Baby Sign Postscript

This week was monumental...not in the climbing a mountain way but in the toddler way. But first, I need to give a little back story.

Given a family pattern of young speakers stubbornly waiting until they could speak sentences to utter much, I long ago began baby sign American Sign Language (ASL).  As a mostly SAHM and a lover of ASL, this decision was easy as I could not imagine entire days without communicating with the other biped in my house (I am still working on getting the 9.5 pound dog to use baby sign...he just stares at me...he's stubborn too).  I read about baby sign and the idea of using gestures seemed like it would lead to conversations involving pointing and whining (both of us that is), so I went with a ASL which is a comprehensive language.  ASL is beautiful in that so many signs are just common sense (you know hi and bye already.  Train for example is to pull the whistle and banana is to "peel" your pointer finger with the opposite hand.)  Initially, we began at 6 months per instructions from a book...ha! ha!  He was more interested in eating and people watching.  We re-started around 10 months and kicked into high gear after one year. 

Mr. B is now 25 months.  I have tried counting the number of signs he knows and when I write the list I add to it for a few days with Mr. B reminding me when I forgot something.  (paused typing to put my gymnast back in his crib and thus decided to try the list again....grand total for right now is 145, oops 146 signs since I just remembered that I forgot "turtle")  For the last 3 months, I have looked up only a couple of signs when I saw that he was becoming frustrated and needed a way to communicate.  The reason for the slowing down was that my prediction came true (yes, I know that I could have made this happen, but I found empirical research demonstrating that baby sign does not slow verbal language acquisition but does decrease toddler and infant frustration levels) [If you want a copy of the publicized research, I will be happy to email information].  We are proud receivers of the toddler lowered levels of frustration.  Mr. B is a content, happy child who rarely tantrums and any whining is solved when he is reminded to use words in some form.

We went in for the 2 year pediatric well child check and I will first sign that I am in favor of this type of care as it is preventive care and not sick care.  But, I go to each and every one with apprehension as my child's development and our parenting decisions are not the American norm beginning at birth.  (Mr. B nursed and stayed awake for almost all of two days, and then he decided to catch up on sleep, but this led to almost hitting the "too much weight loss" line.  By the 5 day old visit, he was on track and a big fan of full on mama milk.)  I knew this visit would focus on language development.  Although it turned out to not be what I feared, the doctor was concerned with his mere 15 word spoken vocabulary since his aforementioned 146 signs did not count.  I am left to wonder if the medical field is primarily concerned with children forming speech sounds aka phonological production and not language knowledge/acquisition (apparently sign is not fully recognized...I beg and plead to differ).

In one months time he has gone from 15 spoken words to 37 +/- a few given that he would not admit for an entire month that a certain person's name was not just babbling...stinker...cute stinker.  I should add that he can sign all his letters, make all their sounds, point out all capital letters aka "mama letters" whether you sign or say them, and point out 20 of his lower case letters aka "baby letters." He knows his numbers 0-12, shapes, and colors.  The doctor did not request an evaluation.  Ironic that part of me wanted to have one just to gain the first hand experience (hmmm, probably shouldn't make Mr. B the guinea pig).  He did however respond that Mr. B needed to verbalize two word sentences by 2.5 years. 

Well this week was our monumental event already.  Once upon a time, Mr. B and I were having our morning chat and cuddle and he asked about "dada."  I responded and then came his first sentence that I will never forget my entire life, nor will he as I plan to tell this story in the future.  Here goes and if you have sensitive ears you may want to look away for a moment.  Dada poop. With raised inflection on the end.

All in all, I am very pleased with ASL for Mr. B.  The following are some interesting results we have had.

1. Less tantrums
2. More 2 way communication
3. Mr. B showing pride in himself
4. Mr. B showing that he remembers the past through story telling
5. Telling stories with sign and then making himself laugh
6. Making requests
7. Having choices such as preferred food for dinner or color of cup
8. Mr. B getting to be a teacher to family members
9. Finding out he knows more than one would think given his quiet demeanor
10. Planning events, such as discussing the animals he would like to see at the zoo or what we would see on vacation
11. Using mutli-modal learning with "seeing sign" "seeing the letter" "producing the letter sound" and hearing the letter name and sound
12. Communicating to his buddies aka stuffed animals
13. Entertainment in the car
14. Learning house rules, such as not to feed the dog from the table
15. More interaction when reading books as he likes to sign the words we read
16. Naming objects on his own, such as particular books he prefers

The Compromise:  Taking time to look up signs to expand my own vocabulary.  Funny stares and questions from other people.  If you choose baby sign and have this problem, just tell curious people or nosy people that the parent not present is deaf.  and that will be that, no questions asked.  Some will bypass the questions and stares and go straight to expressing their opinion about how you are harming your child.  Please keep trudging forward as this path less taken is a worthwhile journey that is not arduous. 

The Sweet Reward:  See above, need I say more.  This is really only one years work, easier than any other school subject.

   P.S.  I am a little sad that we are entering the next stage where we focus on verbal language and slow down on introducing new signs (although 10 of his 37 spoken words are repeats of signed words). I have enjoyed immensely the baby sign portion of our lives.

Moving 101

Disclaimer:  Whereas I have moved a plethora of times, I have never bought or sold a home.

Until a few weeks ago, this was my status as a homeowner.  This month that has all changed.

Disclaimer:  I have moved many times (see above), but always as a single individual.

This month however, I am learning how to move as a family unit including a husband (who likes to collect) and a toddler (who does not understand why life became so chaotic).

I have learned a few things and thought I would pass on my wisdom common sense hints that you probably already know...I wonder why I didn't know these things before...hmmmm....

Here I go...First of all, do not start packing too soon.  Our selling and buying situation went much more quickly than any of us (husband D, me, our agent, and even the economy) imagined. While we are extremely thankful to have gone under contract 10 days after putting on the market, it has become a whirlwind that increased in speed with their request for a quicker than normal move in date and the fact that we had not yet found our next home.  Back to my first moving hint:  we became so nervous/excited that we began packing literally immediately.

The Compromise:  We have reopened most of our packed and sealed boxes needing items (and not always knowing which box to open).


Second, packing so quickly can lead to finding new ways to do daily activities.  D packed our office supplies and Mr. B wanted to do his number game (aka learning numbers).  Big box = chalkboard.

The Compromise:  Said toddler, Mr. B, finds every permanent marker for box labeling to draw on said boxes or whatever surface is nearby.


Third, a family means that real meals are essential, thus we are packing the kitchen last.

The Compromise:  Kitchen items become most accessible household possessions and thus are more readily used by toddler for toys.  This actually makes me happy as I prefer non-traditional/non-big-box-store purchased toys.


Fourth, obtain boxes from everyone you know including friends, colleagues, grocery stores (apple boxes are awesome), offices (paper boxes work great for books....we have many).  Make sure to break them down for easy travel home in your car.

The Compromise:  Flat boxes leaning against couch between coffee table can and will be used by toddlers as makeshift home slides.  Same boxes also make a great hiding place and with Mr. B's quietness he really does get to hide.


Fifth, leave out small games that your family enjoys as you will need down time at the end of each day.  You will feel worn out physically from lifting boxes and emotionally given frustration of looking for items that were packed too early (see the first hint above).

The Compromise:  Mastermind is only fun so many times...:)...in reality, evening games and occasional movies (I highly recommend The Help after reading the book) has been a great way to unwind.

Sixth: Crockpots are amazing devices.  To have a warm healthy porridge ready when you wake up, to cook up healthy beans to minimize pantry contents, etc.


The Compromise  My toddler knows that he world is a little topsy turvy, so he decided to add a new twist of learning to climb out of his crib, over and over and over and over again.


The Sweet Reward:  Learning just how resilient your family is in handling change and chaos.  Toddlers really are amazing when you think about handling being off schedule with major environmental changes that tend to come with moving.  and husband D learned a valuable lesson (ooo this should be the seventh hint): do NOT pack up the belongings of a toddler in front of him/her. They take offense even if you treat these items nicely as well as suddenly need to play with that item even if it has not been touched in months.

While on Sabbatical

Is it possible to take a Sabbatical from blogging?  I am not sure, but this is what came to mind when I thought about the recent events of our lives.  We have had more going on than I ever imagined, but I have had a lifetime of learning in the past month.

A little recap to help you know where I am coming from:  We started the Summer with preparing for our first BIG vacation with child and preparing our house to go on market.  The vacation required prepping for colder weather since we were going North on an active vacation and preparing amusement for a toddler lap child on a 4 legged (2 each way) airplane adventure.  The house required thinning down of possessions by  moving said accumulation of life "necessities" into a storage unit.  Then, we enjoyed said vacation and it went amazingly well. Upon our return, the house required further spiffying up and cleaning and staging for a photo shoot.  Then, we had final preparations to be constantly ready for a debut should an interested party call.  10 days later we had our first offer...wow!  And the offer came with the request to move in less than one month later.  Since a bird in the hand is fabulous when considering the idea of numerous tours of strangers through our home, we accepted the offer.  Our year long search for our perfect home then began in earnest.  At one point I saw 11 houses in 2 days while toting along a toddler who just wanted to be at home with his toys.  And when I looked in his eyes, I could not help but dwell on the thought that my decision would make my cute toddler homeless.  (at this same time, when I said look in my eyes, he would smash his forehead and nose into mine and giggle uncontrollably...that helped)  Along came a very interesting house and after seeing it on the first day of its debut, we put in an offer.  One week after we accepted our offer.  Whirlwind, some may say.  Meant to be others might say.  In perpetual shock right now, I might say.  Relief, our families said.  Yep, said my non-worrying husband, D.  Mr. B simply says he needs a brown room...not sure why the color choice, although briefly he toyed with the idea of a gray room.  Funny boy.

You can suspect that I am learning all the usual things such as patience, how to pack a family of 3 in to as few boxes as possible, and how to make sure not to accidentally pack the dog.  I have learned additional things, and of course I will now present a list (I think the simple organization of a list is a thing of beauty for all to behold).

1. Microfiber cloths will clean any surface with only water and elbow grease as needed, including glass and removing the layer of gunk life gets on sinks. 
2. A duvet cover literally covers any ugliness.  
3. Old tool chests used as end tables and old ice (literally ice) chests used as a hutch in the dining room will both hide toys.
4. Long and low dressers will mimic a beautiful wooden side bar in a dining room.  Just don't leave the top drawer of underwear open.
5. Red food dye and water will mimic red wine to make a picturesque scene on your porch.
6. Water, water, water to get plants to bloom and stay blooming, especially if your garden is best described as pocket-sized like mine
7. Inexpensive annuals at your garden store will hide sun baked bare spots in your flower beds
8. Your child will choose the chaotic week with 5 house showings to begin his Olympic training for the climbing out of your crib sport.
9. Said child will climb out repeatedly for over 2 hours many days in a row.
10. Homemade frozen yogurt treats in silicone tubes are a nutritious treat for the family on the go.
11. These treats will however be spilled in the car seat leaving a sun baked smell that I will not describe here and instead will utilize the strength of Denial to forget.
12. Coffee can mask any tiredness and allow you to face the next day with at least one eye open

The Compromise:  There was a sad, dark night...I'm not just setting the stage here since a storm was looming...when I, The Compromising Mother, went through a drive through to feed my toddler while out really late hoping to find a roof for his head

The Sweet Reward: A new house big enough for a family of 3 to replace our one bedroom abode and a toddler who continues his training to become a gold medalist gymnast (It has been over an hour of climbing out of his crib and Mr. B is still not asleep).  There you have it. The typical mothering dilemma.  How is it I figured out how to sell and buy a home in this economy, yet can't figure out how to get my toddler to sleep without a drive in the car?

 

Exercise Gear Made Easy

My brain is mostly focused on running right now, call it my game face since my first race is this Saturday.  Read about My Running Partner, it is a mother-daughter/bucket list thing for me.  Thus, the goal is a 4 mile race, no walking, and finishing (hopefully with a smile even if we look disheveled). This morning is my last long run day of training prior to the race...wow sounds a little foreboding, but my kiddo wants to color right now even though I used all the right words, such as go for a walk, park, playground, outside, but to no avail.  So I am waiting, but still thinking about running.  I thought, I would put my morning obsession to work and tell you a little about  my preferred gear.

One thing I love about running is that I can do it with minimal special gear.  I already own exercise clothing, so shoes is mostly what I need.  Recently I purchased a new pair of running shoes and I adore them, so I wanted to tell the world, aka my readers, about them.  I went with open mind to the store and was thrilled when New Balance was the type that seemed to fit best.  Thrilled you ask?  Well, it is the only tennis/exercise shoe made in the U.S.  I figure less shipping means a more green product and at this point in time I do like to support locally produced goods for the sake of the economy.  I learned about this company when I heard a story on the radio about a family who spent a year with the goal of purchasing only American made goods.  Apparently, they even enjoyed a trip to the factory.

My new New Balance running shoes are not the typical though.  They are light weight, like air really.  Comfy too.  It is not easy to leave them behind when doing other activities, given this comfort and cute design.

Running shoes to this frugally minded Compromising Mother seem expensive, but these are not as high as some and worth every penny (no I am not paid by the company, I promise).  Here is how I figure it. They cost less than one month at most gyms and I get at least a Summer of running out of them and then they can become my casual Mom-About-Town shoes.  Good deal.

Confession time. My stroller was expensive...i.e. full price when I got it 2 years ago was 500.  I did get a 10% discount as it was an unfulfilled item on my baby registry (a little cheat here as I added it to the discount only by adding it after all my showers). I run or walk several times a week and have for most of the 2 years I have owned it. I also use it 1-3 times during the week for other fun kid events.  So I estimate my cost is less than one dollar per time I have used it.  That's just so far.  I hope to use it for several more years with an anticipated cost of less than 40 cents per use.  If I had to pay that each time I wanted to go for a run or a fun event, I would.  So short term sticker shock was worth long term savings and health for the whole family.

The Compromise:  a convertible stroller that is more expensive than  would prefer.

The Sweet Reward:  Physical health and fun for the whole family while using our local park to its full advantage and not needing the car....:)...I even pick up small loads of groceries with our stroller. (knowing I have only the basket under the stroller to fill with groceries saves money too)

My Running Partner...

The truth is I have two running partners and a coach (apparently I need lots of help with motivation and accountability). One is invivo and one is long distance.  Let me explain, but I have to backtrack a bit. 

I will start with a confession.  I do NOT like to publicly voice goals until I achieve them, just in case.  This has become an even greater difficulty with complicated daily schedules of toggling a few part-time jobs and a toddler (who is definitely not part-time).  I walked all the time when I was pregnant as this is a preferred activity for me and to keep glucose levels low since I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at the start of third trimester (this reminds me of a goal to write my birthing story in this blog, so now that I have publicly announced that one please keep me accountable).  Then at 8 months some surprising news came with the plan of bedrest (luckily only partial bedrest at times) to help me reach full term. So after Mr. B was born, I was very eager to get active again.  So, I broke the rules of my trusted doctor and started walking when he was 2 weeks old (I was supposed to wait until he was 6 weeks old...yep, I am a bad patient).  Despite my initial excitement to be outdoors again with a my new Phil and Teds stroller, I only made it around the block (one of those character building moments in life, right?)  Gradually I worked up to walking 1.67 miles at my local park.  After some time, my eagerness and tight schedule led me to try running in short bursts.  You see, running has always been an enjoyable activity for me.  No matter how difficult life is, my brain quiets and turns off when I run, which is significant as my brain never stops thinking, planning, and at times worrying.  Well, then I kept going and started to run longer distances while still pushing Mr. B in the stroller with the dog's leash around my wrist. 

One more important fact about me is that I have never ran in a race since I stopped running track in junior high although I have enjoyed running since then.

Well at about the same time, my mom started running (also not telling anyone for the same reason, like mother like daughter I guess).  Approximately in the fall she decided that completing a road race was her next goal and asked me to be her running partner.  Well, my training partner is Mr. B and his stroller and since Mr. B and my mom are bucket list partners, the decision was an easy one.  The race was added to the bucket list and we all started training in earnest.  My mom lives about 3 hours away, so we encourage each other via phone and computer, and this encouragement has been the most important part of being running partners.  Mr. B now has almost 2 years experience as my running/walking partner in the stroller, so his encouragement is vital, too.  Not to mention that the dog reminds me if we need a walk too.  I like to call Mr. B my personal trainer (he used to sit on my belly while I did crunches) and my running partner. I call Tony (wonder dog) my coach as he will NOT let me miss a run.

Parenthood is full of challenges and unknowns, but I am glad that this particular unknown (can I run again after having a baby) has turned out well.  I have only ever ran and walked while pushing my son in his stroller and together they are just under half my body weight (I think...please don't do the research for yourself).  Thus, on Mother's Day I gave myself a present of running all by myself.  Turns out my unusual training method and partners were fabulous as I was able to run nonstop about 2.5 to 3 times my previous distances.  I felt so good that when I stopped I felt like I crossed a finish line. 

Part 2: this weekend and the day before Father's Day (perfect given what I did on Mother's Day) is my first race and my mom's second.  A 4 mile early morning road race.  I am excited and nervous and a little relieved given I am openly admitting my goal.

The Compromise:  Finding time several times a week to run with a busy schedule.  Running with the extra effort of pushing a stroller.  Having to push even more when my 9.5 pound epileptic dog needs a break and has to ride in the stroller with Mr. B.  Forgetting to do the recovery run after my triumph on Mother's Day which lead to a very sore body.  Running in all weather including thunderstorm one day...oops! Convincing Mr. B that he could wait one more lap to enjoy the playground when I needed to increase my running distance.

The Sweet Reward:  Getting to watch my mom cross her first finish line at her first road race and preparing to cross the second one with her and Mr. B this weekend.  I am so proud to be a part of their bucket list.  Oh and one confession, I was so proud of my mom for crossing the first finish line, I cried tears of joy.

Gourmet Vege Friendly Picnic

This weekend has focused on family fun, which is a nice change of pace for us with all the projects we have had on the never ending list lately.  We had fun doing two things I listed on my last blog entry of free family Summer fun blog.  Friday night we enjoyed free Shakespeare in our local park and today we hit a local park with fountains for a Memorial Day family outing.  Given we are frugal and mostly vegetarian, we packed both meals.  Today was simple and standard lunch box items, but Friday was a little more gourmet.

The menu included Sushi, grilled Tempeh with  peanut sauce, Edamame, blackberries, and cookies.  Honestly, I made all this with what I had on hand and completed most during afternoon nap.  Normally, B loves to help me, but the preparation was more complex for the sushi.

Here is what I did and what I learned.

I thought I had only long grain brown rice and I fretted about getting it to stick together in the manner necessary for sushi.  Thus, I did the following.  I dumped one cup of long grain brown rice, 1/3 cup of amaranth (tiny grain that cooks up a little gooey), and 3 cups of rice in my slow cooker in the morning on high for 3 hours.  My prediction wast that the amaranth would give the long grain rice the necessary stickiness and guess what it not only worked but it added to the nutritional value. The grains were a little more done than I prefer, so I will shorten cooking time next time.  Slow cookers vary more than recipes admit, so you will just have to try it out and decide how long to cook.  My advice is to check it at 2 hours and continue cooking until desired tenderness.

Then, I warmed on the stove 1/3 cup of seasoned rice vinegar, 1 Tabelspoon sugar and 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of salt.  When all was nicely dissolved, I poured the mixture directly over the grains in the crock pot and tossed with a fork.  Let cool in fridge.

After this simply follow sushi making guidelines.  Honestly, I first learned a decade ago by reading a couple of books.  I will post a few tips here to help.

Get a bamboo rolling mat, I think it helps.
Place nori (roasted seaweed sheets) shiny side down on the mat
Dunk hands in bowl of cold water
Then, scoop up rice mixture and cover nori in thin layer (no more than 1/4 inch thick)*
Do not cover the last 3/4 inch of the side furthest from you.

Add matchstick or julienne type fillings about 2 inches in from side close to you, being carefully to have an even layer that is nice and lined up

Start rolling away from you using the mat.

When I get around once, I take time to use firm compression with palms of hands to make sure it all stays together.
I like to lightly moisten the uncovered nori end with water to help it seal.
Wrap and chill rolls in the fridge up to a few hours
When ready to serve, cut with a very sharp knife (I did this step right before we left and then rewrapped for the picnic.

Enjoy with soy sauce and wasabi.

*For fun you can substitute a shmear of cream cheese or smashed avacado...both are so yummy with crunchy vege fillings like julienne carrot or cucumber

Filling ingredients we love include carrot, bell pepper, cucumber, green onion, chives, sorrel (seriously good and nutritious, just lay the leaves on top of rice), Japanese style egg omlet with about 1/4 teaspoon of sugar per egg mixed in prior to cooking, Japanese pickled radish, radishes, jicama (awesome crunch, fresh spinach leaves.

 The big green leafy thing is the sorrel which has a pleasant lemony flavor...yum!

Gardening with a Toddler in Tow

Actually you could describe my current lifestyle with filling in the first word with any verb (think Mad Libs...my salute to my childhood.

Today the verb I inserted was "Gardening."  Like anything with kids and a toddler in particular (given anticipated egocentrism and still developing language skills) normal activities are altered and slowed.  Before gardening, we must get dressed, agree to wear shoes, sometimes find shoes, put on sunscreen, fill water bottles, say bye-bye to inside toys, collect phone, gather a snack, change diaper, etc.  This occurs with a toddler vascillating between signing "outside" emphatically and trying to "help" with each task.

When we get outside, more challenges await.  My child loves to be outdoors and we try to get out every day for various activities.  Thus, he can self entertain, but still needs to return to me periodically for check-ins or to chat.  A few ideas for entertaining a toddler while you garden include side walk chalk, trucks and cars for the sidewalk, little kiddo version of tool shop for making and fixing, sandbox, balls, a dog, and some other new things.  In our backyard, all of the above (except chalk) are used and most were free (except the dog who is special needs).  I have learned a few new tricks that I wanted to share and due to my penchant/love/obsession with lists, you guessed it: Here is the list.

1. Always wear "play clothes" or just leave pjs on (today we did the latter)
2. We made coffee filter flowers for Mother's Day and thus found out water spray bottles are fun.  So an old spray bottle now stays in our backyard.
3. Toddlers like to help "water" plants.  The result though is wasted water, wet and happy toddler, wet and not so happy mama.  After many of such situations, I learned a lesson. Turn hose sprayer to "mist" which decreases all of the above results...:)
4. We have a "pocket size" backyard so all our veges are in flower beds around perimeter of yard.  Prepare to know that plants will be trampled.  Today, I enjoyed a lovely smell of basil while my baby basil plant cried under the sandal of said toddler.
5. Kid sized garden tools are great fun, but be prepared for them to dig up your favorite plants. Thus, we like our old fashioned plastic turtle sandbox. It was used and free.  The cover prevents it from becoming a special place for neighborhood animals.
6. We have a back alley, so watching things go by is great entertainment and in particular the garbage and recycling trucks.  This also is a great time to begin discussing both of these services.  My son at almost 2 when asked will take something to our recycle bin and knows where the compost bin is but it is too tall for him to participate.
7. Remember toddlers love to mimic so be prepared that they will "help" you gather crop from your garden or pull weeds.  Just remember they do not have cognitive ability to differentiate a weed from a pretty flower.  Thus, I am teaching B to smell not pick flowers (great advice from my mom friend K).  Toddlers HAVE to HAVE a replacement action when asked to stop another action.  Thus, B smells flowers by rubbing his lips rather than nose back and forth across flowers.
8. With enough activities, snack, water, and many gardening experiences, your toddler will happily enjoy a couple of hours or all morning in the garden with you.

The Compromise: Gardening with a kid has led to voluntary grass and bug ingestion, searching for worms and hanging on to said worm longer than it could endure, and sad basil (see above)

The Sweet Reward:  Your toddler learns to love the great outdoors, actually knows where food comes from, appreciates nature, and given indiscriminate ingestion of garden goods you have another reason to garden organically as we do. :)

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Ooooo, I actually do not like Summer as much as Spring, but I do love all the opportunities.  We live in St. Louis, MO and are immensely fortunate to have so many awesome, fun, free things to do year round.  In Summer, it multiplies tenfold.  If you have never visited the Gateway City or have not visited in Summertime, let me explain a few things.  St. Louis is hot and I  mean HOT and I mean oh so humid (we have three rivers that meet here) and lately we do not get a hard winter freeze, so it is buggy too.  St. Louisans though LOVE to be outdoors.  No matter how hot, you will smell grills a blazing on every block, kids hollering in the middle of ball games or sprinklers, dogs barking, parties getting started.  How do we do this despite terrible environmental factors? A simple strategy I will call "Ignore It."

Therefore, we have so many fun activities every Summer that I have a hard time getting them into our schedule.  First of all, we have so many city and county parks that I have yet to visit them all, but I am on my way.  Some even have fountains that actually encourage kids to jump in...awesome!!  Tomorrow we are going to our first Summer event and I am so excited because it is the first and it will make my son say "Go, Go, Go!!!" (this is his generalized name for all vehicles...he has specific names too) over and over. We are going to an event called Meet the Machines that occurs only once in the Summer.  Mr. B will get a chance to climb into large machines, dig for treasures, get a free and real hard hat, watch cranes, etc.  Amazing stuff and my almost 2 year old will be beside himself.  For a comparison, we went to the zoo with his best bud a few weeks ago and rode the train for the first time.  Now all conversations about the zoo or going anywhere involve trains, per Mr. B.  And, it is close to home and it is free!!!  Life is good.  
We've got our heat, our grills, our free activities, and smiling toddlers.  Yep, that's my version of happiness.

I know it has been said before, but it is worth saying again. Check out your communities free activities.  Thus far, our plans this Summer include picnic dinner with wine while watching free concert in the park, movies in the park (one in our very neighborhood and others all around town), evening concerts at Botanical Gardens with yet again a gourmet picnic dinner and pre-dinner play in the children's garden, all the parks with fountains, Science Center when we need to cool down, Children's time at the library, Hot Air Baloon Races, Festival of Nations, farmer's markets (ok they cost), local circus (costs a little too, but so much fun), mushroom hunting and blackberry picking (no special event just family fun and no I will not give away our hunting spot), the zoo, and the Wild Bird sanctuary.  Pretty amazing and yes we are blessed and yes it helps this mostly SAHM afford summertime entertainment.

The Compromise:  See above description of local weather, use of gas to transport, finding creative ways to pack vegetarian meals for a family so that we do not get bored.

The Sweet Reward: Free, frugal, fun in the fantastic outdoors...wow I hit the corny mark tonight.

CIO and other such excuses

Just had a reality shock when I opened up my own blog. Yep, it's been awhile.  I feel like I should say Hello Readers, my name is Tracy and I have only one day of blogging because I had a relapse...bad humor, I know.  Well, we better leave the sense of humor behind and move on to what I am hopefully better at...writing a blog entry.

We have been so busy.  We have two busy times of year and one is holiday time although the holidays are a small part and one is the end of Spring. This time of year includes getting the garden in, doing Spring Cleaning (ok not this year or last year or .....), my collective jobs need more of my time, and our hobbies such as hiking and mushrooming beckon us wildly...A little tangent here: mushrooms beckoned us with loud yelling this year, but we ignored, so beautiful, fresh, young chicken of the woods appeared along my park running trail....Thanks mother nature, I love you!  This year we added to the list of usual suspects for Spring with some extras including being part of a busy bag swap (I promise to blog about that later), sleep training, preparing to run in a real race (send positive thoughts out into the world for me), and extra house rehab.  We are silly like that or we should fire the master of our schedule. 

Today, though, I want to focus on sleep training.  As this is my current and largest compromise so as The Compromising Mother, I feel it is my duty to share.  I did NOT want to do Cry It Out (CIO). It did not feel natural to my parenting style and I had significant concerns about the emotional impact.  In my perspective, I would theorize that CIO works because kids cry and cry and cry and become overwhelmed and frustrated and then can not stop crying, so they fall asleep out of exhaustion and simply giving up.  This has meant a significant commitment on my part with a lot of time and energy.  I never minded either, I promise. I LOVE bedtime.  My son loves books and cuddles and mama, so it worked well....that is UNTIL he turned 22 months old. I do not know if his age had anything to do with it, but he was suddenly unable to be soothed to sleep by me.  I think, he had grown up and needed to figure it out on his own.  I tried every tool I knew and nothing worked, so CIO was my last resort. 

We started it on a night where I worked late since I still have a very emotional reaction to crying (unless it is tantrum crying).  My husband and I made an agreement that he would not tell me how long it took as we feared hours per stories from other parents.  Well, he broke his promise because it took under and hour, only 50 minutes.  The next night 35 with dada putting him down again while I worked. The third night, I put him down and it took about 25 minutes. The fourth night I again put him down and it took about 20 minutes.  We had one small setback on night 6 due to tornado sirens at dinner time, but by night 8 there was no crying at all and no talking and no pleas and cries for mama.  And from the beginning, naptime resulted in 5 minutes or less of crying.  Yep, my little Mr. B grew up.  He now looks like a little boy to me and not a toddler.  It worked and I think it did so quickly because we prepared him, we were firm, I was absent the first 2 times, and he is now so much more aware with an excellent memory (he calls for whoever put him down and if he wakes up in the middle of the night he calls for that same parent).  My kiddo is now getting as much sleep as he is supposed to get, doesn't cry, puts himself to sleep, does not wake up in the middle of the night anymore, and looks so cute when I lay him in his crib and he cuddles his buddies. 

One interesting note about our situation.  We live in a one bedroom house, not kidding.  When he was younger, I researched sleep training and was happy to see a special section for our situation.  That part of the book though basically said, "If you live in a one bedroom home, good luck!" That is paraphrased of course, but that is about the gist.  So, I do think that we had to wait until he was more aware and communicative. When he was younger, he knew that mom and dad were mere feet away, so we have always been part-time co-sleepers, which for us means the second half of the night Mr. B has taken the middle of the bed.  But, not now.

The Compromise:  interrupted sleep, frustration, and then finally using CIO, which I did not want to do.

The Sweet Reward: Mr. B is a big boy now....please send help immediately these transitions are harder on me than him...did I mention how much I cried each night?

A Hard Day of Work For Mr. B

This post is by Mr. B.  You see, mom, has been a little busy lately so I figure that I should write and give her a break.  She would probably title this post a hard day's work for a SAHM, but it was really me who had to work so hard today.

First, I was unhappy that she locked the back door, so I had to find fun on the sun porch.  I found out after some effort that I can take apart the pepper grinder.  You should see how neat the sun porch looks now.  Mom still hasn't been able to clean it up since she needs a new bag for the vacuum.  I know that she could use the broom, but when she gets it out I shriek and I pretend I don't remember that I have my own broom.  Her look of exasperation is priceless.  It is worth all the work.

Later on when she was trying to put away laundry, I emptied out the basket for her to make up for the above work.  For some reason, she did not like that I unfolded them all.  That was fun!

Later when she was getting food ready for me, I had a little water fun.  At first she thought it was just the dog's water bowl, so she did not run in right away.   So, when she did run in, I decided to give her a fun surprise. I found a way to take the diaper sprayer and turn it into a bathroom fountain like the one at the park.  She looked unhappy, so I made sure to point out where I hit the top of the door and wall.  When I smiled proudly and giggled, she tried to hide her laughter, but I am smarter than her.  I saw it, but don't tell her, please.

Yes, I toddler, Mr. B, have to make sure that my mostly SAHM works hard.  I hear that SAHMs don't work and just eat bon bons.  I am confused about this and so have one question:  What exactly are bon bons and why don't I get them for snack?  Can anyone help me.

My Current Compromise

It has been awhile since I last did any blogging...does that make me a non-practicing blogger at this point?  Maybe....

I have felt great pangs of guilt...that emotion is of course easy as a mother, but I am trying to remind myself of my purposely chosen blogger title. Yes, I am and will continue to be The Compromising Mother.  And one of my biggest compromises is as a wannabe SAHM (stay at home mom...sorry for the silly and confusing acronym, but I think this one is cute and definitely cuter to me who compromised on this one.)  I must be up front and honest here. I am not a SAHM.  In fact, I have 2-4 part time jobs depending on how you look at it and how well you can count.  For the past year, I estimate that I have worked the equivalent of 50% which is higher than what we anticipated.  It has been helpful for many reasons, except the amount of time I get with the amazing and quickly growing Mr. B.  I hate to complain as I keenly know that working moms feel this even worse than me.  The biggest problem has been that my work is very inconsistent. I may go through periods were I do not seem to work much and have freedom to do fun things like actually keep my house clean...haha...and other times where I seem to work too much.  Well, that's where we get to the reason I have been a bit absent as a blogger recently.  I am working more outside the home and in addition I had a slew of projects that I wanted to complete prior to the work hours increasing.  These included and I kid you not, sewing new curtains for 7 doorways or windows, sewing three new sham style pillow covers, hemming about 9 pairs of pants, repairing two pairs of pants, stengthening up my 2 year old diaper inserts that are getting tired, starting the garden, making and labeling fabric draw string bags for little toys for an upcoming vacation, sewing crayon and colored pencil roll up holders for same trip, sewing a new kitchen rug, making a bulletin board for myself (yea, one thing for me!!), purchasing supplies for end of Spring vacation, and used clothes shopping for Mr. B who was looking silly in his high water pants.  I think there was one bad movie rental in there, a lot of chocolate, a little bit of ice cream, and a few fun Mr. B trips to parks and zoos.  Then, add to that  I am deep into busy bag making mode.  They can be a bit of work, but are so awesome. I plan to blog about them, but if you want a sneak peak, check out my board "Cool Kids Stuff" on pinterest.  Did I mention my love of pinterest and how it reminds of my new aspirations or at least makes me feel like one of the cool kids.

Wow, I am a bit tired looking at this blog post and desperately need to go take that shower I prioritized slightly lower than all you readers.  I do not know if that spells love or "compromise" Hmmmm...I will have to get back to you on that one as my run in the park is now demanding.

Welcome Home

A little cliff hanger...I now know how to get red felt tip pen (like a marker and not the washable kind) off of a wood floor.

We, just Mr. B and I, squeezed in a much needed trip to see grandma this weekend and returned home at my, not his, bedtime last night. He did sleep on the way home, but woke up and eagerly wanted to see dada and doggie before going back to sleep.

Arriving home late meant awakening to all our stuff and with Mr. B in tow...it is a lot of stuff...I am sure cloth diapering is part of the bigger load.  Mr. B did not like the let's have a normal at home routine this morning, so he had to liven it up.  I due adore a good list, so I decided to put this morning's fun events in chronological order using a list, so here goes (please fasten your seat belts as it will be a bumpy ride)

1. Squirm so much for first diaper change of day that mommy leaves pajama pants off.
2. Dump out doggies water and food bowl
3. Watch doggie get upset and have a seizure
4. While mommy makes toast, find a red felt tip pen and draw on suitcase, coffee table, rug, shirt, floor
5. Take mommy's rag to help clean up so that she has to go get another one
6. Spill mommy's coffee all over table and floor (which she was putting on table when she discovered #4)
7. Let mommy strip me down in tub to make sure I am not harmed (she doesn't realize that because of #4 and #5 the coffee cooled entirely)
8. Try to climb out of tub multiple times while mommy cleans up coffee spill
9. Let mommy wash sticky legs and belly
10. Finally get to eat breakfast with only a diaper on (I wonder if mommy realizes that this was my goal all along)

The Compromise:  Mr. B took over my morning and my blog (see above)
The Sweet Reward: I initially used my tried and true disinfectant cleaner which worked fine on the glass coffee table but not the wood floor.  Happily, I next discovered the pure castille soap did the trick.  A sigh of relief until I saw just how many rags were needed this morning and the realization I had no coffee....Help!!!  That was the real compromising mother problem.

Ode To Arugala

It is unseasonably warm where I live now, so much so that everything has gone into Spring mode very early.  I am a big proponent of the planet since I live here and I believe that global warming is real and here to stay.  Today, though, well and yesterday too, I decided if you can't beat 'em then join 'em.  So, I (who still have winter clothes on my laundry room floor to wash) jumped with two feet into Spring or rather my garden.  While I know that we may return to cold weather, I love Spring gardening and hate to get seeds in any later than possible.

Yesterday, with two dogs, a toddler, claw style hand tiller, a shovel, and the odds and ends seeds purchased in previous seasons...to be honest I think I just lost track of this sentence.  Let's just suffice it to say, I started gardening yesterday...March 12th....March 12th....(I am still in disbelief).  Yes it is Spring warm, yes we are wearing Spring clothes, but most importantly my chives are growing, the soil surface is warm but underneath it is cool and damp.  My garden is speaking loudly to me that it is Spring even though the calendar is laughing at the garden.  So, I tilled and I planted and I tilled a little more so I could plant a little more and yes I went overboard.  I planted loose salad greens, head lettuce, spinach, arugula, peas, beets, radishes, chard, regular kale, and Chinese kale.  We have also been enjoying fresh green lettuce salads full of arugula, which I really love. To explain why I have greens in full growth goes all the way back to last Fall.  After a long term pattern of procrastinating a Fall garden, last year it really happened.  Honestly, it was not due to finding a cure to my laziness, but due to anger that my garden that was having its best year sadly met the hottest driest Summer I have seen.  I was so frustrated that I put in a Fall garden.  I am a great Spring gardener and I now realize that Fall gardening is basically the same except that I water more at the beginning and less at the end.  With an unseasonably mild Winter (I believe I mentioned that above), nothing froze.  So, the arugula I planted last Fall is now bolting.  That's the happy part of the story. The sad part, nothing froze, so the weeds lived on.  Underneath my gardens top soil is an extensive mesh of weed roots.  Yep, folks global warming is real and yep we need a good hard freeze every Winter to kill things that we find annoying, such as weeds and mosquitoes. 


The Compromise: Global Warming...need I say more.

The Sweet Reward:  Arugula in all forms right now, i.e. salad, bolting in my garden, and seedlings ready to emerge...a worthy reward for the above price right....okay not really...sorry to end on the sad note.

On a happier note:  Bake your own pizza and as soon as you pull it out of a very hot oven (at least 450 is my recommendation), toss fresh arugula on top so it wilts.  so yummy, especially if you sub out the mozzarella for goat cheese.....mmmmm.....

Mama Aerobic Routine

I am always trying to work exercise into a busy mom and part-time worker schedule, so mutli-tasking is my forte.  The other day though, I began mutli-tasking without preplanning, just a happy accident (ooohhhh that would be a fun posting topic).  I love to turn on pandora for my son as he loves music.  I have to make conscious efforts to do this as I am more likely to have on PBS or talk radio for sound (wow, I really am a nerd...kiddo's name should have been Poindexter...I don't think we could afford the investment in self-defense classes for him ;)  The other day this great upbeat tempo song came on (kid music sure has improved over the years) and I just felt like dancing.  By the way, we have one rule about dancing in our house.  If you are a bad dancer, you can only dance alone in your house or at weddings, otherwise it become a societal nuisance.  Well, it turned out to be quite a workout.  So, I decided to blog about it for other moms that are struggling to get their heart pounding with exercise (worrying when your kiddo is TOO brave on the playground doesn't count). Here are the instructions.  Feel free to print out for future reference.

1. Make sure to completely close the curtains in your living room
2. go to pandora.com and type in your favorite artists, i.e. Sesame Street or Schoolhouse rock
3. Pick up a nearby toddler weighing over 26 pounds
4. Dance away with abandon
5. When the toddler giggles, make sure to also giggle it adds to the heart pounding effect
6. When the song is through place said toddler back on the ground
7. See him signing more so cutely, that you are left with no other choice, but pick him up and dance again

I would love to say that I did this for a full workout, but believe me this is much more exhausting than you can imagine.  

The Compromise:  Exhaustion
The Sweet Reward:  Giggling, exercise, giggling, loving the music, giggling....and more giggling...I am smiling right now just remembering. :)

One For the Record Books

Where to begin my sordid tale?

When husband, D, and I decided that staying home as much as possible was our parenting journey, we realized that I had to work some. This means that I toggle a few part-time positions with full-time mom.  Most days it works amazingly well and my son, Mr. B, really goes with the flow of constant change.  We have what we call Daddy days and Mama days.   Typically we have the latter. 

Well, today began as the former...a Daddy day...and it was the second one this week, which can be unpredictable at best.  I worked all day and followed it with an evening commitment that meant Mr. B came along.  This type of situation was so much easier when he was younger.  I recall taking him to a work training all day when he was 6 weeks old. He was so quiet and well behaved that people came up to me afterwards and said they didn't even realize a baby was present.  Mr. B has become a professional at handling work meetings and all types of more adult environments with ease and an infectious grin.  So, he came with me tonight. The event ended at bedtime, so I  naively assumed we would leave and he would fall asleep in the car with pajamajams already in place.  I did not work in to my plan "running over."  A 20 month old on second wind in pajamajams is adorable even when hard to handle.  Well, then came the true compromise (by the way engaging in a professional meeting with a 20 month old running around was not the true compromise...amazing!).  While doing a last diaper change and restuffing the cloth diaper shell/cover, Mr. B ran off in unzipped footie pajamajams.  Yep, that's the note we ended our evening on...well not exactly.  Mr. B then made sure to show off his favorite part of himself.  I think I will now change my career choice to professional toggler.  Is that a real thing?

The Compromise:  wearing one professional hat by day, driving one hour and then trying to wear my other professional hat while being mama

The Sweet Reward:  "the story" to hold in my back pocket if ever his head gets too big for himself.

Developmental Milestones

Mr. B is NOT normal.  And in case you are wondering, no kiddo is normal.  Here's the reason developmental milestones are not meant to be a specific set point in time, but a time span.

For example, Mr. B's first birthday came and went and he didn't walk.  We waited a little longer, no walking. We waited even longer, still not walking. We waited a little less patiently and, well I think you get it now, no walking.  Call in the experts.  Actually, no.  I can't tell you exactly when he started walking off the top of my head (his baby book is in the room where he is currently sleeping), but it was around 15 months.  When he did decide to walk, there was nothing tentative.  I put him down on the floor in a standing position and he took not one but three steps.  Later that same evening, he walked all the way across the floor and the next day he was running.  He did this with crawling.  He absolutely refuses to do anything until he does it all the way.

Language development has been a little different.  I am fully aware that statistically boys take longer to warm up when it comes to spoken language.  Mr. B sometimes will say a word for awhile and then it disappears. Unlike the norm, he did say mama first and for quite awhile.  The first time was in the car with daddy driving away from one of my part-time gigs and he said it in true desperation.  I haven't heard it for quite awhile, but "daddy," is a regular sound in our home. :(

Given that he is a boy and others in the family had waited until they were capable of producing full sentences to talk, I began introducing sign language to Mr. B at 6 months old.  For several months, it was something I did only and I am not sure that he even paid attention to what I was doing.  Fast forward to 20 months old, Mr. B's current sign language vocabulary of what he can produce reliably tipped over 40 words today.  Yet, 12-15 spoken words is expected at this age per babycenter.com.  What is the underlying purpose of spoken word vocabularies?  Is it to demonstrate phoneme (letter sound) production?  Is it a way to measure a child understanding of symbolic meaning (the spoken word being a simple for the actual object....i.e. this thing I am typing on is called a computer, not because it is intrinsically appropriate but because it was selected by a human as the label or symbol...modernwordmaker would have worked too.)?  Depending on the purpose of this milestone my son is either REALLY behind if sound production is the underlying goal or REALLY ahead if symbolic meaning is important since he produces 42 signs and can understand many, many more.

What is my underlying purpose in this blog entry?  RELAX.  Please stop worrying about your kiddo.  A broad range of timing of these milestones is normal and inconsistent development is normal.  My kiddo can communicate a lot of information, but has been slower with physical development.  But, yep, he is still "normal" or abnormal ;)  I guess, you can decide, but I plan to not worry and I plan to monitor myself for comparisons.  I am deeply concerned that comparing one child to another or one mother to another is negative for all parties.  I am not typing this for all people to read because I have perfected not comparing my child, but a way to document my intent.  so, if you catch me making harmful comparisons, you have my permission to gently remind me of my pledge here.  I actually mean it.  This concern came about when another mama asked me on the playground how old Mr. B is because when asked to point to a letter he is correct a majority of the time (he is beginning to make the sounds too). She admitted that she was worried that her child was developmentally behind. I reassured her, but have continued to stew about this since then.  Remember that inconsistent is often the case.  My son can do all this, but he does not consistently use 12-15 words although probably has said this many.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:  for your benefit and everyone else's stop comparing your child to all the other children.  You will save valuable time, energy, and mama sanity.

Second important message:  If you teach your kid the sign for "cookie," he will use it with the most pathetic face at every opportunity.  This sign took one learning incident...no repetition needed for this important word...yep, he understands the functionality of language.

My busy Mama workout

This is either one of my worst titles or one of my best.  Research shows that it is a popular choice, well at least the very bad non scientific type of research.  Curiosity got me again and I googled this blog title and I got

"About 2,030,000 results."  So either I have become a popular cool kid or I am a boring sheep bleating as I go over the cliff with all the other sheep.  (Feel free to comment on my sheep status in the comments)


Busy, chaotic, interesting, ever changing...just a few words to describe my lifestyle that 
includes toggling between a few part-time jobs and spending as much time as possible with 
Mr. B.  So, exercising at times gets the short end of the stick.  This means a compromise right?

Jogging when the weather is nice works great for me as it means exercise and outdoor
time for myself, Mr. B, and T, the wonder dog.  I did invest in a nice multi-purpose stroller 
right after Mr. B was born, waiting with great anticipation until my new Phil and Teds arrived 
in the mail.  It is everything for us.  We take it everywhere and it is a great jogging stroller.  
I honestly only own a cheapie umbrella stroller in addition, which is just a back up or for 
camping.  Yes, they are expensive, yes they are mutli-purpose, yes they turn on a dime, 
yes the tires are inflatable and thus difficult to break, yes you can add a seat for the second 
kiddo, yes it comes in dark colored canvas models if your toddler like mine knows how to 
dirty anything.  Mr. B and I have a deal.  I start at a point in the park where he can't see the 
playground and go all the way around...he thinks it is a long trip to get to favored destination 
and I get a run in before he finds the promised land. :)  Throw an extra diaper, a snack, and 
water for everyone in the basket and we are all happy.  Mr. B and I started this when he 
was a mere 3 weeks old, so the stroller is second nature to him and he still loves to find the 
birds, ducks, trees, dogs, etc.  It is also a great chance to practice our sign language.

I also like to do ballet type plea A's (that's how fancy and cultured I am) and lunges when
I am getting him to sleep.  I get exercise and he gets mama's help to fall asleep (I do not 
believe in CIO, but more on that later).  I like to do floor exercises on his playmat in the 
evenings.  When he was really little, he would sit on  my belly while I did crunches.  Now, 
he just runs around me laughing or being my personal trainer by guiding me through leg lifts 
(very cute and fun).  Sometimes we have family wrestling time after dinner too.  

Finally, I think that bending over to clean or pick up toys counts for something.  Green living 
requires a little more physical work, such as scrubbing surfaces rather than allowing chemicals 
to do the work or walking to the store, or hanging diapers to dry.


I fit exercise in little bits of time whenever I can and never complain when I can't park close 
or have to carry Mr. B because he needs mama time.


The Compromise: disjointed workouts and maybe not enough exercise for my body at times 
especially when colder than I like outside.

The Sweet Reward:  Incorporating  my kiddo into exercise starts great lifetime habits for 

him and me and sometimes it makes us giggle.

Velentine's Day My Way

First, I have to start by acknowledging that this is a created, consumer driven holiday.  Yes, I get that, but I have to say anything that gives me a reminder to show my love for wonderful people in my life is a fabulous thing.  There is of course a compromise (yep, that's my thing, compromising).  Husband, D, is working all day and he will come home for a 5 minute baton pass in our relay race, where I give him the 411 of the day and then run out the door to work an evening job.  The hope is that I get home by 9 pm for our weekly date.  I decided this was no excuse to not do something special for him.  So, I decided to do what I do best....bake.  I wanted to share the results, which I hope you agree are beautiful and guess what...not hard.

Here goes...

With the motto of eating dessert first in life. First is the finished picture ...

...It's been a tempting day.

Here go the recipes

First Oatmeal Bars, inspired by a very bedraggled and old version of Betty Crocker, but no an exact duplicate.

1 1/2 cups of butter softened (if you use salted butter, omit the salt in the recipe)
2 cups of packed brown sugar (real stuff here please like C & H...yum)
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups of quick-cooking oats (or do what I did and put your old-fashioned oats in a food chopper)
1/4 cup of milk (I used whole milk because I had it on hand)

Cream butter and brown sugar until light, fluffy and the color lightens using an electric mixer (I used my grandma's Kitchen Aid today...seemed appropriate for Valentines).  Mix in remaining ingredients.
Press into a butter four sided cookie sheet (I used a half sheet, which is the normal home size).

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until light brown on edges only. Better to slightly under bake, but do bake until firm.

Leave in pan to cool until you can handle but still quite warm.  Cut bars right in the pan using a heart shaped cookie cutter.  My cutter was 2 inches across or maybe 3.  When cool use a small metal spatula or off-set spreader to lift out of pan onto cooling rack.

Second, fudgy, gooey brownies, which I guarantee are not a health food...healthy ones are not as good, I don't care what people tell you.  Go for the gusto here, but just don't do it often.

In a double boiler (I used the mixer bowl of my Kitchen Aid with oatmeal bar batter still clinging to it...great trick and less clean up since I was using it already), melt the following
1 cup of butter
4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate...I didn't have any so I substituted 3/4 cup of cocoa and 1/4 cup of oil.

When melted stir in 4 room temperature eggs, 2 cups of suggar, 2 teaspoons vanilla, one teaspoon of almond extract.  Use a wooden spoon to beat in 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups of dark chocolate chips

Spread with an off set spatula in half sheet four sided cookie sheet. bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  cool on wire rack and cut with the heart shaped cookie cutter when cool.

Taking the Bite out of Onions

I love onions, but they are getting stronger....or I am getting older and more sensitive. I choose to blame the onions for the problem and therefore they need to solve it themselves...yep, healthy boundaries with your onions is the best way to develop a healthy and fulfilling mutual relationship.  Next up, my advice on marital relationships...just kidding. I like a bit of crunch in my food (celery in salad sandwiches...yum), so I like thinly sliced onions on my tacos.  We enjoyed these the other night and tonight is Mexican casserole (better known as what to do with leftover taco layer dip).  I stopped eating raw onions for awhile until I discovered a simple trick from Rick Bayless, an amazing Mexican chef. I have watched him for years on PBS (gotta love the PBS).  It's one extra simple step after slicing your onions. Simply cover them with cold water in the serving bowl while you cook dinner.  Pour off water before serving and enjoy.

Leftover layered taco dip from weekend party becomes a casserole by adding chopped onion, bell peppers,tomatoes, then a layer of tortilla, a layer of cheese, another layer of tortilla, followed by salsa or other preferred sauce such as mole.  Make sure to leave areas for steam to vent as it cooks.  Bake at 350 for about an hour, let set up for 15 minutes, and enjoy.

Why I work

Oh, yes, there are so many things I write on this topic.  Do you remember the old show, the 25,000 Dollar Pyramid?  I will work backwords today and give you the topic, Why I Work, first and then the details.

There are so many reasons why I actually work some and am not a fully SAHM (stay at home mom...blogger abbreviation, which I am not always in to, but this one is just cute.)  I have a friend who is curious about my decision, so I thought I would share it with my readers and the world, in case, my thought process is helpful to anyone else.

Deciding to not work full-time was the easy part for me.  I plain and simple did not want to and my heart was very clear in sending this message.  If I should work at all and how much I should work was the next decision.

If I am going to worry about something, money is typically high on the list.  This upsets me since I am not a money driven person and rarely make decisions based solely on money.  Yes, I do think about money, but I do not let money be the biggest part of any decision.  I had a feeling, I would work at least some, so the question was how much.  I made an extremely detailed family budget and added it all up with "a little wiggle room" (this is one of my favorite Tracy-isms). Then, I compared it to our income and goals.  Although this step was stressful and required a lot of research, it was the easy part since it was objective in nature.  Next came the subjective part of the decision, which involved me considering the personal value I place in other benefits of working.  This included maintaining my professional self, time with other adults talking about more than just my kid's sleeping habits or diapers, a chance for others to spend time with Mr. B (I do love to hoard him since he is amazing...at least in my mommy eyes), contributing to the greater world, getting to wear more than just comfy clothes (this was a pro and a con), etc.

There were a few things I did not realize though.  I recently posted when I was sad because I was working A LOT.  Check it out here

Turns out Mr. B does miss me (yes, I know you all knew that, but in my guilt filled mommy brain I needed real evidence) and has wonderful ways of showing it. Here are a couple of interesting ways:

• Although he is a toddler, when I get home he has to be held for a long time.  I now plan ahead and make sure to stop at the bathroom before I  leave work for the day.
• If husband D has to put Mr. B to bed, he will sometimes wake up and then when he sees I am home sit up praire dog style and ask to be picked up.  Cuteness and cuddles all in one happy reunion.
• When Mr. B sees me put on certain shoes, he gets upset and tries to prevent me from putting on work shoes...even bringing me non-work shoes from the closet.  Long ago he brought me daddy's shoes...lol
• And, my favorite occurred after a day home with daddy.  Mr. B and I were playing in the all purpose room (I have a small house), while husband D finished up dinner and was talking to us while we played.  Mr. B got up off the playmat, walked over, and emphatically shut the door between the two rooms.  Let me translate from toddler speak..."This is MY time with mommy.  Leave us alone." 

The Compromise:  Being somewhere in between SAHM and working mom.  Missing my Mr. B and having a chaotic, hectic schedule that is never the same from week to week.

The Sweet Reward:  Spending enough time away from Mr. B to get to find out how much he loves and misses me...He is an awesome kid. And yes, I do know I am blessed. :)

Website pinnning

I grew up hearing about the rule of 3.  Is anyone else familiar?  Things happen in 3's is the basic idea.  So, 3 surprises could happen to you today or 3 times you could totally forget what you wanted to say.........What was I saying.....hmmm, might be more than 3 times of that for this mommy brain. 

The 3 rule happened to me recently, but in a fun way. First my cutting edge SIL told me about pinterest, then a good friend, and then my very own mom.  The last/third one was the clincher. So, I joined, which ended a certain stalemate I had with another web phenomenon (let's not go there with this post).  Actually, let me backtrack.  I made a promise to myself first to finish a major project in my house before allowing myself to join. I make these little contracts with myself all the time.  This time it involved home decor sewing that I will share a bit more about soon. 

Enough of tangentialness for today and back to my excitement to tell you about following little old me on pinterest.  I have started only one board, which of course is food.  Anyone who knows me well knows that cooking and eating are always on my mood and to-do list, which reminds me I need to get up and mix up a sourdough loaf, maybe rye today.  I have pinned only a few websites thus far, but will be adding more.  To be honest, I need someone to organize the web version of me.  I do not want to count, but I have over 200 bookmarks on my browser and I will not admit how many emails clog my inbox, but it is in the 4 digits at the present time.The pin you will want to look at and consider when you get a moment is an easy recipe for Vegetable Bouillon.  I have made it and used it in at least 8 soups, cooking beans, and making sauces with great success.  This recipe is amazing as it saves me money and saves my family preservatives (except for good old fashioned salt....but don't be afraid of it in moderate doses...it's all about compromise remember) and MSG.  Check it out.

The Compromise:  I may have started a new addiction to Pinterest...does anyone know of a 12 step just in case.

The Sweet Reward:  You can follow me on Pinterest and see what strikes my fancy and we can all share new ideas.

Follow me on Pinterest 

First Birthday Crystal Ball

I am lucky to have enjoyed several first birthdays in the past year and I decided to bring the curious side of me along.  There are at least 4 approaches to the eating of the first birthday cake and I wanted to share my observations.

Option 1:  Dislike the cake and notify all around your desire to get out of highchair by standing up. When no one seems to understand your one year old communication attempt, turn around while getting more upset.  Forget that there is a cake now located behind you and sit down in frustration.  Oh, there's something squishy on my butt.  Mom, help me.

Option 2:  Parents give you a practice cake on your actual first birthday due to stories similar to option 1.  Try cake for first time in life, mmmm yummm.  I think, I need more.  Continue eating until it is taken away.  When big party arrives, get another cake.  Really mom. Remember prior cakey yumminess and dig in and in thanks to mom for a second cake, offer some to the dog even if he is not present.  Keep eating cake until unceremoniously pulled away.

Option 3:  Parents give you a cake at party number one.  What is this?  Complain.....then cry while eating some of cake.  At party number 2, wait while people take pictures of you with your cute cake and get sick of waiting so grab at the icing.  When finally getting your own piece of cake, a little person steals your ducky decoration.  Left to no other devices in this world that does not understand, yell at said little person.  No luck, he steals your cake repeatedly.  Give him hairy eye ball and furrowed brow until a bigger person finally whisks him away. This is a tough world.

Option 4:  Parents give you a cake at party number one.  Mmmmm, really mom.  This is yummy, enjoy thoroughly.  Parents give you a cake at another party.  Hmmmm, I don't understand.  Didn't I do this already?  I think, some of you have dementia.  Don't you remember.  You were over there standing with that goofy look and a camera in hand and I was here in the high chair.  Ring a bell? ........Can I get a little help here?

Just for fun, please make posts guessing which one was my child and what you think this means about Mr. B's future...aka the crystal ball part of the post title. I am curious to hear your thoughts, so feel free to give me lots of comments to this post.

Pandora for your Kiddo

aka...A day late and a dollar short...the runner up title for this post.

We have only rabbit ears for our television, for an obvious reason. If you don't have it, you can't overuse it. That's how we manage ourselves.  Same reason we limit bad food purchases and I limit trips to the store.

Mr. B is at the age where he loves music.  If he is happy, trying to put off bedtime, or you simply ask, he will sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Start.  Very cute, I know.

I want to encourage his love of music, so I periodically play Pandora for him so that I have more control over what plays. I started with my favorite music...Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles (I'm an old soul!).  But, little to no response. This really shocked me since the sound of the coffee grinder or daddy's saw is enough to get him dancing with legs a pumpin'.  Then, I had an aha moment.  Although it took so long, it was less aha and more duh (see runner up post title for further details).  I typed in Sesame Street.  And off he went, dancing his little heart out and if he didn't then I could give the song a thumbs down to train Pandora to know what he likes.

The Compromise: A little freaky for me when the computer thinks for us and an open laptop is an invitation for a toddler to have fun.

The Sweet Reward:  Happiness Toddler Style.

Rocking away,
Tracy and Mr. B

PS...Sesame Street does a tribute to the Beatles...I know, I'm a day short and a dollar late...hmmmm.......

The power of sign language

I decided when Mr. B was a tiny infant that I would introduce sign language to him and see how it went.  This is one o f my favorite parenting methods with anything I feel is healthy.  In short, the idea is start as early as you can and focus on simply introducing it.  No pressure, just introduce and see if he likes it.  So, basically this means do not push it, do not get get frustrated, and do not make a yucky face even if you don't like it (this was a true challenge when letting him taste pumpkin pie....yuck....seriously people eat that).

Okay tangent is over and back to sign language.  Of course, I know that it is is in vogue, but I dislike being cool (I was not cool and never will be and if I ever by weird fate end up cool then you should worry, really worry).  Research demonstrates that boys are slower with language and Einstein Syndrome has occurred in our family, which is late talkers who say very little until they can speak full sentences and followed by rhyming homemade songs (true story...cute I know).  So, I put on my scientist hat (It is really cool weird and dorky) and decided sign language would help us communicate with each other early on. My enthusiasm was high and I started strong at 6 months old and Mr. B's response was...less enthusiastic.  If I was lucky, he stared at me when I signed and then looked away. In a less than fine parenting moment, I got bored and stopped for awhile. I picked it back up a few months later and seemed to be interested around his first birthday.  Since then I have gradually added signs based on his interest, which means my milky baby first learned the sign for milk followed by yes (his version of this) and then "more" and a brief stint with "no."  The real turning point came with the sign for "dog" that he learned quickly after saying "doggie" for his most frequent playmate.  At this point, the whole experiment took off and I enjoyed signing dog when reading about dogs and signing dog without speaking and letting Mr. B find our dog, Tony.

Given his interest in animals, we have entered a new phase and he learned "pig" in a matter of minutes following a one dollar toy that oinks (well kind of oinks if you use your imagination).  The sign for turtle is part of his responsive language and he will go find a turtle when I make the sign, but it is still too difficult for him to produce so he says "turtle" instead.  After that this past week, he experienced an explosion of language where he learned fish, duck, and finally monkey all in one day.  So amazing to literally watch his light bulb moments.  I am fortunate to have a small background in sign language, but not extensive enough.  So, the internet comes in with a superhero cape. I found a great website with a dictionary where you click on a written word which brings up a short video demonstrating the sign...this is so much more useful than the book I purchased with diagrams and descriptions only.  Today, I looked up hippopotamus, giraffe, lion, bear, frog, elephant, mouse.  I have to give Mr. B the credit here. He wants to learn, he loves to learn.  If he doesn't know a sign he uses his favorite, "dog"...yep he loves the dog that much.  Just this week, he looks up at me waiting for me to show him a new sign.  This is where the fun begins as it encourages me to look up and learn new things...

The Compromise:  Communication takes a little longer and at times requires "research" on the internet.

The Sweet Reward:  Mr. B already loves to learn and his curiosity about the world makes me curious and happy...He already points out things to me I am too busy to slow down and notice, like the recent big, bold, brilliant moon.  

I wonder if Mr. B is actually raising me

Curiously me,
Tracy   ...would love to hear your plans/goals for signing with your kiddo or your experiences, positive and negative, and of course your cute stories.

Easy Homemade Hand Soap Foam

Sickness still prevails in my household...I heard the ominous croup cough this morning (Help me!!!...makes me think of an Italian movie I watched in class where a little boy sets the local movie theatre on fire accidentally and runs home shouting Aiuto Mama...Help mom!...bittersweet moments interest me...yep I am a little weird).  So, handwashing is a primary concern right now.  I have tried so many soap ideas in my green and clean quest.  Long, long ago I succombed to the anti-bacterial craze. I now am enlightened (note sarcasm here, enlightened does not describe this tired mama).  I tried bar soap for awhile as it is greener taking less energy to make and package since no plastic bottle is needed.  Bar soap is apparently finicky, so I became frustrated...you see, my family either seems to wash our hands too much some days resulting in a wet and slimy bar or too little and it dries out and is not thorough in the handwashing job.  Then, I remembered a blogger talking about making her own foaming hand soap using castille soap.  Of course, I did not remember which blog.  Castille is not made from pretoleum...yipee...and I own it already to make cleaning products.  So, it fits many of my aspirations found on my home page including green, homemade, healthy, frugal, and my favorite easy to do. 

Recipes on the internet focus on using liquid soap...which has ingredients I want to minimize in my family's life.  So, I began experimenting...and the little scientist in me smiled (and screamed to get out ;).  I have a leftover foaming pump that once held baby soap...even more frugal and green. It is not made in America so the size is smaller. It is a 5 fluid ounce container and it appears with some internet research that 7.5 ounces is normal.  For my container I found that 1 Tablespoon works but is less soapy. My preference is 1.5 Tablespoons as 1 pump is enough unless your hands are really dirty.  This means that the castille soap should be 10-15% of the total volume of the dispenser.  This means that I recommend for a 7.5 ounce container 1.5 - 2 Tablespoons of Castille soap and then fill almost to the top with tap water.  The leftover space allows you to shake to mix. 

If you have a dispenser of another size, take its size in fluid ounces and double that number.  Then multiply by .10 and .15 which gives you the range of castille soap in Tablespoons that tends to work...for me and my pump at least.

Castille soap comes in scents so this last time I purchased Lavendar, which is a relaxing and mild smell perfect for cleaning products and hand soap. 

Next goal is to figure out dishwashing liquid using castille soap. For now we use Seventh Generation which is a decent and easy to find option.

The compromise:  30 seconds to make hand soap and missed opportunity to kill all the bacteria that threatens to enter my home.....ooooooo

The Sweet Reward:   It's cheap, easy, foamy soap is fun, green, smells good, and you aren't contributing to the Superbugs, who may just become our next Overlord.  

How do you bow down to a bacteria?
T

A Special Thanks Goes Out to Global Warming

Yes, I, The Compromising Mother, would like to nominate Global Warming for the Oscar for a beautiful performance today.

Silly.  Sarcastic.  Trite.  Snarky.  Name it what you will, but yep global warming is a real thing.  Look out your window.

Today, we spent the beautiful Spring Winter day in January by going for a run in the park, followed by playing on the playground and in the leaves...and by we I include Mr. B, the mighty 10 pound (I have taken liberty with a bit of rounding here) dog Tony.  This was followed by lunch (ok no different than any other day) and hanging diapers on the line (I am thankful for this one as they need sun bleaching after the recent illness....I will speak no more of this). And I picked large handfuls of parsley and little bits of other herbs including lavender, sage, thyme, and mint to make really hot hot sauce and herby ranch dressing (I have some good friends who will be very happy) Did I mention that all attire is early Spring-ish?  Oh and BTW, it IS January 6th in case you were confused and thought you were reading an old post here.

The Compromise:  Humans are not nice to our planet.  Please take note.

The Sweet Reward:  I did enjoy my day and I feel that we all should because regardless you never know what tomorrow holds....and at least my day was a fairly "green" day, although I could be greener, note my list of aspirations which are aptly named as I will never be 100% what I want...call me a WIP aka work in progress.

And a special mention goes out to the sunshine...always love it no matter the temperature.

Tracy