Switching it up

A few random thoughts for today:

1. We switched Girly to 2% milk. Our pediatrician suggested we could make the switch whenever, as long as she was getting other full-fat dairy, and we just finally did it. Perhaps the fact that she gained 1 pound in about 2 1/2 weeks pushed us over the edge. (It was mostly due to post-sickness rebound, but still). She didn't give a hoot, and maybe it will even be healthier for Mom and Dad.

2. If you have your act together (unlike me), you might be able to take advantage of the lingering summer sale items that are still around in some stores. If you know any kids who have mid-winter birthdays, their parents sure appreciate the thought of toys that can be put away to pull out several months down the road. Same goes for end-of-winter sales for those kiddos with summer birthdays. I suppose this might not work when kids are old enough to realize that the toy won't be useful in the near future, but Girly doesn't mind the deception.

Consider this a warning

Dear 3's, 4's and 5's ....

I haven't seen you in a while. Let me tell you - you weren't missed. It is so rude the way you barge into my sleep and make me stumble through the halls, rubbing my eyes, to get you to go away.

Please stop corrupting my child. She doesn't want or need to see you. There is nothing good that happens when you are around.

If you show yourselves again, I will be forced to resort to more significant measures.

Consider yourself warned.

Signed -
Bleary eyed in the Midwest

Choices, choices

I highly recommend that you read a book or take a class on discipline if you haven't yet.

Just sayin' that you might need it sometime soon. REAL SOON.

I previously mentioned the Love and Logic classes I took here, here and here. Girly was just about 15 months at the time, so we really weren't having any significant discipline issues, but I wanted to have some tools to fall back on. And, yes, the tools are unwrapped and in use.

I need to sit down and review the fine details, but it is really nice to have an idea about how to respond in the moment without feeling (more) flustered. We are still pretty successful with re-directing and changing the subject, but there are an increasing number of behaviors that need to be firmly addressed.

Say, for example, on our walk the other day. Girly likes to navigate - "this way! that way!" - and I turned a corner without her consent and - WHOA - watch out. She roared her terrible roar and gnashed her terrible teeth (Where The Wild Thing Are, anyone?) for the entire next block. She has this determined version of NO!!, in which she shouts/shrieks NO!, turns red and stiffens her body. It actually takes most of my restraint not to bust out laughing at her. The straps of her stroller could barely contain her and the poor lady sweeping her driveway sweetly said, "what's the matter?"

Never you mind, lady, just out for a stroll with a wild coyote. That's all.

So ... since we were nowhere close to home and I was tiring of the screaming, oh the incessant screaming, I turned to CHOICES. Magic, I tell you!

I have been trying to institute a lot of choices in our house - black plum or red plum? purple cup or yellow cup? left shoe or right shoe? Anything and everything, but they generally haven't been in the midst of a meltdown. We got to the end of the block and I let Girly choose - which way? Straight or left? She picked, she calmed down, and I patted myself on the back. I let her choose again at our next junction and she was perfectly calm. You obviously can't do this forever, or you would end up in China, but the beauty is this: when we reached the corner where we had to turn left to head toward home I just warned her and said, "Mommy's going to choose this time. Let's go left!" I was enthusiastic, she went with it, and then I almost fell over in shock because there wasn't any screaming!

It won't always work, of course, but I was sure glad I had invested some time a few months earlier. Saved my bacon (and my sanity)!

Dippity do dah

I promise this isn't a post about early waking.

Except, that, well, I've been about to tear my hair out with all the early waking!

Let's focus on a solution, then, shall we?

Our Girl always asks to eat the second we get her out of her crib. I think some of this is habit, but I also truly think she is hungry, as evidenced by the ungodly amount of food she consumes first thing in the morning.

I've tried all my usual tricks to get her to stay in her bed (quietly): Cry it out. Go in and lay her back down and tell her to sleep. Go get her and have her sleep in our bed (which works on occasion, but usually results in her kicking my face). Try to reason with her and tell her that if it is still dark outside she needs to stay in her crib quietly. (Ha, Ha. And, oh yeah, HA again). Have her play with her toys in her pack n' play in mommy's room while mommy sleeps. Put books in her own crib to play with ...

My newest notion is that I've been wondering if a grumbly stomach has been contributing to her waking up. She eats a lot during the day and generally eats a pretty good volume of food at dinner, but it is mostly fruit and veggies, which doesn't necessarily sustain her for 12 hours. She used to be a cheese monster, but now turns her nose up at cheese, unless it comes in a grilled cheese sammy form. She doesn't eat very much meat and usually refuses meatballs or deli meat or the like.

So, time to get creative with the protein-pushing!

I roasted a chicken in the crock pot (btw - you should do this if you have the time. It is the same price as a rotisserie chicken and you can get a better quality chicken. Just clean out the cavity, rinse and pat dry, rub the skin with spices, put it in a crockpot on high or med-high for about 4 hours and forget it. No liquid or anything!) and Huz was cleaning the meat off the bones while I made Girly dinner. She asked to "eat that!" and I gave her a taste, though she never liked it in the past. She kind of picked at the meat, then I offered her ketchup and mustard and she couldn't get enough! The shredded chicken pieces are perfect for dipping.

I have been trying to avoid most condiments, with the thought being that I wanted her to eat her food as it was and not to always have to add something to it to make it appealing. I've gotten over myself, though, now that I have witnessed the wonders of sauces! She would just eat the ketchup and mustard straight with her fork, so I had to remind her to dip and bite, dip and bite, but she did eat it all up. And, she slept till 6:00am for two mornings in a row! Success! (And, yes, 6:00 is pretty much the best I can hope for ...)

So, if you haven't started the dips yet, you may want to check them out! I am trying to focus on 'healthier' things, like mustard and salsa, but the occasional drizzle of real maple syrup on roasted squash isn't such a bad thing, either.

Welcome to B.B.C.

No, not the British Broadcasting Corporation. Our Girly has been enrolled in Behavior Boot Camp this week!

I took the week off work to stay home with her as she recovered from the fluke-y illness. Though she is still yellowish, her personality has mostly returned. For the better, and for the worse.

Our girl is truly mostly a delight - reasonably even-tempered and very well behaved for a child her age. She is content to play independently and she has lately been totally fascinated with moving little bits of things (crayons, noodles, balls) all over the house. The loveliness of a little girl, I tell you!

That being said, the NO!! has returned with full-force. It was almost a month ago that this bug entered our lives and Girly started to act, not exactly sick, but certainly not like herself. She ate and drank less and less, to the point where she would have part of a banana and a few ounces of milk. All Day. In an effort to get some calories in, I offered anything and everything that I thought she would eat or drink and I catered to her every whim. Popsicles? Two flavors? Sure!

Now, though, I can see her appetite is back and she is just expressing opinions about what she prefers (to put it nicely). We are back to offering a reasonable meal or snack, milk only when sitting at the table, and she can take it or leave it. After a bit of leaving it, she is now taking it. :)

She was also EXTRA cuddly, which I have to admit was super sweet. "Mama Huggie", "Mama Carry" ... awww .... okay. She would curl up on my shoulder every night and refuse books, just wanting to snuggle. I felt badly that she was sick, but I squeezed in every squeeze I could because I knew it wouldn't last forever.

Now, though, if Girly doesn't want to do something (like walk up the stairs or walk at the zoo), it's "Mama Carry". If I tell her No, she plops down dramatically and cries, and then puts her arms out - "Mama Huggie!". Cute, but No.

Just reinforces the fact that discipline and consistency will take you a long way in this parenting gig. Fortunately, she still responds pretty quickly to a little adjusting at this age. Don't you wish everyone was that way?

We know what we are talking about

Girly has gone and caught herself some type of rare illness (or, rather, a common illness with a rare complication. Semantics.) Regardless, I thought it was worth a brief reminder that parents should trust themselves when it comes to the health of our children.

Our daycare provider called last week to say that our girl's eyes were yellow. Not that she had yellow gunky eyes, but rather that the whites of her eyes were yellow. Uh Oh. I work in the health care field and instantly knew this was a problem, but I think most parents would draw the same conclusion. I promptly called our pediatrician's office and, 4 hours later, their triage nurse informed me this was normal and to push fluids.

I begged to differ.

I knew she needed lab work and fortunately had the contacts to make it happen without our pediatrician's office, but it was frustrating nonetheless. We got the tests we needed and our pediatrician was very responsive the next day and got Girly some additional tests very promptly. No harm was done by the fact that she wasn't seen right away, but things might not have been the same for another family.

My point is this: you know your child better than anyone else does. If something seems very unusual or very wrong, it may very well be. It is okay to NICELY persist in getting your child seen if you really think they need it. I always think that a nice, understanding parent is taken more seriously than a parent who rants and raves unnecessarily. It is worth the cost of an office co-pay to have your concerns addressed. And, if you find that your doctor's office just isn't responsive to your concerns, maybe it is time to find a new doctor. There are so many good ones out there - it has to be one of the most important things you can do for your child.

Another side point: take your immunization card to all of your well-visits to get updated. I have done this only sporadically and forgot it at our last visit. Even though Girly has been immunized on the regular schedule, I wasn't sure exactly what shots she had. It would have been helpful to know and I will do a better job next time.

New vocabulary

Are any of you reading Rants from Mommyland?

It's really f-ing funny. Moms need funny. A LOT OF IT.

I was introduced to the Rants from another blog I read, and specifically the MommyLand Desk Reference post. Trust me - read a few of them when you need a pick me up. It does the trick.

A few of my favorites:

Indoor Homeless People: pet name for Kate's washed, brushed, rich, satiated children AKA the small people who have no jobs and beg you for everything, but do it inside your house.

Turtle Herding: The act of getting small children to go anywhere. Worse than herding cats, as cats actually move. Also see; excruciating.

T-Box: A Target Wine Box. They come in different flavors, colors, and sizes. Lydia is particularly fond of the littlest ones, which are also called: "mommy juice boxes", because they look exactly like the kind of juice boxes you give your kids except that these are filled with awesomeness.

Speaking of ... I'm off to the T-Box.

Ta-ta!

'Special' dinner

We are facing our first food strike with the Girl and it isn't a ton of fun. I think there are a lot of issues at play - more (MORE) teeth, maybe a GI bug?, being 20 months old - so it's just a perfect storm.

On a happier note, I will pass along a food tradition that we will definitely be implementing in our house some day.

My mom is a great cook and we had homemade, delicious family dinners most nights of the week all during our childhood. (And, really, our teenhood and adulthood, too). I will say, though, that I often looked forward to the 'special dinner' that we had a few Sunday nights each month.

'Special dinner' at our house consisted of microwave popcorn, veggies and dip, cut-up fruit, cheese and crackers ... you get the idea. We prepped our plates and often sat in my parents' room and watched National Geographic or 60 Minutes or something of the sort. I thought it was great! And, now, as the primary cook at our house, I see the beauty in the simplicity!

I have a friend who makes nachos every now and then and camps out with her husband and daughter in front of the TV. It's a special treat and simple for the cook - what's not to love?

How about a picnic on a blanket on your living room floor?

Girly is a little ways away from this - can't quite trust her to stay seated and not throw food - but I sure do look forward to it.

What fun food traditions did you have growing up?

S.O.S

Seriously. In. Need. Of. Help.

Do any of you have kids who get car sick?

There will be more to come on our First Car Trip Ever, but let me give you a preview and say that Girly apparently gets car sick. Like mother, like daughter. Damn - I hate genetics.

We have been very lucky in the sickness department ... our girl has had her fair share of snotty noses, but we have managed to avoid the GI nastiness. She did have a weird vomiting illness about a month ago - threw up once each day for about 4 days out of 7 with no rhyme or reason - but that was the end of it.

On our way out of town last week, we picked her up at school, popped her in the car, and she promptly threw up all over the place about 15 minutes later. This didn't seem to be car sickness - we have driven farther lots of time without incident - but the dry heaving in Des Moines while watching the DVD player sure cleared things up.

Fast forward to today. I picked her up at daycare and took our normal 10 minute route home. At minute 9 we had vomit all over the backseat. Seriously???

She is still rear-facing in her car seat and I would like to leave her that way, if possible, since she has a ways to go before she meets the size restrictions. I agree that being rear-facing might make the motion sickness worse, but why would it start all of a sudden? She has been this way for 19 months.

She had a rash today when I got her out of the car to clean her up, so maybe she does have a bug, but she was sure acting fine.

I guess my question is this ... how do you know if it is car sickness or a bug? And, what do you do about it? The thought of cleaning puke out of a car seat several times a week is just maddening.

Signed,

Icked Out in the Midwest

Bag it

How are you all managing your baby bag these days?

I never really got into the 'formal diaper bag' idea ... it didn't fit our lifestyle very well. We are kind of homebodies on our home days, or our girl already has everything she needs at daycare.

My approach thus far has been to have a 'baby station' in our living room, located in a large Lands End canvas bag. (I think I've previously mentioned my love affair with these things). We have diapers, wipes, a few spare outfits, burp cloths, plastic bags - you know, all that miscellaneous crap.
It also includes our Skip Hop Pronto changer, which I just LOVE and couldn't live without.

When we are headed out of the house, I just grab our medium Lands End bag (see - told you - obsessed) and transfer whatever we need - pronto changer, spare outfit, add a sippy cup or snacks and go. This bag also serves as the daycare bag, hence the frequent packing and unpacking.

This has worked pretty well for us, but now that Girly is older and more mobile, I am finding the need for a change. I have several friends who use backpacks for their baby/diapering needs, and I've finally stolen their idea.

I just ordered the Lands End diaper bag backpack upon the recommendation of a friend.
Truly, I don't have stock in this company, but I probably should. I just love to monogram things, you know.

I need to be more hands-free these days ... chasing Girly at the zoo, or farm, or just down the driveway, doesn't work with an open-topped bag in one of my hands. Or, I hang the tote bag on the stroller, chase her, and then watch the stroller fall over.

If a second child joins our family someday, I suppose this plan will need a revision - seems you need a lot more stuff for 2 kids, and not just twice the stuff - more like 10 times the stuff.

Also, are any of you organized enough to have a 'car kit' of sorts? Kind of an emergency stash for the things you forgot or didn't think you would need? I haven't been able to get my act together enough in 19 months to accomplish that, but maybe you have some tips ...

Cleaning house

Here is my advice about cleaning toys:

Stop cleaning your toys.

The End.

I'm not really kidding. I cleaned Girly's toys a few times when she was just starting to really move around and mouth things, and it was a whole production with bleach water and air drying and the like. Then, I never really did it again.

If we have lots of kids over I might run a few things under hot water, or if she has been sick I might clean a few things, but in general - NOPE. She is in daycare for heaven's sake - there is no germ I can banish from my house. (We also haven't **crossing fingers** had the dreaded GI bug yet. That would require some sanitizing).

Our teethers are just frozen washcloths, so they all go in the wash anyway.

Save yourself some time and effort. Spend your free time doing something fun, like, oh I don't know, laundry?

In case you are an overachiever, here are some toy-cleaning tips from our friends at SafeMama.

Have baby, will travel: the car edition

I have been delinquent in describing our first car trip with Girly and I have forgotten a lot of the details (or, more likely, blocked them from memory). The destination was wonderful, but the coming and going? Not so much.

Here are just a few little tips -

Motion sickness:
We didn't know our girl got sick in the car. Looking back, I think she had just caught the bug that made her sick, sick, sick (because she threw up 10 minutes into the trip - that isn't motion sickness), but she also clearly had some degree of motion sickness, as evidenced by the dry heaving 4 hours into our trip. I suggest you call your pediatrician before you leave and ask if there is any medication you can give to your child and get the dose, just in case. Better to have it on hand than to have to go searching for it in a strange town.

Also, pack plenty of extra wipes and plastic bags in the car - there is all sorts of dirty-ness on road trips, puke or otherwise. We finally learned (after lots of puking) that a bib with a big pouch at the bottom can help contain the mess and make your kid and the car seat easier to clean.

If you are traveling with a special blanket or animal (lovingly named dee-dee in our house), be careful with its use. We have two dee-dees, fortunately, but both were thrown up on in the first 10 minutes, unfortunately. I wish, wish, wish I had kept one on reserve - just in case. ("Just In Case" became the theme of our trip.)

Finally, I was so super excited to use the portable DVD player to help pass the time - quietly. Turns out, a sick kid in a rear-facing car seat who watches movies continues to get sick. Bring plenty of reinforcements to fill the time.

Which is a nice transition to ... Toys!
I made a special solo trip to Target to find all manner of fun things to fill our time. Turns out that it is surprisingly hard to find age-appropriate toys that are quiet and good for the car. Whatever happened to the plain ol' Magnadoodle? I got the Target version, which has a laughable name, but was compact and good for travel. Otherwise, it was just some books from the $1 section and some colors. We bought a little keyboard for the trip home because Girly LOVES banging on the keys. We would have taken out the batteries, if it wasn't for the dreaded tiny screwdriver, but it did take her almost an hour to figure out how to turn it on!

Entertainment for parents?
I checked out some books on CD from the library for when Girly was sleeping (which, shocker, wasn't all that often). I ended up getting a series of short stories by David Sedaris, which were really funny and perfect because we could just listen to it in short bursts if necessary.

Snacks!
I bought a lot of special treats for the trip, as my plan was to feed Girly from the time we left until the time we arrived, just to keep her happy. "Minnesota crackers" we called them. Turns out a sick kid wants nothing to do with cheese bunnies, so more for me, thankyouverymuch.

In general, I hope you travel to a place where there are friends / grandparents / aunts, uncles, cousins / random strangers (kidding, kidding) who can take care of your kid for a little bit and give you a breather!

Also, last tip: bring a spare set of car keys that you DON'T keep in the car. No need getting trapped anywhere. I did have the forethought to renew our AAA membership the day we left, though it didn't help when the keys were locked in the trunk in Minnesota. Apparently, we don't have coverage for stupidity.

Dinner FAIL

My brain is fried from the mental energy I expended last weekend on our first road trip with Girly. Details to come when I am coherent again.

In the meantime, let me regale you with another tale of poor memory and parenthood failure. Remember when I sought your advice about eating out with your kids? Well, it must have all gone in one ear and out the other, because we tried again and it wasn't pretty.

One evening a couple of weeks ago we were having the 'dinner showdown' in our kitchen. You know how it goes ... everyone gets home from work / school and you stand around debating what you are going to eat. It was early on a Friday night and sushi sounded like a good idea. I decided our option was to walk 2 blocks to our local sushi place with Girly at 5:30pm, or wait until she went to bed and get carry-out sushi.

Oh, why not? Let's take her! She'll love sushi!
Just because she dresses like it doesn't mean she'll eat it.

It was a disaster. I probably have higher standards than most - it wasn't like we were kicked out - but it was un-relaxing, un-fun, and un-appetizing.

And, the worst part is that it was mostly my fault.

I overestimated the chance that Girly would eat sushi. California rolls? No go. I brought a banana as a back-up that lasted about 4 seconds. I had only one toy that occupied her attention for maybe 4 more seconds. I forgot that instead of just being restless, she now deploys a high-pitched scream when annoyed.

Once again, I set her up to fail because I didn't prepare well enough. We just aren't at the stage where we can spontaneously run out of the house to dinner and I need to be OK with that. I am OK with that, but I just need to remember next time.

The chopsticks were a help when Girly wasn't sticking them in her ears, and the oranges at the end of our meal bought us just enough time to pay the bill and get out of there. We'll ask for those first if we ever try it again.

While we're on the subject ...

Since we've already been talking food and feeding, just another glimpse at how things are working for us these days.

I love making meals in the summer. (Wait. Let me re-phrase. I find making 6 meals a day to be very tedious, but it is less tedious in the summer.) Fresh fruits are so varied and plentiful that there is always something healthy and easy to prepare waiting in the refrigerator. Our girl also usually likes pasta, and loves quesadillas (corn tortilla with refried beans and a little cheese), and an occasional half PB&J on wheat bread.

Veggies and protein, though, are more of a challenge for me. We are past the baby food stage and fully into finger and fork/spoon foods. Girly isn't quite up to the task of raw veggies, though, unless it is something soft like a cucumber (though she usually refuses those, along with tomatoes because she doesn't like the skin). I've mentioned before about blanching and freezing veggies, and this works very well for broccoli and cauliflower for us. Microwaved with a little cheese and she eats it all up.

I've also found that I am far more successful in providing balanced meals if I can pull something out of the freezer that is already prepped. If I devote an afternoon or an evening or two to cooking, then I can usually have meals for at least a month. I still find that NurtureBaby has some of the best recipes. I've made them over and over and have had great success, both in cooking and Girly's eating. The one-pot wonders are very toddler-friendly and freeze great. The Mexican Fiesta Stew is a staple around here, and I've also made the Creamy Chicken Florentine and the Pork Chops and Applesauce a few times. I've tried almost all of the recipes and they all are quite good! I just don't mash or puree anything anymore and simply freeze portions in muffin tins.

What are your tips for getting the veg and protein into your toddler?

Water Safety

I've mentioned before that one of 'my things' is a fear around water. I am a confidant swimmer, but I had one bad experience at summer camp being caught in a large group of girls in the river and I couldn't get out. Ever since, I get anxious in bodies of water where I can't see the bottom, and even in pools if there are a lot of people.

Add children to the mix? Might as well send the Xanax my way ...

This is a little ways off for us, as Girly pretty much stages a protest with full-on picket signs if I even attempt to get her near the pool, but it will be here before I know it.

I have seen pretty impressive videos of swim lessons with little kids who are taught to float on their backs as instinct ... note to self to seek those out next Summer.

I also came across this scary account of drowning today as I trolled the Internets. Yep, Debbie Downer presents: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning. I'm not sure who these gCaptain folks are, but it seems like sound advice, or at least food for thought.

The new captain jumped from the cockpit, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the owners who were swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”

How did this captain know, from fifty feet away, what the father couldn’t recognize from just ten? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.

The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC). Drowning does not look like drowning – Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene Magazine, described the instinctive drowning response like this:

1. Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. Th e respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.
2. Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

(Source: On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006)

This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble – they are experience aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long – but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in there own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are n the water:

• Head low in the water, mouth at water level
• Head tilted back with mouth open
• Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
• Eyes closed
• Hair over forehead or eyes
• Not using legs – Vertical
• Hyperventilating or gasping
• Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
• Trying to roll over on the back
• Ladder climb, rarely out of the water.

So if a crew member falls overboard and every looks O.K. – don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them: “Are you alright?” If they can answer at all – they probably are. If they return a blank stare – you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents: children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

Let them decide

I feel really lucky that Girly is a good eater. I know that isn't the case for every child and it has made mealtime a relatively simple and peaceful process at our house. Especially now that she seems to be eating ALL the time (3 meals and 3 snacks!), I appreciate not having a battle.

Girly was really an exceptional eater as a baby - ate virtually any fruit or vegetable or grain I put in front of her. She is expressing her opinion much more now that she is a toddler, which is totally expected and age-appropriate. With that, though, needs to come some vigilance on my part to make sure mealtime remains happy.

Right after we started solids, my Parents as Teachers educator suggested a good resource, which I previously mentioned here. Ellyn Satter proposes the benefits of a division of responsibility when it comes to feeding: The parent is responsible for what, when, and where and the child is responsible for whether and how much. I was recently telling a friend about this website and it was a timely reminder for us, as well.

I can usually anticipate what Girly will eat for her meals and, while she LOVES fruit, she will generally eat some veggies as well. If she turns up her nose at something on her plate, I need to remember not to get her something else just to make her happy. If I prepared a reasonable meal and she doesn't want to eat it, that is OK, but she doesn't get something else. Back to that old, start as you mean to go. In the future, I refuse to be the parent that makes entirely different meals for the children than the adults. I will take a child's preference into account while planning a meal, but I do not want to have a household where everyone eats something different for dinner.

If you are facing some battles at your house, or if you want to read up a little more on the subject, here is another good blog that my friend sourced out: Family Feeding Dynamics.

Another habit (bad habit?) that I've encouraged is offering Girly a bite of whatever I am eating. I will give her a bite of anything she asks for because I don't want her to think there are certain foods that are off limits. I've been surprised at things she likes (tuna salad, lemons, pickles) and things she doesn't like (pasta or some sweets). The begging isn't so appealing, but when she asks so nicely ("moe kacka peas mommy"), how can I resist?

Uninspired

We are in a rut.

Summertime should be a really great time to do tons of activities with your kids, but I am struggling to fill our days off. It has been SO STINKING HOT here that being outside isn't enjoyable. We haven't even been to the pool yet this summer because I just can't figure out a way to get there without messing up nap time or bed time or burning ourselves to a crisp.

I also am not feeling creative enough to fill our days (indoors) with crafts and imaginative things. I read a lot of blogs in the evenings after Girly goes to bed and I inevitably find some very creative mom who creates some wonderful play thing for her child. Then I feel guilty and boring. Sigh.

At almost 19 months, I think we are on the cusp of Girly really being able to participate and pay attention to some crafty projects. We try to color, but she chew-chew-chews on all the crayons, then runs straight for the white furniture the first chance she gets. Oh no you don't. I'm wondering if a more tactile project might keep her attention for 74 more seconds?

I like The Artful Parent blog and I just found a post on the Top 10 Art Materials for Toddlers.

Make and Takes has a lot of crafts, including a section for Kids Crafts.

Made by Joel is pretty great - a stay-at-home dad who creates amazing crafts for his kids. A lot of it is beyond the average person, but might inspire something similar.

What are you doing to fill these long summer days? Wanna come do it at my house?

p.s. I usually draft my blog posts a few days in advance. The day I wrote this, I was inspired to try painted pasta necklaces with Girly. We walked to the store to buy our supplies. We outfitted ourselves in smocks and prepped the supplies. We had a massive full-on tantrum that involved paint and dried noodles all over the place. We stomped our feet in frustration. Here's my point ... it's nice to have positive expectations for your child, but don't set them up to fail. Girly clearly wasn't ready for our crafty day and it just made me mad. It wasn't nice for either of us.

Trickery

I'm not sure how I feel about 'tricking' your children into eating healthy food, a la Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious. I suppose there is a time and place for it, especially if you can get them to agree to also eat the obvious vegetables on their plate.

I fully embrace the idea, though, of bulking up the 'healthy-ness' of foods that kids already love - like adding extra veggies to pasta sauce, or using ground turkey or chicken instead of beef - that kind of thing.

I've started making mac n' cheese lately as a good way of cleaning out the fridge. The Girl likes most noodles, and still gobbles it up if I add chopped up broccoli and cauliflower and use whole wheat noodles. See? Healthy(er).

I've just discovered a fun new food blog called Dinner: A Love Story. The author used to write food columns for Cookie magazine and Real Simple, and now she writes this blog about cooking for her family with young children. She had a great post this week about making boxed mac n' cheese a little healthier for her kids - so clever! She uses the boxed cheese sauce mix, but instead puts it over quinoa or quinoa noodles. Never would have occurred to me ...

I was reading something else this week (can't remember where - memory loss is a terrible thing) about the nostalgia you still have as adults for those special childhood foods ... the things you got for special occasions, or birthdays, or babysitter nights. For us, I clearly remember the babysitter food as mac n' cheese from a blue box or McDonald's. Even though I've had a thousand better, healthier, meals since then, I still have a soft spot in my heart for those foods.

I guess the challenge is finding those special foods that your kids love now, and continue to have fond memories of for years to come, while still setting them up for a lifetime of healthy(er) eating. Will the Girl have fond memories of Quack & Cheese? I'm not sure, but I'll give it a shot.

Silver lining

We recently had our 18-month visit with our parent educator from Parents as Teachers. We talked a lot about music as a good tool for toddlers to teach listening skills. (Lord knows, we could stand to improve on those over here).

Coincidentally, we received a music kit as a gag baby gift from the Huz's co-workers. They thought it was hilarious that our future baby would drive us crazy. Fast forward and I just got it off the shelf a few weeks ago. It does kind of drive us crazy, but Girly really loves it. I added a drum made from an old oatmeal container with seeds inside. The band is in session.

The best nugget I learned, though, was about Girly's tendency for early rising. Our parent educator used to teach elementary school and she has three school-age children. She went back to work full-time after her first child was born and said that her oldest child still gets up early, gets dressed quickly and independently, and is always ready on time to leave for school. Our educator stayed home full-time after her 2nd and 3rd children, and she let them sleep in and their morning routine was much more leisurely. Now, it's a daily struggle to get them up and out of the house.

She was encouraging and said that the things you find hardest to deal with as babies and toddlers are often the things you are most thankful for as your kids get older. (i.e. sleeping, eating, napping, sleeping and - oh yeah - SLEEPING).

So, having an early riser won't solve all our future problems, but I am a little bit more accepting of the idea now.

(A little).

Yikes! of the day

Did you know that cottage cheese has a crazy amount of sodium?

I am trying to pay more attention to the hidden sodium in our food, especially for Girly. She eats mostly whole foods, but does love cheese. I've been giving her whole milk cottage cheese, and even sought out the organic kind, and just today realized there are 520mg of sodium in 1/2 cup!! That's as much (or more) than she needs in a whole day!

I almost fainted, but then my blood pressure was so high from all the sodium we've been eating that I was just fine.

I'm sure brands vary in the amount, but this was surprising to me. Maybe you have been paying closer attention.

Back to the drawing board ...