there is only sand where sand shouldn't go. . .

We took advantage of the beautiful weather this past weekend and headed to the beach. Since it was fore casted to be in the 80's. . .even in Maine. . .and Bill was booked at a weekend-long class. . .it was the perfect excuse to go. My folks, Cole and I spent the night at the Union Bluff Hotel in York Beach. . and all had a great time!

It seems no matter what I'm telling you about our week, I have a "duh" moment. Here's this week's. . .

I can no longer sit on the beach in a cute bikini and cute sunglasses and cute hat reading a magazine. Duh! Did I really have to attempt it with a 14 month old to realize those days of a childless and carefree sunning beauty are gone? Apparently. I don't think it ever occurred to me what a day at the beach would be now with Cole. It's definitely not what I'm describing above.

It's more like this. . .

We put sand in a bucket. . .

And more sand in a bucket. . .

Then we put sand in our mouth. . .

Then some sand on our legs. . .

And back in the bucket. . .

And then we throw some at mom. . . (there's no picture of this but trust me that it happened)

But then we give mom the I'm-sorry-I-threw-sand-at-you-aren't-I-so-cute? face. . .

Then we go back to the hotel room and eat toast on the floor.

There is no cat-napping in the sun. There is no leisurely walks along the boardwalk to grab a refreshing alcoholic beverage. There is no Banana Boat Dark Tanning Oil. There is only sand in your mouth. . .which is bizarre. . .since I don't like eating sand. I also don't like sand in places that sand shouldn't be. Which, incidentally, with a 14 month old. . .is everywhere.

So I learned a little lesson and Cole had a blast. When I wasn't running after him trying to get him to stop "sharing" his buckets of sand with other unsuspecting children. . .I was watching him trying to figure out this crazy beach thing.

Yes, I took a video. . .

the mean girls and ralph lauren moms

Cole and I went to the park yesterday to enjoy one of the first warm days of the season. Here's why I'm psyched I have a son (and no offense to you with daughters, of course). . .

I'll set the scene: Cole is running all over the place and I'm 6 inches behind him, trying to pull the mulch out of his mouth. He runs over to a little bandstand where there are about 12 young girls. . . of course he does. . .right?

I'm not sure how old the girls are. . .but it's about 1:30 p.m. on a weekday so my best estimate is kindergarten or younger. This is actually important to the story. . .

The girls are having a dance show. . .meaning they are running in a circle on the bandstand. Every now and then other girls playing at the park come over and ask if they, too, can join the dance party. Two girls who seem to be in charge step forward and with hands on hips look at the requesting girl and say one of two things. . .

. . . "sure, your clothes are nice. . .you can join our dance show. . ." or

. . . "your clothes are kinda yucky. . .you can be in the audience. . ."

I'm dumbfounded.

So back to Cole and I. We're sort of under the bandstand putting mulch in our mouths and out of sight to the kids. And I'm not really sure the rules about talking to other people's kids. . .so I don't say anything. . .at this point.

A few minutes later a little boy (roughly same age) cautiously approaches the bandstand. Behind him. . . a gaggle of little boys watching the one, sacrificial boy approach the dance party. The boy has his hands in fists, and is kicking the ground with his blue Croc and says to the girls. . .

". . .our moms say we need to go home soon so we'd like you to stop chasing us so we can finish our soccer game before it's time to go home."

And the leader of the pack. . .steps forward and again with hands on little size 6 Limited Too miniskirt says "well we like to chase you and so we'll keep doing that in between our dances."

And the boy looks back at his team and says again that his "team is losing really bad and they can't come back to the park until next week so please let us finish the game so we can win."

Again, little Miss Mean Girl In-Training says, "we are going to keep chasing you cause it's fun."

At this point I see the boy's hands turn into white fists and he gets on his tippy toes and yells, "well then you should just shut up!" and runs away back toward the boys. . .who, incidentally, heard their friend and all took off running.

All these little girls start clucking and clucking to each other. . ."He said a bad word!" "Oh my goodness, he said shut up." "I'm going to tell my mom." "Yeah, I'm going to tell my mom!". . .and about 8 of them disperse over the park yelling for their moms.

This is when I look back to see these moms. . .because really. . .Cole's already put so much mulch in his mouth already what's the big deal with a bit more? And don't you know? The Ralph Lauren moms as I'll call them are in a gaggle together. . .and the not-dressed-so-nicely-moms are in another circle together. What's that they say about apples and tress?

A few moms come running over to the bandstand, make the girls sit down and say "now what did that boy do to you?" I'll cut to the chase on this one. . .the girls tell mom that they didn't do a thing to instigate and the boy just came over and said 'shut up' and left!

This is where I finally stand up from under the bandstand and say "well, that's not really how it all happened." And the moms looks at me and asked if one of these girls is mine and I embarrassingly gesture to the toddler trying to put dirt down his pants. . .

The mom says "well then I'm sure we'll handle it, thank you." And in the same breath tells the girls to point out this boy so we can find his mother. WHAT? Are you serious? What a terrible women with terrible little girls?!?! And so what my kid is eating dirt? Didn't yours? Before they wore tank tops worth more than my outfit (sunglasses and sneaks included)?

That's the end of the story. I wish it had a better ending. The boys had already run half way across town by this time so I'm pretty sure the pack of Ralph Lauren mothers came up short in finding the nasty boy that said "shut up".

Phew. Close call, kid. He was just trying to play soccer. . . not degrade preschoolers based of their social status. And that's why I love my boy. Just trying to win the game before mom says it's time to go home.

We did befriend a little dance party castaway that ended up following Cole the entire time, holding his sippy cup and snack trap for him. Looks like my boy has the magnetism already.

Here he is admiring the ball field from afar:

happy earth day!

In celebration of Earth Day. . .I figured I'd share some of our household's greener tendencies for you. . .and possibly outline some greener resolutions for next year.

Most of my environmental consciousness has stemmed from one of two things: concern for keeping things healthier around or for the baby and keeping our costs down where we can. Regardless of where it comes from. . .it's made us change some habits and the three of us are benefiting.

We buy organic. Especially fruits and veggies. Just recently I'm starting to cut back on purchasing organic processed foods (like mac and cheese, spaghetti sauces, pancake mix, etc.) but we always commit to buying organic staples like milk, cheese, eggs and bread. And trust me, we notice a difference in flavor.

We use natural cleaners. Not only does this help the environment and keep us healthier, but it's also much cheaper than using commercial cleaners! I think I've said before that baking soda and vinegar are the two best (and cheapest!) cleaners around. This also applies to other cleaners like laundry and dish detergents, too. A box of the ecological laundry powder runs about $3 less than a detergent like Tide and is much better for the planet. Of course the only trouble is getting Bill to remember that the washer needs to fill with water before dumping in the powder. . .

We use reusable cloth items, like napkins and dishcloths. You don't really notice the laundry, and we've pretty much ditched paper napkins and use cloth everyday. I'm also slowly getting rid of dish sponges and am using bamboo dishcloths that can be washed and reused.

We use reusable shopping bags and rarely take plastic shopping bags from stores. We really don't use plastic shopping bags anymore and our local recycling center doesn't take them so when I get them, I find a place in town that will recycle them for us. Most time though, I'm the person holding way too many groceries in my arms waddling to my car. Plastic bags are so bad for the environment that I try very hard not to use them if I can. My favorite pet peeve is when I tell a bagger that I don't need the bag. . .just for them to take my items out. . .and throw away the bag! Gah!

We buy local when we can. This includes not only fresh items like veggies and fruit, but dairy too. There's a lot of great New Hampshire companies that provide local groceries and the price difference isn't very much. The less time our food is traveling to us, the less pollution the trucks make, or gas they use. In most cases. . .the mom and pop company is usually less. Living the Local Life is a great blog that can help acclimate you to NH products and services.

We shop consignment. I know I've raved about this again and again. . .but it keeps clothes out of landfills and gives them a new life. If there was a decent consignment around here for Bill and I. . .we'd do it, too. Although I'm seriously considering calling a few friends and doing that "closet swap" idea where you bring clothes you just don't wear anymore to swap with friends. For the past 1.5 years my designer label has been the Target brand of tee shirt (spit up cleans up nicely off of it). . .but they're in good shape. Anyone interested? ;-)

We recycle everything we can. Unfortunately our town doesn't have a large recycling center, so what can be recycled is limited. But we do recycle everything we can. Some things I recycle within in the house. . .or use other places.

There are some things on my "green wish list" that I've been meaning to do. . .I'll publicly tell you here so there's some commitment on my part to make them happen.

I'd like to grow more of our food. I say "I'd like to" because I've tried. . .and there's no one I know with a blacker thumb than I. Currently, I've got two tomato plants, lettuce, swiss chard and radishes all rotting in pots in the backyard. And I only watered them once! My good intention is there. . .I just need some help.

I'd like to start a kitchen compost. Maybe hard to do with a baby? Maybe not. Maybe that's the answer to my bad gardening? The thought of letting my garbage sit around in a two bedroom condo isn't very appealing. . .but what I'm reading tells me if done correctly, I'll never know it's there. Hmmm. . . .

I should unplug my electronics when not in use. This can really save electricity and cut your energy bill down. . .which we can always use. But it's just seemed like a pain in the pants to go around and plug and unplug. . .plug and unplug. My aversion here is just plain laziness. . . so I should tackle this one first.

Cole is still a bit young to appreciate Earth Day. . .but with a husband that loves the outdoors and nature, it seems probable that we will have an annual Earth Day tradition. . .like a family hike and picnic, perhaps. Maybe we'll plant something together. . .as long as I'm not the one doing the planting!

Here's a candid of the little man this week. . .

itching for summer

We had a good week. We've kicked that terrible flu finally, but Cole and I have picked up head colds in its place. Could be worse. I'm just happy cold season is over soon.

A good friend of mine sent Cole a couple fantastic birthday presents (thanks again, Taryn!) He received a Kleen Kanteen which he hasn't put down in two days. . . and his own amber teething necklace!

We unfortunately missed Easter with the Paradis'. . .but were sent home with a ton of loot from the Easter Bunny! Thanks so much for the abundant presents. . .you guys always do too much! The stuffed rabbit has become a new pillow and the plastic egg that Memere's 5$ was in is apparently the best toy, ever.

I went yesterday to our local consignment store which was having a gigantic sale and stocked up for Cole's summer wardrobe. It's absolutely nutty how fast this kid is growing. I'll pretend you're interested and show you a picture of what I picked up. . .

Besides the price (which of course I love), I just really like shopping second hand to do my part and give perfectly fine clothes a second life instead of trashing them. And most of what I get is brand named clothing that stands up to numerous washings. . .and lunches where we are learning to use a fork and spoon.

And check out the season's new summer hat and swim diaper! Which, by the way, is a reusable, washable diaper instead of using the disposable swim diapers. I sound like such a hippie!

We also went to the park yesterday with Pops after the three of us went for an ice cream at Hayward's. Cole enjoyed the slide. . .

We left quickly when a mom and her 2 year old daughter came over to the slide. . .and the mother was trying to reason with little Abby about "acknowledging when she was talking to her". If Cole comprehended the meaning of "acknowledging" anything. . .I'd sign him up for college tomorrow. I think sometimes reading the parenting books leads us astray. . . ;-)

This weekend we'll be flea marketing on the hunt for a play kitchen for the little man. He's really enjoyed playing with the one at his buddy's house. . .and I could use a new toy, too!

shhh. . .there's chickpeas in the cookies!

A quick post. . .and a recipe to share. . .


I know some of you will really enjoy making these cookies and some of you will think I'm crazy. I made Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies for Cole today. They were a total hit. . . with all of us!

This recipe came out of that great cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld that Aunt Debbie picked up for me. Check out my post about it here, if you need a refresher.

And I don't know the rules about reproducing a copy written recipe on a blog. . .so keep it quiet. ;-)

1 c. brown sugar
3/4 c margarine
2 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 can (15oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 c semisweet chocolate chips
2 c flour
1/2 c old fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 and mix margarine, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. Add chickpeas and chocolate chips. Add flour, oats, baking soda and salt and mix on low until you get a thick batter.

Drop dough by tablespoon on a greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and cook for about 13 minutes or until set. Voila!

I flat-out lied and said the cookies were chocolate chip oatmeal to get people to try them. When they had that gooey goodness in their mouths. . .then I hit 'em with the truth!







Looks like a happy customer. . .

so much. . .so often. . .so stinky!

Damn playdates.

The nastiest bout of flu I can remember has almost passed its way through the Paradis household. . . not before taking a Goguen or two out of commission, as well. It came on quick, stayed strong, and lasted about three days. We've each taken turns sleeping on the couch and without sharing the horrid details. . .I'll just say that bedding has been washed. . .and rewashed. . .and washed again for good measure.

That's not the reason for the update, though. What we really should talk about is why none of you mentioned how much vomit could come out of an infant!?! And with what force. . .and how it could get on every surface within three feet of his mouth. . .and how often that could happen without too much medical alarm or concern. . .and what happens in the diaper area after. . .and that it would all happen at 3:00 a.m. when I didn't have any other clean sheets!!! I mean, come on, laundry day was tomorrow.

I could probably recount a few more "why didn't you tell me's?" . . . but I'm sure there are non-mom types reading who don't need to know more than that.

Just one more thing before I put this to rest. . . honestly. . . how can it smell so bad? Seriously?

I thought I'd pretty much graduated the "bodily fluids on your face" class after Cole's first year. Not so. I'm actually not even confident enough to say I've passed it now. I apparently have no idea what other things these children can spew at you. Logic tells me if they get larger. . .so must the spew. Can't wait.

Seriously though. . .Cole was pretty freaked for a day or so but after awhile he started getting used to getting sick. He'd be running and playing and just turn his head and vomit without losing a step. That's my multi-tasker. I'd started getting smarter too and realized bananas smell relatively pleasant anytime.

The good news is that Bill was the last to get the crud. . .and he's on the mend now. I don't have any pictures to share this week (thank goodness!) but here's the cutest little toy a friend of mine showed me this week. The Easter bunny might just bring one for Cole. . .

I'm gravitating toward the cow. . .

check out weelicious

I don't really have much to update today but wanted to share with you this fantastic website I've been following for awhile.

Weelicious is a toddler food-blog written by a chef with a little one of her own. Her recipes focus on healthy, organic, low-sugar, low-salt and fun food that kids like. Most of the recipes are foods in season so it's relatively cheap and easy to make these foods. Everything I've made (which has been a ton of these recipes!) Cole has really enjoyed. The latest hit was the Creamy Rice Pudding.

It can be tough to not fall in the pasta and sauce-macaroni and cheese-chicken nugget rut. . .so this site has been very helpful to us. Next on our list to try will be the Purple Cauliflower Soup! Enjoy!