Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Potty Training

All I can say is I am happy I have a washer machine with a 'sanitary' cycle.

I wouldn't say it is going bad. She (for the most part) will tell us when she needs to pee. She runs into the bathroom before we go to her daycare room in the morning and before we leave the center at night. She is all about wiping and flushing (I DO!) and washing her hands. She tries her best to put her 'panties' on in the morning (although we need to work on one leg per hole) and knows she only wears a diaper at night.

She will not, however, tell us when she needs to poop. Sigh. I know she knows what she is (or in this case isn't) doing. David watched her change her teddy bear's diaper because it was 'dirty' and he 'didn't tell Ma'line potty'. She had him get her some wipes, had him help her put the diaper on the bear. She even told the bear he needed to tell her when he needed to go potty. TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE!!! :)

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Our First Harvest


Madeleine and I go out to the garden every other night or so to see if it needs watering and to see if any of our vegetables are ready for picking. We were happy to see that we had a zucchini to pick the other night. Yeah!! Our first vegetable!

I helped her pick it and then she insisted on carrying it back into the house to show daddy. She showed it to him and then was carrying it around the kitchen. I started making supper.

A few minutes later, Madeleine came by and put the zucchini up on the counter. I glanced at it but didn't really look as I was trying to get supper together before she started diving into the cabinets.

David came by and picked up the zucchini ... and asked me what happened to it.

Hmmmm. Didn't look like that when we picked it! Upon closer inspection I noticed the drool and the fact that the little holes are actually bite marks. I guess someone couldn't wait to taste it!

I am also happy to see that my Hydrangea is actually blooming this year. We moved into this house 4 years ago (almost to the day!) and the following spring I planted the bush. This is the first year that I have had any blooms. They ended up being pink; I am debating whether or not I want to mess with the pH of the soil to try and get blue blossoms next year.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Adventures in Cooking

I am slowly but surely getting back into the swing of cooking after the kitchen. Hey, 5 months without a kitchen - I need to ease back into cooking!

I try to make dishes that will provide us with leftovers we can eat over the course of the week since we really get home too late to cook a proper meal before Madeleine needs to get her bath and story before bed. A couple of years ago I bought some cedar planks with the thought of using them on the grill. I wanted to try them this weekend and salmon was on sale at the grocery store ... all I needed was the recipe.

I remember seeing a recipe for cedar plank salmon in an old issue of Cooking Light. I searched the website and found a different one instead - Cedar-Planked Salmon with Barbecue Spice Rub. Seemed easy enough, soak the planks, make a rub, rub the fish and cook. Bonus, it was in an article entitled 'Grill Once, Eat Twice' with the second meal being tacos. Easy yet we technically aren't eating the same thing again.

I was standing at the sink chopping the vegetables for one of our side dishes, Cabbage and Corn Slaw with Cilantro and Orange Dressing, when I noticed it was pretty gray outside. Actually it was very gray out one window. Wait - it isn't gray - that's SMOKE!

I flew downstairs to the grill and smoke was just pouring out of it. Visions of charred salmon were dancing in my head and I was already planning a replacement meal of scrambled eggs and bacon. I opened the grill and there sat my two pieces of salmon, on their respective planks, completely surrounded by fire. If I hadn't panicked at the thought of supper going up in flames I would have taken a picture before trying to rescue the salmon. Literally, they were surround by a ring of fire. Whoops, maybe I didn't soak them long enough.

Eh, regardless of the fact they almost went up in flames it was a very tasty supper. I rounded out the meal with Springtime Pasta Salad since I am a huge fan of dill and Madeleine is an olive fiend. She even polished off the salmon I gave her. Of course, she called it chicken ... but she ate it!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Adeventures in Potty Training

I am really trying my best to get on track and post a couple of times a week but the days just seem to get away from me!

David started back at physical therapy this week so that is a good thing. The only appointment we could get one day this week was 8:15. Since I knew we couldn't get Madeleine up to daycare and then drive downtown to the hospital I figured we'd have breakfast in the cafeteria while we waited for him.

Everything was great. We were sitting at the table sharing some scrambled eggs, a biscuit and fruit (OK, I wasn't getting any of the fruit) and she was chatting up a storm about ... something (I'll admit it - I don't get 1/2 of what she says sometimes). All of a sudden she stand up on her chair and starts yelling:

'"Mommy! Mommy! Potty mommy! Poopy! POOPY! POTTY!"

As one can imagine, this loud announcement was made just as there was a lull in the conversations around us. I heard a few giggles. As any mom who has gone through potty training knows, she says she has to go and you go. NOW. I closed up our container of food (HA, I knew I was being smart getting a take-out container) and a nurse pointed us in the direction of the nearest rest room, which wasn't all that near.

Let me start by saying public rest rooms gross me out. I really hate them and it makes queasy thinking about all the public rest rooms we will be visiting during this potty training experience. Despite my pleadings, I cannot get Madeleine to stand still and not touch anything. She has to investigate and touch everything. Everything. Blech.

Good mom that I am, I got her in the tiny bathroom, covered the seat with toilet paper, got her skirt and pull-up down and actually got her to hold onto me and not the toilet (blech). Then we waited. And waited. Nothing.

"Madeleine, don't you need to use the potty?"

"No mommy, Ma'line just tooted"

Sigh.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

It's all about the sharing!

Nothing exciting for supper here tonight - basic tacos, but Madeleine was excited to see that I bought pudding at the grocery store. She and David will often share a cup of pudding for dessert.

Tonight David opened it up and as usual let her lick the lid. Her gave her a spoonful then went to take a spoonful for himself:

"No, Daddy. Sophie next."

He looks at me. Goes to put the spoonful of pudding in his mouth.

"No, Daddy. Sophie next."

She wanted Sophie in on the sharing. Too funny. She was pretty emphatic that Sophie was also getting pudding and I'm guessing Sophie didn't mind in the least. David wasn't too thrilled he had to share the puddig with someone else too.

In case anyone was wondering, Sophie got her pudding on the lid. :)