Vegging out

Last post I mentioned how we've been eating vegan lately. What does that mean, it means no meat, no fish, and no dairy. Basically no animal products. Why are we doing it? A couple of reasons.

First, we were eating way too much meat. Looking back on our diets now, I am astounded. Typically I would have meat for lunch and dinner. And if it was the weekend, chances are I was having some meat for breakfast too. Pretty much 70-80% of my diet was centered around consuming animal products (eggs, meat, yogurt). Basically on a lark, Karen and I had both been reading a lot about the negative effects of an animal-centric diet, not just on your health but also on the environment. I'm not trying to get all preachy here, but a cursory Google search of industrial farming will shed some light on all of the horrors contained within our animal food supply. I wholeheartedly recommend everyone see "Food Inc."

(This is where I get slightly preachy-- skip to next paragraph if you don't care. )
I don't think you shouldn't eat animals, but I don't think animals should live a life of pure pain and suffering so I can have chicken breast for $1/lb. There are just so many problems with the way animals are produced. Chickens are bred not only for meat, but also for their egg laying ability. Which means that most male chicks are discarded at birth. And by discarded I mean that the common method of disposing of unwanted male chicks is grinding them up alive. This can result in unspeakable horrors, as described by one research scientist who observed that "even after twenty seconds, there were only partly damaged animals with whole skulls". In other words, fully conscious chicks were partially ground up and left to slowly and agonizingly die. Think milk is great? Female cows produce the most milk after and when they are pregnant, so female cows are kept constantly impregnated. Male calfs again are of little use, so they are frequently chained to a crate where they cannot stand up for a few months and then killed for veal. Ultimately I just think we can find a better, more humane way to raise and treat the animals in our food supply.

And we're back. From a health standpoint, most of the research we've read is summarized by this: Plant foods improve human health, while animal 'foods' degrade it. The most comprehensive study to date regarding the relationship between diet and human health found that the consumption of animal-derived ‘food’ products was linked with "diseases of affluence" such as heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, and cancer. T. Colin Campbell's landmark research in The China Project found a pure vegetarian (i.e. vegan) diet to be healthiest. Dr. Campbell estimates that "80 to 90% of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other degenerative illness can be prevented, at least until very old age - simply by adopting a plant-based diet."

Ok, so if you're still reading and not thinking that I'm a complete crackpot... Let me just say, this is a work in progress. I started doing this because I was just eating way too much meat, period. The health benefits and ethical considerations came later, and have just helped to reaffirm my decision. Am I some militant vegan who waits for people in fur to douse them with animal blood, no. Am I just trying to slowly move to a more plant-centric diet, yes. Have I eaten meat and dairy over the past three weeks, yes. Do I still put cream in my coffee, yes. But, I would estimate that in the past three weeks I've changed my diet to 90% plant-centric, which I'm really proud of. I have also been feeling so good. And last weekend, I came up with my own recipe for vegan pancakes (sharing this was the real reason for this whole post!).

Vegan pancakes (makes enough for 4 people):
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon honey (most vegans wouldn't use this, but I don't think the bees mind)
1 cup soy milk
1 cup almond milk (feel free to use only soy or almond if that's what you have)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Mix your dry ingredients first, add wet ingredients and mix just until the batter is smooth. You don't want to over-mix or the pancakes will be tough.

Turn your pan on medium heat, wait a few minutes for that to heat up and so your batter can also rest. You can use a butter substitute or non-stick cooking spray so your pancakes won't stick. Once your pan is heated up, spoon some batter on the pan, wait for some bubbles to appear in your pancake, flip, remove, repeat.

Riding solo

I did it! That is one of Annie's most popular sayings. And it pretty much sums up my survival with the kids - by - my - self. I know, a bit dramatic. To recap, Karen left Friday afternoon to head to NYC for a girls weekend. After dropping Karen off at the airport, it was me and Annie and Nichol until we picked Karen up 48 hrs later... In the weeks leading up to this weekend I had no idea what to expect. What do the kids do all day? Do they entertain themselves? Who feeds these wild beasts? All questions that I was unsure of the answer.

Sure, Karen does this every day, but I work in an office! I don't know the logistics of carting two kids around - 1 walks, but not where you want her to; and the other is mostly fine until he poops all over!

Friday. We drop Karen off, get home and everyone takes naps. They wake up around 4ish, play, have dinner, Nichol goes to bed and Annie and I watch a movie. Annie was so good. On the ride home from the airport I told Annie I was going to need her to be a big girl and help Daddy out since Mommy was gone, and boy did she deliver. When we were watching the movie she was great, she went to bed with no problem, and the only disturbance was when I woke up hearing her scream on the monitor at 4:30AM. Those night terrors... She remained asleep, but I was awake. Nichol was just as good. He took a great nap and slept from 7pm until 7:30am the next day! Unbelievable.

Saturday. I now know why Karen has to leave the house every day. We get up, have breakfast, play, etc. and then I look at the clock and it's only 8:30. D'oh! Are you kidding me? This was a phenomena I first noticed when Karen was pregnant. When you get up really early, the day is really long, and what do you do? When Karen was pregnant it was great. On the weekends we would get up, clean our entire apartment, go out to breakfast, shop for groceries, come home and put everything away and it was only 9am. Awesome. Fast forward to two kids later... and when I look at the clock and it's only 8:30am... I am scared. Sometimes I want to cry. There is a lot of the day left. What am I going to do. These kids need action. And there isn't a yard I can force them to go out into and make their own fun. And did I mention I'm just doing this for a weekend?

After breakfast Nichol takes a nap, and we are just chomping at the bit for him to wake up. Annie is starting to get bored, just destroying everything in her wake. And then I remember.

Last week when we were at Whole Foods, this nice lady told me they were having a kids' event next weekend where they do a craft and have a snack. So, since we needed something to do I thought we would head over there and terrorize, I mean patronize, Whole Foods. Nichol finally wakes up and we are off! I have the diaper bag packed with diapers, pull ups, wipes, snacks, and extra clothes. The minute we pull into the parking lot, Nichol has pooped. D'oh! Actually, this was lucky, because Annie was still in her seat so I just got Nichol out, and changed him in the cargo bay.

I'm just beginning to appreciate everything Karen does on a daily basis. Logistics. The carts at Whole Foods are too small for two kids. I have Nichol in the umbrella stroller and I'm holding Annie's hand with one hand as I try and guide the stroller with the other hand. We get into the store, find the kids section and I unleash Annie. Just kidding.

This was good for me because I had to go out of my comfort zone and go up to a group of strangers and introduce everyone, and then I let Annie loose... Annie immediately meets this nice woman, Shay, who helps her with her Valentine. Annie has a great time making this Valentine, and I get to help too. It's a lot of fun. After she's done, and she's been so good, we go and get lunch and a treat for Annie. The treat is that she can have whatever she wants for lunch, and a special drink. By special I mean not water or milk.

Seeing Annie in front of the cold drinks display is awesome. The display is everything you could imagine, all sorts of colors, shapes, anything you could envision in liquid form is in this case. Annie immediately spies some raspberry lemonade and settles on this. Of course, she has no idea what drink she's choosing, but since I'm riding solo this weekend, I'm picking and choosing my battles. If Annie wants the pink drink, the pink drink is what she gets.

We pay. We sit down. Annie is on one side of me, Nichol is on the other side of me. We are all hungry. When you're a parent, all of a sudden someone else's needs are coming before your own. Most of the time I feel like it's second nature and you don't even notice. But when you're really hungry, that's when you notice. Annie gets set up. She starts eating (mostly drinking. what is it with kids loving beverages so much?). I get snacks for Nichol out so he can eat while I house my burrito. Oh, did I mention that Karen and I have been eating Vegan for the past week? Weird that I forgot. Anyways, so while I'm trying to inhale a burrito full of beans, vegetables, and salsa, Nichol is throwing Cheerios all over the place, demanding to be fed something more, something substantial.

I sense that this could be a moment. A moment where I could let my neurosis get in the way and freak out. Instead I take it back a notch and let the kids be kids. Who cares if they throw some food? Who cares if they get food all over their clothes, and mine? Get over it. We have the best time. Annie is eating and getting her grubby hands all over me, and Nichol is on the other side with his face covered in pureed spinach. Somehow it is even on the back of his neck.

Annie is at this stage where she is so curious about everything. She likes to help with everything we do. She loves to try the food on your plate. She loves to try and drink what's in your cup. And even better, what I've noticed when it's just me around- she just loves to be around you. The whole weekend Annie and Nichol were the most affectionate kids! I know they definitely missed their mom, but I think they also were glad to have some one-on-one time with their pops. At least that is the way the story goes in my head. I had so much fun with them this weekend. It was truly enjoyable to be their sole caregiver and just focused on them this weekend. Annie and Nichol rock. They are hilarious. They have the biggest hearts and the funniest personalities.

I love the time I have with them now. And I can't wait to watch them develop and get older-they are going to be so awesome!

Mr. Mom

This weekend Karen is flying the coop and I will be home with the kids. I was going to say I'd be babysitting, but I don't think that is the right term when they're your own kids... Needless to say, I'm hoping I'll survive. Also, when I got the big idea to write this post and use this pic, numerous blog posts came up about dads writing about watching their kids while their wives are away. So I guess I'm not that original.

Last weekend Karen asked me if I wanted to take the kids somewhere. I said why, and she replied it might be a good test run for next weekend. Then I said, well I doubt we'll be going anywhere... The logistics of shuttling around a 2.5 year old and a 9 mos old seems a bit daunting to me. Unless we're going to Costco, because they have double carts. Other than that, the thought of Annie on the loose is too much for me to fathom... We'll see. I'll let you know next week how everything went. Wish me luck...

Bedtime nightmares

Over MLK weekend we decided the time had come for Annie and Nicholas to share a room. Annie has been in her new bed for a few weeks and doing great, and Nicholas had been sleeping through the night pretty solidly. We picked a long weekend because we figured that if it went horribly wrong, at least it would be a weekend and we'd both be home to cope with a sleep deficit.

On Friday night we made the plunge. The first night was a bit rocky, but we expected that. We put Nicholas to bed first at 6:30, thinking he'd be asleep around 7ish when Annie came in. That was true, however, Annie hasn't quite learned how to whisper. In fact, when you tell her to whisper or lower her voice quite often the opposite happens. So, sure enough, we put her to bed, she starts talking/singly loudly and Nicholas wakes up. Argh... But after a few minutes, they both settle down, Nichol falls back asleep and Annie eventually falls asleep. Saturday morning they wake up on the early side, I think around 5. Not the most ideal situation, but at least we made it through the night.

Saturday night. Same plan, Nicholas goes to bed first, then Annie. Things seem to be good until around 1am. Nicholas wakes up crying. Annie wakes up. One of us takes Nicholas out of the room and the other gets Annie back to bed. Nicholas falls asleep, heads back into his crib, wakes up again a few hours later. Annie wakes up... Repeat. At about 4am, Nicholas is awoken by screams coming from Annie. Did I mention that Annie seems to have very vivid dreams and often talks loudly in her sleep? Right, I must have forgotten that part... Eventually we cry uncle, Nicholas comes into bed with us, Annie falls back asleep and we all manage to scrape together another few hours of sleep.

Sunday... pretty much an exact repeat of Saturday night with both kids up multiple times throughout the night. We wake up Monday exhausted and slightly cranky.

Monday. Upon closer inspection it is revealed that Nicholas is teething some more. In addition to two bottom teeth working their way up, his two top front teeth are working their way out too! We give up.

I think at this point we're going to wait a few weeks before we try this again...

Graphic discussion to follow... not for the faint of heart

... or those who do not want to read 400 words on poop. That's right, lately it feels like I've been up to my elbows in poop and I can't stay quiet about it any longer!

Where to begin... It's really hard to explain how much this bodily function has taken over. First, Annie has been potty training, and has been doing a pretty good job at it. With one small exception, she refuses to go #2 on the potty. Refuses. Sometimes she will go days without going #2 at all, just to avoid the potty confrontation. Why won't she go #2 on the potty, no idea. If I knew that, my life and Karen's life would be soo much easier. No amount of bribes, coercion, or threats work. She just refuses.

Usually what happens is Annie will wear underwear, except at night or naptime. At naptime she will wear a pull-up. She goes to the potty before naptime, puts on her pull-up, lays down, promptly poops, then gets cleaned up and takes her nap. We've been trying to play some chicken with her, and have tried leaving her in her underwear. Well that just means that she's going to poop in her underwear. And she does. And it's super gross to clean up. Usually it involves said underwear being cut off and thrown away. Which brings me to my next pooping problem, Nicholas.

This kid has got one heck of a digestive tract. I can't believe the amount of onesies we've burned through because of some huge blowout. Again, I'm talking some major amounts of #2. We've cut so many onesies off from him I should have bought stock in Carter's because we've been keeping the lights on at that place. Not only has he gone through a large quantity, but he's gone through a ton of Annie's old ones! There is even a special collection of plastic bags in their room for these occasions...

Again, I'm only privy to this mainly on the weekends... I can't begin to imagine what this is like for Karen on a daily basis... But I do know one thing, if I was Karen I might think about investing in a hazmat suit.

Snow telling when it's going to stop

We have been getting tons of snow this winter! So far we've reached the amount of snow that we usually get all winter, and there's more on the way this week. Luckily, being from upstate NY, I come from some hardy stock. A little snow doesn't bother me. But when you have kids that are trapped inside your perspective sure changes! And living in the city, we have to adjust certain things. Instead of going outside in the backyard and building a snowman, we built one on our deck!

Last weekend we wanted to take the kids sledding. So first thing Saturday morning I headed out with Annie to buy some sleds, what I thought would be a very simple errand. After visiting 5 stores, turns out it was not such a simple errand. Apparently you have to buy your sled in November, and all of the stores only get like 10 in stock and then never sell them again... Ridiculous.

Uncle Mike to the rescue! We call Karen's uncle in Marblehead, and success! Well, he doesn't have any sleds, but knows people with sleds. So we headed up to Marblehead and went sledding. Annie loved it, sort of. At first she was just crying the whole time. Crying getting out of the car. Crying getting on the sled. Crying being pulled up the hill. Then we went downhill and she had a blast! There were lots of other kids around sledding and it was a lot of fun. Next year I will definitely be on top of things and make sure I buy a sled earlier rather than later!

Nichol had a great time watching from the sidelines! Since it was pretty cold there was some concern that it might be too cold for him on the way down...

So this is Christmas - 2010

We spent Christmas in GP and were fortunate enough to spend a week there. Everyone had a great time- and the kids got to decorate two Christmas trees! We had put up our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving, and Annie had a lot of fun decorating the tree. Then when we arrived at the Drummys, we had another tree waiting to be trimmed! Again, Annie had a blast listening to Christmas music and decorating the tree. Christmas at the Drummys has some traditions. Christmas Eve is fondue with Bearnaise sauce... Awesome. It's not cheese fondue but hot oil that you cook beef in. So good... you also have a baked potato and Bearnaise sauce... Fantastic. During dinner we watch an action movie, usually one of the Die Hard movies fits the bill. Also fun. Helps to get the adrenaline going to rip open presents the next morning!

Christmas day was so much fun. Annie was very excited and had been looking forward to it for some time! Even Nichol got in on the action and had tons of fun unwrapping presents and taking things from Annie... All in all it was a great week, and it was nice to have extra hands around to help with the kids!

"Table for 1, by the window please"

So far in 2011 we've made some pretty big changes, for us at least. We ushered in one of the most boring New Year's by spending our New Year's Eve at Ikea buying Annie a table & chairs, and new big girl bed. Then proceeded to spend our evening putting them together. Woo-ho! Crazy, I know!

The upside is that Annie sure does love her new stuff. We figured since Nichol has been a lot better about sleeping through the night, the time might finally be upon us that we can have the kids share a room. But before we can do that, we have to get Annie out of her crib. This is something that we have been hesitant to do since about the time she was born... I just felt the minute that she wasn't contained in her crib, she would be all over and never get any sleep. So we decided to just bite the bullet and make the change on a Friday night, so we had all weekend to deal with the aftermath and both of us would be home to focus on this effort. And I'm proud to report, it wasn't that bad.

We thought the biggest issue was going to be her getting out of her bed and playing in her room when she was supposed to be sleeping. This turned out to be less of an issue at night. Maybe because it was so dark that playing in the dark didn't hold much appeal, or maybe the stern talking to before bed actually worked. Either way, the toughest transition ended up being that she missed her crib and was trying to climb back into it to sleep. Aww... But the first night was the toughest, and even that was pretty easy. Naptime you have to give her a warning and check in on her pretty frequently, but even that hasn't been half as bad as we thought.

We've been wanting to get Annie a table and chairs for a while, so we figured we should just buy that too. She loves sitting at her table during meals, although most of the sitting is in short bursts. Her new eating regime consists of sitting to take a bite, then running around while she's chewing her food. Or if you have left the room, then she will be right behind you wondering where you are or what you are doing. Annie always likes to know where everyone is and what everyone is doing.

2010 in review

Almost Christmas! How in the world did this sneak up on us? It seems like it was just Halloween. I feel like the time in between Labor Day and New Year's is a blur. Every year once Labor Day hits it's like the year is on fast forward. We've had a great year, and have lots to be thankful for.

Nicholas was born this year. Can't imagine things without him around. Annie has become more self sufficient, which has been good and bad. Good that she can do more things on her own and bad that she can do more things on her own. I don't mind admitting that she's driven us to purchase several new parenting books, all with similar titles like "How to make your child mind" or "How to make your child take you seriously", etc. We're still working on that.

Karen also started taking care of both kids full time, which has been tremendous. Aside from all the obvious advantages, one of the best parts for me is not to have to rush out the door every morning making sure that everyone is all packed up, etc. I used to dread Sunday nights, knowing that Monday morning we would have to be out the door by 7:30 in order to drop Annie off, and make it to work on time. And I certainly don't miss all the times last winter when Annie was getting kicked out of daycare for a runny nose or some other lame excuse. I can't imagine how much more stressful this would be with two kids.

We've went on a lot of great trips. Ohio, Florida, Pointe Aux Barques, and who can forget... Paris. We tried selling our condo, to no avail. That was a bummer, but the upside was that we hadn't found a new place, so we never had to go through the disappointment of falling in love with a new house only to not be able to buy it. Or buy it, but not be able to sell your old place.

For 2.5 years we never had to go to the ER, until we had to go twice in two weeks. Let's hope that fills our quota for a while. First Annie fell at the park and put a pretty nice gash in her forehead, then two weeks later Nichol got hives...

It's definitely been an adjustment with two kids, but it feels good. It feels good to go to a restaurant and be a party of four. It feels good to always have a kid in your arms or holding your hand. It feels good in the morning when everyone crowds in your bed and inevitably someone gets a foot to the head. It feels good when you get a big wet kiss. And most of all it feels good when you come home and so many people are happy to see you.

As this year comes to a close, thanks for reading and checking in with us. See you in 2011!

Leftover lunch

Things sure have gotten busy around here. Or maybe it just seems that way when I haven't updated the blog in a while and it feels like I have a lot to catch up on. First things first... in the past few weeks we've made two visits to the ER. A few weeks ago we were all at the park, and Annie was playing, fell, and ended up putting a pretty serious dent in her forehead. So we went to MGH to get her checked out. One of the things I really like about living in the city is how close everything is. MGH is in Beacon Hill and a short drive from where we live. It's also the hospital both Annie and Nichol were born in. Of course, being in a big city can have some drawbacks. While we were waiting in the ER, a prisoner in full on shackles (hands and feet) was brought in with two guards. You see all sorts in an ER waiting room.

Annie ended up having two stitches, and hopefully the scar won't be too noticeable. She was a trooper throughout the whole thing too. After that saga, fast forward two weeks... It's a Friday night and as I'm getting Nichol ready for bed, I notice he has got these red bumps on his torso, I thought they could be hives? I gave him some benadryl, waited 45 minutes and checked him again. I thought the bumps looked better so I put him to bed. The next morning the hives/rash had spread all over his trunk, up his back, down his legs, and started to go up his head. So we headed to the ER, worried they might impair his airway if they continue to get worse. Back to MGH.

This time as we're getting checked in, the same lady who checked us in two weeks ago peeks over and says, "Weren't you just here?" Me: "Yes, but different kid." Her: "Well how many more do you have at home?" Haha... Everyone is a comedian! The doctors settled on a diagnosis that Nichol was allergic to mangoes, since he had just eaten them on Friday for the first time. However on Monday, our pediatrician didn't think it was a food allergy because the benadryl was not effective. He thought Nichol had a virus that he was allergic to and that was causing the reaction all over his body. Either way, Nichol will be avoiding mangoes for a while.

What else has been going on... We had a great Thanksgiving hosted by my sister and her husband. We got our Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and have been enjoying it every day since! We were a little late on the Christmas card bus, so they might be pretty close to deadline! Annie's latest music class has ended so we're in between sessions until January. The weather has turned pretty crisp recently going from the 40-50s down to the 30s. Nichol has pretty much begun crawling, maybe you'd call it more of a slither. He's working up to the actual crawling on all fours, but I have a feeling that's going to be pretty soon. And that's about it, other then getting ready for Christmas!