Instagram catch-up, and food.

   I feel like I haven't been getting my camera out at all lately, and that is where my phone comes to the rescue! I tell you, that little gadget is invaluable when it comes to photos.  It's always with me, fits in my pocket, and takes a pretty stinkin' decent picture too.  Enough of that, and on to the pictures....

  We've been having the most enchanting, foggy weather lately.  It's like something straight out of a Jane Austen novel.  Or the Lord of the Rings.  Whatever it's like, it always makes me want to curl up with a cup of coffee and write. 

   What do you think, nerdy-chic or the female version of Johnny Depp?  

   Little Miss always feels horribly neglected, forgotten, and left out when I buy coffee.  So this time, for the first time, she had her very own steamer.  I told them to barely flavor it, so it was basically warm milk.  She guzzled that thing in blissful silence and was tickled the whole way home.  Why have I not thought of this months ago?!  Also, she had an accident in town, hence the semi-nakedness.  I'm not normally in the habit of carting my children around pantsless in the dead of winter.

  Can I just give a shout-out right now to the Coffee Spot on Hwy 99?  It is Christian-owned and it shows.  The service is super-friendly, their prices are good, and they always put these little spill-stoppers on the cups that are just delightful.  Whether they are cute little owls, or festive little pumpkins, or sweet little sayings, I always enjoy them.

  Randy got me a pair of Hunters for Christmas and I was. So. Shocked.  I had no idea he even knew what Hunters were, much less that I wanted them.  Needless to say, I will be wearing these for the next 70 years or so, give or take a few, if the Lord tarries, if I even live that long, if I manage not to lose/ruin them and......you get the picture.  They are basically the most ideal form of footwear for anyone living in the Northwest in the winter time, a.k.a THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN.  O.k., o.k., I realize it hasn't rained lately and I can't complain.  Sorry.  Oregon has beautiful winters.  1/10 of the time.  Ok I'm stopping now, really.  On second thought, bring on the rain!  If that just means I can whip these puppies out of my closet, I will be delighted.  Nay, grateful even! That might be a bit of a stretch.

  Bath times are quite a bit easier and quicker these days, thanks to Charlotte's ability to basically lay on her tummy and "swim" (o.k. so it's crawling but swimming sounds wayyyy cooler) in the bath, and Jocelyn seems to realize the fragility of her little sister and doesn't attempt to hug, squeeze, or otherwise drown her.  I can plop both of them in at the same time, wash them, take them out to dry and dress one at a time, and we're done.  It works out quite nicely. 

   I don't know why I took down my Christmas trees so early.  It makes me kind of sad to think about.  Well, the outside one kept falling over in the wind, and the inside one was getting a little dry, but still.  Christmas tree carnage is just, sad.

  Here we have a mama, happy to be healthy, and a baby, happy to have a healthy mama.  This was the morning after a dreadful bout with the 24 flu....at least I think that's what it was?  What ravages like the flu but only last like, a day?  Sounds suspiciously like the 24 flu....so yeah I guess that will be my official diagnosis. 

Mmmmm, juice.

   This little lady likes to dress up in her mama's hats and scarves.  It makes a mess but I kind of love it.  Shhh, don't tell.

 I tried to come up with a new snack for Joce and offered bananas spread with Nutella and raisins.  She preferred to bite the outside of the banana and just eat the raisins plain.  Oh well, I found a new snack for me!  So win-win.

    Speaking of snacking/eating, let's talk about feeding kids.  To those of you who are almost put to sleep at the sound of that, you can just move along.  But for some of us, it is an all-encompassing stage of life.

    Jocelyn used to be difficult and it was honestly one of the hardest parts of parenting for me.  I would dread meal times.  I am happy to report that now, I can honestly say she is an excellent eater, and here are a few things that I think helped to contribute to that.  This is by no means a "Look at me, I know it all" rant.  I will be the first to say that 100% of what I know is trial and error, and you can't take it or leave it.  It may help, it may not, every child is different, etc.etc.  So please just take from it what you want, and leave the rest! :)

1. Variety is key.  Ethnic food, weird veggies, strange smoothies, even things that are a little spicy....just at least get it on their tray and introduce it.  It can't hurt a thing.  

2. Give them a boundary.  I have fed her in her booster seat with a tray from about 7 months on.  I never had a high chair, and so far, it's worked just fine.  Although with two so close together it might be nice to have one...my point is, she has been contained while she's eating.  Not able to get up and down, run around, or move around.  She sits, and I put the food down, and she eats. 

3. Adopt the mantra, "It's no big deal."  When it comes to food and eating, I think the worst thing you can do with kids is make a big deal out of it and turn it into a huge battle of sorts.   Ironically, this has happened a couple times, but it's almost ALWAYS when we are at dinner with a bunch of people, so there are a lot of eyes on her, and she freaks out.  When we're at home, I will plop something down, tell her what it is, and then walk away.  No, "Try a bite please, Jocie?  Just taste it, please?  Here, one tiny little bite...."  I just leave it there and walk away.  And most of the time, she just eats it.  Whether it is chicken curry, or seafood jambalaya, or hard-boiled eggs or tomato soup....it's just food.  It's not a battle, it's not a way to get my attention, it's just there, on her tray.  Take it or leave it.  If/when she doesn't eat anything?  I will do the whole "3 more bites and you can play" thing, and that works great.  Because the thing is, she's going to eat when she's hungry.  And I would much rather her have had those few, little bites of something new and have it be a positive learning experience, than a battle of wills that ends badly. Usually, the more I ignore her, the better she eats.

4. Limit snacks.  I used to not do any, and then I realized it's basically as common as 3-meals-a-day to have an afternoon snack, so now I try to remember to give her that one.  We do LOTS of snacks in church, town and on trips and things like that. But at home, I try to stick to 3 meals and one snack.

5. Milk before nap time and before bed.  I think this helps keep her from asking for snacks.

6. Sharing my food with her at a restaurant.  I've ordered for her a couple times off the kid's menu, but usually their options aren't quite what I want for her, and it's a lot cheaper to just share with her.  Plus, it exposes her to a variety of foods and will HOPEFULLY avoid the whole, "Only wants grilled cheese" stage later on in life, when you eat out as a family.

7. Find a new "candy".  Why assume that the only "treats" they are going to like are candy?  She likes her chewy multi-vitamins as much, if not more, than candy.  And lately, she likes fish oil even better than her vitamin.  Works for me!

8. Try not to remedy whining/bad attitude/sadness with food.  Granted, I know I have done this occasionally, but I try to steer clear of that.

9. Try, try, and try again.  She used to not like a LOT of things.  So I thought.  But sometimes it's a phase, and so keep re-introducing them.  I used to be so stuck when it came to breakfast.  The only thing she liked was scrambled eggs.  Now she loves baked oatmeal, homemade granola, yogurt, fruit, whole-wheat pancakes, smoothies, honey on wheat toast, and a host of other things, and not eggs.  Go figure! Phases come and go.  So I continue to try eggs occasionally and I'm hoping she'll like them again, but if not, it's not a big deal. 


 10.  Use food they like as a vehicle into a new food.  She loves cheese, so sometimes I will sprinkle that on things I want her to try.  Or knowing she likes olives can sometimes get her to try things with olives on or in it.  Unfortunately, this doesn't always work.

   As far as Charlotte is concerned.....I only wish it were that easy from the beginning. :)  Don't get me wrong, Charlotte is a good eater.  She will eat almost anything that I've tried offering so far.  Greek yogurt with pears, egg yolks and carrots, sweet potato and beans....she's not too picky.  However, the big issue with her is constipation.  I remember going through this with Jocelyn....starting food and the milk supply lessens, so you need to feed them more, and they're hungry, but you can't give them too much or they get terribly constipated....and it seems to all get into this weird, difficult cycle when all I'm trying to do is ease S-L-O-W-L-Y into solid food!

   Ideally, they would be exclusively breast-fed until they're a year old, when they could just pick up their fork and start eating pasta.  Ha.  But right around 6 months I start feeling this nursing-weariness, and just want to start the process of them being able to eat on their own.  Is there an easy way to do this?  Any tips, ideas, suggestions?  I'd be happy to hear them.

I hope you all are having a great week.  Mine hasn't been to shabby.  Not too shabby at all.