Sunday 27 January 2013

Falling for yourself

Picture it...

Penelope toddles up to giant mirror in The Bay.

Penelope makes faces at herself in said mirror.

Penelope gets distracted by her own reflection.

Penelope falls face first (straight legs) into mirror.

Either forgetting she was supposed to be standing or trying to give herself a kiss?

Either way she's now got a big red mark on her cheek *snort*


Is this normal for a kid to just fall straight over? She did it the other day but fell backwards like in the trust exercises we used to do as kids in drama class.

Friday 25 January 2013

duck duck goose - toilet games with a toddler

Have you ever tried using the washroom with a toddler? It's a little bit like duck duck goose. You turn around and around until you can eventually catch them unaware, bop them on the head and sit down quickly. 
Now try doing that in a public restroom. Trying to keep them passive for the duration of your visit to the porcelain throne is hard work but usually possible. 

Unless you get the trots. 

Once you're 'shituated' (sorry I couldn't resist) it's not like you can get off the toilet to coerce them not to crawl under the bathroom stall door and take off with the first friendly looking stranger. So, you frantically root through the diaper bag looking for a toy, a book, a snack... anything to occupy your little explorer until your body has concluded its evacuation.

Of course if you're like me, you forgot to fill the snack trap, the books came out on the car ride to the store and in your haste to get to the washroom in time, there they remain on the backseat and you're pretty sure that cute little wooden truck fell out in the parking lot as you attempted to rush inside with a toddler who - only when it's inconvenient - insists on walking everywhere on her own.

So, after you have attempted to give a puppet show with diapers, and had a tea party with a water bottle and an empty Tupperware container, and you only need 2 more minutes, when you find that stale, broken, MAGNIFICENT cookie at the bottom of the bottom of the bag, you weep just a little.

Now, you are the mama who is hidden in the stall with your toddler who is happily munching away on a cookie while you cry tears of joy and you thank the gods it's not Montezuma's revenge. 




Wednesday 16 January 2013

A toddler's favorite word

A toddler's favorite word:

no
 [noh] adverb, adjective, noun, plural noes, nos, verb.

adverb
1.
(a negative used to express dissent, denial, or refusal, as in response to a question or request) Often delivered by those between the ages of 18 months and 18 years.

noun
2.
an utterance of the word “no.” usually by small children to drive their parents crazy.
3.
a denial or refusal: He responded with a definite no. Most often said by a child who doesn't want to do something their parent(s) have suggested, and often repeated in sequence by children in their toddler years.

verb (used with object)
4.
to reject, refuse approval, or express disapproval of/to express disapproval, generally towards the suggestion of ones parents.


The internet is such a valuable source for information. And by internet, I mean you being on it... I am calling for your tips on how YOU deal with the allusive temper tantrum. How do you deal with these insanely fussy moments and the illustrious NO?

Sunday 6 January 2013

Adventures in play dough making

This weekend we embraced our inner DIYer parents. You know the kind. They make felted animals, sew their kids clothes, fill out their handcrafted baby journal on a regular basis and construct play kitchens out of old entertainment units. Seriously. This is a thing. Haven't you been to Pinterest

Crap. Come to think of it... that kitchen is next on our list. I admire these people. Time is one thing, you can always make yourself find time; I have no idea how they find the energy. I think in the end you just need to get off your ass and just do it. As with most things that don't involve a glass of wine with a great book, motivation is key. 

For our DIY adventure, we decided to start by making play dough. It was surprinsingly easy after our first two failed attempts. Those may not have occurred if we had normal flour in our hourse. We bake with spelt, chickpea, coconut, etc. flours... luckily we had some cake a pastry self rising flour left over from the last cake I made during the holidays. 

The problem with this is it has baking soda and salt already added. This  little quandary lead to us perusing the interweb for a recipe using self-rising flour. One site told us to just mix it equal parts water and flour. yeah. ummm. dough. it made dough. the sticks-to-everything-including-your-fingerprints kind of dough. 




We decided to go with the initial recipe I got from a friend and said salt ratio be damned. It turned out really well if you omit the little chunks from our momentary lapse of continuous stirring.  


The one thing we weren't expecting was for our amazingly curious and resilient daughter to be scared. She was more than a little apprehensive about the colorful stretchy substance. She actually ran away from it at one point. I think the pink offended her.

Eventually she came around, realizing it wouldn't bite, and it entertained her for hours (on and off of course) through the afternoon. 
















I'm excited for our next batch and to play around with natural food colorings. Know of any really great ones? I hear beets make for amazing purple.

Oh, and if you want to give it a whirl... here's the successful play dough recipe:

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons cream of tarter or ( 1 tablespoon powdered alum)
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons vanilla
food colouring
Mix all dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until reaching consistency of mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and add vanilla and food colouring. Divide into balls and work in colour by kneading. (wear gloves, colouring stains until it is mixed into dough)

And, if you have any brilliant tips for helping the dough last longer, be sure to leave a comment below!


Tuesday 1 January 2013

Balance and the death of a DJ

It's said the way you spend your New Year's Eve is how you'll spend the next year. Last year, I welcomed 2012 surrounded by friends, dancing more in one night than I had in the months leading up to it, and ingesting a substantial amount of alcohol. It was my first party night sans bebe. Just after midnight, a friend of mine and I made our way back to our significant others for kisses and the reminder that even though we have families, we're still able to tear up a dance floor. It was a night of struggling to find a balance between the two. 

2012 was a year of finding balance within. 

I learned how to set boundaries for myself and for those in my life. I traveled to Europe with a baby on my back and reaffirmed that I'm capable of anything. The most important thing I learned was to listen to myself. To let go of fear and follow my own path. Not the path I began a journey down when I was 18 but the one I am meant to be on now. I left radio after 15 years. And I started writing again.

Leaving my career has been the most pivotal change I have made in my life, next to deciding to have a child. I walked away from the first thing I was ever truly passionate about. Because I wasn't passionate anymore. So many factors came into play when deciding to shift my life so drastically. I won't bore you with a long list of reasons. Just know I don't regret it for a moment. Although, I do really miss the dental. 

While I continue to feed new passions, I am learning that there is so much more to me than being the radio chick; the girl with the "easy job" (if people only knew). Just as 2012 was about ensuring I was self identifying as more than just a new mom, 2013 will see me embracing the death of a DJ and the discovery of my authentic self. 

2012 was an incredibly challenging year for me and I don't anticipate this year to be any less so, as I continue to shift, change, evolve and develop into the amazing and passionate woman I know I'm capable of being.

Much like last year, we rang in 2013 with a combination of family, toddler friendly events, music, fizzy drinks and laughter with friends. Although finding a balance wasn't quite the struggle it had been a year prior. Here's to peace within, embracing change and accepting the challenges which will inevitably allow us to grow.



Happy New Year!
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