The New Food Pyramid

Change

Eric had to be in Montreal for work on Election Day so in order for me to vote I had to bring Alexander with me. This ended up being a very good thing, for both of us. While traveling to our designated voting location I talked with Alexander about what we were going to do. I told him about how there would be different people there and he needed to be a good listener and stay with Mommy. Upon arrival I let him hold my license, which he greatly enjoyed giving to all the checkers and thanking them when they gave it back. I took my voting sheet and we sat down at a booth. I put Alexander on my lap and, in attempts to keep him distracted and calm, talked with him about what I was doing. I told him that Mommy was doing something very important and that she thought about a lot of things before deciding who to vote for. I wanted to pick someone that would help make this country a wonderful, clean, safe, healthy and united place for him to grow up in. That is when it hit me that I have become a parent. My every decision now involves what is best for Alexander. I looked at my adorable son sitting on my lap who turned to me and said, "iyes" because he saw the tears starting to form, I kissed his head and made my vote.

On our way out it was no surprise that the lady with the stickers gave mine to Alexander, for being "mommy's helper" she said. Little did she know how much he helped.

Quack Quack!

Alexander loved being a duck for Halloween! He was so happy just walking up and down the sidewalk quacking at everyone! After the second house we gave up on the candy part, he wasn't able to eat it anyway, and just let him visit with the neighbors. It was a fun night to see everyone outside one last time before the chill of winter keeps us in.

Weekend in NH

Over the weekend Andrew and Amy came home to NH for a few days. All of the CT Daigle's went up to the Lymburners and had a great day enjoying each others company. We then extended the family time by spending the night at Lis's house. Alexander loved getting up and playing with his cousins in the morning. I think it reminded him of being at the stuga!

Oops!

I was burning some of our pictures from the Fall to a CD this past weekend and realized that I never posted these pictures. They were taken over Columbus Day Weekend as we enjoyed the beautiful fall weather. Most of them are from the Old Cider Mill in Glastonbury where we got to see the animals, drink some cider and Alexander climbed on the tractor.

We've Got A Walker!

Alexander has been walking for a few weeks now but I have had a hard time capturing it on film. He likes to look at the pictures on my camera so as soon as he sees it he comes over to me. That can make it hard to get him in motion. These were two of the best that I was able to get. He was heading for his other favorite item, the phone, and was then so happy to get it by himself.

"ooe's"

As we have begun the process of packing away summer clothes and toys, we have discovered a few items that have not weathered the season well. Unfortunately Alexander's little crocs gave out the other week and we had to say goodbye. They were definitely one of his favorite pairs of shoes as he would often go over to the shoe tray, pick them up and proclaim for all to hear "OOE"S"! We will miss the shoes as well as the warm days that they were worn during.

Snacks

The other day I was working on making dinner and Alexander was having a snack in his highchair. I gave him a few crackers and then put the box on the table. A few minutes later I heard a crumpling sound and then a little giggle. I peeked around the corner to find someone very proud of what he had just done...

Good Sport

The last time we were at the Stuga Alexander was enjoying some time in the swing so I took the opportunity to play around with the "sport" mode on my camera. Basically you hold down the release button so that the shutter continuously opens and closes giving you a series of moving images. Here are a few of the better ones.

Montreal

I recognize that in a previous post I said that I was aiming to post a new picture every week. I was politely reminded today that I have not held up my end of the bargain. So here are a few pictures from our trip to Montreal and VT which was in the middle of August. The weather did not cooperate so most of the pictures are from inside the hotel or restaurants. Alexander loved the nice big windows, even if it was raining on the other side.

Young Man and the Bay

House Projects

As with many things around the house, one small job can quickly turn into a big project. These past few weeks I have been working to take care of a few projects that have "stalled", mostly due to lack of time. Both projects were things that helped to personalize our home and reflect our decorative style. In addition to being able to cross them off the to-do list it has helped with the slow process of making our home our own.

At the top of our stairs we had a step stool that was being used as a display shelf. In our recent crawler-proofing of the house it had to go which left that wall looking very blank. I found some great frames and created the new wall display.

Before:

After:

We then noticed that the rug in our entranceway was damaged so, a new rug inspired a new cabinet color, which inspired new mirror, which inspired new decorations.... Unfortunately the before pictures were deleted from the camera before they were loaded to the computer so you just get to see the after shots and have to trust me that it is an improvement. You can only see a small corner of the new rug but it has small blue flowers on it that are the same blue as the cabinet. There is now a new greeting above the door frame into the house as well.

Natural Instincts

This past weekend while Alexander and I enjoyed six busy days at the stuga I finished the next book on my list, Green Babies, Sage Moms. In the past year we have been taking steps to be a more "environmentally friendly" family. We walk to places whenever possible, bring our reusable bags to the store, use CFL light bulbs, etc. While these have all been important (and rather easy) changes to make I did not feel that I was doing enough. Then I saw the book at the library and it caught my attention. It touched on a lot of different issues, some that I was already aware of and others that I knew little about. At times I was ready to get rid of all our furniture and mattresses and buy everything in toxin-free sustainable materials. What I came to realize is that all the life-style changes that we had previously made were good for the Earth and thereby good for us. This book made me aware of changes that I can make that are good for us and thereby good for the Earth. At the end of each chapter the author gave suggestions in various "shades" of green. She talked about little changes that you could make, such as washing your clothes in fragrance-free detergent, to "evergreen" changes you could make, such as washing your clothes in baking soda and cold water only. After completing the book and reflecting on our daily lives I have decided to set three green goals.

1) Use paraben - free lotions and skin products from now on.
2) Avoid bringing any synthetic fragrances into our home, through cleaners, candles, perfumes, etc.
3) Reduce our dependence on plastics for toys and food storage and avoid plastic numbers 3, 6 and 7 altogether (which sadly includes my Nalgene bottles).

It is my hope that by making these small changes I am providing a cleaner, safer and ultimately healthier home for all of us. How about you? Do any of you have any advice or green goals of your own?

Sweet Home...

A few weeks ago Eric went to Chicago for a work related conference. As I had just finished school, Alexander and I were able to tag along. I know there are many people that we were not able to see but with Eric being tied up for most of the day and Alexander and I downtown and relying on public transportation (which was a challenge considering the closest el stop was closed for repairs!) our time was a little limited. We were able to spend some time with the Karlsons, Andrew and Amy and have trip to the zoo with Andrew F. Alexander was a trooper on the plane and enjoyed staying in the hotel which had lots of doors for him to open and close as much as he wanted to!

New Feature

As summer is now in full swing I have begun my summer reading. I always try to read 10 books over the summer break. With our trip to Chicago I was off to a good start, finishing two by the end of the week! I can not guarantee that I will continue at that pace. Most of what I read is light fictional reading that goes by quick which makes my goal of 10 a little more attainable. I decided to keep a list of the books and thought that I would put it as a feature on the blog in case anyone else is looking for a suggestion. The book at the top of the list in the one that I am currently working on. Let me know if you have finished anything recently that you would recommend.

Open House Day

For the past few years the state of CT has held an Open House Day to encourage tourism. Many of the museums and locations throughout the state open their doors to the public for free. As we live in the historic district, there were a few places right down the street from us that we have never gone to so we took this opportunity to go inside. We brought Alexander to the Cove Warehouse, the Hurlbert-Dunham House, the Keeney Memorial Center and then to the Creamery for his first taste of ice cream. It was a warm but enjoyable day!