Passerine

Holy, what a week! We’ve got mice or hopefully, we;ve had mice and now they’re going to move out. We found mouse poop in our kitchen last Sunday and then (after extensive cleaning) found more on Monday. Tuesday was spent finding it in the house and freaking the hell out then the rest of the week was a series of cleaning and inspecting and rearranging and freaking out. On Thursday night, after going to bed, Brent heard scampering so we both jumped out of bed, threw on our gumboots, Brent grabbed a garbage pail while I stood at the ready (on the couch). The mouse darted across the floor, under the couch and then dove behind a book shelf that happened to be sitting on a grate that lead to basement. We were convinced it was too big to get through the grate so we got ready to catch (we honestly had no idea what we were going to do) it when we moved the shelf. Astro, the terrier, did nothing other than try to eat the cheese out of the traps and lay on the flor for a nap. Very helpful.

We soon discovered that the mouse had in fact gone through the grate and was likely greeting it’s family in the basement, where they had no doubt built a lovely little community. So we immediately covered up the vent and today (yes, the sunniest day of the weekend) we spent cleaning out our crazy messy, dusty, spider ridden, dark, dank basement. Our house is 100 years old so it’s obviously never going to be completely mouse proof but it’s likely that the giant pile of cosy insulation in the back corner (right under the vent) isn’t much of a deterrent. So, we cleaned it all out and fixed it all up. We still have to sort through the other half of the basement (tomorrow-yay) where our actual proper boxed storage is but it will be much easier and mich less dusty and grimy and straight up gross than what we found today.

The good news is that our basement is finally going to be organized and useable and fairly pleasant to use. We’ve also been able to dig through all the weird stuff that the previous owners left, like three old doors; nine wood framed windows; an old work box filled with iron window weights; a milk box full of clay plates and lids, two sinks- one gorgeous huge one with a garberator attached and another random metal one; plus a bunch of cracks in our foundation that were conveniently covered up by wood and linoleum piles (argh!). The worst thing we found today was a GIANT wolf spider (I killed that bastard, you better believe it) but the best thing was some beautiful deco door hardware that I took off one of the extra doors left behind. Yay!

When not dealing with mice-mayhem, Amelia and I spent loads of time in the back yard playing and tending the garden. On afternoon we built Amelia a fort out of the patio cushions, which she went bonkers for.

I know most people (all four of my faithful readers, hi mom!) come here to read about Amelia so I promise not to post too much about this food stuff but some of you are dealing with post partum (way post partum in some cases) body issues and some are just plain frustrated with persistant weight issues so I’m going to mention my experience here and there because I know it will be useful information for some of you. If I get really into talking about it, however, I’ll start another blog dedicated solely to that and keep this all about Amelia.

It’s been almost a month of eating only 30g of carbs a day and zero sugar, according to this book. On two occasions (a one year old birthday party-cupcake- in my second week and my dad’s birthday- angle food cake- last weekend) I had dessert, which I had planned so that I wouldn’t go crazy (I’m allowed to have cake at birthdays) with self control. Surprisingly, the dessert didn’t have much effect on me and while I was happy to have it, I was perfectly fine not having any more after it was over. So, other than those two occasions, it’s been zero sugar and only carbs from vegetables and I have to say, I feel great (okay, I’ve actually come down with a cold the last two days but it has nothing to do with my eating). I’ve been able to stay firmly planted in my eating habits, able to eat at restaurants, events and host a big birthday bbq for my dad without being left out or hungry. Of course it’s not fun to see other people eating bread or treats but it’s manageable and SO worth it because in the last month I’ve lost seven pounds and I feel great.

In other news, I had my first preschool orientation day yesterday and it was amazing! We’ve been a bit concerned about Amelia’s preschool because they’re having to relocate while trying desperately to raise money to buy the property they’re currently at. It’s all fine and we’re going to stay with them, even if they relocate but obviously we would prefer to not have to deal with this in our first preschool year as sending your little one off to preschool is a big enough deal as it is. This preschool is a cooperative so parents have duty days and jobs and we have to attend lots of meetings and generally be quite involved in, well, everything. This is actually good for me, a stay at home mom, as it helps make the transition from at home with Amelia every day to slowly adjusting to the fact that she’ll be at school in a couple of short years. Eek!

The best thing about yesterday, at the preschool, was being around all of the kids. This was a morning class with four year olds and they were amazing. The first thing I noticed was how totally different each kid was and how interesting they all were. The facility was so well run and the ECE was really inspiring (I learned so much about conflict resolution in the few hours I was there) and the kids clearly adored, trusted and respected her. I loved watching the kids play and yell but my favorite was reading and snack time when we all got to sit down and I could really see the personalities of each kid come out. I looked at a book with a few boys and one of them gave me a hug after, so cute!

There was one kid, the chubby one, who seemed like a real troublemaker. At the beginning, I pegged him as the one who probably always got in trouble or stirred things up but I sat next to him at snack time and he was so awesome! He was eating crackers and every time he broke one in half, he would bit off the pointy end and say, “look, I bit off it’s nose!”. It was so great to see these kids unaware of social expectations or judgements, being left free to play and explore and just be awesome kids. It made me totally understand why people work as ECEs and teachers and even why people have dozens of kids, because kids are so cool! It definitely made me want to have another one which is not something I expected walking in there. It also made me really excited for Amelia to start preschool and make friends with all the kids in her class. Wee! School!

Maurice Sendak died today. When I was young, he was one of my favorite authors and now Amelia loves all of his books (I think she knows all the words to Pierre I Don’t Care). Reading this article about his life, I feel really sad that he’s gone. Mostly though, I feel fortunate to have grown up with his stories and grateful to be sharing them with Amelia. So long Maurice Sendak and thank you.

Adorable.

Me: Amelia, look these are training pants for you to start wearing when we go out!

Amelia: Training pants? Do you wear them on a train?

At home, Amelia wears underpants. She’s only ever had a couple of accidents and not for a really long time. We take her diaper off first thing in the morning and just keep her in underpants as long as we’re at home or only going out for a little bit (the park or coffee shop) but she’s never used a “grown-up potty” (yes, this is just a toilet but it sounds a lot nicer to a two year old). So, I’ve been putting her in diapers when we go out even though she totally knows how to tell when she has to use the bathroom (Yes, she poops in her potty at home. What!? I know you were all dying to know).

So, a few weeks ago, while in Hip Baby, I became obsessed with these new training pants called Flips. They’re similar to regular cloth diapers but they have elastic along the side so kids can just pull them down or up when they have to go to the bathroom. I needed something that I could put Amelia in when we went out all day and these come with inserts so, if she did have an accident, I could just replace the insert rather than having to use an entire diaper. After a lot of humming, hawing, researching and even getting a report from the lovely owner of Hip Baby, Mary about her daughter’s experience with Flips, I decided to give them a try.

Yesterday was the big day. I explained to Amelia (several times) that she was wearing training pants and that they weren’t diapers and if she had to go to the bathroom, she had to tell me and not just pee in her diaper. As we set out, I checked several times if she had to go but she said no. Finally, she said she wanted to go to the potty so I took her into the public bathroom, get her ready but when it cam time to sit on the toilet, she freaked out! Her body went stiff as a board and she refused to sit down. Sigh. She said she didn’t have to go to the bathroom anymore and bolted for the door. A little while later, while playing at the petting zoo, Amelia looked up from the goat she was harassing petting and yelled to me, “mama, I peed!”. Sigh again.

So, it wasn’t a smashing success but it was only the first try. I had brought a change of pants and a diaper so we quickly changed her and that was that. I think the trick will be to get her accustomed to using them around the house, where she’s used to using the potty rather than trying to get her used to new trainers and using a public toilet all at once. The tricky part will be convincing her that even though she has padding, like a diaper, she can’t pee in it. Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps.

Earlier this month, Brent bought Amelia a copy of this book:

It has all of the classic nursery rhymes but drawn comic style by some great graphic novelists. Amelia loves anything comic related (our plan to make her a nerd is working!) and loves a rhyme so this book is right up her alley. We’ve also really enjoyed reading it because of the great illustrations and because each “story” is only a page or two long so it’s easy to pick up and read a few then put it back down again. The best part, however, is that Amelia’s already memorized several of the rhymes and has been reciting them in various forms. My favorite is the, “my name is Yon Yonson, I live in Wisconsin…” rhyme which Amelia started playing with yesterday by saying, “my name is Amelia, I live in a Schmelia..”.

She’s also been really into learning songs and loves to sing Hickory Dickory Dock with me or Brent. I know it’s not really fair to talk about all these awesomely cute things she’s doing, without having any video to accompany it but she’s incredibly hard to film these days. I’ll do my best though, I promise. For now, you’ll have to be satisfied by a few silly beach pictures.

Today we went on a short “hike” (toddlers don’t really hike) through Thetis lake. Amelia was equally thrilled at being in the forest and being with her Nana so I got to spend most of the walk enjoying the fresh air, when I wasn’t telling Amelia to be careful on the rocks or to not go down the side of a cliff. Nana told Amelia about the fairies that live in the trees while we stopped to unravel a few ferns before stopping for a beautiful picnic on top of a little meadow like hill-top. It was all very pleasant.

After lunch we walked back to the car, stopping to pet every dog we passed and go through as many side trails as possible. Before getting into the car, Amelia decided to stomp in the calm lake water (she’s usually terrified of the ocean water so I was pretty encouraging). Before too long, her sandals were off, her pants were soaked to the thighs and Nana was wading in with her. Sure enough, ten minutes later, her pants, diaper and sweatshirt had all come off and she was stomping, splashing, dancing around in the water.

Luckily we had a change of clothes and some warm milk waiting in the car.

This past week has been all about food. I’ve started an eating plan based roughly on Atkins but specifically from a book called Why We Get Fat that’ explains the science behind low carbohydrate eating. This all started when I met with my new doctor and told him about my concerns with being unable to lose any weight, ever. He recommended I look into Atkins and read this Why We Get Fat book. At first I read the title and saw the big red cover and (internally) rolled my eyes. I’m not a diet person, I eat very well and have counted my caloric intake and know that I’m not someone who overeats (unless it’s chocolate and I have my period, then all bets are off). Brent, however, started researching low carbohydrate eating and started getting really excited about it all. He promptly bought the Why We Get Fat book and started reading with enthusiasm. I started reading too and we were quickly planning out our new eating schedule.

I won’t go into too much detail as this is obviously a blog about Amelia, not diet but the book basically talks about misconceptions in popular nutrition stating that the classic calories in/calories out method is garbage and the real issue is looking at how our bodies use the food we eat. It also talks a lot about genetics and how some people are just naturally lean while others aren’t. I honestly can’t recommend this book enough. Actually reading the science and research and evidence behind his arguments while actually understanding how the body works is completely changing the way I think about food and exercise and health. For someone who has been active my whole life while constantly struggling with my weight, this philosophy is blowing my mind and giving me so much hope.

Of course, it’s not easy. The basic principles are to not eat any (or as little a possible) carbohydrates, lots of protein, lots of fat and NO sugar (not even fruit). For a lot of people, these sorts of diets are scary because it means people will just eat butter and bacon. For me (someone who’s fortunately well versed in healthy eating) it means eating loads (seriously an insane amount) of salads, greens, avocado and lots of salmon, cheese, eggs and chicken. Since I don’t eat red meat, I’ve found it fairly easy to stick to the plan. It’s been a week so far and I’ve managed to stay to course without too much difficulty. I eat an egg and a quarter of an avocado for breakfast each morning, eat red peppers like apples and cucumbers like bananas. I’ve been leaving the house with boiled eggs in my purse and have actually almost cried, I’ve been so excited to eat a salad. Oh and I’ve already lost three pounds!

The only downside is that, for the first time, my stomach is very clearly communicating to me when it’s empty so that when I’ve digested my meal (a few hours after eating) I have about half an hour before I’m insanely grumpy/frantic. I’m going to talk to my doctor today about all of this and see if he has any pointers. Since this is really a complete lifestyle change and not a diet (I will likely never regularly eat bread again but will definitely reintroduce fruit and some grains on occasion) I’ve really worked on wrapping my head around this dramatic and permanent change.

We’ll see how it all goes. I’ll keep you posted.

Oh and don’t worry, Amelia and Brent are still down with carbs but are definitely eating tons more veggies than before so it’s win win for them.

Amelia peered into this little cherry blossom and said, “is there a fairy in there?”.

Amelia’s new favorite book is a series of comics called Bone.

I don’t really know what it’s about because it’s a special reading activity that she does only with Brent. They’ll lie on the floor together and read Bone books for hours! Amelia knows all the characters and the plot and isn’t even scared of the evil rat creatures. It’s obviously not a young children’s book but she loves it and any grown-up themes seem to go right over her head. The cutest thing is that often, when things get a bit too quiet in the house, I’ll find her at the table or on her bed “reading” Bone to herself, sometimes upside-down.