Riley and Avery

We all went to Barnes & Noble today, and I was perusing the latest issue of Mothering Magazine, even though I had already read it before, and wrote down a link to the World Heath Orginization's growth charts for children. The WHO uses breastfeeding as the global norm, as opposed to the charts in our doctor's offices which use formula-feeding as the norm. Formula-fed babies gain weight faster, so breastfed babies should not be held to these standards. I don't really need my children compared to the obese American children. So according to the WHO's charts, Avery is in the 50th percentile (as opposed to 15th on American charts) for weight, and just under the 50th percnetile (as opposed to 25th on American charts) for lenght. So maybe Avery isn't so small after all. Anyone who needs a little enlightenment on this issue or wants to chart their child on breastfed-child charts can go to www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/en. Just a warning, the data is in cm and kg. Length in inches x 2.5 equals centimeters and weight in pounds divided by 2.2 equals weight in kilograms. I can't find a recent picture of Avery and don't have the patience right now to look harder.

Riley's second day of school went off without a hitch. Again, she didn't cry. Not that I wanted her to cry, but a little would have been okay. I guess that's what attachment parenting is supposed to do. It's really weird that Riley now has a part of her life that I'm not part off. Rudi came with us to pick up Riley, so he finally got to see the classroom. I've always liked the Montessori approach since studying educational theory in college. The kids think that they're playing, but the teachers guide them in the activities which are richly educational. There's more information at www.montessori.edu if anyone cares to take a look.

Riley had no luck yesterday meeting new kids. We went to a toy store/bookstore that has a huge play castle in the back and a ladder that goes up to a loft. Riley climbed up the ladder, but the girl sitting at the top wouldn't move to let her up. I asked the girl to move (she was about 4yo) and she gave me an attitude. I thought I was going to smack her. Then Riley was playing with a toy sheep and the girl comes to me and says that Riley took it from her, so I took it from Riley and gave it to the girl. Rudi told me that Riley actually had it first, the girl took it from her and the girl's mother gave it back to Riley, and then the girl comes up to me. Sneaky little brat. Then we went to the library and Riley was playing on the lego table and another girl comes to play, and Riley says hi and do you want to play with me and do you want to be my friend, and the girl says don't talk to me and don't bother me. What a bad day for the newly friendly Riley. I hate to see her shot down like that.

I have been so incredibly tired lately, probably a combination of a new diet that I haven't perfected yet and a breast infection. Desperate, I put on PBS for Riley to watch a show and was shocked to see commercials! They had an advertisement for the Little Mermaid and the Weebles, like we need to see Disney absolutely everywhere. I guess PBS can no longer be a haven for parents who don't want their children exposed to excessive commercialization and mindless consumerism. Thanks probably to the ruthless Republican cuts in PBS funding. Thanks a lot!

Rudi went grocery shopping for lunches and stuff for him to eat at work next week, and I thought that since we don't have any food in the house, he'd buy something that I could eat too. No such luck, the only thing I could eat that he brought home was chips and salsa. That'll be great for breakfast tomorrow.

Some kid in our neighborhood has a gas-powered little motorbike and every kid over the age of eight takes a spin on it. It sounds like a loud lawn mower. That's the soundtrack of our evenings and weekends. I hope the thing falls apart soon. I'm such a grinch. What happened to good old fashioned people-powered bicycles?

So today was little Riley's first day of school at Golden Mountain Montessori. Drop-off and pick-up apparently occur in the playground, which helps with departure. That way they can "network" and become occupied with the other children. Riley just gave me a hug and a kiss, told me that she didn't want me to go to work, I said that I wasn't going to work, and that was that. I just left and she didn't cry at all. The teachers said that she had a really good day, only crying once when she fell down. They said that she played with a girl named Aspen and had fun painting and playing. Riley absolutely didn't want to go home. I'm not sure that Thursday will go as well, since as I was trying (unsuccessfully) to put her down for a nap, she told me that I was never going to go home without her again. So we'll have to see. Wouldn't you know, though, when I get out the camera to document Riley's first day of school, the batteries were absolutely dead. After dropping her off I went to Walgreens to get a one-time use camera, so the pictures aren't that great.



Grandma sent Riley a song in honor of her first day of school, the Dixie Chicks "Lullaby." Riley has listened to it about a dozen times. It's funny because she sits in the chair and watches the computer monitor while listening to the song.

Riley and I made some absolutely delicious vegan strawberry-coconut scones yesterday. Working at Starbucks and looking at pastries that I can't eat, made me try this recipe out (http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=300). Riley had a ton of fun mashing up the strawberries and sprinkling the scones with sugar and coconut. I used soy yogurt and soy creamer, and no eggs at all. The dough was extremely sticky, so I had to put flour all over it to cut the pieces. I know that I'm supposed to add extra flour since we're at a high altitude, so I'll do that next time. Maybe that's why it was so sticky. No matter, they were delicious.














I tried to take some portraits of Avery in her leg warmers today. I should have known better than to even try with a disposable camera, but here they are anyway. I'll try again once we get batteries for our camera. A big kudos to Amy T. for the idea on how to make these leg warmers! They sure make diaper changes extra easy, and look snazzy enough to take her out in public wirh just a onesie and the leg warmers. Sure beats buying the same exact thing online for $12.

We had a rather busy day yesterday. First was down to the DMV to finally get my driver's license replaced. I lost my license almost four months ago, so it's about time. Rudi still can't get his because his birth certificate is in German and we cannot find his naturalization papers. I looked on the INS website to order replacements of his naturalization papers and they cost $220, so that's pretty much out of the question. He'll just have to look harder to find them.

Then we went down to Fort Carson to get military ID cards so that we can use the commissary and exchange. They totally search every car coming in. We had to get out and show ID (which I had just gotten, so that's good), car insurance, and title and registration. Then we had to open all the door and the hood and they inspected everything. No easy thing entering a military base in "wartime." We will register to get special stickers for our cars at a later time so we don't have to go through that again. The commissary was awesome. Not really that big, but they had stuff that regular grocery stores don't have, even some ethnic stuff (mostly German and Japanese) that even natural stores don't have. I finally found memmi sauce for the butt-load of sommen noodles that we have. And their prices were cheaper than Walmart. A gallon of name-brand milk was less than $2. It was weird going back on base after so many years. Rudi thought so too. Soldiers were running around in full gear and weapons (I initially called them "guns" and Rudi corrected me), which I really don't remember seeing before. All bases seem to smell and look the same. We didn't get to go to the exchange, so we will do that after the 1st when we have more money, since both girls need new clothes. I also felt weird being there, since I don't support the war (any war except in the event of invasion or to stop genocide or mass-murder), although I'll go on record to say that I support the troops. So bring them home.

Now that dairy, eggs, and peanuts are out of my system, it I have even one peanut or cheat just a little and eat a teensy-weensy bit of dairy, Avery has an immediate reaction. I guess that her system got accustomed to the constant influx of allergens that no one exposure caused a major reaction. So no more cheating. An update on my caloric intake, I only consumed 1100 calories yesterday, and that included a big bacon classic from Wendy's (no cheese or mayo) that I certainly don't normally eat. We'll see if I can eat more today.

Riley is taking pictures with the camera, making that flash go off repeatedly. Thankfully there's no film in the camera. I am running out of current pictures to post, so I'll have to take more soon. Not having a digital camera, I have to take the film in for processing and have the pictures put on a disc and then download them at home. We found a mystery roll of film in Rudi's car, which can't be that old since we've only had the car for a month. It's probably from our camping trip.

We all had our doctor's appointments today. When we parked at the office, Riley said, "I'm not so sure about this." Avery weighs a little over 17 pounds (15th percentile) and is 27 inches long (25th percentile). Her head size is off the charts. Riley is a little over 36 inches and 31 pounds. The doctor gave me a sheet that explained where Riley should be developmentaly and it said that she should be able to use 2-word phrases. Ha! I wish she only used 2-word phrases. I'm not telling how much I weigh, but I'm 5'2". Avery got three shots, which don't seem to bother her at all now. All developmental milestones are normal. Turns out, I am supposed to be consuming 2400 calories a day being a nursing mother. If I ate from dawn to dusk there is no way I'd be able to eat that much. I seriously doubt that I consume much more than 1200 calories a day. Maybe I'll keep track. But probably not. Of course while we were in there with the nurse, Riley says "I eat a lot of cookies. I eat cookies all day with Daddy. I eat cookies all the time. I eat so many cookies!" Not really what you want your toddler to say while you're at the doctor's office. I got blood drawn for a thyroid function since those problems run in the family. Riley was really concerned about that, telling the nurse that she didn't want her to hurt her mommy.

I worked yesterday and Rudi took them to Borders and to the mall. All was well until they got home, but still that's better than it has been. Riley did have a fit at the mall, saying that she wanted to nurse, so Rudi had to give her the bottle that Avery refused to take. She didn't drink it, just hugged it. Pretty sad. Avery had a Little Swimmers on when I got home. I'm wondering how long Rudi can manage to avoid the cloth diapers. I swear, one day I'll come home and she'll have napkins stuffed in her pants or something.

Rudi and Riley are at the video store, so we'll see what they come home with. Avery is getting tired, so I think I'll try to put her down before they get home...

So I followed doctor's orders and after eliminating dairy for two weeks, I added some back in my diet to see what reaction Avery had. I ate a small piece of lasagna with cheese and put half-and-half in my coffee. Avery's face broke out and she was rather fussy. So I guess that is that. I was starving today for something of substance, so I make jambalaya rice with polish sausage. I also made my family's salat, which Rudi raved over (unlike the time I spent hours making butternut squash that he didn't end up liking). Rudi called out of work today with a headache, so it was up to me to take the girls grocery shopping. I had to take Rudi's car since Avery's car seat was already in it and his car had gas. I forgot to bring a sling for Avery, so she had to sit in the cart (not in her carseat). She was so proud of herself sitting there, smiling and holding onto the handle bar. It was so cute. I got her the Gerber fruit puffs, and she absolutely loves them. I know that I need to feed her solid foods more often, but the milk that I pump usually is given to Rudi to feed her while I'm at work. I really need to step-up my pumping and go back to freezing it in the ice cube trays.

Riley has become so affectionate of late, especially when I am trying to get her to sleep. She keeps saying "I love you so much," and "you're the best mommy in any world." And then I'll say "I have the best girls in any world" and she'll say, "oh, thanks!" And this compliment exchange will go on for fifteen minutes or more. Today Riley was a momma giraffe and sometimes a baby dog (named Barky). At one point, for some reason, she filled her mouth with water and spit it on Rudi, and when I asked her if she said sorry, she said "no, because doggies don' say anything." And when I asked her why she was eating a bowl of peanuts with her face, she said because dogs don't have hands. She's in a total fantasy world. Speaking of peanuts, Riley was shelling them on the kitchen floor and when she was done, she left them there. And of course I freak out and tell her that peanuts would make Avery really sick, and I got a glimpse of what the rest of my life is going to be like.

Avery has her nine month check-up on Thursday, complete with shots and everything. I also have an appointment with the same nurse practitioner, since I haven't had a doctor since my pediatritian told me that she couldn't see me anymore when I was twenty years old. Riley is also establishing care, since she needs a form filled out for school. I am interested in seeing if Avery has broken the 50th percentile curve.

Rudi is running around looking for a band-aid and I'm pretty sure Riley used them all (all of her animals have one on) so I'll have to go and see if I can scare up a band-aid.

My working yesterday went a bit better for Rudi. I made dinner for them to eat after I left; teriyaki salmon, stuffing, and leftover veggies. That way I knew that Riley would be fed. Riley was absolutely perfect for Rudi, but Avery screamed. She took the expressed milk and ate cereal, but still screamed. I am starting to suspect bananas, because this happens every time I give them to her, but I've never heard of anyone being allergic to bananas, so maybe I'm wrong. Riley mashed up and fed Avery bananas yesterday absolutely all by herself. It was really cute, and really messy. When I came home yesterday Avery was wearing one of Riley's old pull-ups. Rudi is really trying to avoid the cloth diapers. He didn't bring them in to Starbucks, so I missed them. He also didn't answer the phone because he left it in the garage, so I had no idea what was going on. That sucked.

In the world of make-believe, Riley is a mamma frog today. Avery has perfected the pincher grasp and is so incredibly dainty it's fun to watch her. Riley has become quite fond of vanilla soy milk, although she pronounces it "gorilla milk." It's amazing how long a quart of milk will last us now, about a week. We used to go through at least five gallons in a week. Of course, no milk in the house means no cookies in the house, and Rudi's not too happy about that.

The weather did get a little cooler and Rudi and I are finding that we really have no clothes for the girls. It's getting hard to find pants that fit over Avery's bottom and long-sleeved shirts for Riley that don't show her tummy. I guess when we get paid we will have to head over to Old Navy for some fall shopping. Plus, Riley is starting school next week and I don't want her to look like an orphan.

So we did manage to go to Happy Apple Farm today, and Riley and Avery had a blast. The apples were mostly picked out and the raspberry patch was closed, but the pumpkin patch opened today and Riley really really loves pumpkins. The only real apples left were Jonathans, which are good for baking, and I know that I am not going to bake them, but Riley had a lot of fun filling her little bag with them anyway. She enjoyed the hay ride to the orchard and the pumpkin patch, and Avery like gnawing on her own little apple. The drive out to the farm was beautiful. Nothing like a drive through the mountains to remind me of why we moved to Colorado. And I scored some fresh apple cider, so I'm quite happy. The farm was absolutely crawling with children and Riley didn't want to leave. They're having a Halloween something-or-other next month, and I promised Riley that we would go.

Rudi had another trying evening with the girls. Riley was napping when I left for work, but she was perfect when she woke up. Avery, by Rudi's account, screamed the whole time, so he decided to bring them in, which made Avery happy, and caused Riley to melt down. Seems like the poor guy just can't win. Rudi says that the girls are too attached to me, and so on and so forth. I know that my practice of extended breastfeeding and cosleeping, and responsive parenting in general, is best for our children, and any children for that matter, and it's easy to place blame for separation problems, but shouldn't a child become distressed when separated from the mother who's been with them every minute of their lives? As the only caregiver to the girls, I made every decision about their rearing, and by working part time, I am giving some of my power over to Rudi, whose opinions about parenting have to be honored somewhat. I don't know if working part time and receiving a little paycheck is worth that compromise. Maybe I'm being a control-freak, but I think that I've done sufficient research to ensure that I am making the best choices for my children. Rudi did manage to clean the kitchen really well, but he didn't feed Riley and didn't change Avery's diaper. I'd feel really bad if I had to quit Starbucks so soon, but I may not have a choice. I have to work again tomorrow and Rudi said that he is not going to bring them in, since that seems to set Riley off. We'll see if that approach turns out any easier. This is the first time that I've had to work two days in a row.

Ah, the last days of summer. Today is in the 80s and tomorrow is supposed to be 79 degrees, then into the 60s and lower. There is already snow on the mountains. Tomorrow I plan on taking the girls to Happy Apple Farm to pick raspberries and apples and go to their pumpkin patch. Should be fun if the weather's nice, and it's supposed to be.

Riley has begun a cute/annoying phase where she is never just "Riley." She is always a mamma giraffe, a mamma spider, a baby bug, a duckling (sometimes ugly, sometimes not), and today she's been a crab for most of the day. If I call her "honey" or "Riley" she says, "I'm not honey, I'm a...(insert animal of the day)." I always have to be on top of what she is at any given moment.

Rudi brought home a pizza yesterday. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment. Riley is eating some right now. It was hot and I had to pick it up and blow on it, which meant that the forbidden pizza was very close to my mouth, and I had to resist the tempation to take a huge glop of cheese off of it. I went out for coffee last night and asked for soy milk to put in it, and for some reason the girl gave me a separate cup of soy, so I put some in my coffee and had some soy milk left over. I didn't want to throw it away, so I drank it, and to my surprise, I actually liked it.

I changed Avery's diaper and let her crawl around naked to air out, and I am still shocked by how small she is. The cloth diapers make her look so much more substantial. When she was in disposables, she was still in a size 2. She has a little no-butt. Those of you who have a picture of Riley naked in the grass at 6 mos. old can compare it to this picture of Avery at nine months. What a difference.

So, I'm on day six of my dairy-free and egg-free diet. So far so good. It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be. I only really have to modify my diet, but when Avery is older and really really wants a cookie from the store, I will probably have to tell her no, and that will be difficult. Now that I know for sure that she is allergic, it makes the changes easier to handle. Before when I tried to give up dairy, it was difficult because I didn't really know if she was allergic or not. Avery is already a much happier baby. She laughs and "talks," things that she really didn't do much before. She is sleeping better for the most part. She is still a little clingy, but not as bad as before. I know that the dairy is still not totally out of my system, but the progress is promising. Avery is also at a difficult developmental stage, with separation anxiety, teething, and the frustration with the gap between what she wants to do and what she is physically able to do. She is definitely a little explorer now and likes to pull up on anything and everything, making messes along the way. She also likes to play tug-of-war with whatever Riley is playing with, which as caused many a fight. Riley just doesn't understand why Avery can't be told "no" and gets really frustrated which usually ends in physical injury.

A funny little side story on Riley. In the middle of the night, I hear Riley get up and go in the bathroom and I hear one of the drawers open and close. I kind of drift off back to sleep until I become aware of slight motion from Riley. So I look over my shoulder at her, and she's laying there with a Q-tip in her nose. She says, "don't bother me, I'm picking my nose with a Q-tip." And I thing "by whatever means necessary" and go back to sleep.

Riley is not handling my return to work very well at all. Avery is getting better, taking breastmilk from Daddy, but if she hurts herself, nothing will console her. Rudi brings the girls into Starbucks for my 10 minute break so that I can nurse them, and it is usually this time that Riley breaks down. She obviously cannot handle seeing me there and not having free access to me. She also will not go to bed anytime soon after I come home from work and she wakes up frequently during the night really whinny and really demanding, so we've had some really bad nights and early mornings. Hopefully it will get better, otherwise I will have to quit. I got my first paycheck from Starbucks and I really liked it. Even though it was only for $93, it's the first paycheck I've gotten in nearly three years. I know that I should get direct deposit, but for now I really like holding the check in my hand and reading my name on it.

Our family went shopping yesterday at the Whole Foods Market to find some food that I could actually eat in light of Avery's newly-diagnosed allergies. I feel so sorry for Avery. With all of the milk and eggs that I've been eating since she's been born, she's probably been living in chronic pain and discomfort her whole life. That's probably why the scratch test didn't bother her at all. And her recent extreme fussiness could probably be explained by the huge egg breakfast I ate at IHOP while camping, and the Earth's Best pear apple oatmeal that I fed her that contains eggs. Poor little thing. We also went to the library and got a book on vegan cooking, but it is way way way out of my league. We got a vegetarian cookbook, but it's tiring trying to find the recipies that don't have milk or eggs. We did find Vegetarian Times Magazine that has a cool index in the back which indicates which recipies are dairy-free and egg-free and so forth. And the dishes have pictures. Call me a snob, but if a dish looks like dookie I'm not going to cook it, or eat it. Pictures are a must. Our problem when we shop at Whole Foods is that we go around like we're shopping at Walmart, grabbing things off the shelf and end up paying well over a hundred dollars on a couple day's worth of food. We have to learn to eat better and eat less. I just hope that I don't get violently ill like I did last time I tried to give up dairy.

Avery had her appointment with the allergist today. They did the scratch test, and Avery didn't mind at all. So it turns out that she is "seriously allergic" to milk and "seriously allergic" to eggs and "very seriously allergic" to peanuts. The doctor said that she would need to carry an epi-pen when she is older. In fact, they stopped the test half-way through because she had such a severe reaction to peanuts. S no dairy, eggs, or peanuts for me as long as she's breastfeeding. Yum...

Riley has really been misbehaving lately. Rudi thinks that she needs a behavioral evaluation. I just think that she is too clever. She doesn't fall for any of the usual parenting tricks. She was mad at me the other day, so she said, "well, then, I'm not going to give my baby nai-nais (Riley-speak for breastfeeding)!" She really knows how to get to me. I get the creepy feeling that she is going to be smarter than me sooner than later. Her vocabulary and usage shock me every day. She's definitely one smart cookie! Her favorite thing to do today is put her marbles in a bowl, sit on them, and say that she's a mommy chicken and is waiting for her eggs to hatch. Right now she is squishing up grapes and trying to feed them to Avery, who is not enjoying it very much. In fact, she's downright frantic.

Avery has been so fussy lately and it is absolutely ridiculous. She cries as soon as her butt touches the floor or I shift her as if to put her down. She is only happy when carried and my slings have really come in handy. If it is an allergy thing, I hope to find out on Thursday. If she's teething, she better cut them before I commit myself to an asylum. If it's a stage she's going through, I hope it passes fast, for everyone's sake. Poor Riley is really acting out for attention.

I really thought that Riley would get a kick out of all the animals at the fair, like she did last year in Maryland, but no such luck. It's as if she just discovered what noses are for. And she was really aware of the little rabbit turds in the rabbit hall and said "let's get out of this building." She did love the petting zoo and the baby pigs (mostly because they were all nursing and the mommy pig had a lot of boobies). I think we set a world record for the least amount of money ever spent at a fair, $19 including admission. More than half of that was spent on funnel cakes, but what is a fair without funnel cakes?Avery really didn't know what was going on at the fair. She did get a kick out of the petting zoo, reaching out for them animals and giggling. She did get to pet a black kitten and she liked the kitten's ears. She also pet a pair of strange sheep that moved around side-by-side, touching as if they were conjoined. Riley rode on one ride, the carousel, and begged to go on more, but they were ridiculously expensive, especially considering that she wanted me to go on the rides with her and I wasn't about to pony-up $6 for each and every ride that she wanted to go on. Mabe next year she will be old enough to ride on her own and she can use the $20 all-you-can-ride bracelet. They also had a fountain for the kids to play in and Riley strpped down to her underwear and went to splash in the puddles. She had fun doing that until Rudi pushed her into one of the water streams and she got her face all wet. That was the end of that. She was pretty tired from skipping her nap, so we decided to call it a day. Of course, she didn't want to go, and kept asking to see the piggies again.

So we went camping Aug. 30- Sept. 1 in order to try out Rudi's new (to us) Nissan Pathfinder. We only went about 35 miles south of Colorado Springs to Pueblo, where the Colorado State Fair was taking place. More on the fair at another post. Anyhow, the winds sure howled on our second and last night at the campground. The winds were at least 60mph and LITERALLY FLATTENED OUR TENT TO THE GROUND every thirty seconds. I was in the tent trying to get Riley and Avery to sleep. At first, their eyes were wide open, but not scared. They eventually went to sleep in the middle of it. I wanted to leave the tent but didn't want to leave them in there alone with the winds, so I lay there protecting them as much as possible, making sure they could breathe when the tent covered their faces, and hoping that the wind wouldn't snap one of the tent poles and become a projectile that would harpoon us in our sleep. This went on for more than an hour. Otherwise, camping was pretty fun, but next time we will bring an inflatable mattress since laying on my side to breastfeed all night on top of rocks is not comfortable to say the least.

I have no idea where Riley got the idea of make-up from. I don't wear any, in fact, I don't even own any. When I asked her why she was coloring her lips, she said "because I want to look like a people." When I asked her who she learned it from, she said "nobody," and when asked where she learned it she said, "no where." Society does weird things to our girls. Or are they just born that way?

This is a photo taken of Avery in Acacia Park in downtown Colorado Springs. Uncle Allan visited last month and brought Grandma's and Grandpa's brand new digital camera. I really enjoyed the camera and went crazy taking pictures. I think I'm ready to join the digital revolution. Riley was too on-the-go to get a good picture of her this day, but I got others of her from different places around town which I will post later. Avery is so "teeny-tiny cute" as Riley says, especially compared to the super-chunk that Riley was at this age. Avery is finally in 6-9 mo clothing by virtue of her new cloth diapers. Still 3-6 mo clothing otherwise. That sure puts to rest our theory that Avery can wear Riley's hand-me-downs just because they were born in the same season. Riley was wearing 18 mo clothing at this age. I guess I'll be buying a lot of clothes this fall. Not that I'm complaining.

Riley had her orientation at Golden Mountain Montessori school today, and she had an absolute blast! She cried when it was time to go home. We'll see how she is when I actually leave her there. I really like the Montessori method of education, better than Waldorf in my humble opinion. It seems to be the closest thing to not going to school at all. They make really ingenious activities out of common materials, so it will be easy for me to make educational toys and games for Riley and Avery to do at home. The director is letting Riley in a year early and will give her two years of preschool, then a year of Kindergarten and then off to first grade a year early if she's ready, and another year of Kindergarten if she's not. I like that approach better than the other schools which wanted her to have three years of preschool, which seems like over-kill to me.