Monday, June 11, 2012

Daddy's New Obsession

Although Darren & I began this blog together, he quickly lost interest. I think his last post was around the time when Sebby was born...well over a year ago. But lately, he has re-kindled an interest in blogging of a different sort - photo blogging!

He was feeling inspired by the creative ways that some friends and bloggers were documenting their lives and memories so I suggested he open a Tumblr account. He dove right in and our camera has been clicking non-stop ever since. Sebby has the victim of the Daddy-paparazzi frenzy but he doesn't seem to mind. And a big bonus is that he's getting some adorable shots of our growing boy.

Take a peek at some of the super cute pics he's been capturing...


Our little police man


"Daddy, what are you doing there? I'm trying to have breakfast."


Our little Canadian lumberjack-jungle explorer at the Botanics.
 
Seriously, you should check out his stuff! Even though I'm biased, I have to say that he's a pretty awesome photographer! He's currently putting up at least one post a day so enjoy!


Saturday, June 9, 2012

Baby Belly

As soon as we found out I was pregnant, we started teaching Sebby that there was a baby in my belly. He's a quick learner and he soon seemed to understand.

He began pointing at my belly and saying "baby" any time he would see it (like when I was in the shower).

Now he hugs his baby sister at least a few times every day.


He often spontaneously hugs my belly. 
So adorable!

When he sees pictures of pregnant women, he now points at their bellies and says "baby."

"What a smart kid!" I thought proudly.

Then a few days ago, he came into the living room with a bottle of cream, lifted his shirt, rubbed his belly and said "baby."
 I laughed out loud because I understood his intent right away.
He wanted help putting cream on his baby belly, just like he sees Momma doing every morning.
 
Then yesterday evening he pointed at Darren's belly, said "baby" and gave his belly a big hug.
 So funny!

Guess he doesn't have the whole baby-in-belly thing totally figured out just yet?!


Wednesday, June 6, 2012

8:30am?!

After dinner last night I started to feel very nauseous. I relaxed on the couch for most of the evening, hoping it would pass but when I got up to get ready for bed, I felt even worse. I threw up most of my dinner then went to bed. I woke up several times throughout the night, still with that icky feeling in my stomach and after sipping a bit of orange juice around 4:30am, threw up again. 

Sitting in bed as the clock approached 5am, I was thinking, "Oh no! Sebby could wake up at any moment and be up for the day. This won't be fun." I lay back down and tried to drift back to sleep, hoping that he would sleep until at least 6am as he sometimes does.

I woke to the sound of his crying and took off my eye mask to discover that it was really bright in our room. It had to be later than 6. I was shocked after my quick glance at my phone that showed it was 8:30am! He had slept 12 hours for only the second time in his life!!! 

I knew that it was a special blessing from God on a morning when I wasn't feeling well. 

I was so thankful that God graciously gave me after a few hours more sleep. By that time I felt much better and was ready to try drinking something else. I drank a bottle of ginger beer and rested awhile longer while Darren hung out with Sebby until he went off to work.

I have no idea if I ate something bad or if I had a bit of a flu bug or if it was a bout of morning sickness re-appearing but whatever it was, I hope I don't repeat the experience anytime soon.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Ciao Italia!

It's taken me far too long to get around to blogging about our Easter trip to Italy, which we LOVED!

Being there with Darren and Sebby was lots of fun and very relaxing. Here are some photo highlights from our trip.

Enjoy!

Our first stop was Pisa, where we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon on the lawn in front of the Leaning Tower.



Next we set out for Cinque Terra. I had been dreaming about going there since my last time in Europe (2003) since I didn't make it that year. It was a longer journey than we anticipated as we got stranded in La Spezia for a day because the regional trains to Cinque Terre (the only way to get there!) were on strike. Lucky Sebby was able to take a nap. Darren & I wandered around until we found gelatto.


Well worth the wait to get to Cinque Terre. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset in Corniglia. It was magical. Even Sebby was impressed! He kept saying "whoa!" and pointing at the sun over the water.


The beach at Monterosso was AWESOME! It was the sunniest day of our vacation, which was pretty amazing. And yes, Sebby ate some sand too.


The only hiking we did in Cinque Terre was the easiest walk (paved sidewalk, 30 mins from Riomaggiore to Manarolo). Sebby found some cool stuff to look at, "whoa!". Boats, I think? Or birds, maybe?


A little rain in Vernazza didn't dampen our spirits. Big smiles for the camera.




Chasing Daddy on the walls in Lucca.



We braved the crazy crowds & noise to watch the explosion of the cart outside the Duomo (Cathedral) in Florence on Easter Sunday. 

We went away feeling quite disappointed and somewhat angry that there was no mention of Jesus' rising or the meaning of Easter throughout the festivities. What a wasted opportunity to have thousands of people were gathered together on such a special day and to have them watch a parade then a cart explode.




Florence is a beautiful city!



Taking a rest at the Piazza del Campo in Siena. Our favourite destination on our Italian tour.




The view over San Gimignano. (Sebby was asleep in the carrier on Darren's back).



We enjoyed Italy so much and hope to return some day soon. Darren even began enjoying Italian food and has asked to eat out at Italian restaurants since returning to Glasgow. 
Small miracle, I'd say!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Food Questions

Today I've been thinking about food philosophies in families.

Growing up we were never forced to eat foods that we didn't like and most of us were fairly picky eaters. Corn was the only vegetable I ate for years. My brother, Cory ate butter sandwiches in his lunch every day for at least 4 years. My sister, Krista survived on chicken noodle soup and KD for what seemed like years. The list goes on. 

My parents encouraged us to try foods that we thought we didn't like but never forced us. We were allowed to make our own "meals" (they were more like snacks) if we didn't like what was being served. We grew up with the attitude that what we ate was a matter of choice and it was fine to say we didn't want or like something that was being offered.

Going on exchange to Argentina after high school was the first time I was challenged to eat foods I didn't like. The first meal with my new host family was their favourite simple lunch, tomato and olive oil open faced sandwiches. Eww! I didn't want to be unappreciative of their hospitality so I gagged it down. Since it was a regular simple meal in their home, I got used to eating it and even began to enjoy tomatoes. I still maintain that those tomatoes were more flavourful than what I was used to having in Canada. I tried and began to like a few other vegetables that year but I was far from being an adventuresome eater.

In my third year of University, I tried real Asian food for the first time and hated it. I remember thinking that Thai food looked and smelled like cat food when I ate at a Thai restaurant for the first time. Needless to say, I didn't eat much. That year, I had my first authentic Chinese meal and was similarly unimpressed. 

Who would have imagined that I would end up marrying a Chinese guy and enjoying some Chinese food quite a lot?

My husband Darren's parents attitudes about food were quite different than my parents. Growing up, Darren and his brother were expected to eat what was served to them. They were taught that it was rude to refuse food and you were to eat even if you didn't like something.  

Coming from families with such different views of food, we still struggle to come to a consensus about what we feel is the best way to approach food in our family since Sebby has been quite picky. 

He goes through phases where he likes certain foods but then suddenly refuses them. He has gone through phases where he would eat little other than grapes, rice and rice cakes. He looks at many foods we offer and shakes he head and says "no!" right away, even if he has never seen it or tasted it before. He doesn't like the look or taste of anything green (except grapes and apples, which he's allergic to so can't eat!) and isn't very impressed by meat either. 

He loves white bread and white rice and pasta. He seems to instinctively know that he loves things that aren't very healthy like chocolate, ice cream and sweets. When he sees a new kind of candy, he wants it. We don't eat or buy candy but he somehow knows that it's "delicious." 

As he gets older, we know that we will need to get on the same page about how to approach his eating but one thing Darren and I can agree on is that if we can trick Sebby into eating healthy food, its a win!

We probably need to get more creative about doing this but we have learned a few good tricks so far. We know that he will eat lots of vegetables if they are chopped really small and incorporated into pasta sauce or fried rice or even better, spring rolls!

This morning I made pancakes with grated carrots (carrot cake pancakes) and even with my modifications that reduced the sugar and eliminated the topping altogether, Sebby loved them. All the credit goes to Deb at Smitten kitchen, my favourite food blog for this yummy recipe. 

I'd love to hear from you.
Please comment to share your experiences and suggestions.

Did you and your spouse have very different views of food growing up?

If so, how did you come to a consensus of how to approach food as a family?

Do you have any suggestions about how to get kids to eat healthy foods?