Homemade Felt Activities 

I had so many more ideas for mini felt boards, but these two were the only ones that actually reached completion in the midst of everything else we’ve been doing to prepare. Both are on quarter sheets of felt. The first is probably a bit old for Annabelle right now, but I’m hoping it’s interesting anyway. I used a compass to make half circles, varying in size by one centimeter, in the colors of the rainbow. When stacked in order, you get what’s pictured at left. I didn’t intend to make an entire scene, but after I finished the rainbow, that empty space was just calling for something, so I made the little sun and cloud. All pieces are fully removable.

The board on the right is a simple sorting exercise. I used fabric glue to secure one square and one triangle as a control. The rest are loose, to be sorted into a line beneath the first. I used a textured felt to create a richer sensorial experience.

Art Supplies

We’re bringing along a mini dry erase board, for which I bought three miniature, magnetic markers.

I also have stickers galore, all depicting real things, so they should be interesting to name and discuss in the tough moments, keeping Annabelle in good spirits if needed. My secret weapon for the flight home is a sheet of stickers made in a photo booth that are actually recent photos of Annabelle, the daddy, and me. Those should be extra exciting.

I also have plenty of fresh, white paper and a brand new drawstring bag of beeswax crayons.

Books

I have packed just a few books that I think will be of interest. Some are new, and the others are old favorites that have been tucked away for a while. I loved Lyle’s idea of bringing along finger puppets to act out a favorite story, and had planned to make some using felt, but just plain ran out of time. I’ll have to hang onto that suggestion for our next long flight, which we’ll be taking before we know it! I purchased one new book especially for the trip: Gabriella’s Song, which is set in Venice. Annabelle has been walking around repeating its opening line, “Ah, Venice!” and I think it’s getting both of us more excited. I also picked up a small Italian picture dictionary, which we’ve been reading for a couple of weeks now.

Miscellaneous Activities

I’m bringing along a handful of store bought activities that should keep things interesting, if not on the plane, then as things to do while I’m otherwise occupied in Italy.

From left to right, there’s a magnetic book with wild animal magnets to match¹, a magnetic fishing game, an I spy bag, and the Melissa and Doug Magnetic Farm Hide and Seek². I also purchased the Plan Toys Classic Airplane³, since I figure you can’t fly without a toy airplane, and one small storybook and animal set from Green Start.

Not pictured is a small drawstring bag filled with a few of Annabelle favorite, and smallest Schleich animals. I also tossed in these sets of sorting cards that I had stashed away from my days in the classroom. I don’t offer cards often, because at Annabelle’s age, I prefer she have more concrete items to manipulate and play/work with, but these take up virtually no space and I figured the photos alone might be of interest when something new is in order, if not the actual sorting activity.

For the most part, we have chosen things that are relatively inexpensive, and almost everything is new. I like that it’s all gender neutral, because I can lighten our load for the return trip if anything turns out to be a flop for Annabelle, but is attractive to the handsome toddler we’re visiting.

So that’s what we have planned. I would love to hear your best ideas for portable toddler activities. What do your children like to do on the go?

Linking up with Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now and the Seasonal Celebration Sunday Linky Party at Natural Mother’s Network.

P.S. Please forgive me if I take a bit longer to respond to and return comments this week. We’ll be headed out shortly, so my participation will lag a bit behind the usual, but I’ll be back!

_____

***

This is what happens when you buy a toddler markers. Glorious mess!

Extra time with friends.

Anticipation, planning, preparation.

Peach cobbler, and the gift of fresh tempeh.

The kindness, care and generosity of the many people extraordinary people in my life.

Seeing the amazing doctor who attended Annabelle’s birth, and actually getting prenatal care.

Receiving loads of packages. Shoe shopping was officially a success.

Watching Annabelle’s joy-filled interactions with other children.

Enjoying her “readings”of favorite books from memory.

The realization that I get to wear scarves again soon!

Four varieties of vegan ice cream in one week!

***

Oh so simple, but it really was an extraordinary week in many small ways. Now it’s your turn – what brought you joy this week?

“The Montessori method for introducing solids has always appealed to me on some level, but the practice of baby-led weaning, popular among natural parents, also caught my eye. I went back and forth a good deal as I tried to work out the best approach for us, but in the end, I found out that the two can actually work together in perfect harmony.”

Head over to NPN for the full article.

Thursday: I can't get enough of these photos of Annabelle loving a pepper harvested from our garden.

After what felt like a rather crazy one last week, the theme of this week seems to be settled. Sleep is happening, perhaps not as much as I’d like to it to, or during the exact hours I would like, but I feel us finding our groove. We were enjoying friends yesterday, and Annabelle ended up being awake until nearly 9pm. I anticipated another 5:30 or 6:00am wake-up and a very cranky day, but much to my delight, we both slept in until nearly 9am. I enjoyed a very pleasant day with my favorite girl as we followed our usual rhythm, minus the sleep-deprived grump. Naps have happened most days, too, and I’m grateful for that.

We’re making the last minute preparations for our trip to Europe, and this has involved a half hour or so most afternoons of sitting down together with art supplies. Annabelle does whatever strikes her fancy while I work on some mini felt activities I was inspired to create as part of our in-flight entertainment. I’ll be sharing those soon! I’m feeling about as prepared as I could possibly be thanks to all of the sage advice from the seasoned travelers among us. I think I’m enjoying the process of planning, preparing, and collecting little items for us to take along nearly as much as I anticipate enjoying the trip.

I forgot to have the husband take a belly photo this week, but I’m feeling perfectly large. I attempted to put on some clothes that fit just fine last week, and it was clearly not going to happen. I am quite certain now that I’m feeling little wiggles, mostly as I drift off to sleep at night, which is the most perfect time I can think of to relax and check in with the littlest one.

The only obvious, tangible development I’m noticing with Annabelle is a huge refinement of her language skills, which I think indicates a deeper understanding of the concepts she’s talking about as well. She started using the word while frequently, and always with accuracy. “Annabelle drawing while mommy cooks dinner.” I’m always intrigued by the way these new concepts become like themes in her language. One day, she’s using them for the first time, and the next they pepper her speech as though they have always been favorite phrases. Once she has perfected them, they all but disappear, turning up again only when they’re truly useful.

I have really enjoyed our calm, quiet week and I’ll hold onto it for now, as I know the next one has some exciting things in store for us. For now, here are the rest of the photos I took this week as part of the Mamatography challenge.

Friday: When it was time to put on pajamas Annabelle informed me that she wanted to wear her “Topan (Japan) shirt.” As I helped her get it on, she said, “Annabelle wearing ‘hai, hai’ shirt.” How adorable is this outfit that our friends picked up for her, by the way?

Sunday: Annabelle spent much of the day moving her animals from this pillow back to their basket, and vice versa. As she put them on the pillow, she’d say, “Cow going to sleep.” Later, as she returned them to the basket, she told each one, in her squeaky sweet high pitched voice, “Goodnight, Cow. Sweet dreams, cow.”

Monday: Seeing how easily Annabelle can keep busy with simple objects gives me hope for our upcoming plane ride. She spent at least fifteen minutes wrapping this monkey pencil in a kitchen towel and telling it goodnight, then waking it up again. Afterward, she brought over a cow and a fawn and practiced stacking them for just as long. Of course this was all accompanied by plenty of dialogue. “Goodnight, monkey. Sleep tight monkey. Oh! Monkey woke up!” “Deer standing on cow.”

Tuesday: Annabelle makes her surprised face as a noisy rooster runs right by the slide. Ever since bumping her head on the way down one, she has been a bit funny about slides. She spends a long time at the top before she makes her way down, and sometimes she doesn’t go down at all. Yesterday, she spent a long time watching friends run around from her place here at the top.

If you have a developmental post, a newsy update, a week in pictures, or anything related to what’s new in your house, feel free to link up!

Welcome to the first edition of Culinary Wanderings! If you have been around here very long, you know that I love food, and I love experimenting in the kitchen. I’m constantly trying new recipes, and could easily write about food nearly every day of the week, but that’s not what I want the focus of this blog to be.

To give me a way to share a bit about my culinary adventures, and to learn from all of yours, I’ll be writing a post once a month to share new recipes, ingredients, and other discoveries I have made in the kitchen. If you feel inclined to do the same, I would love for you to join! You don’t have to cover an entire month’s worth of cooking, of course. You’re welcome to focus on one recipe, one ingredient, one new kitchen gadget, one new cooking or meal-planning technique – anything food-related that you want to share. It’s all up to you!

This month overlapped with the end of my first trimester of pregnancy, so I was a bit less motivated to spend long periods of time in the kitchen and we had a lot of easy meals. I also asked the daddy if he would be willing to take over dinners on the weekends, and he was, so that has cut down on my cooking nights. I’m grateful to have a true partner around here! Anyway, I didn’t do quite as much experimenting as I normally would, but that’s alright! I’ll quit with the excuses and move on to the good stuff!

Recipes

I’ve been playing around with proteins, as the usual suspects can get a bit tired if I’m not careful. This is especially true during pregnancy when my protein needs are higher than usual. Isa Chandra of the Post Punk Kitchen gave me the idea of transforming lentils into a ground meat “substitute¹” with her Ancho Lentil Tacos. I’ve been toying around with lentils ever since, and one night this month used them in a totally inauthentic vegan version of dirty rice. For this, I made some brown rice with whatever veggies I had lying around (peas, carrots, peppers, onion) and seasoned the mixture with a homemade Creole Cajun Seasoning Mix. In lieu of sausage, I cooked some brown lentils, then mashed them in a skillet with the same blend of seasonings Isa Chandra uses in her Tempeh Sausage Crumbles. I then added the “sausage” to the rice and veggies, and voilà!

I can’t tell you how much I love that recipe for Tempeh Sausage Crumbles. I make them for pizza, as a base for the tempeh sausage gravy I serve over biscuits when we have Sunday brunch (another thing we did this month!), and even use the seasoning blend to make turkey or chicken sausage for the husband.

My favorite citrus: Calamansi. Aren't they beauties?

I have really gotten into cooking Indian cuisine with the help of two cookbooks from my mother in law, Six Spices and the Complete Book of Indian Cooking. I recommend both highly, but especially the first as the recipes are uncomplicated, yet bursting with flavor. There is not a single thing in that book that we have tried and didn’t like. The second includes some more detailed, complicated recipes with harder to find ingredients, but I love that it sorts recipes by region and involves all kinds of dishes, from appetizers to desserts and everything in between. Ever since I found an Indian market² here on Guam, we have been enjoying something from one of the regions of India at least once a week. Occasionally, I’ll spend the better part of a day in the kitchen and make several dishes to complement one another. Other times a simple daal, a vegetable side, and some store bought naan from the freezer makes the perfect quick and easy solution on a night when I don’t have the energy for much.

Recently, I tried a recipe from the Complete Book of Indian Cooking for a Rajasthani Mixed Daal, and I was looking for something to accompany it, preferably involving peas and carrots since I had plenty of both on hand. I found this delicious recipe for a Peas-Carrot Subzi with Rajasthani Spices. On another evening, I was trying to figure out a way to incorporate sweet potatoes into an Indian meal and found this amazing recipe for a Spinach and Sweet Potato Curry,³ and even my spinach hating husband was crazy about it! I don’t think either recipe is particularly authentic, but they went great with the other dishes I prepared those evenings.

Another favorite easy meal is Split Pea Soup, something I will actually stop and measure out one day so that I can share my recipe. It’s one of those things I have made for so long that I could do it in my sleep, but I have no idea how much of anything I add. We enjoyed a steaming pot of the stuff one rainy evening, along with these amazing Maple Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls. I have been toying around with wheat dinner roll recipes for years and never find one I’m totally happy with. I first gave this one a shot for our Christmas dinner, and now I’m hooked! I know I’ll be making it again and again.

Easy meals were definitely a theme this month, and included stir fries and coconut curries, one pot meals with quinoa, veggies, and whatever protein we have lying around, and other thrown together experiments. One quick and easy meal that I love is tempeh covered with bbq sauce and baked in the oven, accompanied by a baked sweet potato and some plain ol’ steamed broccoli or brussels sprouts. The husband refuses to eat tempeh, ever, so I always prepare a chicken breast for him in the same way.

The makings of a delicious marinara sauce. I got fancy this time and used fresh herbs from our garden.

Another favorite, fairly simple meal around here is pasta. I have been hooked on this recipe for marinara sauce for months now, and make it at least every couple of weeks. I try not to use canned anything when I can help it, so I always substitute the canned tomatoes in the recipe for a pound of halved local tomatoes, which means little cherry-sized gems around here, half of which are always green. It is outstanding! We’ve enjoyed it twice in the past ten days or so, and I have felt a bit better about the large amount of noodles we’re consuming since our local supermarket started carrying this einkorn⁴ pasta. It’s delicious!

A recent and persistent craving has been peanut sauce, so I tried two different recipes this month, including this one for Soba Noodles with Peanut Sauce (bonus points for using chard from my garden!) and this one for Udon with Broccoli and Ginger Peanut Sauce. Both were delicious, but I loved the extra gingery kick from the latter.

Being from the southwest, the husband and I both have a deep appreciation for Mexican food, and a favorite meal is enchiladas. I don’t make them often, because they take so stinkin’ long, especially when you’re making a vegan and an omni version. It’s well worth the time when I can make it happen, however. Last week, I spent almost all of Monday in the kitchen, starting the Enchilada Sauce just before naptime, and continuing the preparations until we finally sat down sometime around 6:30pm. I typically use black beans and tofu, seasoned with this mixture for my own filling and chicken and cheese for the husband’s. In lieu of cheese for me is this “Super Fantastic Vegan Cashew Cheese Sauce.” The enchilada sauce was outstanding, the best I’ve made so far, but it was much too hot for Annabelle. I made a single batch and found it too spicy, even for my tastes, so I whipped up a second batch with no chili powder and mixed the two together. It was fantastic for the husband and me, but Annabelle repeated for days that she, “no like spicy enchilalas.”

My gardening guru and good friend has a Calamansi tree in her back yard and gifted me with a bag full of the citrusy gems recently. I juiced them and combined them with a bit of simple coconut sugar syrup⁵ and some sparkling water to make a delicious, refreshing treat. I am really going to miss having Calamansi around when we move, and will have to locate a tree for our yard if we end up living someplace with a favorable climate. California, I hear they grow well for you! If there’s a Filipino market in your area, you may be able to give these babies a try. I highly recommend it!

For lunches, I’ve been craving Hickory Smoked Tofurky, which is not only processed, but over-packaged and expensive. To satisfy my desire, I tried this delicious recipe from Vegan Dad for Hickory Smoked Veggie Turkey Lunchmeat and I’m a huge fan. I think I’ll try substituting pureed beans for the tofu next time so that I can make it soy free. It has gone into a wrap every day this week and I’m still not tired of it!

Another hit this month was a little something to satisfy the husband’s and my sweet teeth. I used this recipe as a guide for my own healthier, vegan version of:

Fudgy Vegan Espresso Brownies

1 9oz bag Vegan Semisweet chocolate chips
5 Tbsp Coconut oil
3 Tbsp Vegan Cocoa Powder
1.5 Tbsp espresso powder
3 flax eggs (3 tbsp flax meal + 9tbsp water)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp aluminum free baking soda
1 cup white whole wheat flour

Combine flax meal and water in a small saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until an egg-like consistency is reached, about five minutes. Set aside. Place a heatproof bowl over a saucepan with a bit of boiling water and melt chocolate chips and coconut oil, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients, including flax eggs. Mix well and place in a greased 8in square pan. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.

Ingredients

Bell pepper can also be added to anything, or eaten straight from the garden if you're a hungry toddler!

When cooking beans, like the black beans I made for our Mexican feast, I have taken to adding a piece of kombu to the pot, and I find that they cook up softer, more quickly. It also adds a bit of a mineral and flavor boost and can be tossed in the garden when the beans are finished. I am hooked!

My Calamansi source is also incredible in the kitchen, and has been putting me to shame by making her own tofu and tempeh from scratch. Not only have I had the opportunity to enjoy the freshest and most delicious tofu and tempeh around, but she has shared the by-products of the tofu making process with me and I’ve enjoyed learning about and experimenting with them. Okara is the soybean pulp, left over when you make soy milk. It is sold in supermarkets in Japan, from what I can gather, and is extremely nutritious. I have added it to pancakes, stir fries, and anything else that could use a bit of a protein boost. I’ve also dried some and used it to make Okara Parmesan. The other useful soy by product is soy whey. I haven’t gotten around to using it in the kitchen yet, but it has another uncommon use – laundry. I’ve been soaking our whites in the stuff before washing and it’s amazing how clean and sparkling they are afterward! It has been really interesting to experiment with these lesser known ingredients!

I have also been relying heavily on things like hemp seeds and nutritional yeast, which are great things to add to your food when your nutritional needs are especially high, as mine are right now. They’re delicious when sprinkled on top of just about anything.

Tomato paste without the can was an exciting find for me, since I don’t like to use canned items. It wasn’t this month, but I figure it’s worth mentioning that the stuff exists, since I have listed a couple of recipes that require tomato paste.

And that’s our month in food. As I publish, I have my first batch of homemade, hemp milk yogurt culturing, so I hope to have some interesting yogurt recipes for you next month, among other things. If you have a recipe or food-related post you’d like to link up, please do so below!

In the month of January, we start afresh, a new year, new ideas. Hence, our participants have looked into the topic of “Birth and New Beginnings”. Take a look at the end of this post to find a list of links to the entries of the other participants.

***

My first "unique baby," one week after her birth. Photo by Amanda Cox.

I’ve been preparing for my second birth, which should take place sometime in late July or early August, by using the Hypnobabies home study course. I did the same during my first pregnancy, but this time it means so much more. This time I have a toddler following me around, repeating the “Joyful Pregnancy Affirmations” she hears me listening to daily. One of those affirmations provides a reminder that, “this is a new birth and a new baby, unique unto itself.” While I consider my first birth to have been a beautiful experience, all but perfect for the time and place we were in, I am looking forward in so many ways to the opportunity to have a new and different experience with our second child.

There are a handful of specific things I’d like to do differently this time, starting with the birthing place. I plan to be out of the hospital this time, either in a birthing center or our home. I would like to wait longer to have the cord cut, set the tone even more with candles and flowers, have someone take photos, allow my water to break on its own or my baby to be born en caul, and so on. More than anything, though, I have a general sense of how I want this birth to feel. In a word, I am looking forward to a greater feeling of awareness.

My first pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience set me on a journey toward greater awareness of my body. I had never considered the idea that I may be more equipped to make the final decisions about my own care than a doctor. I had never thought to question the medical system or the accepted way of doing things. The more I learned about birth and pregnancy, the more I realized that what’s “standard” is not what is best for every woman. There is value in medical opinions. There is value in understanding the stances of various medical organizations and the rationale for them, yet at the same time there is equal, perhaps even greater, value in awareness of one’s own body and individual needs. There is also value in opposing opinions and alternative ways of doing things. I am so grateful to have discovered this early on in my first pregnancy, and to have had the opportunity to make my own decisions with regard to my birth experience.

The sad thing about growing up in a culture that believes that doctor knows best is that such a belief diminishes, or even eliminates the need to be in tune with one’s own body. There is no need to pay close attention to signs and symptoms  when sophisticated diagnostic tools at the doctor’s office make the final call anyway, right? Growing up with this belief, I was so out of touch with my own body that a mere hunch, not any of the physical signs that seem so obvious to me now, was what caused to me to look into the possibility that I was pregnant shortly after my first daughter was conceived. Once a home pregnancy test confirmed my hunch, I was plagued by stress until I could finally see a doctor and confirm the health of my baby-to-be.

As my pregnancy progressed, I learned more and more. I began to listen to and trust my body, and the natural birth of my healthy baby turned out to be a truly empowering and enlightening experience. Following my daughter’s birth, choosing a method of birth control led me to learn about another process entirely: my menstrual cycle. Paying attention to the different phases I pass through, knowing their purpose and the hormones associated with them, and understanding how this relates to my ability to conceive seems so simple, and it seems absolutely crazy now that I had never given it any thought before. Knowing how my body ought to work will serve me well into the future, as it will make it easy for me to detect any problems or abnormalities as they appear, well past the time in my life when I’m conceiving, carrying, and birthing babies.

I am so grateful to have this place of trust and awareness as my starting point this time around, and I hope that my awareness of the goings on inside my body will only increase with my growing belly. Reading birth stories helped me to prepare for my first birth by giving me a sense of what I could expect, and what birthing women are capable of, but this time I’m reading them from a different place. This time, I’m understanding how my first birth could have been different, and looking forward to full awareness as I bring my next child into the world. I love reading about the sensations women had as they progressed through labor, some even aware of their cervix opening and stretching, or their baby physically moving down and engaging. I feel such excitement when I read stories of women who felt their baby’s head as it crowned, watched it in a mirror, or perhaps even held their newborn and guided them from the birth canal to their chest, unassisted. I get chills when I think of the full involvement in, and awareness of the birthing process these women felt. It’s an experience women can only have so many times in their lives, and I want to embrace it fully.

I loved the process of birthing my daughter, but I was preoccupied by so many things, afraid of the unknown, and focused on managing the strong sensations of labor. I was simply waiting for the urge to push, and it’s all a blur from there. This time, my body is a trusted friend and I look forward with great anticipation to being fully present in it as I birth this new baby, and by extension a new family.

***


Visit Authentic Parenting and MudpieMama to find out how you can participate in the next Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
(This list will be live and updated by afternoon January 27 with all the carnival links.)

• Becoming Intentional with My Time Valerie at Momma in Progress shares the beginning of her year-long journey toward more intentional living. 
• Alirik’s Birth Story: Sweet Surprise Lauren at Hobo Mama tells the sweet surprise unassisted home water birth story of her second child.
• My Rebirth: An Honest Look Darcel at The Mahogany Way talks a little about some of the fear and insecurity she’s felt over the years since starting her parenting journey and her blog.
• Trusting My Body: Ailia’s Birth Story After a very challenging birth with her son, Dionna at Code Name: Mama was nervous about having another natural birth. But practicing relaxation techniques and birth affirmations proved to be just what she needed to have her perfect, peaceful, unassisted homebirth.
• My Homeschool Philosophy Paige a Bay Dust Diaries shares her new year’s resulution about homeschooling. 
• Yet Another Resolutions Post... Zen mummy‘s resolutions for a better 2012
• Renewing Green Passions in the New Year Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction talks about renewing a passion for green living in the new year
• Birthing and New Beginnings… And Better Mothering Sheila at A Living Family shares her first ever New Year’s resolutions to be a more mindful, compassionate and respectful mother to her two-year old daughter after the recent birth of her son.
• An Open Letter to MTV Regarding 16 and Pregnant Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama delivers a pointed message to MTV about how they misrepresent birth and parenthood on 16 and Pregnant.
• Setting Intentions Megan at The Other Baby Blog shares another way to ring in the New Year.
• Spencer’s Birth Story Momma Jorje shares her family’s story of birthing her son with Down syndrome.
• Looking Forward, Looking Back Erica @ ChildOrganics shares how she is able to look back at the loss of their daughter and yet move forward with her family at the same time. 
• Unique unto Itself. Melissa of Vibrant Wanderings has chosen a word for her second child’s birth: awareness.
• The Unassisted Birth of The LIttle Buddha. Laura at Authentic Parenting shares the birth story of her new baby
• Birthing and Resolutions: Keeping Good Things in Motion. MudpieMama shares her VBAC story and why she skipped making resolutions in the traditional way. 
• The Birth of a New Era by Mandy from Living Peacefully With Children

“No matter what is going on in our lives finding the little moments that bring us some joy reminds us what we are here for… to love life.”

-Holistic Mama

***

Hello? A pepper from our garden.

Sunday brunch.

Creating a truly great vegan brownie.

Sprawling out in the driveway to look at clouds with my girl.

The excitement of travel plans, and the promise of time with truly special friends.

Feeling prepared to experience winter weather again, thanks to generous friends.

A delicious Mexican feast after a full day in the kitchen with my favorite girl.

Food from our garden in January, and pepper phones.

Enjoying a shady, new to us park with friends.

Fresh calamansi juice.

New art supplies.

Photo from Fly For Fun on Flickr.

I’m really looking forward to writing some hopefully helpful and informative posts about traveling with toddlers when we return from our trip, but right now I’m in brainstorming mode and would love to hear from you!

If you have tips or tricks for traveling by air or by train with toddlers, I would be so grateful for them. I’m looking forward to our adventure, but know that the long flight with a four-five months pregnant belly and a busy toddler on my lap will be no walk in the park. We start with a flight that’s about three hours long, followed by an equally long layover. Then it’s a 12+ hour flight followed by a layover of a bit more than an hour, then another hour+ in the air and forty five minutes or so in the car. Once we’re settled in, we’ll probably be enjoying at least one long train ride, but probably more. I’m expecting that we can find some ways to enjoy it all!

Here’s what we’re planning so far…

Annabelle’s grandmother sent her an adorable little backpack that I plan to fill with fun and novel things to do and some interesting snacks. At this point, I have collected a sticker book, an eye spy bag, and a few new books to read. I’m planning to make some fun and simple activities using lightweight materials like felt, and of course to bring along some art supplies. Fortunately I have a box of those on the way! I’m thinking there is no more appropriate time than this to introduce (organic and gelatin free) fruit snacks, and I’m brainstorming to come up with some other snack ideas that will be both tasty and interesting. Would love easy ideas for portable meals, too, as it has been years since an airline actually had the vegetarian meal I requested when I got on board, so I need to be prepared.

I’ll bring along our lavender essential oil and put a drop or two on my Mei Tai (the intended napping place) here and there, when we’re in need of a bit of calm. Sleep anywhere but the bed has been tough, so I’m thinking of trying Hyland’s Calms Forte and/or Valerian Super Calm or Chamomile Calm. I’m thinking of bringing some dried lavender flowers to make a weak lavender tea during the flight as well.

Packing light and wearing comfortable shoes and clothing (plus a change or two for Annabelle, just in case) are in the plans, as I know it will be a challenge to handle all of our stuff and Annabelle at the same time. I had good luck when Annabelle was an infant, with talking to the attendants at the gate before each flight, just to let them know I was traveling with a baby and would be so grateful if they thought another seat assignment was available that would make things more comfortable for everyone. I will try that again! Of course I did the same over the phone already, but sometimes there are better options just before the flight.

Here are some questions…

I am trying to decide on the best carry on bag. I hate my current purse, and have been swearing I’d throw it out and get a new one for months. I may get a new, large and easy to organize handbag, use my diaper bag, or go for a small bag on wheels to cut down on the number of things I have to carry on my person. I’m thinking the latter may not be the best thing, because it will have to go in the overhead and I want easy access to toddler entertainment throughout the flight. Do you have a specific bag that you find is both comfortable to carry and easy to organize items in? Have a specific carry on game plan that works well for you?

I’m struggling with the question of whether or not to invest in a stroller now. I definitely plan to bring along my current favorite carrier, but as pregnant as I’ll be, it would be nice to give my back a rest. I certainly don’t need to be weighed down by extra equipment, however, and it could be hard to manage a carry on bag, a stroller, and a toddler – even if said toddler is in the stroller. I was glad I didn’t bring a stroller when we traveled in the early months, but I’m trying to figure out the safest and most comfortable solution for keeping Annabelle with me at this stage. It’s tough since I can’t guarantee she’ll even be willing to sit in a stroller without loudly protesting. What do you think? Stroller or no stroller? I’m intimidated by how many options are out there, too, so if you have a particular stroller you love, let me know! I thought about buying a $15 umbrella stroller, and donating it along the way if it ends up not working out, but I’m not sure where I would do that.

The most common suggestion for toddler entertainment while traveling seems to be movies. While these are something I typically like to avoid, I’m totally fine with introducing them on an airplane. There really is no option besides sitting still for portions of a long flight anyway! The only option I have for movie viewing, however, is my laptop, and that’s a heavy item to lug around airports with us, nevermind the fact that I’ll have to worry about charging it (and both of my layovers are outside the US, so I guess I’d need a converter!) and taking it out to place it in a separate bin for security. Seems like it may be more trouble than it’s worth – especially since I don’t know how Annabelle will take to movies anyway, and we don’t own any DVDs, so I’ll have to purchase some specifically for the trip. Any thoughts? Is having movies totally worth the hassles I’m concerned about, or would you leave the laptop in the checked bag?

I would love to hear from you on other things you’d bring along, your favorite clothing choices for traveling, snack ideas, and anything else you have to offer!

Wednesday: "Annabelle wanting wear little swimsuit." Frustration can't hang around too long when you have this face to look at.

I’m not going to lie – it hasn’t been the most fun of weeks around here. Things are fine, really, and of course there have been plenty of joy pockets to carry me through (my Mamatography photos, spread throughout are evidence of that!), but a pregnant, sleep deprived mama and a sleep deprived toddler do not a good combination make. Yesterday began about an hour earlier than I would have liked, when “Annabelle got out bed all by self!” I got out of bed after her, and can only imagine that it was my manner of doing so that was offensive to Annabelle, who seemed to expect me to follow suit and get up in the same way that she had. She flung herself onto the tile floor and, kicking and screaming, shouted, “No mommy do! No mommy do!” When she had finished, I suggested that we head to the kitchen for breakfast and on the way there two more meltdowns occurred for unknown reasons. I have the capacity to be patient, but I typically require at least a 15-20 minute buffer after waking. This was not a good way to start the day. I feel terrible for Annabelle, really, because I know she’s simply exhausted and therefore finding it hard to be her usual resilient self.

But you night weaned! You’re supposed to be getting awesome sleep!

Monday: The day we didn't leave the kitchen. My mess was impressive!

I know, right? One small part of our night weaning plan seems to have backfired: the simple phrase, “when the sun shines.” She is sleeping beautifully while it’s dark out, but my easygoing toddler, who used to sleep in until as late as nine or ten if she needed to catch up on sleep is now obsessed with the first sunlight of the morning. The moment the tiniest bit of light appears, she’s wide awake and ready for milk. If I suggest that it’s not time yet, she seems to feel betrayed and confused. She bursts into tears and insists, “Annabelle see sun shining in window!” I have closed our typhoon shutters. I installed curtains that claim to block out 95% of light. Our bedroom feels like a cave, but somehow she knows the moment a trace of light appears, and I am a woman of my word, so I deliver.

Tuesday: Enjoying the books in her Spanish basket, "Annabelle wanting do Spanish."

Instead of nursing a bit and then contentedly rolling over like she used to when she would wake in the night, Annabelle now enjoys a long morning feeding, lasting at least an hour. By the time I find the motivation to open my eyes and suggest that we wrap things up, she is wide awake and ready to start the day. I’m perfectly willing to adjust to an early rising schedule in the mornings, but if I wanted to get her in bed early enough to get a full night’s sleep this way, we would have to eat dinner alone before the daddy even made it home. Naps certainly have not helped to fill the sleep gap, since she still nurses to sleep for those, and does not want to unlatch to fall asleep fully. When she does unlatch and I try to get up, she frantically searches around for milk and is suddenly too wide awake to settle again.

So, the night weaning is done, but our sleep patterns are still a mess. It seems that I’m going to have to come up with a new signal for resuming nursing in the mornings – one that does not occur before 7am, and perhaps find a new nap routine that doesn’t involve nursing to sleep. It can all be done, but for now things are interesting. My own sleep patterns have always been awful. I stay up way too late, pre children I would sleep in hours past my normal waking time on weekends and holidays. Just inconsistent in general. I have to wonder if children with wacky sleep needs come from parents (me) who can’t manage their own sleep in a sensible manner. Hopefully I can help us both get straightened out soon.

Saturday: Riding a seal, with her cool new backpack (thanks, Grammie).

“Mommy Draw Poop!”

Tantrums and sleep deprivation aside, with each passing day Annabelle has become more and more fun to be with. In the past two weeks or so, she has become quite funny. For the most part, I love it, but I was a bit surprised when I realized that we had already reached the stage where toilet humor is funny. While out at a restaurant, I was doodling alongside Annabelle with some crayons. She handed me the brown crayon and instructed me, “Mommy draw poop.” I wasn’t sure how to respond, but eventually I managed a, “no, thank you. I don’t want to draw poop.” I wasn’t sure this bit was supposed to be funny, so I wrote it off as the first thing that came to mind when she saw a brown crayon. The next day, I had baby names on the brain and, feeling silly, I was throwing out peculiar ones like, “Heloise.” Annabelle laughed at each one, so I asked, “What do you think we should name the baby?” Giggling, she answered, “Poop!” Clearly she does think the brown stuff is hilarious.

Speaking of poop, I went ahead and took a nap with Annabelle today so that we could both get some sleep, and she woke up first. She got out of bed and I was too tired to follow immediately. She left the room and a minute or two later came running back in saying, “Give to mommy!” I had a bad feeling about it, but took her gift anyway and sleepily questioned, “Thanks, pumpkin. What is it?” Proudly, she declared, “Annabelle’s poop!” That one certainly got me out of bed quickly.

To balance it all out, there has been some good old fashioned silliness that is not at all gross, and that I enjoy! Silly faces result in contagious laughter. Annabelle hides behind things, or around corners and pops out, hysterically laughing. She throws out nonsense words followed by a grin and a cackle. It’s loads of fun!

Sunday: Drawing with her best girl.

And the changes…

 Of course the growth and development continue. In Annabelle’s drawing, circles have appeared. In her language, I’m noticing more frequent use of prepositions: this week, “sit next mommy” became, “sit next to mommy.” She is eating massive amounts of food, snacking constantly and still eating a full plate at every meal. She has mastered climbing onto and off of many new things, and surprised us by walking over and turning on a fan that had been out for just one day as though she had known where the knob was and how to use it all along.

Socially, she is still hesitant about strangers, but is becoming much more interested in interacting. A contractor came to do some repairs on our house over the weekend and she looked up at him and very clearly said, “Hi, sir.” She has done this more and more since, but typically speaks too softly for anyone to hear. She also had her first telephone conversations with actual, live people on the other end. She chatted a bit with her grandmother and enthusiastically wished her auntie a happy birthday.

Giving her the freedom to walk without holding a hand in crowded public spaces has always been risky because she runs incredibly quickly, and bolts before you even have a chance to realize what is happening. I always give her the chance to walk, but as soon as she takes off, pick her up and carry her for a bit instead. Recently, she has started saying that she wants to, “stay close to mommy” and actually following through, playing nearby and not running off.  This has been a huge relief to me, but I still have to be cautious. Today we went to handle vehicle registrations at the Department of Revenue and I let go of her hand when she said she wanted to stay close, but it was less than five seconds later that she bolted and I had to go running after her in the large, crowded, warehouse-like building. We’re getting there, but one can only expect so much compliance out of a toddler.

13 weeks exactly.

The Belly

So far, the second trimester has been very kind to me. In the past week, I noticed some tiny flutters inside, on more than one occasion, and I’m fairly certain they were our tiny babe. It’s a bit early to be feeling movement just yet, and given that Annabelle didn’t make her presence known until after 20 weeks, I’m a bit surprised but I really think it has begun! I’m so glad, too, as I have not had the same quiet, alone time that I did with Annabelle, to sit and “talk” to my baby. Feeling movements is a good reminder to check in and say hey to our growing little.

I had to reschedule my next prenatal visit because it conflicted with our trip to Italy. I had hoped all along to see the doctor who attended Annabelle’s birth, but they were not able to schedule me with her for this first visit at the new clinic. When I called to make a new appointment, they got me in with her! I also received our fetoscope in the mail, which I plan to take along as an alternative to the doppler in case the clinic doesn’t have one. Knowing this doctor, I have a feeling she’ll be more than happy to use it. It’s great to be feeling positive about my prenatal care again. I have also found a non-hospital natural birth option of some kind in every place we could end up for the birth, so I’m just awaiting our final orders. Once we get those, I can get myself on someone’s schedule, relax, and start simply looking forward to welcoming our newest family member.

I am not nearly so tired as I was in the first trimester, as much as my presence in the blogosphere may cause readers to think otherwise. Currently, I’m in caught up in the excitement of trip planning and it’s amazing how much I can give to the practice. I did not write a post for Montessori Monday because I was busily shopping for shoes during my usual writing time. You see, I have worn flip flops for roughly 363.8 out of the last 365 days and I suddenly realized that this may not be the most comfortable option in Europe during the winter. It seems that I don’t really like shoes, because after two hours of scouring the internet, I managed to find only one pair that I thought I could stand. Here’s hoping they fit and don’t get lost in the mail!

Can I blame the sleep deprivation for this incredibly long and mundane update? Can you tell me what’s new with you and the rest of your household? Feel free to link-up if you have a newsy or developmental post from the past week or so!

Nursing a toddler while pregnant has its ups and downs.

From my knowledge of other women’s experiences, I went into pregnancy with two main nursing-related fears. The first was that it would be very painful. Nipple sensitivity is common in pregnancy, of course, and can make nursing downright unbearable for some women. Many women are willing to work through the pain because giving their child milk is that important to them. As for me, I resolved even before becoming pregnant that if nursing became truly painful I would seriously consider limiting, or even eliminating it. I really want Annabelle to have a deep sense of physical boundaries, both her own and those of others, and I feel like nursing while in severe pain could send a mixed message about these important issues.

The other common issue that concerned me was a decrease in milk supply, or the possibility of “drying up” altogether. If you have read many of my other posts on breastfeeding, you know that nursing until at least twenty four months is important to me. It’s so important to me, in fact, that we chose to wait until around the time Annabelle turned two to try to conceive again. Knowing that it could take several months or more, we started a bit early and were successful almost right away, so I ended up conceiving when Annabelle was just shy of twenty months. I was thrilled about the pregnancy, but worried that I might soon stop producing enough milk for Annabelle.

Knowing about these common issues allowed me to face and process my concerns before I actually became pregnant, and I’m so grateful for the women who shared their stories. I also read Adventures in Tandem Nursing, which not only shares personal tidbits from many different women, but clearly explains what is going on inside the pregnant woman’s body as it relates to nursing, and more importantly what is going on inside her breasts. When I was in early labor and my back was killing me, it helped to know that many women have severe “back labor” due to their babies being in a posterior position. It also helped to know what strategies these women used to manage the discomfort and to help the baby move into a more favorable position. It’s empowering to know what’s happening in your body and why, and how you can change it if it’s not working for you. In that sense, I see nursing through pregnancy as similar to birth in that it is perfectly normal and manageable, but it helps to know what challenges may arise, why, and how other women have handled them. I highly recommend reading the above mentioned book if you think you may become pregnant while nursing.

The Supply Issue

According to Adventures in Tandem Nursing, about thirty percent of women maintain their pre pregnancy milk supply throughout pregnancy, and I have been crossing my fingers that I would be one of them. Before I ever got a positive test, I noticed that I seemed to have a lot more milk than normal. I could hear Annabelle swallow, more like gulp, for the first time in who knows how long. I had never heard of women having more milk than usual during pregnancy, but the same hormones can do different things for different people and I wondered whether this change might signal a pregnancy. Whether the two were related or not, I’ll never know for sure, but I did turn out to be pregnant, and I did have more than enough milk in the early days. At 13.5 weeks, things seem to have returned to normal, with plenty of milk to meet my hungry toddler’s demand.

For some women, milk volume may not be an issue, but the hormones of pregnancy can cause the milk that is produced to take on a different flavor. Some nurslings don’t mind the change, while others end up self-weaning in response to it. This was another concern of mine, but it has not turned out to be an issue either. Annabelle actually seems to be nursing more than she did before I became pregnant, whether because of some desirable change in the taste, awareness of the fact that it’s only a matter of time before she’ll have to share, or another reason altogether. Whatever the reason, I’m glad she’s getting milk. I have ended up placing some boundaries on nursing, however, because I’m not always up for being available right to nurse as frequently as Annabelle would like. We have night weaned to help us both get some sleep¹, and I have also started offering, “ten seconds milk” when she asks and I want to honor her request but I just don’t have it in me to sit down for a full on nursing session. It goes something like this:

A: “Annabelle wanting milk.”

M: “Okay, let’s do ten seconds milk!”

A: “Yeah!”

I offer, she latches and smiles while I count, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 … 10!”

A: grins and declares, “Annabelle did have ten seconds milk, yeah!”

So, does it hurt?

It definitely feels different than it did before pregnancy, but I wouldn’t really describe myself as being in pain. I actually think my discomfort may be less a hormonal thing, and more a chapped nipples because my kid is suddenly wanting to latch on for a solid hour thing. I broke out the lanolin² again this weekend and it actually helped quite a bit, which supports the idea that chapped skin is the main issue for me.

Thanks to Hobo Mama, I learned that a not uncommon reason for painful nursing is Raynaud’s Phenomenon.³ I have never been officially diagnosed with Raynaud’s Phenomenon, but when I was teaching we once had a doctor mom along as a parent volunteer on an outdoor field trip. She observed the response of my fingers – which went completely white, then turned the brightest red as they warmed up – to the cold weather at lunchtime and insisted that I had it and should always, always wear gloves. Who knows. I never gave it much thought until I noticed that at the times when nursing becomes particularly uncomfortable, there has been a blanching of my nipples and I have felt cold. The discomfort does not seem as severe as what is described in people with Raynaud’s, but then I also have some seriously calloused nipples from the difficult early days of breastfeeding, so maybe my tolerance is high.

So the verdict? So far, nursing during pregnancy for us has been pretty similar to nursing before pregnancy. A bit uncomfortable at times, but overall no big deal.

Further Reading

If you’re curious about the safety of nursing during pregnancy, you’ll appreciate this post by Dionna of Code Name: Mama, “Breastfeeding During Pregnancy – Common Concerns About Safety.” She also addresses Common Concerns About Supply.

For honest answers to most any question you may have about nursing while pregnant, look no further than Dulce of Dulce de Leche. She wrote, “Everything you ever wondered about breastfeeding during pregnancy but didn’t want to Ask.”

Luschka at Diary of a First Child shares her experience and some suggestions for others in, “Breastfeeding During Pregnancy.”