March 29th, 2011

Mom's Stuff:
I've been thinking a lot recently about what it means to be a "working mom." First of all EVERY mom I know is a working mom - and every dad I know is a working dad - and every same-sex couple I know has a pair of working moms or working dads. Here is some news for anyone thinking of having children: parenting is serious work!!! And someone also has to earn money somewhere in there as well.

I'm incredibly lucky to have my amazing husband also be a stay-at-home-dad. But he works his butt off, and so do I, both as a mom, and in my full-time bread-winning role (by the way, there has got to be another name for that. I mean, come'on. I barely buy bread, let alone win it!). I often feel a like I would like to talk to more women in my position. I have read some stuff about life from the stay-at-home-dad, or about working moms where both parents work outside the home. And I sometimes feel like a total whiner when I start to feel like my life is too hard - because I have it soooo much better than most people. I would love to talk to more moms in my situation if they are out there. I feel like I would like to talk to others who have navigated the mom/breadwinner role and hear their thoughts - not for answers, but just someone else to validate the thoughts and feelings I have.

LP's Stuff:
LP had a great time at his first birthday party last weekend. He enjoyed a huge cupcake (all for him!) and running around with some really great "big" kids. Of course, to be fair, almost every kid is "big" to him. He also had a great time with his aunt and her awesome roommate! They did a good job keeping LP busy all weekend! LP has figured out how to give hugs, and he is having fun with it. When he and the G-man went to Together in Motion LP went around hugging a bunch of kids. The only problem is his "hugs" often start from behind the kid and involves his arms around their neck. He means well, but it isn't the most effective way to approach someone. Luckily, he also gives people great hugs from the normal way, which his dad and I are enjoying immensely!

LP is learning to communicate with more than hugs. He has learned the sign for "more" which is great at meal time. Unfortunately, he thinks it is the sign for "gimme what I want" and uses it whenever he wants something that he can't have (chocolate chips, dad's wine, a knife, etc.) In his defense, that meaning makes as much sense as "more" from his experiance of the sign (where he makes it, we applaud and then give him more of what he wanted). So, we're working on clarifying the meaning for him.

Food:
LP continues to eat what we eat, and a lot of it! He chowed down on two pieces of vegan pizza from Peace 'O Pie last week, and over the weekend he enjoyed toast, cupcakes, lentils and numerous other goodies. This week he has enjoyed dinners of risotto, lentil/orzo soup and he continues to follow his routine of blueberry baby mix in the morning, followed by avocado and veggie dogs or tempeh (sometimes with some miso soup thrown in) for lunch.

Pictures:

March 15th, 2011

Mom's Stuff:
I'm hesitant to jinx it, but I'm feel pretty good about how things have been going lately. The weather is getting better, so I am able to bike to work again (and therefore get home earlier - biking is faster than taking the bus)! I've been getting home in time to hang out with LP and for the whole family to eat dinner together. I've also tried to keep my work at home to a reasonable level, which means working a lot more on Friday afternoons and giving up on some things. Some (ok, a lot) of my lessons haven't gone as well as they could have, and some papers have not gotten graded as quickly as possible, but I am getting the basics done. And, most importantly, I get to see my little guy as much as possible!

LP's Stuff:
We both love LP, but his dad and both agree - he can be quite a destructive force! LP wants to move ALL the time. He is pretty much done with nursing before bedtime, but that has turned bedtime into a bit of a battle to get him to calm down. The time change this weekend did not help with this process. However, LP really is an incredibly great kid. He loves being able to go outside and run around. He loves getting to go for rides to the park or the store in his really awesome red wagon. He also can be quite a party animal - he went out to a friend's house with us a few weekends ago and he was the life of the party until 9 pm when Dad and I started to poop out!

LP is also starting to get more sounds and play with talking a bit more. He now says "ga" for any furry four-legged creature (including both dogs and cats). He hasn't said "ma" for a few weeks, and he still hasn't said "da" at all, but he does know a "ga" when he sees one! He is also asserting his will a bit more and demanding that he handle his own spoon during meals, which means that both hilarity and extreme messiness result.

Food:
As a vegan family, we do want to make sure our baby gets enough protein. Frankly, any family should make sure their baby gets enough protein - and the best stuff doesn't come from animals! LP is a huge fan of tempeh especially when it is marinated. We usually marinate cubes in the smokey tempeh marinade (which has some veggie broth, soy sauce, garlic, maple syrup and a bit of liquid smoke) from Veganomicon and then grill them on a cast iron skillet for about 5 minutes on each side. These little cube are great hot, cool or heated up again in the microwave or toaster over. LP loves then - we just cut them up into baby-friendly pieces and stick them on his tray - he eats this high-quality protein right up!

Pictures:

March 3rd, 2011

Mom's Stuff:
Today is a big day - LP is turning one year old! It is kind if exciting to look back and think about where I was a year ago - in a ton of pain, but still pretty excited. I still pretty vividly remember the point in labor where I realized that, no matter how much pain I was in, the kid wasn't going to turn around - the sooner he (it) was out, the better off I was going to be! It is really amazing to look at LP now and think about the fact that, a year ago he was just an abstract idea in many ways - we didn't even know his sex, and my only focus was to get him out of my body as fast as humanly possible. Now he is a walking, (sorta) talking little dude, with a ton a personality! Sometimes I don't know how much I am really molding my child - he dad is the one who is home with him all day. But then every once in a while I see my influence (genetic or otherwise) creeping out- usually when LP asserts his will. Watching LP grow and change this first year has been totally amazing, and it makes me so happy to think about all the fun, interesting, exciting (as well as painful, excruciating, difficult and intense) times we will continue to have with him year after year. And so continues the roller-coaster we call parenting.

LP's Stuff:
For his first birthday LP had a wonderful day! He and his dad went to the Museum of Science, where he got to run around the children's area (and I mean literally run). LP and his dad also hung out and watched the tamarind monkeys for a while, and the museum host wished LP a happy birthday! The boys then came home for LP's nap, after which he opened his presents and skyped with his grandma and grandpa. Finally, he ended his special day with a special dinner - pizza! We made a yummy pizza with Daiya cheese, bell peppers, red onions and pineapple - and LP loved it!! He really enjoyed the sticky cheese, and he had a goopy, cheesy grin after each bite. He followed up by skyping with his Uncle and then going to bed after a nightly reading of Goodnight Moon. All in all it was a busy day for a little guy, but he had a great time on his first day as a one-year old!

Food Stuff:
As mentioned above, our little vegan baby did enjoy his first vegan cheese! He is long beyond baby mush as food, so here is a little "taste" of LP's favorite foods these days:

Green Smoothies: I have been making green smoothies using kale, frozen mango, banana and orange juice. These smoothies are really delicious, according to both me and LP. When I am enjoying my smoothie in the morning, he shares with me by using his new-found straw-sucking skill. I'm not measuring, but I think it is safe to say he is getting about a 1/3 of my glass. Grilled Tempeh: We have been loving the smoky grilled tempeh recipe from Veganomicon. It involves a marinade of maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic and liquid smoke - need I say more. We marinate the tempeh and grill it up and it is a favorite of LP. He enjoys it so much, he often won't have much else on his plate if we bring out the tempeh first!

Pictures and Video:

LP with his great-grandparents (he has four of them - how awesome is that!)



I'll help you clean dad!

February 5th, 2011

Mom's Stuff:
I've really been trying hard to think of the many, many positive things in my life when I feel stressed. I find that doing this helps me get perspective, and also reminds me that, really, my life is pretty damn awesome. So, here are a few of this week's highlights:

• LP learning to clap
• My student's getting excited about our class wiki page
• Taking side streets on a crappy, snowy commute and skipping most of the gridlock
• Warm focaccia
• Movie night with the G-man
• Time at the gym
• Weather that simply demands that I make hot chocolate

LP's Stuff:
LP has had a cold for the past few days, which is a bummer. He walks around sniffing and coughing, but he still has a smile on his face - go figure! He is a much better sick person than either his mom or his dad (both of whom get very grumpy when sick). However, besides the cold he has been a busy guy. LP is pretty much done with pureed baby food. Basically, if it's not on the grown-up's plate, he doesn't want it. This means his meals have been the same as our recently: butternut squash ravioli, jamboylaya, garlicy green pasta, and, of course, pancakes with temeph bacon for a snow day breakfast! We still give him avacado and banana of course, and he is pretty tolerent of his fruit puree in the morning (while the G-man and I usually have smoothies), but dinner is now officially a family affair. LP is still exploring his world and totally wants to walk everywhere, and really only wants to be held when he is tired or when he just woke up. Other than that. he is a baby on the move. He is also now 11 months old - only a few weeks away from one-year old! I think LP is ready for his big first birthday - but I don't know if his mom and dad are!

One of our projects this weekend (if LP starts to feel better) is to go shopping for some baby shoes so that LP can walk outside (if the snow ever melts). We are definitely interested in advice from other parents about what kind of shoes to get, so please comment to this post and let us know what you think!

Video:
It may take a while to load, but it is worth the wait. We call this one "Tarzan meets King Kong"

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.