The Perfect Hot Cocoa to Marshmallow Ratio

The girls' favorite movie of December is Rio, an animated flick about a parrot who drinks hot cocoa. He waxes poetic about the perfect hot cocoa to marshmallow ratio, and Kate picked up on this quote after just a few viewings. And then insisted that she also get to experience the perfect ratio.

As a result, Kate and Claire had hot cocoa and marshmallows in the living room while reading books between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

They love it, so it's a tradition that I think we'll keep up with.

Hoot and Toot: Charlee at 18 Months

Charlee is a hoot and a toot. When she enters a room, Kate often says "Here comes troubs!" Troubs is short for trouble, of course. Charlee wants to be where the action is, even if that means she's sitting on her sister's puzzle, sitting on Chad's lap while he's eating, or standing in between me and the counter while I'm cooking.


She's a joy to have around... when she's not hungry. Second to playing with her sisters, she loves eating. When she's hungry, you will know it by her 1) bringing you a spoon or bowl, 2) saying "eat, eat, eat," or 3) being extremely grumpy and throwing fits. We often say "slow down, Charlee" as she stuffs everything in front of her into her mouth.

Probably typical of a third child, she can command the room with her voice when she wants. She will yell "MAAAAA-MA!" over and over until she gets my attention. I feel like I'm in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Her vocabulary is larger than here sisters' were at her age. A quick brainstorm of her words: mama, dada, Kate, Claire, dog, kitty, door, bath, cup, spoon, eat, more, please, thank you, love you, bye bye, mine, no, stop, Charlee, laura, Connie, nana, Opa, grandma, papou, shoes, socks, apple, treat, banana, juice, diaper, go, night night, baby, bottle, Dora, Down, up, poopy, hot, this, that

Her relevant stats:
Weight: 23 lb 3.5 oz - 54%
Height: 31-1/2" - 34%
Head: 18-7/8" - 87%

Easier Not Better

For months, I've been meaning to post this excerpt about parenting from one of my favorite blogs, Dinner a Love Story. I was talking to a friend on Friday about what happens to the family dynamic when one parent is out of town, and it reminded me about this.

Also, Chad's been traveling, so I've had to be a DOER more than usual.

Last week, Jenny went away for three days to work on her book. I don’t know if anyone else out there finds this to be true, but we have this theory about parenting being easier — not better, mind you, just easier — when the spouse is away. The chain of command is clearer. Movements are more efficient. Decisions are more decisive. With no safety net, I feel like we tend to be a little better about being doers, about making the bed in the morning and mustering the energy to move that dirty juice glass the three feet from the sink into the dishwasher, about not standing around in the kitchen, checking email again and being generally suspended in that maddening state of inertia that sets in when you’re trying to decide what to do and who’s going to go upstairs and get the sweater down from Abby’s closet and who’s going to make sure Phoebe’s teeth are brushed properly, since the dentist put a watch on one of her molars last time we were there and, wait, did we pack any snacks yet?

Read the whole thing here.

New Addiction

I found THE BEST recipe for peanut butter and chocolate cookies EVER.

If you've seen me salt a cookie before eating it, you'll understand why I like these so much.

Salted Peanut Butter Cookies from a great blog, Orangette.

Please Don't Pass the Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, and Fish

We visited Charlee's allergist last week. After a whopping $700 (out of pocket) for testing, he reconfirmed her allergies to milk, eggs, peanuts, and fish. Her antibody levels for her allergies are all higher than a year ago:

Allergen (Last Yr / This Year)

• Milk (17 / 54)
• Egg (31 / 69)
• Peanut (5.6 / 5.9)
• Cod (- / 24.5) [we didn't test for fish last year because we didn't realize she was allergic]
• Tuna (- / 8.4)
• Shrimp (- / 0) [no allergy to shrimp, but because of risk of cross-contimation, she will avoid shrimp]
• Salmon (- / 3.4)
• Trout (- / 10.6)
• Tilapia (- / 66) [not surprised that this is so high since it's what she had a strong reaction to]
• Black bass (- / >20)

The allergist says it is normal for an infant to have low antibody levels followed by a spike in the next round of testing. He asked me not to read anything into the relative levels, but he also told me that they won't even attempt to re-introduce a food until the antibody level is less than 2.

For now, we continue status quo, avoiding all of those foods.

Here's a little more info on the allergy testing she had done (excerpted from the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network).

What do the tests measure?

The tests determine the presence of IgE antibody directed to particular foods. (IgE is the allergic antibody that mediates most food allergy reactions.)

What types of tests are available?

Two commonly used tests are blood (CAP-RAST) and skin prick tests. The blood tests require a small sample of blood to be sent to a laboratory, where the amount of IgE antibody to the specific food is measured. The result is reported as a numerical value. ...

How are the tests interpreted?

The easiest test result to interpret is one that is negative; it is very unusual to have IgE-mediated reactions to a particular food when the skin or blood test to that food is negative.

Unfortunately, the interpretation of positive tests is not so straightforward. Positive tests indicate that IgE is present but do not, in isolation, prove that a reaction will occur upon ingestion of the food. In fact, people who "outgrow" their food allergy usually continue to have a positive test result to the food for many years....

Do the test results indicate the level of severity of a reaction?

Neither the size of the skin test reaction nor the level of specific IgE antibody in the blood test necessarily correlates with the type or severity of symptoms. Consider an allergy evaluation with a "2+" positive skin test and a positive CAP-RAST test to peanut. One person with these results may be eating peanut every day without symptoms, while a different person may experience anaphylaxis from peanut. Similarly, that second person may eperience only an itchy mouth on one occasion, anaphylaxis on another, and a mild case of hives on yet a third occasion of peanut exposure.

The level of specific IgE antibody measured using a particular method of RAST test (CAP-RAST FEIA uses units called kUA/L, which indicate a concentration of specific IgE) was recently reported to be useful in determining the chance of true reactivity to certain foods. For example, an IgE antibody level of more than 7 kUA/L to egg, more than 15 to milk, more than 14 to peanut, and more than 20 to codfish was highly predictive (greater than 95 percent chance) of providing some type of allergic reaction among highly allergic children. Unfortunately, lower values, unless virtually undetectable, may still indicate a potential for having an allergic reaction. This test may prove useful in following levels of particular IgE antibodies over time to see if they are falling (perhaps indicating that the allergy is being outgrown).

As you can see, the interpretation of these tests can be quite confusing. Your doctor must always interpret these tests in the context of the individual medical history. Even the selection of which foods to test must also be decided carefully and in the context of the medical history, since up to one-half of positive tests may not accurately reflect an allergy. Lastly, like any test in medicine, the results are occasionally wrong and should be repeated if an error is suspected.

Lazy Sunday

It's 2:15 PM on Sunday, and we are lazy.

We woke up early because of daylight saving, but we're still in PJs.

Charlee's got a high fever. It's the reason for our quarantine.

So today's accomplishments are small.

Bought our tickets to go home for Christmas.

Made from-scratch blueberry muffins, bacon, and eggs for breakfast.

And tomatoey lentils and rice for lunch.

Kate wrote a letter for grandma and papou.

Laundry.

Sat on the sofa with the girls, cuddling with Charlee, watching an Olivia marathon, and reading "The Marriage Plot" on my phone.

Allowed myself to sit on the sofa and not obsess about the mess in the other parts of the house.










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Halloween Bust

Our grand plan of the 3 little pigs, big bad wolf, and brick house became cowboy princess, reluctant cow, big bad wolf, sick baby, and desperate housewife (may closely resemble actual person).


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Kate Upcycles

Kate turned a gum container wrapper into a bracelet and wore a too small t-shirt as a skirt.

Maybe a future in fashion?




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What Kate Likes

Kate insisted I take dictation from her the other night. Here's what she said:

I like to be a flamingo for Halloween, and I like to go on swingsets at my Opa & Nana's, and I like to go to the beach with my Mommy & Daddy.

I love Mommy.

I like to drink Juice, and I like to see rainbows.

I like fairies. My favorite fairy is Syl, and my favorite color is red, and I love Daddy, and I love to paint, and I also love my whole bear friends.

I'm good at making rhyming words

Kate's class made a book of what each kid "is good at." Most of the kids said they were good at soccer and baseball. Here's Kate's.




Kate's favorite rhymes:
Cat bat hat
Motion potion
Kate Tate great
Boo shoe two

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Day 37: Reunion Cleanup

In recent years, we haven't made it back for Reunion cleanup. Always the Saturday before the first full weekend in August, cleanup is where a subset of our big family gets our campground ready for all 300 people next weekend.

I did way more kid wrangling than cleaning, but it was still fun to be with family.

Chad did all the work for our family: digging post holes, scooping cow poop, moving picnic tables, and shooting the bull with the wise elders. As seen here.




We spent some time riding on the back of the truck and swimming in the River.




Kate and Claire played with their cousins, Greta and Owen.




A highlight of the day was Kate saying "That's where you and Daddy got married" as we drove up to the camp house.

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Daddy's Girls

Instagram, the iPhone app, is my new obsession.

This tryptic is my fav. I had great subjects.










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Charlee Rules the Pool

I love this photo. It captures who Charlee is right now. She wants to be the boss. She's very independent. She is a bother to her sisters. She's a starlet.



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Day 29: More Galette

A galette is basically a free-form pie. I've made Ina Garten's apple galette for years including her crust.

Galettes are super easy, and I think more elegant than pies.

I made a blueberry/blackberry galette in the last couple of weeks. Tonight I made a cherry galette with Bing and Ranier Cherries. I used a store bought crust, so it only took me about 20 minutes to prep--most of this time spent pitting cherries.

Here's the crust with cherries plopped on top.



Add a little butter, fold up the crust, and brush the crust withal egg wash.



Try to wait until cherries have cooled below molten phase. Then try to eat only 1/8. Scratch that... 1/6. OK, 1/4.



Yummmmmmmm

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Giant Baby Eats Baby

Charlee likes to carry around a plastic baby in her mouth... by its head.

Here's Charlee, the jolly giant.










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Movie Night: The Whole Crew

Friday nights are always movie nights at our house. The girls put on their PJs, plop on the sofa, eat popcorn, drink chocolate malts, and watch a movie.

Tonight, for the first time ever, Charlee joined her sisters on the sofa for a few minutes of the movie. She even got Charlee snacks--raisins in a snack trap.

The kid was thrilled.

We were thrilled. True kids-free time. Until Charlee tried to steal Claire's buttered popcorn. Charlee's allergic to milk, so the fun ended quickly.

But we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Soon enough, they'll all entertain themselves.








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Day 22: A little post-birthday quiet

I originally titled this post "a little post-birthday depression," but, really, depression is too strong a word.

You know how you feel a little lost and bummed out when you finish a page turner of a book? You're not sure how your next book could compare to this one.

That's how I feel today. The last couple of days were spectacular! And today isn't bad, just not as good as yesterday and the day before.

To be expected.

The things I did today that made me happy:

• Taught a problem solving class to our new class of college hires. I created the material. I like teaching.
• Spent one-on-one time with Kate. She has strep throat again, requiring a trip to the doctor. But she was in good spirits and fun to be with.
• Read more of my good book, "State of Wonder"
• Belly laughed watching Charlee squirt herself in the face with the hose. As a preface to this video, Charlee INSISTED she hold the hose. She didn't want Kate or Claire to have it. Only problem is she couldn't hold it without spraying herself. You can hear Claire's laughter mixed with mine in the video.

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Days 20-21: The View from 40

Top 11 things I did on my birthday:

1. Dropped off our children at the babysitter's, thus enabling the rest of these things to occur.

2. Worked my tail off at bootcamp class

3. Had a fantastic couples massage with Chad where therapist focused on muscles I made sore during aforementioned bootcamp

4. Read and relaxed in spa "tranquility" room, also known as Amy McGeady's favorite napping spot. **Note: We have not changed our looks to protect our identities. I had some fabulous iPhone pics of the day until then my phone died and had to be replaced.

5. Sat by the pool at the Four Seasons Hotel in St. Louis in a cabana, drank a Bloody Mary, floated in blue, blue water. The cool pic of my feet below only available on Facebook due to phone dying.

 
6. Checked into a suite larger than our house. Took a nap.

7. Was joined, as a surprise, by two good friends for drinks on the hotel deck

8. Ate and ate at Farmhaus, officially my favorite restaurant in St. Louis. Highlights: beet risotto, apple and onion crouton thingy (what the heck was that thing called?), escolar (a white fish)

9. Blew out a candle on a birthday Busch, the official celebratory dessert at Farmhaus

10. Slept in the next day

11. Enjoyed it all with my husband and sponsor