To The One That Challenges Me

Oh my baby girl. You get bigger everyday. You are still very much a baby - although, you probably do not think so. You seem to think you are all grown up. But I can see the baby in you. I can see that baby when you snuggle into my arms and rest your head on my shoulder as you try to sleep. I can hear that baby when you call for Daddy to come get you in the middle of the night. I can feel that baby when your tiny little hands reach over and grab a hold of my shirt as you snuggle into bed with Daddy and me. I hear that baby when you get hurt or when you are sad (not mind you when you do not get your way - then I hear the toddler in you). Yes, you are still very much a baby.

But you are also clearly a toddler. You are so much fun. Truth be told, you are at one of my favorite stages of life. Other people fear your age and all the things that go along with it but I love it. I love watching you learn to do new things. I love hearing you speak words for the first time. Hearing you tell your stories (even if I only understand half of them). I love watching you play with new things and figure out what those things are supposed to be. I love seeing your little eyes light up because you have figured it out. Or seeing you smile and hearing you laugh because you have done something that is funny.

You challenge me. You are a handful. Someone pointed out to me that my three kids were more of a handful than her five (meaning that she has older ones who can help) but really I think it is you that is the handful. Only you. You are messy. You throw temper tantrums. You are LOUD. And half the time I have no idea what to do for you. And even when I do it is a constantly struggle to be sure that your brother and sister are not losing out just because you are the loudest. So, yes you challenge me. I hope that I meeting that challenge. I hope I am being the best mom I can be to you. You seem to like me so I assume that means you are content with what I do. :)

You are an amazing sister. You truly love your brother and sister more than anything in the world. You surprised me from day one with the way you were able to love Little Sister. Now, I just love the way you go running to her and pat her belly or her back when she cries. It is so sweet. Oh and bed time kisses. It is so awesome to see you kiss Little Sister goodnight. And I know that you want nothing more out of life than to be just like Big Brother. And really you probably could not have picked a better role model.

You are a truly wonderful child who I feel very lucky to get to parent. You, just like your brother and your sister will forever and always be my baby. I wonder if you will always surprise me as much as you do now. I wonder if you will grow up and be just like me. I sort of hope you don't. I hope that you only take away the good things. But no matter what you say or do I will always love you more than you can possibly imagine right now.

To My Favorite Little Man

I watched you sleeping the other morning. I came into your room to wake you up for your hockey game. You looked so sweet and so calm. My heart melted and I thought to myself. I thought can this be my baby. The baby that I held my arms not that long ago. The baby that I thought would never have the guts to do anything if I was not in the room. The timy little baby that I loved so much it almost hurt. How did you get so big? When did you turn from a baby to a little boy? When was the day? The hour? The exact moment? I do not remember it. I do not remember waking up one day to find you being a big kid. I mean I know you have been a big kid for a really long time now but I do not remember when it happened.

And you are such an amazing little kid. Such an amazing person. I am so proud of who you are and what you have accomplished. You have worked so hard to overcome obstacles. Reading was a battle between us just a few weeks ago and then yesterday you were reading all the magnets on the fridge and the headlines out of the newspaper. I was so impressed and proud. I did not dare point it out to you or tell you you were reading. You are not ready for that. You need your space and I understand that. But now you BEG me to sit and listen to you read and I am just so proud that you have accomplished this. I am so thrilled that you are beginning to see the wonder of being able to read to yourself. It is an exciting thing to watch your little mind expand.

Your sister's love you more than anything. They literally light up when they see you. Little Sister thinks EVERYTHING you do is funny. You look at her and she just laughs and laughs. It is so nice to see her smile at you. Big Sister on the other hand may not find you completely hysterical, but she wants to be just like you. She wants to do anything and everything that you do just because you do it. She is so happy when you are around (well, except when you annoy her but even then she wants to be with you). And she learns so much from you. Soon Little Sister will learn from you as well. It is fun and exciting to see them love you. And the fact that you love them as much as you do just warms my heart. The fact that you regularly beg me to have ten babies makes me happy. Do not get me wrong - you are not getting those ten babies - but it make me so happy to know that your love for your sister's runs so deep that you want more. Lots more.

You are truly amazing and I am so grateful that I get to be your mommy. I feel so lucky to have you for a son. You make me so happy. Sure you frustrate me sometimes. Sure there are times when I get annoyed or angry with you.I just do not know what to do with you but I love you so much I cannot stand it. My life would be so incomplete without you. I cannot imagine my life today without you. I love you with all my heart and you will forever and ever be my baby. No matter how big you get.

Kik Pea Alecha (Chick Peas Stew)

So, you want to make a traditional Ethiopian meal? Well, you've come to the right place. It doesn't get more traditional than the crepe/pancake-like sour bread, Injera, topped with Doro (Chicken) Wat and Gomen Wat (Ethiopian Greens). The only thing missing would be Kik Pea Alecha, which is what we will tackle right now. Enjoy!

Kik Pea Alecha (Chick Peas/Garbanzo Beans Stew)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Onion, minced
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
2 cups cooked Chick Peas (garbanzo beans)
1/2 tsp. Tumeric
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp. Ginger
1 1/2 - 2 cups Water

Steps:
1) Cook Onions in Oil until clear.
2) Add Chick Peas, Tumeric, and 1 1/2 - 2 cups Water
3) Cook for 20 minutes
4) Add Garlic and Ginger
5) Cook until soft
6) Mash (or use blender or food processor to process until smooth)

Thanks so much to betumi.com for providing lots of parts of this recipe!

written by Hubby (@mrmikesings)

For other recipes and things check out these Homemaker Monday's, Mouthwatering Monday's, Just Something I Whipped Up and Make Your Monday.

How Much Money Does A Kid Need?

Allowances have always seemed like a good idea to me. They have always seemed like an excellent way to teach kids about money. About responsibility. About spending and saving and all of those kinds of things. I have always known that I plan to give my kids an allowance. And that was pretty much all I ever thought about it. I knew I would do it one day. Decision made. End of thought.

Except that now Big Brother is getting older and I am left to wonder when and how much. Hubby and I have started to discuss this. I am arguing for $5 per week. Hubby is feeling like it should be $2 per week. I think that is not enough. That it is so small it will take him an impossible amount of time to save for anything he might want. Hubby thinks that if Big Brother gets $5 per week he will have so much money (for a little kid) that he will miss the whole point. So, we are at an impasse. Maybe he is too young. Maybe that is the problem. Maybe he is too young. Maybe in a year or two the number will be clear.

But since I am always interested in your advice my Aloha Friday question for this week is at what age do you think a child should start getting an allowance and how much do you think they should get?

Peeeee!

Big Sister stares out into the room. Her eyes full of concentration. "Peeeeeee!" she says. And then I hear the tinkle of pee hitting the water in the toilet bowl. She claps her hands and has the biggest smile on her face. She is so proud of this accomplishment. I put my hand up and she gives me five. I, too, am very proud of her for this accomplishment. Not only has she managed to pee in the potty but SHE told ME she had to go.

That is a huge step. That means we are moving into a new stage. Now she not only knows how to control her bladder but she also knows how to listen to it. This is awesome. And it has only been three weeks. I am so impressed. This is the thing that generally takes kids the longest. And it is the thing that I am always so anxious to move on to. See, I hate listen to people bombard a kid with, "Do you need to go potty?" "Don't you think you should go to the bathroom?" "When was the last time you went to the bathroom?" etc, etc, etc. I mean really how would you feel if someone asked you questions like that all the time? It would make me crazy. So, it is always my favorite thing when a kid I am potty training starts to ask to use the bathroom. That is when I know we are moving in the right direction.

The down side to this stage is it also means that she will not necessarily go when I want her to. If we are heading out the door and I know we are going to be in the car for 30 minutes I want her to go potty before we leave. She does not think she has to and she refuses to sit on the toilet. She does not understand my logic. She is also experimenting with how long she can hold it. And sometimes, she thinks she can hold it longer than she can. But, truthfully, accidents do not bother me. Not at this stage anyway.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that a child is not considered fully potty trained until they go six months without accidents. With that in mind we have a long way to go before she is completely potty trained. But to my mind a child is fully potty trained when they make it through most days without having any accidents. And that is about where we are and certainly where we are headed. I am happy and content with this. I think she has a lot to be proud of herself for, I think she has accomplished a lot and I think she is doing really, really well.

America's Next Top Model

I mean, seriously, have you ever seen a prettier baby?

For more Wordless Wednesday see 5minutesformom, and for more Wordful Wednesday see Seven Clown Circus. I was not originally planning on adding this to the You Capture meme but when I saw that it was faces I figured I better add it because these are some awesome pictures of Little Sister's face.

Does Ellen Do Diapers? She Should!

Kim, over at Dirty Diaper Laundry, has launched a campaign to get cloth diapers on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. You would think this would not be such a huge undertaking really. I mean Ellen does five shows per week, she's gotta be running out topics, right? Well, let's see what is she talking about this week? Ellen's Grammy Show and Rhiana on Monday, Tuesday is LL Cool J, Jessica Capshaw and Serena Williams, Wednesday Ellen Pompeo (as in Meredith from Grey's Anatomy) will be talking to Ellen, Thursday will bring Keidi Klum, Shaun White and Anthony Gatto and Friday will, of course, be a Super Bowl Show with The Osbournes and Train. Whew!!! That is a full week. Maybe she is not running out of things to talk about or people to talk too.

Well, I guess we should give up, huh? I mean cloth diapers are nowhere near as exciting to stay at home moms as say Mrs. McDreamy or the Super Bowl right? But, oh wait!!! They ARE!!! Because stay at home moms (the largest demographic for the show) are the ones who would be the most interested in learning about new and cool baby products. They are also the ones looking to trim the family budget. So, really I think it would make for just as interesting of a show as the ones she had this past week. No problem.

Personally, I want to see cloth diapers featured on Ellen's show for a bunch of reasons. First, I think all moms should know how easy they are. Because really everyone thinks they are going to be so difficult and they truly are not difficult at all. They require a tad bit of planning - remember to pack the wet bag! - but aside from that they are just as easy as disposables. And I mean really if the orphanage where Little Sister lived for five months can cloth diaper 15 babies withOUT a washing machine then anyone can do it! Second, they are SOOOO much better for the environment and really we all have an obligation to do our part. And while I realize that even with the information some moms will feel like they cannot do it I think that cloth diapers being featured on a major show like Ellen would really give them credibility. Third, they are healthy for baby's bottom. I would LOVE to see Ellen discuss the chemicals that are in disposables and bring that info to light. I think most people do not think about that. Fourth, normal people, who do normal things use them. I think people tend to think of cloth diapering moms as those crazy hippie types and it would be good for people to see hat regular people use cloth diapers too. And fifth, let's be honest - they are CUTE!!!