Mother Goose week

The moon is round,

As round can be

Two eyes, a nose, and a mouth

Like me!

This week we have 3 Mother Goose classes. 3! That's a lot, but we love it.

For those of you who don't know, I became a trained facilitator of the Parent-Child Mother Goose Program in December. Here's what the website says about the program:

"The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program®is a group experience for parents and their babies and young children which focuses on the pleasure and power of using rhymes, songs, and stories together. Parents gain skills and confidence which can enable them to create positive family patterns during their children's crucial early years, and give their children healthy early experiences with language and communication."

Asher and I participated in our first PCMG in September, and rejoined again in January. In January, I also became a volunteer with the organization here that offers the program and have been co-teaching since then. Asher and I both love the program a lot, and it's so cool to see when he recognizes one of the songs or rhymes (which he does most of them).

So since this week we are finishing up both of the classes we are currently involved in, we also decided to do a PCMG group here at our home with some of our friends. We're about to start teaching 8 weeks on our own! I am very excited, and the class is also at a time when Greg will be able to participate with Asher, which is a bonus. PCMG has been so great for our family, and often when Asher is fussy or crying, a familiar song or rhyme is just what settles him down.

Yay Mother Goose!

I spy with my little eye...

...2 little white teeth. Can you see them?

Vegetable & Corn Chowder

After our bout with the flu last week, a nice bowl of soup was just what I needed. This recipe is my favorite vegetarian chowder. I just love it!

Vegetable & Corn Chowder

1 TBSP vegetable oil

1 red onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 large potato, diced

2 TBSP plain all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups milk

1 1/4 cups vegetable stock

2 heads of broccoli, cut in florets

3 cups canned sweetcorn in brine, drained

3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated

salt and pepper

1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro to garnish (yuck, I never put this in)

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan and saute the onion, bell pepper, garlic and potato for 2-3 minutes, stirring.

2. Stir in the flour and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the milk and stock.

3. Add the broccoli and sweetcorn. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

4. Stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese until it melts.

5. Garnish with remaining cheese and cilantro and serve.

Round Two

Asher's first hair cut was less than 2 months ago and already he has needed another one. Realizing the cost of keeping up with a baby who needs his hair cut every 6 weeks, I decided I'd better figure this one out on my own. So this weekend, I cut Asher's hair. I know, it had the potential to go really, really bad, but it didn't!!! I mean, I'm sure he doesn't have the most stylin' hair cut in the world, but he can see again, he doesn't have a mullet and I didn't cut his ear off. Gold star for me!

Before...

During...

After...

I definitely tried...

... to get a picture of Asher's first little tooth on the bottom. No such luck. You pretty much can only see the tip of it if you stick your head in his mouth, and there was no way this boy was letting me get a camera close enough for that. I did manage to get some cute, and funny shots though. Take a look at my gangsta boy.

No more pictures, paparazzi!

PS - Asher is now 10-months old. How did THAT happen?!?!

bad combo

My poor, poor baby. Asher has some sort of flu bug that's been going around AND he's teething. The past 24 hours have been pretty trying in our home.

Asher was a little less energetic and didn't quite have his usual appetite this weekend. I noticed, however, that his first tooth was just starting to poke it's way through on the bottom, so I figured this was the culprit. Then Sunday night at supper time, he majorly vomited. Thankfully he was in his highchair, so the debris was somewhat contained, but it was still pretty gross. He didn't seem particularly cranky or anything, and when I checked his fever, it was fine. He went to bed as normal Sunday night.

At 3:30 AM this morning my poor guy woke up rather upset and when I rushed in to check on him, he was burning up. He had a temperature of 102 degrees Fahrenheit. We were able eventually get it down after a couple of hours, but in between there was a lot of screaming and crying and NO SLEEP WHATSOEVER.

Today (Monday) we gave him Tylenol all day, but his fever still pokes its head when the Tylenol is wearing off. He doesn't seem particularly fussy, but his appetite is still not back, nor is he drinking very much. My momma-senses are on the look out for dehydration, but he's still nursing fine and does have wet diapers, just not quite as much as usual.

So with the vomiting, I'm thinking this is more than just teething, he must also have something. Lots of folks we know have been sick, so he could have picked it up from someone. If this were just teething, man, we'd be in trouble since this is just his first one! I hope to snap a picture of that little pearly white for you soon. It's just barely through the gums right now, but it's definitely there.

Parenting life lesson #37

Mr. Asher is almost 10 months old and still not crawling. Not even close, from what I see. I think I get asked this question probably once every couple of days, by someone or another. And I guess that's just the mom syndrome, we all compare whose baby is doing what, mostly in hopes of affirming that our baby is doing okay or to help us prepare for that next big milestone.

If I'm being honest here, I'm actually struggling with the fact that he isn't crawling yet. The average age most babies begin to crawl: 8 months old. Asher isn't even interested in getting up on all fours, and he is not able to get from laying down to sitting position by himself yet. I think the "Early Interventionist" in me, the lady who worked with at-risk and developmentally delayed young children, is trained to be a bit more sensitive to noticing possible red flags than most people would be. And so, I began my work at trying to help Asher along.

The past few weeks I've been researching and reading whatever I can get my hands on that has to do with helping babies learn to crawl. We're trying different programs and different exercises. We've always done a ton of tummy and floor time, but we're doing even more now. I've even gotten into some Occupational and Physical Therapy info and am trying some of those tricks. I've encouraged Asher with a toy just out of his reach (100 times a day), I've modeled for him (which usually makes him just laugh), we've used tubes and blankets and my hands to help him learn how to use his muscles to stay on all fours. Asher is just not interested. At all.

And then one day last week, in the midst of one of our little learn-to-crawl sessions, Asher just got so frustrated with what we were doing. He always fusses a little when I'm trying to get him to do something he doesn't want to, and to a certain extent I think he just has to learn that this will happen in life. But it was getting to be more than just a little frustration. I could tell he was really upset and fed up with me pushing him as much as I have been. And I thought to myself, "What are you trying to prove, Mandi? So what if you're an "Early Interventionist" and your almost 10-month old isn't crawling?" I also know that Asher's emotional well-being is just as important as how he's doing physically, and I need to respect and nurture that equally as much. And I wasn't doing that.

So I'm backing off a bit, and letting Asher learn at his own pace. Of course I'm providing lots of opportunity for crawling to happen, but I'm not challenging him to the point of him losing interest. And I'm also reminding myself that just because he isn't crawling, doesn't mean there's a problem. Aside from some of the gross motor skills, he is doing all the rest of the developmental milestone's we'd look for in a baby his age, and even a couple more advanced skills (most of these have to do with problem-solving abilities or fine motor skills). And he does continue to grow with his gross motor skills, just maybe not as fast as I'd like to see happen. I guess in the end I'm reminded that my baby will grow into and be who he was meant to be in his own time. It's my job as his mama to be there to support and encourage him in a way that's helpful.

I'm sure in a few months from now when he is finally crawling, I'll look back at these days and say "What was I in such a hurry for?"