National Zoo

We went to the zoo last Friday and had a great time. I love that the zoo is free. It is so easy to pop in and out without worrying about how much you paid. We met up with our friends Alissa, Emmeline and Hazel. This is one of the few pictures I got. I didn't take a picture of a single animal. Maybe next time.

I've talked about Emmeline before and Calder really does think she is the bees knees. He asks about her all the time and gets so excited to see her. They play in nursery together every week and we have been getting together once a week for the last few weeks. I am so bummed they are moving to Utah next month.

Jazz

photo borrowed from downtown Silver Spring website because I forgot my camera today.

We went to an all day jazz festival in downtown Silver Spring today. We ended up staying for 3 hours because Calder loved it so much. I didn't expect him to last very long but he was riveted. He danced, twirled, sang, tapped his toes and lead the music. He asked if he could have a turn to go up and play music. I told him he would have to wait until he was a little older. He said he wanted to play the piano when he is three. We'll see how interested he is at 3.

One of my favorite parts was stage 2. It was the stage where the highschool jazz competition was going on. It brought back so many memories and I could see how nervous those kids were. I remember feeling that way before competitions but loving it just the same. Someday I would love to take Calder to a marching band competition. I think he might really get into it.

Wellness Challenge Week 3

This was a good week. I did great on journaling and feel pretty good about it overall. Thus far I am down 5lbs which is exactly what I wanted to lose, so yahoo for me. I don't feel like I've had to go hungry often during the day but I seem to go to bed hungry most nights. I don't mind it that much though. I have really been thinking about my eating habits and I want to keep some of the new habits I'm forming. I don't normally eat very many vegetables. I didn't realize this until I had to actually count them. Salads at lunch have been great and I'll probably continue to do that. I love sweets and baking but I've become increasingly picky about sweets. If I don't love it, it's not worth using my sweet day for it. Speaking of sweet day, today was the day. I made a very pretty red velvet cake with buttercream frosting. I thought the cake was slightly dry but otherwise it was worth my sweet of the week.

I know I start my weeks on Monday but since I knew I was making a cake to take to a friend's party today I didn't have a sweet day last week so I could have a sweet today and another day this week. It seems like cheating but I'm going to let it slide.

I have one more week of this! I'm excited to let a few things slide (cough*journaling*cough) to a couple days a week instead of everyday.

So, for those of you giving this a shot, how was your wellness challenge this week?

New Friends

We had the most enjoyable playdate today. There is a little girl in Calder's nursery, named Emmeline, who is very much his equal. They always want the same toys and they tend to fight a bit but they give lots of hugs. They spent 3 hours giggling and running, playing and jumping this morning. It was so fantastic. They ate lunch together and jumped on his bed. She also seemed to convince Calder that pooping in the toilet is the cool thing to do. Thank you Emmeline.

Calder has been begging for all his old friends, cousins and mere acquaintances to come over and play at his house. He was one happy kid today and we have plans to play again soon. I'll make sure to take pictures then.

Wellness Challenge Week 2

This week was harder in some ways and easier in others. Exercise, water and sugar were easy. Once I set the routine with those things I seem to do fine. I am just terrible at journaling. My goodness. You would think it would be pretty easy. I mean a journal entry can be a few sentences but I just can't seem to get it together. My focus this week is definitely journaling. I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to keep a journal. I mean, I could just keep a word document on my computer, start a private blog or write on paper. What works for you?

As promised my dessert this week was chocolate chip cookies on Tuesday. They were good but that sure left a lot of week without sweets. This week I'm going to try a cupcake from this awesome bakery called Cake Love a few blocks from our house. I'm hoping to wait until Saturday. We'll see how it goes.

We're 1/2 way there... how did you do last week?

Potty Training

This post contains quite a bit of potty talk. If you're easily grossed out, you may want to skip this one.

Potty training has gone really well this week. I did the 3 day method and I feel like it has really worked well for Calder. He was ready and interested. The first day was rough but he certainly got it the 2nd and 3rd. He often doesn't want to go to the bathroom and will say "No go potty" which tells me he needs to go. I do my best to patiently remind him to let me know when he does need to go to the bathroom. He eventually comes around and says "Go potty". We then run to the bathroom. He hasn't had a pee accident for quite a few days and he even went pee at Target on Friday. It's not ideal for him to wait so long but I'm hoping he will start to want to go sooner.

Pooping is another story. He does not want to poop. He has successfully pooped in the toilet many times but he has also pooped in his underroos a few times as well. He just doesn't want to go and then waits so long he has an accident. I've increased his fruit and veggie intake to avoid constipation. Has anyone else had this problem? Any advice? I would say his current track record is 60% in the toilet.

Yesterday after pooping in the toilet he looked at it and labeled it "Big brown dinosaur poop".

Wellness Challenge Week 1

I just finished week one of the Wellness Challenge. This is hard but not in the way I thought it would be. The journaling is the hardest. I used to write in a journal every day in highschool. What happened? I guess I got over myself a little bit and now it is hard to force myself to just write.

After the first 2-3 days I got over the need for sweets after every meal. Thank goodness. My sweet this week was on Tuesday when I went to a friend's birthday party. That cake was well worth it and I think it tasted better when I look back on it because it was the only sweet of the week. I miss baking though. It's hard to bake and not eat it. I'm making chocolate chip cookies tomorrow. Not because I want to try to sabotage myself but Calder is potty training and we need activities we can do at home.

There are a few things that are in a gray area. As in, I'm not sure if they are okay or not. A few of these are: Crystal Light, cold cereal with some sugar (don't they all?) and granola bars. I've been generally avoiding these but cold cereal is tough. I mean, we're talking Special K and Raisin Bran not Cocoa Puffs or Lucky Charms. What are your thoughts?

I was surprised when I got on the scale on Saturday and had lost 3 pounds! I can't believe how easy it was when I look back on it. My sister is doing this with me and she lost 4 pounds. If you're on the fence about trying it, do it.

So, for those who joined me in the challenge, how did it work for you? What did you find hard? Did you succeed for the week? Are you in for another week?

22 Months

I LOVE this little boy. He gets sweeter by the day. I love that he tries so hard to please and is very good at expressing what he wants or needs.

Here are a few tidbits about him right now:

• He LOVES black licorice and calls it Grandpa Mike Candy.
• He can correctly identify bulldozers, backhoes, cranes, excavators (I love it when he says it), and diggers.
• He is still obsessively into garbage trucks, garbage removal and recycling. He knows which bins to put every item into when we recycle.
• He knows all his colors and enjoys using them to describe things all the time.
  
• He loves to ride the Metro and gets so excited. He must hold the pole on the train.
• He eats Special K or Raisin Bran for breakfast every morning.
• He has started using his imagination all the time. It is so fun to hear the things he comes up with.
• He sleeps in a twin bed.
• Today when he hurt his leg he asked me to have Daddy come home from work to kiss it.

Katie's Visit Part 2

We had so much fun with my sister Katie. I'm glad her visit was long enough we could take our sightseeing slower after a few days. We made sure to hit all the highlights on her list while still keeping a happy Calder.

At the White House.

At the Lincoln Memorial facing the Washington Monument.

At the Supreme Court.

This is one of two spiral staircases at the Supreme Court. They both have seven revolutions but there are only 5 floors in the building. It is incredibly unique because it doesn't have any central support. Each stair was cut to fit between the one above and below it perfectly. The staircases aren't open to the public anymore. Our tour guide told us she doesn't like to use it because she's worried it's going to fall.

There is this awesome park about 15 minutes (driving) from our house. It has grills, playgrounds, a train and a carousel. It is just magical. Unfortunately we were only there for a short time but we'll certainly be going back.

Thanks for coming Katie! We had a great time and can't wait for you to come back!

Wellness Challenge - Who's With Me?

I've decided I'm going to take the reins on my sugar addiction and take the wellness challenge. I first heard about it from my aunt who did it for 3 MONTHS and have heard about it a few times since. I'm excited to try it.

THE CHALLENGE

1. 7 hrs. of sleep (not necessarily consecutive - naps count too!)
2. 48 oz. of water
3. 30 minutes of exercise (not necessarily consecutive)
4. 2 servings of veggies
5. 2 servings of fruit
6. No soda or other unhealthy drinks (high sugar juices)
7. No bad fast food (anything fried) or unhealthy snacks (ex: potato chips)
8. No sweets. (Desserts, pastries, sugary snacks & cereals) Sugar-Free alternatives are OK.
9. No eating after dinner/7:30pm
10. 15 min. of scripture reading (or spiritual text if you don't do scripture)
11. One journal entry (any length)
12. Express sincere appreciation, love or praise to your spouse or if single, to another person)

You get 1 free point in each category per week (not-interchangeable).

I'm hoping to stop craving sugar like I do and increase my overall health. I'm going to do it for a month and would like to invite you to join me! I'm going to start tomorrow but I understand if you need a few days before you start. Let me know if you're in!

Katie's Visit

Calder has been doing much better this last week. Thank goodness! Thanks for all your concerns and well wishes. He's never been throw-up sick and I had a hard time with it. I felt like I couldn't really do anything to help him. Thankfully he made it through.

We've been going pretty much non-stop since my sister got here last week. Calder has been such a good sport. Thankfully we found a broken sprinkler by the Washington Monument for Calder to cool off in, since it has been quite hot.

Calder wore his Abe Lincoln shirt in honor of his visit to Abe Lincoln. He kept saying he went to Abe Lincoln's house. It was really cute. He loves to ride the train and is amazingly patient at museums. I'm so lucky!