My 3yo spend the first year of her life swaddled. She was a restless sleeper even then and being swaddled helped keep her asleep. Now she is a big 3yo who sleeps on a mattress on the floor. Actually she starts out on a mattress on the floor but can be found almost anywhere in her room as she rolls, scoots, crawls, spins, wiggles, shakes, inchworms in her sleep. She wakes up when she bumps something we haven't figured out how to pad or cushion. She talks, cries, yells, babbles, whimpers, whispers, all with her little baby face screwed up in sleepy confusion. Often when passing by her room after 10pm I see her awake, peering around her door watching and listening to what's going on in the house, the lure of the lights and sounds of her parents partying while she sleeps too much to resist.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Advice needed: Restless Sleeper Toddler Syndrome
My 3yo spend the first year of her life swaddled. She was a restless sleeper even then and being swaddled helped keep her asleep. Now she is a big 3yo who sleeps on a mattress on the floor. Actually she starts out on a mattress on the floor but can be found almost anywhere in her room as she rolls, scoots, crawls, spins, wiggles, shakes, inchworms in her sleep. She wakes up when she bumps something we haven't figured out how to pad or cushion. She talks, cries, yells, babbles, whimpers, whispers, all with her little baby face screwed up in sleepy confusion. Often when passing by her room after 10pm I see her awake, peering around her door watching and listening to what's going on in the house, the lure of the lights and sounds of her parents partying while she sleeps too much to resist.
But now she won't nap during the day. So she's even more tired. Earlier bedtimes just mean earlier wakeup times. I've tried reasoning, consequences like no playdates or library time for tired kids. Elmo watching is also reserved for kids who sleep. I'm not as good at swaddling as hubsters is, so that doesn't work if he's not home. Pause for a minute to imagine a 3yo swaddled in a comforter, it's pretty funny! Of course she screams if I try it, so the funny moment is fleeting.
We've tried running around like nutters so she'll collapse in exhaustion, she can outlast her baby brother and her mommy at that! We have a bedtime routine, going to bed isn't the problem, it's having peaceful sleep the whole night that's the problem. She doesn't wake me up, so that's not my motivation either. I'm out of ideas, can I borrow one?
But now she won't nap during the day. So she's even more tired. Earlier bedtimes just mean earlier wakeup times. I've tried reasoning, consequences like no playdates or library time for tired kids. Elmo watching is also reserved for kids who sleep. I'm not as good at swaddling as hubsters is, so that doesn't work if he's not home. Pause for a minute to imagine a 3yo swaddled in a comforter, it's pretty funny! Of course she screams if I try it, so the funny moment is fleeting.
We've tried running around like nutters so she'll collapse in exhaustion, she can outlast her baby brother and her mommy at that! We have a bedtime routine, going to bed isn't the problem, it's having peaceful sleep the whole night that's the problem. She doesn't wake me up, so that's not my motivation either. I'm out of ideas, can I borrow one?
Monday, November 16, 2009
101 things to feed a toddler
Step one: Find something the toddler eats
Step one: Find something the toddler eats
Step two: Feed it to them
Step three: repeat 100 times
Today my two toddlers are home sick (more about that later I'm sure). They are pretty consistent in their breakfasting habits. They choose from:
- yogurt drunk through a straw or eaten with cheerios/corn flakes mixed in and a spoon
- peanut butter sandwiches (with or without the crust depending on the direction of the wind, the phase of the moon, and the current adjusted for inflation price of tea in China)
- oatmeal - plain oatmeal with raisins, a dash of cinnamon, a dash of honey, and occasionally a handful of cheerios or cornflakes. There is no accounting for taste when it comes to a toddler.
Well, lunch time just rolled around and I offered the usual. They both wanted oatmeal. The same thing they ate for breakfast. We haven't left the house and the whole thing is giving me a Groundhog Day feeling. They must get it from their father who had egg sandwiches for breakfast and dinner last night.
Step two: Feed it to them
Step three: repeat 100 times
Today my two toddlers are home sick (more about that later I'm sure). They are pretty consistent in their breakfasting habits. They choose from:
- yogurt drunk through a straw or eaten with cheerios/corn flakes mixed in and a spoon
- peanut butter sandwiches (with or without the crust depending on the direction of the wind, the phase of the moon, and the current adjusted for inflation price of tea in China)
- oatmeal - plain oatmeal with raisins, a dash of cinnamon, a dash of honey, and occasionally a handful of cheerios or cornflakes. There is no accounting for taste when it comes to a toddler.
Well, lunch time just rolled around and I offered the usual. They both wanted oatmeal. The same thing they ate for breakfast. We haven't left the house and the whole thing is giving me a Groundhog Day feeling. They must get it from their father who had egg sandwiches for breakfast and dinner last night.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
When technology fails us, do we fail?
We are only human. We need technology to accomplish many things that are beyond our grasp. When that technology fails, we feel powerless, full of the knowledge that there are just some things we cannot do, cannot control, no matter how many buttons we have our fingers on.
What brought about this feeling of powerlessness I felt today wasn't anything earth shattering, but that didn't soften the blow any. The fact that even something mundane as lunch could be ruined by a technological malfunction just made me feel even more frustrated. Cars break down, computers blue screen, things fail. But the powerstrip that my slowcooker, loaded with what should have been lunch, was plugged into? When even something as small as that is out of my control, it is definitely a reminder that we are only human, and even the machines we build, the fires we kindle, anything we create from a paper airplane to a jumbo jet are guided by another force.
When I discovered my slowcooker off, my chicken still raw, I said to myself "how did people do this before electricity? I should have had the soup on the fire instead, stupid technology." And then I remembered that fires can go out, my ancestors probably also had their share of thrown together cold lunches after something happened out of their control. Thank G-d we had some salad, canned beans, soup in a carton. It was a veritable vegetarian feast in the end.
Our power as humans is to take the materials G-d gives us and create something from it. Not the same as creating something out of nothing, we are just human after all, but to take the situation we have and the materials and resources and talents we are given, and produce. Yes, as a mother I felt the pressure to feed my family, as a perfectionist I felt the stress and disappointment of my planned meal falling to pieces, as a Texan meat-eater I was less than thrilled not to have "real" food and settle for what food eats. But we had a beautiful Shabbos meal with lovely flavors, great conversation, and even a little ice cream for dessert. I'm going to keep telling myself that and hopefully I'll eventually drown out the other voices that keep harping on how I failed.
We are only human. We need technology to accomplish many things that are beyond our grasp. When that technology fails, we feel powerless, full of the knowledge that there are just some things we cannot do, cannot control, no matter how many buttons we have our fingers on.
What brought about this feeling of powerlessness I felt today wasn't anything earth shattering, but that didn't soften the blow any. The fact that even something mundane as lunch could be ruined by a technological malfunction just made me feel even more frustrated. Cars break down, computers blue screen, things fail. But the powerstrip that my slowcooker, loaded with what should have been lunch, was plugged into? When even something as small as that is out of my control, it is definitely a reminder that we are only human, and even the machines we build, the fires we kindle, anything we create from a paper airplane to a jumbo jet are guided by another force.
When I discovered my slowcooker off, my chicken still raw, I said to myself "how did people do this before electricity? I should have had the soup on the fire instead, stupid technology." And then I remembered that fires can go out, my ancestors probably also had their share of thrown together cold lunches after something happened out of their control. Thank G-d we had some salad, canned beans, soup in a carton. It was a veritable vegetarian feast in the end.
Our power as humans is to take the materials G-d gives us and create something from it. Not the same as creating something out of nothing, we are just human after all, but to take the situation we have and the materials and resources and talents we are given, and produce. Yes, as a mother I felt the pressure to feed my family, as a perfectionist I felt the stress and disappointment of my planned meal falling to pieces, as a Texan meat-eater I was less than thrilled not to have "real" food and settle for what food eats. But we had a beautiful Shabbos meal with lovely flavors, great conversation, and even a little ice cream for dessert. I'm going to keep telling myself that and hopefully I'll eventually drown out the other voices that keep harping on how I failed.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sourdough starter
I am so excited to try again with making my own sourdough starter. I learned about if from Hannah over at CookingManager. com and I was doing ok until someone accidentally threw it away :( But this time will be different! There are less people in the house (last time we were temporarily living with my parents) and again I will have Hannah's help remembering to stir and eventually feed my little starter.
If you want to follow along first head over to cookingmanager and get the instructions. Then you can jump over to Facebook to sign up for the page and get the reminders. And away we go!
I am so excited to try again with making my own sourdough starter. I learned about if from Hannah over at CookingManager. com and I was doing ok until someone accidentally threw it away :( But this time will be different! There are less people in the house (last time we were temporarily living with my parents) and again I will have Hannah's help remembering to stir and eventually feed my little starter.
If you want to follow along first head over to cookingmanager and get the instructions. Then you can jump over to Facebook to sign up for the page and get the reminders. And away we go!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Double agent veggie muffins
I love this recipe. It can be made with a variety of fruits and veggies, can be baked into muffins or cake, frosted or unfrosted, whole wheat or white, and still taste amazing! My toddlers especially love them, and that alone would make this a winner.
As sent by my friend Tehilla:
Preheat oven to 325.Mix all these in one bowl:3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 2 cups sugar, 2 cups hand-grated zucchini (grates very easily), and 2 tsp vanilla.In another bowl:3 cups sifted flour, 3 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp of baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt.Combine into one bowl and put into greased and lightly floured pan. Bake at 325 for 60-70 minutes or until done. (I think mine always bakes less)I always use a 9 x 13. Hand mixed.
You can use carrot, zucchini, pumpkin, squash, yam/sweet potato, banana, apples, pears. You can add nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, other dried fruit. You could sub apple sauce for part or all of the oil.
If you blend the zucchini rather than shred it, the green color will be easier to hide if you have eagle-eyed skeptics like my hubsters.
I love this recipe. It can be made with a variety of fruits and veggies, can be baked into muffins or cake, frosted or unfrosted, whole wheat or white, and still taste amazing! My toddlers especially love them, and that alone would make this a winner.
As sent by my friend Tehilla:
Preheat oven to 325.Mix all these in one bowl:3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 2 cups sugar, 2 cups hand-grated zucchini (grates very easily), and 2 tsp vanilla.In another bowl:3 cups sifted flour, 3 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp of baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt.Combine into one bowl and put into greased and lightly floured pan. Bake at 325 for 60-70 minutes or until done. (I think mine always bakes less)I always use a 9 x 13. Hand mixed.
You can use carrot, zucchini, pumpkin, squash, yam/sweet potato, banana, apples, pears. You can add nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, other dried fruit. You could sub apple sauce for part or all of the oil.
If you blend the zucchini rather than shred it, the green color will be easier to hide if you have eagle-eyed skeptics like my hubsters.
Toddler approved packed lunch ideas
I know I am blessed in many ways, one of which is that no matter how annoying & fickle my toddlers can be at meal time, they are still considered amazingly good eaters when measured on the toddler scale from "lives on air" to "eats everything in sight as long as it isn't broken in half or touching anything else."
We are further limited by the school's rules which include no nut products and no meat.
It's still a struggle to find things that are consistently finished when I go to empty the lunch boxes at the end of the day. I only do easy peasey recipes. Here are a few vegetarian, nut free ideas:
Always eaten:
tuna & cream cheese filled puffs. The puffs are sold By Athens are come precooked & frozen. - Zucchini muffins (link to my recipe)
- pasta tossed with olive oil, frozen corn, cherry tomatoes, & avocado (Awa doesn't like tomatoes, so she eats around or I leave out) and possibly cheese
- whole wheat tortillas filled with cream cheese & spinach
- Morningstar Farms Chik patties
- leftover pizza
- pizza sandwich (Awa takes off the cheese)
- cream cheese & jelly sandwich
- pancakes
- raisins
- string cheese
- boiled eggs
- cubed melon
- oranges
- jello cups
Sometimes eaten:
- apples
- bananas
- plain cream cheese sandwiches
- rice cakes
- baggie of dry cereal
- salmon patties
NOT eaten:
- tomato sauce sandwich (surprising since it's the same as the pizza one without the cheese and that's what Awa eats when she removes the cheese)
- chummus sandwich, unexpected since they both love to dip into chummus.
I know I am blessed in many ways, one of which is that no matter how annoying & fickle my toddlers can be at meal time, they are still considered amazingly good eaters when measured on the toddler scale from "lives on air" to "eats everything in sight as long as it isn't broken in half or touching anything else."
We are further limited by the school's rules which include no nut products and no meat.
It's still a struggle to find things that are consistently finished when I go to empty the lunch boxes at the end of the day. I only do easy peasey recipes. Here are a few vegetarian, nut free ideas:
Always eaten:
- tuna & cream cheese filled puffs. The puffs are sold By Athens are come precooked & frozen.
- Zucchini muffins (link to my recipe)
- pasta tossed with olive oil, frozen corn, cherry tomatoes, & avocado (Awa doesn't like tomatoes, so she eats around or I leave out) and possibly cheese
- whole wheat tortillas filled with cream cheese & spinach
- Morningstar Farms Chik patties
- leftover pizza
- pizza sandwich (Awa takes off the cheese)
- cream cheese & jelly sandwich
- pancakes
- raisins
- string cheese
- boiled eggs
- cubed melon
- oranges
- jello cups
Sometimes eaten:
- apples
- bananas
- plain cream cheese sandwiches
- rice cakes
- baggie of dry cereal
- salmon patties
NOT eaten:
- tomato sauce sandwich (surprising since it's the same as the pizza one without the cheese and that's what Awa eats when she removes the cheese)
- chummus sandwich, unexpected since they both love to dip into chummus.
10 tips for Travelling with Toddlers: Part 1 Packing
I know the title of this blog (even with it's nifty alliteration) might seem like it could easily lend itself to a horror novel, I know it gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it! Yet I managed to survive moving cities, moving countries, moving states (by myself no less!), and visiting family overseas, plus frequent bus rides where it's just me, my two toddlers, a stroller, a diaperbag and a small scrap of sanity.
I don't always remember to do the things on this list, but when I do it sure does make everything go a bit more smoothly! One trick is to always have a little more of everything than you'll think you'll need, cuz something will happen and you will need it!
- Don't do laundry too close to your departure. You want their blankets, favorite items, etc to still smell familiar.
- If you are shipping things, make sure most of your kids' stuff comes with you, is shipped faster, or is at the front of the truck/container. You want to be able to set them up in the new place with as many familiar items as you possibly can. When we moved countries and had to sell many belongings, I sacrificed a few of my own things (cookbooks, gadgets, etc) to be able to take more kids' stuff. Some beloved items cannot be replaced, but if possibly close substitutes can fill the void.
- During travel have accessible (carry-on if possible):
- a change of clothes for everyone (including parent as I once discovered, ick)
- diapers & wipes, 2 baggies for garbage or soiled clothing
- snacks - baggies of cheerios/small cereal, cheese, any non-messy filling food.
- toys & books that require imaginative play or discovery so they keep small attentions longer. Our faves are magnadoodles, stickers, pretend cameras, crayons & paper
I know the title of this blog (even with it's nifty alliteration) might seem like it could easily lend itself to a horror novel, I know it gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it! Yet I managed to survive moving cities, moving countries, moving states (by myself no less!), and visiting family overseas, plus frequent bus rides where it's just me, my two toddlers, a stroller, a diaperbag and a small scrap of sanity.
I don't always remember to do the things on this list, but when I do it sure does make everything go a bit more smoothly! One trick is to always have a little more of everything than you'll think you'll need, cuz something will happen and you will need it!
- Don't do laundry too close to your departure. You want their blankets, favorite items, etc to still smell familiar.
- If you are shipping things, make sure most of your kids' stuff comes with you, is shipped faster, or is at the front of the truck/container. You want to be able to set them up in the new place with as many familiar items as you possibly can. When we moved countries and had to sell many belongings, I sacrificed a few of my own things (cookbooks, gadgets, etc) to be able to take more kids' stuff. Some beloved items cannot be replaced, but if possibly close substitutes can fill the void.
- During travel have accessible (carry-on if possible):
- a change of clothes for everyone (including parent as I once discovered, ick)
- diapers & wipes, 2 baggies for garbage or soiled clothing
- snacks - baggies of cheerios/small cereal, cheese, any non-messy filling food.
- toys & books that require imaginative play or discovery so they keep small attentions longer. Our faves are magnadoodles, stickers, pretend cameras, crayons & paper
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