For the love of collards

I made a connection with another Portland Examiner, Aqiylah Collins, who writes about holistic health. This month she is doing a series of articles to celebrate Black History Month, highlighting African-American foods. Her latest article is about the history and health benefits of collard greens and she quotes me talking about how I love my mom's collards. Mmm. I want some now, actually.

I also finally wrote my book review for the novel Push. I'm going to try to update my Cafe´au lait blog more.

Craig is doing well with his wrist, but he is getting a little tired of wearing the splint. We went to Burgerville, a Northwest burger chain, for lunch on both Monday and Tuesday, so that was fun. Today I took Gabe to storytime down the street at the cupcake shop. The weather here is lovely, clear skies and comfortably cool. I'm sure the rain will sent back in soon, but for right now it's great.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Wrist Update and Gabe's new brush

Craig had his post surgery appointment yesterday and things seem to be progressing well. The tube was taken out of the wound and the bandages were taken off, as well. His hand was then put into a splint and re-wrapped; but the wrap can be taken off to be washed. So he will get this taken off on March 1.

Craig says his hand feels a little better every day and he can move his fingers around with no pain. His scar will definitely be a lot bigger this time, but I think our main concern is that after it fully heals, he'll be able to function normally on computer and design related activities and that the cyst will not return.

On a side note, I had to entertain Gabe for over an hour because there was a 40 minute wait in Dr. Layman's office (he seems to be pretty popular). We divided our time between being in the lobby and being on the 2nd floor, where the doctor's office was. The second floor was much better for him to explore because there were hardly any people in the hallways, while the lobby was of course quite crowded. So Gabe was great until about 5-10 minutes before Craig was done and he started getting tired and cranky.

We just received Gabe's new brush and comb set in the mail. As his hair is getting longer and thicker, the baby combs are not cutting it. I've already broken one comb trying to detangle his hair, lol. So I got the toddler Denman brush.

A Denman brush is basically a very sturdy hair tool for people who have very thick and/or coarse hair. I have an adult Denman (D3) and use that to detangle my own hair and it's a an absolute breeze (when my hair is soaking wet with conditioner, that is). So once Gabe began outgrowing his baby combs, I needed to find a similar tool for his hair. And I found it! The comb is actually attached to the brush. Can't wait to use it for his next bath.

Craig's Post Surgery Update

Craig had his surgery this past Monday and it went well. He's got his hand wrapped in bulky bandages and a tube connected to the wound to drain blood, so it looks rather dramatic. I have to change the tube every four hours, but there is significantly less blood at each changing. Today he is able to move his fingers without much pain and he hasn't needed any pain killers today. Tomorrow, he gets the dressing removed and I gather that the doctor will inspect it, etc., and then it will be re-wrapped for another 2.5 weeks. I don't know if he will have to go to the Dr. again during that time. I guess we'll find out at the appointment.

Gabriel is curious as to why he can't play with Dad like before. In fact, he seems to go through several cycles of wanting to play or be picked up by Craig, then remembering that Dad can't do that, then he moves on to something else.

So, all is well. We'll let you guys know how the appointment goes tomorrow.

February Update

This month is going to be very busy. Craig is getting surgery on his wrist February 8 to remove remnants of a ganglion cyst. I say "remnants" because the doctor aspirated it about two weeks ago, and the bump got very mushy and the pain lessened considerably. But since the ganglion tissue and the sac are still in there, the chances of it coming back are very high. So surgery is still on.

He will be off work for three weeks and during this time his wrist will be wrapped and bent forward. This means he won't be able to play with Gabriel hardly at all and won't be able to watch him alone for very long. This also means that meals will be VERY simple during this time; basically anything that can microwaved or prepped very quickly and be placed into the oven. You veteran mamas know that it is hard to do high maintenance cooking with a toddler that wants to be up under you all the time.

I also haven't written on my Cafe´au lait blog in AGES...I am working on a book review of Push by Sapphire, better known as Precious the Movie, OR better know in Carisa's head as The Movie Where Black Women are Depicted as Depraved and Insane...can you tell I didn't like the book or the movie? I'll post it when I complete it.

Oh, here are the promised Christmas pics! Just a sample, it's not all the pics I took.




William eating scones I made Christmas morning.











We got my mom some butterfly measuring spoons.


My mom got me this cool hat.


I got Craig the new Alicia Keys CD.

Happy New Year and Gabe's 18 month appt.

It has been a long time since I've done an update! With the holidays and my mom and brother visiting (plus the mutant snow storm in Philly) I've gotten slack. Sorry! :) Also, it's becoming harder to write with Gabe being more mobile and needing near constant interaction.

Gabe had his 18th month appointment on Monday and it went well. But he did not want to be checked out at all and gave us a hard time. Totally freaked and cried during the check-up, but he recovered quickly when it was over. He is a little over 22 pounds, but I cannot remember the height. He is in the 75th percentile for height and the 5th percentile for weight; that has been his pattern since he has been born, tall and lean.

We really like his pediatrician, Dr. Gibbons. She is very down to earth and knowledgeable. The practice, The Natural Childbirth and Family Clinic, is somewhat of a hike being in Northeast Portland (we are Northwest), but the next time he'll go will be at 2 yrs. and then after that, yearly, so we're okay with the distance.

Gabe's teeth seem to be stabilizing. I think the intense brushing, cod liver oil, wheat germ and getting more nutrient dense foods in him are helping. He is still picky; doesn't like eggs or meat (unless really mushed), but eventually I think he will try them.

Look for Christmas pics in a day or two! Let's see if I can do it before January is over! LOL

The teeth saga continues...

About a week and a half ago, one of Gabe's teeth started chipping. I thought, oh great. It was right after his December 1 dental visit to treat his teeth.

So, I was wondering, did he chip his tooth from hitting it or biting on something? Or is it from the decay? So, I called Dr. Pike's office last Thursday and they said, "Well, if he's not in any pain, wait until his February appointment and we'll look at it then". But I just couldn't get the feeling out of my head that the tooth needed to be looked at. Unfortunately, Friday, they were closed and it forced us to reevaluate if we needed to try a new dentist. Why? Well, they are really nice and try very hard not to psychologically damage children as far as the dentist goes. But they are too passive in Gabe's case. After five or ten minutes of them being all slow, he's done. His window for semi-cooperation is closed.

So, we got a appointment that was today to see a dentist that's, um, right across the street, LOL. Shoebox Dentistry, Dr. Hsu. Anyhoo, we liked this dude much, much better. Their play area is bigger, Gabe got to play with some trains, and I got to watch the first 15 minutes of The Little Mermaid while I filled out paper work. Plus, the doctor went to University of Pennsylvania. Nice.

Dr. Hsu got a good look at all of Gabe's teeth, which Dr. Pike was somehow not able to do. Yes, he cried, but it was for like less than 60 seconds. And yes, Gabe gave Dr. Hsu somewhat of a dirty look afterwards, but he recovered. I guess the good news is that only two teeth have "mild to moderate" decay and Dr. Hsu didn't feel like he needed to do x-rays to see more (thank goodness). He wants to continue the treatments so we can keep things from not getting worse and closely monitor his teeth.

As far as diet goes, he said to continue diluting juice and we actually found out that our water does have fluoride in it (I thought it did not; but we weren't giving him tap water anyway). He said we can continue with the fluoride drops or give him 12-16 ounces of tap water daily, flavored with juice, if we want.

As far as foods, he said with kids his age you just have to do your best to make sure they getting nutrient dense foods. Gabe eats table foods fine now (it's amazing, as soon as his molars came in, he got interested chewing, just like his pediatrician said), but he is still extremely picky. So his favorite foods that are good for him include cheese, yogurt, apple sauce, mandarin oranges and garlic hummus. I'm cutting down on the crackers, cheerios and bread.

Since his diet is so weird, I've also started giving him a teaspoon of cod liver oil and wheat germ once a day. He actually takes the cod liver oil straight (it has peach flavor, but I was still shocked) and I sprinkle the wheat germ on apple sauce.

So I think his teeth will get better. Fortunately, the chip is in one of the teeth that will fall out sooner.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I meant to post this earlier in the week, since most of you probably won't check your emails today. I started coming down with something on Sunday and boy was I perturbed because I am cooking most of the food for the holiday! It turned out to be a mild cold (I was certainly praying that it was not a flu), but one day there I felt pretty wicked.

I am still a little congested, but getting better. I didn't take any medication, but I drank tons of tea with cayenne pepper in it. I am telling you, that stuff really helps tremendously with sinus issues!

We have a small group for dinner today; Craig, Gabe, Grandma Deb and myself. Deb is bringing some side dishes and dessert, I am doing the rest. This is the first time ever that I am cooking a turkey. I'll report back on how it goes.

The following are some really funny pics of Gabe I meant to post maybe a week ago. In the first one, he looks like he is dancing, and in the second one he looks like he is really getting down or possibly terribly upset. LOL. Enjoy!