The Joys of Toddlerhood

I accept behavior from The Toddler (not without some timeouts & corrections) that I'd never accept from a friend. Or a perfect stranger. Or anyone but her, really.

Yesterday she peed on the floor, on purpose. She's completely (daytime) potty-trained and, successfully, goes to the bathroom on her own all of the time in the house; I don't remember the last time she had an accident.

She came me, proudly, and declared, "I peed on the floor."

I checked her bottom and no wetness. At first, I thought she was joking. Or pretending. After all, it never occurred to me she would take her pants down and pee on the floor. Still disbelieving, I asked her to show me.

She led me to the bathroom and pointed, "There, I peed there." Indeed, she had.

I asked her why she did it, that it was inappropriate and we don't do that.

Her response, "Because I did," with a knowing smile.

Lovely. I quickly grabbed the 409 and cleaned up the mess and then marched her to her father.

"She purposely peed on the floor."

Husband: "Why did you do that? You shouldn't do that. Why did you pee on the floor, Toddler?" he asked in this best "stern" voice.

Toddler: "Because I did."

Husband, the smirk begins. He's trying not to laugh. I can see it.

If you can't beat them, join them. Some days all you can do is laugh. ...And hope there isn't a repeat performance...

If this had been anyone else, I'd ban him or her from my house. I'd probably be so weirded out that I'd avoid that person in the future. But, this is my child and there's an invisible umbilical cord that will always connect us, one that belies logic and makes me love her even when she is at her most unlovable.

She's in a testing phase right now and I have no doubt, the pee incident is part of that. If I can make it to her fourth birthday, I'll be pleased. Besides the obvious, boundary-learning, people tell me testing is a sign of independence, a sign of intelligence. That's all fine and good, and part of me believes it, but there are days my patience is wears thin and I'm just not sure I'm cut out for this job. Yet, I love her through and through. If I'd never had her, I wouldn't know to miss her but now, I can't imagine life without her. That love is what makes it possible for me to laugh and enjoy the moment, even after I've finished mopping pee off the floor, which is definitely not something I'd do for someone else.

Enchiladas

I made enchiladas last night for dinner. I've made them before but never with meat and never made enough to freeze.

I made up a recipe based on things that sounded good* --

chicken breast, oven-cooked in salsa then shredded

sweet corn

onion, sauteed w/a bit of oil & finished with a dash of apple cider vinegar

black & pinto beans, heated & crushed a bit in pan with onions

salsa

cayenne pepper

Mexican seasoning

Mix everything together. Place filling in tortillas, top with cheese and roll.

Prior to cooking, cover with enchilada sauce (my recipe is from my grandmother) & top with a sprinkle of cheese.

Couple of things I learned:

If you use corn tortillas, nuke them in the microwave. If you don't, they break.

If you plan on freezing: If you freeze with sauce, cook first. If you freeze without sauce, do not cook. @pdxFoodDude provided me with this website to answer that question.

*Next time I'll add red pepper but I forgot to pick one up at the store. I'd also like to add more veggies (not a fan of zucchini or yellow squash, which are frequently added to enchiladas) so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

** To make dairy-free, eliminate cheese or use vegan cheese. Make special note of taco seasoning ingredients, many contain lactose or other milk-based ingredients.

*** To make gluten-free, use corn tortillas and again, be sure to check taco seasoning ingredients for any gluten ingredients, prior to use.

More Favorites

AmLactin Moisturizing Lotion

I recently started waxing my legs and regular exfoliating in the shower wasn't enough to prevent ingrown hairs for me, probably because my hair is really fine. Adding an alpha-hydroxy lotion has helped a lot. I like it well enough that I've been using it all over.

UrbanWaxx

Best place in Portland to get your legs waxed. The service is fantastic, they do a great job and everyone is really nice.

Lululemon

Seems everyone is wearing it these days and there's a reason. It's not inexpensive but it's the most flattering and best-fitting workout wear I've found. My favorite tanks are the Deep V and the Power Y. Pants -- you can't go wrong with the Groove Pant.

Floppy Seat

My baby is no longer using high chairs and she generally wants to walk rather than ride at the grocery store. Still, this is a favorite because I now love to buy them as baby gifts. I loved the Floppy Seat when Daughter was young because I didn't have to worry about her putting her hands and mouth on a grimy restaurant high chair or grocery cart. It also provided a bit of padding in case she decided to take a nap (which happened occasionally when she was younger).

More Chicken

Last winter, I made an attempt to add more chicken (aka protein) to my diet and with summer and salmon season, I soon forgot about chicken.

It's probably the preparations I've chosen but chicken seems more appropriate in cold weather. Surprisingly, that left me opportunity in August. I anticipate wet chill in June but August and September mean summer in Oregon. Usually.

The other night, I whipped up a batch of my mom's barbeque sauce / marinade and marinated two bone-in chicken breasts, overnight.

Moms Barbecue Sauce

1/4 c vinegar
1/2 c water
2 T sugar
1 T mustard
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 thick slice lemon
1 onion sliced
1/4 c margarine
1/2 c catsup
2 T Worcestershire sauce

Mix first 10 ingredients & simmer 20 min. Add catsup and Worcestershire sauce & bring to boil.

About an hour before I planned to serve dinner, I took the lid off of the glass container, preheated the oven to 350 and inserted my oven thermometer into the thickest part of one of the chicken breasts. Once the oven temperature reached 350, I put the chicken in the oven, attached the probe (160 degrees) and waited.

Yum!

* If dairy-free is important to you, be sure to check ingredient list for margarine (or use vegan) as some margarines do contain milk products.

Chalkboard Paint

@jenrana posted this fun idea for chalkboard paint today. It wouldn't work for me but I love the idea, especially as a mom! Wonder if I could find a smaller table to paint for Daughter?

Sigg

Like a lot of people, I recently found out some Sigg bottles contained BPA. My first question was, "Do I have any of the Sigg bottles in question?" Turns out I do. The darker liners contain BPA, the lighter colored ones do not.

I wrote the CEO and recieved a response that Customer Service would contact me with instructions to exchange the bottles for new ones. It's been a week and I'm still waiting, unfortunately.

MIA

I've been heavily amiss in maintaining my blog. Odd because I used to write extensively when under stress and for some reason, I now find myself unable. Out of practice? Lack of time? Simply exhausted? Maybe just lazy (=

Probably all of the above.

Here I sit watching an ad for Land O' Lakes butter on the Lifetime channel further procrastinating as my list of things to do grows longer. But, hey, I'm blogging, right?

I think I'm going to take my glass of wine & go make some popcorn and begin to tackle some of the emails in my Inbox that have been sitting there for a week plus...