A Touch of Nature

Today we went up into the mountains. It could be argued that we are already up and into the mountains. But I mean we really went INTO the mountains. We rode a gondola to some really great outdoor sporting trails. The trails are all part of a resort, so I can't say they are out of civilization, but they are definitely at the point where rugged wilderness meets civilization. The hiking and biking trails go into the forest, and while they are very well carved out and defined, you really get the sense that you are just engulfed in nature. Where the trails start and end, there is a restaurant complete with shade and bottled water. This was a great comprimise for me and Daryl. See, I'm an outdoorsy girl. I would have very happily packed a tent and camped out there. Daryl, not so much. He'd rather sit in air conditioning and enjoy the views from the comforts of modern civilization. This surprised me when I first learned of it, because while we were dating his mother bragged often about his achieving of the Eagle Scout status. It's definitely becoming evident to me that this was something Daryl did only because his parents wanted him to. I hope that Jonah, and any other children we may have, will feel comfortable with himself to tell Daryl and I when he doesn't really enjoy something that we are pushing him to do.

I did convince him to go on a very mild nature hike with me. I also convinced him to try the carrier out with Jonah. All it took was a little peer pressure from a fellow hiking family. I saw them approaching as we got off the gondola. The father had a little girl, just a bit older than Jonah, on his back in a metal hiking frame. "See!!!" I poked Daryl's arm. "See, he doesn't complain about getting sweaty or anything! Look how much fun he's having!" The family smiled at us, said hello, and within moments Daryl was strapping on the mei tei. Jonah thought it was hillarious that he was getting to ride on Daddy's back. He has been very much into his father lately, often leaping out of my arms and into Daryl. It stings only a little to be pushed aside for Daryl, but my heart leaps at seeing them bond so well. He loves his father so much. Daryl agreed after the hike that wearing Jonah was a breeze, but getting the carrier secured still confuses him. That does take some practice, I'll admit. I am glad that he at least tried, and now maybe he can jump in when I'm having the "stroller debate" with well-meaning relatives, concerned over the weight of Jonah on my 'delicate frame' (shya... nothin delicate about this pleasantly plump body!!)

We started out on the trail, which was only .7 miles and fairly flat. There were breathtaking scenes everywhere that I looked. I just don't see beauty like this in Ohio. The quivering aspens, the mountain streams as clear as crystal, bright yellow and flaming red flowers. I kept my eyes peeled for a moose, but we never saw any animals besides the biting flies. Those were a nuscence, but worth putting up with. Jonah was covered, and did not get bit.

Jonah loved touching the flowers and the trees. I'm always amazed at how much he loves nature. He always wants to touch it and explore it, and whenever something catches his eye he gets this big grin on his face. I am hoping that this is something that cultivates as he gets older. I would love to take him for camping trips, and to share with him the joys of the great outdoors. I want to share with him how special our world really is.

Would You Like a Side of Toddler With Your Eggs Today?

I mentioned in my last post about having the best breakfast in the country, here in Park City where we are spending our first family vacation. This breakfast is worth having its own post. Not because of the food (heavenly as it was) but because this is when Daryl and I realized.... it's happening. Our sweet natured baby boy is becoming a demanding pistol of a toddler.

We knew it would happen sooner or later,but I was really hoping he would hold this off until he was two, or at least until he was a full year! His birthday isn't until next week, and he's already steering us into some hair raising tantrums.

The morning at the cafe started out nice enough. We put our name in, and had to wait a few minutes before being seated. Jonah was his typical, lovely self. I offered him milk in his sippy cup, he flirted with a woman sitting opposite from us, and Daryl had a fun game of peek a boo with him. Typical. We then were seated. I put Jonah in the high chair and buckled him in. Still typical. Gave him a toy, and fastened it to the chair with some links. typical. About a minute after we sat down and started to look at the menu, we heard the most awful sound come out of our child. "aaaaAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" uhhh? He gave his sign for drink, so I poured some water into his sippy and gave it to him. He threw it on the floor and made the noise again, only this time it was louder and even more grating. I tried to draw his attention to his toy. He's getting louder. A new toy? He's now waving his hands in the air and holding his breath. I started to panic, thinking something was wrong- was he choking? He finally gave in and drew in another breath, only to follow it with that terrible sound "AAAAGH! AGH AGH AAAAGH!" Where did my sweet baby go?

Daryl and I just sat, bug eyed, staring at eachother, hoping the other would know what to do to diffuse this situation. "Can't you give him some puffs or something?" Daryl asked, in that tone that let me know he was as embarrased and befuddled about this as I was. "I didn't bring any!" I whispered back in the nervous tone that told him I was completely out of control. It was obvious now, Jonah was in his high chair, and he expected to be fed. Now. He was throwing a tantrum.

"people are staring..." Daryl said. I looked around the small cafe. Heads throughout were turned our direction. Some were mothers, smiling as if to say "I've been there so many times, sister!" some were teenagers, eyebrows raised, and some were just innocent bystanders trying to enjoy their otherwise perfect brunch.

Just as Jonah went in for another breath hold, the waitress came with the food. Finally. It was only a few minutes, but it had felt like an eternity. I went rigth to work, cutting watermelon and fruit like a mad woman; while Daryl eagerly blew on oatmeal to cool it, the whole time Jonah was reminding us that he was STILL waiting.

After Jonah was fed, I still needed to eat my scrumptious meal. Jonah's food was gone, but he was threatening to start the storm again. He has just begun to realize when people are eating something that he doesn't have. Even if he is not hungry, he does not want to be left out of the loop when it comes to food. On one hand, I can't blame him- food is good stuff! On the other hand, I couldn't share my eggs benadict, which is not safe for an infant to eat (undercooked eggs) Daryl quickly jumped on the situation and took him outside. I could see them from the window, playing airplane, as I ate. Jonah had returned to his cheerful and sweet self. If this is a preview of what's to come, I'm bunkering down because toddlerhood is going to be storm filled with brimstone and fire.

Baby Takes Flight

A few months ago, when Daryl suggested that we take a family vacation to Utah, I was a little nervous. We had planned family trips before, but for various reasons had to put them off until later. To be honest, I was extremely nervous to be traveling with a child. I love to travel, and this is the longest stretch of time that I have gone without going anywhere beyond a day trip. I wasn't nervous about the inconveniences of having a baby on the plane, or even that Jonah would be upset on the plane. He is a very easy going baby. I was scared because traveling has become so routine in my life, and having a baby would change that. For the first time, I would have to check bags; there would be differences in security which was something that, pre-baby, I had down as a flawless routine.

This was adding an element of the unknown into something that is very well known to me. Even after calling the airlines for answers about what to expect, there was still confusion.

Then there were planning details that were not relevant to the flight. What will Jonah need? How many outfits should I pack? What if he has one of his messy days, where he either spits up on, poops or pees on, or smears mashed carrots all over every outfit I put on him? What about food?

It took me the entire day Friday to choose what to pack, and yesterday morning we left for the airport with our full sized suitcase, diaper bag, carry on bag, and laptop in tow. Oh yeah, the baby too. As far as baby gear goes, I chose very carefully. We checked the pack n play, and I packed a collapsable high chair in the full-sized suitcase which was also checked. We were charged $15 for the suitcase, but not for the pack n play. The woman at the counter told us that baby items are free to check. We bought a Cosco Scenera carseat specifically for this trip, but it will be our secondary seat at home as well as our carseat for future travels. We carried this through the security checkpoint, and checked it at the gate. I did this because I had heard that carseats are often damaged when checked at the ticket counter. Our next trip, to Mexico, we will be buying a seat for Jonah, so the carseat will come on the plane with us. I did not bring a stroller. Instead I've been carrying jonah in the mei tei carrier. The security gaurds did not make me take Jonah out of the carrier as we went through. They gave me the option of taking him out to put the carrier through the machine, or I could consent to a quick search. The search was not bad; it was done by a woman, and was very quick and non-invasive at all. I felt fine with it, compared to having to take him out of the carrier and try to get him back in; especially since we were running the risk of being late for boarding. They did make me take Jonah's shoes off, which was weird because honestly what could I put in those? They're so tiny! I am glad that we opted to forgo the stroller. I cannot imagine having to push the stroller along with trying to carry everything else, especially once we got to Salt Lake and claimed our checked luggage. It was already quite a haul even when we both had our hands free.

It was strange to be so weighed down with baggage. I typically only pack a backpack for a week. Even when I stayed in England for a month, I brought only a carry on sized pack. Having so many items to keep track of was definitely a change for both me and Daryl.

Jonah did really well on the flight, as we expected. He liked looking out the window, and had fun playing with the two new toys that I bought him, just for this occasion. The people in front of us did not even know we had a baby until the flight landed! He is so calm-natured, just like his father. The people behind us knew that Jonah was there, though, because one of his favorite in-flight activities was to pop his head up over my seat and make faces at them! This is something he has just learned to do, and he loves getting a reaction out of complete strangers this way!

The restlessness came after we landed in Salt Lake. We went to see the temple. For those of you who don't know, Daryl was born in Utah and raised Mormon. For the most part, he is very silent about his past faith and his heritage. Any questions that I ask are answered by short and round-about replies. "How can you get married in the temple?" for example was answered by "you have to be mormon." I learned yesterday that you in fact have to undergo an extensive interview, and it is quite a process. So, I was eager to learn about where Daryl comes from. He may not believe completely in the mormon faith at the present, but I firmly believe that it shapes who he is and what his views are. Anyway, we went to visit the temple and learn a little history. Jonah began to get restless. He had not been able to crawl all day. He just wanted to go go go! We found a room where we could put him down and let him stretch his muscles. He spent about an hour just crawling in circles and laughing the whole time! We also let him loose on a quiet part of the lawn. Of course we stayed right behind him the whole time, but he enjoyed being free to roam and move about on his own.

From there, we came to Park City, where we are staying. Today we had what I think is quite possibly the best breakfast in the country, at a quaint little cafe in the mountains (okay, so everything is in the mountains here!) We are also lucky enough to be visiting during the arts festival, so as soon as I finish writing this we will be heading out to that.

All in all, traveling with a kid isn't as different as I thought it would be. It does take a little more planning, and a little more effort (checking baggage and bringing more items etc) and we do have to schedule site seeing around nap and snack times, but this vacation does not seem to be going any differently than any other trip that we've taken.

Seeing Red

Last week, Jonah and I made a fun discovery when we checked our garden. The green tomatoes are turning red! Jonah was very interested in checking out the new red fruits. He's been having fun picking them, and even more fun eating them! He especially likes grilled cheese with tomatoes, but I think that is just because I love it so much! Our tomato garden has become a great thing to bond over. Jonah has been a very good garden helper. He loves to put water on the plants, and going out to check the fruits every day. He also has enjoyed eating the dirt. As impatient as I am, I'm kind of glad that some of the varieties are just now flowering, because that means that we can continue our daily gardening activities for a month or so longer.

First Finger Foods

Jonah's meals are now almost all finger foods. I've been on a hunt to find finger foods suitable for infants Jonah's age. He is not quite to the point of eating everything that the rest of the family eats, but he no longer wants to be spoon fed. Here are two recipes that I've come up with for baby-friendly finger foods.

Chicken and Carrot Bites:
dark meat chicken such as drumsticks, with the skin on
carrots, peeled and chopped into large chunks
rice cereal (the instant, for this recipe)
milk, breastmilk, or water

Bake the chicken at 350 F until it is cooked thoroughly. You want the chicken to be cooked through, but be careful not to overcook it, as you'll be baking it again later. Place the chopped carrots into a bowl and cover with water. Place in the microwave for about five minutes,or until tender. Remove the cooked chicken meat from the bone, discarding the skins. Place meat and carrots into a food processor, and process into a coarse mixture. Add milk, breastmilk, or the cooking water from the carrots (regular water will do if you've thrown that away) to make smooth. Add rice cereal until mixture is sticky. You want it to be the consistency of meatballs.

Roll the mixture into tiny, bite-sized balls (remember, bite-sized for your baby, not what an adult would see as bite sized!) Bake at 350 F for about 12 minutes, or until the balls firm up. Be careful not to overcook or they will become too tough for your little one.

These freeze well. I make a lot of them all at once and divide meal-sized portions into small ziplock bags for freezing. Then when meal time rolls around, I can just remove a bag of them, re-heat, and dinner is ready. I am sorry that there are no measurements, I just kind of go by the texture and how many I want to make. You can substitute any kind of vegetable, like brocolli or asparagus but you might need to change how much of the cereal or liquids that you add.

Infant French Toast:
One slice whole grain bread
two egg yolks
2 oz breastmilk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp unsalted butter, or other "non-stick" substitute such as PAM

Whisk egg yolks, milk, and cinnamon together until well combined. Place the bread into the egg mixture, coating it on both sides. In a skillet, melt the butter. Place the bread into the skillet and brown on both sides.

Egg yolks are a great source of protein at a young age, but egg whites can cause allergies. Make sure to talk to your pediatrician before offering eggs or products containing eggs. If your child has had milk products, then use cows milk rather than breastmilk if you would rather. Although Jonah has been on formula for quite some time now, until recently I have used breastmilk in just about all of his meals.

New Carrier

We recently went to visit my hometown to attend the annual festival that is held there. It is a typical small town festival, with food vendors, performers, and local people selling their arts and crafts. While there, I met the owner of a work at home mom company called The Addiction Baby Company. She hand sews unique mei-tei style baby carriers with her mother. What makes her carriers unique, besides being made of either fleece or all natural hemp materials, is that the carrier has a blanket that tucks inside a sewn in pouch.

I was looking for a new carrier that I could wear on my back, and easily get through airport security with. The choices that I had narrowed it down to were a mei-tei style carrier, a Baby K'tan, or an Ergo. The Baby K'tan interested me, because I like the sling style, but it seemed a bit complicate to me, and I would need help putting Jonah into it. I need something that I can put on myself. The Ergo seems to be the mother of all carriers. Anyone I asked told me that the Ergo is the most comfortable carrier, and easy to use without a second person. When I tried a friend's ergo, the straps seemed to confuse me, and I worried about getting through airport security quickly while wearing it. If they were to make me take the carrier off, I might hold things up, and that only makes people grumpy. I try to avoid making people grumpy in airports, at all costs. That left one option- the mei-tei style. This was the only style carrier that I have never tried. I wasn't sure if I'd like it. I put off buying the new carrier, because I just couldn't make a decision.

So here we were, at the festival, looking at mei-tei carriers. The owner of the company, Misty, came to show me how they work. She showed me how with her son, a wiggly young toddler. I was impressed to see that no matter how her son wiggled about and moved, he was so secure. Daryl and I looked at the different patterns of fabric, and decided that we liked the neutral look and lighter feel of the hemp fabric. Misty walked me through putting Jonah in a back carry so I could see how it felt with him in it. As soon as Jonah was secured, he started laughing hysterically. I was surprised that Misty invited us to walk around the festival with it to make sure that it's the rigth carrier for us. It only took us about five minutes of walking around to know for sure. We bought the carrier, and Jonah stayed on my back for the entire three hours that we were at the festival. He loved it. He waved and laughed as people said hi to him. He played with my pony tail for a little while. On the way home, he even fell asleep. I was amazed.

I really like the sewn-in blanket. In the fleece carriers, the blanket is quite large and can be used for picnics etc. The blanket of our hemp carrier is smaller, though, because of the size of available fabrics. The only drawback to this is that sometimes it unfolds out of the pouch as I'm putting it on. The blanket is great padding, and offers extra support for Jonah's back and neck. It will definitely come in handy if I ever find myself with a babt in the winter time. I also like that I can keep items like a diaper and a couple of wipes inside the pouch with the blanket. It is always a hassle to try to carry a diaper bag on my shoulder along with Jonah in a carrier.

I also feel a very deep connection to this carrier, because it came from my hometown roots. I am very close to my town, and the people in it. Whenever anyone asks me about my carrier now, I can tell that person that it is a little piece of home for me.

This carrier is by far my favorite. I have not worn any of my slings or even the Bjorn since I brought this one home. It is so comfortable for my back and shoulders, and Jonah loves being carried in it. I promise that I am not getting anything from this woman to promote her product; I just really love baby carriers, and I especially love this one.

Ships Ahoy!

Sailing is very important to my family. Almost all of my childhood summer memories include sailing in one way or another. Most families pile into cars or airplanes to go on summer vacations, but my parents would load all five of their children into a 27 foot vessel on Lake Erie. When I was very little, we had a smaller boat named EasyBe. As kids got bigger and my mom had more babies, my dad bought a bigger boat named Kinship, which is what we sail on today. Kinship would take us to beaches, where we'd collect lake glass and try to catch minnows; to Canada where we would chase hundreds of monarch butterflies through the air; Cedar Point where we'd get thrills on roller coasters; and to the islands of Lake Erie, where we would learn the history of Admiral Perry and the war of 1812. It was like having an RV that floats, and only goes where there's water.

Last week was a moment to mark in Jonah's baby book, because he took his first sail on Kinship. When we got to the Marina, we were able to get infant-sized life jacket on-loan. I thought that he would put up a fight about having the life jacket put on, because he fights me when I try to put just his shirt on every day! Surprisingly, he was very cooperative about having to wear it.

As we were sailing out into the open lake, Jonah watched the birds on the break walls. He jabbered on in his baby-talk as if he were telling us a whole story. He tried to point to things, but he doesn't quite understand that he needs to straighten out his index finger. Once we got underway, he became very interested in the ropes and the sails. A couple of hours into the trip, he started to get hot, tired, and fed up with the bulky life jacket. My mom took him into the cabin and played with him there until we got to the restaurant where we were having dinner. We docked the boat and went into the restaurant. Jonah was very happy to be out of the life jacket, and in air conditioning.

Because it was a six hour sailing trip, and a fifteen minute drive, my mom and I decided that we would call my aunt and have her bring the car to the restaurant while my dad sailed the boat back to the marina. Jonah was getting grumpy because it was his bedtime, I was getting a bit sea sick, and Mom was getting sunburned. After dinner we spent the rest of the evening with my aunt and grandma, while my dad sailed the boat back.

It was a very nice, relaxing day. I was very excited to see Jonah enjoying a pasttime that is such a big part of my own childhood. I am hoping that in years to come, my own family will enjoy summer trips on the lake, to see the butterflies and catch minnows at the beach.