Valentines and Muffin Tins!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had a great day with my two little Valentines, and of course with my big Valentine, as well :)

Island Boy has been getting really into holidays lately, so he was ALL about Valentines day this year! He loved all the hearts, red and pink, and expressions of love. He also thoroughly enjoyed receiving several cards in the mail from relatives, and also a gift from us.

We had our Valentine's Day muffin tin meal on Friday, and today we had pink, heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast.

Top Row, L-R: Strawberries, plain yogurt with Valentine sprinkles, strawberries
Bottom Row: Three mango slices cut into heart shapes

Because it was a breakfast muffin tin this week, I went fairly simple. It was still a smashing success, as not a single morsel of anything was left (of course, Island Boy adores fruit as well as dairy products of all sorts, and if you add sprinkles, he's in heaven).

And, just to show them, here are our pancakes from this morning. It was a really basic recipe with some red/pink food coloring gel mixed in. And we had strawberry syrup, too. Both kids gobbled them up!

Muffin Tin Monday

Today, my "valentine" is Muffin Tin Monday. Mostly, because today is Monday. And because Island Boy does adore his muffin tin lunches!

There is no theme this week, but we had a good time doing some Valentine-y things (though expect far more Valentines next week, and lots of red!)

Here's our lunch:

 

Top Row, L-R: Frozen blueberries, plain yogurt, chocolate chips
Bottom Row, L-R: Heart-shaped bread with apple butter, frozen blueberries,
open-faced heart-shaped turkey and cheese sandwiches.

Either I really hit on something this week, or he was starving at lunch time, but Island Boy ate every. Last. Bite. There wasn't a crumb of anything left in that muffin tin! I knew for sure the blueberries (which he actually dipped in the yogurt, much to my surprise) would be a hit, as he loves berries of any sort. He actually seems to enjoy them even more when they're frozen. I was also fairly certain he'd like the chocolate chips, as well as the apple butter bread. The plain yogurt and the sandwiches were more of a gamble on my part, but he ate it all, with no problems and no prodding!

The Return of Muffin Tin Meals!

We have been really, REALLY busy with family in town these past few weeks. We have been sightseeing all around the Island (more on that later this week), and enjoying some relaxation time with other adults around to play with (and spoil) the Island Kids.

That said, this week's Muffin Tin Meal theme is "favorite foods." Normally, macaroni and cheese would have been first on the list, but the kids had that last night, as Island Dad and I were out for a date.

Top Row: Apple circles with cinnamon, grilled cheese sandwiches in the shape of a "J" and stars, chocolate pudding with star-shaped sprinkles.
Bottom Row: Grilled cheese, "Number 4" egg (hard-boiled), raisins

The name of the egg: We were visiting friends last winter when Island Boy was about 23 months old and just starting to recognize numbers, but not yet letters. These friends had a stash of hard-boiled eggs stored in their refrigerator for breakfasts. The hard-boiled eggs were marked, of course, with an "H" on the shell. Island Boy mistook the "H" for a number 4, and has thus been referring to them as "number 4 eggs" ever since. We haven't really bothered to correct him....

At any rate, he ate about half of everything, going (surprisingly) for the apple slices over the pudding as his first item. He liked it all, just was not in an eating-type mood today. The adults in the house have all been passing around a cold, and I suspect Island Boy may be dealing with the cold, as well. Looking forward to getting back into the swing of Muffin Tin Mondays again!

It's like a Three Ring Circus Around Here

Or maybe it's just Island Boy's muffin tin meal this week. The theme for the week was "circus." As with previous themes, I was initially at a loss for what to do. Then, my package of new goodies from Wilton arrived, and, slowly, so did the ideas.

Top, left to right: Chocolate chip banana bread "Circus Train," circus animal crackers and yogurt-covered raisins (which Island Boy, oddly, insisted were "nuts") and a jicama and fruit clown. On the bottom, in addition to another jicama and fruit clown, we have two cheese, cracker, and olive lions.

The obvious hit were the animal crackers. He also loved the "nuts." But he did not disappoint me, either. The big surprise for me were the strawberries (clowns' hats, smiles, and noses). Being that they have visible seeds, he's often lukewarm on strawberries, but I keep trying (because, come on, how can you NOT like strawberries if you're not allergic to them?!) Tonight, he gobbled them right down, and then asked for more when he had finished everything else! He also inhaled the oranges (clowns' hair).

The jicama came about as the result of Island Boy's current book obsession, The ABC's of Fruits and Vegetables, by Steve Charney and David Goldbeck (2007). The book talks about "J" being for "sweet jicama." So, I thought we'd give it a try. Unsurprisingly, Island Boy was not a huge fan (something that crunches? The nerve of me to offer!), but he did at least take one bite. I also ate a jicama clown (made one for myself), and eaten in combination with the other fruit, it was pretty great! Fairly non-offensive, but with just enough non-sweet flavor to offset the fruit.

He was surprisingly so-so about the cheese, but I think because he was too interested in the fruit and the crackers. He did eat it, though. I was also surprised about his only moderate reaction toward the banana bread (which is homemade, and, if I say so, pretty darn good!), but again...in his world, fresh-ish fruit will beat out banana bread any day, which is awesome! In addition to all but the one bite of jicama that he took, he also left the olives on the lions completely on the side.

My goal for next week will be to find a way to get more vegetables in. That is an area in which all of the Island Family is majorly lacking lately!

Raising Myself

Yesterday after his theoretical nap time, I went in to see Island Boy's room destroyed, yet again. I asked him to pick up the clothes he had strewn about the room, and he obliged. Sort of. He picked up the first two or three items and put them in the dirty laundry pile. Then, he grabbed the rest of the clothes and, as I was standing right there, tried to shove them under his bed. I thought to myself, "Huh....I guess you really are my kid!" And then I made him pick them up and put them where they really belonged.

As Island Boy's personality is starting to show through more, I am starting to see more and more of myself in him (beyond just his desire to skip over cleaning tasks and simply "hide" things out of sight). I was horribly shy as a child (ok, I still am pretty painfully shy, I just hide it somewhat slightly better now). I also have always struggled with self-confidence issues. Not self-worth, mind you (not usually), but more doubting my own ability to do things. Though I still struggle with it, that one has improved somewhat as I've grown and matured. I mostly feel it come back up when it gets paired with the shyness. It's really, really not fun, and sure not something I had ever hoped one of my children would get.

Don't get me wrong, you can find plenty of Island Dad in him, as well. But I worry about Island Boy having to go through feeling the same things I felt as a kid. I want better for him (not that my own parents didn't do  a fantastic job, because they did. I would be a hundred times worse off now if it hadn't been for them).

As Island Boy is now two-and-a-half, I am looking into pre-school for him for next year.

As I understand it, the age of three, when I started pre-school, is not necessarily the norm. But I really truly feel he would benefit from an extra year of learning to interact with other kids his age, and especially in a group setting. And the confidence in his abilities (we're starting to hear a lot of "No, I can't" from him lately, which also worries me).

My problem is in trying to actually find a place to send him. I have a very easy time identifying things that I don't want (far down Island, glorified daycare). I also have an ok idea of what I do want, although verbalizing it is a bit harder. But, I'm not sure that I can find exactly what I want on the Island. After asking other parents, I had heard a great recommendation for a Montessori school.....which turned out to be completely full, with no waiting list. I at least feel confident in this being a sign that that was not the right program for him. I just wish I knew how to tell which place *would* be.

So, now I'm back to the drawing board, feeling totally overwhelmed by the decision, but knowing that I need to do something, because my action will affect my child directly.

Toddler Science and a Muffin Tin Meal

This morning, there was a rather unfortunate odor coming from our garbage disposal. I ran the disposal, and then treated the smell with baking soda and vinegar. Island Nanny and I took this as a prime opportunity to introduce Island Boy to the baking soda and vinegar "volcano." We first showed him what happened when both were poured down the drain. Then I moved the experiment to a measuring glass (placed in a baking pan for protection of my counters...). He thought that was pretty cool! Then, we threw in some tiny pieces of spaghetti and made "dancing spaghetti," which was one of my favorites as a child. The carbonation bubbles catch on the pasta, causing it to float to the top of the liquid, where the bubbles pop. The spaghetti sinks back to the bottom of the liquid, and the cycle repeats indefinitely. Island Boy also thought this was pretty interesting :-D

On to our muffin tin meal for the week! Island Nanny was pretty excited to give it a try, so we did. There was no theme this week, which made it a bit easier to put together.

On the top, left to right, we have 1/4 of a sun butter (a legume an tree-nut free peanut butter substitute) and jelly sandwich, cheddar cheese cubes, and another 1/4 of the sandwich. On the bottom, between the other two quarters of the sandwich, we have red grapes. I kid not, he ate all of it except for one part of the sandwich. He was just too full by then!

Next week's MTM theme is Movies....I'm debating a couple of different choices, so stay tuned to see what I decide on ;)

Island Mom's Night Out

Last night was the annual kick-off social for the officer's spouses club on base. As I am involved with the board, I kind of HAD to be there. Of course, I wanted to go, too. Break from the kids? Yes please! Unfortunately, Island Dad had work obligations that did not allow him to be home in time to watch the kids. So, I opted to take Island Girl with me, as she is pretty easy to please, and, you know, I'm still her main source of food. Island Boy, however, could not go with me. He would not have had much fun, for starters, and keeping him occupied would have distracted me from what I needed to do while there.

So I sucked it up and hired a babysitter. It's not so much that I don't like having babysitters. It's more that I still tend towards shy, and even when speaking to kids who are more than 14 years my junior, I get a bit self-conscious.

At any rate, another one of the club members has a daughter who babysits, and so I gave them a call, and she was willing and available! My only concern at this point was that Island Boy would somehow freak out and scream the whole time she was here. But, I started warming him up to the idea of a sitter when he woke up in the morning, and then all day he was talking about "[Babysitter] is coming to play with [Island Boy]!!" I was feeling pretty good about everything.

The babysitter and her mom arrived, and Island Boy seemed very happy, even when the mom and I left and Island Girl was with us (we carpooled).

When we returned to the house, a couple of hours later, Island Boy still seemed very happy, and the sitter said that aside from 20 minutes of crying for mommy somewhere in the middle, he was a very easy kid to watch (hooray... this means we can hire her again!!!)

Island Dad returned home shortly after, and we put Island Boy to bed together. I was reading him Llama, Llama, Red Pajama, by Anna Dewdney. I was just getting to the part where Llama Llama thinks that his Llama Mama is actually *gone*, when all of a sudden, Island Boys face just completely crumbled and he started sobbing uncontrollably, just so scared! Island Dad and I both tried to calm him down, even showing him the part where Mama Llama comes back, but he would have NONE of it. Island Dad finally had to go get another book to read to poor Island Boy!

We think it was probably a combination of the wide-eyed Llama Llama in the picture on that page, the slightly anxious/scary voice I use on that page, and also the fact that Island Boy's own "mama" had just been gone. But the kid was thoroughly freaked out! I don't think Island Dad and I have ever felt worse about "subjecting" our child to something!!

Needless to say, Llama Llama and his red pajamas will be taking a break on the bookshelf for awhile.

Terrible Twos

In part because of the move, partly because we're all living in one room on top of one another, but also just because of the age, we have been dealing with the insanity that comes along with the terrible-twos.

There are days when I feel like I am absolutely at my wit's end with Mr. J. He tries to negotiate his way around everything we ask him to do. Perhaps we have not been firm enough on follow-through with threats to take things away. On our part, we're working on that. But this kid....oy!! The other night he lost dessert (and, in fact, had to leave the restaurant early while Mr. I. finished the dessert) because he was throwing his spoon. To his credit, he tries to communicate what the problem is. But what do you do, as a parent, when he says "[Mr. J.] hold the spoon!" And then you give it to him and he chucks it at you?

Today, he and  were both really hoping to go to the pool, as we have not been in  a few days (a true introduction to "rainy season" has kind of prevented it). But.... when it came time to get ready, he refused to cooperate so I could get his bathing suit on. He would come over to get dressed, but then lay down and say "sleep!" or roll all over the bed, or just refuse to come over in the first place. After about 20 minutes of this, I finally gave up, told him he had to the count of three to cooperate, or we were going to miss out on the pool. He opted not to cooperate, so he is now having quiet time, Miss S. is napping, and here I am!

These are our only two recent success stories. More days than not, however, I feel defeated, mentally exhausted,  and like a failing mom. It's not a good feeling.

Glimmers and Reminders

Life with a two-year-old, especially life in transition, is never ever dull. Of course, "never dull" can be both good and bad.

Last night, Mr. J. was having a difficult time staying asleep. The second time I went in to comfort him, I took a cup of water with me. He proceeded to gulp down most of it. I then asked if he wanted any more, or if he was ready to sleep. He took two more sips, then said to me, "Sleep. Mommy need a kiss for [Mr. J.]." I had no choice but to oblige, as my heart was in a sticky puddle of goo on the floor. He settled fairly quickly after that.

Today, on the other hand, has been a wonderful "two-year-old" type of day. An innocent visit to my grandparents' house resulted in 45 minutes of tantrums when we had to leave and he could no longer play the "plano" (piano) with Great-Granna. After he finally cooled down enough to eat and then take a nap, the day went much better.

It is during days like today that I work hard to remind myself of those little glimmers like last night when he is sweet as candy dipped in maple syrup and coated in sugar, because those moments make it all so worthwhile.

The Passions of Children

Over the past two years and two months, I have had the distinct priviledge of watching Mr. J. grow from a baby boy into a little person with likes and dislikes. His very favorite things are trucks, dirt, pushing buttons (both literally and figuratively, as he is, after all, two), trains, coloring, running, jumping, and anything that resembles a ball (base-, basket-, foot-, and soccer-balls all rank equally at the top).

In an effort to be good parents, we have been trying very hard to indulge his passions, as much as we reasonably and safely can. We have been reading about trucks for a few months now, specifically from The Construction Alphabet Book by Jerry Palotta and Rob Bolster (2006).

Today, we were provided the ultimate experience to indulge very many of the things that this particular little boy adores. The Touch-a-Truck event was put on by Big Brothers and Big Sisters as a fundraiser. They arranged for trucks and wheeled-things of many sorts (ranging from a tractor, a dump truck with plow attached, and a rig with a low-bed and excavator to haul to a fire truck, police cars, an ambulance, and a bus). Kids were invited to climb on the trucks, explore (within safe reason), and test out the drivers seats.

Mr. J. thoroughly enjoyed himself, trying out each driver's seat, and telling me that he was going to drive us to lunch and then to the car wash. As we have been reading this book for months now, I was at least as excited as he was to see so many of these trucks up close!

But, as mother, more exciting to me was getting to see my sweet little boy get to see these giant trucks and machines up close. He astonishment at the size of the tractor wheels, his surprise (and slight fear) when the tug of a cord led to honking a very loud horn. Testing out the driver's wheels and getting to decide where we were "going" in each vehicle, and getting to be in the bucket of a cherry-picker.

I am convinced that the best part of parenting is getting to watch your child be delighted over and over again.