February 2012 Update

For starters, tLG lost her first tooth! It had been pretty loose for a while and she had asked me to pull it. I gave that little tooth a gentle tug every night for a week before it finally decided to give it up. She was thrilled! The hubs and I had a little miscommunication regarding the fact that the Tooth Fairy was supposed to leave a note but I think the five bucks under her pillow made up for it. Since money burns a hole in her pocket, we shopped the very next day and found a lovely bead set that she had been wanting.

As many of you know, Skylar is very smart. Almost too smart for her own good sometimes but intelligent nonetheless. However, we were having some continued problems with her behavior at school, at home, and in her extracurricular activities. I was really torn between “do we just have too high of expectations for a 5-year-old” vs. “I have somehow managed to raise a terrible kid.” Now, let me tell you, our little dear is very opinionated and that trait will serve her well much later in life but it was the impulsive behavior that I couldn’t quite deal with. There was no rationalizing with her. She simply could not control herself. Now, when it comes to other people, I can “diagnose” them in a heartbeat and give them a laundry list of natural remedies to try. When it comes to my own kid, I sometimes kinda go stupid… or something. It’s really frustrating when that happens.

Anyway, through a random conversation, I had an “a-ha!” moment regarding food. At this point, we have cut out all dyes and unnatural preservatives. I have noticed a HUGE difference. For the better. However, I wasn’t completely sold on the new diet until we had an unfortunate event at someone else’s house and she ate some unapproved items. There was an immediate night and day difference from the kid I had been pleasantly experiencing the week before. From that moment, I was 100% convinced. Don’t get me wrong, she’s still a 5-year-old kid but the impulsive behavior is much more tame. I’ve noticed that she focuses better and responds quicker. It really is amazing! Unfortunately, this little diet experiment has also kind of hacked me off at the amounts of junk I keep finding in foods that are supposedly healthy and organic. I’m now a label reader more than ever before. At this point, I could care less about the calories and fat content. I’m more worried about ingredients that I can’t pronounce and dye #s and abbreviations like BHT, BHA & TBHQ. Ugh!

I’ve also spent the last two Saturdays doing a little baking extravaganza prepping breakfast and snack foods for the week ahead. Yeah, it takes some extra time to hunt down the recipes and, of course, to whip them up but I have really enjoyed it. So far, everything has been scrumptious! It gives me peace of mind knowing exactly what goes in plus I’m able to hide really healthy ingredients without her knowledge. 🙂

Leap day was a very special day indeed. It started with us attending a little play that Skylar’s class was doing at school. She was the goose in a play called The Hat. We worked over the weekend to make her costume and she was so excited. She did great reciting her line. Tonight was really special because I helped my 1st ever doula client as she delivered her sweet baby girl. It was an absolutely amazing experience and one that I will never forget. It’s so awesome to be an active part of something I’m so passionate about. I plan to write about the experience (with mom’s permission, of course) over on nurturing YOU naturally. Right now my goal is to have everything completed to submit for my doula certification at the end of May.

That’s our update for this month. Stay tuned for the February photo dump! 🙂