January 12th 2011

Mom's Stuff:
After having my bi-weekly breakdown about how I feel like a crappy mom/teacher (for not being home, for caring too much about my work, for not caring enough about my work, for not being able to function on less than 6 hours of sleep, for getting annoyed at my kid, etc. etc. etc.) I have been trying to be more zen about the whole work/home issue. The G-man is amazing, and he made the good point to me that, as the one who brings home the (tempeh) bacon the best way I can be a good mom is to keep making enough money to support my family. That does make me feel a bit better. I still feel like I am supposed to be superwoman who does it all - with grace and style no less. But I just can't. So, I'm trying to be at peace with being an imperfect mom and an imperfect teacher, but still hanging on to my sanity.

LP's Stuff:
I'm re-naming our child "Destructor." We build a tower - he knocks it down. We put toys away - he pulls them out. And he has a grand ol' time doing it. LP's latest thing is that he thinks crawling is for sissys - he's more into walking these days. He rarely crawls, and usually it is only when we have him in footie pajamas that are a bit too small for him (which makes it hard to walk). So, he continues to walk all over the place with little regard for obstacles that are in his way (such as blocks and stuffed animals). This leads to quite a bit of falling, but he seems pretty immune to that by now. LP is also enjoying not only eating Cheerios, but also feeding them to mom and dad. Now, when he is full, he picks up Cheerios one by one and holds them out for mom and dad. We find this far superior to his previous method of being "done" - throwing the Cheerios down on the floor.

Food and Fitness:
Many people ask us what we feed our vegan baby. We (and by "we" I mean the G-man) make our own baby food - one mix that is fruit-based for morning and one mix that is veggie based for dinner, which a lunch of avocado in-between. Mixed in to each baby food serving is about 2 tablespoons of ground-up tempeh, which helps to provide some protein. Here is a recipe that the G-man uses for one version of our morning fruit mix:

Baby Fruit Mix (enough to freeze for a few weeks!)
Ingredients:
3 apples
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 can coconut milk
3 TB flaxseed oil
14 chunks of frozen mango (from Trader Joes)
2 cups of Earth Balance iron-fortified infant cereal - oatmeal
1 TB olive oil

Directions:
1. Wash apples thoroughly and then chop them in to large chunks.
2. Steam apples in a vegetable steamer for 10-15 minutes
3. Blend all the ingredients in a high-powered blender or food processor
4. Serve to baby! This stores well by freezing the mix in ice cube trays and then piling all the frozen cubes in a plastic ziplock back. LP usually has 4-5 cubes in a meal.

Pictures (older ones - sorry we've been lazy with pics!):

January 2, 2010

Mom's Stuff:
After a wonderful and relaxing week off I'm getting ready to go back to work in a couple of days. While Thanksgiving was a while ago, Christmas and New Year's always makes me stop and reflect again on the things I am grateful for. This year I have a lot in my life that makes me happy: my amazing, brilliant and adorable son (who I still love, even when he keeps me up all night), my caring, funny, insightful and loving husband, an amazing family who will travel vast distances in snowstorms to see us, and then still be excited to get up with a baby at 5:30 am, friends that are like family and a job that I really do enjoy, even though I have been pretty cranky about it for the last month. A holiday toast to all these things that make life worth living!

LP's Stuff:
LP is now prefers to walk instead of crawl, even when he wants to get someone quickly. He will still crawl when necessary (such as to chase the cat) but he is enjoying walking an all the exciting things he can reach as a result. LP had a wonderful Christmas where he got many noisy toys (grrrr), AWESOME all-terrain wagon and where he learned, pretty quickly, how incredbily exicting it was to unwrap things. After Christmas LP has had some fun meeting more kids after going to visit "Toghether in Motion" where he went right into the play area and started chasing all the girls, and after going to see our close friends with a four and two-year old. The four-year old and LP got along great - mostly because the C (the four-year old) got to show LP everything, and LP then got to watch and run around after C.

LP is also exanding his palate by eating more and more food with mom and dad. His favorite food when we go out is definitely french fries (sweet potator or regular). He also enjoys noodles, mushed beans, bananas, avacado and saltines, but these are just extra treats for once in a while. He still gets primarily green mush (greens, sweet potatoes or squash, and onions) and purple mush (blueberries, coconut milk, baked apple and infant cereal). And he is still a healthy, growing baby boy!

Food and Fitness:
We had a wonderful time hosting my parents and sister for the holidays, and we ate a lot! Since one of the most common questions I get asked is "What do you eat" I thought I would list some of the many foods we consumed over the 5 days of Christmas (and 2 days of blizzard):

• Vegan Lasagna
• Eggplant Caccitore
• Tyropitas (see my other blog for the recipe!)
  
• Warm Lentil Salad
• Cholent (a bean, lentil and veggie stew)
• Pumpkin pie cheesecake
• Chocolate Mint Cookies
• Cinnamon Rolls
• Pumpkin/Applesauce Bran Muffins

Pictures:

December 15th, 2010

Houston, we have a walker.

December 13th 2010

Mom's Stuff:
After a pretty crappy couple of weeks it was nice to have a weekend to relax and hang out with my guys. We stayed in, set-up the X-mas decoration and during nap time I shopped for gifts online. All it all it was a nice time, and it's a good reminder that it is ok to take some time for me and my family when I can. I also feel better because I was able to talk through some of my stress with my friends who are also moms. Nothing helps more than talking to a friend who gets it - and I mean really gets it. I am so grateful for those strong, steadfast and amazing women that are part of my life (mom and teacher alike!) - thank you so much!

LP's Stuff:
LP went in for his 9 month check-up today. The doctor asked the G-man if LP was sitting up and crawling, to which the G-man scoffed. LP has continued to toddle along, and today he took about 8 little steps in a row. It's definitely not full-on walking, but it is pretty damn close. LP also has four teeth full in at this point, and he is enjoying the new found game of "crunch it" which involves crunching Cherrios, crackers, blocks, and the side of his crib. Now that he is eating even more we look forward to sharing some X-mas goodies with him, like Tyropitas, gnocchi, and wedding cookies. I think we'll leave the bourbon balls off his plate for a few years though.

At LP's doctor appointment the declared that he was in very good health. His weight and height are moving along nicely, he has good muscle tone and, my personal favorite, his iron levels are "outstanding" Booya - my vegan baby don't need no meat!!

Pictures:

November 28th, 2010

Mom Stuff:
'Tis the season! I think my favorite thing about Thanksgiving is that the day after I get to play Christmas music with abandon (much to G-man's chagrin). This is one of the first years where we aren't getting our Christmas tree the weekend of Thanksgiving since the tree is going to cut off some of LP's play space, and we want to minimize disruption in his life. This relaxing four-day weekend reminded me to be thankful for so much, but espeicially for my two boys. My son is cute, brilliant and amazing, and he makes me so grateful to be a mom every day. My husband is seriously the most amazing person in the world. I really didn't think I could have loved him any more than I did before, but seeing him be a dad just adds a whole new layer. I love my guys tons and I was very thankful to get to enjoy some "quality" time with them for a few days before it's back to the grind on Monday.

LP's Stuff:
Just in time for Thanksgiving LP is getting more teeth! He is up to four now - the two bottom ones and the two top ones. They are hard to see sometimes, except when he is doing one of his huge baby laughs! We put together a Thanksgiving plate for him of roasted butternut squash and mashed potatoes, which he promptly put his hands in and then dumped on the floor. So, while the G-man and I enjoyed our dinner LP had some blueberry mush and cheerios for Thanksgiving. Yesterday we hosted a brunch party for friends and LP was great. He started out by crawling to every person and asking for a bite of their food (but standing up in front of them and opening his mouth). He also played with some of the other kids, and he didn't stop moving the entire time, which is pretty much his m.o. right now. Diaper changing has reverted into a battle of getting him to stay still for thirty whole seconds. Oh well - and active baby is a happy baby!

Pictures:

November 13th, 2010

LP's Stuff:
Things LP has been up to this week:

• Eating a ton of food.
• Going to the children's museum in Boston and loving the little crawler's room!
• Climbing stairs (with supervision)
• Chasing the cat
• Getting a second tooth
• Gaining weight (he is at 17 lbs and change as of today!)
• Just generally being adorable!

Mom' Stuff:
Just getting by. Frankly, at this point that is an accomplishment. I took time to go on a couple outings with my boys, which made me much happier, even if it does mean working for a few hours on Sunday!

Pictures:

November 6th, 2010

Mom's Stuff:
I really, really miss my baby when I'm at work. Maybe this week was especially hard since I had to attend a training on Wednesday night and grade notebooks on Thursday and Friday. Maybe the issue is that he has been particularly cute lately as he keeps trying to stand up and walk. But, whatever it is, I really, really missed my baby this week. It is so wonderful to come home to him and get big hugs and smiles, even though it sometimes he is a bit freaked out when I walk in wearing my bike helmet. I am continuing on my quest to improve my work efficiency so that I can spend more time with my boys, and we will see how all my planning pans out when the new term starts in a week.

LP's Stuff:
LP has started to figure out that plain tofu is just that: plain. He is way more into avocado, fruit and veggie puree and cheerios that he is his tofu cubes. What used to be his favorite finger food now just seems to be a fun mushy toy. I guess I'm going to have to start making big batches of tofu scramble!

LP is also working really hard on standing and walking. He cruises along the couches by walking sideways. The last two days he has also done a great job entertaining himself, which the G-man sure appreciates! Our little guy is a busy dude all the time, which is making taking him out a bit more difficult, but it is still nice to get him out enjoying time with other kids. Now if we could just stop him from grabbing their hair . . .

Food Stuff:
This week one of our dinners was roasted veggies and waffles - one of my personal favorites! We tried roasted delicata squash thanks to Cadry's Kitchen, and I loved it, although the G-man wasn't too excited. Of course, I think anything paired with waffles is a winner!

Pictures: