All posts by Megan Alton

This Book Makes Porter Cry


Every night we have a bedtime ritual that involves taking a bath, putting on PJ’s, occasionally Luke and I will grab Porter’s hands and feet and stretch him out (which must feel really nice), Porter nurses, Luke reads us a book, we count the various items in a picture on his wall, sing Wheels On The Bus, put Busy Bee to bed, Luke turns out the light, we have kisses all around and then I rock Porter for a couple of minutes until he says, “nigh nigh”. I put him in his bed and, usually, within mere moments he’s asleep for the night. It works, it’s awesome. It works so well that Aunt Anna and Uncle Micah can do it and Porter sleeps just fine.

Back to the title of this post. This whole routine has had a wrench thrown into it for the last two nights because of the very unassuming children’s book Time For Bed. I grabbed it at the library last week after Luke proclaimed that all stories read at bedtime should end with the characters going to sleep. It works beautifully with the other books we read, like this one:


Big Red Barn, much like Time For Bed, has an assortment of animals as babies and their fully grown parents together, like this:

“It’s time for bed little cat, little cat,
So snuggle in tight, that’s right, like that.”
Time For Bed

In the Big Red Barn, after a day of playing the animals head back to the big red barn and all fall asleep together, like one big happy family. Piglets cuddle with foals, kittens and puppies put aside their differences to cuddle, all while the bats fly around eating all the bugs that so many animals must attract. It’s a lovely and serene bedtime and I’m sure Porter would be happy to curl up on some soft hay next to a furry critter.

Surly the Time For Bed book would evoke the same sleepy visions that Porter knows and loves from many of his other bedtime books. No…wrong…not the case. In fact, it’s so far off the mark that he gets to the last page, sees these images and begins to cry. First a little tear, then he whispers the words “mama, baby nigh nigh” and then he sobs. Heaving, tear jerking sobs. It’s seriously tragic.

“The stars on high are shining bright-
Sweet dreams, my darling, sleep well…”

“good night!”

Maybe it’s the look on the baby’s face, or the fact that his mother leaves him alone to fall asleep? Really, all of the other babies get to fall asleep with their mamas. But whenever Porter see the mother tucking in the child he tears up, says “mama” in the saddest voice I’ve ever heard and then turns the page to see the comatose baby. He looks at me and cries, cries, cries. I then reach to give him a hug but he insists on reading the book backwards and saying all the animal sounds, first through tears and finally back to normal. Presumably he does this to take his mind of the terror that is portrayed on the last two pages of this book.

I thought the first night was a fluke so I tried reading it again, but it backfired so hard that he wouldn’t let me leave the room until I had rocked him in the rocking chair for 15 minutes and was practically sleeping. He did fall asleep, but this book is going back to the library ASAP. In fact I’m going to return it myself, instead of letting him put it in the book drop like all the other books. Yikes!

I’m not sure what I’ve learned from this little episode, but it’s kind of sweet to see my child having such a strong reaction to an image in a book. He is clearly capable of feeling deeply, beyond the typical laughter and frustrated yells that occur throughout the day. And I am certainly a person that understands the need to cry in order to express an array of emotions. On the other hand, it’s so sad to see him feel upset and brought to tears, even though I know it’s important to experience these emotions. This parenting thing just got pretty deep. Compared to the depth of my son’s human emotion, all the worrying, preparing and observing that I’ve done up to this point seems almost superficial. At least it’s another 10 years before puberty starts. Sheesh.

Nigh nigh.

***

Playing this morning at the Farmer’s Market.
With Dada earlier today. Those were happier times.
On our way home from Sarah’s, ready for nigh nigh.
Then I read that freakin’ book. What was I thinking?!

Quinn Cummings is FUNNY

Thanks to my friend Chelsea, and the book club she started, I’ve been reading more than usual. And I love it! My mother and husband and mother in law are avid readers, but I usually prefer blogs and magazines. Lately, however, I’ve been on a role with the books thanks to my Kindle. While reading one of my favorite blogs, I saw this interview with Quinn Cummings. This lead me to read her latest book The Year of Learning Dangerously, Adventures In Homeschooling:

As many of you know, I taught preschool and kindergarten for many years. Those of you who know me really well, knew I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was in second grade, and adored my own (left handed) teacher Mrs.Winks. Through my studies and experiences working in schools I always thought that home schoolers were a little weird and most definitely outside the box. It seemed clear that they were usually very into their religion and homeschooling was a way to ensure their family beliefs were passed onto the children. That’s cool with me, and as Quinn discovers there are many such families, but it turns out that her own experience homeschooling her daughter was very different. This book was laugh out loud funny, very interesting and I totally recommend that you read it. 
Her first book Notes from the Underwire, which I’m a 3rd of the way through, is also hilarious. Porter just thinks I’m being silly when I laugh out loud, but these books are a really fun read. She’s also inspired me to start an adventure with Porter, which will be explained in an upcoming post. So anyway, reading can be fun, reading Quinn Cummings can be funny.

We can pickle that!

I felt like a mad scientist in my kitchen. I think it freaked Luke out
a little when he saw the concoction in the fridge.

My Facebook friend Eleanor is an avid cook, baker and pickler. Seeing her pictures is inspiring, but I was especially captivated by her pickled eggs and beets. She was kind enough to send me the recipe, and armed with fresh eggs and beets from the farmer’s market I went to the task of pickling.

And the verdict? Pure and pretty awesomeness! I will never need to salt a hard boiled egg again.
Not when I can plop it in a vat of briny goodness.

This clip isn’t as good as “Put A Bird On It!” but I love Portlandia and will share it any chance I get.

At the park today, Porter and I were the only native English speakers. The rest spoke German.

Porter wasn’t phased a bit. He’s a friendly fellow.

Garden: Alton’s Bounty

This years veggie garden has been the most successful to date. I got all of my plant starts from the Farmer’s Market or Peaceful Belly Farm. Each of my plants put off fruits which I’ve either cooked with or has been eaten straight off the vine. On a daily basis Porter will park himself in his designated spots in front of the Current Tomatoes and Ground Cherries and declare that he is “ready!” A debate then ensues about the ripeness of each fruit and whether it shall be eaten. It’s pretty fulfilling as a parent to watch your child beg for fresh veggies that are grown organically in our backyard. Man oh man did that steer poop make some tasty food!

The most prolific producers this year were the cucumber, by far.
Lemon cucumbers. No relation to the citrus.
Heirloom Tomatoes. Won’t bother with these again sinceĀ it’s
taken all summer to get 10 fruits.
Current tomatoes. Will be planting 3 of these next year so that the whole
family may enjoy their sweetness, not just Porter.
Celery. I’ve been using this to make chicken stock weekly and it’s so tasty.
It takes GOBS of water to make this stuff grow. Therefore I have slightly
stunted and skinny stalks. Still tastes good though!
A variety of peppers, non of them hot.
Hybrid slicing tomatoes. These are on their second batch of fruits. Very tasty.
Looks like a tomatillo plant huh? Well, it’s not! Only A few weeks ago I learned that these are Ground Cherries.
They look like mini tomatillos (which I thought they were) until I saw some in the store and recognized them. They taste like Pineapple Crush and Porter loves them. I’ll be planing them next year for him.
Suyo Long cucumbers. I learned to pick these before
they got too long and dried out.

Not pictured are the watermelons, which were quickly sliced and eaten. I will be planting many more of these next summer so that we can enjoy more than the 2 we were graced with.

Real Food Cha Cha’s Chicken Sofrito

sofrito
A Facebook friend, who I knew briefly in 7-8th grade, made a status update that spoke of a delicious Dominican dish, Sofrito. In the comments someone asked for the recipe and she gave a brief description of how her friend Chacha taught her how to make Sofrito in a small New York kitchen years ago. It sounded delish. I Googled “sofrito” and was presented with many different recipes, however, my FB friend’s sounded the best. As it turns out, Chacha has a new website, Chacha’s Kitchen, but this recipe isn’t on it yet. I’m reposting (my real food interpretation) here for you, for me, and because both Chelsea and Sarah wanted the recipe. I doubled the recipe and had lots of leftovers, which were even tastier. It’s a one pan wonder too, bonus! Thank you Chacha, for this fantastic Latin American dish.

Chacha’s Chicken Sofrito

INGREDIENTS

1 whole chicken raised on pasture, cut into sections or 6-8 pieces of chicken. I used bone-in legs and thighs because they’re cheap, but boneless is certainly faster.
4 tbsp coconut oil
2 small onions chopped
6-8 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp oregano
salt/pepper to taste
2 tsp tomato paste, from a glass jar
2 bell peppers, chopped
4 small tomatoes, chopped with juice and all
2 handfuls cilantro, chopped
2+ tbsp capers
1/2+ cup sliced olives (I used green)
1 lemon, juiced
hot sauce to taste (Chacha recommends Cholula, I had Tapatio on hand)
avocado (optional garnish, but mighty good)

1. In a big pan brown the chicken in oil for 2-3 minutes per side. Remove chicken and set aside.
2. In the same pan saute onions and garlic until the onions begin to turn translucent.
3. Add oregano, salt/pepper, tomato paste and mix. Turn heat to low, cover pan, and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add peppers, cilantro, diced tomatoes, capers, olives, lemon juice and hot sauce. Stir it up!
5. Add chicken back to the pan with the Sofrito and cook for 30-45 minutes, if you’re using boneless chicken cook for 10 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165*F. Chicken should fall off the bone.I served the dish over rice with fresh avocado. It was REALLY good, tangy and savory. Every bite that Porter took he literally made the “mmm” sound as the spoon touched his lips. If my 19 month old can appreciate this meal, you will too.

This recipe featured on Tasty Traditions, Thank Your Body Thursday

2012 Challenges: September – Be Active & 32!

Admitting that I didn’t follow through on a challenge is kinda lame, but that’s what I’m going to have to do. My August challenge of doing Sun Salutations daily was a total flop. Honestly, it was just a busy and long month and I totally spaced it all. In fact, I’m happy that August is over and we can hopefully move into cooler, less smokey autumn weather. This summer has been a hot and smokey mess. I’m over it and ready for the anticipation that comes with September.

September’s challenge is a riff on last months, only I think it’s more achievable. My goal this month is to be active everyday. That means that if I ride my bike to the Library, take a walk/run, or do stretching I will have achieved my goal for the day. September is a great time of year to get out of the house and around town by bike.

Here are some pictures from the last weekend. We celebrated my 32nd birthday with hot air balloons and birthday cake. The whole nation even took Monday off to celebrate with us.

Straddling the Strider wearing a crane shirt. Very exciting to be a boy.

Luke took me to the batting cages and go karting for a birthday date. It was RAD.

Eating popcorn. Alton.

Porter is so enamored with Lucy that I can never get him to look at the camera when they’re together.
It was a thrilling first ride in the bike trailer. Lucy got to experience the little brother she never wanted. 

This is the, “what the hell’s going on mom?!” face. Plus I got a sweet new ‘do for 32 and I LOVE it.

Chelsea and I squealed and jumped with delight when Micky turned our direction.
The kids looked a us like we’re crazy. This is why we teach, it works with other peoples kids.

Practicing rolling around. We’re working on log rolls. I guess we have a ways to go.

Porter takes after me!

Color guard!

After MUCH anticipation, the sun went down and the balloons went up.

The balloons can’t stay lit up for very long because they are tethered to the ground,
so this event involved a lot of counting down for a few seconds of balloon glow. But is sure is pretty.

The start of a yawn. We stayed up very late to celebrate my birthday and Porter still managed to wake up at 6am.

Beautiful birthday flowers from Anna.

Chocolate birthday cake (by Chelsea) and strawberry ice cream (by me). Yumm!

We celebrated Labor Day by going to the zoo as a family. I think Porter’s favorite parts were the
Wallaby Walk-a-bout and getting to hold both Mama and Dada’s hands at the same time.
We were pretty tender.

Porter’s Hike

At the top of the hill.

In preparation for September’s challenge I decided that Porter and I would hike the lower loop of the Table Rock trail. I don’t know the exact number, but it’s about 1.5 miles. I put Porter in the backpack for the first half which is all up hill. There was much sweating on my part and oh-ing and awe-ing from the backpack. We had a quick snack under the ONLY tree on the trail, but that was cut short due to some overly interested bees. I thought it would be nice to let Porter walk the flat portion on the way back, which he did and loved. He loved it so much that he walked the entire way back to the car. I’m pretty confident that it’s the furthest he’s ever walked. He asked to be picked up twice and I told him he could ride in the backpack, but he chose to continue walking. It took about an hour, but he was adamant about hiking with me and climbing atop every “big bump” (rock) no matter how big or small. It was seriously impressive for such a little guy (19 months). I’m excited for the fun we’re going to be able to have in the future, and for when he can carry me uphill in a backpack.

On top of the biggest “big bump” almost at the end of the trail. He was so freakin’ proud.
When we finished he kept saying “I did it! I did it!” His shirt pretty much sums it up,
he’s the coolest dude around.

Screen Time

Can gaming save the world? Maybe. Give peace a chance.

Porter and I had an awesome morning riding the big bike (my bike) all over town. We  got smoothies, went to the bike shop to have my inner tubes replaced and re-gued (damn you goat heads!) Then we rode over to the Library, where for the first time Porter got to login to the computers and play games. Okay, so he put on the headphones while I did most of the work, but he did help Thomas the train correctly identify various loads of animals and goods for delivery. This was a big deal since every single time we’ve been to the Library Porter saddles up to the kids computers and wonders how on earth to make them work.

Porter’s also been really really into Finding Nemo. Ever since he was sick and got to watch it all day long he requests it at various times throughout the day. I’m not fretting too much because he gets all sorts of outside time, reading time, and other types of stimulus. I also understand the appeal of the boob toob since I often find solace in TV shows and movies. Some of my current favorites are Downton Abbey (season 3 starting in September!!), Dexter, Breaking Bad, Grey’s Anatomy (I know, but I’ve been a fan for like half a decade). It’s a nice way to unwind from our hyper stimulating world and I’ll admit that it’s a habit that I’m not going to kick.

Recently I read this blog post about NOT limiting screen time. I don’t think it’s the strongest argument for unlimited screen time, but it brings up a couple of valuable points. Plus it makes me feel a little better about our family’s screen time. We live in an ever increasingly tech world, my husband is an IT manager and to deny the existence of computers and televisions is futile. So bring it technology. I’m ready to guide and facilitate my child’s ever growing fascination with you and your bright images, enticing keyboard clicks and the potential of your mystical worlds.

Screen time at the Library, so EXCITING!