Mom, Mama, Mommy MOMMY!

June 28, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

. I always have great expectations at bedtime, probably too great, I’m mostly disappointed. I think it’s been five times now, in and out of their bedroom, spewing threats and wishing they weren’t room sharing. They feed off each other, obviously, but the younger one is the culprit! How do I work that one out? They wake each other up and keep each other up, it’s 8:00 p.m and the two year old who woke up at 6:00 a.m. because of big sister is in their room laughing and yelling “Mama! Mama!”I’ve been called lots of things but only “mom” 763 times in one hour.

Of course no one is forcing us to make them room share, it’s my choice right? Yes, and it will be good, it will be great, it will be hard and it will suck. But I believe the benefit of them being together will outweigh the negative. So every night I chug along, thinking of something new I can try or do or say. I mostly talk to myself but my husband gets lucky on the weekends.

Lately, Averi’s favorite words are “no, mine!” Side eye….

Her language is coming along but most of it is still foreign gibberish.

She is a picky eater but if Im eating something chances are she wants it. She is very smart, too smart and she is persistent and head strong. If she is upset, life as you know if is dedicated to her, she will not let you live until we solve her drama. Problem is, nobody knows what she needs, also known as the terrible twos.

We attempted to hit up the San Diego night market last weekend.

Averi had been a mess all day but I was so sure she would liven up once we headed out, she always does.

But she didn’t!

Looking forwarded to something relating the Asian night markets we had all once experienced….in China….we arrived disappointed. It was much more like an Asian Fusion food truck festival. No buns, no dumplings, no insects…so sad.

There was some good food and some not good food, I got the lobster noodles and it was good but not good enough for the price.

We ate, spent money on keeping the kids busy and then headed home with less cash and pretty disappointed. I guess now we know.

Tomorrow we are going swimming with friends, Kaili whispered to me that she wants me to cancel. I asked her “how come?” “She say’s, there might be a bumble bee there!”

Keeping Busy

June 20, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Kaili has two more weeks at her school and then she is out for summer. I finished her Kinder paperwork which I have been procrastinating on. She is up to date with her school vaccinations but she still needs to have a doctor fill out a medical record and apparently they want the same done with her dentist.Two things that are easy to want to push aside, but I finally made appointments to get it done.

We have been watching a lot of soccer with the Copa America going on. Kaili picked out a new shirt to wear for our viewing pleasure.

How do you like that garden back there? We have been eating a lot of sweet tomatoes, plenty of zucchini and we have six baby artichokes on the way.

FullSizeRender

I have been taking Averi to the park in the mornings without K so I can focus on playing one on one with her. She is not as adventurous as her sister was but slowly she is starting to test her fear.

Can you believe she is going to be two in less than a month? Ya, me either. She looks up to her sister, has to do whatever it is Kaili is doing, eating, watching you name it. It’s what I always wanted with siblings but it’s also very draining.

The girls were invited to a birthday party out in Ramona last weekend. The land you can have out there is attractive to me but then again you are out in Ramona which isn’t attractive at all, to me.

We try to stop at a winery or two when we are out there. This time we tried one that had recently opened. It had a great outside area, live music and luckily some decent wine. The girls spent most of their time chasing the dog around. The little winery Chihuahua was the hit until she stole Averi’s chocolate chip cookie and booked it across the lot. Averi was more stunned than upset and I was more worried about the tiny dog eating a whole cookie, but the owners weren’t phased. Must happen often.

See Food

May 23, 2016December 30, 2025 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Catalina offshore is a local seafood market. We were told about it by a neighbor and watched it make its debut on a travel channel show. I don’t know why it took us so long to make our appearance.

We strolled in early on a Saturday morning side swiping the local chefs and fishermen. A cook behind an enormous stock pot was handing out bowls of piping hot bouillabaisse while we waited for our order. We came for mussels but left with a side of snapper. I love a whole roasted fish, if it’s one the specials at a good restaurant, chances are that will be my choice. But scaling and cleaning a whole fish and then worrying about cooking it has intimated me. But standing in front of this array of fish, I decided this was my time to tackle the snapper.

First up, mussels. We had an amazing dish at a local seafood restaurant a few weeks back.The Mr and I love our shellfish and after 10 years I think we agreed that those mussels were indeed some of the best. I needed to replicate this dish! After intense recipe research I chose a favorite blogger of mine and used this recipe. They turned out better than I imagined, the mussels were the plumpest and juiciest I have ever had and the coconut curry broth was drinkable, like pour in a glass and cheers!

Then there was the Snapper. Since I hooked it on a whim, I really had no idea what I was going to do. I chose to keep it simple and let the fish shine. I grabbed some lemon, herbs and salt. I wrapped it in foil and roasted it, at the end I let it sunbathe under the broiler for a minute.

We delightfully dug in.

Along side we enjoyed caprese and grilled artichokes with an aioli, never forgetting the crusty bread.

It was some good eating!

Changing with the Time

March 14, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

My sweet little Aves is turning into a grumpy toddler. She has a cold, that might count for some of it but she uses the word “no” quite frequently. She is also having some sleep regression. She went from going down with a wave goodnight and then not a peep til morning, to crying as soon as I close the door. Nothing makes me want to throw myself in front of a bus more than hearing her cry for hours. She knows what she is doing, and it’s been working. Mom needs to toughen up.

We went ahead and changed all our clocks on Saturday and just went with it. Besides Averi’s hours of fighting bed time, it went decently. Kaili’s daily routine involves a lot of clocks and timers. She gets a fair warning before every transition from getting dressed for school to brushing her teeth at night. It helps avoid power struggles and gives her time to process what comes next without the meltdowns. I can’t wait to start with Averi, it might make bedtime a bit easier. The other night when I was reading to K she said, “mommy, I hear my clock ticking!” She meant her heart beating, how cute is that? It made me smile, the pureness of childhood.

We are starting to get some goodies from the garden. Kaili gets to water and pick the red ripe strawberries. She usually gets too eat them too, but from what I have tasted they are perfect!

Food and Stuff

March 8, 2016March 8, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

I was lucky enough to have a post birthday lunch…delivered while the Avers was napping and K was at school… and it was so good.

Kung Pao Tofu, lamb with onions, pork and bean curd and of course dumplings ( not shown) because we did order from The Dumpling Inn. Don’t forget the sparkling cremant, the most important part.

The Trader Joes in Pacific Beach is the one I have been hitting up lately and that is because a few streets over is a park on the bay. Now every time I mention TJ’s Kaili brings up that park and so it’s a thing, a pretty good thing.

Averi is such a little ham and she loves her sister. What sissy has, sissy wants. If Kaili wants water, so does Aves, although Averi is more polite. She loves to say “thank you” and when she asks for “more” in sign language it’s so cute, it’s really hard not to hand her anything she wants.

unnamed I am seriously running out of food ideas for these kids. Kaili likes and dislikes food within minutes, it changes daily…I may go crazy. All that literature about having your kid cook with you and “they will eat it” is shit, not happening. Kaili will happily be my soux chef but when it comes to eating, she refuses food faster than a vegan at a buffet.

unnamed

Kaili loves art, coloring, chalk, painting and she is getting really good at her letters. She can spell words with letter dictation. I have no doubt she is beyond ready for Kindergarten. Can you believe it? I can’t.

Birth Day!

March 1, 2016December 30, 2025 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

The past four years we have been pretty good about going out, making time for lunches and winery days. Dragging Kaili around was like second nature. She just went with the flow, tucked into her back pack of goodies and for the most part kept herself entertained. Averi, on the other hand hasn’t been as complaisant to sit in a highchair or spend time twiddling with play-doh. She would rather manage the back of the kitchen or throw toys on the ground. Who the hells kid is this? I have found myself bowing out of a lot more things these days… just knowing how much of my time and patience will be spent managing Averi instead of actually enjoying myself, so we stay home. But for my birthday, I wanted to go out. Out, out…without kids. To the places that shun kids, the places I haven’t been to in years or ever. So we got a sitter and planned the afternoon checking into places that were just that, adults only.

It was a whopping good time. I even got the courage, ahem, thanks to my nudging husband, to introduce myself to one of my favorite chefs. If you watch Top Chef than he needs no introduction.

Richard Blais in a nutshell < Top chef runner up, Top Chef All-stars Winner. Guest judge on Top Chef, learned from some of the Master chefs aka Thomas Keller and now has two San Diego restaurants which is why I was able to capture this photo.> Happy birthday to me.

We also squeezed in a quick stop at the Waterfront Bar and Grill. The oldest tavern in San Diego and I am embarrassed to admit neither of us had ever been there..hangs head in shame.

I will leave it at this. I had a great time and I crossed a lot of places off of my to-do list but I did not feel hot the next day. Next year I want to go kayaking and eat at Nobu in Malibu. Shane says we should wait until 2017 to decide…whatever, that just gives me time to plan a roaring 40’s birthday eating seaside in Hawaii!

Another Year Older

February 23, 2016 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

It’s here guys, the last year of my 30’s is in affect and it’s gonna be a great one. My birthday week started with lunch on Saturday. Shane took us to Coasterra, Mexican cuisine with ocean front dining. I ordered the tacos and they were really good, I think they gave Puesto’s tacos a run for their money.

Blackened fish, Michoacan pulled pork and crispy shrimp

Averi wasn’t too much of a terror and I was actually able to eat and enjoy myself, the key was taking her there hungry and slowly giving her food to keep her busy.

She is a chips and salsa fan like her sister. It’s amazing that they devour salsa but won’t touch tomato sauce.

It’s a tad overpriced, okay a lot over priced but you are paying for the view and the Chef’s name.

On Monday, I took the girls to Sprinkles to pick out cupcakes after school. They are my all time favorite cupcakes, especially the coconut one, it’s SO delicious.

Kaili chose chocolate and only ate about four bites but managed to totally destroy the entire thing in the process, making sure no one else could eat it.

Kaili had her friend from down the street over for dinner and the girls played while the moms talked and enjoyed some wine. Then bedtime came and things went downhill. I don’t know if it was because Averi was wound up but she cried in her room for two hours, I am not exaggerating. She always goes down without any problems and if she fusses it’s short lived. But last night was something else. So Kaili stayed up with me and ate a second dinner until Averi finally wore herself out. By then, I was ready to eat a cupcake and crawl into bed. The kids were up before 6:30 and just like that, I was another year older.

Meal Times

February 6, 2016December 30, 2025 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

I don’t know how I, one of the least pickiest eaters, has a child who doesn’t like anything. I might say that this is the most frustrating part of parenting to date. Each meal is a struggle, one week she likes something, the next she doesn’t. I know this is probably pretty normal but my gawd it’s driving me mad. I am about to let her eat dry cereal and taquitos three meals a day.

Meanwhile, Aves is still a pretty good eater and I hope it lasts.

The girls just love music. Averi gets into a semi trance while watching any sort of singing and Kaili likes all the hip songs on the radio. I hate to admit this but I just downloaded a Justin Bieber song because Kaili loves it..

Kaili’s class had a field trip to the new Children’s Museum downtown. I was worried about having to bring Averi along but it worked out pretty well. A lot of the museum was great for both kids but there were some parts that weren’t Averi accessible, I would have had a hard time rounding them up all by myself.

Days are starting to get easier. Averi is sleeping through the night, Kaili has been pretty good about staying quiet until 6:30. Aves will play by herself and watch some cartoons while I need to get whatever done, and then she naps from about 10 until noonish. That time I spend working out and reading in the sun or the bath. I am trying to take more of her nap time to zen out. I don’t know if it helps with my patience or not, I like to think it does.

18 Months Again

January 28, 2016December 30, 2025 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Averi’s 18 month Dr. appointment happened a few weeks back. I was surprised to find out that she is really low in the percentages, barely in the one percentile for weight. I mean, the girl eats…a lot. I have been trying to be conscious about swapping out the “easy” empty calorie snacks for the more caloric ones but other than that, I am not going to worry about it. She looks good to me.

Shane took Kaili to see Frozen on Ice. I think she liked it, or maybe it was more she was mesmerized by the whole production.

Apparently the girl wanted to get some cotton candy because she said she liked it, although she never had it before. Turns out, she doesn’t like cotton candy. Strange child that one.

I was lucky enough to get away to see the Women’s US national team play that day. I’m not sure I have seen the women play before. Fun to be there but we whooped Ireland so the game was kind of a bore.

That night we had our babysitter come so we could get away with some friends. Our local winery had live comedy, headlining was a finalist on Last Comic Standing. We had a good time but we didn’t plan well. Everyone had gotten there pretty early, bringing food to graze on leading up to the show. When we showed up the place was pretty packed. The comedians were entertaining, the wine decent but pricey.

Room Sharing

January 13, 2016December 30, 2025 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Room sharing, you want to guess how that has been going? The past 14 days have actually been pretty amazing. Aside from this morning, they have been sleeping through the night and quiet until the green light comes on at 6:30. The only downside is when Aves wakes up screaming I have to go get her up so she doesn’t wake up K but since it was early in the morning, Kaili popped up and the house was alive at five.

The girls got a trampoline for Christmas and Kaili gets some good energy out on it. Averi just likes to climb in and out, in and out and then cry when Kaili won’t let her in.

We took the trolley downtown to the SD auto show.

Kaili got to test drive a car and holy smokes she is a terrible driver. She crashed into everything and almost broke through the barricade, but she enjoyed herself.

Kaili is in school 5 days a week now and starting up soccer practice at the YMCA. I have my fingers crossed that she really likes it. Averi just likes to get into mischief and then whine about it. She is starting to show more interest in books, instead of turning the pages and then throwing the book on the ground, she will listen to the words and point to the pictures.

She is also not as terrified of sand anymore. I took the girls to the park on the bay and she spent a lot of time drawing in the sand with a stick. In the past she would freeze in place and cry if any sand got on her hands, we might actually be able to go to the beach this summer.