Happy Birthday Ma

For the past week one or both of the boys has been waking up two to six times a night - I'm tired (so's EH). Last night both boys slept soundly until 8AM! Thanks for the wonderful birthday treat boys!
Love,
Ma

Stomach Chambers and Good/Bad Food

H is busy telling us all about how his body works. Did you know that there's an area in your mid section that is selectively designed for dessert (two in fact!) and another area to store all your other food. I had no idea that there's a button on our back that tells us how much energy we have left.

EH's mom told me the other day that she pulled out a bag of healthy snacks in a fun bag and H very seriously asked her "Ga, are those good for me?". Yes my son knows about "good" food and "bad" food. He wants to know why people put bad things in our food anyway and why everybody doesn't know about this. Well my son, your mother just happens to be "enlightened", or maybe just a bit off the deep end. I hope I'm not raising a healthy child only to have him gorge on forbidden junk food as a college student. I guess time will tell . . . and we'll splurge in moderation to keep some balance.

Juicing

Our little E does not have a taste for fresh fruit or veggies of any kind - that I know of. I did find out that he tolerates dried fruit very well though - so he chows down mounds of dried cherries, blueberries, mangos, raspberries, etc, etc. I thought I'd give juicing a try so I borrowed my mom's juicer. I bought apples, carrots, broccoli, and asparagus and tossed them together in the juicer - my little fresh fruit protester chugs it down like candy (papa and I like it too). One little victory in my world. By the way, H won't touch the drink - at least he'll eat the fruit as is. :)

An inspiration

The reason there's . . .
* a compost area in my back yard
* our yard has been freshly cut with an old fashioned manual mower (borrowed)
* our home frequently smells of fresh baked whole wheat bread that you don't need a saw to cut through
* I have recipes for homemade crackers and lotion (I'll get to them someday)
* an actual broccoli plant and some swiss chard grow (very exotic for me!) in my garden

* our windows and mirrors are sparkling from their club soda spritzing
* I use essintial oils in my cleaning
. . . is because of my good friend KR. Thanks for all the inspiration, advise and dry humor. She'll never read this though, because she doesn't own a computer - by choice. In fact, it probably won't be long before she takes her eco/natural way of life off to a Quaker community. In the mean time, I'm learning all that I can squeeze in.

Bedtime story

Bedtime stories are a nightly routine in our home. H loves them so much he sometimes will ask for one more as he's getting tucked into bed. Since we've usually pushed the limit on bedtime anyway, I've been giving H some characters and a story line to think about as he goes to sleep. He really loves this idea. One night, after I had left his room I paused and I heard him say to himself "Once upon a time, Mr. Kitty (his stuffed cat) and Rosy (his stuffed dog) went for a walk in search of a great secret treasure. . . . ", etc, etc. It was so precious! I hadn't realized that he was actually telling himself the story out-loud as he was drifting off to sleep.

Roughy toughy

Today, after encountering an unexpected slippery spot, H landed on his backside. As he stood up he said "It's a good thing my bottom is roughy toughy!"

E's on the rampage

E's on the rampage. Note the following achievements:
- Climbing onto the kitchen chairs
- Climbing onto the kitchen table from the chair
- Pulling the caps off of markers
- Opening cupboards that have child-proof locks on them
- Trying to walk up and down stairs (not crawl like he has been doing)
- Opening the diaper pail and bringing me it's contents
- Climb on top of EVERYTHING
- Climb into the rocking chair and rock himself
He loves to:
- Play in the sandbox
- Sit still and have books read to him over and over and over (Red Hat, Blue Hat especially!)
- Sip drinks through his sports bottle with straw (like big bro H)
- Sing Ho Ho Ho Hosanna, Ha Ha Hallelujah, He He He He saves me and I've got the joy of the Lord
- Go for walks in the stroller