Would you give your kid ice cream and Coke for breakfast?

I do. Everyday.
Think I'm crazy yet?

What if I told you that E. takes medicine 1 best with ice cream? I give him a spoonful, medicine safely tucked inside. As he swallows it, I think of the calcium. Medicine 2 is liquid, and he'll only take it in Coke- apparently nothing else hides the taste enough. So I give him the least Coke possible, around a centimeter in a plastic cup- that way he gets it all. And I use Coke with caffeine, becasue I read that it works like a stimulant with ADHD type of kids.

He usually won't eat before he takes his meds because he's too all over the place with other things, and sometimes there isn't time if I want to make sure we don't forget to gove him the medication. Afterward, his appetite is largely gone. If I press him, he'll eat a little something- this morning it was a Stackers pickle, the really bright green ones.

Thankfully, he's a good eater overall. He noshes on chick peas and canned corn (we have to make sure he doesn't open the cans by himself.) He likes chummus and whole wheat crackers. A serious gift, straight from Hashem.

Overload.

Today in my household:

S. went to an activity group, voice lessons, to the optometrist three times (lost a glasses lens, ordered a new pair, found glasses lens), and got her ears pierced.

M. had school, a mandated playdate (we were doing his mom a favor) and is now at a Superbowl party.

E. had a piano lesson (yay! He can play Mishenichnas adar- a Purim song).

T. had soccer. Both she and E. came with me to Barnes and Noble to buy books with their own money.

The baby was cute and cried about not being taken along everywhere.

And I had a meeting with E.'s new behavioral coordinator, during which time S. lost a tooth and M.'s friend went home.

So we were busy.

My kids are growing up. S. especially. We have this thing about waiting to pierce ears until close to a girl's bas mitzvah. She's not quite there, but it's close enough if we want her to have choice in what she wears for the big day. So off we went. And for reasons I can't explain, especially since some of her friends had their ears pierced when they were six months old, S. looks so much more mature to me now. Maybe it's because my daughter, inheritor of the I Hate Pain card from her dear mother but with a Drama card on top of it, consciously decided to deal with short term pain in order to get something she wanted long term. Sounds mature to me.

The Everglades in pictures.

The Rambam (Maimonides) teaches that we can fulfill the mitzvah to love Hashem through study and observation of his creations. And Rav Shimshon Rephael Hirsch famously said that when he died and stood before Hashem, He might ask, "Have you seen my Alps?"

So, in this spirit, I give you the Everglades of southern Florida, in pictures:

My baby has begun to talk to me.

It's fun. Conversations usually go like this:

"Ima?"
"Yes, baby?"
"Hamahama munahmuhnah."
"What?"
"Muhanana meh. Go."
"You want to go?"
Big smile. "Ya."

I almost never have a clue what she's saying. She has a bunch of words that come and go in usage, and it's less than the books say she should. But she has a pattern of coming through with the communication just when I've started to worry about her. Plus, words or not, she's relating. Through speech. So, so cool.

In other related news, my baby has begun to call herself "Baby". Not her name, which is difficult and she's only said once or twice, but actually "Baby". I find this funny, because it's what I call her on this blog.

When I started writing here and was trying to figure out what to call my kids, I specifically decided against nicknames. I did this because I didn't want to start thinking on them as their nicknames and thus begin to associate them with that specific trait. (Yes, too much pop psych- no labeling, and all that.) And now the baby calls herself baby. Which could get complicated when she no longer qualifies, which in my family occurs officially when a kid turns two.

I have a feeling she may not give up the title for a long time.

New sheets make people happy.

Whenever one of my kids transitions to a "big kid bed", they get to go and pick out bedding. A nice sheet set, a comforter or quilt cover, whatever- it excites them for the move. S., being the first, picked out a cartoon animals set that we all loved but knew she wouldn't in a few years, because it was red, yellow, green and blue - no girl colors. But we figured we had a boy on deck and he'd take it when the time came. So when he moved up, he of course didn't want it, and it got basement-ed and S. went shopping again.

I have a rule- no identifiable characters. Kids grow out of them too soon, or change their tastes. But S. went with her grandmother, so all bets were off- she came home with the coziest Strawberry Shortcake set ever, comforter included. And she kept it for six years, until we finally decided that there were too many holes in the quilt and she's a pre-teen. Plus, she was borrowing the guest quilts more often than not.

So we went shopping this weekend, and she picked out a wow- rainbow polka-dotted thing with striped sheets, and set it all up at home with multiple pillows and her Hello Kitty husband pillow (blocking Hello Kitty), so that it was like a day bed. She invited a friend over just so they could hang out on the bed. And this morning before she left for school, she made her bed. Which she never ever does, unless she's in camp where she loses points- and there she's straightening a sleeping bag. So hurray for growing up and my newly minted teenage daughter.

Meanwhile, E. wanted new stuff too- he's been using my college set since we took off his animal set (see, it got used!) and put my college one on for a guest, at least two years ago. So I went back to the basement, schlepped up the animal quilt he'd forgotten existed, and added the new set of T-shirt material lime-green sheets I bought with S.'s set. (Have I mentioned he likes green?) And he was so happy that he made his bed this morning too.

We'll see how long it lasts.

Vacations and surprises.

When we go away for a full family vacation, we like to rent a house instead of doing hotel rooms. In many locations, it can actually be cheaper than two adjoining rooms, as long as you're willing to be a bit off the beaten path, plus you get a kitchen and a yard. Years ago, we got a house ten minutes out of Lancaster, PA with four bedrooms, a living room, and a rec. room for the kids for $200 a night. Good stuff.

Another bonus for us is the ability to get a private pool. As Orthodox Jews, we don't allow men to swim with women outside of their family, and vice versa, for modesty reasons. So we can't use a hotel pool. For the past few years, we've tried to rent houses with a backyard pool surrounded by tall trees and fences, so the whole family can swim together. The swimming is especially awesome for my boys, who really benefit from the awesome sensory input every day. And it's worth a little extra money, because we plan less activities- half of each day revolves around the pool.

The thing about renting a house is that it will always come with surprises. The first time we did it, I was very disappointed about the negative ones- the things that the pictures and agents don't tell you. Since then, I've come to expect the surprises, which can often work out for the better (and I've learned to ask better questions). Plus, some are great surprises from the start, like the Foosball table and toy box in the second house we rented.

This year's house came with a positive and negative right away, both significant.

Good- it's the first house we've had where the rooms are actually bigger than they look in the pictures; usually it's the other way. Plus, there was a tall game table with bar stools that had struck me as wholly impractical in the pictures but quickly became the place to do things you didn't want the baby to reach.

Bad- no barrier around the pool. The whole yard was fenced in, but there was no way to be in the backyard without easily getting to the pool. And there were three sets of doors to the backyard. Scary.

Until fabulous surprise number two- any time you opened a door or window, there was a loud beep that could be heard anywhere in the house. Such fabulous immediate feedback for E. We had already set him up with a chart to earn points for new Leapster games, and one of the highest earning categories was not opening exterior doors without permission. Now, whenever he did it, there was a beep, and he was trained out of it by the end of day 2.

Other categories included staying with an adult (including older siblings) and going to new / scary places. There were also bonus points, which he got for things like good behavior on the plane and learning to jump into the pool. I went over the chart each night with him, and he earned one game by day 3, which was very reinforcing. Overall, he did better than I expected, even learning to tolerate crowded outdoor shows (sit in the last room- it's farther from the noise, splashes and scary things and kids can wander a bit back there, with nobody in back of them.)

Of course, like with the house, there were negative surprises- I didn't expect him to refuse to learn with his father most days or to lie down and refuse to even watch the first animal show, which included animals he liked. But the positive surprises abounded. Good stuff.