Eggs at the Coffee Table

I was having rough morning. Who am I kidding... I had been having a rough couple of weeks. Nugget has been cutting two top teeth and two top molars for what feels like 52 years. It's been a drooling, crying, waking up at 3am nightmare around this house. But Sunday was bad. I woke up after not much sleep with a crick in my neck so painful that I couldn't move my head. Uh great. That's super helpful when you are the only parent on that day and have a 23 pound wiggly toddler for which to care.Magically that moment my mom called. I kvetched and complained and she told me that I just needed to go with the flow, that day especially. We were FaceTiming and nugget was refusing to eat the egg I cooked for him for breakfast. She said, "get him something you know he will eat." When he refused to eat even his favorite Mini Club Crackers, she said "eh, don't worry about it! Try again later. In fact, put it on a plate on the coffee table and let him graze."And you know what? She was right. My mommy was right. She reminded me that no matter my agenda for my toddler, to some extent he is going to make his own and while I can fight the good fight most days, some days I get to just go with the flow.So I put our EzPz mini mat on the coffee table, loaded it up with scrambled eggs and some crackers, got him a sippy of milk and made a nice buffet for him. We decided that THAT DAY, eating wasn't going to be a struggle and it wasn't. Low and behold, he came over and started grazing. Not how I want every meal to go but it worked! We had a nice flow that morning and when he went down for his first nap, I was able to take a nice steam shower (another mommy recommendation... instead of washing the dishes or doing laundry) which helped my neck tremendously.I guess what I am trying to say is... every now and then we need our mommy to remind us that it's ok to eat eggs at the coffee table. :)

Baby, There Are Bad People In This World

My little guy was bit by another kid in daycare the other day. It happened right before pick up and he was pretty sad about it when I got there. Now I know that at 16 months the things I say aren't going to stick but one phrase that just came out of my mouth when I was trying to comfort him was "baby, there are bad people in this world."I was surprised and froze for a second. I didn't mean that in his situation. What I meant to say was there are people who do bad things... but there are also bad people in this world and likely what I was reflecting on to him was my recent run in with some bad people. Not just bad people who operate in their own sphere but bad people whose bad and selfish/self-serving decisions ruin wonderful things around them.Just like a baby who doesn't know any better than to bite their friend when they are in their way, these people in our world lash out and bite us to get their what they want. They only see the next move... I want X so I will do Y to get it. Never mind that Y is biting someone or ruining a phenomenal organization... it gets them THEIR way. If nugget's little friend had thought, "hey, biting nugget is probably a bad idea because even though I will get the toy he is playing with, I will hurt him and make him sad and earn myself a time out," it wouldn't have happened but no, many human beings are wired for short term gratification. Cool, I get my name on a building or a fancy title I didn't earn... who cares who invested what in creating these things... I get what I want when I want it (NOW)!It's funny that all this should come up for me now. I have been reading "The Well-Behaved Child" by John Rosemond and this situation immediately reminded me of something he said in one of his columns.

"Even a toddler knows that he can achieve his objective far more quickly by biting than talking, and instant gratification is their objective."

Instant gratification is their objective... and, sadly, I am finding it is the objective for many adults too. No one taught these adults that even if you want something NOW, you don't always get it NOW. But growing up, we are teaching kids (who grow into adults) that they all get rewarded, and not because of their hard world. We focus on dreaming big but now small acts are insignificant. Kids aren't allowed to fail and now their parents refuse to let their children see THEM fail. Which creates a lovely cycle of entitlement by parent and child. In today's day and age, everyone is special and the kid's supposed happiness always has to come first. Not only all of this but in an attempt to right some invisible wrongs, we give our children every comfort available... a thousand pillows so they don't even feel their fall.Here's what I learned from Mr. Rosemond - previous generations were successful because of how they were raised and if we look back at some of those techniques we might find how to raise another generation of successful kids.Back to my point about bad people. For all the planning and teaching you do for/to/with your child, there will still be bad people in this world and your child will have to deal with them as children and as adults. If we don't give our kids the tools to handle tiny dictators, how will they learn to handle "benevolent" adult dictators? They won't. And they will fall when pressured, become "yes" wo/men and find themselves betraying the morals and values you taught them and that they purported to hold dear.So my point to Nugget stands. There are good people who do bad things and there are bad people in this world. You will not be in either one of those groups if mommy and papa have a say. As a family, we will learn the value of discipline together and when you are faced with the bad people in this world (and you will be), you will be well equipped to deal with them. Their fate rests in their own hands and bad decisions. Don't let them drag you down.

Laundry Stripping

Oh yeah, let that title sink in...  laundry stripping... I know you are excited. This is going to be a very sexy post... all about dirty laundry! Ahh the life of a wife and mom. So hawt. As one of my friends commented when I said this was my new obsession, "Picturing you doing a sexy dance in your laundry room..." As you should... as you should.

Anywho, here's the story. I was at my wits end. Between the sour milk smell in some of the nugget's onesies and the stank in my husband's workout clothes, the moldy smelling towels relegated to the dog and the dish towels that smell less than fresh... I needed to do something. I tried baking soda in the washer... vinegar... all sorts of detergents... nothing worked. I was on the verge of throwing things in the trash.

Then I remembered someone mentioning in some Facebook group that you can "strip" your laundry (cloth diaper people, you know what I am talking about). So I did some research. For The Love Of Clean is pretty much THE authority on cleaning online. If you have hard water (like we do) or sweat stains or build up of minerals, soap, etc or you bought it already worn (thrift store, etc)... you may need to strip your laundry. Here is a guide to if you should strip, deep clean, or sanitize.

Can I just stop for a second and say that I could read this website all day long? Seriously. Look at all the interesting stuff here!

Ok let's get down to it. I've done it twice now and I am obsessed. Each time the water has been a different color and the bathroom STINKS! Gross, I know but I feel like "whoooo, it's working!" I literally have a batch in the tub right now and love checking on it! I'm taking pictures every hour and they really don't do it justice!

Basically, you are putting enzymes in hot water and that is lifting out the stains, minerals, and stank. It's super easy. See this process in detail and with more information here.

At this point, if you are like me, you are super duper excited and want to get started... but you need supplies first. I ordered mine on Amazon Prime so it got here fast. For The Love Of Clean has a recipe for a homemade version but I just bought the two they recommended - Grovia Mighty Bubbles (cloth diaper mommas you know) and RLR. Get their homemade version here.

1. Start with clean laundry. Wet or dry. I sniff tested after I dried things and made a pile of "to strip."

2. Fill something with hot water. I used our tub because I had a lot of stuff. You can use a sink for a small batch and a top load washer but... that seems cray to me. They say half full... I put enough to cover the clothing. Also, get the water as hot as possible.

3. Add your potion of choice and dissolve it in the hot water.

4. Put your stuff in and let it soak until the water cools (that is like a million years but leave it in for at least four hours).

5. Stir every hour or so to release crap... I put my stuff in and the water was clear, I stirred it and it turned BROWN!

6. When it's done (four hours or cool), drain and squeeze the water out of the clothes.

7. Run a load with water only (no detergent) then dry as usual.

8. Smell your awesome clothes/towels/etc.

Ok so ... here are my pics ... These pics are not doing the color justice... it is so gnarly... If you try this, share your pics in the comments! :)

Looking Forward To Mondays?

When I was single and married without kids I hated Mondays (this should not come as a shock to anyone) and LOVED Fridays (again, no shock). The weekends were bliss. Saturdays were for sleeping in, drinking coffee on the porch, reading the Wall Street Journal cover to cover (minus the business section), maybe even reading a book, long walks with the doggie, and studying Hebrew. Sundays were farmers markets, grocery shopping, laundry, errands, and cleaning, the gym and fancy coffee... all done together as a couple.Since the nugget was born, everything changed (again, not a shocker... I know). There are things I really miss about our weekends BN (before nugget) but what I hadn't realized had changed was that I completely approach the week totally differently. It was actually shocking when I realized it. I realized I was starting to dread Fridays and cheer for Mondays. Now, this wasn't instantly and I really noticed the change when I recently lost my job and began doing freelance work from home. No longer were my weeks 60-70 hours long with a dash to get nugget to bed, eat, clean, sleep and do it all over. I had a bit more breathing room. Granted I also had a bit of a crazier schedule than most. I worked 7:30am-5:30pm (because those were the daycare hours) and then I worked at home before bed. But I digress...Now I love Mondays. I take the nugget to school, hug and kiss him, play for a little bit in his room and then dash off to actually drink a cup of coffee... (wait for it...) HOT! I drink hot coffee again, people... I can read the news and catch up on the world while working and no one is crying. I am not trying to beat the clock before someone wakes up from a nap. I can chat with friends on Facebook without miraculously disappearing suddenly for three days because I have no time for myself and who the hell can remember where they left off anyway! And I dread Fridays (a little... not a lot) because I know all weekend will be poopy butts and whiney nuggets and food thrown at/on/to the dog and tiny hands hitting my face and pulling my glasses off 850 times a day.Now, don't get me wrong... I love my son. He is the light of my life. I would never trade him for the world. But I so appreciate his daycare teachers and their patience and that it gives me a break. I have to work and I couldn't work if I had to watch nugget all day. He isn't content to ever sit and my work takes thought and focus.And so we have a new normal. Mondays are exciting and signal some me time while I have to psych myself up for Fridays and the exhaustion that comes with chasing the dog and pushing dining room chairs around the house all day. And I am ok with that. :)

This all came up, by the way, because a friend posted this on Facebook:

People without school aged kids: booooo its monday!People with school aged kids: Mondays here! lets celebrate!#truestory#Ilovemykids#butIneedsomespacesometimes#moneywellspent

The Nugget

I know many of you are wondering why I refer to our son as The Nugget (or nugs or just nugget)... It's really simple, there is no real reason.My brother started calling my little guy and his friend's little girl 'the nuggets' as they were born around the same time. And when I started writing again, it just stuck.I am not opposed to sharing his name (I do on my personal spaces like Facebook) but the internet is forever and I don't want to force him to have all of this stuff attached to his Google search. So pseudonym it is.And that's why we have The Nugget!

Pregnancy Loss and NIPT

It's possible that you don't know us (personally) or our story... unless the only people reading this are my parents and in that case, HI MOM!Our story is a common one, though, not commonly talked about. Usually when I say this part, people get really uncomfortable... We had two miscarriages prior to the birth of the nugget. If you are interested in our story, here are a few blogs that I wrote along the way:

• Thanking G-d
• What's In A Name
• It's Been A While
• 3/3/15

During the third (and ultimately successful) pregnancy, one thing I knew we would be doing was NIPT - Non-Invasive Pregnancy Testing. This simple blood test most often removes the need for other, more dangerous testing, like Amniocentesis. At 10 weeks I had blood drawn and by my 12 week appointment we had our answers, no chromosomal abnormalities. After having at least one miscarriage due to chromosomal abnormalities, this was incredibly reassuring. Granted, I didn't stop worrying that the pregnancy might not end with a healthy baby but it really gave us some peace of mind.The company that made our test, Illumina, did a little video about our experience and how wonderful NIPT was for us.I think it came out beautifully and gave us some amazing footage of the nugget at five months old. I am sharing it here and I hope it can inspire and give some hope.I do want to say one thing, there are some negative emotions around NIPT. There has been controversy (and misconception) that it is used to terminate Down's Syndrome babies and some couples think it's just a fun way to find out your baby's sex super early. This was not my experience. We utilized this test as a way to ensure this baby (my third pregnancy) was healthy and though if it showed the same abnormality as our second child, a daughter, we couldn't/wouldn't have done anything differently, it would have given us an opportunity to prepare for that outcome. An even broader version of these tests benefit loss moms, especially when there is emotional trauma around pregnancy and loss. Each woman's pregnancy is unique and so our choices are unique as well. The loss of a child in any stage is devastating and I admire moms who have had to make intensely harder decisions than I.https://youtu.be/sZg0Yajgajk

Homemade Turkey Meatballs For Baby

Our food journey has been really challenging with the nugget. He's struggled with prolonged vomiting and now has some trauma around eating. Except carbs. He loves his carbs.This summer he was pounding yogurt and milk and eating his weight in puffs, crackers, and all manner of bread products. He was refusing anything else I offered him in the fruit and veg families, with the notable exception of bananas... the great binder of the fruit family.I think you know where this is going... We had so many mornings of horrible crying and so much pain and pushing because now... we were constipated. That poor guy! He just can't get it together. Everyone had suggestions but with a toddler attitude and the traumatic memory around eating (three weeks of vomiting when you eat will do that to you... anyone remember tequila and college? Or Captain Morgan's... omg just thinking of that makes me a little queasy...) we were getting nowhere. He was open to prune pouches but they weren't totally doing the job. A friend and I were talking about sneaking veg into meatballs so I decided... it was time.I looked up a number of recipes and decided on this one as our base recipe with some modifications from other recipes I saw online. Honestly, you can use any summer squash you are growing or find at the grocery store. Pattypan, calabacita, zucchini, yellow squash. You will find zucchini and yellow squash nearly year round at your grocery store... I recommend buying it frozen if it is not in season (aka not in the summer). Frozen veggies are amazing in that they are picked at the peak of freshness and flash frozen. I prefer buying them if something is out of season. Plus they are SO cheap!Nugs Homemade Turkey and Secret Veggie Meatballs -

• 16oz of lean ground turkey
• 1 carrot (peeled and grated... or just washed and grated...)
• 1 small zucchini (peeled and grated)
• 1 small yellow squash (peeled and grated)
• 1/2 cup Wheat Germ
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt (or split it up, garlic and salt)
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder (if you want)
• 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper (if you want)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees (F, of course). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper... if you don't have parchment paper (which I didn't), you can use foil but for the love of all that is holy OIL THE FOIL! (haha... oil the foil...) These guys stick to the pan.Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together with your hands. The recipe I linked to had a really good instruction for this part... don't over mix it, it will make the meatballs tough).Form your meatball and place on the tray. If you are a 'rule follower' you can use a tablespoon scoop or you can make them your own size. I did a bunch of small ones for nugs and some bigger ones for our dinner. The original recipe says you will get 48 but I got less.Put them on the baking sheet (NOT TOUCHING) and bake for 20 minutes.---These were delicious and even my husband enjoyed eating them. It's a great way to sneak in veggies and they freeze/defrost really well.Share your comments, pictures, and variations below! 

4 am

I woke up the other morning and it was 7:15. There was no screaming. No crying. No dog nudging me with her nose. No husband snoring or blowing his nose or brushing his teeth with the loudest electric toothbrush on the face of the planet.I just woke up. It was magical.I never thought I would say that about 7am. I was the kid (adult) who, given the opportunity, could sleep until noon or 1:00. I used to bemoan the loss of the day while feeling super rested. I've forgotten what 'super rested' feels like.Since the nugget was born, we have had a love/hate relationship with sleep. He slept great in the hospital then tortured us the first night home (he screamed all night... thank you Happiest Baby On The Block DVD for saving our lives). Then he would sleep five hours at a time at night and then for about a month and a half, he woke up every. 30. minutes. all. night. long. It was at that point that we hired a sleep therapist to come help us. She made a world of difference and his sleep has been a lot more normal since then.But there are still nights... usually when he is teething... that we struggle. He will wake up at 4am and it's just the perfect, exact time that you don't know what to do with him. Bottle? Advil? Will he go back to sleep? Probably not... Especially not if I bring him into our bed... then it's such an awesome adventure, forget sleep! Ok, what if mom crawls into the crib with you? Now will you sleep? 50/50 shot on that one.I totally get that this is part of babyhood. But every morning that I open my eyes and the clock says 7am (and not 4am) and the nugget isn't crying, I say thank you. Not to G-d (though I'm sure he had a big part in it), but to the nugget. Thanks, baby, for letting mommy sleep until a normal time.

Homemade Beans & Rice

My little guy is about as brand loyal as one year olds get! When it comes to food, he's pretty much obsessed with the Plum Organics pouches. And of these pouches, his absolute favorite is the Plum World Baby Mexico pouch. The ingredients are beans and rice with sweet corn, red bell pepper, cilantro and lime. Pretty fancy for baby food, eh?Well at $1.30+ per pouch I thought, maybe I can make a close approximation for the nugget for less per serving. I found these recipes online and thought I could use the ingredients from the Plum pouch and the quantities from the recipe to make something that nugget enjoys. I really just tossed things in and we got a pretty good end result. No great pictures of nugs eating it but here's my guesstimate recipe and some pictures of the mixture.Nugs Homemade Beans and Rice pouch -

• 1 cup organic brown rice
• 1/2 a red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup of frozen sweet corn
• 1 can organic black beans
• Handful of fresh cilantro
• 1/2 a lime, juiced
• Water (as needed)

Prep the rice as you normally would (and if you are as hopeless as I am at cooking rice, here are some tips).Saute or bake the bell pepper until soft and defrost the corn.Combine it all (rice, pepper, corn, beans, cilantro, lime) and puree. Slowly add water as needed to smooth it out. You could also use chicken or vegetable stock, formula, breast milk... whatever liquid you want.The liquid is where I went wrong on the first attempt. I didn't add enough and it was still a bit too thick for nugs. The other recommendation I have is TASTE IT! Try it and see what it needs. Maybe more or less lime, cilantro... maybe toss some salt in. With nugget, he has reflux and so he actually need salt and seasoning to make food taste good to him. Between the burning acid and the medicine that dulls the tastebuds, he prefers seasoned foods but more on that another time!Post below with pics and stories after you try the recipe! I would love to hear it! Does your nugget love a particular brand of food?