Adventures with food

I've tried very hard to keep Perrin's diet as pure and nutritious as possible. For starters, I breast fed him for ten months. Ever since we introduced solids at 6 months, I've given him fresh fruits and veggies and tried to keep him away from sugar and processed foods as much as possible (although I haven't kept him away from my parents, which means he's gotten opportunities to try ice cream and white bread and other things I hadn't really intended to give him). Focusing so much on what I allow Perrin to eat has made me think more about my own eating habits. Why am I not as careful about the things I eat? If I monitored my own diet as well as I do his, I bet I'd be a lot healthier. And skinnier.

I've been reading a lot of "real food" blogs and articles and keeping up with information about the current food revolution and the dangers of chemicals and GMOs, etc. I'm not ready to switch to raw milk or grass-fed beef or buy organic everything. But I am trying to cut out processed foods as much as possible and buy more fresh produce. This means I get to experiment with cooking new things.

Today I went to the store and bought kale. The cashier didn't even know what it was. I guess they don't sell a lot of kale. In case you don't know, it's a leafy vegetable. I brought it home, washed it, chopped it, tossed it with olive oil, sprinkled it with salt, and baked it. Voila--kale chips! It was actually pretty good. But when Trey saw it on his dinner plate, he made a really odd face.

"It's kale," I said. "Try it--it tastes a lot like potato chips!"

Trey took a bite. "It doesn't taste like potato chips," he said. "But it's edible."

Well, that was about as good of a response as I could have hoped for. I mean, this is coming from the guy who considers french fries and ketchup a double serving of veggies.

About ten minutes later he said, "You know, they get less bad the longer I eat them."

Glad the kale was such a hit.

We even let Perrin try a bite. He sloooooowly chewed his little bite of kale, looked up at me, and then clapped! I think it's the first time my cooking has ever received an ovation! Never mind that he spit out the next bite....

It's a baby step toward a healthier lifestyle. And maybe, just maybe, Trey will someday decide he really does like kale.

Christmas Day

I was going to write all about Christmas Day with Perrin, but now that Trey's started a blog, he kind of took care of that already (http://blogalogadingdang.blogspot.com/2010/12/so-christmas.html). I thought that mildly amusing blog posts on our child's antics was MY territory, but whatever. His blog post is actually really good. Probably better than whatever I would have written. So I'm directing all of my faithful followers to his post to get the low-down on Christmas day.

But I couldn't resist posting a picture of Perrin unwrapping a present. He got the hang of wrapping paper pretty quickly. He'd rip off a big piece, then look at us guiltily as if he knew he'd just destroyed something and wasn't sure if we'd be happy about it. Then he'd shred more paper as we tried to get him excited about the actual present. Presents, shmesents--who cares about them when there's paper and ribbons and tape and boxes to play with?

Mr. Mischief

One of my favorite things to do in the evening is soak in a hot bubble bath and read a magazine. It's a luxurious, 20-minute break from being a mommy. Tonight, I decided I needed my 20-minutes of "me time." Trey agreed to be on baby duty, so I started running the water and getting the bath all ready.

While I was in the bedroom waiting for the tub to fill, I noticed Perrin crawling into the bathroom. "Hey, Trey," I yelled, "Can you get Perrin?"

He called for him like a dog: "Here, Perrin. Come here." Surprise, surprise--that didn't work.

Oh well. I could see him well enough from the bedroom to make sure he wasn't diving into the bathtub. So I figured it was no big deal. Unfortunately, I couldn't see him well enough to realize what he was doing. He was digging through the bathroom trash and methodically throwing bits and pieces into my bath water. By the time I got there, huge gobs of toilet paper and other unidentifiable things were floating around.

Trey came and got Perrin, and I began draining the tub and cleaning up the mess. The toilet paper gobbed up the drain, so the tub took FOREVER to empty. But I was determined to make the best of things, so I began running another bath. Unfortunately, there was some toilet paper stuck to the sides of the tub that I hadn't seen. And since I had already run one bath, I ran out of hot water part of the way through. So I ended up with about an inch of lukewarm, toilet paper infested water. Seriously NOT what I had in mind.

I guess I might have to start taking my baths after Perrin goes to sleep for the evening. And perhaps take out the bathroom trash more regularly.

First Christmas

Before Trey and I were even thinking about having Perrin, we talked about how we didn't want Christmas for our family to be all about presents. We wanted to focus on the significance of the birth of Christ and on spending time together as a family.

Now, here we are--Perrin's first Christmas. Will we hold true to our convictions? Here's a snapshot into our life as a family this season:

Me: (While walking around with Trey in WalMart) "It's not like Perrin's going to remember this Christmas anyway, so I don't think we need to go crazy with presents."

Trey: "I agree. Just a couple things. He'll be more interested in playing with the wrapping paper anyway."

Me: "Yep, so just a couple little things. We'll hardly spend any money at--OH MY GOSH! Look, it's a robot bunny that plays hide and seek with you! That is SO cool!"

Trey: "Ooh, and here's a submarine he can play with in the bathtub. We HAVE to get that."

Jayna: "And one of these baby laptops. Maybe now he'll stay away from mine."

Trey: "And don't forget we have to get stuff to fill up his stocking."

So... score 10 points for the commercialization of Christmas, zero so far for our hopes of injecting the true meaning of Christmas into our son's young life. I never thought it would be so hard to keep from spoiling him. I do have a child-friendly nativity that I'm going to set up and let him play with, and we'll read some Christmas books and sing Christmas carols that will be meaningful (or at least would be if he could understand them). Hopefully we'll end up with a good balance in the end.

Thankful

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. I love Thanksgiving because I feel like it's the most untainted of all the holidays. And this Thanksgiving was particularly good because it was our first Thanksgiving with Perrin! He rather enjoyed it too--he got to try all kinds of new foods. (I won't go into details about the interesting colors that showed up in his diapers later on... perhaps we overdid it a bit on the sweet potatoes.)

This has been a really challenging, unpredictable, crazy, wonderful year. Trey and I have had to make major adjustments, sacrifice our time, live on a shoestring budget, and sacrificially give and give to a baby who demands more of us than I could have envisioned. But it's been magical too. I never would have thought I could fall so deeply in love with this tiny person who drools, cries, poops, and doesn't speak English.

I'm thankful for Trey, too. Having a baby has given me greater appreciation and admiration for single parents. How do they do it?? I couldn't have asked for a better partner to take on this gargantuan task of raising a child with me. Not only does he provide for us so I can be home with Perrin, but he's also a pro at feeding, diapering, and making Perrin giggle like there's no tomorrow.

Thank you, God, for the amazing family you've given to me!

Mommy brain

Sometimes it's all I can do just to get through each day with me and Perrin both being cleaned, dressed, fed, and marginally happy. The days I actually get some office work done and clean the house are the super good days. Then there are days like today in which I superglue my hand to a piece of felt and my husband informs me that Perrin has had his shirt on backwards all day.

Does being a mom kill brain cells? Some days I seriously feel about as smart as a clod of dirt. I used to feel like I was pretty smart. Maybe my brain has atrophied somewhere between the 5,000th round of patty cake and the latest diaper explosion. Or maybe now I'm finally smart enough to realize I'm really not as smart as I always thought I was.

Nom nom nom

Perrin is starting to realize that there's better food out there than the mushy goo he's used to getting. I can't sit down near him with a meal or even a snack without him pulling up on my leg and looking up at me with his sweet baby eyes, begging for a taste. How can I say no? I've let him try my tuna sandwiches, baked beans, fresh fruit, potatoes... pretty much anything that's not a choking hazard or coated in sugar. So far he really hasn't met a grown-up food he doesn't like.

But like all babies, he also tries to eat plenty of inedible things. Today we were at WalMart and I heard him smacking his lips. I looked down, and my grocery list had a big bite taken out of the corner. Unfortunately, that's not the first time he's eaten paper... I've had to learn to keep my magazines out of reach. To me, they're reading material; to Perrin, they're a buffet.

He's also been trying his best to get his hands (and mouth) on one of Molly's rawhide chews. So far I've managed to keep him from getting a taste, but considering how Molly will leave those things tucked away in various hiding spots throughout the house, I'm betting it's only a matter of time before Perrin comes across one.

I wonder when this stage of eating everything will pass. For now, I know that's just how he experiences the world--by tasting it. Too bad we don't live in a Willy Wonka world... I've had that song stuck in my head all day. ("You can even eat the dishes....")