When I looked at the forecast for New Year’s weekend and saw temperatures in the 60s, I knew it was time for Gabriel’s inaugural bicycle [trailer] ride. My parents gave us the baby supporter accessory for Christmas, so we were ready for action.
Friday morning, after his first nap, we strapped The Dude into the trailer and rode our bikes to Tower Grove Park.
Ready to roll
I’d debated using the trip to run an errand but ultimately decided to keep it all pleasure, so we biked the outer loop road in the park, and then headed back home. Apparently The Dude was pretty comfortable — he looked around for a bit at first, and, shortly after we entered the park, he fell asleep for the rest of the ride.
My biking boys
Suffice it to say that after a year of research and planning on how we would include a baby in our preferred form of transportation, actually taking a bike ride with him was wonderful! That, combined with the fresh air, sunshine, and physical activity really lifted my spirits 🙂
Parting shot
I plan to eventually post the entire birth story here (or at least an abridged version, as it was quite the saga), but for now, you’ll have to accept bits and pieces, in no particular order. The end is a decent place to start.
Under the knife
Two weeks ago today I underwent major surgery . . . for a tummy tuck and a boob job. Okay, not exactly, but it kind of looks like it. Here’s what really happened . . . .
Bicycle dreams
I continued processing the idea, and a few moments later, reality cut through the sleep-deprivation and Percocet-induced haze, and I thought to myself, “Self, you just had major abdominal surgery three days ago, I don’t really think you’ll be riding your bicycle anytime soon.”
A slow return to active transportation
Thursday, at six-and-a-half weeks post-op, I rode my bike for the first time since the surgery. Those weeks of limited mobility gave me time to think about the limits of active transportation.
Psst, psst: The EC update
Reading about Elimination Communication (EC) midway through pregnancy activated my green radar — baby peeing and pooping in the toilet (or in a little potty or other receptacle) equals less dirty diapers to wash. Less washing means less water and energy used — what wasn’t to love. I read Diaper Free Baby by Christine Gross-Loh, and it all seemed pretty straight forward. And then I had a baby . . . .
When baby’s away, Mama plays
My to-do list included picking up a fifty pound bag of whole wheat pastry flour from Local Harvest — not exactly something I could toss in the milk crate on the back of my bike. I was resigned to driving the car for the 1-mile trip when I remembered . . . the new bike trailer!
Blue green mama
Yet, when my blues set in 2-3 weeks postpartum, my initial reaction was denial . . . . Gabriel’s smiles finally snapped me out of my denial. He started smiling around nine weeks, this adorable little grin, yet I found myself so emotionally drained that I often couldn’t return those smiles, and that made me feel even worse.
Two’s company
My rationale going in was, sure, we’re adding an additional person, but a very small person, and we’re committed to minimizing stuff for that person, so it will be no big deal, right? Not exactly.
Pregnancy, international travel, major surgery, and a new baby, all superimposed on the usual topics of biking, food, and gardening. Here’s a look back at 2011.
Already increasing my carbon footprint I mean that in a very loving and motherly way, of course The big changes won’t come for another six months or so . . . .
Little did I know exactly how big those changes would be.
Seed starting: Make a functional, affordable heat box I’ve used this one with great success and reliability for four sets of plants now. We set our thermostat pretty low in the winter, so the heat box helps keep the seeds cozy.
Mama-to-be’s reading list Your Best Birth, by Rikki Lake and Abby Epstein, was the first book I read post finding out that I was pregnant, and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. Even if you are not pregnant, have no plans to become pregnant, and can’t see any way this subject applies to you, I encourage you to read it . . .
Turns out, no amount of reading can prepare you for life with a baby.
Good sauerkraut — make your own
Yesterday, I wrote about my hunt for good sauerkraut and how we ultimately decided to make our own. Fortunately, making sauerkraut is quite simple.
Brine your beans
While I was happy enough with my bean-cooking method (quick soak or an overnight soak, drain and rinse, boil for about an hour), we recently discovered a new method that yields delicious, lightly salted cooked beans, reminiscent of the canned variety in a good way.
Biking with babies
The idea that a young infant could not be safely transported by bicycle, when we give no thought to putting them in cars, seemed quite ludicrous to me, but I couldn’t find much information on safe options.
There’s no place like home
All of the sudden, I look significantly more pregnant. So what changed? Turns out I’m having twins — my regular baby, plus an Italian food baby.
In London, I could count on relatively easy restroom access when out-and-about by ducking into a Starbucks or McDonalds. I became accustomed to walking in, quickly scoping out the place and the most likely restroom location, and making my way there, and back out, without making it too obvious that I wasn’t a paying customer. Italy was trickier on the restroom front.
Eating for two — A vegetarian pregnancy Not having to scramble to make dietary changes when I found out I was pregnant was one nice aspect of having a well-established healthy diet, though I was a little worried for the few weeks where pasta and rice noodles made up the bulk of my diet.
Cycling Savvy Instructor!
Despite the heat and my “delicate condition” , I made it through the Cycling Savvy Instructor training this past weekend! In fact, I didn’t just make it, I had a great time.
Biking with baby — Part II
Comments such as, “If you and your husband want to go for a bike ride, leave your baby with a sitter,” reveal general ignorance about using a bicycle for transportation. What if we want to go to an event in the park WITH the baby? What if I need to pick something up at the grocery store? Am I confined to only using my car for these short, easily bikeable trips for the first 12 months unless I leave baby behind?
Despite the craziness of having a baby in the middle of the summer, we managed to have a great year garden-wise. Understandably, my involvement in the actual gardening, and in putting up the food, was even more limited than usual. I just sat on my butt all day cared for a very demanding baby and enjoyed eating the garden’s bounty. We canned some green beans, and my mother-in-law canned tons of tomatoes and froze lots of other veggies for us.
Last week, we made one of our favorite soups, Country Vegetable Soup with Pasta, almost entirely with garden goods, including fresh tomatoes in mid-December (picked green before the frost in early November, and ripened slowly inside since then).
Homegrown goods in our soup included leeks, tomatoes (fresh, not canned), onion, celery, sweet potatoes (subbed for carrots in the recipe, because that’s what we had), green beans (from frozen), and basil (also frozen) for the pesto. We didn’t have any zucchini, so we just subbed more of the other veggies. Hearty and delicious, and so fun to have grown almost all of the ingredients!
In the end, the only non-garden item in the soup, other than the pasta, was the garlic. We had a nice garlic harvest, but at the rate we go through garlic, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to grow enough (though Matthew’s working on it 🙂 ).
Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, Satsuma . . .
Okay, “Satsuma” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as “Clementine,” but we recently received our yearly infusion of satsumas, courtesy of my mother-in-law and her annual Florida panhandle trip.
While not a local food, they almost feel local, since she buys them from a roadside stand somewhere along her normal route, and we enjoy these tasty little gems once a year, during their short season.
It reminds me of the traditional orange in the Christmas stocking, from times when citrus was a real seasonal treat, not shipped from all parts of the world and available constantly (though of varied quality) in grocery stores year-round.
The big changes won’t come for another six months or so . . . .
, I made it through the Cycling Savvy Instructor training this past weekend! In fact, I didn’t just make it, I had a great time.
Her Green Life 