Picky Eater

Much to my dismay (though, truthfully, not totally to my surprise), Sara has become the poster child for Picky Eaters Anonymous.  I wonder if they pay for that gig?  Even when she requests a certain meal, once it's on the plate in front of her, she instantly becomes wary.  She'll sort of examine it as she picks it up with her fork or spoon, then lets it slide back off onto the plate.  She's gotten good at making piles with her food.

Our meal times usually turn into a series of bribes.  For one bite, she can watch Dora.  For another, she can play chase with Daddy.  For a third, we'll put together the train track.  The list goes on and on.  The biggest problem is that Sara has figured out that we only have so much energy; eventually the bargaining comes to an end.  And whether she's taken her bites or not, she'll wave her hands in the air in an exaggerated sign-language gesture and yell out, "ALL DONE!"  While I'd like her to eat her meal, I'd rather let her leave the table at this point than make her stay just long enough to decide to make a mess (rereading this, I wonder if allowing her to leave is part of the problem ... painful as it may be, making her ride it out a little longer might cause some eating to occur...???). 

When we were in Florida, Sara ate at least her weight in fish nuggets, and she can put back some serious amounts of Apple Jacks, frozen pancakes, donut holes, and mac & cheese.  At the moment, though, those items pretty much sum up her very short list of preferred foods (and I realize those particular items don't make me look like Mother of the Year, either, but I withdrew my name from that pot a long time ago).  On St. Patrick's Day, I made Shepard's Pie, which is a combination of the most basic of foods: meat, potatoes, carrots, peas ... she wouldn't touch it.  The other day we ate at Matt's; Sara ate roughly five bites of rice, a few spoonfuls of guacamole, and left her quesadilla and beans totally untouched.  My parents watched her demolish that same meal with zest when they were here back in December.  On Sunday morning I made eggs, another has-been on her favorites list, apparently, because she wouldn't eat those, either.

I remember being a picky eater as a child, and I know that I probably drove my mom crazy over the number of times I asked, "We're having that for dinner?"  I went through two main eating phases during my high school years: one included bagels and water (or maybe a Cherry Coke); the other included an almost nightly request for homemade taco salads.  My palate has matured a lot since then.  The point is, I get that I wasn't the easiest kid  to please in the kitchen, and, as a result, I'm not necessarily asking for a child who is excited about the possibility of sampling fine cuisine from every corner of the world.  Just one who will quit turning her nose up at anything that remotely resembles an actual meal.  If I had her willpower, I'd sure be able to shed my last five in no time flat.

HELP!

Technical Difficulties

I seem to be having some technical difficulties with blogger today.  I've been trying to publish a post with pictures, but all that shows up are my words and tiny little blank boxes where the pictures should be.  Anyone else having this problem?  I hope it doesn't last or I may have to start making some major blog changes (and, quite frankly, I don't have the time or the energy for that right now). 

Since I refuse to publish the post I had in mind sans pictures, tonight you get a little of this-and-that.

We had a good weekend.  Yesterday was warm and sunny; we spent a good part of the day playing outside, and broke out the water table for its first use of the season.  I pulled some weeds and worked on not losing any more of my Florida tan that I've already lost.  We ate at Matt's and then went to Target where I picked up a large packet of wildflower seeds that Sara and I are going to plant in the backyard.  With any luck, something will actually bloom.  Today it's gray and cool and threatening rain, so we've spent most of the day being lazy inside (and we obviously didn't get our seeds planted).  Sara is back to some serious wheezing, and seems to be just generally out of sorts as a result.  Unfortunately, we've exhausted all of our potential remedies, so there's not much else we can do to help her feel better.  It's heartbreaking.

I started a new book that I can't put down, but more on that later.  Steve is playing on a new softball team with a friend from work, and their second game is tomorrow night.  It's at 9:45, so Sara and I will not be in attendance.  Maybe one of these weeks we'll go cheer him on if he plays a little earlier.

I am hoping for a good work week.  I'm still tired from last week, and am putting more than most of my effort into not looking like it.  On Friday we're going to drive to Lyons, KS to visit Sara's cousins (we haven't yet met Natalee, who was born on Groundhog's Day, plus it's Lyndsey's 2nd birthday).  Last time we made the trip, Sara soaked herself and her car seat with poop once on the way up and once on the way back.  If we can avoid that fiasco this time, we'll be in good shape.

Hope your last week of March is a good one!    

Wordless Wednesday

Wireless

During our vacation in Florida, I went almost completely wireless (I did have my cell phone on me, but used it so little that I didn't need to charge it even once, and I actually had it turned off for most of the trip).  Although Steve used the laptop to check work e-mails, I didn't succumb to the temptation to check e-mail, catch up on my blog reading or writing, or even check online news (I actually didn't read the real newspaper that was delivered daily to our door, either, so I was pretty out of the loop).  Of course you may be asking about the post that went up on Monday, March 14th.  Those of you familiar with Blogger know that you can write a post, and then opt for it to publish on your blog at a later date, which is what I did in that case so you all wouldn't feel totally abandoned while we were out soaking up the sun. 

I'm not a huge tech-junkie anyway, but it felt really good to be wireless.  Sometimes during a busy week, I start to feel stressed out about not having time to check my e-mail or update my blog (or my reading of other blogs) when I'm home in the evenings.  I know that many of you know what I'm talking about ... and how crazy is it that, among the things that really matter, we let technology (something that is supposed to make our lives easier) stress us out?!  The point is, I was without it for days - by choice - and didn't miss it at all. 

And after my absence, I came home to the following:
-a handful of e-mails on my work account, but not very many (and nothing urgent, since most of my colleagues were out and about enjoying spring break)
-a handful of comments on my blog - fun!
-125 e-mails in my Yahoo spam box, and 90 e-mails in my Yahoo inbox (and only two of those were from people I actually knew) ... seriously?

So, all-in-all, I didn't miss much.  I'm going to remember this next time I catch myself saying, "How did we ever live without ... e-mail, the internet, cell phones, etc., etc., etc.?"  I know that wireless is all the craze, but I think part of me might actually prefer wire-less.

FL in Pics (& captions)

 (her own seat on the airplane for the first time)

(toes in the tide)

 (gathering shells in the bucket)

 (family sand play; day #1 = pre-tan)

 (cookies on the beach in the shade ... perfect)

 (braving the tide with Grandpa Todd)

(no land in sight)

 (relaxing at sundown)

 (perhaps the best part of the beach: the swing and slide)

 (a beach walk at sunset)

  (bird feet)

(a beach walk at sunrise)

 (beckoning the cabana boy)

 (self-portrait)

 (wiped out)

 (after a cool ocean dip)

 (splashing in the pool with Grandma)

(our souvenirs)

"And I don't like you calling me George. When did this start?"

Can you name that movie?  It's one of my favorites.

It's such a joy when your baby begins calling you Mama.  I'm not talking about when those sounds just slip out but could be referring to any number of things.  I'm talking about when your baby recognizes you, knows she is talking to and/or about you, and says, "Mama."  Perhaps even more thrilling for me was when Sara started calling me Mommy.  It just feels like such a term of endearment.  It's beyond the mama mumble, and it clearly is directed only toward one person (in this case, yours truly).

In the last couple of weeks, Sara has started calling me Mom.  Not Mama, not Mommy ... just straight up Mom.  Now, I call my mom "Mom" and you probably call your mom "Mom".   I don't know when I started calling my mom "Mom", but I've always been under the impression that such a term was reserved for use in big-kid and adult years.  Maybe it kicks in around kindergarten, but I don't know that for a fact.  Surely it's not supposed to happen at two years old, although it is exactly what appears to have happened under my very own roof.  My sweet baby girl (who I know isn't a baby, really, but she is my baby) now walks up to me and says things like, "Hey, Mom" or "More cereal, Mom."

What?!  When did this start?  Is she two or thirteen?  (I guess I'd better not get too far ahead of myself here ... she may not talk to me at all when she's thirteen, and then I'll be begging for a "Hey, Mom!").

***

On a recent lazy weekend around here, Sara decided to take her baby shopping.

 She said they were going to Target, and it looks like they just picked up the essentials:

Some jewelery, books, shoes, and a few other necessary items that may or may not have actually been on the list.  She is, after all, her mama's mommy's mom's daughter.

Florida Bound

Spring Break is finally here, and tomorrow morning we are Florida Bound!  We're flying into Tampa, where we'll meet my parents, and then hop in a car for the short drive to St. Pete Beach.  I'm so excited to get away for a little while, and to experience another special first with Sara.  Bring on the sun, the sand, and the surf ...

Wordless Wednesday

Does trying count?

Like most people, we try to make healthy choices on a daily basis.  Many days, we are fairly successful in selecting meal items and portion sizes that support a healthy lifestyle and help us maintain a decent calorie balance.  Lately we've even started a new circuit training routine in addition to the running or walking we already try to squeeze in as often as possible.  Still, we do enjoy many items that are not low-cal, heart healthy, or cholesterol-lowering.  Because of this, we're fans of the everything-in-moderation approach rather than the quit-eating-or-drinking-this-or-that approach.

(Obvious) confession: some days we just downright lose the health battle, almost always to that nag in our heads (and/or bellies) known as temptation.  It's to be expected, and often is the result of a kitchen in need of a grocery re-stock, working late, being out and about and hungry all at the same time ... the list could go on.  However, all-in-all, we generally do pretty well.  And just when I start to think we have a manageable handle on our eating habits, Sonic has to go and do something like this:

 

 

New hot dog varieties!  Say what you will about hot dogs (I'm not listening, by the way), but we are not ashamed to be fans of these All-American treats.  When one is available, we rarely pass up the opportunity to indulge (ball games, travel to hot dog hot spots, summer cook-outs ... really, who needs a reason?  Not us).  Chicago style, NY style, with relish, pickles, mustard, onions, kraut.  You name it, we love it.  So when we discovered Sonic's new genius ploy to get us to drive on in, it really was more a matter of when than of if.

Try as we might, there are just certain food and drink items (ones that don't hover anywhere near healthy) that we can't won't pass up when given the chance.  We are human, after all, and we find value in enjoyment.  Plus, like I said, we try most days to be good.  And trying counts, right?

Looking Good

Because nothing says "AWESOME" like a brand new hat.