With Both Feet

Eliana is at the age where she is doing something new each day (or several new things a day), copying everything, and changing so fast.  One of her latest tricks is jumping.  Real jumps off of the floor with both feet going up at the same time.  It's pretty funny, but not when she tries to do it at the top of the small set of steps in our entry.  (This is where the kids love to play the most.  It is like a playroom.  We think it is because there is no furniture to get in the way, and there is a carpet to roll on.  What is funny about this is we don't wear our shoes in the house because it keeps dirt from outside to a minimum-theoretically-and this is directly related to my OCD issues.  So, of course, they like to roll around on the carpet where everyone comes in and walks before they get their shoes off.  Let's call it therapy...and sorry about this long self-centered monologue when I'm trying to talk about a major accomplishment of my third child-which Mike reminded me the other day that I have three kids, not two, as I said in a post a couple of days ago.  Thanks, honey!  We are such a great team-between the two of us, we usually have all three of our offspring covered.) Does anyone remember what I was talking about?  Right.  Eliana.  So back to huge steps in motor skills.  Well, jumps actually.  Here are some funny pictures of her in action.  Please excuse all of our moving "noise" in the background.  I tried to crop some of it out, but I couldn't get rid of it all.  Too bad I can't crop it out in real life.  That would be so handy!  Unpacking would be a breeze. Coming down... going up... so proud... in the air... a little skip just to switch it up a little... back down... She looks a little scary in those coming down pictures.  It's like those slow-motion moments from the Olympics when the runners are pounding out their final strides and their jowls waggle back and forth while they are concentrating on that finish line with such an intense expression.  Can't you see the remarkable similarity? She is so fun to watch-she knows she's doing something that is a big deal.  She growing too fast!  I really need someone to tell her to cut that out, because she's not listening to me.   See?  Already acting like a teenager!

The Blues

A little sunshine in the midst of a storm... "Where did it go?" (the picture I took) "I don't know!" Her big blues help me when I've got the blues. She's a sweetie.

Lunchtime

I got out some blueberries mid-morning because I needed to do something with them before they became trash.  Michaela got a bee in her bonnet about making something as well, and decided on "Pasta and Trees" by Rachael Ray.  So we got the water on to boil, the broccoli cooked, and the blueberries set out for muffins (did I hear someone say,"Unpack..."?  Please!  I have blueberries to rescue!).  I was holding Eliana all the while, and she was taking in all of our activity.  Michaela began breaking the broccoli into smaller bites, and I measured some of the blueberries into a small bowl.  Suddenly Eliana started chanting,"Bite, bite!"  I looked at her and looked at her choices... I couldn't imagine she wanted either thing, really.  This is the girl who refuses to touch a strawberry, a sweet potato, a pea, an apple...surely she did not want broccoli.  And she consistently rejects blueberries as well. She continued her chant, however, and so I held up a piece of broccoli.  She took a little bite out of the middle of the floret, and I just knew it would be returned for a full refund immediately.  She chewed it a bit, and then opened her mouth for the rest of the piece I had in my fingers! I looked at her closely to see if she really was Eliana, or some secret agent baby infiltrating my home to spy on all of my housekeeping/home managing (in)abilities. I found no wire taps, or double secret video recorders on her person, and concluded that this girl was indeed my own child, however mysterious she was behaving.  She called out,"Bite!  Mo-ey (more)."  So I gave her another little floret... She ate it so fast, I couldn't get a shot of it in her hand.  But I promise it was there!  Look, you can see a tiny bit of it sticking out of the corner of her mouth.  She ate several more, and I was shocked.  Speechless.  Amazed. Meanwhile, Michaela was busy with her recipe.  She got the butter and the olive oil ready, and waited patiently for the pasta to cook so that we could mix all the ingredients together. The finished product was good, a delicious lunch that we prepared together.  What fun. My muffins had to wait; they made it in after I ate my "Pasta and Trees" and they came out a bit overdone.  I am learning a new oven...this one seems to run hot.  Also, I have yet to find a blueberry muffin recipe that is great.  They don't taste quite right.  Maybe it needs the optional lemon zest, or maybe it's not chocolate therefore it doesn't suit my palate.  And chocolate blueberry muffins do not sound like the answer.

Yogurt Is Good For You

I feel good about our choice to feed Eliana yogurt every day, and it is one of her favorite things to eat.  She has had yogurt as the main part of one meal (almost) every day since she was six months old-she loves whole milk, plain yogurt. Most people know there are many healthful benefits that come from eating yogurt daily.  The good bacteria that yogurt is famous for, those "live and active cultures", helps with a host of different things.  You might hear about microflora, probiotics, and healthy immune systems.  Beyond the strains of good bacteria you'll find that yogurt is also a good source of protein (for energy and muscle growth), calcium (for bones and teeth), vitamins B-2 and B-12 (cellular stuff, brain and nervous system benefits), potassium (for muscle performance, fluid balance, heart and kidney function), and magnesium (important for bones and muscles).

Additional research is under way on the, so far, lesser studied effects of yogurt, those that don't get as much press.

The yogurt facial, for example. Does it leave the complexion smooth, evening out wrinkles and fine lines? Does it aid skin's natural elasticity, tightening and firming around the eyes and mouth?

What about the benefits for hair; does it increase volume and shine?  Does it maximize growth potential, or possibly delay the growth of gray hair?

This is an ongoing study and all helpful results will be publicly disclosed as soon as they are attained and adequately substantiated. While there are many proven gains from eating yogurt, its additional values are yet to be definitively understood. This research shows, however, that science is at work to reach that understanding.

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

I feel like we are going backwards with Eliana and her sleeping patterns...at the beginning of this year I could put her down at night and leave the room and she would go on to sleep.  It was so nice (and early!  7:15 or so) and I had plenty of time to get my other kids ready for bed and read to them, before beginning my nightly clean-up and anything else I had in mind to accomplish. Somewhere along the line (it's always fuzzy, that somewhere place, isn't it?) she became very clingy at night and I stupidly lovingly obliged her sweet hugs and stayed in the room with her until she fell asleep in her bed.  This was fine and I still could get the others to bed, but over time the whole bedtime thing just got later and later; it took longer and longer. Now she can make herself stay awake forever, and she wants me to hold her ("Hold you!  Hold you?"she says over and over, and it's pitiful), and she'll scream and she's sad and she's mad, and I think,"What should I do?" Many might say,"Just leave the room."  Well, we've just moved.  We're in a new house, and things are not in their proper place yet.  We've had late evenings.  My parents just left.  There are some things that are very unsettling in her little life, and I don't want to do something that will cause her great fear or anxiety (athough I did put her through swimming/floating lessons...).  I want her to eventually like lying down in her bed and getting cozy with her blanket or bear or doll. Sometimes she will lie right down and look at her books in her bed, and talk to me a little.  She might want me to hold her for a minute, give me a big squeeze, a little kiss, and then she'll snuggle in.  I never know on any given night which way it will go. Tonight it was the crying, clinging route.  I held her for a while and told her how sleepy I she was, and all the sweet things I always say at bedtime.  She didn't buy any of it.  Her money was on dragging this out as long as she could.  She fussed; I got exasperated.  Things weren't going well... So, I sang.  I'm no Julie Andrews but my kids like it when I sing.  I started singing Jesus Loves Me and she got very quiet and put her forehead on mine.  When I finished the song she said,"Jesus?"  I asked if she wanted me to sing it again and she said,"'gain."  So I did...and as I softly sang those simple words I listened to them myself.  "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.  Little ones to him belong; they are weak, but he is strong.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so." Those words, so simple but so powerful, calmed my own spirit down.  My tension eased a little.  I held Eliana as I sang her those words, and listened with my heart to their beautiful message.  I needed that reminder myself.   I am little, he is great; I belong to him.  I am weak, he is strong; I can rest in him.  And yes, he loves me.