Ryleigh's new toy

Ryleigh is obsessed with slides... almost as obsessed as she is with swings. So with a stroke of genius (or stupidity, I'm not sure which) we decided to buy her a slide. Stupid because we already don't have enough space/storage in our apartment. But, the slide was 5$ off craigslist, and we couldn't pass up the chance to let Ry have some fun.

Getting ready

That's a look of excitement, not fear, you see on her face....

See? She went back for more. Again... and again...and again :-)

Finally a positive update

We met with the nutritionist today and I finally left a doctor's office feeling hopeful.

We got a lot of supplements, and other ideas on how to add the extra calories Ryleigh needs to her diet. I am thankful for the nutritionist's help on learning how to give Ry more calories and fat, but in a healthy manner.

I was surprised that we actually need to be more strict about meal times. (I've always thought I was too strict, now I hear I have to be even more strict... crazy). I never expected to hear the nutritionist tell us that if Ry doesn't want to eat her dinner then we are supposed to just take her away from the table, and just allow her to not eat dinner! I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that I have been doing well as far as not being a short order cook, and just making tons and tons of different foods until Ryleigh finds something she wants (at least I'm doing something right here!).

We have to always have super fattening foods in the house, such as heavy cream. And I will have to learn how to make things like regular mashed potatoes for us, and extra-fat mashed potatoes for Ryleigh. It seems like a whole lot more work, and a ton of extra money to stick to this Ryleigh-friendly diet, but somehow we will have to make it work.

I am glad that it seems like Ry just has a calorie defecit. It seems like a very easy fix to this very stressful problem!

We have a regular pediatrician appointment on the 11th, at which point we will see if her weight improves.

Oh, the sweetest thing

For some inexplicable reason, Ryleigh calls me Me-me. I have no idea why. I've always referred to myself as Mama, or Mommy. And she can say both of those words, but when left to her own accord she says Me-me.

I have to admit, I kinda like it. It's different, and sometimes other people don't realize that she is asking for me when she says it, but I like that my daughter has her own special name for me :-)

In other news, Ryan swears that Ryleigh can now say, "I love you". I have yet to hear it though, despite prompting her a millions times a day. haha.

Child development psychologist

There are days when I feel like I psychologist, observing Ryleigh and trying to figure out explanations for why she does the things she does.

Take Apple Jacks for example. She had her first taste of Apple Jacks yesterday. I gave her a handful, and she scarfed them down. It took about 2 seconds for her to start asking for more. However, she only ate the green ones. She had a pile of orange Apple Jacks sitting on her tray, but she wouldn't eat them.

We've suspected for a while that she simply just prefers green foods over anything else. She will choose peas over carrots, for example. Well apparently the same rule applies to food that is a different color, but is still exactly the same taste. It took her a while to try the orange ones, and finally this morning I think she realized they taste the same. haha.

I also realized that although she now knows the word "treat", she doesn't really know what qualifies as a treat. This morning she asked for a treat, I handed her some more cereal, and it was sufficient. :-)

An attempt at optimism

I have been having a very hard week. Let's just say it's from too much stress and drama and not enough friends shoulders to cry on.

Normally I like to whine and complain but I am going to try and be positive here.

Right now I am so mad at my apartment.... again. So in an attempt to feel better I've decided to highlight the only thing I do like about our apartment.

The breakfast bar.

I absolutely love it. At times when I've got Ryleigh on one hip and I'm trying to get dinner on the table I love that I can stand in the kitchen, put all the dishes, glasses, and food on the breakfast bar. Then I can hop over 2 baby gates, go into the dining room, and proceed to take everything off the bar and set it on the table.

If it wasn't for the breakfast bar I would have to attempt to jump over 2 baby gates, while holding a baby, and juggling things like big huge, heavy skillets. :-)

Fool us once...

So I don't know whether it's due to budget cuts, or sheer laziness but the NJ state police have taken to leaving unoccupied patrol cars on the side of the highway. They will park them in places where you would expect a patrol car to be hiding to catch you speeding, but then after everyone hits their breaks and you drive by the car at a snail's pace you will realize there's not actually anyone in it.

I have to admit it actually is a good idea.... at first. I admit I drove by and checked my speed the first few times. But, after seeing the car parked in the same exact spot for about 2 weeks now, and never seeing an officer in it, I barely even glance at my speedometer in a panic. I also noticed today that no one else was hitting their breaks, thinking they were about to get pulled over. We've all got it figured out!

So, to the state police I say, "fool us once, shame on you, fool us again and again?.....not gonna happen". :-)

NH is calling

Right now I am longing to move.

Today I feel like I want to move to the mountains. I want to be able to go kayaking, or canoeing, or swimming, or hiking, or fishing whenever I want. I hate that just to go swimming it has to be a big huge production of packing bags, packing food, driving, unloading, etc. I want to be somewhere where I could just walk down a little path and have a lake just sitting there begging me to jump in it.

I think it would be so wonderful to live out in the middle of nowhere. I wish I could give Ry a childhood full of bare feet outside, without worrying about cars, and stupid neighbors. I would love to have a peaceful place to sit outside and read a book, without any interruptions except by animals out in nature.

::Sigh:: I think I need to get up to NH soon!

You know you're a mom if....

... you're rushing to cook dinner, while putting groceries away, feeding the cat, preparing a snack for your child, and trying to get ready for a soccer game all at the same time..

Geez, talk about multi-tasking

Uh-oh.... I've created a chocoholic

This weekend I may have let Ryleigh eat one too many peanut butter cups. But it was a holiday, so I made the exception. Usually I am very anal about her eating only healthy things because I want to teach her from a young age how to eat properly. I thought that one weekend of exceptions was okay, but boy was I wrong.

This morning Ryleigh was eating her cheerios when she spotted the big bag of Easter candy. She looked at me and said, "please", and I said no. Then she asked again, and again....so I gave in and told her she could have one when she was done with her cheerios.

This was the first time I have ever bargained with my daughter using candy.

I swore to myself I would never do that. I said I would never let her even know what candy is in the first place, so that she continues thinking fruit is dessert (Yes I know that was totally unrealistic). I also swore I would never bargain with my child because I am the parent and I set the rules, and there is no lee-way there.

Sigh: Failure before breakfast is over does not sit well in my stomach.

I know it's not a huge deal, and I'm sure all moms compromise, but I still don't like doing it.

fresh veggies, coming soon....

Here's a picture of my "garden". I planted 7 different types of seeds... only 4 actually grew. But, considering this is the first time I've ever really planted anything I'd say the results aren't too bad.

You can only really see 2 things in this picture, the other ones are still pretty small. But I've got romaine lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, and basil growing pretty well.

They're tough little plants. One of them got beat up when our patio chair got blown by the wind and crashed into it. They've also survived a couple days of rain because I forgot to bring them inside, oops.