Nessa learns to tie her shoes ... and a few other things

Tami here -- I have been thinking about resurrecting this blog ever since school started so that I could at least update everyone on what the girls have been up to. I will start with Nessa because we are at the point where nearly anything I say about Megan online needs to be cleared with her first. :-) (But she has all As and accomplished a lot in her first Cross Country season). (Also, for new facebook friends, all of our blog posts show up on both Shawn and my facebook pages as notes)

Isn't that a gorgeous smile? I can tell how proud she is, and I can just hear her going to tell everyone that she can tie!


This morning as after I lifted Nessa into the van and had to quickly tie her shoe I mentioned in passing that she needed to learn to tie her shoes soon.

I was not really complaining though because she has been so busy learning so many other things. I am surprised her head is not swelling with all that knowledge -- like how to read! In a matter of a month things have totally just clicked (like I knew it would at some point) and Nessa has gone from just knowing all the letters and sounds to being able to sound out anything that follows typical phonetics, knowing the most common other rules (like silent e), and memorizing many many sight words! In fact this morning when I dropped Nessa off to school she asked me to stay so she could read to me -- I didn't realize I would be sitting there for 20 minutes! -- it was a long book by her standards (20 to 25 pages??) and while still a very early learning to read type book it was divided into three chapters so I was congratulating her on reading a chapter book. :-)

Nessa has also been busy with many math, science, sensory projects and more. In my next post on her Montessori kindergarten education I will include some specific experiments and works they do in these areas. Nessa went into the year with math as her favorite subject, but at least for awhile reading has claimed that top spot for her attention, and one of the blessings of Montessori is that when Nessa is really interested in working on reading she can chose to work on reading (and related works) most of the day rather than moving from subject to subject. She still works on a wide variety of subjects throughout the week however, and there excellent teacher makes sure the kids are meeting any requirements.



So, back to our story about the morning... Although I had only mentioned shoe tying in passing, Nessa quickly commented that she was going to ask her teacher to get out the tie board today so she could learn, and that is exactly what she did! When I opened my email mid-morning there was a message from her teacher with these pictures! :-)

I'm looking forward to a blessed weekend with a girl who can tie her shoes AND read!

To Nessa Rose On Her 5th Birthday

Five years old! I don’t know why that seems like a bigger deal than any of your other birthdays, but it does. Some days you seem like you’re trying to be fifteen, and some days you seem like you want to be two again, but most days you’re just a slightly precocious little girl who (mostly) acts her age, and that’s fine with me.

I see so much of me in you, sweet girl. Sometimes that makes us butt heads because we’re so much alike, and you know how to push my buttons (much to the amusement of your mother). Sometimes it’s just payback; I often think your Grandma Brooks is smiling. But the rest of the time it’s why we have so much fun together. You love to be silly, and I’m very good at silly. You love when I give you ridiculous answers to your questions, and you love telling me my answers are silly. You love asking questions, and I love answering them for you. You love it (most of the time) when I tickle you, and you’ve started trying to learn how to tickle by practicing on me. You love climbing on me and rolling around with me and generally being goofy.

I see your mother in you as well: I often see her attitudes, her expressions, and her gestures coming from you. I enjoy seeing what you’ve drawn from me, what you’ve drawn from her, and what seems to be uniquely your own. We get tantalizing glimpses of the person you’re going to become, and it makes me so curious to know what you’ll be like as you get older. Not that I’m in any hurry—there’s so much to enjoy along the way, and I don’t want to miss it.

We have our struggles. You get very frustrated with the fact that everyone else gets to set the rules and you only get to obey them. You have so much to say and feel and express that you sometimes have trouble doing it all on someone else’s schedule. Your independent streak hasn’t gotten any narrower. I’m sorry for the times that I’m not patient enough with you. I hope someday you’ll understand why that happens. But we have so much fun as well: playing games, exploring the world through your observations and questions, going to the library or the Y or the park, reading stories, and all the other stuff we do. I cherish the good times with you more than almost anything, and every day when I wake up I hope that we’ll find something fun to do together.

A lot of your accomplishments this year have been just getting better at things you were already doing, but there have been some new achievements as well. You can now write your name very well without help, and have started writing other words as well. Your coloring is much better, as are all the other craft things you love to do. You can use a scissors very well when you want to and aren’t in a hurry. You’ve become a good climber, although getting down is sometimes a problem. You love to dance, and do it well enough that other people notice and comment. You’re singing is getting better as well, although stage fright sometimes keeps anyone but your Mom and me from noticing that. You can get milk out of the refrigerator and pour it yourself, even if you do have to stand on the inside floor of the refrigerator to reach the milk.

That brain of yours is a marvel, sweet girl. I am still astonished at times by the connections you make and the things you figure out all on your own. You can use complex sentences and put thoughts together in a logical order when you’re trying to explain or understand something. You have gotten very good at rhyming words and often rattle off a whole string of them, some real and some you’ve just made up. You’ve started exploring letters and their sounds in a serious way. You have a good memory; you’ve memorized the basic story of whole books and all the songs you learn in school and Sunday School. It feels like you’re so close to unlocking the reading code and taking off into whole new worlds all on your own. I will be so happy for you when that happens!

Lastly, you have truly become a child of God. You know that God will listen to you, that he is there for you and loves you. You talk to him regularly. You love Bible stories, videos, and all the fun things you do at church. We’re on that road together, you and I. Your baptism brought both of us to faith, and I look forward to continuing to teach and lead you as I learn and as we go along.

I say this every year, Nessa Rose, but it’s still true: your mommy and I love you, more and more with each passing day. I thank God every day for the two of you and for your sister. The three of you are the greatest of the many blessings I’ve received, and you, sweet girl, are my greatest treasure, my greatest joy, and my grandest adventure. Thank you for being my daughter, Nessa Rose. I can just hear you saying “Daddy, I didn’t have a choice,” and that’s true, but I thank you anyway. No matter what else I have or don’t have, you make me rich beyond measure.

I love you, Nessa Rose. Happy birthday!

Daddy

So that is how it works!

Tami here.

Yesterday I was looking through Nessa's baby book with her and when we came to the page with pictures right after she was born I read the date listed at the top of the page, "Saturday April 2, 2005."

Nessa got very, very excited, "OH! I was born on my birthday!!!!"

She had such a huge grin on her face that I almost didn't want to explain to her that that was actually the way it works. :-)

Nessa's Montesorri Preschool fundraiser

Tami here.

Just a quick note to share the link for the Montessori school fundraiser. We only have about a week to order, and we need to submit the order directly with the school, so if you want to order anything, just let us know and we'll coordinate with you. You can look at the website to see what is in the catalog -- http://www.forsmallhands.com/store/ -- this appears to be the same as the products in the catalog (minus the sales items, sorry).

There are LOTS of great Christmas gifts here too...if you are on our Christmas list, let us know if anything looks great to you.

Thank you...

Sit-com Saturday (by Shawn)

Shawn here. It started out normally enough. After lazily puttering around the house for awhile Saturday morning, Nessa and I were going to run some errands. First stop: the video store to return some DVDs. It was 20 feet from the door to the drop slot—15 seconds, max. I left Nessa in the running car and put the DVDs in the slot. When I got back to the car I pulled on the door handle and almost strained my arm.

The car door wouldn’t open.

I looked at the door with what I’m sure was a very stupid expression on my face, absolutely befuddled. It took a couple of seconds of staring at the door in disbelief for it to register that the door was indeed locked. That all of the car doors were locked.

With Nessa inside, strapped in her car seat.

OK, don’t panic. It’s not that hot out, the car’s running, the air-conditioning is on, Nessa will be fine. Tami’s home, and hopefully out of the shower by now. I’ll call her.

“Hi sweetie. I’m at Family Video, and I managed to lock Nessa in the car with it running. I need you to please bring the other van key here so I can unlock the car.” Tami laughed and said that she would be there as soon as she could.

Now I had to explain to Nessa what had happened. I told her, and told her that Mommy was coming. Nessa could hear me through the window, but between her soft voice and all the road noise, I couldn’t hear her very well. To pass the time, I started making faces through the window, playing hide-and-seek, and walking around the car.

Maybe the rear door is unlocked! Ooof...no, of course it isn’t, doofus.

I briefly contemplated trying to explain to Nessa how to unbuckle herself from her car seat, but between not being sure if she could exert enough pressure to undo the buckles, the problems hearing her through the window, and the fact that I wasn’t sure I really wanted her to know how to unbuckle herself, I decided against that. So I kept trying to amuse Nessa and talking to her through the window.

Soon enough Tami pulled up in our other car, but just as she got to me I saw her eyes close briefly and her shoulders slump. I walked up to the car.

“You forgot the van key, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Never chastise your spouse too much, even in your head, ‘cause it’ll come back to bite you in the butt.”

We talked a bit more, and then Tami pulled away to go back and get the other van key. I had to explain things to Nessa, so I went over to the van.

“Mommy had to go back home, sweet girl. She forgot the other key to the van, and has to go get it.”

At which point my four year-old daughter, with perfect timing, assumed an incredulous expression … which very clearly said “You’re kidding me—and I’m related to these people?” … and dropped her face into her left hand with a loud smack.

Cue laugh track.

A little gift for me (via Nessa) on the anniversary of the day I became a mother (by Tami)

Tami Here

Today is Megan's Birthday, but I'm not really writing about that (it would change the focus too much ... but it was a great day in celebration of a GREAT young lady (12!)). However, it was because it was Megan's birthday that Nessa and I were cleaning and then decorating, etc. -- "to get ready for the party." Which really wasn't much of a party except that to a 4-year-old if you have cake and presents, then you have a party. And if you are the mom of a 4-year-old you discover that for a 4-year-old cleaning for a party can be much more appealing than cleaning or doing "chores" at any other time.

So, to set the stage --

Nessa and I worked really well together this morning after I explained how we were getting ready for a party that would happen later in the day after we picked up Megan from her Dad's house at 5 p.m. In fact Nessa was just a total pleasure to work with during most of the day. And it was all that much sweeter because the morning started out a bit rough with Nessa waking us up at 4 a.m., not going back to sleep, and then not being very cooperative through the beginning of the morning ... thankfully when I focused and restarted the day, she seemed to as well.

While getting ready we talked about how it was Megan's birthday and a day to celebrate Megan. Nessa never complained about it not being her own birthday, but did note it briefly. Mostly we were simply very excited about showing Megan how excited we were to celebrate her birthday.

At one point I hugged Nessa and told her what a great helper she was being and how much fun I was having with her as we were getting things ready for Megan to come home. Nessa smiled back and said something I don't even remember, and I hugged her again and went on to tell her how very thankful I am that God blessed me with her.

Nessa rarely misses a beat when I tell her such things. She shows that her mind is always putting things together and processing things we say -- often more than we process them before saying them!

And this time was no different and I could tell those wheels were turning as she started talking, but I was not ready for what she said.

She said, "yeah ... because if you didn't have me, you wouldn't have three girls." [emphasis mine]

I just hugged her and agreed with her, and said that each of my three girls were so special in their own unique ways.

Some of you reading this likely are already crying with me. Others may not understand it at all, so I'll explain just a bit of the whirlwind that goes through my mind when Nessa counts herself among my THREE daughters.

In some ways it is like anyone else remembering that I have 3 girls rather than only the 2 they can see all the time. But then it is so much more than that because Nessa only knows Emily though us. Unlike Megan, Nessa did not go through the experience of Emily's death at all. It is a past that she really does not share. And yet at only 4 years old she has been able to process that she does indeed have another sister.

I guess it was even more profound to me because I have never really heard Nessa mention Emily or refer to her in any way on her own initiative (without us talking about Emily first). So knowing that she does know and remember on her own was really meaningful to me. It was a huge gift on such an important and meaningful day -- the anniversary of the day I became a mother!

At least I'm not the Crazy One! ... So says Nessa (Written by Tami)

Tami Here:

So today Nessa and I decided to get some groceries after her Allergy Associates apt. (all went well there). First I decided to brave the eating out while Gluten Free challenge and took Nessa to Culver's in Onalaska again since she had such a great time last time (it has been literally months and months since we had gone any place close to fast food). So after enjoying our meal there (GREAT customer service once again -- Nessa had a hamburger w/out bun, applessauce and a lemon ice cooler -- so not only GF but also GFCF), I was telling Nessa what stores we were going to go to next.

Nessa was listening carefully and said, "we're going to THREE grocery stores!"

I responded with "yeah, your mom is CRAZY."

(This is how I really felt because going to multiple stores is SO not me. But I wanted specific GF items from Festival Foods, fruit on sale at Aldi's and Woodman's to get some special raw honey that I LOVE...thankfully Festival had that same honey so I lucked out and we only had to go to two stores...still pushing it for me in one day LOL).

Nessa didn't miss a beat in replying though, "Mom, you're NOT Crazy...kinda funny sometimes, but not crazy."

Brief pause.

"Daddy is CRAZY."

Analayze that!

Tami here:

I know I owe you all tons of pics and regular updates but here is a tidbit I didn't want to forget, so I'm blogging it quickly. :-)

Today Nessa was painting, and I have been trying to ask more open-ended questions and also make fewer comments such as "good job", "well done", and so on. Rather I want to hear more about what is going on for her as she creates art. Only sometimes I forget that I'm asking questions to a 4-year-old. and sometimes I'm not specific enough, and sometimes both of these things happen at the same time. This is an example of what happens when I forget this --

Me: "how did you feel while painting it?"

Nessa: After a long pause "Well, when I was painting it, I touched the paint and it was wet, ... and the dry ones felt kind of powdery, and ... (as she touches the nearby painting she did earlier) when they are done but not quite dry they are kind of sticky."

And of course she was dead serious answering my question, and I couldn't help breaking out in laughter. I mean that long pause had me thinking she was actually going to tell me that she felt happy while painting it or something. :-)

The Many Faces of Fred

Shawn here. Fred is a very versatile guy at our house. I’ve been calling Nessa “Fred” at times for a couple of years now, often when I go into her room in the morning:

“Who’s this?”
“It’s your daughter.”
“Oh! Hi Fred!”
“No, your daughter Nessa Rose Brooks!” (usually said with a giggle, unless Daddy has bad timing or pushes it too far)

Nessa started taking allergy drops a year ago, and we need to count after placing a drop in her mouth. I soon changed the numbers to be:

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, Fred, ten”

This can be expanded if you need to count higher:

“… eighteen, nineteen, Fredteen, twenty …”
“… twenty-eight, twenty-nine, twenty-Fred, thirty …”

and so on. For a time I would count and stop at Fred, and Nessa would say “Tehh!” (“ten” without the “n” sound because she isn’t supposed to close her mouth or swallow), but that seems to have gone by the wayside.

This has been around long enough to become a running gag. Tami counts with Fred as well, and when she received her Garmin runner’s watch she named her virtual running partner Fred, because his pace is between nine and ten minutes. :-)

Recently, Nessa decided that Fred belongs between eleven and twelve. So now when I count, the conversation usually goes something like:

“No, Daddy! Fred comes after eleven.”
“Noooh--it comes after nine!”
“It comes after eleven. You can’t just move Fred!”

Notice that I’m the one who’s moving Fred. I guess that’s a measure of my success in introducing Fred as a number. Perhaps I can use Fred to teach Nessa base eleven arithmetic in a few years.

Morning Musings

Shawn here:

I realize that Sesame Street evolves to stay somewhat current, but this morning I heard a Muppet doing a hip-hop song about a letter (I think). That was just a little too surreal for my sleep-deprived state.

Later, I was nodding off a bit while watching Sleeping Beauty with Nessa. When it got to the point where the three fairies put everyone in the castle to sleep, Nessa turned to me and said "You're not supposed to sleep, Daddy."

I could be imagining it, but it seems like Nessa's voice has changed since having her tonsils out. It seems a bit higher pitched, but clearer and more defined. It will be interesting to see if it stays that way.

Nessa has finally started drinking more and eating some today, for which we are grateful. She is also exhibiting some typical Nessa behaviors again. It is obvious that she doesn't have as much energy as usual, which is most evidenced by the fact that she doesn't fight taking naps or going to bed at night. In true Nessa fashion, she hasn't touched any of the popsicles Tami made for her recovery. Maybe tomorrow...

Alarm 4, Tonsils & Adenoids 0

Shawn here:

The day started at 4(:15) AM today. We had to get up early to take Nessa in to have her tonsils and adenoids removed.

Nessa has always been a restless sleeper with light snoring, and some research led Tami to suspect childhood sleep apnea. The only procedure to treat childhood SA is having the tonsils and adenoids removed (with a 95+% success rate), so we made an appointment to have Nessa examined. One quick look and the ENT doctor said "Yup, those are impressive. I can see where they'd cause sleep issues." So we scheduled a tonsillectomy, and today was the day.

Nessa was the first patient of the day, so we had to be there at 5:45. We just left Nessa in her jammies, bundled her in the car, and off we went. When we got there, Nessa got to put on the tiger jammies they showed her during our tour last week, and then she played while everyone talked to Mom and Dad. Nessa was very good and attentive during the pre-op stuff, although she did not like the medicine they gave her to make her drowsy. It also made her loopy, and she was pulling her surgery hat down over her face.

Our associate pastor came in and stayed with us during the pre-op routine, and when we had a moment said a wonderful prayer pitched right at Nessa's level of understanding. I got to accompany Nessa into the OR, just like in Rochester, and stay until she was under. That was not as wrenching this time as a year ago, but I still recommend avoiding seeing your child placed under general anesthesia if possible.

The doctor came out about half an hour later and told us that everything had gone fine. Nessa was in the recovery room for another 30-35 minutes before they paged us, so it was about 8:15 when we got to go back into the private post-op room. That's when the adventure started. Nessa was not happy about how much her throat hurt, and she did not want anything to drink or suck on. She cried her "I'm hurt" cry and pulled in on herself, making it hard to comfort or talk to her. Finally Tami got into the bed and held her, and I sang all of Nessa's old favorites to calm her down as I did when she was little. The combination of the two seemed to work, and Nessa fell asleep. Apparently I was singing a little louder than I realized, because when the nurse came back and saw Nessa asleep she said it must have been the wonderful singing that did it.

Nessa slept fitfully, waking up and crying every so often, refusing all liquids and popsicles, and then falling asleep again. At that point she sounded just like a percolator. (Yes, I'm old.) Every so often the oxygen monitor would go off, so after a time the nurse hooked up a hose and funnel that blew air past Nessa's face (much like my CPAP, but without a mask). That worked when Nessa was asleep, but it kept waking her up and she didn't like it when awake, so it was a bit of a battle for Tami, who was holding Nessa all this time. I was out of the room for part of this, getting some breakfast, making phone calls, and so on. At one point Nessa was awake long enough that we tried putting a movie in, but as soon as it got started she fell asleep again.

The nurse was getting a little worried that Nessa wouldn't drink anything or have a popsicle, and at 10:30 it was time to give Nessa more Tylenol. Nessa wasn't having anything to do with taking Tylenol orally, and after 10 minutes of trying and some increasingly agitated fussing, we gave up and let Nessa go back to sleep. A bit later the nurse came in and gave Nessa a Tylenol suppository, which went fairly easily and did not disturb Nessa. That solved that problem.

I went off again to find something for Tami to munch on and some water. We were both doing periodic Facebook updates, so some folks watched the whole drama as it played out. When I got back, Tami took off to walk around a little. The nurse came in to put a third bag of fluids on the IV. Originally they had planned to give Nessa about 1 1/2 bags, but they were worried that she wasn't getting any liquid and the anesthesiologist ordered the third bag. By this point Nessa sounded more like an electric hair clipper, and the oxygen alarm hadn't gone off in a long time. The nurse talked to the ENT doctor, and they decided that Nessa could go home about 1 PM. Finally, at around 12:30, Nessa woke up and agreed to take sips from her water bottle. That was enough to convince everyone that she could go home, and we got her out the door a little after 1:30.

We got home a little before 2 PM. Nessa seemed a little more alert, and started to watch The Little Mermaid II, but quickly fell asleep again. I went out to get more Tylenol and run a couple of other errands (including getting more movies), but when I got back Tami told me that Nessa was flatly refusing to take any liquid Tylenol. This worried us, so I took the just-purchased liquid Tylenol back and got some melt-away tablets. Nessa didn't want to take those either, but we got one into her mouth. We only wanted it on her tongue, but it went all the way down her throat. We were not her favorite people at that point.

Nessa kept sleeping, Tami kept watch, and I kept busy doing whatever else. Finally, about 6:30 PM, Nessa told us she was hungry, and she ate an ice cream bar. As I type this she has been awake for over an hour and is watching The Little Mermaid II again. We still have to figure out how to get more Tylenol into her before bed, and how to get her to drink more liquid tomorrow (the IV fluids will keep her hydrated until about noon), but she is responding like the Nessa we know and love. She's talking about what's happening in the movie, telling Tami what's going on--that's our Nessa. :-)

All in all it's been a tiring day. Tami was almost wiped out, but has come alive a little after getting something to eat and seeing Nessa revive. I'm going to crash any time now. I think it will be early to bed for everyone. We know that today will have been more than worth it in the long run, but it's scary to see your child in pain and not be able to help or comfort her. That's a pretty good definition of feeling helpless.

I want to thank everyone for the prayers, positive thoughts, and well-wishes on our behalf throughout the day. We truly felt surrounded by love and care, and Tami even said at one point that she was floating on it. It helps so much to know that others are sharing your burdens, even in a small way, and that you are not alone. Thank you.

Tonsilectomy Prep -- Nessa with her mask and her new teddy bear

Tami here:

Nessa had her Pre-op appointment with the ENT at Gundersen who will do her surgery this coming Monday (we really like the doctor and everyone we have dealt with there through ENT), and she also had an apt. with their "Teddy Bear Care Program." We found it really helpful, and of course Nessa appreciated the stuff she got to take home!

Below she is practicing with the mask they gave her. She is to practice blowing out in it. Of course just getting used to it is the main thing I think (I hated putting a mask on when I first had surgery at 16 so I can only imagine a young child.). Then below that is her great teddy bear she also got, but Nessa did not want to actually be in the picture with the bear (this is just Nessa being Nessa). The bear often practices with the mask as well. Nessa also received a certificate with her name on it saying that she completed the program and she has been surprsingly protective of that piece of paper as well ... or at least she was in the hours after she got it.

Poetic Nessa

Shawn here. While Nessa and I were playing this morning, she wanted me to keep my hand flat, so she said "Daddy, open the doors of your hand." I think that's a wonderful phrase--very poetic and beautiful. I'm going to remember it and pull it out in the future when appropriate.

To Nessa On Her 4th Birthday

Four years old! Wow! It seems like just yesterday that you were only three…

It’s been another year full of changes. It might not seem to others like you’ve changed all that much: you’re only a couple of inches taller and a few pounds heavier than last April 2nd. But your mommy and I know how many things are different.

The biggest change has been your diet: with your Celiac Disease diagnosis we all had to change what we eat, but what a difference those changes have made. You don’t get sick nearly so often. You’re a picky eater like I was, so it gets tricky to feed you sometimes, but at least we know everything you eat is helping you to grow and not harming you.

Your attention span is getting longer. You can sit through an entire movie, and if you like it you can sit through the same movie over and over. When you play you can concentrate on one toy or one scenario for a long time before switching to another, especially if you’re playing by yourself. If you have several choices you like, you still want to do everything, but after sampling them all you often settle on one and stick with it for a while. Your play scenarios are getting more elaborate, and you’ve started adding things from movies you’ve seen and stories you’ve heard. I love to listen to you play when you don’t know I’m doing so, and to hear the things that come out of your imagination.

You’re getting better and better with language. Although you often want to play a role and speak like you’re younger than you are, at other times you astound me with sentences you put together and the ideas you express. You have the classic four-year-old hesitation & repetition when your brain gets ahead of your ability to frame the words exactly as you want them to come out. I know I’m not as patient with that as I should be sometimes, and I’m sorry. But it’s so much fun to listen to you incorporate new thoughts and expressions into your speech.

You can do so many more things than you could a year ago: put together puzzles, write your name without help (even if the s’s often turn into z’s), color a picture using different colors in each area. You’re getting good at climbing, and are learning how to use items to help you do things. You recognize more words every month. Your mommy and I wonder when you’ll unlock the reading code and be able to read to us. You’re also starting to make up songs, much to my delight.

You’re still learning how to get a handle on your emotions, but that’s OK. It’s hard to want so much to do something and to not be able to do it. You have an independent streak a mile wide, and someday that could be a wonderful thing. You’re learning that God will listen to you when you are having trouble, and that sometimes that helps.

Your mommy and I love you so much, Nessa Rose…more and more with each passing day. Occasionally we’re wistful about days that are gone forever, but I’m so excited about the girl you’re becoming and everything that’s ahead of you that I don’t think about the past much. You are still my greatest joy and my greatest treasure. Thank you for being my little girl, and for helping your mommy to make my life rich beyond measure.

Happy 4th birthday, Nessa Rose!

Love,
Daddy

What Nessa Eats (Gluten Free menus for a PICKY 3 year old)

OK, I'm going to put this here (and hence FB) for future reference. I'm writing it because I've had more than one friend ask me about this recently, and many more than that request gluten free info. So, there will likely be some additional posts after this as well.

First for your entertainment, I asked Nessa what her favorite foods are:
"Tacos and peach-strawberry smoothies"

She was eating Tacos at the time and I have no idea about the Peach Strawberry smoothies except that I have NEVER made her own ... but I will be Thursday as I told her we could have them when Shawn is gone on Thursday.

So, Shawn said, "what about Pizza and hamburgers?"
Nessa: "OK, I like tacos, pepperoni pizza, peach-strawberry smoothies ... AND THAT IS IT"

Well, we know that she eats other things but she really does LOVE tacos lately -- and that would be the wonderful hard shell corn tortillas like I grew up with (memories!) or soft corn tortilla wraps (recently discovered the sprouted ones by Food for Life and we all LOVE those because they simply taste wonderful, yes even I eat them).

I then asked Nessa about Breakfast, and she said "cereal." Well, that has been her favorite lately. Mostly Enviro Kids ones, but also Erwhon rice krispie like cereal (be careful both companies have both gluten free and non gluten free cereals). There are also a number of other GF cereals available at all of the grocery stores around here, but those are the main kinds we get. And we're kind of happy Nessa is finally eating all the cereal we bought awhile ago as otherwise she was on a GF waffle a day kick (Van's all natural). She also eats her toast w/ peanut butter (or sunflower butter as is the case currently) and/or jelly (usually simple Kinnikinnick bread straight from freezer to toaster). And sometimes I get her to drink a green smoothie (gasp).

Her favorite packaged snacks right now are the following:

• Smoreables from Kinniknnick We only found these recently and boy are we happy to have found a gluten free graham cracker!
• Glutino pretzels
• Jennies Macaroons
• Fruit Leathers (the organic ones at the co-op can't think of the name ... need to make more of these homemade)
• Edy's frozen fruit bars
• Enviro Kids "granola bars" really cereal bars ... and really any GF of these types of bars but the EnviroKids is what we get the most of and she is usually only allowed to have them when we're "on the road."
  

Remember Nessa is also Dairy/Casein free right now too ... so no more yummy cheese crackers (at least not until Enjoy Life food comes out with some like I've heard rumours of), but for those of you that do not have that worry, you may get addicted to the Cheddar Cheese Almond Nut Thins!!

Snack cracker I most like Nessa to have (other than those I make in the dehydrator with flax and other seeds and veggies): Mary's Gone Crackers (and yes she likes them as do most people that try them).

Favorite non-packaged snacks:

• bananas
• smoothies
• ham! (that kid will eat Beeler's ham almost any time we will let her)
• my homemade granola (this is new so we'll see if it lasts)
• grapes
• raisins (could be considered packaged I guess, but naturally GF)
• applesauce

MENU for the WEEK (compliments of daycare)
Monday
Breakfast-- Kinninnick English Muffins, apples, Vanilla Rice Milk
Lunch -- Pizza on GF crust, broccoli, pineapple, Vanilla Rice Milk (I'm not saying she eats all of it)
Snack -- GF crackers, juice

Tuesday
Breakfast -- Toast (Kinninick), pineapple, vanilla milk
Lunch -- Tator Tots and hamburger, green beans, applesauce, vanilla milk
Snack -- GF bread sticks (glutino ?) w/ dipping sauce, juice

Wednesday
Breakfast -- GF waffles, mixed fruit, vanilla milk
Lunch -- Peanut Butter sandwich, french fries (few different GF brands, including specific ore-ida ones such as Ore-Ida Golden (Crinkle, Fries), peas, pears, vanilla milk (note, if PB and fries seems odd it's because most of the other kids were having chicken patties, we told them it was OK to substitute PB sometimes like that ... she likes it better anyway I bet)
Snack -- GF graham crackers (Smoreables by Kinninnick)

Thursday
Breakfast -- GF cereal, bananas, vanilla milk
Lunch -- GF noodles (rice pasta) and sauce, mixed veggies, peaches, vanilla milk
Snack -- rice cakes, juice

Friday
Breakfast -- GF muffins (?? there are a variety of mixes this my have been another kinninnick one as most of the special daycare items are), peaches, and vanilla milk
Lunch -- Tacos, Mexican rice, corn, mixed fruit, vanilla milk
Snack -- jello, bananas, and juice

Favorite Suppers and other
Well, you've already heard she loves tacos and pizza. We do tacos at least once a week now, and pizza not quite that often (she uses the only GFCF cheese we can find here -- Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet). We also do A LOT of "Hamburgers and Fries" (often actually buffalo meat) and we do it with our own potatoes cut in wedges in the oven mostly. Sometimes if I'm cooking I'll do meatloaf (Shawn doesn't like it but Megan requests it) and I love that because then I can hid veggies in it!. We also do chicken in a number of ways but mostly Nessa only wants to eat the PLAIN chicken breast so if there are any "green things" or fancy sauces we cook hers separately or pick them off (I told her that her uncle Scott had to pick his own green things off when he was a kid!). And we do all sorts of potatoes from scratch with the chicken as well as rice or other GF grain dishes like quinoa. Recently I made a dish that Megan and Shawn loved so we'll do it again -- just chop chicken breasts into cubes, potatoes into cubes, (and sweet potatoes into cubes), and put some garlic, rosemary and olive oil to coat them and put in baking dish and bake all together ... I think that will become a standard one). We also do A LOT of spaghetti but most of the time Nessa just wants naked noodles anyway which makes no sense since she loves pizza sauce to dip things in otherwise. She also loves ketchup (Annies' Organics but Heinz is GF if you don't mind High Fructose Corn Syrup). GF pasta is more expensive than regular pasta but we still do it at least once a week. And there is always the Beeler's ham when it's just the two of us and I have a salad (might get her to eat some carrot sticks and applesauce with her ham). :-)

On weekends Nessa eats a lot of eggs and hash browns (homemade). We used to make a lot of Buckwheat pancakes back when I was eating pancakes but I can't remember the last time we made pancakes or waffles homemade since I stopped eating them.

I'm sure I'll think of more later .... I do have a few recipes I need to post in the next few days too ... like the Millet squares that everyone likes so much.

~Tami

P.S. I'm trying to gather a good list of resources to pass on to others so if you're gluten free and reading this, please comment with your favorite one or two resources (sites, blogs, etc.) as well as any of your own favorite foods!

Also, I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since we last posted ... that is what happens when deadlines hit at work! I hope to make up for it this weekend!

Sweet Dreams

Remember how I said that sleeping children are one of God's secret weapons? That weapon has extra powers when the parents have been away for a few hours ...

Saturday night when we came home from the theatre, I went to check on Nessa and found her sleeping so sweetly I had to take pictures ... or at least try (bad camera for taking night pics)

Notice the little "breathe right" strip? I bought them in desperation when she was having a hard time breathing at night last week. Of course in true Nessa fashion she now wants to wear one every night! Of course she only wants the green ones!

Look on the headboard and you'll see the entire lineup of what Nessa is now using most nights out of ritual ... the breath right strips, some rescue remedy, some "mellow" essential oil (lavender and sandlewood I think), and some saline spray. Now if only our sweet girl could be as obsessive about teeth brushing and saying prayers!

Commentary or just a tired girl?

So tonight Shawn is working late and I opted to let Nessa stay up to "watch" the President's Press Conference with me. I hyped it up by saying we could eat some banana ice cream while we watched and we could snuggle up in our jammies ahead of time. Well, Nessa opted not to put her jammies on (well, she had her nightgown on only to her wait over her jeans), but she sure remembered the icecream part...and then we settled in to watch...

... apparently President Obama talking about economics isn't as exciting as hearing him talk while on the campaign trail (oh, wait Megan fell asleep during a debate I let her stay up and watch ... never mind).


The best time to take pictures of Nessa is when she is sleeping though, so of coruse I did! Do you love the headband? I can't even remember where it first came from, but I've had it for years and mainly use it in my stash to keep my hair out of my face while washing my face. Nessa has decided that it is her headband now and wears it as often as possible, and of course she puts it on by herself. It's SO cute!

I had asked her to lay next to me (I was sitting right next to her), and she just looked at me sweetly and explained that she WAS laying next to me. So I had to specifically ask her to lay her head on my shouldar or lap ... she declined, and that is SO Nessa.

By the way I think that the fact that even older children are adorable when sleeping (babies are a given) is God's secret weapon in assuring that the next generation survive. :-)

I just LOVE that sweet little hand!

Creative use for Fruits and Vegetables ... or, Fun in the Snow

This is Nessa's snowman from last weekend! Nessa had help from a certain wonderful Daddy, but I believe that she was the creative force behind the development of this unique little snow person.


Wondering what is making such a cheery smile on the adorable snowman? That would be a slice of red pepper! Two grapes for eyes and a carrot nose complete the look...oh and one of Megan's old hats. :-)





Nessa and Daddy had a great time out in the snow last weekend. Due to the extreme cold this winter it was actually the first time Nessa was able to just go play in the snow in our yard. It seems to be a winter of extremes in some ways as we'll be outside again this weekend as the snow melts -- either it has been too cold to be outside or it's warm enough to start melting things into a sloppy mess. Well, hopefully we'll get at least a little sledding time in yet this winter.

~Tami

Future Diva?

Honestly, I'm not sure what to think of Nessa's way of dressing up with all of the dress up clothes at ONE time. Well, OK we actually have more dress up clothes than these, but that was my first thought when I saw Nessa -- "she put them ALL on" LOL.

You can see more of Nessa's dress up photo session as well as many more photos now on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooksgroth/ But as of tonight I have not edited or made comments on of the pics I uploaded (all from my phone in Dec/Jan) because something is making doing such things on flickr right now REALLY slow. I hope to add photos from the other camera as well as add notes, etc. sometime this week. Oh, and I didn't delete anything, but just uploaded it all so you'll see the good, the bad, the ugly ... and ... food that I took pics of for one of my food blogs. :-)






We enjoyed a warm weekend here in La Crosse and are hoping for another one next weekend. We only managed a small snowman though because the snow didn't cooperate much with making snowmen. It sure felt good to get outside though - I even went running outside AND I liked it LOL ... it's amazing and wonderful.

Until later -- xoxo
~Tami

I Thought They Were Tough

Shawn here with another episode of "Overheard."

Nessa, watching a football player place a mouthguard hanging from his face mask into his mouth: "Why is that player using a pacie? Pacies are for babies!"