Author Archives: Melissa | Growing Green Nutrition

Baby steps

A week ago today, Gabriel took his first wobbly step.  Since then, he’s continued to gain strength and confidence, working up to six steps at a time.

After more or less shelving the whole pottying thing for a few months there, I couldn’t help but give it another whirl when I realized I would be home with him all day, every day.  No more blaming daycare as the excuse for Elimination Communication (EC) not working, though I feared the time away from EC attempts might have ruined any potential progress we’d made early on.

At Matthew’s suggestion, I agreed to a small reward system for peeing in the potty.  I balked at the idea because it smacks of bribery and traditional potty training to me, and thus seems anti-EC, but sometimes you have to compromise.

Although some days are all puddles, Saturday was a three raisin day, which gives me hope.*  Ever the optimist, I guess, we biked to the store and bought some toddler underwear (after my attempt to contact a Craigslist seller with some gently used ones went nowhere).  If nothing else, he looks adorable in them.**

Gabriel isn’t the only one taking steps though.  I realized at some point last week that I’m getting into a rhythm with the SAHM thing — really enjoying my time with my little  Pookie (now also known as Snuggle Puppy) — and maybe I can do it after all.  At this point I’m still job hunting, but it may be with more mixed feelings than I would have expected if/when I get a job offer.

*We’re using raisins as the “reward.”  One raisin every time he pees in the potty.  I know, I know, using food as a reward is kind of a no-no, but at least it’s not M&M’s, right?

**In the interest of full disclosure, he made a huge puddle on the floor two minutes after I took the above photo.  Also, why must everything for boys have either motor vehicles or super heroes?  I was rather tempted to buy him some of the nice, flowery “girls” underwear.

Food backlog

Well, it’s actually more of a food photo backlog.  I worked on some of the actual food backlog at lunch today.

Mealtimes (not to mention actually cooking) with a 13-month-old are interesting enough without pulling out a camera to photograph the food, so I feel like when I do manage to catch a shot of what’s on my plate, I should share it here, especially when it’s summertime and the eating is good.  Not every meal warrants a post of it’s own, so here’s a little compilation, with a cute treat at the end.

Some of our first good edamame crop in a three bean salad along with chick peas and green beans, with panzanella (i.e., bread salad) in the background.

Sunday brunch (clockwise from top left): sauteed squash and pepper medley, tomato salad, omelet topped with sauteed veg, pan-fried potatoes.

Split pea burger with our “magic sauce” on English muffin with tomato slices.

Big ‘ol salad with lots of fresh garden goodness, topped with black sesame seeds and a sesame-peanut dressing.

And, finally, the treat . . .

Little Pookie discovered fresh corn-on-the cob.  You could say that he enjoyed it.  If he could talk, he would probably ask for some more right now.

Shoulda biked . . . and then we did

A couple weeks ago, with Gabriel at his Baba’s for an overnight, we headed to the Botanical Garden for an impromptu date night.

We debated biking, but it was hot, and our new place is significantly farther from the gardens.  Not unbikeable by any means, but enough to make the car somewhat attractive, especially when time is at a premium.

We failed to factor the crowd and parking into our transportation decision.  We had to park in one of the overflow lots and walk.  I didn’t mind the walk, but it did add to the trip time, probably making the bike a more competitive option, as we would have had premium, up-front parking.

We enjoyed the show by night and looked forward to bringing Gabriel back to see the brightly colored art work by day.  With the show winding down (it ends this weekend), and some cooler weather, we managed a quick visit this week, biking not optional.

Over the weekend, we worked up to some fairly long rides, and I’m still loving the front seat.

For our trip to the Botanical Garden, I used bungee cords to secure the umbrella stroller to the milk crate on the back of my bike.  Wheels for getting to the garden and wheels for getting around in the garden — it worked quite well.

Food, swapped

I couldn’t help but be excited last week when Nupur over at One Hot Stove responded to my “too many veggies” post with an offer to trade her homemade Indian food for our produce.  Um, yes!

We met up on Monday and swapped food, but even better, Gabriel and I had a nice visit with Nupur and her little Lila.

That evening, Matthew and I thoroughly enjoyed the idlis, lentil sambar, and beet salad.  Given his usual adventurous tastes, I was surprised that Gabriel was not into the sambar (and he was suspicious of the idlis because the initial bites I offered him were dipped in the sambar), but he did enjoy the flavorful beets, and his lack of interest in the sambar meant more for us.

The swap also prompted me to pull out my South Indian cookbook and browse for new recipe ideas.  I made a Tomato Vegetable Rasam last night, which I served with more of the idlis.  Nupur also suggested this use for leftover idlis, which I plan to try tomorrow.

Here’s to good food and new friends!

Windows open wide

One of the not-so-green compromises we’ve made this summer involves air conditioning use and thermostat setting.  While we’ve always used some A/C in summers past, it’s been pretty moderate, and, if the overnight lows seemed somewhat reasonable, we would try to open up and use fans at night, even if it meant slightly warmer than ideal temperatures and not-so-great sleep.

How has a baby changed the A/C use picture?  1) Gabriel (like most babies, I think) likes to sleep cuddled up in a blanket.  We have a very light gauzy blanket so he can have that secure, cozy feeling without adding too much warmth, but it is still a consideration when we’re setting the thermostat.  2) Windows open at night mean outside noise coming in at night and increased chance of night wakings that we have to deal with.  Enough said.  3) Tired parents need a good night’s sleep, not the restless, tossing and turning nights from a slightly-too-warm room.

Anyway, we’ve finally had a real break from the intense heat that’s been hanging around since, oh, forever.  The cooler temps provided the first opportunity to open the windows in our new place.  I’m typing this with a nice cool breeze blowing through the window, and it’s a fabulous feeling.

We enjoyed two nights where it cooled off early enough to have windows open overnight.  To address the outside noise dilemma, we opened all of the windows EXCEPT those in Gabriel’s room and ran the fan on the HVAC system to circulate the air into his room.

Another solution, though we don’t have it set up yet, is a window A/C unit in Gabriel’s room.  That would allow us to keep just his room slightly cooler (and quieter).  We have the window unit, courtesy of my mother-in-law, but we haven’t figured out a way to seal up the space between the unit and the window frame that we’re happy with, so that option remains untested.

Realistically, I know there will be more A/C days than not before summer finally releases its grip on Saint Louis, but for now, I’m thoroughly enjoying our reprieve.