delighted to be

Pulparindo / february 15, 2012

One of Tyler’s bosses gave him a bunch of Mexican candy on Monday. Tyler was really excited because he hasn’t had it since he lived in Mexico five years ago. He immediately gave some fruit-leather looking candy to Jack, who gobbled up the ENTIRE piece! Apparently it’s a little spicy, but babies and kids in Mexico eat it all the time. Jack was delighted with it and walked around like he’d just won the lottery.

On another note, Jack had his 15-month check-up yesterday. The kid has such a tender heart and sobbed half of the time, not wanting to be poked and prodded by strange people. But after the shots were done and he calmed down again we were good. He is the 67th percentile for height, the 40-something-th for weight, and the 50th for head circumference. He’s right on track with everything he’s learning, which is always a relief to hear. As a mother you always want your kid to be the smart one and it’s hard not to compare.

Also, I feel like I should publicly give a thumbs-up to our San Diego pediatrician, Dr. Adam Whitman. I’ve been sick as a dog (but what does that even mean?!) and have laid on the couch all day, every day for the past week and a half. This week I’ve been waking up feeling even worse with a sore throat, cough, and more mucus than I should probably even mention. It’s really attractive to the husband, I’m sure. Even though yesterday’s appointment was for Jack, he kindly offered to check my throat and diagnose me, saving me a $25 trip to my own doctor. A little thing like that really goes a long way. You don’t read my blog or remember me really, but thanks Dr. Whitman.

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(not so) Big Plans / february 13, 2012

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day… but we don’t really celebrate it at our house. I usually make a card for Tyler and write something sweet and sentimental in it, and call it good. This year I’m feeling too lazy to do even that. What a wonderful wife I am.

We might go out for a romantic dinner at Souplantation. Basically this was agreed upon because it’s right down the street from our house and no reservations are required. It’s arguably not the most romantic place, but it’s under $20 and we’ll get to sit across from old couples celebrating their 42nd Valentine’s Days. Adorable.

You see, we live in a highly-populated retirement community and their restaurant of choice is Souplantation. But in all honesty, can you think of a better way to spend a day dedicated to love than watching old couples rekindle their romance over garlic focaccia bread and minestrone soup? Again, adorable.

On another completely unrelated note, Jack is mostly walking now! He gets so excited at his accomplishments that he gives himself little “yay!”s of approval all the time by clapping his hands. He isn’t fully walking yet though – he still lacks the skill to stand up by himself. He still relies on the walls, the couches, etc. to get himself going but once he’s up he is walking even around the kitchen. He also started giving us high fives (which I didn’t teach him?) which is pretty fun as well. His other new tricks are saying “tickle tickle tickle” in public, finding his bellybutton, and saying “all done” (although sometimes it’s just a sign language wave of his hand for “finished”). He also tends to add a new vowel sound each week, and this week it’s EEEEE!

The end.

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French Parenting / february 13, 2012

found via twitter: chilangosta89

Here’s my tangent on the French Parenting huffalump that’s going around. Take it with a grain of salt, please. :)

Once I finish my current read (a 600-page love story about penicillin during WWII – the title escapes me at the moment) I’m going to start on Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. I know it’s gotten a lot of negative (and some positive) press attention lately (and the only article I’ve read is the Wall Street Journal one here) but I’m eager to read it because I whole-heartedly agree with its notions.

I just learned of the book and methods a week or two ago, but I suppose I find it particularly interesting because it’s almost exactly how we’ve raised Jack. He’s such an easy baby and toddler, and while some of it is his personality I’d also like to think some of it is also reflective of our parenting. I can’t profess to be a parenting genius by any means – we’ve got one kid and he’s only 15 months old – but I’d like to think we’ve done a really good job so far.

Jack has this innate ability to be obedient. How did I get so lucky? Today he was touching a pile of empty boxes destined for the recycle bin, and I gave him a firm, “Jack, please don’t touch those boxes. Thank you, buddy!” and he happily walks away and finds something else to play with. Can I keep him sweet like this forever? I have noticed, however, that when he acts mischievous (touching the forbidden bookshelf!) he does it to get my attention to tell me it’s naptime or he needs a snuggle. It took me a few weeks of frustration to figure this out.

One thing we’re implementing from the article (which was from the book) is Jack’s snack times. I’ve noticed a HUGE difference in his attitude towards food now that I’m regulating his meals throughout the day! French children typically eat four times a day: breakfast, lunch, a 4pm snack, and dinner. Jack used to eat breakfast, an early lunch, another lunch around 2pm, and then a snack at 4 to hold him off until dinner…well, you get the picture. He was munching all day long. One day I just started giving him a strict breakfast, lunch, 3:30pm snack, and dinner. He doesn’t whine or complain anymore, and I noticed he’s been eating more respectfully because he knows that’s all the food he’s going to get for a while. It’s only been two weeks, but even Tyler can tell you he’s much more patient when we’re preparing meals for him. He used to whine, not understanding we had to make the food first and we couldn’t miraculously pull food out of our butt (Tyler’s words, not mine :). Now he sits patiently in his high chair and watches us.

Another thing I liked in relation to the French 4pm snack time was that even if you pick up a treat running errands in the morning, be firm and don’t let them have it until afternoon snack time. In the WSJ: “Delphine said that she never set out specifically to teach her kids patience. But her family’s daily rituals are an ongoing apprenticeship in how to delay gratification. Delphine said that she sometimes bought Pauline candy. (Bonbons are on display in most bakeries.) But Pauline wasn’t allowed to eat the candy until that day’s snack, even if it meant waiting many hours.” Neat, huh? While there are most definitely exceptions to this rule, when kept on a daily basis it teaches patience – a skill most American kids don’t have.

I also loved that they mention a mother doesn’t need to be hovering over her children while they play. I have always felt like I’m an inadequate parent because I don’t sit on the ground and play with Jack all day, but now I’m seeing the big picture where this is actually a good thing! He’s learning that while I love him dearly, I have other things that require my attention. Jack is excellent at playing by himself (as long as I’m in the room), and will do so for hours. Tyler and I have even taken naps on the couch while he plays, and he doesn’t get into mischief at all.

Most of all I loved that the standard is for infants to sleep through the night by 2-3 months. WSJ: “One of the keys to this education is the simple act of learning how to wait. It is why the French babies I meet mostly sleep through the night from two or three months old. Their parents don’t pick them up the second they start crying, allowing the babies to learn how to fall back asleep.” That is so uncommon here! A lot of Americans are apparently upset about that, but that’s the norm for my sisters and I – we sleep train our kids early on this way. I follow the same practice now that Jack is older, and I don’t rush to get him out of his crib as soon as he wakes. He knows he’s not abandoned and that I’ll come and get him, giving him lots of snuggles and love.

Anyway, that’s just my two-cents on the subject. Take it or leave it. It’s a really fascinating method of parenting that I think produces unbelievable results. I can’t wait to read the book!

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The Bacon Milkshake / february 7, 2012

Tyler’s a big twitter nerd, checking it daily. He’s also a Ron Swanson nerd, and shares Ron’s same love of bacon.

So when he got the news via twitter that select Jack-in-the-Box restaurants were offering bacon milkshakes as a secret menu item, he was over the moon. He already had a plan for us to try a few Jack-in-the-Box’s around the city to find one.

On Saturday we were at Fry’s Electronics (another nerdy place he loves) and saw a Jack-in-the-Box across the street, and thought, “why not?”

Tyler shyly walked up the counter, and in his worst drug-deal impression (hey, we’re not pros at this kind of stuff) muttered to the cashier, “do you, um, have a bacon milkshake on the menu?”

We hit the jackpot. Tyler was the first ever (at that Jack-in-the-Box, but maybe ever) to order a BACON MILKSHAKE. Sounds gross, right? I wanted to vomit at the mere thought of it. Here’s how it ended up:

At first he was hesitant (this doesn’t taste like bacon!) but then he realized if it actually tasted like pureed bacon it would be disgusting. We are pleased to report we found it delicious! Tasted like bacon with maple syrup on top.

/Edit: His work did a bacon milkshake run for lunch today, and of course Tyler got another one…

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