CNY

The Chinese New Year celebrations begin! This past weekend we joined hundreds upon hundreds of others at a local art museum for its annual samplings of all things Chinese - dragon dance, traditional music, games, crafts, calligraphy, food....

But before we headed out, we feasted on a large Chinese meal with cousin Titus and family. Oh we were stuffed, so it was good that we had to park several blocks away. The mild weather that day made for a pleasant dinner walk-off.

For the second year in a row, Zane wanted nothing to do with the dragon dance. He feels very strongly that it is too loud and scary. So we cuddled on the floor around the corner, waiting for Elle and Dada. "All done?", he kept asking. He cheered when the cymbal crashes concluded. :)



The excitement for the evening was the Chinese yo-yo demonstration. It's a football-sized toy consisting of two equally-sized, facing cones connected with a long axle and is kept spinning on a string tied to two sticks at the ends. Apparently, it's used as a children's toy and as a performance tool in juggling and sometimes in Chinese dance. The performers did a variety of tricks -- throwing the yo-yo up into the air and tossing it around their back, just to name a couple. Both Elle and Zane were in awe as they cheered on the students and master teacher. We were lucky not to get a yo-yo in the face as another front row guest experienced.


After that excitement, we especially enjoyed the traditional music, so beautiful. It wasn't until late that evening at home that I realized I hadn't taken in any of the museum. There was just so much activity and people everywhere...someday we'll have to go to just take in the art.

Year of the Rabbit

Spinach & Black Bean Quesadilla

We're reading The Sn*wy Day by Keats in preschool this week. With the current weather, the book comes alive as we make our own tracks in our snow covered yard.










































Today we did some research on animal tracks, printed and cut them out, and placed them in Elle's collector box. We even found a game online that lets you match the track to the correct animal. Zane is an eager student and tries to keep up with Elle -- we'll need some left-handed scissors soon...too hard for Mama!

Elle has recently taken a special interest in a Russian dress given to her by G&G W. This is the second day in a row that she has worn it.
















We worked up an appetite, but what to eat.... My meal goals are healthy, fast and on hand.

Today we went vegetarian with Spinach & Black Bean Quesadillas:

Black beans, diced red onion, chopped raw spinach and colby/jack cheese between two corn tortillas. With just a dribble of oil we grilled it up on the stove top. Mixed a dollop of yogurt and salsa together and served on the side.

























There are a million ways to tweak this recipe...adding diced tomatoes or fresh avocado slices would be delicious. Chicken or beef would make it even more hearty or maybe something entirely different in the middle...chicken salad, Philly style (steak, onions, green peppers), Italian flare (motz cheese, red sauce, spinach, sausage, black olives) or with sauteed veggies (green & red peppers, onions, zucchini, cauliflower). Mmmm....

The kiddos are napping and I'm going to go enjoy an orange brought back from friends that recently returned from Arizona - TO.DIE.FOR!

Potty Training

Potty training...eek! With uncertainty, we put a plan in motion and pushed through the steps of preparation to begin potty training Zane last Monday.

The week before, we intentionally talked about it non-stop. We held demos, with all family members participating and a few days before official training began, Zane opened a gift box with his new potty chair and a potty book. He seemed excited, so we felt encouraged to proceed. With a star chart and a chocolate chip reward system, Zane was eager to begin.




Day 1: When Monday arrived, we threw away the diapers, rolled up the rugs, stripped him down, and started the adventure commando with a potty chair in the middle of the living room while we disassembled Christmas 2010. He began spot on and did it six times over! I was beginning to think he'd trained himself, but then we added underwear and the second half of the day didn't go as well. He seemed to equate the underwear with diapers.


Day 2: We had an appointment that I had forgotten about that couldn't be missed. We broke my rules and used a pull-up while we were out. Three hours later we were home and back in underwear. The rest of the day was awful, not one success. Nothing like potty training to make one's world feel disastrous!



Day 3: Decided the underwear was too confusing and went back to commando style. We got an eye-full all day and Daddy was worried he might hurt 'something', but it didn't inhibit his toddler world. He was awesome! I think there were just a few misses the whole day.

Waving bye-bye pee and running for a chocolate!

Day 4: Continued the commando strategy and had one disaster on top of the dining room table...don't ask! That evening we took him out in underwear to run errands...very scary! He didn't go when we tried at the home store or the restaurant, but on the way home he told us that he had to go, so we pulled into a fast food joint and he held it till we got to the toilet. Very exciting!

Day 5 & 6: Reintroduced all day underwear and had just one accident each day.

Haven't had an accident since and I'm thinking this was way too easy!


Naps and night were an entirely different story - mess after mess after mess, yuck!!!! I was really trying for the no diaper, no pull-up, go all out, underwear immersion strategy. I got up several times a night to take him to the potty, but after five nights of urine everywhere, my complete exhaustion and some reading, I decided that right now he isn't physically capable of holding it while he sleeps and especially all night. And since he's still in a crib, even if he woke up to go, he can't get to the potty. It just makes sense to not sweat it, enjoy Zane's success and diaper free days. So, we're celebrating - woohoo!!