Belly,bladder, bowel

I am building a business around Belle's belly, bladder and bowels.  I am working around her potty breaks.  I dressed up to take a business call earlier.  I wanted to feel more successful by chatting in better clothes.  We walked to Safeway so I could buy a cup of coffee, retrieve a gift card owed me by the store and take the call.  Belle saw an empty plastic container that reminded her of the pinto beans and cheese she loves at Taco Bell and demanded beans right away.  I had a fidgeting, screaming child just minutes before my call.  I had to quickly choose lunch from the deli counter (No beans because Safeway doesn't sell refried beans at their deli.) even if that meant missing my call.  We ate a good lunch:  wild Alaskan salmon, kale salad, slaw, a corn dog, mini Oreos and Goldfish.  I missed my call, of course.  That just fell into a void...BUT!  I found someone else to connect with, and everyone had a full stomach and properly regulated bladder and bowel functions.  There is that.

Different expectations

Last night our neighbours invited us to their daughter's birthday dinner.  We were last minute invites, arriving just in time for cake.  I guess we all had different expectations for our evening.  The organizer said "dinner," which I enjoyed well after everyone else had eaten.  Belle, having just eaten from two cups of pinto beans and cheese at Taco Bell, ignored dinner.  The adults in attendance all but ignored me.  They didn't seem to hear me whenever I spoke.  I had to ask for alcohol when they had plenty beers on hand.  I ate my dinner and drank my beer in silence.  On my second beer, and with Belle finally sitting down for cake, we were all shown the door.  The lady of the house slipped Belle's cake into a doggy bag and slipped it onto her wrist.  I struggled a disoriented child, a cup of water and an open bottle of beer on our short walk home.  What was that?

Sundays at McDonald's

I like to take Belle to McDonald's on Sunday afternoons so I can connect with a girlfriend who lives nearby while Belle plays.  I usually buy myself a large coffee and smuggle in snacks from home for Belle.  Last Sunday, with snacks hidden on my person, I treated Belle to a McDonald's ice cream cone.  I bought myself a [tasty, peppery] McChicken sandwich.  Belle ate a tiny bite of sandwich and appeared to enjoy it, which prompted me to buy another sandwich.  Belle threw that second sandwich to the ground, of course.  I quickly snatched it up and ate it (It was still wrapped.).  My friend arrived soon after and treated Belle to apple juice, chocolate chip cookies and a yogurt tube.  These were all healthy choices overall.  I liked the modest size of the McChicken sandwich too.  It hit the spot.

My friend made an observation about the luxury cars she says she has noticed recently.  I guess I have been too busy chasing after a child to notice.  I said, "Who cares?  Let's change too.  I love you.  You're my friend.  We've got to do better than this though."  I like meeting at McDonald's for these casual days.  I am suddenly enamored by all the women in sheath dresses traipsing through Starbucks.  I proposed that we join them, or some such.  We can start a movement of our own.

$$$

McDonald's and Starbucks gift cards, please.  Also, Safeway and Target.

The Fourth Year

Belle turned three last December.  We are knee deep in learning how to communicate, count, play, etc.  No preschool yet.  Meanwhile, I am keen to get my practice going.  Business cards have been designed and are on their way.

Thanksgiving

I didn't make a big deal out of Thanksgiving.  Belle still felt out of sorts enough to unravel almost completely.  We ended up having yellow cupcakes wih chocolate frosting, banana Johnny cake, zuchini with corn in tomato sauce, turkey dressing and lentil stew, in that order.  I roasted the turkey the next morning, which we ate promptly.  Belle seems to like the meat.

Send art supplies

Belle is rapidly approaching three (on December seventh!!!) and is a busy, busy bee.  I have given her all of my art supplies, and have added in the best we could find at the discount stores.  Belle loves modeling dough the most.  She often eschews dinner for yet another hour of sculpting.  I am, therefore, asking for the most modeling compound and the most paints for Belle's upcoming birthday and Christmas.  I will need an endowment for the arts at this point.  We need more clay, paints, paper, and ZOMG! glitter glue.

Busy Bee

Belle is a busy, busy crafter.

Play food

I gave Belle my old stuffed animals and soft-bodied dolls.  She took a shine to a brown skinned doll with shiny black hair I had as a four year old.  I found Belle washing the doll’s hair in the sink the same night Belle discovered her.  I put them both in a warm bath, where I washed both from head to toe with the same baby wash. 

I also gave Belle the toy canned goods and eggs from my play kitchen.  I taught Belle how to make hard-boiled eggs by throwing a couple plastic eggs into the plastic pot on her play burner that lights up and makes boiling noises.  I guess Belle figured she should recycle too because I found all labels removed from those tiny canned good replicas I once so loved.

I counted many cans of evaporated milk, fruit cocktail and tuna among the play food I played with as a child, before Belle peeled off the labels.  Nothing has changed in the thirty years since I got that kitchen.  I keep all that food on hand now.  Recent food runs have yielded crunchy almond butter, flax seeds, pumpkin butter and teff.  I would never have imagined eating such foods as a kid.

I spread both the crunchy almond and the pumpkin butters onto toasted English muffins for a beach picnic last weekend.  Belle found these sandwiches quite delightful.  Belle also enjoyed chocolate soy milk, cinnamon graham crackers shaped like giant goldfish and crackers made from hidden vegetables.  She seems more willing to try different foods.

Cat saga

I finally lured Polly back inside one week later.  Belle loves Polly with a stifling, suffocating affection that makes Polly feel unsafe.  If Polly gets out, she stays out until she either feels safe enough to come inside or I grab her.  Both Belle and Polly are coping with living together again.  Polly let me hold her while I read Belle her stories.  Later on, Polly came halfway up the stairs and meowed at my door until I came down to sit with her a while.

Beach days

We cooled off at the beach during last weekend’s heat wave.  I kept Belle indoors until the heat of the day had passed, and then suited her up in a bikini and plenty of sunscreen for the beach.  While Belle enjoyed rolling in the sand, she probably loved our beach picnics more (apples, bananas, oranges, graham crackers shaped like giant goldfish and pineapple juice with rice milk over ice). 

I had planned on spending Monday afternoon at the park, but ended up back at the beach when Belle’s training pants leaked.  I put her in a pair of disposable swimming pants I found in my bag and pushed her kicking and screaming away from the playground and back to the sand.  Belle instantly made a new girlfriend among the children playing nearby and had a lovely time chasing birds.

The little girl Belle met on the beach really liked us.  She threw her arms around my thighs, lifted up my skirt and hid there for several seconds until her heavily pregnant mother pulled her away.  Later she grabbed my hand so we could join her and her playmates and their mothers in the water.  Belle seemed fascinated by this girl and her young friends, all rapidly approaching pre-school.  I invited their mothers to join the mom’s group I am in.

Time and space cadet

Belle needs more room and space than is realistic.  Our home could not contain her during yesterday's extreme heat.  We made several trips around the block either on foot or with Belle riding in the bobby car.  I took chicken out to defrost and cook, but settled for a can of soup when I couldn't distract Belle long enough to make dinner.  Belle surprised me by eating bread soaked in soup.  I still wanted chicken and vegetables though.  I thought I might make that after putting Belle to bed.  I didn't plan on falling asleep too and sleeping until morning.

Snooze

I have started sleeping when Belle sleeps again.

Breakfast Bites

I am encouraging a consistent morning routine for Belle.  Breakfast is the hardest by far.  Belle only likes to eat cold cereal, some bread, pasta, cheese, yogurt and fruit.  She refuses meat and vegetables.  It’s easier to give her dry cereal and raisins while she is strapped in the pushchair than it is to serve breakfast at our table.  We had four hours before we ran Thursday’s errand and I didn’t even have a chance to boil water for tea, let alone prepare breakfast.  What to do?

Baby Signs

I have started teaching Belle more baby signs, as inspired by a mom in our play group.  Belle now knows “cat,” “help” and “hot.”  At first she turned her head or knocked the baby sign book off the bed in defiance.  Now she happily opens the book and hands it to me.  Belle is learning language in all its forms.

Hearty whole grains

I tossed the last of the buckwheat pasta with ghee, mascarpone cheese, spices and sugar.  Belle really liked that.  She even ate some roasted baby carrots with the pasta that were coated in the same spice.  She drank plenty of my fresh squeezed orange juice and ate all the grapes from our CSA box.  That’s an improvement! 

I found more brands and varieties of pasta made with hidden vegetables at the market.  I didn’t buy any since I already have two boxes of Hidden Veggie pasta on hand.  Belle seems to enjoy pasta now.  We started with quick cooking ramen and have since graduated.  I will continue offering these hearty whole grains.

School

I want Belle to attend a particular preschool.  I am steadily reading to her and taking her to playgrounds and play groups in the meantime.  Unfortunately, Belle doesn’t speak out in groups yet.  She observes before she jumps into free play.  A skill assessment taken by the doctor this summer ruled out delay or disability.  When Belle didn’t answer a female acquaintance, the woman suggested federally funded preschool, if only for the sake of early intervention.  I guess she assumed Belle is mute because she hasn’t seen otherwise. 

I don’t see any issue here with Belle’s development.  I heard Belle say “okay” many times on Thursday.  She beckoned me up the stairs to the slide by saying “come.”  She slapped my bum and encouraged me to “go” down the slide.  She asked for “milk” by saying and signing it.  She counted to three in the kitchen.  She could already say “hot,’ but now she signs it too.  Belle is learning signs and words from her two favorite books.  She is certainly a fast learner.

The Lottery

Temperatures reached eighty degrees at home on Wednesday evening, forcing us into party clothes and back out for this month’s mixer.  A smaller group and a “no host” bar meant endless wine for me and plenty of food to take home.  Belle found a children’s area full of electronic learning toys and quickly cooled off.  I made a few connections, including the sister of an old friend.  We came home after dark, but still full of energy.  Belle asked to play in the community park and had fun sliding by street lamp. 

I woke up dehydrated at one AM Thursday morning from drinking too much Zinfandel at the mixer.  I ate chilled red grapes and drank cold water to hydrate myself.  Then I let Krishna back inside (Polly stayed out in the rain.) along with some cool, fresh air.  I stayed up listening to KQED and playing computer solitaire.  Belle woke up just after four AM, in time to see the cards slide down the monitor after I won my first game.  We just stayed up, listening to public radio and the light rain until we left for our usual Thursday food run.

We went the shorter route to McDonald’s so I could grab a coffee.  I didn’t buy Belle a yogurt tube because I’d filled her food tray with leftover grapes.  I trusted my senses to get us to our destination via a shortcut I had only imagined.  I felt accomplished, caffeinated and good when we arrived.  I soon realized others in the crowd weren’t nearly as happy.  We walked right into a fight, in fact, between the director and a client.  Someone ushered me into an unruly line to get a number for our grocery order.  I suddenly held number one and would be first in line for groceries.

Women in the crowd objected to me being called first.  I handed over my ticket, clearly marked with a number one, to the lovely and patient woman at check in.  Another mom, left disabled from being injured while giving birth, threw an adult tantrum in front of her preteen daughter about me being first.  I narrowly escaped being first in line for free groceries with my life, and yet I still hold compassion for this disabled woman.  Other “friends” who couldn’t believe I’d been called first called me dirty names to my face. 

We got apples, baked goods, bananas, celery, cheese, golden flesh sweet potatoes, hummus, naan, nectarines, onion, oranges, pears, potatoes, rainbow trout and zucchini.  Someone made a big show of handing Belle a juice and a couple of yogurt pouches.  Unfortunately, no one noticed those yogurt pouches had expired in July.  Belle took a couple sips before handing it back to me.  We had already gone back home by then and couldn’t do anything to change it.  We didn’t need to be any closer to that angry, ugly crowd.  I guess the weak weather system only fueled the fire.

I made orange juice (I had over twenty oranges saved up.) and buckwheat pasta inspired by something one of the moms brought to Tuesday’s potluck.  I simmered buckwheat pasta with the frozen zucchini slices and drained off the water.  I softened onion and peppers in a fry pan and browned ground chicken in the same pan.  I drained off the oil and added a can of tomato sauce and seasonings.  I poured the meat sauce over the cooked pasta and zucchini and stirred in mascarpone cheese.  It came out nice!

Hidden Veggies

On Tuesday Belle and I attended a potluck at the home of one of the moms we met at last Thursday’s beach picnic.  I made sautéed eggplant in marinara sauce (Everyone ate some!) and a homemade apple and pear sauce (No one ate any because another mom had made the most delicious chocolate cake!).  Belle seemed to like the penne pasta made with “hidden veggies” made by the hostess.  I wound up buying two boxes of Golden Grain Hidden Veggie Small Penne pasta later on, currently on sale at my nearest market. 

It’s nice to know people in Alameda who want to be here.  I am making friends with other moms who seem genuinely excited about their new lives on the island.  I wish I could have made friends like this when I moved here in 2007.  Maybe I would have mailed out those beautiful beach theme cards I had printed up with the address of my new home.  Maybe I would have had the housewarming I never had.  Maybe I would have felt supported enough to thrive.  I am sure I would have had Belle under better circumstances had I just felt connected.

Mmm. Food.

We had an exciting food filled weekend.  We were walking home on Saturday when a man driving a utility vehicle asked if we could use an eggplant.  He said he worked on a farm nearby and had a surplus.  Good thing I always carry a bag with me because he gave us lots of apples, two eggplants, green beans, hot peppers and tiny tomatoes.  I snacked on tomatoes on the mile and a half walk home.  Belle fell asleep eating an apple, which I happily finished. 

We were on our way to McDonald’s on Sunday, with only nineteen minutes to spare for the free coffee, when I spotted the box across the street.  I always stop and grab the box, no matter what it holds.  Someone living nearby periodically puts their extra “first five” or food bank food in a cardboard box by a street lamp across the street.  I swiftly pushed Belle across the street, grabbed the cardboard box full of canned food and walked it back home without looking through it.  We still managed to make it for coffee five minutes before breakfast ended. 

Belle seemed extra clingy at McDonald’s, especially when our friend Ellen joined us.  I couldn’t enjoy conversation with another adult because Belle wouldn’t play with the other children.  This neediness, combined with Belle’s inability to sleep through the previous night, made me wonder if we should skip a party happening the same afternoon.  I also noticed a mystery stain on my dress that I couldn’t remove with my limited time and resources in McDonald’s restroom.  We attended the party anyway (No one noticed the stain!), and Belle finally loosened up.

We brought home leftover fried fish and pork from the party.  Belle fell asleep holding a candy filled goody bag.  This nap allowed me to finally sort through the box:  beef ravioli, beef stew, black beans, cream of mushroom soup, green beans, mandarin oranges, mixed fruit, sweet peas, tomato sauce, tuna in water, vegetable beef soup and whole peeled tomatoes in various quantities.  None of this food is certified organic, but it is all good food to have on hand.  I believe in keeping a fully stocked pantry and steadily working through it.  Long live whoever puts out this box!