SuGaR aNd SpIcE...aNd EvErYtHiNg NiCe

My last post about Koko Bean was anything but roses and butterflies. Life with a toddler sure has its challenges, but once we've conquered the challenges, the reward in the end is a sweet, well-mannered, caring little girl.

Koko Bean has a heart of gold. She is always concerned about us, and is extremely honest. The other day, Mommy said Daddy was being a big baby, so she went and asked him, "You a big baby Daddy? Huh? You a big baby?" That litte voice, and that silly question had us both in tears laughing as she came back into the living room and said, "Mommy, he crazy."

Among all the hustle and bustle of our busy days, Daddy and Mommy look forward to each evening and each Thursday and Friday to see what Koko Bean will do next. This week, we took her to Legends Shopping Center and to Dave and Busters to eat. She enjoyed playing games with Daddy and loved checking out what this city is known for- FOUNTAINS!! Everytime we get near a fountain, she exclaims "water fountain!" Today was particulary windy, so the fountains were spraying everywhere. That didn't stop Koko Bean from wanting to be right there, with one of us by her side of course.

I love that Koko Bean is a strong-willed, independent little lady, but I also love that she still needs me. Now that Daddy works out late at night, Mommy gets to rock her to sleep, but you better believe her first waking question of the day is, "where's Daddy?"

And as I study that sweet little angelic face as she sleeps, I think about who she is now and who she will be. I want her to know I will be there every step of the way- every recital, every game, every play, every success, and every time she falls short of the goal. To quote one of my favorite songs by Aerosmith, "I don't wanna miss a thing."

TeMpErS fLaRe

Ah yes, we've all heard about it...THE TERRIBLE TWOs. It's hard to believe that my sweet, innocent, only-cried-when-needing-nursed or changed, little girl, has reached this very trying stage. It's hard to believe that this face

could quickly switch to an upside down smile and a screaming fit in less than two seconds. It's happening.
Now that we've gotten through the night terror fits, and thankfully haven't had any since we took the beloved TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES SECRET OF THE OOZE movie away, our patience had been restored. Mom and Dad were feeling some breathing room and getting a little bit more sleep.

Now, Little Miss Koko Bean has always been a strong-willed little girl. Like I said before, she was holding her head up the minute she was born, ready to conquer the world. Recently, she's put the icing on the cake of this little sweet fact by testing Mom at the gym and then taking on both Mom and Dad at home.

You see, Koribn has a new backpack...with a leash. I never thought I'd be that Mom with her kid on a leash and often made fun of it, but now I understand why other moms pioneered this method. Little kids don't want to hold your hand all the time. They want to explore, and "need to walk," and get drinks from water fountains they can't reach. As we left the gym the other night, Koko Bean put her hands under the foam hand sanitizer at the daycare (she always has to do this no matter what,) and clasped both hands together as if to trap in all the disinfectant she could. We put the backpack on very carefully, as she kept her hands tightly clenched. Then we walked outside the daycare to travel down the long hallway of toddler temptation in order to get to our vehicle. Mom had two bags herself. One was full of supplelments, and work clothes she changed out of and the other was a backpack with a few kid essentials. We didn't get five feet outside the daycare door when she spotted the shiny water fountain and shouted, "I need a drink!" So, I carefully lifted her up so that SHE could push the button and attempt to drink from an inconsistant stream of water. Then, thinking I could outsmart her, I grabbed her cup out of her backpack and filled it with water fountain water. That wasn't enough. She needed to get a second try. At this time, my bag overflowing and getting very heavy, I was already drained from working all day, plus with each workout being harder than the last, and feeling like my stomach was eating my back, I picked her up one more time and said it was the last. She squirted the water everywhere but in her mouth and I put her back down. Apparently this was a game now. Momma was not playing. With my heavy bag pulling the skin off my right shoulder, I did a one-arm hoist with my left arm and set her upon my hip. That was when the you-know-what hit the fan. She screamed, she kicked, she squirmed all the way down the long hallway. I had to readjust both her and the bag at least four times and it seemed like I had to walk ten miles out to the car. People gawked, some frowned at me, some at her. And then it happened. Whap! Somehow I had managed to use a free hand to swat her bum once. (A wise man once told me that when you must spank a child do so, but only once. If you do it more than once, you are just taking out your frustration on the child and that's not fair. However, it is fair to swat them once, because they need to know their behavior is unacceptable.)

We finally got to the car, while she was still fighting as hard as she could and making any excuse possible to get down and walk. She fought the buckling in process and screamed the entire way home. I caught myself using my mommy voice and said, "Do you want to tell Daddy how you acted tonight?" Oh my goodness! I just turned into my mother!! When we finally got home, she calmed down just long enough to see me get the eggs I was going to cook for my post workout meal, and thought she needed to play with them. When I told her no is when Dad walked in. Anyone want to guess what he said?? "What's wrong with Mommy? Why is Mommy so cranky?" Uh, excuse me!!??

This brings me to tantrum numero dos... este manana.

Koko Bean often likes to call us by our first names. We have no idea where she learned our names, but she did and now we are sometimes "Shannon and Sarah." Most parents would find this disrepectful to be called by their first name, but truthfully, I'm thankful she does know our names in case anything ever happens where she would need to inform someone. So, as we were getting ready to go guess where...the gym, Korbin said, "Sarah, I need to go pee pee." Wow! Really?? Yay!! I hurried and got her "GJs" off and she quickly pulled off her diaper and sat on the little pink potty we keep in the living room now for these purposes. I let her sit there for about five minutes while I made my preworkout drink and Dad finished primping to go to the gym. I quickly learned this pee pee was a false alarm and when I went to put a shirt on her to get ready for the day, she protested...BIG TIME!! Still sitting on the potty, she fought me tooth and nail to slip her little pink frilly tank top on her. Dad came in and once again, it was "what's Mommy's problem? This diet is sure making you impatient." He soon found out that he would lose his patience as she screamed at the top of her lungs trying to take off the tank top. He tried to reason with her. "Korbin, we have to get you dressed so you can go slide at the gym. Do you want to go swimming?" Everyone knows there's no reasoning with toddler. Dad finally took her off the potty and layed her down to help me put the diaper on her. She kicked me in the gut so hard, it took my breath away and I almost vomitted. (The girl is strong!!) Dad saw it and swatted her bum. That ticked her off more. We finally let her get up and sit back on the potty, even though she wasn't going to be doing any business on it but cry.

As she sat there crying, I couldn't help but feel guilty about how we're always on the go, whether we're headed to daycare, work, or the gym. This little girl has been shuttled and stressed enough. Now we're trying to rush her to potty when all she wanted to do was make us proud of her by showing that she knew how to take her own diaper off and sit on the potty, even if she wasn't going to potty at all. My stomach hurt from her kicking me and I was still mad but I gave in. "Korbin, would you please put your pants on? I have a cookie for you." I couldn't believe what I had just said.. I bribed her!!! With junk food!!! And it worked!!! She quit crying, got off her potty and then got on the floor in position for me to put a diaper on her and the rest of her clothes. As I finished dressing her, she licked the peanut butter cream from the middle of the cookie, then told me to throw away the rest. On the way to the gym, I felt relieved we got through one more tantrum...and I knew it wouldn't be the last.

Supplement Savvy Sarah has a kid

Many of my friends know that I work in a supplement store. It is my life. Shannon and I have been doing this together since 2006. Working with your significant other and living together is a task in itself, and then you throw a kid in the mix. However, we usually don't work at the same stores and we've been able to keep a professional relatioship with few quarrels about work.

Before Koko Bean came along, we were always at the gym together. We had UFC parties at our house once a month and we were rather carefree...eh hem...yes carefree enough to what??? Yes, Korbin was a surprise, not an accident. I had secretly had the baby bug for a few months before finding out I was pregnant, but never really thought twice about it. I wasn't married and I had been working out very hard, hard enough to get the competition bug too. I was 27, had a great career, and a wonderful man who was scared you-know-what-less, but also very excited. He was so excited, he called his mother before I had a chance to even mention it to my parents!

So here we were, expecting a baby. I had thought a lot about what kinds of healthy things I would do while pregnant and was inquisitive about breastfeeding. I made the decision after all the shock and awe set in, that I would in fact nurse my baby. It was the best chance for her to get a headstart on a healthy immune system as well as extremely beneficial for me. Breastfeeding helps to prevent breast cancer in the long run for both mother and child and breast cancer runs rampid in my family. Among other things, it is also the best possible way to bond between a mother and child. The other thing I knew I needed to do was make sure I religiously took my fish oil (omega 3 fatty acids) while pregnant and nursing. Omega 3 is essential for baby's brain development, eye health, and mom's MOOD, brain, eyes, joints, and hair, skin and nails, and heart. I attribute taking fish oil to my lack of stretch marks. I am allergic to just about every lotion or cream out there, and all I did was fish oil. I took and still take the GNC Triple Strength Fish Oil.

The other thing I knew to take was a GOOD multivitamin. Now, I'm not talking about some cheapo deapo Walmart Equate knock-off prenatal multivitamin or even a prescription prenatal. I could give a rat's rear if my mulit was made in an FDA laboratory. Don't trust 'em. Never have. Never will. The only multivitamin I have ever been able to stomach was the GNC multi so I went with the prenatal by GNC with iron. It had the best source of antioxidants, B Vitamins, including 1,000mcg of folic acid (hello brain again,) as well as trace minerals I needed in a sustained released tablet. Chewable and capsule form vitamins are a waste. They basically are peed out a couple hours after taking them. I always recommend tablet form multi so it has a chance to do some good. However, some of the leading brands like Centrum and One-A-Day compact their multi into one tablet using synthetic ingredients. Therefore, it passes through during defication or sits in your body and doesn't do squat. This is true with all vitamins, not just prenatals. (Fun fact about Prenatals. They do NOT make your hair, skin and nails thicker, longer or more beautiful. They are just about half the strenght of a regular multi. Pregnancy hormones are what make you glow. )

Even when Korbin was nursing I made sure to keep taking my prenatal, and my fish oil and I started her on a liquid infant vitamin per recommendation from a friend who is a pediatrician. As she got older, we introduced a chewable multi with calcium since we decided not to give her milk after weining.

The supplements Korbin takes now are the following:
Multivitamin- basic nutrients (she's not a good eater)
Fish oil- to give her brain a fighting chance at proper development (her genetics don't hurt either) :)
Vitamin D- to keep her immune system boosted (she's had one real bout with the sickies in her life)
Probiotics- since she doesn't eat right, she doesn't poop well. This keeps her regular as well as we carry about 70% of our immunity within our intestines.)
Protein shakes- No we aren't trying to get her buffed up, but since she doens't eat right, we have to supplememt.
Melatonin- this was a really hard choice for me because I didn't want to be that mom who drugged her kid just to be able to sleep herself. However, Korbin is the energizer bunny. She just can't get her mind to shut down for rest.
Silver biotics- when runny noses poke their ugly heads
Saline spray and the good ol' snot sucker- to prevent infection when those runny noses appear.

I have talked with Korbin's pediatrician about all her supplements and he was very impressed and said we were doing the right thing. This surprised me because most doctors don't know what half of that stuff is, let alone think it's a good idea. I understand that they are under certain rules where they really can't recommend those things, but it's nice to have a doc on the same page and that supports natural supplementation.

Now that we've been through runny noses, and slight coughs but no major illnesses, I feel it's safe to say, we are doing the right thing. As long as you get your supplements from a reputable source, natural supplementation is by far better than taking prescription drugs that usually cause more side effects than the symtoms they are treating.

Koko bean is a happy healthy two -year-old who has been going to daycare since she was 8 weeks old. She has been our little gem and loves it when it's time to take her "bidenum." In fact, she will tell us when it's time now!!!

Buggin' Out at the playground

This past week, I was able to take Koko Bean to the little park by our apartments. Korbin loves to swing, slide, jump and run. It is the perfect place for her because she is able to expend all her energy and even though I love to jump in a play too, there are times where I'm just an admirer from afar. How can one little being have THAT MUCH energy????

Usually, we have to leave the playground while she is screaming and kicking saying, "No MOMMY!! I wanna fwing!!" We've made it a tradition to go to the nearby Sonic, Korbin gets a small cherry limeade and a small popcorn chicken, and Mommy gets a big diet cherry limeade. I made an attempt at conversation with Korbin on the drive over to the playground while she munched on the chicken. I said, "Now munchkin, when it's time to leave, it's time to leave. Do no make a scene and do not cry. If you do, we won't come back." Typical conversation with a two-year-old usually looks like this...

followed by "Okay Mommy."

Shortly after the forewarning, we arrived at the playground. Man, was she pumped!!

She got to swing, run, and slide just as promised.

At this particular playground, there are two sets of equipment- one for smaller kids and one for the bigger kids. Koko Bean prefers the one for the big kids which scares me because there are lot of open spaces and a bridge for her to cross. My heart alwasys skips a beat and I find myself sprinting to relocate myself incase of a fall.

This particular evening out, Korbin ventured over to the little kids' equipment. She found it easier to step up on the steps and started to sit down to slide when all of a sudden she looked up and pointed. Then made a face like she saw a ghost. I turned around and didn't see anything and asked her what was wrong. Then she pretended to eat something from the air. (This is a new thing for her. She pretends to eat a lot of things, Grandma's easter egg lights that hang off her fireplace and Daddy's nose. Then she will "spit them back out" in your hand. Odd? Yes. Hilarious? Definitely.)

Finally I turned around again and saw a small swarm of gnats flying around about 2 feet from my head. I asked Korbin if she was eating the bugs and she nodded. I said, "Ew Korbin, don't eat bugs," jokingly because I knew she hadn't actually eaten them. Then I got this face.

I don't know if it was me raining on her bug-eating parade or the actual bugs that upset her so badly, but she was upset. She was so terrified that she made me hold her and when we went over to the other side to the big kids' equipment, she clung to me like a little spider monkey. Finally I got her down and she started up the stairs to slide, but not without caution.

Still, that moment was engrained in her sweet little mind. Her little bubble had burst.

She just couldn't take it. I asked her if she wanted to go to Wal-Mart with Mommy to help her grocery shop and she stuck her little bottom lip out and nodded. Needless to say, we didn't have to leave the playground kicking and screaming this time. She was fully ready to leave the gnat-infested environment. Now, when we were at Wal-Mart, we walk down the candy aisle.... let's just say, the bugs love candy.....until she's able to outsmart me again. :)