Where in the World?

The other night, Sydney passed gas. I said, "Oh! What was that?" She replied, "A hiney pop!" Where in the world does she get this stuff?

Happy Spring!

I temporarily lost my mind and thought it was a good idea to take the kids to get their pictures taken. This was not a good idea. First, I think it is impossible for Sydney to sit still and follow directions when we're in the portrait studio. I've tried everything from bribery to timeouts. As for Cole, he used to be good at it. He'd just sit there and smile like an angel. Well, now he can crawl and stand. So - we get him exactly where we want him, and he takes off. It's like herding cats. Anyway, here are the two best pictures from this shoot.

'Tis the Season

Often, I am reminded of how lucky I am to have so many mommy friends. Three years ago, right after Sydney was born, Nina suggested I go to the Loudoun Hospital new moms support group. In my wildest dreams, I could never have guessed that that group would lead me to meet such wonderful mommies and create long-term friendships - not to mention great little friends for Sydney! Our group is still surprisingly active (I think most groups tend to fizzle out after a year or so). We have about 30 members and continue to meet on a regular basis for playgroups, mommies' night out, and other activities. Along the way, most of the mommies have had second babies (some are working on number three!), and we have continued to be a support group for each other as we raise our second children together. Anyway, because we all joined the group at about the same time, our first children have birthdays very close to each other (within four or five months). And 'tis the season for birthday parties!

Over the past several weeks, we've been lucky enough to be invited to some birthday parties. Here are some of my favorite pictures from these awesome celebrations.

Cupcakes - Sydney's favorite part of birthday parties.

Even Cole gets to have fun at the parties!

This party was especially fun - here's Sydney "racing" cars.

Complete exhaustion - mommy's favorite part of birthday parties.

Happy birthday to all our BFFs! Here's to many more years of celebrations together.

Lemon Garlic Tilapia

A couple weeks ago, a friend suggested I should use the microwave to cook fish. I had never heard of such a thing. I mean, I realize it could be a possibility, but I never seriously considered using the microwave to cook fish - or really any other dinner entree for that matter. Anyway, on her suggestion, I purchased a package of tilapia fillets from Wegmans last week. The fillets are frozen and individually wrapped (about 4 ounces a piece). For lunch, I took one of the fillets and put it in a bowl of water to defrost. It was defrosted and ready to be cooked in about 10 minutes. At that point, I put it in the microwave on a plate and pushed sensor cook for fish. It was ready in about a minute. That was about the easiest thing ever! The fish was well cooked, delicious, and the kids loved it!

Tonight, I continued my fish party by making lemon garlic tilapia. This was so good, it is possibly the best fish I've ever had. We'll definitely be making this again - soon.

4 T butter
Juice of 1 lemon
2 t garlic
parsley
2 tilapia fillets

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Salt and pepper the fillets and place them in a baking dish. In a saute pan, saute the remaining ingredients. Pour the saute mixture over the fish and bake for approximately 14 minutes. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Aunt Jodi

Aunt Jodi's birthday was this week, and again she didn't want to celebrate. But - we made her, and I think she may have enjoyed herself. Although the party itself had been planned ahead of time, the timing was a little last minute (surprise!). We had Jodi's favorite: sloppy joes. And - although I didn't have time to make her preferred ice cream cake, we did have devils food cake cupcakes with mint cookie ice cream. Yummy! Sydney colored Aunt Jodi a very nice card and made her a series of video happy birthday messages. Sarah got her mom some really nice pansies... I almost had to keep them! Happy Birthday Aunt Jodi - we love you!

3-Year Check-Up

I still can't believe I have a three year old! Just look at those long legs! We headed to the doctor's office this week for Sydney's 3-year check-up. She is such a chatterbox recently. She'll talk to anyone and everyone. Usually, she starts off most conversations by informing whoever it is she's talking to that she is a princess. Anyway, when the nurse called her from the waiting room, Sydney immediately informed her that she's a princess. After that was established, she weighed in at 31 pounds. I nearly passed out! I didn't think there'd be any way she was going to break the 30-pound mark. Then, she was measured and came in at 39 inches tall, which wasn't so surprising - she tends to be among the tallest in her group of friends. The visit was pretty boring after that - except that the doctor confirmed that Syd's recent coughing, dripping nose, and watery eyes are from seasonal allergies. He also said that she's a pretty healthy kid given that we only visited him once since her second birthday! Not bad!

A Sample Menu

We've made it almost a week giving Cole a rotation diet. Here's how it's gone:

Wednesday: Chicken and wheat
Thursday: Beans and rice
Friday: Pork and oatmeal
Saturday: Beef and quinoa
Sunday: Egg and barley

For proteins, we still need to try lamb and fish. For grains, we need to try millet and flax seed (although I need to double check with the allergist on this one). I guess we could also do buckwheat. Anyway, switching up the protein and grain at least every three days is not as hard as it sounds. I can give him unlimited fruits and vegetables, so that makes things a little easier. I have a couple questions into the nutritionist about how I can use beans. Although I'd love to use them as a protein on bean protein day and a vegetable on other days, I doubt I can... but I asked the nutritionist just to be sure. This is definitely a learning process!

We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, here's a picture of my sweet, sweet boy:

Feed Me!

This week, I met with a nutritionist to discuss a food plan for Cole. We've been having trouble because of his multiple allergies, so I thought a nutritionist might be able to help me come up with a plan to ensure that he receives a balanced diet with everything he needs from a nutritional perspective. The discussion didn't go exactly as I expected. The nutritionist had asked me to send her a summarized medical history and a 3-day food log before our discussion. When I called at the specified time, she could not find the document I sent, which upset me (she's not cheap). She had read the document and was able to find it, but it didn't start things off on the right foot.

I had expected she would simply look at the food log and inform me of what was missing from his diet. Instead, she said that she thought Cole was showing signs of a disorder called eosinopilic esophagitis (EE). EE is an allergic flammatory condition of the esophagus and occurs when white blood cells are present in the esophagus. In children, the most common symptoms are abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, coughing, and failure to thrive. EE is thought to be caused by acid reflux and allergies. For unknown reasons, men are more commonly affected than women, and it is most commonly found in young boys and men. EE is usually diagnosed using endoscopy.

Cole did have an endoscopy back in September, and EE was not mentioned. The nutritionist said that it was probably too early to diagnose. Anyway, the crux of EE is that once a patient starts eating and getting used to a particular food, the body basically starts to develop an allergy to it. To try to trick Cole's body from doing this, she suggested that we start a rotation diet in which we rotate his protein and grain at least every three days. For example, if he eats chicken and wheat on Monday, then he can't have chicken or wheat again for three days. So, on Wednesday, we did chicken and wheat, Thursday was rice and beans, and Friday was pork and oatmeal. Tomorrow will be beef and quinoa.

She made other suggestions, including avoiding vaccines for the next 18 months and creating a homemade rice milk formula to replace Alimentum. I don't necessarily agree with the vaccine suggestion (he only has one set left anyway), and although I wouldn't mind making his formula from scratch, the formula recipe she suggested includes coconut milk, which I'm not supposed to give him because of his peanut allergy (she didn't seem to think it was a big deal - I disagree). Regardless, I think I'll try the rotation diet and skip the other two suggestions (at least for now).

We'll see how this approach works. I took Cole to the doctor this week, and he weighed in at 21 pounds - 37th percentile - not horrible, but not great.

Pappardelle with Baby Spinach, Herbs, and Ricotta

Here's a light, vegetarian pasta dish for Lent! Tom said it was delicious - even though it has parsley, which he strongly dislikes.

8 ounces uncooked pappardelle (I used fettuccine)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/3 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
3 cups baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
3 tablespoons grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Cook pasta with 1 tablespoon kosher salt according to package directions, omitting additional fat. Drain in a colander over a bowl, and reserve 1 cup cooking liquid.

Combine 1/2 cup reserved hot cooking liquid and ricotta cheese in a food processor or blender, and process until well blended.

Combine hot pasta, cheese mixture, spinach, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss gently to coat. Add additional cooking liquid to moisten, if needed.

Original source: Cooking Light

Cowboy Spaghetti

I love recipes that offer us variety at dinnertime. These days, I make almost every meal we eat, and so I am thrilled to find a new recipe that is different from our usual fare. This recipe fits the bill. Also, it's a Rachel Ray recipe, and you can't go wrong with her food!

1 pound spaghetti
Salt
1 T olive oil
3 slices smoky bacon, chopped
1 pound ground sirloin
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
Ground black pepper
2 t hot sauce (I was a wimp and only used 1 t, and it wasn't enough)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c beer
1 (14-ounce) can, chopped or crushed fire roasted tomatoes
1 (8-ounces) can, tomato sauce
8 oz sharp Cheddar
4 scallions, chopped

Heat a pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and salt the water. Cook to al dente or with a bite to it.

Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and bacon. Brown and crisp bacon, 5 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon. Drain off a little excess fat if necessary. Leave just enough to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add beef and crumble it as it browns, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onions, garlic and stir into meat. Season the meat with salt and pepper, hot sauce and Worcestershire. Add 1/2 cup beer and deglaze the pan. Cook 5 to 6 minutes more then stir in tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Add hot spaghetti to meat and sauce and combine. Adjust seasonings and serve up pasta in shallow bowls. Grate some cheese over the pasta and sprinkle with scallions. Garnish with crisp bacon.

Original source: Rachel Ray

Time for Some Professional Assistance

So - this week, I was all excited to give Cole some new foods. Friends and family made some suggestions on new foods to try, and I had some ideas of my own. We tried blueberry and cinnamon raisin bagels, olives, soy yogurt, and tofu. The bagels and olives were a huge success. Unfortunately, the soy yogurt and tofu were an epic fail. In fact, after months of not puking at all, Cole puked both times I gave him soy. So - I have reason to believe he has at least an intolerance to soy - if not an allergy. For those playing along at home, his official list of allergies includes peanuts, bananas, and milk. In addition, the allergist wants us to avoid tree nuts and sesame. Add soy to the list and how we're supposed to avoid any other foods that have been processed in a facility that processes peanuts, bananas, milk, tree nuts, sesame, or soy, and you can probably guess my problem. I feel bad because he has no variety in his diet. He gets mostly beans, vegetables, rice, bread or bagels, and chicken. So - I sent a couple e-mails last night asking for recommendations for a nutritionist. I figure a professional could help us come up with a menu that meets his nutritional needs and gives him some variety. I should hear back from his GP on Monday with his suggestions, and then I'll start making some calls. Keep your fingers crossed.

Three Lovely Ladies

We had quite the girly playdate the other day. Check out these three lovely ladies! Ella (in her hollywoods), Avery, and Sydney are all big girls at 3 years old. In fact, they have a lot in common: they all have little brothers, enjoy eating gummy bears, and like to wear stuffed-animal purses (check out the sequin-clad poodle purse Syd is sporting). It was fun watching them play together. They were so well behaved, taking turns and sharing. For a moment, I thought maybe we have moved from the terrible twos to the terrific threes!

Paaar - taaay!

Our little girl is not so little anymore. This past weekend, she turned 3! To mark the occasion, we hosted two parties: one with our family and one with some of Syd's friends. The family party was Sunday morning and included mostly adults. We were especially lucky to have Damare and Kenan as surprise guests! We ate waaay too much food, Syd enjoyed waaay too much cake, and there were plenty of presents. A perfect, civilized birthday celebration.

Civilized is not the word I would use to describe Monday's party. Monday's party was for Syd and some of her friends. Unfortunately, there was a limit to how many guests we could host, so we couldn't invite all our friends, but we still had a blast! We ended up hosting 22 toddlers at a local bounce house. Wow - was it fun and loud and crazy! Syd couldn't stop talking about all the fun she had bouncing and sliding down the big slides. She was a maniac while it lasted.

Happy birthday to our perfect little girl! We love you more than you'll ever know.