Pass the Peas, Please

"You cannot have any more green peas until you eat some of your beefaroni."

I actually said the above statement to my almost 14 month old son today at lunch. I was having to withhold vegetables so the child would make an attempt at trying his pasta. How insane does that sound? For some reason, Isaac does not like tomato-based things--no ketchup, no pasta sauces, no actual tomatoes. What child does not love beefaroni? The child will eat salmon (in moderate amounts---no mercury warnings, please) but not spaghetti??? In order to prevent him from being a picky eater (I know one of the world's pickiest eaters and I fear this lifestyle for my child), we serve things that were not a big hit with Isaac several times in hopes that he will eventually start eating it. The pediatrician said it takes about 14 tries for a child to warm-up to a new food. Throw in Isaac's tendency to be cautious and it takes him forever to like a new food (unless it is a green veggie or any type of fruit). So go ahead and nominate me for Bad Parent of the Year because I did forbid my child to eat a vegetable today.

Picture Catch-Up

I know my posts have been more wordy lately and less pictures, which doesn't please the grandparents too much. Here are a few shots of Isaac that I took last week. That boy is a riot.

This is Isaac enjoying his favorite meal of mac and cheese, green peas, and blueberries (not mixed together and not even touching--he is texture-sensitive like his mom). Notice the mac and cheese on his nose.

Apparently walkers are a bit hit with the young and old. We have had this toy for a long time and Isaac had not given it much interest. Someone in the planning of the birthday party, it ended up in the garage. Well, on Sunday Isaac found the same toy in the church nursery and immediately started walking with it. We pulled ours out and it has been a big hit ever since. Last night he was almost running as he pushed it to chase either Tobe and me in the living room. He was laughing so hard he would trip over his own feet and fall. Hysterical.



This boy loves to read. He has loved his books from early on, which is a good thing if you have seen the extensive children's library that resides in our living room.

Family Table Night

Tonight is national Family Table Night. That does not mean head out to your local pier One Imports and purchase a new dining room table, but rather have your family sit down and enjoy a dinner with each other. I cannot tell you how many kids I taught that had never sat down with their families and enjoyed a supper together. They did not have the appropriate social skills that one learns at the family table (chew with mouth closed, how a conversation flows, setting and clearing the table) because it had never been taught in their home. I find that to be a bit tragic.

I encourage everyone to sit down to a dinner tonight with your family. No time to cook? Throw something in the crock-pot before work or stop by your local grocery store and pick up a rotisserie chicken, bag of salad, Pepperidge farm frozen bread, and a side item. Stay away from the fast food because your family can polish off McDonalds in 10.2 seconds before anyone has had a chance to converse or share. After supper pull out a board game or head off to the local park to complete a great night. Leave the television off and take time to get to know those other people who live in your house with you.

We will be celebrating Family Table Night here at casa de Phillips. I am not sure what is on the menu as of yet, due to the sensitive nature of Tobe's healing mouth and the fact that I do race out the door on Monday nights for cardio Bootcamp class. Hope you will join us in this celebration!

Chipmunk Cheeks

I took Tobe in for an overhaul this morning. He was quite brave and had four of his wisdom teeth removed and a biopsy done on a mysterious section of his jaw (most likely it is nothing). I have been telling Tobe horror stories all week about wisdom teeth removal because 1. I felt like he wasn't really prepared for this endeavor and 2. It provided hours of entertainment for me.

Tobe did great and even managed to ask the doctor intelligent questions while still in a drug-stupor and with gauze filling his mouth. Although he is in pain and started to look pretty pale this afternoon, I think he will pull through. I really thought he would sleep the day away from the sedation used during the procedure and the painkillers prescribed afterwards. However, he has been awake most of the afternoon. The main reason this is shocking is that Tobe is quite sensitive to medicine. When we got engaged six years ago (next month), we did so in a lovely border town in Mexico where we had driven from the day (Fun fact: ACU is only four hours from the border). There is a long story behind why we got engaged in Mexico that perhaps I will share in another post. However that night--after getting engaged, navigating flooded roads, and being stopped by a police officer who took no pity on the young couple---we finally made it back to Abilene. Tobe began to feel sick about an hour after our arrival and then proceeded to throw-up. Being the caring person that I am, I quickly rummaged my medicine cabinet for a pill to ease his troubles. The boy did not really wake-up for the next 24 hours. He has barely any memories of the day after we got engaged, despite the fact that we called several friends and family to relay the news and went out shopping to purchase him new tennis shoes. It was at this point that I learned never to give Tobe prescription drugs (I had given him a sample of Phenergian--sp???) and cut regular pills in half if needed.

Despite this lack of tolerance for medicine, Tobe is doing great tonight after having part of his mouth removed. He is used to taking care of me (after my thyroid/tumor removal, countless colds, a dreadful case of mastitis, coaching me through childbirth, and the whole slicing the kneecap open to the bone incident) so it is a nice change for me to be able to take care of him. I have already made him eat two milkshakes and a large bowl of Mac and cheese. Hopefully the night will be restful for him and he will feel refreshed tomorrow. We are quite thankful that things went well this morning, however I am going to miss lying in bed saying such things as "dry sockets" and "gaping holes" to Tobe as he drifts off to sleep.....

Elmo has left the building...

I remember in grade school a friend of mine telling me that her mother had driven to Memphis (two hours away) in search of the famous pogo ball. Apparently the mother had engage in a little bit of hand combat in order to get this toy during a mad rush of parents attempting to provide material happiness for their offspring. My little elementary-aged mind could not comprehend that as we weren't much into fads in our household (I did not get a Cabbage Patch Kid until their second year of popularity--this has left deep emotional scars).

Well, TMX Elmo came out today. We try to prevent large quantities of battery-operated toys from entering our household due to their annoyance factor so please scratch this item off your Christmas shopping list for Isaac. However, there are currently over 12,000 TMX Elmos for sale on Ebay. These have all been put on there today. Some are one day auctions and the bidding is up over $300 (TMX Elmo retails for $35 at Wal-Mart). Am I crazy to be seriously considering jumping in my car and heading out to our local Target and picking up one of these balls of red fur to make big bucks on Ebay? Also, do the people who are frantically bidding hundreds of dollars on this toy not realize that once January 1, 2007 arrives there will be an abundance on the shelves and likely be on sale?

(By the way, the picture of the pogo ball is off eBay and the bid is currently up to $51 if you are interested. I bet you could find some parachute pants and original Air Jordans to complete the look.)

UPDATE: I did not go out and buy and Elmo last night. Perhaps today, but I imagine everywhere will be sold out by lunch time. However, Tobe and I did catch a demonstration of the new Elmo on the news last night (yes, on the news. Apparently there are not serious issues to discuss, but rather child marketing schemes to promote.) This toy is pretty darn funny. We both actually laughed out loud. I bet there is a video of it on YouTube if you are interested.

Ah, a new post

In speaking with my mother on the phone today, she informed me she was tired of seeing the same post from last week every time she checked my blog. Well, readers, it isn't all bon-bons and gossip magazines during the day here at casa de Phillips. Real work must get done at some point during the 17+ hours I am awake. Besides the maid quit coming about 12 months ago (coincidently around the same time we stopped paying her) and Isaac has learned the fine art of taking everything out of its place and leaving behind a path of baby destruction.

Here are some tidbits from our household:

1. Rachel Ray's new talk show premiered this morning. I recorded it and watched it at a later time because 9am is such a busy hour around here. Let me say that I love Rachel Ray and have been a faithful viewer of her show for the entire five years she has been on Food Network. I had the date of her premiere episode marked on my calendar. I am a huge fan. However, I was disappointed in today's show. Granted this is the first time she has done her own show with an audience. The opening ten minutes were a little strained and she yelled the entire time. She is also doing the Oprah thing by starting the sentence off normal and yelling in a deep voice by the end (think Oprah saying, "Today everybody gets a new car!!!!!!!). At first I thought the set of the talk show resembled a past one of Emeril Live!, but then grew to like it as I figured out that the audience rotates during the course of the show (I am too tired to put this into words. I attempted to explain it at dinner tonight and was met with a quizzical stare. It is times like that when Tobe smiles sweetly, pats my head, and says "You are so pretty.") I am going to hang in there with Rachel, despite my lack of love for today's episode. Apparently Dr. Phil is going to do a cooking segment at his home in an upcoming episode which should be quite entertaining.

2. Besides my boot-camp type class on Monday nights, I am also taking a Mommy and Me fitness class on Thursday mornings. Instead of weights you use your child. I thought this would be a "sissy" type class and didn't think it would be more than a few crunches and squats. Wrong. Never been so glad that Isaac only weighs 20 pounds in my life. Everyone looks on in envy at the Mom with the tiny newborn. The class is chaos because there are children going everywhere, strollers surrounding the perimeter, and Moms doing lunges across the gym holding squirming babies. Fun times. At one point on Thursday, Isaac and two other little boys were all standing over a personal trampoline. They appeared to be plotting something or lamenting about how uncoordinated their mothers were.

3. Isaac has perfected the social laugh. He has the most precious giggle and we love to make him laugh. However in the past week he has started to laugh spontaneously without anything provoking a giggle. This forced laugh sounds like "Hahahaha" and he will do something (such as dump out blocks) and make the laugh. He only laughs like this if he has an audience. Bizarre, but it makes Tobe and me crack up everytime. I hope we don't have a future class clown on our hands.

4. Halloween is a month away. I am starting to panic over the fact that Isaac is currently costume-less. If you read my blog during the Christmas season, you might remember me lamenting the fact that I could not find a suitable holiday outfit for my son. Well people, I now cannot find a suitable Halloween costume for my child. I really want the puppy dog costume from Pottery Barn but cannot justify spending $60 on a costume. I like the lion costume from The Children's Place, but Tobe thinks it is too puffy. Most everything else I have come across is for girls, tacky, or is too plush and heavy to wear in Texas (a few years ago we wore summer clothes to a local Halloween celebration because it was so warm). Any good websites or stores that you have seen non-tacky, non-girl, non-hot, non-outrageously expensive type costumes that will look adorable on Isaac? Tobe thinks we should cut two eye holes in a sheet and make him a ghost (which was my younger brother's costume of choice for many years).

5.I also caught some of the premiere of Oprah today. Somebody please tell her the curly extensions are not working. I understand that she does the cornrows to fit in while in South Africa and because they are easy to maintain (I had partial cornrows for about three days in Africa. The girls were fascinated by my hair because of the texture and color and begged to braid it. I allowed partial cornrows and it was the most painful thing I have ever done to my head--and I am a child of the 80's and endured many a perm. My scalp had bloody scabs and I could not sleep well with them in.), but the curly look needs to go. I prefer the smooth shag of years past.


Our weekend was fairly uneventful and consisted of reading a powerful book (perhaps I will blog about that later), fake laughter, a craft fair (not that great), birthday celebration for Tobe's Dad (it is his 39th birthday today, in case you happen to see him), church, and much rejoicing over the large amounts of rain we received yesterday.

Happy Monday!

LIke Sands Through an Hourglass....

...these are the days of our lives.

Three things that have occurred in the past 24 hours:

1. Last night at my Boot Camp-esque type fitness class, a man punched a woman. No they were not fighting over the aerobic step. Rather we were doing cross jab punches while going backwards and he accidentally hit the woman next to him. I about fell over laughing, while attempting to look concerned for her personal well-being. She was fine and the man was mortified. Good times.

2. While laying in bed last night attempting to fall asleep, Tobe and I had a 20 minute long conversation about candy bars. Not world issues, not family values, but candy bars. People assume that Tobe and I discuss all things psychology 24/7 due to our similar academic background. Sorry to disappoint you people. Instead we discuss the hard hitting issues of chocolate and nugget.

3. Isaac threw-up in a new location today. We have already conquered the car, The Children's Place, Kohls, and various locations in our home in his short 13 months of life. Today it was the jogging stroller and the contents of his stomach included whole milk (much different than formula---I will refrain from posting details). I noticed about 3/4 of the way into our walk that he had spit up some on his shirt. This happens occasionally when he eats and then crawls around like a wild man. As we entered our neighborhood, Isaac began to fuss. This never happens as he loves riding in the stroller. I stopped and peered in at him, only for my mother instinct to kick in and I immediately thought "He is going to throw-up." Yep, the instinct was right and my hand was there to catch some of it. As I attempted to get Isaac out of the stroller (it has several straps and a safety bar) he continued to throw-up. I finally freed him and was able to get him to the grassy area (not someone's yard, but rather a park). By this point, he was finished and the two of us, along with the stroller, were both covered in this unpleasant substance. I then proceeded to carry him while I pushed the stroller home. Thankfully we were close and not a mile into our walk.
The best part of this situation was the fact that this happened about ten feet away from where all the high school kids in our neighborhood were waiting for the bus. They all became dead quiet and just starred at us. I believe that a video tape of a child throwing-up should replace the picture of the sad pregnant girl in all the marketing campaigns for teenage abstinence. Much more effective.
Isaac is fine now. He has been struggling with his allergies and he always gets sick when he has too much drainage. I keep Pedi-lyte on hand for this very reason and he has kept that down along with some toast and pears. However, the verdict is still out on whether or not the jogging stroller will recover.

Here are some pictures from a local park. We have enjoyed the slightly cooler weather this week and I do not fear my child will suffer heat stroke should I take him outdoors past 9am.

isaac attempting to buckle his seatbelt on the airplane (don't worry, he didn't actually sit there during the flight). He is really into figuring things out and hooking things together. He always attempts to buckle his highchair straps and his carseat harness. He can see you do something one time (put a pen in a pen holder) and remember the association between the two. The child does not mix his toys, but keeps pieces with their respective toy. Too cute (and slightly OCD).

Etc.....

Tobe has left for Racquetball tonight (part of our fitness plan--he does Racquetball on Wed. and I do pilates on Mondays) and Isaac is down for the night (early to bed, early to rise), which leaves me and blogger. Not bad really. Here are the random things I might talk to you about, should you stop by for a chat right now....

1. The crossing guard (not the same from last year) asked me this morning if Isaac was a boy or a girl. Keep in mind that Isaac was wearing Dinosaur PJs and a navy blue jacket. Do girls wear that? Also, why does it frustrate mothers to no end when people cannot determine the gender of their child?
2. A lady brought three boys and their waterguns to the park today. I am wondering how she thought this would be a great idea. She appeared to be the babysitter and not the mom. I had to threaten the boys with bodily harm as they aimed their watergun at me. I also had to tell them not to squirt water all over the slide because it makes other peoples clothes wet. The babysitter sat and watched the cars drive by.
3. The teacher comes out in me when I am at the park playground. I have to restrain myself from telling the child not to climb on top of the tunnel or not to throw rocks up the slide. I will know I have gone too far when I show up with my whistle.
4. Suri Cruise---we have finally seen her. She appears to be a beautiful baby, which leads me to further believe that she is a model. Everyone is discussing how much she looks like Tom. Why do they think it took so long to release the pictures--the Cruise camp had to have time to hunt down a baby who resembled the actor. Let it be no surprise that Tom has publicly apologized to Brooke Shields and released pictures of his child shortly after his falling out with Paramount. It is all calculated, people.
5. I caught the first ten minutes of The View this morning. I was whatever about Rosie joining the bunch and expect this to be the final season of the show. However, I had forgotten how much I enjoy Rosie the Talk Show Host and think she brings a lot to the show. She does hog the spotlight, but someone needs to reduce Barbara and Joy's speaking time.
6. Elizabeth Hasselback cut her hair and I love it! I am currently growing out my own mane, but was really tempted to run to the hairdresser after seeing Elizabeth's hair this morning. I have convinced myself throughout the course of the day that her hair is much thinner than mine and therefore the cut would not come out the same. I am holding off on such a dramatic trim for now. Elizabeth was sporting the leggings and oversized top look. Am I going to be forced to adhere to this trend this fall?
7. I missed Katie Couric on the evening news last night. We usually don't watch the news until 9pm, so this was no major disappointment. I am glad that there is now a female anchor. Apparently lots of viewers focused on the fact that Katie wore white after Labor Day for her first night on the job. Did anyone ever care what Peter Jennings wore?
8. There is talk that the video tape of Steve Irwin in his final moments of life might be released. I sincerely hope that the American public puts aside their fascination with gruesome reality television for once and this video does not get aired. Thousands of children loved Steve and my psychology background tells me this could be quite traumatic for them to watch.
9. I was lucky enough to hang-out with one of my dearest childhood friends while in Arkansas last weekend. We always immediately catch-up right where we left off, even if we haven't spoken in months. On the way home from her house, I passed the local Sonic and saw the high school kids hanging out. The kids looked like babies! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was that high school kid (except for the cool place to hang out in the mid 90's was the Wendy's parking lot, not Sonic and no one was texting their friends telling them where to meet). I am old.
10. Why is ABC making me wait until October 4th for the season premiere of LOST? (Europe readers: Season 2 just came out here on DVD. Hopefully you will be able to get it soon and everyone's references to the show this past year will finally make sense!)
11. Our community's local festival begins tomorrow morning at 10am. It is four full days this year, rather than the usual 3 1/2. Admission is free tomorrow and Friday (until 5pm). Parking is always free in front of casa de Phillips (although our neighbors sometimes block off the space in front of our house with their cars to reserve parking space for their OU friends who come for the festival each year. I am thinking of charging them.). This is the 20th year of this festival and it should be bigger than ever. If you like the Bodeans, they will be performing Saturday night (don't mention this to Tobe or Kelli, because neither one can attend and they are both big fans), along with some locally famous bands.
12. While changing Isaac's diaper this evening, I was making funny faces at him and he was laughing hysterically. Suddenly the laughing went to shear panic over one of my facial expressions. It had something to do with my tongue. I am not sure why this freaked him out, but his response caused Tobe to peak his head into the nursery to make sure everything was okay. Funny boy.
13. You can purchase Barefoot Contessa's entire line of edible wonders at Crate and Barrel now. I think Ina is my third favorite chef on Food Network, right behind Rachel Ray and Paula Deen. Why do none of these people ever do book signings in Texas?

Thanks for coming to chat!

Home from Holiday

We returned home from a long weekend in Arkansas on Monday afternoon. It was a great time as always and Isaac didn't mind the extra attention one bit. The weather was perfect and Isaac was able to spend much time playing in Nana Jan's and PopPop's luxurious grass. Both flights were uneventful and Isaac did really well. I had called ahead to verify that I could indeed bring liquids aboard the plane when traveling with a small child. I was told that I could but would have to taste each liquid myself before getting on the plane (thought: If you are willing to board a plane yourself and blow it up--thus killing yourself---wouldn't you be willing to take a sip of an explosive?). However, no one made me sip anything and our milk and juice made it through security just fine. We were asked to remove Isaac's shoes before going through security, seeing as how most terrorists are 13 month old, blonde hair boys accompanied by his parents. I understand the need for heightened security measures, but the way it is being handled is a joke and not solving the problem. The last time my 86 year old grandmother flew, she was chosen as the person to randomly check. I am sure that everyone aboard her flight was glad to know that the elderly woman who has trouble walking was double-checked and found to be safe.

My labor day was filled with sadness over the sudden passing of Steve Irwin. Tobe and I loved the crocodile hunter and respected his work and his love of animals. I first heard about Steve during my first summer spent in Kenya. We often were without electricity, which left hours of time for the Americans to entertain themselves once the sun set (not safe to be out in the slums past sunset with no electricity). Usually someone would recount their favorite memory or television program and we would laugh hysterically. This is how I heard of the crocodile Hunter and his love for the word "Crikey!" As soon as I returned stateside, I searched out such amusing programming and became an instant fan. My all-time favorite episode of the crocodile Hunter was when Steve and his wife Terri were out in a river somewhere in the middle of the night searching for crocs to rescue. They came upon a low-lying tree in the water where a rare species of snake was resting on a branch. Steve had to take a look. Somehow the snake (who was quite poisonous) fell into the boat and Terri fell out of the boat. Steve is attempting to get the snake out of the boat and to tell his wife to remain calm, despite the fact that she is in a river full of crocodiles. Terri is obviously panicking, but attempting to remain calm. It is a good five minutes of "Rickie and Luci" type comedy as Steve attempts to catch the snake and Terri dog-paddles in the river waiting to be saved. I am sad for Steve's family and friends, as he seemed to be such a genuine guy and devoted family man.

Yesterday, I walked through the living room to find Isaac perched on the fireplace hearth. He looked quite proud of his climbing abilities. Later that evening he attempted to climb from the loveseat to the top of the sofa table (I was sitting with him and had a firm grasp of one leg). The boy is not scared of heights but refuses to crawl through the tunnel at the park.