Between some obscene little hot spells, we've weathered Juneuary's cooling bluster. I fully suspect the more persistent heat of July and August lurks around the bend.Yet for just one more morning, we wallow in our pre-4th rain and stay cool in the mornings and warmish in the afternoons. -ish.
Getting ready for some mad-wild-(not-so-United-States-of)American fun. Or moping. Or homages to this Greatly-Complicated Land of Ours.
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| Wonder Woman was an Immigrant |
Of course to rev up for that, we took Chaya to her very first protest. Families Belong Together. In the rain. Trying to figure out who the white dude talking on the bullhorn is and what is he saying because it's kind of hard to hear (Representative Rick Larsen and I still don't quite know but generally that asylum seeking toddlers shouldn't be thrown in cages). And are people heading out to march or stand on street corners and should we stay and sing or go look at shoes at the Running Store. Because we care. But we're not very organized. We did see lots of other families, which was cool. Hopefully Chaya's next civic action will be a little more in the know, but we're all learning here.
Ok a little homage or something:
Our founding fathers had some good ideas (whooo tea party in the Bay!). But ideas alone are not what makes America great or special. We've got some some good talk about the tired, hungry, huddled masses. But how deeply do you have to look back into history to see that the USA is built on the backs of the oppressed. Mortared with fear and disgust for "the other" (in its successive waves). Premised on mental gymnastics that allowed otherwise-good-people to wash their pelf in the blood of the weaker and thank God in the next breath for their success.
What is amazing about America, though, is how much that suffering has been the sand presaging the pearl. How deepest suffering, cruelty and fear, gives way to love, persistence, art, and the damned dogged dignity of human lives.
Blues and gospel music. Swing dancing. Literature and poetry. Humor. Satire. Non-violent protest movements that changed the face of who we are and what we believe. We are beautiful because the people who were trampled down didn't stay crushed. They didn't run away. They kept fighting. Singing. Their spirits still soared. And wave after wave of vilified, exploited, and oppressed sub-groups kept fighting to redefine what it means to be American and what it is to be a part of this country.
We have a lot to atone for and we are still a seething mess. But there is so much good and so much beauty rising out of that chaos.
America, you are my mess and one that has offered me so many fortunes that I never earned or deserved. I love you not like some frigid ideal set off in the ether, but like the family you are: with all your faults. And I will hold you accountable and hold you to a standard you've never fully achieved but must keep striving for. I will call you on your crap and cheer you on in your moments of success.
And maybe in the meantime I'll complain about firework noises, fret that my threenager-in-training is too close to the BBQ, and serve people some Americana foods while enjoying the Wednesday off.
I won't be devouring too much of it myself, the Americana. Maybe peanut butter. That's as American as apple pie, if not more so. Definitely no hot dogs, corn on the cob, or any tasty salsa dishes.
I won't be devouring too much of it myself, the Americana. Maybe peanut butter. That's as American as apple pie, if not more so. Definitely no hot dogs, corn on the cob, or any tasty salsa dishes.
I continue to have a selective palate, shall we say. While I rail against cultish diets and the fanatically disordered fervor of "clean eating" in all its myriad forms, well... my body seems hellbent on restricting my diet. I'm glad at least to be at enough of a point (thanks calcium-depleting, bone crunching PPI) that I can even start untangling some of my "trigger" foods. Kefir but not greek yogurt. Green peppers apparently. Garlic and onion still (darnit). Bosc pears and red delicious apples are ok, but tarter forms of either are problematic. It goes on.
And then of course recently I've also had some neck and jaw pain that is encouraging me to stay off any crisp or chewy foods as much as possible. It was pretty bad a week or two ago and is slowly mellowing to a " don't push it." I'm able to enjoy the occasional crunch now, but have to be careful.
So for now, my diet is pretty specific. Nut butters. Veggies (most veggies are ok if you avoid the tomatoes, onions/garlic, and pepper families) cooked and immersion blended. Oatmeal. Banana. Papaya. Persimmon. A small amount of blueberries blended into oatmeal. Walnut/almond milk I've been making myself. Soy milk ,but just the unsweetened kind from Westsoy. Lentils and beans are still both mushy and ok. I can stomach a little hing in lieu of onion/garlic. Sumac is delicious. Most herbs and several spices in moderation. Rice and quinoa are good. I can kind of get fish to be nice and tender if I try. Cheese is iffy but mozzarella in small quantities .Larabars - if they are pecan pie, peanutbutter cookie, coconut cream pie, banana, or cashew cookie - are soft enough and mellow enough for me.
And on it goes. The moral is, as always, don't try to feed me even if I do need to eat every couple of hours. Just leave me near a well stocked personal kitchen/store and stand back.But I kind of enjoy making food even if I can't eat it, so we've been continuing our tour through the various meal subscriptions services. So far Sun Basket has been the worst. Gobble is my favorite, but Freshly and Home Chef are both pretty strong contenders. And, no, I've not really had much chance to make myself a pure meal from any of these services, but I can steal a little of some of the ingredients to save for myself.
And then of course recently I've also had some neck and jaw pain that is encouraging me to stay off any crisp or chewy foods as much as possible. It was pretty bad a week or two ago and is slowly mellowing to a " don't push it." I'm able to enjoy the occasional crunch now, but have to be careful.
So for now, my diet is pretty specific. Nut butters. Veggies (most veggies are ok if you avoid the tomatoes, onions/garlic, and pepper families) cooked and immersion blended. Oatmeal. Banana. Papaya. Persimmon. A small amount of blueberries blended into oatmeal. Walnut/almond milk I've been making myself. Soy milk ,but just the unsweetened kind from Westsoy. Lentils and beans are still both mushy and ok. I can stomach a little hing in lieu of onion/garlic. Sumac is delicious. Most herbs and several spices in moderation. Rice and quinoa are good. I can kind of get fish to be nice and tender if I try. Cheese is iffy but mozzarella in small quantities .Larabars - if they are pecan pie, peanutbutter cookie, coconut cream pie, banana, or cashew cookie - are soft enough and mellow enough for me.
And on it goes. The moral is, as always, don't try to feed me even if I do need to eat every couple of hours. Just leave me near a well stocked personal kitchen/store and stand back.But I kind of enjoy making food even if I can't eat it, so we've been continuing our tour through the various meal subscriptions services. So far Sun Basket has been the worst. Gobble is my favorite, but Freshly and Home Chef are both pretty strong contenders. And, no, I've not really had much chance to make myself a pure meal from any of these services, but I can steal a little of some of the ingredients to save for myself.
But enough about what's going into me. How about what's coming out of Chaya! Oh you knew we'll be reaching potty-training-potty-mouth eventually.
She's not remotely in training. There's no big longterm scheme here. No coaches. No rest days or long-run sits. No power bars. No excel spreadsheets. And so far no funny technical outfits with magical moisture wicking components. Just the occasional "would you like to sit on your toilet" and a handful of potty-themed youtube songs.
Chaya's had her little potty since she was about 17 months and first showed interest in the toilet. Her fascination involved deep excitement at the prospect and experience of seeing others use the toilet. We thought that might mean something, but mostly it meant that she enjoys scatological humor and that her animals were more precocious about using the toilet than her (they're all thoroughly trained at this point).
Her interest in emulating adults and her preschool peers has waxed and waned for months. Sometimes she'll sit. Sometimes she won't. She's always enjoyed her couple of songs about using the potty, but will go through solid periods of yelling NO!!!! when somebody asks if she'd like to sit on her toilet. For the last handful of months, the toilet has largely been an impromptu stool for peeking out the bathroom window.
Within the last week, her receptivity to sitting on the toilet has increased (along with her ability to hold off on peeing for a long long time in order to produce some real leaky soakers that nobody really wants to hear about).
She's not remotely in training. There's no big longterm scheme here. No coaches. No rest days or long-run sits. No power bars. No excel spreadsheets. And so far no funny technical outfits with magical moisture wicking components. Just the occasional "would you like to sit on your toilet" and a handful of potty-themed youtube songs.
Chaya's had her little potty since she was about 17 months and first showed interest in the toilet. Her fascination involved deep excitement at the prospect and experience of seeing others use the toilet. We thought that might mean something, but mostly it meant that she enjoys scatological humor and that her animals were more precocious about using the toilet than her (they're all thoroughly trained at this point).
Her interest in emulating adults and her preschool peers has waxed and waned for months. Sometimes she'll sit. Sometimes she won't. She's always enjoyed her couple of songs about using the potty, but will go through solid periods of yelling NO!!!! when somebody asks if she'd like to sit on her toilet. For the last handful of months, the toilet has largely been an impromptu stool for peeking out the bathroom window.
Within the last week, her receptivity to sitting on the toilet has increased (along with her ability to hold off on peeing for a long long time in order to produce some real leaky soakers that nobody really wants to hear about).
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| No potty pictures, but here's some indecent storytime |
A handful of days ago, she caught a somewhat bored mommy checking her phone. Chaya knows mommy's phone is (1) forbidden (2) devoted largely to storing and capturing pictures of Chaya. In my panic to keep her from leaping off and melting down, I explained that the phone pictures were only for Chaya sitting on the toilet and let her start watching videos of herself.
Funnily enough that has marked a hallmark of interest in "using" the potty. I don't necessarily think Chaya is particularly interested in "using" it as a human-waste-repository, but she's been very down for sitting on it while watching herself. And she'll suggest it at random times as well as when we're already in the bathroom. A few days ago, she demanded "noise Chaya" (pictures that make noise = videos = potty time in our world). Coincidentally or not, the toilet was doubly christened in all ways imaginable. Chaya looked kind of confused. A flicker of terror passed her face when she saw what was in the little plastic toilet bowl, but once I emptied it into the big toilet and we got to flush, she was peacocking it up like mad. She did want to sit back down on her toilet and watch more, but I bribed her with a celebratory "let's sit in your blue chair and watch the Panda Potty song!" suggestion. Yes I will mush her brain with all kinds of screen time.
Funnily enough that has marked a hallmark of interest in "using" the potty. I don't necessarily think Chaya is particularly interested in "using" it as a human-waste-repository, but she's been very down for sitting on it while watching herself. And she'll suggest it at random times as well as when we're already in the bathroom. A few days ago, she demanded "noise Chaya" (pictures that make noise = videos = potty time in our world). Coincidentally or not, the toilet was doubly christened in all ways imaginable. Chaya looked kind of confused. A flicker of terror passed her face when she saw what was in the little plastic toilet bowl, but once I emptied it into the big toilet and we got to flush, she was peacocking it up like mad. She did want to sit back down on her toilet and watch more, but I bribed her with a celebratory "let's sit in your blue chair and watch the Panda Potty song!" suggestion. Yes I will mush her brain with all kinds of screen time.
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| Proud poop face |
She's pooped in her potty twice more since then. I have to admit I was secretly hoping she'd outgrow the mini-potty and need our well-plumbed toilet before she starting defecating in it, since now there's some more clean up to do (given that her stuffed animals all use her potty and sometimes it looks like she is torturing her animals to get information out of them via said toilet bowl, it seems important to keep sterile as possible). But it's nicer than diapers. Pee may just not be of particular interest to Chaya yet. I'll spare you further details. For now.
And she's already trained to be a modern human being - who doesn't take their phones to the toilet with them these days?
I definitely don't think she's truly ready for whole hearted training, so I will not be engaging in any "THREE DAY NAKED POTTY MARATHONING" (though I hear it's magical), but it's novel at any rate. And making me think I need to get a comfortable bean bag in my bathroom for some of our longer "Chaya noise!" sessions (pictures of Chaya that make noise, in case you missed that connection)
And she's already trained to be a modern human being - who doesn't take their phones to the toilet with them these days?
I definitely don't think she's truly ready for whole hearted training, so I will not be engaging in any "THREE DAY NAKED POTTY MARATHONING" (though I hear it's magical), but it's novel at any rate. And making me think I need to get a comfortable bean bag in my bathroom for some of our longer "Chaya noise!" sessions (pictures of Chaya that make noise, in case you missed that connection)
But its yet another way that the little beast continues to evolve at her own pace in her own way. And a comment on how even the most base and low of activities can be resplendent when seen through the eyes of a novice child. You can only imagine the joy she takes in "sweeping" and "loading the dishwasher." Sometimes I feel jealous that Daddy can impess her wild his amazing yoyo skills and acrobatics until I realize that cooking and cleaning with me (Cinderella mommy!) is equally exciting, wild, and madcap.
And with a flourish of Fireworks, we charge into our very busy summer of trips and family visits. A preschool break. A three day preschool habit. And a very big birthday for our pre-Threenager!
Best Independence Day wishes to families everywhere, and to little preschoolers becoming more independent everywhere.
And with a flourish of Fireworks, we charge into our very busy summer of trips and family visits. A preschool break. A three day preschool habit. And a very big birthday for our pre-Threenager!
Best Independence Day wishes to families everywhere, and to little preschoolers becoming more independent everywhere.
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