can't quite grasp it's purpose.  Is it just meant to be a collection of pretty pictures?  A way to store ideas for later?  A brag board of all the things you've done?  Obviously women seem to be the most interested, but I don't quite get what I'm supposed to do.  Anybody?

The Wheels on the Bus

Without any prompting the toddler (whom we've nicknamed Delphinium) says:

The wheels on the bus go round and round
The doors on the bus go open and shut open and shut
The babies on the bus say "wahh wahh wahh!"
The mommies on the bus say "I love you! I love you!"
The daddies on the bus go work work work
The grandpas on the bus go "bop bop bop!"
The grandmas on the bus go to Delphinium's house now!

Vegetarian Easter Menu

Many holidays have a very traditional set of dishes that must be prepared or else risk the sorrow of one family member or another.  For some reason, Easter has never been like that.  Perhaps because we are all thinking about the chocolate, we don't seem to have other set notions about what must be served.  Obviously we're not lamb or ham people, so that leaves us free to do whatever we please.  Here's what my mom and I are planning for this year:

-Potato/leek soup
-Fresh garden peas with mint
-Cloverleaf rolls
-Strawberry pecan salad with goat cheese
-Tofurky cooked over roasted spring vegetables
-Mushroom gravy with Madeira

I'm pretty happy with that menu since it's elegant and springy, but also manageable since lots of things can be made ahead.  Luckily my mom and I always split the cooking, so that makes it even easier.  My one question is, should I do dessert?  It always seems kind of silly given the amount of sugar everybody's had by that point in the day.  Would it be terrible if we skipped that part?

Unisom and B6 CURE Morning Sickness

Oh what morning sickness can do to a poor, unsuspecting person! It's absolutely debilitating to not be able to tolerate food, smells, or anything remotely dizzy-making. Your whole perspective on life starts to change, and not in a good way. Working, caring for children, driving, and all sorts of other major life activities become very difficult as your super nose and queasy stomach take over. Ginger tea, saltines, applesauce, and all those other supposed remedies work for some people some of the time, but they are not at all sure.


During my first pregnancy I just rode it out. It was always worst during the mid-morning hours, so I would just take a long walk until the worst of it passed. This time around I was not so lucky. Not only was the nausea worse, but it came most strongly in the evening when I was trying to prepare dinner for the family. My poor toddler suffered a change in diet because I could not stand to cook some of her more favorite dishes. Asparagus, broccoli, onions, and garlic were all on the instant gag list. My husband started doing deli runs on the way home from work just to keep vegetables on our girl's plate.

Then I visited the doctor. When I saw this doctor for my first pregnancy, she was just getting married, and we chatted about fun things wedding. This time, she had just had her first baby, and I think this helped change her perspective on one or two issues. This time when I mentioned being green, she said I should take Unisom and B6. Both are over-the-counter and considered extremely safe for pregnant women. The FDA has even recognized them as "effective and safe" for this purpose. My dear husband picked them up for me, and I took them at night as the doctor suggested.

OH MY GOONESS! It was like the morning sickness was GONE! I felt like a more or less normal person. There were still certain foods that did not appeal to me, but they no longer made me feel like puking. I stopped losing weight. My daughter started to eat normal foods again. It was like a miracle cure. I kept taking the combo for the next few weeks, and by time I was twelve weeks pregnant, I was able to stop without feeling sick at all. A side benefit was the mild sleep aid effect of the Unisom actually helped me to feel less tired as well. I hope more doctors will recomend the mix because it makes a world of difference to moms.

Baby 2.0!

Well folks it looks like we are having our second baby!  You may have noticed a certain lack of blog attention lately, and you can chalk that up to my thoughts being more inwardly focused than usual.  Well, that and the incredible urge to toss my cookies!  Now that the green phase is over we're feeling comfortable enough to tell people our news.  In a matter of months, our "baby" (as we still call her) will become the big sister to an actual newborn.  We are all thrilled about the news, but I am trying to wrap my mind around the logistics of having TWO, count them, TWO children.  All I learned about coping with the first one had to do with a minimum of 1:1 parent and child.  Now that will turn on its head.  Future blog posts will be about getting larger pants, trying not to freak out, and remembering to feed healthy things to the toddler while all I want to eat is Doritos.