Walka' Chicka'

Shortly after Halloween, Cassidy decided she no longer wanted to sit still and play with her toys, nor did she want to crawl on her belly to get from here to there. Instead she demanded to be walked all over the house holding onto our fingers, repeatedly, non-stop, or wailing would ensue. The girl really REALLY wanted to learn how to walk. With only two weeks of practice, and just shy of 11 months old, Cassidy is now walking almost totally on her own and is quite proud of her accomplishment. Having a big sister is great motivation!

SCD & Breastfeeding

Today I got a blog comment from a woman who's interested in trying the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) but has concerns about getting enough calories and nutrients to continue breastfeeding her 8-month-old daughter. Here's her blog comment and my reply, for those who are interested in this topic. Keep in mind that the food list I included in my reply is enough calories for me when breastfeeding only FOUR times a day with Cassidy eating a lot of solids too. When I was nursing Cassidy 8-10 times a day I ate more almond flour baked goods, probably 2 more muffins or what-have-you per day.

********
November 11, 2008 10:03:40 AM
Hi Amy,

Just found your blog on a search of "scd diet + breastfeeding" on google. I'm inspired by your story. I have ulcerative colitis and have been flaring on and off since I was diagnosed 1 1/2 years ago. I flared throughout my pregnancy, was hospitalized for a week, and then gave birth 7 weeks early after a placental abruption. Anyways, my daughter is 8 months old and healthy as can be, but I am still flaring. I'm thinking of trying the SCD diet, but not sure I'll get all the calories/nutrients required to keep breastfeeding. Are you still breast feeding Cassidy? Had you talked to your doctors about this at all? Thanks for any help you could offer.
Sincerely,
Audra
********

November 11, 2008 9:01:32 PM
Hi Audra,

I'm sorry to hear about the health issues you've been having. I know how hard it can be to feel sick while taking care of a baby. I hope that I can give you some answers about my journey with SCD to help you decide if you want to try it. First off, I am still breastfeeding Cassidy four times a day, and I'm for the most part feeling great on the diet. I did have a flare several months ago when I cut down on feedings. I think this flare-up was related to hormone fluctuations. So I went back to the intro diet from "Breaking The Vicious Cycle"" (BTVC), and stayed on that for a few weeks. That got me back to a healthy place, and I've been feeling great since. I spoke with a nutritionist when I was pregnant, and she agreed that the SCD is very healthy as long as one includes enough fruits and veggies. She also said the homemade yogurt (I make it from whole milk) and the almond flour baked goods are a great source of calcium, calories, and vitamins. I also take a prenatal vitamin, calcium citrate, and Omega 3-6-9.

My doctors are all thrilled with how I'm doing and say that I'm eating healthier than most of their patients who eat a "normal" diet. I've had no trouble keeping enough weight on and actually am up about 5 lbs over my pre-SCD weight. You may lose a little weight at first with the intro diet, but once your body gets adjusted and you figure out how many calories from foods other than bread products you need to eat during the day, it should get better. Here's what I ate today as an example of what you might need to eat in order to get enough calories to breastfeed and keep your weight up (I won't include water in my list, but I do drink a lot of it all throughout the day):

breakfast:
2 eggs
1 cup homemade whole milk yogurt mixed with...
1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries
8 oz apple cider

snack:
banana with peanut butter

lunch:
2 slices of Lois Lang's Luscious Bread (from BTVC) with butter & honey
1oz cheese
1-2 cups homemade tomato soup (canned tomato juice, with homemade yogurt, salt, pepper, & honey)
handful of baby carrots
apple

snack:
cashews and raisins
dried prunes

dinner:
Parmesan Walnut Encrusted Chicken from Raman Prasad's "Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet"
1 cup pureed butternut squash (with honey, butter, salt & pepper)
asparagus
1/2 c applesauce

snack:
homemade Peanut Butter Brownie
1/2 c homemade yogurt

Let me know if you have any other questions about anything at all. Starting the SCD is a really big deal and it helps to have a support system, whether it be family, friends, or Internet buddies like me. :)

Shiver Me Timbers And A Yo Ho Ho

Several months ago, Sophia informed us that she wanted to be a pirate for Halloween. Most of Sophia's 3-year-old girlfriends were going as princesses or fairies, so I got a lot of questions about how Sophia had made her costume selection. I believe her pirate obsession began last year when she watched a DVD about "Madeline and the Pirates," and then there was that "Max & Ruby" episode where Max was playing pirates. Ever since, she's been "hooked" (I just couldn't resist the pun).

Cassidy did NOT choose to dress up and was somewhat disgruntled when I stuffed her into a hot, yellow, fluffy bundle of cuteness. We weren't sure if her costume was a duck or a chick—the top half had a very duck-like bill, but the bottom half didn't have webbed feet. Chick? Duck? We decided she was either a "chuck" or a "dick," and for obvious reasons we went with "chuck."

Breakin' Out And Breakin' In

Sophia has been learning lots of new songs at preschool and loves to sing them over and over again. I finally got some good video recordings of her super silly cuteness two Saturdays ago while heading home from a family outing to the grocery store.

In stark contrast to the lightheartedness of our 3.5 year old's serenade...these videos of Sophia were filmed moments before we pulled into our driveway to find that our kitchen window had been smashed with a rock, and someone had gotten away with our large flatscreen TV, laptop, Wii, and Xbox 360 (and our sense of security and trust in humankind). One of the worst parts about it was cleaning up the window glass covering every square inch of the kitchen. Not my idea of a fun Saturday afternoon. Why oh why can't everyone just think back on preschool, sing silly songs about green freckled frogs, and remember that there's a big difference between "sharing" and "stealing"?

Website Redesign

We've been slowly putting this redesign together for the last several months and we finally felt that it was time to switch over to the new site. You may find some broken links and loose ends.  We are aware of many of the issues and will be taking care of them in due time. We intentionally launched the redesign before it was 100% complete so that some of the improvements that we've long been wanting to make, like larger photos and an album view, could finally be realized. We also thought it was important to shift the primary focus away from the blog and draw more attention to the daily photo, videos, and other content that we update more often.

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:03:07 PST

When The Cat's Away...

Cassidy LOVES Sophia's baby dolls. She loves taking them out of the red bin in Sophia's bedroom. She loves how their eyes open and shut. She loves how they are almost as big as she is. Cassidy has a special delighted squeal that is reserved only for dolly time. I always know that she's heading for the doll bin when I hear that adorable squeal.

The baby dolls are pretty much off limits when Sophia is home (unless big sister is feeling particularly generous). But when Sophia is at preschool, Cassidy goes wild.

Dim Sum With The Wongs

A few weeks ago Sophia found a great book at the library entitled, "Dim Sum For Everyone," by Grace Lin. Before reading this book with her, I'd never heard of the Chinese dim sum cuisine. Together we discovered that dim sum, which translates to "little hearts," consists of a wide variety of light dishes served alongside Chinese tea. "Dim Sum For Everyone" has brightly stylized illustrations of these dishes, such as Fried Shrimp, Egg Tarts, and Dumplings—all of which Sophia thought looked really yummy.

After reading "Dim Sum For Everyone" upon request at least five times every day for a week, Sophia's dream of trying out the food came true. Our good friend who was visiting noticed the book on our coffee table. It just so happens that her family goes out for dim sum in Ann Arbor fairly often, and she invited us to come along the following Sunday.

Today was the big day. We met the Wong family at Lai Lai, a cute little restaurant on Carpenter Road. The Wongs, who were experts on the menu, helped us figure out what we might like, and let us try out some of their selections too. Stephen liked everything, and Sophia liked the fried shrimp balls, egg tarts, and turnip cakes, which were a favorite of Cassidy's. Unfortunately I was unable to eat anything from the dim sum menu since I'm on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, so I ordered steamed chicken and snow peas with no sauce. Hmmmm. Salt and pepper helped a little. I though dim sum was supposed to be "for EVERYONE." Darn it.

Preschool Fun

Sophia's first week of preschool has been great. She really, REALLY likes it and seems to have developed a bond with her two teachers and a couple of her classmates (there are 12 kids in total).

For the first two days, all of the parents stayed with their kids for the 2.5 hour morning, but today after "Greeting Time" we retreated to the lobby and gave our kids some space. It was a wonderful success. In fact, when I went to check on Sophia later in the morning, she did NOT want me there. "Go away, Mommy!" Music to my ears. At the end of the morning, she was proud of herself and happy to tell me all about her fun day.

My mom was here this week to hang out with Cassidy while I preschooled with Sophia. I think Cassidy has a new best buddy! Thanks for all your help with this transition, Grandma Beth. We'll miss you until next time.

Ready, Steady, Go!

On Tuesday Sophia starts preschool at Allen Creek. Aside from the weekly ballet class she took this summer, this is the first big thing Sophia will do without Mommy or Daddy. A few weeks ago, she had told me she was scared about preschool and didn't want to be away from me during the day. But after our visit to meet her teachers a couple days ago, Sophia informs me that she doesn't want me to stay with her during the first week as we'd planned. We'll see about that. Mommy might NEED to stay with you for at least the first day!

I am so excited for Sophia, and also a little emotional that my girl is getting her first set of wings. I know she's ready for it. She knows she's ready for it. And Cassidy is totally ready to play with all of Sophia's toys while she's not looking!

Buying Groceries With Sophia

Scene: Whole Foods produce department.

Sophia: Points at a bin of vegetables. "What are these Daddy?"
Stephen (aka Daddy): "Those are baby bok choy."
Sophia: Looks over at stack of carrots and Giggles. "Penis."
Stephen: Tries to control laughter which would surely provoke her.
Sophia: Giggles more and starts poking the tips of the carrots. "Penis, Penis, PENIS!"
Stephen: "Sophia, can you help me pick out some strawberries?..."

SCD Peanut Butter Brownies

Being on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet means that if I want a yummy treat, I usually have to bake it. And being a mommy of a 3 year old and 6 month old doesn't give me tons of free time in the kitchen. So if I'm going to bake, it's got to be quick and easy. Something I can throw together during nap time or after the kids are in bed but before I hit the sack.

My current favorite in the quick/easy/yummy treat category is a peanut butter brownie (or three). Stephen loves them too, especially with the addition of a handful of chocolate chips (NOT SCD legal, unfortunately for me). The recipe I use is one that my mom Beth and I came up with as a variation on the Peanut Butter Brownies from Elaine Gottschall's Breaking The Vicious Cycle. We add crunchy peanut butter (and a bit more of it) and vanilla, and we lower the oven temperature and bake a little longer so it comes out just right.

SCD Peanut Butter Brownies

• 1 1/4 cups crunchy peanut butter, no additives
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Spread batter into an 8x8 baking pan that has been fully lined with parchment paper (cut out the corners of the paper, fold back the edges, and fit into pan. You'll end up with handles for removing the brownies when they are done). Bake at 300 for 30 minutes or until the edges are nicely browned. Cool slightly and then use the parchment paper handles to carefully remove brownies to a rack. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

For more great recipes, check out my mom's online SCD cookbook, Turtle Soup.

Gimme A "P-" Gimme an "O-" Gimme a "T-T-Y!"

Last summer, I posted a depressing review of our failed attempts at potty training. This summer, I'm proud to announce that Sophia has made the leap into big girl undies, and things are going GREAT!

The final months leading up to Cassidy's birth were filled with emotion for Sophia. She talked baby talk and threw tantrums. She wanted to wear diapers like a baby and didn't want anything to do with the potty. So we took an 8-month hiatus, with very little talk/pressure about the potty, during which time Sophia wore pullups 24-7 and used them as diapers for #1, but usually removed them for poops that usually happened in the potty...usually.

Here we are 6 months after Cassidy's birth, and Sophia at age 3.25 is totally ready to be a big kid. It's for real this time. I can't describe exactly how I know this, but I do. And it's so different from previous grandiose visions I had of her wearing cute little undies and not having to nag her to change a soggy pullup. Here's how it happened. One day, about 2 weeks ago, after we visited Sophia's 2.75-year-old friend who was wearing UNDERWEAR (and Sophia knows this kid is MUCH younger), Sophia asked to try out undies again. So we did the following. We took the pullups out of her drawer and put them in her closet for night time only. We got out the stack of last summer's undies and placed them neatly in her top drawer. We told her that we'd bring her little potty wherever she was playing to make it easier. We said that accidents would happen and that was totally 100% OK as long as she was trying her best. We told her that it was up to her to get to the potty in time, and we would not remind her unless we were about to go out of the house, in which case we always would try to pee before leaving. She agreed to all of this wholeheartedly.

So the first day there were 4 pee accidents (and a couple successes). The next day there were only 3 accidents. And then just as things seemed to be going well, on the third day she had 8 accidents, all about an hour or so apart. But something had changed in my outlook, and I did not get upset (as I have in the past). I just said, "Tomorrow will be better." And it was! For the past 2 weeks, she's had only 1 or 2 accidents a day, and a couple mornings she woke up with a dry pullup. Today she made it to the potty EVERY TIME (even while were were out on errands, she told us when she needed to go), and at bedtime she got to throw her undies down the laundry chute not because they were wet but because she'd worn them all day long.

Yay for Sophia's readiness. Yay for Mommy and Daddy's calm, cool attitude. Yay for Cassidy's all-around awesomeness at eating and sleeping, which allows us the emotional energy to do potty training right this time around. It's the right time for success—finally!

2008 Michigan Masters State Swim Meet

When I started training for the state meet back in November I had set a goal to beat my swim times from high school. To achieve that goal I set out with an ambitious training schedule of swimming 120,000 yards a month. A few weeks after I started training with my higher volume I started developing some pain in my left shoulder that seemed to be getting worse. I think it was a combination of several factors, but whatever had caused it was preventing me from swimming without pain. So I ended up staying out of the pool for 6 weeks until I felt like I was able to swim short workouts again. I've never wanted to swim so badly before, but the few times I tested it during that period I would notice pain within a few laps and made myself stop.

I started back in slowly in January, swimming ~1,500 yards 3 times a week. I also started lifting weights twice a week to strengthen my muscles, especially around my rotator cuff. At this point I was just happy that I was swimming again. Over the next month I increased to 2,600 yards, 3 times a week. With the new baby my early morning workouts vaporized and I was working out during my lunch break. For this reason, I haven't been able to up my yardage beyond 2,600. My times at swim meets were roughly equivalent to what I had swum during my first meet back in November. Going into the state meet I wasn't expecting any improvements, but hoping to show something for the season.

The state meet is massive. It's broken up over 3 days to accommodate all the events. Luckily, this year it was held at the EMU Natatorium, so I was able to stay in town. There were 10 lanes set up for racing and at least another 10 for warming up in. Although not as stunning and modern as UofM's Natatorium, it met the needs of the meet well.

Friday night was all distance events and my first race, the 1650 free, was the last heat of the evening. I wasn't fully prepared for the wait, not thinking to bring any reading material. I ended up waiting about 4 hours and hadn't brought enough food to tide me over either. My race started a little before 10:00pm. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I got a cold back on Wednesday and I still wasn't feeling great. Despite all this, I was excited and confident.

The first 1,000 was going well enough and from what few glimpses I caught of the timing board I was on pace. After that, however, I started getting hit with some pretty heavy fatigue. I wanted to push through it, but it began to erode my pace considerably. I ended up with a 20:15.62. My worst time of the season by 7 seconds and 28 seconds off my record. That was pretty disappointing and I wasn't looking forward to the possibility that all my races were going to be crappy. Stupid cold. What terrible timing.

The next morning I woke up tired and sore, but that soon faded and I let my optimism come back for my events that day, the 100 free and 500 free. The first and last events of the day.

I was right to be optimistic. The 100 felt good, but it felt even better to look up at the clock and see a low number, 55.02. A second faster than my seed time. I got that 1650 monkey off my back and was ready for the rest of the meet. During the 500 I didn't have a lap counter for the first half of the swim. It helped me focus. Half the swim I visualized someone dipping the counter into the water and it took my mind off my fatigue. By doing this it made me actually pay attention to my pacing. I took the first 300 at a comfortably fast pace. I still felt great at that point so I started ramping it up each succeeding 50. By the last 50 I still had something left so I turned everything up to 11. Damn that felt good. Best race of the year. 5:36.26. 8 seconds off my best time this season!

Sunday was a big day. I had 4 events. The 200 free, 200 IM, 100 IM, and the 1,000 free. The IMs were for fun. I didn't have any time expectations. The 1,000 was my first attempt at that distance and the 200 was my big event. I wanted to break 2:00. The 200 was my lead off event. Throughout the season I had taken the first 100 out too hard and died painfully that last 100. The problem is that the 200 is almost all sprinting, so there is very little room for error. Well, I did end up slowing down gradually throughout the race, but I didn't die as badly as I had in the past. Every muscle in my body was locking up in the last 25, but I pushed through it and ended up with a 2:01.48. Not the sub 2:00 I was hoping for, but I was happy to have beat my seed time by a second.

The 200IM was awful. I flubbed by turn between backstroke and breaststroke and didn't finish that well. I decided that I had to make up for it by crushing my 100IM. Which I did. I knocked 2 seconds off my seed time. Yes! It feels so good when that happens.

For the 1,000 I was again in the last heat for the day. I tried thinking about what went wrong with my 1650 and was sure that if I just took the 1,000 out like I did for the first 1,000 of the 1650 I would do fine. In a way it did and in a way it didn't. My time was a few seconds faster than my first 1,000 of the 1650, but I was feeling it at the 700 mark. I know it could have gone better, but I met my expectations so I'll take it.

Overall, I think the meet was a lot of fun and I was happy with a lot of my results. It's well off what I originally was hoping to accomplish, but I'm encouraged by the improvements that I've made under the circumstances and I'm prepared to give it another try next year.

Happy 3 on March 14!

Sophia's 3rd birthday was so incredibly fun! We had a party with some of her play group buddies, and Daddy took the afternoon off to enjoy the festivities with us. We decorated paper party crowns, ate spectacularly sprinkled cupcakes, and had a great time opening gifts and playing together. After the party guests had departed and we'd eaten our pizza dinner (birthday girl's request), Sophia tried out all of her new toys and games. She was so excited about her new stuff that she really didn't want to go to bed. Who could blame her? I think she shot off her new foam rocket launcher "just once more" about three to the third times before we convinced her that the toys needed to get some sleep too. What an awesome day. What an awesome girl we've got. Happy Birthday, Sophia!

Here are more pictures

Better Than A Bouncy Seat

At our weekly afternoon play group, my very pregnant friend Anne-Marie loves to hold Cassidy. Partly because Cassidy is adorable and snuggly; partly because Anne-Marie wants her 2.75-year-old son to get used to Mommy holding a baby. Whatever her reason, I love it when she holds Cassidy because that girl falls asleep EVERY TIME she's in Anne-Marie's arms. Next time Cassidy has a sleepless night, I know who to call!