Vegan Goodness:
Today we ate . . .
- Breakfast: Smoothies for Mom and LP followed by oatmeal-apple panckaes
- Mom snacked on peanuts, pretty much throughout the day.
- Lunch: Leftover peanutty pasta – so yummy that Mom had TWO servings!
- Mom and Dad finished off chocolate bread during nap time.
- Dinner: Basil-eggplant stir-fry over brown rice with a side of lemon tofu
- Mom and Dad had hot chocolate with (peppermint schnapps!) after both kids were asleep.
Money Matters:
Today we spent the following:
- $2.43 for LP’s nightlight
- $15.93 for the G-man’s new pillow
- $69.45 for a Costco stock up on baby wipes and some groceries like crushed tomatoes, bananas and avocados.
Tuesday Toddler Update:
Today was a relaxed day for us. No plans, no playgroups-in-the park. Just a day to chill.
I love these days. These are the days when it is easy to ask LP what he wants, and then to simply do that. This morning Dad slept in and the baby rested in the swing while we made blueberry smoothies (at his request). When I asked what he wanted for breakfast he said “pancakes” and he also couldn’t get enough of our CSA apples. There is a easy fix – Oatmeal-Apple Pancakes! LP and I hung out and chatted about the merits of tomatoes and maple syrup as we ate our pancakes.
Later, Dad came downstairs. He and LP played with Legos in the back room while I took a shower and fed IP. Then, LP and I headed out. We were going to go to the park, but when we got down the street LP asked to “go uphill, go see trains, might see train.” So, we walked up to the train tracks. Luckily, right when we got there there was a train coming! I held LP up so he could see the train driving by. He asked if we could walk farther down the street so that we could see “mike trucks” (his name for all construction vehicles – his favorite book for a while was Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. We had no plans and there was no rush, so we walked the long way home, past Tufts and past some awesome “mike trucks.” When we crossed the train tracks again we saw another train – so exciting! Then, we walked through Tufts and saw two more “mike trucks” – both with “scoops.” LP wanted to go and see one up close, so we did, although I did have to keep him from getting inside to drive! As we were walking back up to the side streets there were two paths – one that was dirt and one with some stairs off to the side. He very clearly told me to take the stairs while he walked up the dirt path. He wanted to me to also walk on the other side of the street from him, but I told him he had to wait until he was a teenager for that.
As we made our way home we saw a fire trucks (with “blinking lights” as LP pointed out) and fish in a little koi pond. At many points along our walk LP and I discussed the vehicles and animals we saw, and he liked to point out places where there had been interesting things in the past (like the driveway that he saw getting paved a few days ago, or the house where a dog lives). We were pretty much having an ongoing conversation, occasionally punctuated with a round of “itsy-bitsy spider”
Later that night LP was having a little trouble falling asleep, probably because we had just put a nightlight in his room so that he would have a little more light at night. I went up and he asked me to lay down with him for a while. We cuddled and he asked about baby IP going out in the car. I think it was his version of “when is the baby going away?” We talked a bit about how she wasn’t going away and I told him that Mommy and Daddy loved him very, very much. We snuggled a bit more and then I tucked him back in, he blew a kiss good night, and then I closed the door.
Days like these are special. It’s time to stop and enjoy our lives together. It’s time to remind LP that we love him and want to spend time with him. It’s time to validate feelings and provide comfort in the middle of our busy lives. I cherish days like these.
