I am fairly confident that I could write blog just about the adventures of going to the grocery store with small children.
I have committed that I will grocery shop with the kids during the week so that it doesn't take away from our time as a family on the weekends. Throughout the 4 1/2 years we have gone through many phases at the grocery store (baby phase = easy, and so on) and there are a number of experiences that stand out. I may have to go into the 'grocery store archives' to share them. It is ALWAYS an adventure.
Gavin has reached a really fun phase at the grocery store. I use fun with a lot of sarcasm. Busy might be a better descriptor.
Two weeks ago he learned how to stand up in the cart. While strapped in the front. Have you ever tried to adjust the straps on those things? Bad things have happened to those straps. They are sticky and grimy. He has short little legs, he gets them under him... and up he goes. Unless I can manage to adjust the straps. Adventure #1.
Last week, once the cart got pretty full.... Gavin started to turn around and throw things out. I have to mention that I go to the grocery store with a really good attitude and it had me cracking up while trying to tell him 'no'. It just makes for an adventure - and LOTS of commentary from fellow patrons.
Today he was managing to grab things off the shelf to inspect (don't worry, he got to the throwing things out of the cart later). He got quite upset when I took them away. He screamed through 2 isles, which probably bothered the other shoppers more than it bothered me. Four and half years of shopping with kids has made me pretty immune to that. I opened a box of crackers and gave him one. He proceeded to smash it into pieces and put it in the diaper bag - guess he didn't really want that. I should think about cleaning that out....
Last week was a favorite for the grocery shopping archives. The kids were really ready to leave and our checker/bagger person was exceptionally slow. They were fussing, so I was doing the standard mom things and telling stories, flipping them upside-down, etc, etc to keep them engaged/not lying on the floor screaming. A bit tiring, but part of our normal gig. The obviously-doesn't-have-small-children-clerk very sympathetically asks "Do you want me to go find someone to help you get to your car?" Uhmmm.... we were at Fred Meyer (think Wal-Mart).... not exactly a 'help to your car' type establishment. I smiled, assured him we were fine, and we were off. I giggled about that one most of the way home. :)
So, did you know they sell beer and wine at grocery stores in Oregon?
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wacky Wednesday #11: What's in your water?
I guess the more applicable question for this week is what is NOT in our water? The answer is: FLUORIDE. The water here does not contain fluoride.
I don't know if this is really a big deal. It seems to be a topic of debate if you do a google search. Ultimately what I have found is that many people do not think fluoride should be added to the water and feel that it does not actually help our teeth. Then there are other sites that claim the exact opposite.
I do know that Gavin's doctor went ahead and wrote a prescription for him to have fluoride drops (we didn't talk about this.... she just called in a prescription). I found this interesting because he is only 11 months and theoretically would still be getting much of his liquid nutrition from breast milk..... which is obviously not supplemented with fluoride (unless of course it is passed on through breast milk through the water the mom drinks that would then not be supplemented with fluoride here?!?).
Who knows? I grew up drinking well water in rural Iowa (without fluoride as far as I know) and my teeth seemed to turn out okay.
Any local Oregonians want to weigh in on this one? Or anyone else who has any thoughts?
At the moment the fluoride drops for Gavin are just sitting on the counter and we haven't given them pending further research on the subject (which I am not currently conducting in my spare time).
I don't know if this is really a big deal. It seems to be a topic of debate if you do a google search. Ultimately what I have found is that many people do not think fluoride should be added to the water and feel that it does not actually help our teeth. Then there are other sites that claim the exact opposite.
I do know that Gavin's doctor went ahead and wrote a prescription for him to have fluoride drops (we didn't talk about this.... she just called in a prescription). I found this interesting because he is only 11 months and theoretically would still be getting much of his liquid nutrition from breast milk..... which is obviously not supplemented with fluoride (unless of course it is passed on through breast milk through the water the mom drinks that would then not be supplemented with fluoride here?!?).
Who knows? I grew up drinking well water in rural Iowa (without fluoride as far as I know) and my teeth seemed to turn out okay.
Any local Oregonians want to weigh in on this one? Or anyone else who has any thoughts?
At the moment the fluoride drops for Gavin are just sitting on the counter and we haven't given them pending further research on the subject (which I am not currently conducting in my spare time).
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Four and a half
Yesterday was a big day. Elijah celebrated his half birthday, meaning he is now 4 1/2. (Marty says there is no such thing as a half birthday. I say he is no fun.) :) At the beginning of the week Elijah asked when he was going to be four and a half and it just happened to be on Saturday. He wanted to have presents, but I told him instead I would make him half of a birthday cake.
I just found a cake recipe and cut all the ingredients in half; easy enough. However, if theoretically, you were to forget to cut the amount of sugar in half.... the cake would bubble over into your oven and result in smoke billowing from the oven. Then, theoretically, you would need to scrape burnt sugar mess out of the cake pan and the bottom of the oven and start over. But I wouldn't know anything about that. Nothing at all.
Some fascinating facts about our 4 1/2 year old:
* He wants to be a firefighter and work at the factory with his dad when he grows up.
* He does not plan to ever move out of our house and wants to live with Mommy, Daddy & Gavin forever. (But even when he is a grown up he will not change G's diapers. He must think that G is going to be a baby forever).
* He is 43.5" tall and is almost 40 pounds
* He is ambidextrous (at least at this point). He writes his name, etc equally well with either hand and uses them both on a regular basis.
* He can 'read' traffic signs very well and likes to be a back seat driver. (Mommy, that sign says "Do Not Enter" so you can't go that way). He also likes to monitor my speed and compare it to the speed limit signs. (Mommy, you are going "forty-zero" and the sign says "thirty-five". You need to get a speeding ticket). He will then "write" one for me when we get home.
* He is very committed to recycling. He visited the recycling center with his preschool class in CO last fall and continues to take that trip very seriously. Before we put anything in the recycling container, he first wants to talk about possible ways we can reuse it.... which explains things like egg cartons in his bedroom.
* He is also committed to wanting to know which foods are healthy.... and then a few minutes later telling me "Mommy, I think my body is telling me that it just needs more sugar."
Overall, we think he is a pretty fun little guy. I cannot believe that he is already 4 1/2!!!!!
Other weekend fun activities included going to the local Winter Festival. We watched fire dancers, saw ice sculptures & snow sculptures, played in the Kids Tent, built a 3D dinosaur, watched the Rail Jam, listened to music, sampled local vendors.... it was a lot of fun! Earlier in the week we got dumped on with snow and school was canceled (for only the 6th time in the past 20 years). There was plenty of snow for the weekend activities.
I just found a cake recipe and cut all the ingredients in half; easy enough. However, if theoretically, you were to forget to cut the amount of sugar in half.... the cake would bubble over into your oven and result in smoke billowing from the oven. Then, theoretically, you would need to scrape burnt sugar mess out of the cake pan and the bottom of the oven and start over. But I wouldn't know anything about that. Nothing at all.
Some fascinating facts about our 4 1/2 year old:
* He wants to be a firefighter and work at the factory with his dad when he grows up.
* He does not plan to ever move out of our house and wants to live with Mommy, Daddy & Gavin forever. (But even when he is a grown up he will not change G's diapers. He must think that G is going to be a baby forever).
* He is 43.5" tall and is almost 40 pounds
* He is ambidextrous (at least at this point). He writes his name, etc equally well with either hand and uses them both on a regular basis.
* He can 'read' traffic signs very well and likes to be a back seat driver. (Mommy, that sign says "Do Not Enter" so you can't go that way). He also likes to monitor my speed and compare it to the speed limit signs. (Mommy, you are going "forty-zero" and the sign says "thirty-five". You need to get a speeding ticket). He will then "write" one for me when we get home.
* He is very committed to recycling. He visited the recycling center with his preschool class in CO last fall and continues to take that trip very seriously. Before we put anything in the recycling container, he first wants to talk about possible ways we can reuse it.... which explains things like egg cartons in his bedroom.
* He is also committed to wanting to know which foods are healthy.... and then a few minutes later telling me "Mommy, I think my body is telling me that it just needs more sugar."
Overall, we think he is a pretty fun little guy. I cannot believe that he is already 4 1/2!!!!!
Other weekend fun activities included going to the local Winter Festival. We watched fire dancers, saw ice sculptures & snow sculptures, played in the Kids Tent, built a 3D dinosaur, watched the Rail Jam, listened to music, sampled local vendors.... it was a lot of fun! Earlier in the week we got dumped on with snow and school was canceled (for only the 6th time in the past 20 years). There was plenty of snow for the weekend activities.
 |
| Gavin & me checking out the snow sculpture. Elijah was tired & grumpy by this point. |
 | |
| We stayed out past G's bedtime and he was really tired, but he needed a dry diaper before bed. He rolled over mid-diaper change & went to sleep. |
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Wacky Wednesday #10: VW Vanagon
In roughly 2004, while we were living in CO, Marty's step-brother owned a bright yellow VW Vanagon. It was pretty sweet. He gave us a 'tour' of it at some point and pointed out all the features that make it roughly the coolest vehicle ever. Soon after that he moved out of state.... and on the VERY RARE occasion that we saw a VW Vanagon we would reminisce about Marty's step-brother.
Now we know why we never saw a VW Vanagon in Colorado. They are ALL here in Oregon!!!!!
We had been living here less than a week when I commented to Marty - have you noticed all the VW Vanagons!?!? (I actually called him at work to ask this very important question since I kept forgetting to ask him in the evenings). His comment was "no, I hadn't noticed." Then again, he basically only drives to and from work each day.
So, I started to take pictures on my phone and send them to him (only while stopped, I promise). I got Elijah on board and we started counting how many we saw on each outing. I would say we average 4-6 in a trip to and from preschool (it's not that far away, folks). On one day - we saw 3 Vanagons in one round-a-bout. I kid you not.
The guy down the street owns one.
Marty sees one each day at work in the parking lot.
There is a red one that is always parked down by the library.
And we saw this (slightly modified version) on our road trip to Seattle.
Everywhere.
When I first moved to Colorado (2002) I felt like everyone owned a Subaru Outback.
In Iowa, everyone seemed to own a domestically made truck (Ford, Dodge or Chevy).
And Oregon's thing is the Vanagon.
Now we know why we never saw a VW Vanagon in Colorado. They are ALL here in Oregon!!!!!
We had been living here less than a week when I commented to Marty - have you noticed all the VW Vanagons!?!? (I actually called him at work to ask this very important question since I kept forgetting to ask him in the evenings). His comment was "no, I hadn't noticed." Then again, he basically only drives to and from work each day.
So, I started to take pictures on my phone and send them to him (only while stopped, I promise). I got Elijah on board and we started counting how many we saw on each outing. I would say we average 4-6 in a trip to and from preschool (it's not that far away, folks). On one day - we saw 3 Vanagons in one round-a-bout. I kid you not.
The guy down the street owns one.
Marty sees one each day at work in the parking lot.
There is a red one that is always parked down by the library.
And we saw this (slightly modified version) on our road trip to Seattle.
Everywhere.
When I first moved to Colorado (2002) I felt like everyone owned a Subaru Outback.
In Iowa, everyone seemed to own a domestically made truck (Ford, Dodge or Chevy).
And Oregon's thing is the Vanagon.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
We all cried, then we got chocolate donuts, and now it is okay.
We really wanted to get out of town, so last weekend we took a little road trip to Seattle. It was a lot of fun to get out of town and to see our good friends, Tony, Allison and their 3 beautiful kids. Here are a few photos from the weekend.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I've missed blogging this week because the whole week was just off a bit. Not our 'normal' schedule.
Here is the scene on Monday (Elijah needed a blood draw - all is well, no worries or concerns):
I told Elijah that if he made good choices he could pick out a 'special treat' at the grocery store. The lab person asks E to sit in the big chair, then asks me if I want to hold G or E. Knowing that E will remember this and G will not, I hand G off to another nurse.
By this point, E is crying and screaming "I don't want to be here! Get me out of this place!" G instantly cries/screams/big tears when I hand him off to the nurse.
I am sitting in the lab chair, E on my lap. They want me to hold down his legs with my legs and I am also in charge of holding down his right arm. Another gal is holding down his left arm and then tech is drawing the blood. The entire time, he is screaming and crying "I don't want to be here! Get me out of this place!!!!" G is also screaming/crying. And eventually I join in with tears streaming down my face as well. It was awesome. I think E was more traumatized with everyone holding him down than he was with the actual blood draw.
I am not sure what qualified as making good choices for a 'special treat', but I guess at that moment it was just that we all survived.
As we are checking out at the grocery store, the clerk comments that Gavin is very cute. Elijah chimes in at that moment (as he usually does when it comes to talking to random people) with this:
"That is my brother, his name is Gavin. My name is Elijah. I just went to the doctor (pulling up the sleeve of his shirt to reveal the blood draw location) and they took my blood. We all cried, my mommy did too. Then I got to pick out these chocolate donuts and now it is all okay."
He had the attention of the checker, the bagger, and the patrons/checker in the next isle, who are all looking at me empathetically. We leave the store with him singing "I got chocolate donuts and now it is okay." Do other people's kids do this? Thankfully it doesn't bother me at all.... just makes for some funny stories and interesting glances.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
R.S.V. = Really Sick Baby
Then to add to the 'off-ness' of the week, G woke up on Wednesday with a cough and fever. By Friday it turned into cough/fever/wheezing. A quick trip to the doc revealed that he has RSV. I can see why kids are hospitalized with this stuff. He is really sick. We are getting a lot of snuggle time from the little guy, but he is just miserable. :( We're praying that he'll make a quick recovery and we can continue to avoid having to take him to the hospital.
 |
| Leaving the ferry to head into Seattle. |
 |
| At the aquarium. Gavin was determined NOT to take a nap and did not want to miss anything. Cracks me up. |
 |
| Elijah & me @ the aquarium. |
 |
| Tony, Matea & Daniel |
 |
| Elijah on the ferry |
I've missed blogging this week because the whole week was just off a bit. Not our 'normal' schedule.
Here is the scene on Monday (Elijah needed a blood draw - all is well, no worries or concerns):
I told Elijah that if he made good choices he could pick out a 'special treat' at the grocery store. The lab person asks E to sit in the big chair, then asks me if I want to hold G or E. Knowing that E will remember this and G will not, I hand G off to another nurse.
By this point, E is crying and screaming "I don't want to be here! Get me out of this place!" G instantly cries/screams/big tears when I hand him off to the nurse.
I am sitting in the lab chair, E on my lap. They want me to hold down his legs with my legs and I am also in charge of holding down his right arm. Another gal is holding down his left arm and then tech is drawing the blood. The entire time, he is screaming and crying "I don't want to be here! Get me out of this place!!!!" G is also screaming/crying. And eventually I join in with tears streaming down my face as well. It was awesome. I think E was more traumatized with everyone holding him down than he was with the actual blood draw.
I am not sure what qualified as making good choices for a 'special treat', but I guess at that moment it was just that we all survived.
As we are checking out at the grocery store, the clerk comments that Gavin is very cute. Elijah chimes in at that moment (as he usually does when it comes to talking to random people) with this:
"That is my brother, his name is Gavin. My name is Elijah. I just went to the doctor (pulling up the sleeve of his shirt to reveal the blood draw location) and they took my blood. We all cried, my mommy did too. Then I got to pick out these chocolate donuts and now it is all okay."
He had the attention of the checker, the bagger, and the patrons/checker in the next isle, who are all looking at me empathetically. We leave the store with him singing "I got chocolate donuts and now it is okay." Do other people's kids do this? Thankfully it doesn't bother me at all.... just makes for some funny stories and interesting glances.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
R.S.V. = Really Sick Baby
Then to add to the 'off-ness' of the week, G woke up on Wednesday with a cough and fever. By Friday it turned into cough/fever/wheezing. A quick trip to the doc revealed that he has RSV. I can see why kids are hospitalized with this stuff. He is really sick. We are getting a lot of snuggle time from the little guy, but he is just miserable. :( We're praying that he'll make a quick recovery and we can continue to avoid having to take him to the hospital.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
"That's how I roll, Mommy."
"That's how I roll, Mommy" and "Because I am the king of the goof-balls" are Elijah's standard non-answers these days.
As in, I say "Elijah, why are your markers all over the floor?" Insert one of those two answers. Non-answers, really.
This morning it was:
Me: Elijah, do you know your shirt is on backwards?
E: Yes. I like it that way..... because I am the king of the goof-balls.
Add some baseball pants and snow boots and this kid is ready for preschool!
On days like this, I kind of want him to wear a sign that says "I dressed myself. My mom knows that my shirt is on backwards but has decided that this is not an issue that affects my safety or well-being and is allowing me to express myself."
But instead I just drop him off at preschool, say nothing, and figure that his teacher (and the other parents with children who obviously have more fashion sense in their self dressing or just don't dress themselves and put their clothes on backwards) either realize that he dresses himself - or possibly believe that I am neglectful parent. Oh well... I'm sure they can't really call CPS because my kid wears his clothes backwards. :) I guess I'm just saving the "You are not leaving the house in that" discussion for the teenage years.
And just for fun, some of Gavin's adventures:
As I was getting lunch ready today, I saw G get in the pantry. I saw him pull out the Life cereal box and examine it carefully (this is Elijah's FAVORITE cereal, so I'm sure G has seen it and wondered what it was all about). I assumed (incorrectly) that there was no way he could get the box open, the bag open, and get something out of the box.
I turn my back for a moment and uhmmm.... I was wrong.
Turns out, Gavin also really enjoys LIFE cereal. It is not something I would have though he could chew up.... obviously I was wrong. :)
As in, I say "Elijah, why are your markers all over the floor?" Insert one of those two answers. Non-answers, really.
This morning it was:
Me: Elijah, do you know your shirt is on backwards?
E: Yes. I like it that way..... because I am the king of the goof-balls.
Add some baseball pants and snow boots and this kid is ready for preschool!
 |
| Stylish. Adventures in self-dressing. |
 |
| Nice, huh? Looks like he is all ready for backwards day - but it is just a regular old day! |
But instead I just drop him off at preschool, say nothing, and figure that his teacher (and the other parents with children who obviously have more fashion sense in their self dressing or just don't dress themselves and put their clothes on backwards) either realize that he dresses himself - or possibly believe that I am neglectful parent. Oh well... I'm sure they can't really call CPS because my kid wears his clothes backwards. :) I guess I'm just saving the "You are not leaving the house in that" discussion for the teenage years.
And just for fun, some of Gavin's adventures:
 |
| Adventures in self-feeding!!! Mac-n-cheese and avocado chunks. Good stuff! |
As I was getting lunch ready today, I saw G get in the pantry. I saw him pull out the Life cereal box and examine it carefully (this is Elijah's FAVORITE cereal, so I'm sure G has seen it and wondered what it was all about). I assumed (incorrectly) that there was no way he could get the box open, the bag open, and get something out of the box.
I turn my back for a moment and uhmmm.... I was wrong.
Turns out, Gavin also really enjoys LIFE cereal. It is not something I would have though he could chew up.... obviously I was wrong. :)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Wacky Wednesday #9: 8/7C
Did you ever wonder just WHY television programs are broadcast an hour later on the East & West coast? (In case you didn't know, Mountain time *generally* follows Central time for TV programming).
Somewhere in my childhood I came up with the idea that everything was broadcast an hour later because people were living in places like New York City or Los Angeles and their lifestyles made it so they stayed up later. So, basically I envisioned the entire population on both coasts as young, single, working professionals who ate dinner at fancy places and didn't come home until late at night - and then they wanted to watch their TV shows. These people must have then stayed up until all hours of the night and gone into work at 9am or something. And basically, I haven't given it another thought since.
Well, we are now in a coastal time zone and amazingly we don't fit into the mold I designed as a child.
In December I was thinking it would be fun for Elijah to get to watch some of the Christmas specials. They all started at EIGHT! 8 o'clock is extremely late for us to be starting a TV program for our 4 year old (he is morning kid - it is not uncommon to see his smiling face before 6am).
So, WHAT IS THE DEAL????
First off - it isn't a simple equation. 8/7C means a different thing depending on what channel you are watching. Really. Here is the breakdown I found:
Scenario 1 (E!, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network):
How in the world would anyone ever know what time a show is going to be on based on the commercial? I totally don't get it. This must be why there are the wonderful on screen TV Guide things.
<Inserting a side note here: We watch very little TV. Living in Oregon is actually the first time that I have had cable TV, so it is my first time with the on screen TV Guide (except maybe in my college dorm room?!?). Sometimes Elijah will say his favorite thing about Oregon is the TV: "Diego is on here!!!!!" If only he knew that we could get Diego in Colorado, we just chose not to. I'm so not telling him that..>
This still doesn't answer the question of WHY? This is the best answer I could find (from stupidquestion.net)
Most network programs are fed from the Eastern zone (New York or Washington). In the early days of prime time, shows were live and would be literally repeated for reception in each time zone. Once transmission by wire came in, however, it was cheaper for Central zone stations to pick up shows live from Eastern, thus getting it only an hour earlier (due to the time zone shift).
But the Pacific zone's three-hour time difference was big enough that they had to tape everything and run it later, which they did according to the normal Eastern schedule.
With a two-hour difference, Mountain also had to tape shows, and chose to show them at the same one-hour delay that Central used.
So, there you go. You now know.
It turns out that there is ONE show Marty and I have been following over the last year: Parenthood. It was on Tuesday nights 9-10p (Central/Mountain time). It is now 10-11p.... which means it is now on hulu.com. There is no way I am staying up until 11p to watch a TV show.
Happy Wacky Wednesday!
Somewhere in my childhood I came up with the idea that everything was broadcast an hour later because people were living in places like New York City or Los Angeles and their lifestyles made it so they stayed up later. So, basically I envisioned the entire population on both coasts as young, single, working professionals who ate dinner at fancy places and didn't come home until late at night - and then they wanted to watch their TV shows. These people must have then stayed up until all hours of the night and gone into work at 9am or something. And basically, I haven't given it another thought since.
Well, we are now in a coastal time zone and amazingly we don't fit into the mold I designed as a child.
In December I was thinking it would be fun for Elijah to get to watch some of the Christmas specials. They all started at EIGHT! 8 o'clock is extremely late for us to be starting a TV program for our 4 year old (he is morning kid - it is not uncommon to see his smiling face before 6am).
So, WHAT IS THE DEAL????
First off - it isn't a simple equation. 8/7C means a different thing depending on what channel you are watching. Really. Here is the breakdown I found:
On Major U.S. Networks, 8/7 Central Means:
- 8 Eastern
- 7 Central
- 7 Mountain
- 8 Pacific
- 7 Alaska
Scenario 1 (E!, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network):
- 8 Eastern
- 7 Central
- 9 Mountain
- 8 Pacific
Scenario 2 (Nickelodeon, AMC, Lifetime):
- 8 Eastern
- 7 Central
- 6 Mountain (Except Arizona)
- 8 Pacific
Scenario 3 (A&E, MTV, VH1, USA Network):
- 8 Eastern
- 7 Central
- 6 Mountain
- 5 Pacific
How in the world would anyone ever know what time a show is going to be on based on the commercial? I totally don't get it. This must be why there are the wonderful on screen TV Guide things.
<Inserting a side note here: We watch very little TV. Living in Oregon is actually the first time that I have had cable TV, so it is my first time with the on screen TV Guide (except maybe in my college dorm room?!?). Sometimes Elijah will say his favorite thing about Oregon is the TV: "Diego is on here!!!!!" If only he knew that we could get Diego in Colorado, we just chose not to. I'm so not telling him that..>
This still doesn't answer the question of WHY? This is the best answer I could find (from stupidquestion.net)
Most network programs are fed from the Eastern zone (New York or Washington). In the early days of prime time, shows were live and would be literally repeated for reception in each time zone. Once transmission by wire came in, however, it was cheaper for Central zone stations to pick up shows live from Eastern, thus getting it only an hour earlier (due to the time zone shift).
But the Pacific zone's three-hour time difference was big enough that they had to tape everything and run it later, which they did according to the normal Eastern schedule.
With a two-hour difference, Mountain also had to tape shows, and chose to show them at the same one-hour delay that Central used.
So, there you go. You now know.
It turns out that there is ONE show Marty and I have been following over the last year: Parenthood. It was on Tuesday nights 9-10p (Central/Mountain time). It is now 10-11p.... which means it is now on hulu.com. There is no way I am staying up until 11p to watch a TV show.
Happy Wacky Wednesday!
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