Not to worry, I am going to be able to retire well. Our Dougie is going to be a rock star.
Okay, he started a bit reluctantly
But then he really got into it
Look, a natural!
Groovin’ out
What do you think? I bet by the time this posts we’ll have record producers knocking on the door ready to sign him.
Connie had another appointment at the pediatrician today. We remeasured her head and made sure that things were continuing along on a normal path. The doctor had nothing but great things to say about her progress. He said she’s right on her curve and very strong. He wants to see us back in another 2 1/2 months and then I expect he’ll be done with us. It has been a relief to be seeing him and continuing to hear that everything is okay.
We have hard wood floors in Calgary so, in an effort to protect them, the dogs haven’t gotten to be in as much as we’d like. That means that Connie hasn’t gotten a lot of time with the dogs either. The other day, we decided to bring Maggie in for a bit of one-on-one time with Connie.
Initially, they were both a bit unsure of what to make of each other
They quickly accepted each other though
They even decided to just hang out for a bit
I’m pretty sure we mentioned it with Dougie – Maggie is an exceptional dog with kids. You’d think with her size that she’d be a problem but she just lies down and let them hang on her. She didn’t even mind when Connie pulled her fur a bit to stop herself from tipping over.
We have been meal planners for a while. I don’t tend to do well at 4:00 when I’m suddenly faced with deciding what to have for dinner. What’s worse is we never seem to have the ingredients to make something interesting. So, we turned to meal planning to help. We end up eating better and shopping better. Since we know a few folks doing the gluten free thing as well, we thought we’d share what we’re eating this week. We’re also sharing with the nice folks over at OrgJunkie for their Menu Planning Monday.
Monday – Shepherd’s Pie
Tuesday – Slow Cooker Orange Chicken and Rice
Wednesday – Pork Fancy Pants (Herb roasted pork and veggies)
Thursday – Chicken Tikka Masala (from a jar) and Rice
Friday – Pulled Pork and Baked Potatoes
Saturday – Peppered Beef Filet, Rosti Potatoes, Broccoli
Sunday – Cabbage Rolls
We didn’t have links for a few of those recipes but if anyone would like me to post them, drop me a comment.
There is something special about celebrating Easter in Canada. It feels like more of a holiday since it is a long weekend.
Last year, we did a trail for Dougie. It didn’t go well. It was made of M&Ms and he just moved along the trail eating them rather than collecting them and putting them in his basket. So this year, we decided to go for a real hunt. It didn’t go any better – next year, all the chocolate will be wrapped.
Find the chocolate
Eat the chocolate
Find more unwrapped chocolate
We finally convinced him to pick up some of the wrapped ones – of course, only while his mouth was full
Oooh, a big one!
After Daddy gathered up the remaining unwrapped ones – Dougie searched for the rest of the hidden ones
“Help with the bunny, please? Out the bunny.”
Though Connie was a bit young for an egg hunt, we opted for different sorts of fun. Daddy gave her a special horsey ride.
Giddy-up Connie
Whoa! (Look at the disappointment on her face)
Little Connie Love
Hope everyone had a wonder Easter!
Connie spends much of her day trying to avoid injury from her brother. He loves her but doesn’t understand that he can’t sit/kneel on her.
Constant state of high alert
When she feels like she can finally let her guard down, she takes time to notice the subtleties of life.
Whoa, where did those socks come from
She’s always quick to turn on a smile though for anyone willing to look at her.
Ack, the camera, look cute!
And at the end of a long day, it’s nice to just relax and be herself.
This weekend, we decided to try gluten free baking. I knew we had to get there but I was more than a little intimidated because all the flours were so different from what I was used to. It happened that we decided to participate in a Breakfast Challenge to “Stop the Boring Breakfasts” as well so we decided to mix the two goals and made banana bread (the fact that we had a bunch of aging bananas help in this decision as well).
I am not quite ready to adjust our existing recipes so Grandma Cajka’s banana bread will have to wait. We found a new banana bread recipe instead: Gluten Free Banana Bread. Admittedly, it wasn’t nearly as good as Grandma Cajka’s but it fit the bill.
Dougie mashes the bananas
Adding more ingredients
More stirring
The batter was VERY liquidy. We also made a small adjustment based on the recipe reviews to add an extra teaspoon of baking powder. It definitely helped the bread not fall too much once it was out of the oven.
Finished bread
All in all, I would call this a success. Our baking powder was a bit old and didn’t get mixed in as well as it should have but otherwise, I’d make this again.
When it was just Dougie and me at home, it was easy enough to get things done or let them slide. Dougie didn’t care if I didn’t get to the dishes, or the office needed to be dusted. He cared that I was there when he cried and that his needs were met. Life was easy… well, easier.
Then came Connie. She is much the same as Dougie was, her needs are easy to meet. Except now, Dougie’s needs are more complicated. He wants to go to the park, play games, dance and generally enjoy life. A lot of times, that doesn’t coincide with Connie’s need to sleep or just sit and be held. So I have this:
I actually bought this when Dougie was just a baby but didn’t use it much unless we were going out. With Connie, we use it all the time. It lets me bring her along without losing any mobility myself and still having both hands free. It is built like a backpack so her weight is well distributed and I don’t get too sore. I even toss her in there to clean the house (we use mostly homemade cleaning products so it isn’t toxic for her).
Right now, we’re restricted to front carries because she’s still so young but once she gets a bit older, she can be in a back carry. That really is the ultimate in mobility! I’m so glad that we’ve found a way to make sure that Dougie’s changing needs are still met while ensuring that Connie feels the same love and closeness that Dougie did.
This post was inspired by the first time Connie fell asleep in this carrier. Normally, she is very interested in what is going on and just looks around but today, she got comfortable enough to fall asleep.
Those who have known me for a while know that I’m not very big into pranks. I’m sure you can work out from that what my feelings on April Fools day are. Don’t get me wrong, I always look forward to see what sort of prank Google is going to pull. They are always clever and down right funny, unlike most pranks.
But, it isn’t every day that I get called “clever” (thanks Sharold!) so I felt inspired to do something special and perhaps start a little family tradition. Enter, the meatloaf cupcakes.
Okay, not my best icing job. I left all the icing bags in Dallas and had to improvise. I think it looks cupcake-like though, right?
These are actually gluten-free meatloaf topped with garlic mashed potatoes. They weren’t too bad.
Dougie was excited about the idea of cupcakes for dinner though quickly worked out that it wasn’t cake and suddenly wasn’t so interested.
He did poke at it a bit and then, something magical happened.
Our boy ate a kernel of corn. Then, he ate another. All in all, he likely ate about 25 kernels. Obviously, this isn’t enough to sustain him, but we are so thrilled that he voluntarily ate some!! I don’t want to call this a trend yet, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed.