hunting dandelions.

our first art project.

We learned about which end of the marker to hold.

This was all Iris. I only put the dots of glue for her to stick the noodles on.

Crafty baby!

utensils!

Here's a little video that I took of Iris a few nights ago. Lately, she has been very determined that she feed herself. Sometimes I can sneak bites in, especially if she's really hungry. Most of the time, she wants to do it all by herself (and once she's done, she makes a big mess with the rest of it!)

Considering that she just started eating solid food four months ago, she has made astounding progress! 

links I love.

A seven year old said, "mom, I'm fat." This is how her mother responded. I was a blubbering mess by the end.

Anne Roiphe, a first-generation femininist and author, wrote this lovely piece about what makes her feel beautiful. 

I wrote a little bit yesterday about how I have cut most sugars out of my diet. Here's an informative article called, The Politics of Sugar: why your government lies to you about this disease-promoting ingredient. 

Finally, a recipe for muffins that doesn't call for heaps of sugar! I will have to find a substitute for the egg whites though...  I am so excited to try this recipe next week, once I can gather all the ingredients. 

No one wants to hear the word "no." Let's learn to respect our children's emotions when they get angry or frustrated. Here is a great example of how to do that. 

I really enjoyed reading this post on toddler discipline, by blogger Melissa Jordan. 

A touching read about a boy sticking up for his little brother. 

This dress is perfect in so many ways. 

The things every pregnant woman wants to hear.  

Here, have a kitteh!

sugar and spice.

Another post where I admit to being absent, as of late! Iris and I have been going through a bit of a rough adjustment period, where she is asserting her new independence and creating boundaries for herself. She will now say the word, "no" to me, has become very picky about food, is determined to stand and run along the couch, pull dvds off the shelves, and becomes extremely emotional about every little thing. It has been hard for both of us, especially on me since I am very much alone, most of the time. Marius' internet has also been very unreliable lately, which tends to add to the heaviness of missing him which I always seem to feel in my chest. Sometimes it can take hours for our skype messages to go through to each other, and we very rarely get to see each other's faces. We still don't know when he will be coming home from his deployment, but we are hoping for within a month or two.

Things are going well, aside from the changes and difficulties. I am readying our home for our impending move to Germany this spring, which means sorting through all of our belongings, organizing them and minimizing as much as possible. I've already made one huge donation of old baby clothes, toys and various kitchenware to a local shelter and have another one almost ready to go. I have started reading again and practicing a bit of yoga, both of which are much needed.

I have also recently made a huge change to my lifestyle in terms of cutting most sugar out of my diet. I now use one teaspoon of agave in my coffee or tea and have no candy, chocolate, or much of any processed food. I have also stopped eating any kind of products containing eggs (due to my allergy), and I feel worlds better after both of these adjustments. It's really amazing how addictive sugar is and how it finds it's way into almost all of our food these days. After a week of eating no more than 10g of sugar a day, I tried to eat a sweet potato for lunch and found myself disgusted at how sweet it tasted, even with nothing on it! Did you know that the average American eats 150lbs of sugar each year? That's one teaspoon of sugar for every hour of every day!

Anyway, here is the only picture I have available to me right now, as I still haven't bought a new camera card. I took this for Marius to show him just how big Iris has really gotten. We had both recently woken up and were still in our jammies, looking sleepy. Speaking of which, I am exhausted. I hope to soon have more time and energy to devote to my blog.

all aboard the baby train!

This was not posed!

15 months.

Three days ago, you turned fifteen months old. You have become so communicative I can hardly believe it! You constantly parrot things that I say or that our friend Ms. Julie says. You often point to yourself, to say "I/me/my" - for example, you point to food, then to your mouth. Speaking of food, you love blueberries, quinoa, butterkase cheese, avocado and blueberry kefir. You are also quite taken with drinking coconut milk from your straw sippy-cup. You drink about a cup a day in addition to nursing, and sometimes even some water on top of that! You still call mama-milk "mememe," which melts my heart.

You still ride in the Ergo on my back, which is perfectly comfortable for both of us. You also love to sit in shopping carts when we're out and about. You can point to almost all of your body parts now, and you know all sorts of different animal sounds. One of your bottom molars has come in and I think the other one will shortly follow. You have started glaring when you don't like or want something and waving your hands about as though to say, "begone from my sight!" I really can't help but smile at your very grown-up emotions.

We've had some issue lately with not listening to Mama when I say to "sit on the couch" and not stand. However, I've come up with a little song about it which helps you listen a bit more often. It goes: "we sit on the couch, we sit on the couch - you put your bum on the couch, you put your bum on the couch!" You are very amused by it too. You also love to pull the DVDs off the shelves, though telling you "those are Papa's, please put them away" can usually deter you. 

I have always allowed you come into the bathroom with me, so that you could learn about the potty from the very start. Your new bathroom routine involves saying "peepee, peepee," setting your potty infront of me and sitting. After a moment, you point to yourself, then to the toilet paper, then... you try to wipe me, and finally put your potty away. So, it seems you've really got the idea, little one! When you poop in your diaper, you run over to me and say "poopoo! poopoo!" You've even started pointing to yourself, then to the clean diapers as though to say, "please change me mama!" I know you will start to really use the potty when you're ready, and until then it's great fun to watch you practice!

You tap your chest and say "buh buh buh!" when you want me to read you a book - and god forbid if I don't read immediately! You'll run off and return with one book at a time, slowly compiling a stack. You climb into my lap with a book to be sure I'm going to read it to you. We read each one over and over - your favorite ones are about Papa. You love to play with the kitty with his toys; he really appreciates that you amuse him rather than torment him! Though you're honestly very gentle with him and he allows you to pet him much more often.Your favorite toy is the play kitchen. You are already engaging in pretend play, which I find pretty amazing. You stir your "speespee" (spaghetti) in the pot, you hold out the spoon for me to taste and you pretend to taste the play food too. 

Not long ago, you were drinking from your sippy cup and offered me a sip - you're so wonderful with sharing. I sipped and you immediately ran over to Papa's photo on the refrigerator and pressed the cup against his face too. I almost cried, you beautiful girl. You also love your Papa doll so much. If I ask you where he is, you run into your room and grab him from beside the bed. You give him big hugs and kiss him on the face! You've started saying "muah!" when you give kisses - but only Papa gets them; no kisses for Mama! At least I get to snuggle up with you at night!

Around bed time when I ask if you're ready for a bath, you always point to yourself and then ask "buboo!?" Bubble!? You love scooping bubbles into your hands for me to blow into the air. I have to comb your hair after baths, as it's starting to get long now. We read a few stories in bed as you lean against me and then nurse to sleep. I say this every month when I write to you, but can't help it - it's amazing to watch you grow and learn! I will always love you, my baby.

dancing baby.

Here's a little snippet of what Iris' dancing looks like! This musical butterfly is one of only three battery operated toys that Iris has. I usually keep them hidden -  mostly because they drive me nuts and I just don't agree with them. She also enjoys them much more when I take them out for her occasionally!

slide.

Today, Iris started going down the slide all by herself!

apologies.

Whoa, it's been a long time since I've actually written anything here! I have been very preoccupied with other projects lately but I have missed putting effort into writing about our lives. I also finally filled up my second camera card, so I need to order a new one to start taking quality photos more often! I promise, I'll be back soon with more writing after I finish the work I am doing. For now, here are a few instagram photos from recent times.

Going out for a walk.

Playing on her bed with a pen. I can see this is going to end well, one day.

Trying to blow the bubbles off her hand.

"And why exactly have you stopped helping me go down the slide?"

Rudolph the red nosed baby.

new year water baby.