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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Octo Meme

Thanks Denley for tagging me in your blog, otherwise it may have been a month before my next blog entry!

8 things I'm looking forward to...
Simeon's birthday in less than a month!
A date with my husband without a baby snatching from our plates hopefully soon
Baking bread again
Hosting a baby shower for a friend (pregnant with twin boys WOW)in the fall
Having no carpet in the house
The La Leche meeting tomorrow night
Trying again to have a decent garden harvest in the fall
Sleep!

8 things I did yesterday...
Walked the dog
Read Tails and Dear Zoo to Simeon
Made yogurt with local fresh goats milk
Bought bread at Great Harvest
Shopped for a bike trailer baby carrier
Cooked a variation of Julia Child's beer stew
Folded cloth diapers
Stayed up too late watching most of Avatar

8 things I wish I could do...
Pray more
Be gentler and more patient with my family
Sleep through the night
Have an awesome garden
Get ready to go somewhere without having to pull Sime out of the trash or the dog's water bowl:)
Regularly really clean my house
Groom the furball formerly known as Barley
Have more play dates for Simeon


8 shows I enjoy...

I can't answer this because we don't have TV but if we did there's a few shows I would watch if they still come on
Little House on the Prarie
Any Ken Burns Special
Good Eats
Julia Child reruns
The Dog Whisperer
Most anything on the History Channel

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Levels of weirdoness


So calling myself a weirdo started back when Daniel and I first started dating and I would sometimes shop in the "weirdo" areas of the grocery store, where the organic and whole grain stuff was. Well now I'm a true weirdo doing most of our shopping at our health food coop. Really I've had to give up some of my weirdo practices since Simeon came along and that has been OK.

Last week I had a wonderful discovery that has brought happiness to our daily routine. I blogged about my adventures in baby wearing a while back and my problems with it.I like my Beco as much as I thought I could, but it still wasn't just super comfortable to wear Simeon for longer than 1 hour and that's a stretch. He is big for his age and loves to be held like all day! I mentioned last time I've been back carrying here lately and I love it. It is much more comfortable for me and he loves it. The instructions say you can start at 4 months, I hate I waited so long. Seriously so many scream outs could be avoided. I have been wearing him around the house most days at least an hour so I can do food prep and other things around the house.

Yesterday I hung out our laundry to dry, of course it rained but most of it was already dry when I got it in. It's probably strange that I love hanging out the clothes so much, I really love to hang clothes to dry! It's like a little thing I can do to feel like I'm being eco-friendly, and connected with the past.

I've had to start buying bread, horrors. I do buy from a locally operated bakery, Great Harvest. If I'm going to buy bread, I'm not buying stale bread. I will bake again one day, but now my hands are full. I don't know why but every time I bake it seems like I have to pull something out of the oven when Simeon is hungry and having a meltdown.

I'm interested in the Montessori philosophy more these days. I didn't realize we were embracing many of these ideas already. I don't think there is a Montessori program in Jackson suitable for Simeon now. There is a full time infant daycare and a part time pre-school, but no mother's morning out. So I guess we'll try to do some weirdo activities at home. I'd love to have a true Montessori home, but that's not really in the budget for now. I definitely need to research this some more, b/c I was a science major I didn't take a single class in child development.

-Daniel and I are trying to remove our shoes every time we enter the house. There are several obstacles to this, but I love the idea of a cleaner house.

Quality and beauty of the environment and the books and materials is very important in attracting, satisfying, and keeping the attention of the child. If the child is exposed to beautiful rattles and toys, she will help create a world with the same high standards as an adult. Toys, rattles, puzzles, tables, and chairs made of wood instead of plastic develop an appreciation for nature and quality and show a respect for the child.
-Simeon has not received many toys from his parents anyway, and the ones we've bought have been good quality and pretty (and pricey thus he hasn't received many:)

The same hold true for the sounds in the environment. With time the adult brain learns to block out the sound of a TV or radio, but a child is always aware of it. Sometimes a child can become upset by visual and auditory stimulus of which the adult is completely unaware!
-We don't have many electronic (noisy toys) and we don't watch much TV, b/c we don't have one! May I add I'm not totally anti-TV, we just haven't allotted the funds to create our ideal TV setup. We would like a roll away TV cart, maybe for Christmas...

I'd love to keep blogging about what we've been up to and how I'm trying other ways to become even weirder but I must clean my house as to create a happy environment for my family...
We must not only think of the quality, but the quantity. Visible posters, pictures, toys, etc. always affect the mind. It has been shown over and over in children’s environments that cluttered shelves, which are visually blocked out by the adult, are a constant visual barrage for the young child, causing stress. Too many pictures and posters on the wall do the same. The Chinese art of placement, Feng Shui, teaches that clutter, even hidden under a bed or piled on top of bookcases can cause stress.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Getting Hot



Long time no blog. We have been doing well for the most part at the Root household. We've been traveling some, visiting friends and family. We had a great time in Franklin, TN with the Algoods. Daniel's grandfather is not doing well in Arcadia, LA. He is an amazing man who is unfortunately had a difficult time battling Parkinson's. Here is an amazing article about him, second from the top. Simeon Paul is named for him.

Simeon had another ear infections, and he is following this up with more teeth coming in. But for the most part he is pretty happy. He will play independently for short periods of time, although Mommy is his favorite toy. He is playing with some of the natural wooden toys that I bought him and he hasn't been too interested in until now, I was beginning to regret spending top dollar on things he could care less about. I'll have to get a picture if I can catch one. He is in constant motion. He really wants to be held a lot so I have started wearing him on my back in my Baby Beco. This has been the most comfortable baby wearing I have done yet. Up until now it has been bearable but not my choice for getting things done around the house. But I don't mind wearing him on my back. I can get things done and he is happy.

He is sleeping better, and I am feeling more like a person again. I'm trying to do better about planing out our meals, thanks Holly you are truly inspiring. It worked pretty well this week. Prolonged sleep deprivation has been a difficult thing for me, trying to get anything done while feeling like I was in a fog was tough. I'm sure we'll have some more difficult times, but I'm grateful for more sleep and having energy to get some things done.


Onto the garden, ahhh frustration.

First off the newly purchased composter is not holding up well, it isn't completely broken yet... $100 bucks down the drain. It is really my fault for making a spur of the moment purchase at Lowe's and not hunting down the a better quality (probably costlier) product.

Then there have been successes with the garden:
-We have harvested about 4 yellow crookneck squashes.
-One of our tomatoes is doing good and I have 4 tomatoes
-My one eggplant is doing well
-Our hot peppers are doing great, and the sweet peppers are slowly producing peppers


We have had garden failures.
-In trying to help the squash plants cascade out of the raised bed (they were hogging multiple squares) I must have killed one of the two plants:(
-Several of my tomatoes have blossom end rot, I think I had that problem last year. It's kind of late but I'm trying to add calcium back to the soil by adding crushed egg shells around the plants.
-One tomato plant is mostly dead
-Several tomatoes seem to be dropping as many blooms as are maturing into fruit, I'm not sure of the cause.
-My neighbor's yard man cut off the blooming tops of my pepper plants with his weed eater:(