2 months & 32 months update

DAKOTA FORREST //

Size -- almost 10 lbs, size 3 month clothes. She's slowing down in growth which is technically (and emotionally) juuuust fine. 

Food -- the breast is still best but her soother takes a close second. She nurses every 2-3 hrs during the day then at 8pm, 11pm and not til 5 or 6am. Thanks love!

Activities -- being held sitting up... Also rolling over although I'm trying to pretend this never happened. She likes being smiled at and playing the hop hop hop game with daddy. 

Favs -- smiling, especially with brother-bear. Being cute in general. And then quickly switching to being grumpy-cat as soon as I try to take a photo. Snapped this one though!

Least favs -- immunizations: she cried uncontrollably for a while. I was like, hold on, I thought nursing solves everything. I am so close to anti-vax but I choose to research each one individually and give some/ not give others. So I'm glad she won't get diphtheria but the afternoon sucked! (Look at this "go the heck to sleep now" face I'm giving) 

OLIVER WOLFE //

Size --  just right for a back carry in a Guatemalan sling by Aunty Angela apparently. One of these days I'll weigh him, just to know. 

Food -- Oliver is getting his last fill of cheesy meals as I transition to less dairy-filled meals since I'm trying to be dairy free myself and making two different versions of meals is sucking. Pictured below is vegan cheese sauce but he had the real deal made from havarti.   

Activities -- kidscape! The local tunnels-and-slides type indoor playground is our newfound love. He also loves "chopping" so I give him a plastic knife and something soft like a banana or avocado and let him go crazy. Yesterday I was like "where's the avocado I gave you to chop?" And he says "oh I eat it. Sorry mommy."  Love him. Did I mention scissors last month? Those too. (I've officially made him sound like a future assassin right?) The photo is Ollie at kidscape with his best friend Abigail, on the interactive floor, evidently not actually interacting with the floor at all. 

Favs -- an old classic: house chores. We created a sound barrier for Dakota using blanket. She totally didn't wake up. 

Least favs -- being quiet. (Thanks for the soother pictured below, uncle Dave, aunt Rose, Alex and Luke) I'm sure it was meant for Dakota since Ollie doesn't take a soother anymore (since age 1) but when I saw the volume knob I knew he had to give it a test drive. 

1 month & 31 months update

DAKOTA FORREST //

Size -- 8 lbs 13 oz of pure princess/piglet. She is transitioning from newborn to size 0-3mo clothes but she also has some hand me downs which are size "10 lbs" and they are a dream. Here she in a tutu, photo by Bethany. 

Food -- just mama's milk for now but eating hands is becoming fun too. Here she is with daddy at cocoa beach during sunset. 

Activities -- sleeping of course. And note the shirt grab in this photo, it's her classic move. She does wake up to eat, and complain about her diaper, now and again. Sleeping about 4 hrs stretches at night sometimes more. Not often awake for more than half an hour. 

Favs -- playing with big brother Ollie tops the list. If she's in a good mood I put them beside each other to party. 

Least favs -- this is a tie between her car seat and her too-big hat. Hates both. We are hoping to change that in due time. 

OLIVER WOLFE // 

Size -- 3T in clothing (just upgraded) and apparently 9 in shoes and boots. I don't know his weight because we don't own a scale. His jammies are just a liiiiitle bigger than Dakota's...

Food -- anything and everything. He enjoyed these eggs baked in an avocado. The only thing he's being weird about right now is dark green things, not including favs like broccoli. 

Activities -- Floridian sand. Hands down. Also, he found the splash pad at our resort there and wanted to basically live there eternally. 

Favs -- wearing his tiger costume as a standard daily outfit. And his big friend Jake. 

Least favs -- giving things back. I let him take photos with my digital camera (and let him play games on my phone/tablet) and the returning-it-to-mommy part is always rough. He says: "not now... Soon."

Vegan "cheese" sauce without nutritional yeast

So I'm trying this dairy free thing. 

It's scary to type that because I don't want real life people to be judging my every bite if I end up failing this quest like 2 days in. But I've already declined delicious pizza, ice cream and Mac n cheese, sooo... I'm pretty committed. 

The reason? Dakota has been seeming uncomfortable and I wonder if my dairy intake has anything to do with it. I also have the tell tale dark circles under my eyes that scream "dairy problems" so there's that. 

Well tonight I wanted to try out a dairy free cheese sauce recipe but I ain't no seasoned vegan so I don't have a pack of nutritional yeast flakes on hand. So I came up with this recipe myself. 

Confession 1: it's crazy delicious. I ate a portion of cheesy pasta fit for a beast. 

Confession 2: I totally added chicken and bacon to my pasta. So the final dish was not vegan. But it was dairy free!

Confession 3: I'm about to go eat a Lindor chocolate. (Sorry Dakota.)

1/2 onion, chopped and sautéed 

1/2 garlic clove, minced and sautéed 

1 cup cashews (and/or almonds)

1 cup water 

1 T lemon juice

1 tsp mustard

1 T vegan margarine

2 hot pickled banana peppers

Salt and pepper 

Soak the cashews in the water. Overnight is best but I did only half an hour. 

Sauté the onion and garlic. 

Blend all ingredients together. Season to taste. 

Warm in a pot on the stove or microwave for 2 minutes. 

Six ways we ate kale this week

If Saint Patrick's Day wasn't the only reason to eat green this week (seriously we overloaded on avocado, broccoli, Brussels sprouts... Even lime yogurt) we also bought a ton of kale. 

Because Calvin works during the day, and Dakota survives on breast milk for now, it's only Ollie and I eating lunch through the week so we don't really use that much up per meal. 

We were able to use this batch for six different recipes. Here they are:

Kale potato cakes

I peeled, cubed and boiled 2 russet potatoes. Then I mashed them with a bit of steamed kale as well as 1 egg, salt and a large spoon of flour. I shaped them in small patties and fried on both sides til golden. They were so good - I want 100 more.

Kale smoothie

This was a clean out the fridge smoothie: kale, pear, banana and fresh orange juice. They were all threatening to go overripe so we used them up and the result was delish!

Kale chips

Hopefully you've seen my recipe on here before. Sadly I was having a huge lemon craving and way over-lemoned them. Ollie was not happy (I was). 

Kale n eggs

I sautéed kale in our green pan before cracking in an egg for each of us. Best breakfast. 

Kale mini pizzas

I topped whole wheat pitas with pesto sauce, shredded jack cheese, olives, broccoli, bell pepper, sautéed onion and kale. It was super green which was exactly the idea. 

Kale and almond salad 

I saw this recipe - click here- and had to make it. The dressing is fabulous and this is the only way I like kale raw other than a smoothie. Picking almonds out of my mixed nuts bowl isn't the most fun job in the world however. 

How will you eat kale this week?

Routine - 2.5 year old & 2 month old

I am nooooot a scheduler. You will know this from my text replies to hang out requests from friends:
- So, when can I come by?
- Whenever works for me.
- What about Oliver's nap?
- Whenever works for me.

That being said, we are settling into a nice routine and I love it. It actually started from something my friend learned in a baby book. (Disclaimer: most baby books drive me crazy-pants! I haven't even read this one for fear of rage, but she disseminated some of the lessons and the way she explained it seems do-able to me.) It's the "EASY" method.

E = eat ... the baby nurses or has a bottle
A = activity ... the baby has a diaper change, goo's and gaa's, maybe a bath, tummy time, anything that keeps them awake
S = sleep ... swaddle or rock, do what you need to do, to get a nap going
Y = you time ... mommy (or daddy) gets to empty the dishwasher, remove cracked nail polish, reheat a mug of coffee, etc.

Except there's one major problem with it.

WHAT IS "YOU" TIME WHEN YOU ALSO HAVE A TODDLER?

I have never heard of this elusive "you" time but I am very interested in it. Is this referring to the 28 minutes I get to watch Brooklyn-9-9 when Oliver is swimming with Grandma and Dakota falls asleep in her bouncer chair? Oh, that? Yeah, I'd like more of that.

So, if I'm going to try a routine with my monkey troop, that's my first requirement... let's maximize my time to braid my hair and fold laundry.

There's also this: for a number of hours a day/night the "A" part of the baby's schedule gets dropped cause, well, who wants to have an awake baby at 11:30pm? She's awfully cute but I don't. So it just goes to EDS (eat, diaper, sleep) or even ES (eat, sleep, if no diaper change is needed), or heck just S! 

Here's how I adapted EASY to our lives:

So essentially, I've used the fact that Dakota goes right back to sleep after nursing, in the morning, to get Oliver ready and fed. Then we do our usual thing, playing and keeping mostly to the "EASY" routine, except that my "you-time" is "Oliver and me-time" which is great. After lunch I am TRYING to get Oliver down for an afternoon nap. Sometimes this is a total warzone battle, and once it even ended up in him drawing a rendition of Plato's Allegory of the Cave in the mediums "blueberry candle wax and wick soot" on his bedroom wall, but we try. If he can sleep in there for about 2 hours I can get Dakota down in her crib and that frees me to do what I need to do. Which can include dinner prep - hurray!
Then we play and all that, eat dinner, and get back to winding-down for sleep so he can be in bed by 8pm. (To be honest, this can sometimes stretch out to about 11:30pm, I'm serious, and it's because I birthed an actual live night-hawk.) Once he goes to sleep, Dakota is already in drop-the-activity-mode and just does nurse-sleep-nurse-sleep til the morning, save for a new diaper changes. So mommy and daddy can do whatever we please. (Praise the Lord.)

It's what works for us. What works for you?

Travelling with an Infant... And a Toddler!

If you count flights with layovers as 2, and start from conception, Oliver has been on over 20 flights. Dakota has 3 under her belt. I'm not saying we are seasoned travellers just yet but I'd love to share some tips for the parents out there who think bringing someone under 5 along on your vacation is crazy. 

Packing

Many airlines charge per checked bag so try to keep it minimal. Pack essentials in your carry on in case your luggage is lost, but don't pack liquids in there. You are allowed to bring drinks for babes if they check them out at security. In my carry on (which is a backpack so it's hands free) I pack passports (or birth certificates for 12 and under on domestic flights), snacks, tablet with games loaded, diapers and wipes, back up onesie in case of blow out, blanket to cover while nursing, and wallet. I recommend bringing only enough diapers to get you to your designation then buying a small pack when you get there. I calculate 10/day for Dakota and 5 for Oliver. 

Check-in

When you check in, or before, tell the airline if you have a "lap child". That's a child under 2 who is free because you aren't buying them a seat. They'll add that to your boarding pass. Sometimes telling them that you are traveling with an infant will score you a better seat. Check your car seat if you aren't using it. I recommend keeping your stroller til the gate. You can also check a pack n play for free although we don't own one. 

At the gate

Give your stroller to an attendant and they'll get it back to you when the plane touches down. You'll likely be able to skip the line too. If you have a lay over be sure to check if your luggage is automatically moved for you or if you need to pick it up and re-check before your connection.  Toddlers love a window seat so if you've booked the whole row keep that in mind. 

Flight

I highly recommend nursing during take off and landing to alleviate ear pain from altitude change. Not every bathroom has a change table so check for the mommy-baby icon before entering. Ask the steward if they have lids and straws for cups to make them more kid friendly/ spill unfriendly. 

Baggage claim

Sometimes car seats and strollers will arrive in a special area called oversized. Check with staff. 

While in town

Ask your car rental place for a vehicle that can take a car seat, some can't (like a one bench pick up truck with air bags.). 

I hope these tips help. Do you have any to add?

Oliver's 2.5 Year Update

Age: two years + six months

Clothes: size T3 -- whoa when did that happen? Just a few weeks ago he was fine in 2 then had a major growth spurt. He's like double the size of last month ha ha. Also none of his warm weather footwear fits so it's just boots til we get some new size ten stuff. 

Food: he sure asks for chocolate a lot! Fruit- kiwi, mango, anything but pear. Always salad. Meat. Yogurt. Cold herbal tea made by himself. I'm now comfortable letting him eat nuts like almonds without worrying that he will choke. 

Words: self (do it by myself), trouble, yes yes sure sure, oh forry (sorry) 

Things: anything that looks like a phone (calculator, handheld Yahtzee game), beaters (like for baking), cars, drums, crayons, boats

Activities: swimming, that's been the big thing lately. Also helping me make food. Golf/hockey using various makeshift sticks and balls, showing guests his toy room.  

Signature moves: staying awake later than me. 

Mom's proudest moment: the Mr Incredible Dance Party at Disney. 

Dad's proudest moment: meeting Mickey at Disney. 

Other milestones: he runs, like at adult speed. He jumps into the pool but doesn't want to be caught, like let him go underwater and then pull him up. He doesn't really wanna bathe with me anymore. He calls them planes instead of up-ups. 

Dakota's 5 Week Update

Age: five weeks 

Clothes: she's wearing 0-3 month, has been for about ten days. Her wardrobe is entirely provided by Bethany and Tiffany, ha ha. Maybe a few gifted items ;) In Canada she's wearing all warm sleepers but in Florida: all t shirt onesies. 

Food: mamas milk. One hundred times a day. One splash of tonic water cause I choked while drinking and a drop went right in her mouth. Sorry love. 

Words: agoo?

Things: she likes her soother (finally), tropical print couches, music, me calling her kitty cat, being on her stomach, grabbing hair, having a dry diaper. 

Activities: crying while in a car seat, smiling, sleeping. 

Signature moves: fussing until you lay her stomach down on your chest, then being the happiest in the world. 

Mom's proudest moment: when she gained 19oz in 14 days. 

Dad's proudest moment: when she came to see his band play. 

Other milestones: she smiles and laughs when we talk to her, she holds her head and chest up during "tummy time", she can almost go six hours without a diaper change during the night (hallelujah).