10 minutes in my life

Tom comes out of the bedroom from changing LG's diaper and tells me that LB now says "powder" (as in baby powder... can you see where this is going?), but she says it like "pallow". I've heard her say that, but still my mind lingers on the cuteness of every word she mispronounces... and then my mind switches over--where is she?

On our bed, vigorously shaking "pallow" all over our unmade bed. That is to say she got it on the sheets and the comforter, and probably on the clean laundry.

I don't yell, or say NO or BAD... instead I quietly tell her that powder goes on bum-bums, not beds. Very seriously she looks back at me, only to say "Ya. Pallow. Bed." I repeat the part about powder only going on bum-bums, and she replies: "Ya. Pallow. Bum Bum."

Dang skippy.

Tom says he'll clean it up and I, much relieved, head off to have some microwaved rice for dinner, and try to unwind for 10 seconds while catching up on Dooce. 6 of those seconds go by before LB is clamoring to be UP because Tom apparently got out the "ya-foo" to clean up the "pallow". And so my 10 seconds of peace now includes a toddler in my lap who now wants to share my rice, even though she didn't want HER rice and chicken 5 minutes ago.

We go back to the kitchen where I get my second course: cheese. She's seen Tom with his juice and asks for some. I make her some diluted juice and grab some cheese. She sees this and hands me the cup saying "no" and reaching for the cheese. So I give her my piece of cheese.

Sigh.

Now she's sharing yo-yo with Tom, he's spoon-feeding it to her... and she's insisting not only that the yo-yo be in a bowl ("yo-yo. bowl") before she would have any of it, but also that bowl has to be on the high chair ("yo-yo. down") in front of her. So of course Tom asked her if she wanted the yo-yo brought to her suite... along with her boots.

Eat, feed, clean, repeat

This is LG's 5th day at home. I (knock on wood) have NOT had any baby blues yet... I think I had one little cry to Tomek on Saturday because I felt momentarily overwhelmed with it all, but since then I've just forged ahead and the hours are racing by. I feel like I spend most of my time thinking about food, feeding and eating. Seriously. LG has to be woken up every 3 hours to eat, so that breaks up our nights into an hour here a couple of hours there of sleep. Tomek has been WONDERFUL... I'm getting more sleep than he is. In the morning I try to work it so I get LG up an hour before LB gets up. That way I can get him fed, burped and changed and back to sleep in time to prep LB's morning bottle, then while she's drinking I'm pumping milk for LG's next feed (which takes 20-30 minutes), then we play for a bit, then she's ready for a real breakfast so I figure something out for her to eat. This morning it was cereal and some banana. Then it's MY turn to eat, and then I play with LB some more or do the never-ending laundry or dishes or start another batch of formula on the stove. LB usually goes down for a nap 3 hours after she wakes up. It's nice in the morning if LG sleeps the entire time LB is up and when she goes down for a nap, he wakes up. Then it's only the afternoons that are tricky. LB surprised me today and went down for a nap 2 hours after she got up. I guess 8:30 was a little too early for her. I didn't know she was going to fall asleep, she just wanted to go in her crib and wanted her mobile on. And she drifted off just as LG started grunting and waking up. Did I mention how easy-going he is? He hardly rarely almost never cries. So then another hour passes while I feed and burp and cuddle and do the bicycle with him (because he hasn't pooped since he got home).

Now they are both asleep although LB will be up in less than an hour and I'll have to get something together for her and I to eat. The bottles are already washed for LG's next feed, and I'll have to make sure I have a dvd or something ready to go to occupy LB while LG is in my lap.

On Monday I could not have made it through the afternoon if my friend, N, hadn't been visiting. LB demands "up" often and screams if she doesn't get to go up. She refused to leave my lap w/o screaming when I needed to prep LG's bottle and feed him, so N ended up feeding him and I held LB. She's not mean to him at all. She loves to give him kisses and high fives and wants to hold him a lot. But she doesn't like it when one of us is holding him for an extended period of time.

Thankfully, Tomek has the rest of the week off so we can try to get LB used to the fact that sometimes she will just have to wait because we are taking care of LG. Although, he went to check on one of his projects early this morning and he's still not home. Stuff always comes up. But at least I know he's nearby so if things get hairy this afternoon I can call him and he should be able to come home.

Evenings are a flurry of timing dinner around LG's feeds, although yesterday he woke up just as dinner was ready, so Tomek helped LB eat her dinner while I fed LG and then he and I sat down to eat once LG was asleep, with LB wanting to sit in her daddy's lap for the entire meal.

All in all, it's going pretty well. I don't feel too exhausted and I'm SO RELIEVED that I'm not falling apart emotionally. I was really worried about that. Today was LG's scheduled arrival date and I'm SO GLAD I've already been through the c-section and hospital time and am already back at home with my family.

Now I just have to figure out how to go for walks with the 2 of them. I think LG is too small for the Snugli still, although he was 5 lbs at birth and now he's 6 lbs 9 oz!!! I have a stroller that his car seat attaches to, but then LB would have to walk, and I don't feel comfortable walking around w/o her holding my hand, unless we're at the park. Once LG fits in the Snugli I can push LB in the stroller to the park and then she can get out and run around. Until then, I may have to wait to go for a walk till someone is here with me, then we can go out with LG in his stroller and LB walking or in her stroller.

Anyone have any good ideas of quick, easy and healthy lunches for toddlers and moms?

Scrumptious

The attempt:
Success:

and for a little extra flavour...

Is there anything better than SmartFood popcorn and gingerale at this time of night? I don't think so. The crunchy, cheesy goodness interspersed with cool, fizzy sips of gingery heaven.

So good... so good that when a plump, cheesy morsel had the nerve to drop from my fingers to the floor between my legs (where I OBVIOUSLY cannot reach it, thanks to the little melon in my belly), I used my foot to skootch the piece of popcorn sideways till I could lean over sideways and retrieve it.

Yum.

And in a vain attempt to deter any comments about cheese and feet, I will say that my foot had a slipper on it at the time. I swear.

Preggo foods

I can't put together the post I was going to today, about friendship and people who annoy me... so instead I'll talk about food.

A friend of mine recently got married and she took a lot of photos of this onion soup she had... you know, the kind with the melty cheese on top? Mmmmmmmm....

Cheese has been my #1 craving this pregnancy, along with sugar (sigh). But I also seem to crave well-rounded meals--chicken, veggies and rice for example. Lately it's been this wicked omelette that Tomek made us for lunch on Sunday. He put chopped up green pepper and onion in boiling water to soften, then added them and honey maple ham and cheddar cheese to the cooked egg. It was too much to make into a whole omelette, so it ended up being a scrambled omelette... but SO much cheese, with sour cream on top... it was beyond orgasmic. I've had 1 a day since. But now we are out of green pepper. Pout. And it just tastes better when he makes it for me. Even better than KFC poutine. I never would have believed I'd find something better for preggo cravings than poutine. But it finally happened. Oh, and smartfood popcorn (you know, with the white cheddar flavour) is super good too. Not to be had late at night I don't think. The Little Guy had me up till after 3:30 this morning with his rolling and kicking. Or maybe it was the glass of gingerale I had with the popcorn. Yum.

Something from nothing

It's really all in the simple things. And it wasn't quite something from nothing... the pieces were there, I just had to figure it out. A can of tomato soup from the pantry, rice from the cupboard, shredded cheese left over from taco salad, homemade garlic bread and steamed carrots left over from last night, leftover cut up apple from LB's breakfast and voila!

I had tomato rice soup with melty cheese in it and warm garlic bread for lunch. LB had tomato rice soup with melty cheese, cold steamed carrots (she prefers them cold, I think they feel good on her gums, what with all those molars coming in), and apple. With some fresh-made (courtesy of my father-in-law) carrot juice to finish the meal.

So simple, yet so yummy. And there's something about good food that really lifts a mood.

Food that makes a tummy happy

I just had the most amazing lunch: Garlic bread, homemade by yours truly. Followed by walnut fudge. Also made by me. MMMmmm!!

And you can't tell me that garlic and chocolate don't go well together. They fit just like pickles and cheese! The greatest comfort food combo ever, when accompanied by a cold glass of gingerale.

...

Ok, gag. I know you want to.