Attack of the Chompers

It is all very exciting when those first new teeth appear.  My daughter's first teeth appeared at 10 month in early December. I remember talking to a woman in the queue at Tesco about teeth sometime before then. She told me in her culture they believe that the late arrival of teeth signals that the child will have good strong teeth. I thought to myself, cool this might be a good sign! Well this was tested recently. As I peered into my little one's mouth while she was sleeping I nearly had a heart attack. The front right tooth was chipped. Now I have a thing about teeth. As a kid I had a pretty serious overbite - we're not talking Freddy Mercury - but I wore braces for 6 years plus head gear and neck gear (no never to school) and then I had several retainers etc. Well it turns out there was an 'accident' when my husband was minding her but he didn't think anything had happened. It took nearly a month for me to get the hang of nursing with teeth. Now I have a very sharp tooth digging into me. Also she has started to bite a little bit and it seems to be happening more when we are nursing in the mornings. ow! Peering into her mouth yesterday I realized that 5 and 6 are on their way. I really hope this doesn't mean mommy will be experiencing a shark attack anytime soon.

Little Miss Independent

So Little Miss Independent wants to do absolutely everything herself. Mommy is no longer allowed to feed her, she won't lay down when I change her diaper, poopy or not, and she will barely sit down in the bath. She thinks no is a fun game and loves to sit on my head when I am doing yoga. Somehow I get the impression that might not be good for my back? 

Right now she is currently drinking an organic apple and blackcurrant fruit cup out of a bowl. Seriously what is it with the Irish and blackcurrants. It must be a cultural thing like grape juice and jelly (jam) are for us Americans. She had a fit because I wouldn't give her MY slice of toast, even though she had a perfectly good one in front of her (without the jam of course). To distract her I held up a fruit cup thinking "oh she LOVES these" but then I wasn't allowed to hold the fruit cup or the spoon. I know that they won't learn unless you let them do it for themselves but does the whole process have to be so messy? Last night I gave her steamed broccoli mixed with a little cheese sauce. I have never seen her eat anything so fast. Of course she managed to cover nearly every inch of her body with the cheese. She really gets into her food, must be her Italian heritage. I suppose if someone put cheese sauce on my food I might wolf it down too. 

Update on my rant...

Seems I posted the WRONG link...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0225/1224241774267_pf.html

by the way... I get that this is supposed to be tongue in cheek - I just don't think it is funny because women are still fighting for equality. Who knows maybe I have just come across too many stupid people would would actually believe this stuff...

What a Jerk

So someone sent me on this link to an opinion article by some bozo named  Newton Emerson in yesterday's Irish Times. At first I thought it was a joke, but then I realised that this guy is just an a$$hole. Not only does he blame the recession on women - in such a cavalier fashion that I thought it was a joke but I think he wants to send Ireland back to the 1970s when the marriage bar was in place! He certainly appears to support the Irish Constitution (1937) in which Article 42.1 states that for the greater good of the country, women's place is in the home. So he basically says women should leave their jobs so men can gain employment. What he doesn't take into account is a) women generally have higher levels of education and b) what types of jobs are these ones he is proposing to take away? How many women are job sharing ? work part time? and what are the inequalities between men and women in terms of pay? Historically women have had lower paying jobs... this is still the norm.

here is the link... you need to check this out and tell me what you think.

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0226/1224241828468.html

Muffins for all occasions

I have a confession to make, I am a woman of double standards. I love sugar but I don't want my daughter to have any. I have seen some crazy stuff in my time but nothing strikes fear into my heart as quickly as a child running around high off a sugar buzz. I shudder imagining myself clasping my hands to my ears trying to block out the horrible shrieking that fills the air as a child is sent over the edge of the rational existence deep into caverns of 'Candyland'. I have made a commitment to my daughter, myself and my sanity that I will 1. try to cut down on my intake of sugar and 2. not provide her with the opportunities to consume any more than is absolutely necessary. 

Well you would be surprised at how difficult a task I have set myself. You see sugar is IN EVERYTHING. Rice Krispies? Yep. Canned Pasta Sauce? You Betcha! Teething Biscuits? Hell Yeah. So I have found myself spending a lot of time reading labels, putting items back on the shelves in the grocery store in total and utter frustration. When it came to the opportunity to bake her a homemade goodie for her first birthday I was up for the challenge. I had decided on mini banana muffins - mini because they are perfect for small hands - banana because the girl eats more bananas than a monkey - and muffins because they sound less sugary than cupcakes right? 

What I didn't plan on what that I would have time to road test muffin recipes before the big date. It turns out that I had a lecture to give and when I finally got home from brainwashing malleable student minds I had 30 minutes before company was to arrive. I caved and went for the recipe with the least amount of sugar - brown sugar to be exact - so not refined white sugar but yes, still sugar. The result? She LOVED them. 

They went over so well that I decided maybe savoury muffins would be a hit. I set about concocting a muffin made of steamed broccoli, shredded apple and grated cheddar cheese. Sounds delicious right? I thought so but the little dote gave it the big thumbs down. In fact they went straight onto the floor for the dogs. Ah the waiting dogs, so hungry and my daughter is compassionate. At least they eat veggie muffins.

After an extremely long hiatus

Well let's face it, this thing never really took off did it? Or maybe I just wasn't committed to it. There I said it, I know this blog once had a readership of two. But I am going to relaunch this baby and we will see where it goes from there.