Molars

Lydia is getting new molars. The first molar broke through her gums with no tears and I did not even notice until one day when she was giggling and there was a brand new sparkling tooth hanging out in the back of her mouth. Surprise. I thought to myself "these molars are not as bad as everybody says".

THEN a week later the second molar decided to start pushing it's way through. I can tell you exactly - down to the hour when this little painful tooth decided to interrupt our household.

But I have learned that Tylenol 30 minutes before meal time = Lydia being able to inhale her dinner.

Lydia doesn't really hate her dad. When she has new teeth coming in apparently it is mom's fault and therefore we must keep her within whining distance.

When she can't sleep at night, the ultimate punishment is ten minutes laying in mom and dad's bed and then she has a new love and appreciation for her own bed and will go back to sleep.

The good news we have 5.5 teeth already broke though the gums and only 10.5 left to go in her second year of life. Since we seem to be doing one new tooth every week I have high hopes that by Christmas she will have her first 16 teeth and we can have a little break (don't be the bearer of bad news to me, ok?). By the way I see it, Lydia is giving us the gift of a sweet, giggly, and sleeping baby for Christmas. (Seriously, let me live in my dream world - no night time dreams have been happening and this is the greatest day dream I can dream up right now!).

Peanut Lesson #3

Lemon Bars

The hardest thing about the peanut free life has been dessert! Really, who doesn't like a chocolate chip cookie after lunch? A little treat from Goodberry's after dinner? At the Stojan household one of us has a BIG sweet tooth. So enters Lemon Bars. A tasty sweet treat that is peanut free.

Still looking for a Goodberry's alternative that doesn't involve putting the child to bed and one parent sneaking out the door to make a late night run to the icecream store! But one thing is sure - we are going to be healthier people since our after dinner treat now is a walk EVERY night (we don't miss a single night!).

Size Four Diapers!

"Ok, ok, ok. I am smiling. Can we move to something else now?"

"Really mom, no privacy at all???"

These will probably be great blackmail pictures one day BUT Lydia is now in SIZE FOUR diapers!

Pasta Art for Little Hands

We are always looking for new and different art projects to try out. Lydia loves coloring and "artsy" things but there are not that many things that an independent one year old can do solo. Last week we tried pasta art and it was a huge success. Minimal chewing. Worked on our fine motor skills. And had fun!

We also tried the same project with rice but as I thought the rice was just too small for little fingers. The pasta though was perfect!

Pasta Art: 
Step 1: Mix pasta with a couple colors of your favorite food coloring. 
Step 2: Let dry (we let our pasta sit overnight!)
Step 3: Put glue dots all over paper. 
Step 4: Let child have fun gluing pasta all over paper. And removing pasta. And repeating! A solid 30 minutes of fun at our house!  

Pays to Have a "Handy" Husband

Recently we have had some trouble with our air conditioner. We called a repairman who really could not find anything wrong. And then the problem was intermittent (ever feel like you are losing your mind!). After several days of the fan running constantly, the house getting hot, and then the compressor freezing we got persistent in finding the problem.

The problem: the thermostat kept coming loose off the wall.

James Solution:

Notice the HUGE screws. This thing is not coming off the wall anytime soon!

Problem Solved!

Look, I Can Use A Spoon!

Life is easier when you put the bowl up to your mouth for this lesson though. 

Using a spoon takes allot of concentration. 

BUT the end result makes one feel so special! 

Lesson #2 on the Peanut Free Journey

For those who are wondering, apparently there is peanut oil in Worcestershire sauce. Who knew! I didn't - but Lydia soon taught us this. Guess I need to find a new brand of Worcestershire sauce OR a different recipe for sloppy joes!

Oh, and Graham crackers. A harmless snack, right? Not really, sadly the cheap graham crackers have peanut "product" (still trying to figure out what peanut product is???). For inquiring minds, Target brand of graham crackers do not contain peanuts.

So I think after this week I need to find time to go to the grocery without my helper (it is rather hard to read ALL the ingredients with a one year old "helping").