The girls walked about a week after Father's Day and for J it was the perfect gift!
So now we're up to new adventures in the land of the walking :)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
When Your Kid Won't Eat
It breaks your heart. You feel helpless. You feel frustrated. You feel guilty. Where did I go wrong? What happened? You loved feeding time & now you don't? You just rack your brain tryin to blame it on something! Because everything needs an explanation & a valid one, you just need a reason.
As a new mom I prayed that this wouldn't happen. I prayed that I would do all the right things so that my kids would enjoy a well balanced diet without any complaints but instead asking for more. After all this effort my daughter has decided she doesn't want food. Not all food, mind you. Some foods are okay but other foods she is just NOT going to have it. That's it. No more questions please.
My parents raised a "clean plate club" kid with me. To this day I have food issues. I eat when I'm not hungry & I'm not satisfied unless my plate is so clean it needs no washing, and I eat food so it doesn't go to waste, ha! I've tried hard to break these terrible food habits. And yet still, thirty some odd years later I struggle. So I promised myself that I wouldn't do this to my own kids but I secretly hoped & prayed that this wouldn't even be an issue in my house. I guess it fell on deaf ears.
My sweet peanut Valentina (the smaller of the two) has had a rough week food-wise. Food she once loved is now gross. So gross it makes her gag! Gag, as in ready to vomit. I'm frustrated to no end because I'm afraid she's going to starve to death. I realize she actually CAN survive on cheerio puffs, yogurt, & milk, oh and maybe a grape or two. Still in my mind I feel as though I'm failing as a parent. This can't possibly be enough to sustain this toddler, can it? After researching & reading every parent book I can find & of course interviewing other veteran moms, I think I've come to a reasonable place with this dilemma. Children will eat when they're hungry. And I'm supposed to keep saying this until I start to believe it.
In the mean time I'm praying my other child does not follow her sister. God, please spare me this one thing. I'm beggin here! I know I was a terrible terrible eater as a child which is why I was punished by sitting at the table into the wee hours of the night until I finished my dinner and many times dinner for breakfast the next day but I swear, I knew not what I was doing to my mother!
As a new mom I prayed that this wouldn't happen. I prayed that I would do all the right things so that my kids would enjoy a well balanced diet without any complaints but instead asking for more. After all this effort my daughter has decided she doesn't want food. Not all food, mind you. Some foods are okay but other foods she is just NOT going to have it. That's it. No more questions please.
My parents raised a "clean plate club" kid with me. To this day I have food issues. I eat when I'm not hungry & I'm not satisfied unless my plate is so clean it needs no washing, and I eat food so it doesn't go to waste, ha! I've tried hard to break these terrible food habits. And yet still, thirty some odd years later I struggle. So I promised myself that I wouldn't do this to my own kids but I secretly hoped & prayed that this wouldn't even be an issue in my house. I guess it fell on deaf ears.
My sweet peanut Valentina (the smaller of the two) has had a rough week food-wise. Food she once loved is now gross. So gross it makes her gag! Gag, as in ready to vomit. I'm frustrated to no end because I'm afraid she's going to starve to death. I realize she actually CAN survive on cheerio puffs, yogurt, & milk, oh and maybe a grape or two. Still in my mind I feel as though I'm failing as a parent. This can't possibly be enough to sustain this toddler, can it? After researching & reading every parent book I can find & of course interviewing other veteran moms, I think I've come to a reasonable place with this dilemma. Children will eat when they're hungry. And I'm supposed to keep saying this until I start to believe it.
In the mean time I'm praying my other child does not follow her sister. God, please spare me this one thing. I'm beggin here! I know I was a terrible terrible eater as a child which is why I was punished by sitting at the table into the wee hours of the night until I finished my dinner and many times dinner for breakfast the next day but I swear, I knew not what I was doing to my mother!
Friday, June 26, 2009
A Day of Mourning
I don't usually get caught up on the passing of celebrities. But as a child of the 80s I'm compelled to pay tribute to 2 people who influenced my childhood from what I wore to what I listened to and how I danced.
When I first heard the news of Farrah Fawcett's death I immediately thought, God who DIDN'T want to be Farrah Fawcett? Before Jennifer Anniston's hair everyone wanted Farrah's hair. Lord knows I tried my best to achieve that feathered look & remember begging my parents for a pair of Pumas & short shorts like the Charlie's Angels girl. The show was one of my all time favorites. And I fondly remember pretend playing with my cousins Charlie's Angels in my grandmother's house. Before I knew what women's lib was this show set in my mind that women can be just brave and heroic as men. They were chicks with guns! It didn't get more exciting for a girl my age. Where are these wholesome role models today?
The death of Michael Jackson was surreal for me. I heard the news on the radio as I drove home from work and I literally yelled out to no one "WHAT?! No way!" I felt shock and thought that just can't be. It just can't be. I anxiously waited for J to get home to tell him the news. And we both kind of felt like maybe they're wrong. Maybe he's in a coma or something. I mean, nothing's been confirmed so we held on to what little hope for this awful news to be false. When it was confirmed on CNN we were both glued to the TV watching this very sad sad ordeal. When they played his music my eyes got watery & I cried. I don't know why. I'm not usually a crier about these things but I did. I felt like part of my childhood just died. The songs we sang as kids, the dances my brother & i tried our best to imitate, felt gone. I vividly remember my 3yo little brother playing Beat It (on a 45..do those still exist?) over & over again with no end in sight. I remember when the Thriller video came out how the whole family sat around the TV to watch it (including my parents). It was the coolest thing ever! I remember playing my aunt's Thriller LP on her stereo over & over again. My aunt also had the Farrah look. She was the coolest in my eyes. A man who's incredible talents contributed so much to humanity is now gone. It saddens me to think that my kids will grow up in a world without an incredible music genious. There will never be anyone that will measure up to Michael Jackson.
Thank you both for enriching my childhood with your talent. Thanks for providing an image that women can be just as brave & strong as men. Thank you for providing the music that will always take me back to a wonderful time in history that I will always remember fondly.
Rest In Peace my heroes! You will never be forgotten.
When I first heard the news of Farrah Fawcett's death I immediately thought, God who DIDN'T want to be Farrah Fawcett? Before Jennifer Anniston's hair everyone wanted Farrah's hair. Lord knows I tried my best to achieve that feathered look & remember begging my parents for a pair of Pumas & short shorts like the Charlie's Angels girl. The show was one of my all time favorites. And I fondly remember pretend playing with my cousins Charlie's Angels in my grandmother's house. Before I knew what women's lib was this show set in my mind that women can be just brave and heroic as men. They were chicks with guns! It didn't get more exciting for a girl my age. Where are these wholesome role models today?
The death of Michael Jackson was surreal for me. I heard the news on the radio as I drove home from work and I literally yelled out to no one "WHAT?! No way!" I felt shock and thought that just can't be. It just can't be. I anxiously waited for J to get home to tell him the news. And we both kind of felt like maybe they're wrong. Maybe he's in a coma or something. I mean, nothing's been confirmed so we held on to what little hope for this awful news to be false. When it was confirmed on CNN we were both glued to the TV watching this very sad sad ordeal. When they played his music my eyes got watery & I cried. I don't know why. I'm not usually a crier about these things but I did. I felt like part of my childhood just died. The songs we sang as kids, the dances my brother & i tried our best to imitate, felt gone. I vividly remember my 3yo little brother playing Beat It (on a 45..do those still exist?) over & over again with no end in sight. I remember when the Thriller video came out how the whole family sat around the TV to watch it (including my parents). It was the coolest thing ever! I remember playing my aunt's Thriller LP on her stereo over & over again. My aunt also had the Farrah look. She was the coolest in my eyes. A man who's incredible talents contributed so much to humanity is now gone. It saddens me to think that my kids will grow up in a world without an incredible music genious. There will never be anyone that will measure up to Michael Jackson.
Thank you both for enriching my childhood with your talent. Thanks for providing an image that women can be just as brave & strong as men. Thank you for providing the music that will always take me back to a wonderful time in history that I will always remember fondly.
Rest In Peace my heroes! You will never be forgotten.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Blueberries = Baking
We had a bunch of blueberries on hand. I wasn't quite sure how many berry smoothies I could make before the girls decided enough was enough. So I thought I would bake some blueberry muffins. It's a Cooking Light recipe you can find here.
I'm no Martha Stewart or Barefoot Contessa, bless their wooden spoons, but I think I can follow simple directions. And these were simple enough.
Not bad. Notice some cups are fuller then others. Yeah I wasn't quite sure how much goes in each cup. We'll see how it bakes.
So I froze the smaller ones for the girls. And the large ones I left for J. He'll be the ultimate decision on thumbs up or down :)
Of course I thought they were yummy.
Speaking of Spills...We had our 1st
It wasn't a good start to the weekend when I got home from walking the dogs feeling ill. Then Jorge greeted me with my injured child. It wasn't pretty. There was blood, swelling, and lots of tears. The story goes like this. The girls were crawling like little wind up toys across the floor. And Catalina tripped on the corner of the runner & her face went right into the floor. Thump! Crack! WAH!
Busted lip. Broken heart.
We tried to put ice on it but of course that didn't work. SO I decided to try a frozen mango cube. It was cold & tasty. To see my daughter's lip expanding wasn't fun at all. But I knew this would be the first of many. So I braced myself & offered some comfort. And I guess Topaz's nurturing instincts kicked in too as she also provided comfort. OR it could be she was interested in the mango.
After some mommy time, Cati decided to rest in her fav place.
And then she realized Val was doing something fun (meaning: something she shouldn't be doing).
And off she went. This is how she got into this mess in the first place, mind you.
Caught in the act my dear.
But despite Cati's mishap, the show must go on. We donned on our finest threads. Well the girls did anyways, I tried to find something I can move around in without flashing anyone and we headed out to our social engagements.
Leyla's 1st Birthday
Leyla's mom did a great job. She covered all her bases. A place for the kids, adults, AND the cakes!
And the food was delicious. Right J?
In the end we had a fun time. Thanks Leyla's mom!
Busted lip. Broken heart.
We tried to put ice on it but of course that didn't work. SO I decided to try a frozen mango cube. It was cold & tasty. To see my daughter's lip expanding wasn't fun at all. But I knew this would be the first of many. So I braced myself & offered some comfort. And I guess Topaz's nurturing instincts kicked in too as she also provided comfort. OR it could be she was interested in the mango.
After some mommy time, Cati decided to rest in her fav place.
And then she realized Val was doing something fun (meaning: something she shouldn't be doing).
And off she went. This is how she got into this mess in the first place, mind you.
Caught in the act my dear.
But despite Cati's mishap, the show must go on. We donned on our finest threads. Well the girls did anyways, I tried to find something I can move around in without flashing anyone and we headed out to our social engagements.
Leyla's 1st Birthday
Leyla's mom did a great job. She covered all her bases. A place for the kids, adults, AND the cakes!
And the food was delicious. Right J?
In the end we had a fun time. Thanks Leyla's mom!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Leaks & Spills
When I first ventured into the world of liquid receptacles for children I had no idea that I was in for torture. As a new mom-to-be you read every article on BPA, colic, gas-reducing, etc. etc. After extensive analysis I decided this was the absolute best of the best bottle for our children.
At the time I didn't consider the cleaning time required with these bottles...thank goodness for dishwashers. What was I thinking?!
Then we decided we would switch to these in hopes that one day Cati & Val would hold their own bottles & feed themselves. Perhaps a shorter wider bottle would do the trick! Uh uh wishful thinking on my part.
In every case the darn bottles leaked & would spill formula everywhere ruining everything in it's path...kiddie outfits, adult pants, bottle bags dripping w/milk, car seats, car mats, & the list goes on. I must be an idiot. I mean how hard is it to screw on a bottle nipple. I don't have a degree in this field but really HOW many times can I get it wrong? It doesn't matter which bottle we used the friggin things would leak. Switching to another brand didn't help either. I would always find my hands sticky with formula milk at every feeding. SO I would go through the ritual of removing the bottle from a screaming hungry child's mouth to "readjust" the nipple & screw it on AGAIN. It's just the little things that make my day impossible.
Now that we have the green light to use sippy cups, I was ecstatic at the idea of FINALLY introducing the girls to Spill Proof. Aaahh I can already picture my dry cleaning bill shrinking. I can picture getting dressed just once without having to go back to change my pants for work. And I imagine a car without the smell of formula impregnated in the carpet & car seats. Sigh.
Sound the alarm!! Someone through a bucket of water on my dream. I don't think so! This is what our new cups have produced. More leaks.
With all the high tech innovation out in the world today it boggles my mind that I have to deal with this. Something so simple so trivial yet so ANNOYING.
Perhaps at the end of the day it in fact could be that I don't have the skill to use these contraptions & I may need some kind of hands-on help. If anyone knows of any professional help here please let me in on it.
Maybe one day when my kids are old enough to share a beer with me I'll finally be rid of this problem.
At the time I didn't consider the cleaning time required with these bottles...thank goodness for dishwashers. What was I thinking?!Then we decided we would switch to these in hopes that one day Cati & Val would hold their own bottles & feed themselves. Perhaps a shorter wider bottle would do the trick! Uh uh wishful thinking on my part.
In every case the darn bottles leaked & would spill formula everywhere ruining everything in it's path...kiddie outfits, adult pants, bottle bags dripping w/milk, car seats, car mats, & the list goes on. I must be an idiot. I mean how hard is it to screw on a bottle nipple. I don't have a degree in this field but really HOW many times can I get it wrong? It doesn't matter which bottle we used the friggin things would leak. Switching to another brand didn't help either. I would always find my hands sticky with formula milk at every feeding. SO I would go through the ritual of removing the bottle from a screaming hungry child's mouth to "readjust" the nipple & screw it on AGAIN. It's just the little things that make my day impossible.Now that we have the green light to use sippy cups, I was ecstatic at the idea of FINALLY introducing the girls to Spill Proof. Aaahh I can already picture my dry cleaning bill shrinking. I can picture getting dressed just once without having to go back to change my pants for work. And I imagine a car without the smell of formula impregnated in the carpet & car seats. Sigh.
Sound the alarm!! Someone through a bucket of water on my dream. I don't think so! This is what our new cups have produced. More leaks.
With all the high tech innovation out in the world today it boggles my mind that I have to deal with this. Something so simple so trivial yet so ANNOYING.
Perhaps at the end of the day it in fact could be that I don't have the skill to use these contraptions & I may need some kind of hands-on help. If anyone knows of any professional help here please let me in on it.
Maybe one day when my kids are old enough to share a beer with me I'll finally be rid of this problem.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Cool Summer Outings
My favorite time of year has finally arrived. I think it's pretty appropriate that the twins' birthday is also the kick off to SUMMER!! WOO HOO..I heart warm weather aaahhh.
I plan to pass on this excitement on to my girls & educate them on the importance of the season. First things first must dress appropriately & capris & sleeveless baby doll top is just right.
Hair accessories a must!
One of our good friends was in town & hosted a picnic at Central Park in NYC. I have fond memories of NYC (check out my 1st blog) in Central Park. J & I also have some fun in the sun memories in NYC but those bar hopping days are pretty much over :) ha!
And our little 18 month hostess gave me some insight into what's in store for me in the months ahead.
Saia are you & your dad coming back??
And I also got coo over a pretty little newborn baby girl...sweet Nadia.
Isn't she so sweet & tiny! I want one of these...oh yeah I forgot, I have TWO.
We found the perfect spot with some sun & shade to lounge around & socialize with our friends.
I guess it was a little too much sun since Valentina decided to try & figure out how these sunglasses worked.
You know it's time to go when you lose your pants. UUGGH
It was short & sweet but we all had a good time.
I plan to pass on this excitement on to my girls & educate them on the importance of the season. First things first must dress appropriately & capris & sleeveless baby doll top is just right.
Hair accessories a must!
One of our good friends was in town & hosted a picnic at Central Park in NYC. I have fond memories of NYC (check out my 1st blog) in Central Park. J & I also have some fun in the sun memories in NYC but those bar hopping days are pretty much over :) ha!
And our little 18 month hostess gave me some insight into what's in store for me in the months ahead.
Saia are you & your dad coming back??
And I also got coo over a pretty little newborn baby girl...sweet Nadia.
Isn't she so sweet & tiny! I want one of these...oh yeah I forgot, I have TWO.
We found the perfect spot with some sun & shade to lounge around & socialize with our friends.
I guess it was a little too much sun since Valentina decided to try & figure out how these sunglasses worked.
You know it's time to go when you lose your pants. UUGGH
It was short & sweet but we all had a good time.
Monday, June 1, 2009
12 Month Check Up
The peanuts were due for the inevitable 12 month check up. I decided not to tell them that this check up while fun, would come with some down side to it. Shots. YUCK! I actually hate these more then they do. I'm happy to report that theydid okay. Catalina was first up & did not even flinch (even tho I did!). Valentina on the other hand screamed her little lungs out (my eyes welled up). I know it's been a year & I still can't get used to this stuff. 1 out f 2 aint a bad record. I've decided to give Dr. M another to chance to redeem himself next time affording him yet another opportunity to give my girls vaccinations without the tears. UUGGHH. On a good note...the girls are tracking very well. Development is up to par! Not walking yet but some important milestones to note is that they glance over at mom for approval. They've got the concept of balance down. I didn't pick up on this one but the doc did. They stretch out their hands when they feel themselves off balance. Pretty cool! I don't give our doc enough credit. He's got a great way to give me the comfort I seek that my kids are doing well & there's no need for me to worry.
-Transition to cow's milk.
-Transisiton to cups.
-Trying new foods fish, eggs, peanut butter.
They're officially toddlers. Can you believe that?!
Ok sorry J but I don't think they're ready to play for the Yankees yet.
It's cool to be 1 girls!
Some new things we'll be working on until our next doctor visit.-Transition to cow's milk.
-Transisiton to cups.
-Trying new foods fish, eggs, peanut butter.
They're officially toddlers. Can you believe that?!
Ok sorry J but I don't think they're ready to play for the Yankees yet.
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