I know times are tough for so many people. Unemployment is high, prices keep going up on everything while many of us are experiencing pay cuts or freezes, we are involved in 2 wars, terror trials soon begin here in NYC, the weather is completely out of whack, our country feels incredible divided & Sarah Palin's face is everywhere (Ugh!). Yes, these are difficult times, but I'd like to share some thanks especially now.
I'm grateful to have been given a beautiful son who loves to laugh, run and jump. I'm seeing the world through his eyes & wonderment is all around.
I'm grateful to have a husband who loves me and works hard for our family. We do not always see eye to eye and man are we tired lately but, I do appreciate all that he does.
I'm grateful to have my mom in my life. We bickered so much through my preteens, teens, early twenties & so on. I was not able to fully appreciate all the sacrifices she made for my brother, sister and I until I had a child of my own. Now it's all clear. Thank you mom for always being supportive of my dreams and goals even if they we unconventional. You allowed me to explore my creative side and I'm a better artist because of it.
I'm grateful for the rest of my family. My sister, cousins, aunts, uncles, in-laws, grandparents, are all important pieces of the pie. Love you.
I'm grateful to have amazing girlfriends. Some I've know since I was a child, other we met through life in NYC, blogging, local mom's groups and the restaurant biz. Here's to girl power.
I'm grateful for all the old friends that I've recently reconnected with. Many are from high school & fun old RI days & we've found each other again through FB.
I'm grateful to have my health, creativity in my life, to still feel passion & to still have hope for a wonderful future ahead.
Leo is an excellent eater. I'm not sure if that's a strong enough word for it. It's more like a passionate, overly excitable eater. All I have to say is "Do you want to eat?" and he runs clapping his hands into the kitchen. He goes right over to his high chair, babbling with enthusiasm. He's quite impatient and wants food in his hands immediately. Yums, ohs and ahs accompany pretty much anything I give him from bread or pasta to meatballs to sweet potatoes or peas. So do yelps and screams of joy. Leo really likes things with flavor, sometimes quite complex flavor. Nothing bland for this boy.
One day I was feeding him when Tom called from work. Leo was making so much noise while he was chowing down. All kinds of Ummmmms and sounds of pleasure were coming out of him. Tom asked what he was eating. "Broccoli," I answered, "can you believe it?!" Now I'm not sure if he was simply born with this insatiable appetite for just about any kind of food or if it's learned.
I did make his baby food (pureed fruits and veggies to start) and very much applied the 10 times rule. Basically, babies may need to taste something 10 times before it's acceptable to their palates. And believe me, there were many days that I was covered in the stuff I had made for him because he had just spit it out at me. But, true to the rule, by his 5th try there was less fussing and spitting. By the 8th try, he was eating more of it and by #10 he was actually enjoying it.
Now there are some down sides to have a baby who is a "foodie". For one I still make everything for him pretty much from scratch. Organic meatballs seasoned just like the ones I make for me, organic chicken marinated in lemon and rosemary, mashed rutabuga, kolrabi and leeks are all on his menu. Cooking for him takes up a good deal of my time and to be honest, lessens my enthusiasm for cooking for the hubby and I.
The second negative is that Leo will eat until he bursts. Seriously, he never willingly leaves a piece of anything uneaten. He does not have that "full" button. We learned this lesson the hard way one evening over a friend's house for dinner. We sat him at the table with us and he ate large portions of fish, portabello mushrooms, asparagus, bananas and cried for more. Well, he was up all night (as were we) with a belly ache after that one.
He's also a fast eater. He barely chews anything so all his food is cut into tiny pieces. Even with that we had an incident recently. Part of our morning routine after a bottle and playing is to watch a bit of Sesame Street. Elmo is Leo's favorite. I usually sit him down with a plastic bowl with small pieces of bread it in. Last week while he was doing that I went on my computer to see about flight delays. It was a windy, rainy day & Tom was due to fly back from a business trip. I was about 5 feet about from Leo. I'm not sure what made me look up at the exact moment I did, since he was not making a peep, but he was standing facing me with the strangest look on his face. And it hit me. He was choking. I ran to him and with my index finger hooked & pulled a wade of bread out of his throat. Leo then puked on me, himself and the carpet. He then gave me a hug and preceded to try to reach for the puke on the rug. It did have pieces of bread in it after all, but decided against it. Instead, he went right back to his bowl and the bread that was still left within it as if nothing had ever happened. Needless to say I'm still a bit shaken and no more bread during Elmo.
I'm seriously posing this question to all of you moms out there. How long does this condition last? Maybe it subsides once they go away to college. I'll be an old lady by then & dementia may begin to set in. Or is it permanent? If so, I'm screwed!
Let me start by saying that I did have, what my husband liked to refer to as, "Jessica Simpson moments" before Leo was born. They were not a daily occurrence. Many times it was just me not really paying attention or being observant. I'd also like to add that I was never a big pot smoker, so that can't be the reason for my current condition. Yes, that's what I refer to it as because sometimes it's downright frightening.
In the past year I have done things like stand in a very long line at the post office with Leo, only to get up to the counter and realize I did not take the stuff I needed to mail with me. And it's not like it was a couple of letters that I thought I placed in my purse, we're talking packages. I have called friends and family to tell them something but can't remember what. And it does not come to me after we stay on the phone for a while. In fact, IT NEVER comes to me. I have gone into the kitchen to do something and cannot for the life of me remember what. Then Tom will call on his way home from work to see if I need anything & it hits me. Oh that's why I went into the kitchen - to make dinner!
I have misplaced things like keys and sunglasses only to find them in my pocket or on my head. I have misplaced gifts that I bought in advance. Which is strange, since I have a bin in my closet for this purpose. Well, this one is not too strange. I think this might be a family condition. My mom would say things on Christmas morning like, "Did you like the gold bracelet Santa got you?" I would look at her perplexed because one, I was 15 & no longer believed in Santa & two, there was not any gold bracelet under the tree. I'm still waiting for that gift.
The strangest thing about this condition is that when it comes to Leo and my job, my mind is super sharp. I'll pack for a family trip and remember every single tiny minute thing for the baby. Heck I remember everything I need even just to take him on a walk. I was also the designer/project manager on a huge gut renovation this year. I could remember everything down to the smallest detail like the color of the grout in the master bath, but some days I'm not sure if I took a shower.
So all you moms out there please let me know what I can do to help with this. Are there some brain exercises I should be doing? What about herbal remedies? Is this just something I must now learn to live with like my C-section scar? I may be grateful for my condition once Leo is a teenager.
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