Monkey Chatter

My little boy is climbing back down the evolutionary path and acting positively primate like. He is a climbing machine! Up and down chairs, tables and any other structure that will hold still. On playgrounds he is reaching higher and higher heights.

A few months back I wondered why he was content to stay on the ground when his peers were already climbers. Clearly he was just biding time and improving his climbing skills because he is now scampering around tall platforms like it's his job. And scaring his Mama just a bit in the process.

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In yoga we sometimes talk about the monkey chatter that takes place in every one's head. It's that feeling of voices in your head going from thought to thought to yet another thought. In some lights, yoga is a way to still those thoughts and instead focus on just one thought. It's harder to do than it seems and we all need practice at just being. We are not our thoughts and our thoughts are not us.

Sick House

We capped off Milo's birthday party weekend with a Sunday night of him throwing up in our bed. It wasn't pretty and resulted in more than a few loads of laundry as sheets needed to be washed and jammies changed repeatedly. Milo had never thrown up before. Not only was it uncomfortable for him, but it seemed to scare him.

What I was hoping was an isolated incident - maybe he ate something off - turned out to be a week long virus that so far has gotten me, Chris and my Mom, too. I hope it stops there, but this bug seems to have some legs and knows how to get around.

Today was the first day any of us here really felt like eating. Chris went straight for a Graffiti Burger and fries. My stomach wasn't up to that, so Milo and I stuck with frozen waffles, apple sauce and soup.

We've all been drinking too much juice, watching way more Elmo than is appropriate and spending plenty of couch time cuddling. In fact, other than the whole throwing up part of it, I don't think Milo has minded being sick at all.

TWO!

While this might look like a mug shot, the only thing Milo is guilty of is being a super cute and sweet little boy. I can't quite believe he is two! And, so far at least, two is great! Some special things to note about my two-year-old:

• He gives the best hugs. Especially before bed, Milo is a very tight hugger. I love the feel of his little arms around my neck. He's also a fan of hugging his friends good bye. We're working on this because some of his friends are not huggers. He looks at them like they are crazy while I explain hugging isn't for everyone.
• Milo is really enjoying craft activities. He loves to paint with water colors on his easel. Play dough is a super fun play treat. And watch out when I get out the glue, because Milo thinks it is wonderful to squeeze out.
• Thanks to silly Uncle Tony, Milo now has a fondness for pirates. He thinks they are hilarious and will erupt into crazy giggles if we mention a pirate flag at the bottom of the ocean.
• Milo is getting more concerned about others. He gets worried if Pa is coughing too much and asks if he is "otay." He also doesn't like it if I say ouch.
• As always, Milo is very interested in feeding animals. Lately he has been offering every animal we see fries. Cooking is still Milo's favorite game.
• My little climber is becoming more and more self assured on playgrounds. He can now use the ladder type apparatus which has me both proud and a little fearful. I don't need to follow him around on playgrounds anymore because he has a much clearer idea of sudden drops.
• Milo makes up silly little jokes which are primarily answering questions wrong and then laughing. For example, he thinks it is super funny to say that Pa and G live at our house. If you ask Milo how old he is, he says three and then giggles. Not so fast Buster, I think two is going to be something we both want to enjoy.

Gray

When I was in labor with Milo, Chris took that very opportune time to let me know he just noticed a gray hair on my head. That was roughly two years ago and thinking about gray hairs hasn't been high on the priority list, but it seems having a toddler and turning 33 has caused a few more to sprout. Around Christmas I noticed a gray which I tried to cut out with nail scissors. You can guess how well that turned out. At my last hair appointment, my sweet stylist plucked two wiry, coarse gray hairs out of my scalp. I tipped her well and tried to ignore her hints about coming in for color.

I haven't colored my hair for almost five years, when I finally said goodbye to the party girl blond highlights and back to my natural dark self. I don't want to do all over cover now and I'm simply too lazy to keep up with a highlight regime. Eventually, I'll probably be forced to choose a color option, but in the meantime I'll keep the nail scissors close and hope more grays don't surface.

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The color of the sky in Columbus in early March is a particular gray. It's not the hopeless gray of January or the seemingly never ending gray of February. Instead it is the gray that holds promise of change. The promise of a growing season and longer days ahead.

Fry Soup and the Birthday of One Dr. Seuss

A kid invented recipe is sure to please

and to a toddler it holds the pleasant table manner keys.

Milo’s been talking about it for days

and Mama added it to the menu with much praise.

What is it, you ask, that Milo created?

Why it’s fry soup unmitigated!

Clearly my rhyming skills have not much improved since the fifth grade when I last attempted stanzas of poetry, but my cooking skills have come a long way. For days, Milo has been pretending to make fry soup for his stuffed friends Bert and Ernie. Soup is easy to make in a pot (according to Milo you just throw various blocks in, stir and put the lid on) so he makes many variations of soup - mainly carrot and apple. His favorite soup to make, though, also contains his most coveted food - fries!

I started to wonder how I could make him fry soup for dinner because I knew he would enjoy it. At first I thought something cheesy and creamy would be the way to go, but we limit dairy so I went in another direction. Turns out chili is a great base for fry soup! Think chili cheese fries, but with more chili and less cheese. Basically, just make your favorite chili recipe and top with oven baked French fries along with your other favorite chili toppings (here some grated cheese and chopped avocado).

Fry soup was on the menu for this week anyway, but with Dr. Seuss's birthday being today, I thought the good Dr. would appreciate the silliness of a child-directed meal. I even (this might mean I need help) made vegan coconut cupcakes for dessert in honor of the big day.

I really appreciate all Dr. Seuss did to encourage reading to be a fun childhood activity. Plus, he left us with many great ideas we can talk to our children about:

"Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"

- Dr. Seuss