Spitty Baby, Vegan Waffles, Father-Son Camping

Kai was a terrible spitter starting very early on. By terrible, I mean spitting up several teaspoons of milk 12 to 15 times every day. When he was two weeks old, my hormone-addled brain was convinced he had something Terribly Wrong with him--like pyloric stenosis. I sat crying in the lactation clinic, worried our little baby would need surgery.

Turns out he's just fine. He has reflux. Which in itself is not great, but manageable. Reflux in breastfed babies can sometimes be caused by maternal diet. So I went on a diet. A really crazy diet consisting of zucchini, pears, turkey, lamb, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, rice, millet...and that's all. After two days, Kai's reflux was cured. After four, I was so run down and sick and tired of those seven things I had to stop.

Eight months later, after several different diets, a lot of internet research, pediatrician visits, and zantac for Kai, he's finally not a spitty baby. Partly he's growing out of it. Partly it's the medicine he's on. And mostly, it's me eliminating all dairy from my diet. This past week was really stressful at work and I had buttery pastries several days in a row. On Friday, Kai was back to his old spitty habits. I started the diet again and 36 hours later, he's not spitting. Pretty compelling evidence.

I've enjoyed the challenge of making foods without [chose one or more: dairy, gluten, soy, corn, eggs], particulary baked goods. I've found some good recipes, including the one I modified and used to make vegan waffles this morning:

Vegan Chocolate Chip Waffles

Preheat waffle maker.
Whisk together in big bowl:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add to dry ingredients:
2/3 cup chocolate chips (my favorite are Ghirardelli 60% Bittersweet Chips)
Mix together in second bowl:
2 cups non-dairy milk (I used 1 cup coconut milk, 1 cup soy milk)
1 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar (optional)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Mix wet ingredients into dry.
Cook according to your waffle maker instructions.

In other news, Xander and Micah had a three-day father son camping trip in Silver Lake Campground in Tahoe last week.

Xander is Atlas. Holding up the world.

They had a wonderful time. I'd show you more pictures, but Xander was pants-free most of the time. (Pants have pretty much become optional at our house after 5 pm. Do other parents have little nudists living with them too?) At one point, while Micah and Xander were sitting by the river, Xander turned to Micah and said, "I want to stay here forever." Xander was a super-trooper. They took two mile and a half long hikes and two bike rides. They spent the evenings after dinner watching the stars come out. They had a bonfire one night.

Laundry List

After careful measurement over the last eight months, I can safely say that I have come up with a formula that accurately estimates the total laundry rate that a family will have post-kids.

V=L+k+2r

where V = total laundry rate (measured in baskets per day)

L=laundry rate before kids

k = # of kids

r=# of kids who have reflux

For example, our laundry rate pre-kids was .5 baskets per day, number of kids is 2, and number of kids with reflux is 1, so we get a laundry rate of 4.5 baskets per day.

OK, not really. But we do average 1.5 loads per day.

We have become experts at laundry, with Micah and I each specializing in an area. Micah deals with dirty to clean. He moves the laundry from the house to the laundry shed, manages the washing and drying and moves it back inside. I deal with clean to dirty. I fold, sort, and put away.

Here's a time lapse of me folding three loads of laundry in 30 seconds.

When not folding, washing, drying, sorting laundry, we managed to get to Pedalfest this weekend. Pedalfest is a super-fun street fair held in Jack London Square focused on all things bicycle. All bikey folks come out. We saw cargo bikes with kids, scraper bikes with giant wheels and super-tall saddles, BMX bikes, road bikes, futuristic electronic mini-bikes, bikes riding around the WhiskeyDrome, stationary bikes powering the music stage, food vendor bikes, and penny farthings.

We stopped by a bike rodeo run by Cycles of Change--one of the non-profits who deliver programming for the Alameda County Safe Routes program that I'm managing. Xander practiced his bike skills, including stopping at stop signs, signaling, and watching for other bicyclists.

Xander's last day of preschool for the year was on Thursday. He's off for two-and-a-half weeks, and then starts up after Labor Day. We're taking advantage of this by scheduling some short vacation trips. On Sunday, Micah took Xander on a three-day camping trip. Kai and I are spending quality time together at home.

All-Terrain Offspring

Both the boys tried out new forms of locomotion this weekend. On Saturday night, Kai took his first real hands-and-knees crawling steps--and promptly fell on his belly. True crawling is tantalizingly close. The very beginning of the video below shows him jump up on all fours, and then take one arm-step before reverting to army crawl.

On Sunday, Micah took Xander for his first mountain biking experience. Oakland is great for many reasons, including the fact that quality mountain biking is just a 20 minute drive into the East Bay hills. The boys went to Joaquin Miller Park for some easy trail riding, or at least that's what Micah told me when they left. Three hours later, I find out from Micah that they rode a THREE TO FOUR MILE trail, all single track, first half flat, the rest up and down. Xander rode the first two-thirds. He loved it--even telling Micah mid-ride: "Daddy, I love you."

Needless to say, Xander ate a huge dinner and went right to sleep tonight.

Xander on his first mountain bike ride with Daddy

Xander pushing hard uphill

Spacebears!

We got a wonderful book out of the library: "What Happens on Wednesdays" by Emily Jenkins. In it, a little girl narrates her day, starting with, "What happens on Wednesdays is I wake up when it is still dark out...I sit on the counter while Mommy makes coffee....When the clock says six, we wake up Daddy." She takes us through her typical day in Brooklyn: walking to the bagel shop; playing with her friend in the park; preschool;  naptime; swimming with Mommy; dinner; night time. 

Given that our weekdays are scheduled from 6 am to 9 pm, I do try to slow down and appreciate the daily routine.  I'd like to make a Wednesday book for Xander. It would start with, "On Wednesdays, Daddy carries Kai in to Mommy, and I come in a few minutes later and we all snuggle in bed."

This weekend was extremely packed. We saw Justin, Jen and Henry again on Saturday. Micah grilled a whole chicken (spatchcock style). Micah is a fabulous cook. On Sunday, we BARTed over to the Mission with Tony and Cleo and their twins (three days older than Kai), and met Meredith and Sasha (two months older than Kai) for Sunday Streets. Kid-to-adult ratio was 1:1. We all managed to keep it together for about an hour, so I consider it a success.

In the spirit of "What Happens on Wednesdays," here's some shots of typical activities.

Kai after a successful yogurt face mask breakfast.

Xander wearing his new apron.

Xander loves the apron Grandma Dixie made for him. Thanks! He refuses to make a normal face when we take his picture. Much like Calvin, which is giving me ideas for Xander's Halloween costume this year.

Xander made a space ship in our living room this afternoon. Micah, Kai and I all took turns flying around in it with him. Note the luggage on top. He's prepared for everything.

Xander's space ship. They just hit a space bear in this photo.
Luggage includes Pikachu, two U-locks,
all of Kai's baby toys, the library books.

Micah and Xander exploring space.

Close-up of the map taped to the bottom of the coffee table.
Space is big--you should always bring a map.

When I get some time later this week, I'll try to upload the video Xander and I made inside the space ship.

SoHum

During a typical week, the kids get in the car two, maybe three times, for an hour total of vehicle time. We more than make up for this, however, in our semi-monthly trips to visit Grandma Ellen and Grandpa Denis in Southern Humboldt County. Every two months or so, we pack two kids, all their gear and all our gear into a two-door Honda Accord and make the journey north. If everything aligns, we make it in five hours with one or two stops. Last night, the return home took nearly nine hours with four stops.

Grandma snuggles with Kai in the shade of the house.

Grandma and Grandpa live a forty-five minute drive from town, down narrow winding roads. The terrain is hilly, rugged, even. Valleys are cool and wet, shaded by giant redwoods. The hilltops are hot and dry, with red-barked manzanita and bay laurel trees.  The climate is drier and hotter in the summer than the Bay Area - reached eighties this weekend - and colder in the winter than the Bay Area--we've had white Christ-mukkah's there.


We stayed in the "guest shed," which was perfect for us - enough room for our bed, Xander's bed, Kai's borrowed peapod tent (an amazing baby-containment unit-every parent should have one) and a play space for Xander. A nest of birds kept us entertained.

One of the parents sits on the nest they built in the shed window.

This past weekend, we squeezed in a lot of fun activities.

Saturday

Micah and I had date night at the Garberville Theater. (Wow, I just checked ticket prices--when was the last time you could see a movie for $7?) We watched the Bada Bling Burlesque Troup/fundraiser for the theater. It was packed. It was fun to run into a lot of Micah's former high school classmates.

Sunday

Micah started the day with a mountain bike ride on the newly opened single track section of the Paradise Royale Trail.

Paradise Royale single track.
(Image from Bicycling Magazine article)

That evening, we visited Micah's childhood friend, Justin, and his family: Henry just turned three, and Jen is pregnant with another boy, due later this fall. We planned our visit to coincide with their visit from Chicago. Justin took some great photos of the boys.

Xander and Henry play in Humboldt.
Photo: Justin Brown

Monday

Monday we started the day applying daga - a mixture of sand, local dirt, and concrete - to the front wall of Micah's parents' rammed-earth house.

Micah mixing the sand, concrete, and dirt
for the daga mixture.

Ellen and Micah apply daga while Denis sprays the wall
with water to keep it moist.

Ellen demonstrating her daga application technique.

The wall is nearly finished. We did the square section
just to the right of the front door.

So while all this was going on, I was mostly watching the kids. I did get a little daga application in. Later that afternoon, Micah, Xander, Kai and I traveled to the Mattole River to meet Justin and his family for swimming. The river warrants an extra-large photo, it is so beautiful:

Mattole River, Micah's childhood swimming hole.
Photo: Justin Brown

Micah and Kai at the river.
Photo: Justin Brown

Jen and Henry coo at Kai while Justin's dad, Gary, relaxes in the shade.
Photo: Justin Brown

That night, we had the Browns over for dinner.

Dinner Monday night. From left to right, Henry, Gary, Denis,
Jen, Lauren, Kai, Ellen, Xander.
Photo: Justin Brown

Tuesday

Urgh, back in the car. Good thing these kids are so cute and (mostly) well-behaved. Tip for parents wanting their children to be good travelers: start them young - like two months old - on crazy-long, eight-hour car rides. Then a three-hour ride will be a piece of cake. Oh, and get the Frog and Toad anthology on audiobook.

Xander and Kai. The lookalikes.

Imagination

We're going to be off the grid this weekend-we're visiting Micah's parents in Humboldt County-so I won't be able to publish until later in the week. I meant to put up just a brief post, but things got a bit out of hand, as you can see.

Lately--OK, for a long time now--I've been fascinated by Xander's imaginary play. It brings me back to my childhood when we'd put together cities, dream up intricate scenarios, and turn anything into something bigger and better than it actually was. (I remember spending what seemed like hours looking down into our stand-up humidifier, my hair blowing as I watched the brown, plastic, wicking conveyor belt slowly move into the pool of water at the bottom of the machine and then reemerge to evaporate and cool the room. I stuck little plastic army men into the conveyor belt and watched them as they explored an imaginary jungle river, deep in South America.)

Starting from a pretty early age, Xander has been telling stories (out loud) with his cars. Even before spoke in sentences, his cars would act out scenarios. Typically they took this form:
Little blue car: [on floor, with urgency] "Mommy, Mommy!"
Red fire engine: [on toy box] "Baby?"
Little blue car: [more urgent]: "Mommy!!MOMMY!"
Red fire engine: [moving down to floor, reassuringly] "Baby."
Little blue car: [releived] "Mama."
[Cars kiss.]
End Scene
Later, he started acting out scenarios from the park--kids not sharing, being scared of the side. Now the stories are exponentially more complex, and he brings in words and concepts that I know we didn't teach him. (It's amazing what sponges they are at this age, and a good reminder to watch what we say.) 
Everything these days is decorated with imagination. Our bike ride to school involves multiple red lights, train crossings, at least one flat tire or pit stop for gas, and the rocket blast-off (counting down the garage door numbers on an apartment building). Brushing teeth involves getting the sugar bugs ("I can get the big ones, but you need to get the small ones. They are too small. They hide.") And the daily BM involves anthropomorphizing the results. (Look a mommy poop, a daddy poop and two baby poops!)

Garage doors we bike by on our way to school. Nicely numbered 1 through 10,
thereby facilitating the bike-rocket blast off.

And just so you get a more accurate impression of our neighborhood,
here's what the street looks like just a few doors down from the apartment complex.
(We love our neighborhood and feel very lucky to have scored an affordable apartment here.)

Micah and I have learned to leverage this imagination for our benefit. (Where do you think the idea of sugar bugs came from?) Most recently, I used an elaborate ploy to get him (Xander, not Micah) out of the bathtub into p.j.'s. I will spare you the details, but it involved George the sad towel who just wanted to hug Xander, Sally pull-up, and three competing footed PJ's who jumped around anxiously asking to be worn by Xander.
Watching his imaginary play has made me realize how much I miss having that creativity in my day-to-day life.

To conclude, a long, but sweet video of Xander discussing the train tracks he built with his friend Teddy last Saturday.

Yard Sale, Army Crawling

Xander gets a ride on our neighbor's trail-a-bike.
He couldn't reach the pedals very well, so I jogged behind them.
All the stuff is from our massive three-family yard sale.

The most relaxing part of the week is always Monday morning, after Xander's been dropped off at school and the nanny has arrived to take care of Kai. The boys are wonderful, but wow, a lot of work. Fortunately, every day is filled with moments that make it all worth it. 


This week's big activity (aside from Xander's play date with a friend from school on Saturday) was the yard sale. We teamed with our upstairs neighbors and one of their friends and filled the front yard and driveway with an incredible amount of stuff. We've been going through closets, the garage, storage shed, and under bed storage for a month to cull only the finest items for the sale (like my used Fimo, which I insisted would sell, but did not, and Micah's antifreeze, which I had doubts about but was one of the first items gone that day). Net income after subtracting the price of coffee and banana bread (an attempt to increase attendance): $80 or minimum wage. On the other hand, we donated a trunkload of kids items to Children's Hospital, and another truckload to Goodwill.


Lately, Xander has been a sweetheart. And a goofball. For example:


"Mommy, I love you all the time. I love you when you snuggle. I love you when you don't snuggle."


Sitting on the porch eating breakfast with Micah: "Daddy, I love you."


"Frackles! Pickles! Frackles! Pickles! That rhymes, right?"
"You mean freckles?"
"NO, frackles."
"Like spots on your face?"
"Yes, frackles. Frackles! Pickles! Frackles! Pickles!"


"Gyroscope, gyroscope, gyroscope."
"Are you singing a song, Xander?"
"No, I'm just saying gyroscope."
We laugh.
"It's NOT funny!"

Me, reading a Dora book. "Will you come to my birthday party? (pause) Xander, are you going to go to Dora's birthday party?"
"No, mom, I'm not in the book."

Saturday morning there was lots of giggling coming from the boys room.

Kai is officially mobile. He rocks on all fours, and pulls himself along in a surprisingly fast army crawl. It's fun to see what interests him: the computer, certain toys, mommy. He gets really excited when I come home and nearly launches himself out of the nanny's arms to get to me.

He loves eating. His menu has expanded to include spinach, broccoli, yogurt, and tofu. Whenever he hears someone eating something, he looks around and sees if he can get in on the action.

Pear and spinach: a big hit.

Kai has perfected the teary-eyed, hold me look.

  

Kai has also perfected the chunky baby look.

I leave you with a peaceful image: I'm reading on the sofa, Micah's making dinner in the kitchen, Kai's asleep, Xander's entertaining himself with something. Ahh, a moment of relaxation! And then, from the bathroom, Xander calls, "Who wants to wipe my bum?"