PSA

Today I took my son in to be tested for a suspected hazelnut allergy.  I had binged on Nutella (surprise! not.) when he was just a little nursling and he broke out in bright red eczema on his chin and cheeks.  I quit eating Nutella, and my poor baby's rash went away.  And then earlier this year, I accidentally let him have a chocolate truffle with hazelnut in it.  He got the exact same rash all over his cheeks and chin again.
Pretty obvious.  So, while I was hoping to be wrong (because I was about thinking Emberly had a shellfish allergy! yay!) , I didn't know how else to explain those symptoms.
As it turns out, he is in fact allergic to hazelnuts.  And brazil nuts.  He's never had those and I don't care one way or the other about them, so okay.  But then the allergist tells me he's allergic to almonds!  What?!  I use almond everything, all the time.  Almond butter, almond milk, almond flour, sliced almonds, roasted almonds; you name it!  He eats them all the time with no loud, obvious rash to speak of!
So then the allergist goes on to explain that toddlers/preschoolers often have trouble articulating swelling and itching in the mouth or throat and simply react by shoving their hands in their mouth.
Click, click... BOOOM!
That was the sound of cogs fitting together inside my feeble brain.  Bauer constantly shoves his hands in his mouth and whines about his mouth/throat without being able to really tell us what the problem is.  I'll quickly look, not really see anything and conclude that he bit his tongue or his 2yr molars are bothering him, maybe even sinus drainage making his throat sore.  Or think that it's just another expression of anger for his easily pissed-off little self.  It never occurred to me that something he ate was causing uncomfortable itching/swelling.
I am so thankful that I discovered this before I caused anaphylaxis by shoving almonds down his throat almost daily.  And hopefully I help someone else who doesn't know why their little one is shoving his/her hands in his/her mouth!

Too much TV

Many things can be born of boredom.  But sometimes, it's just ridiculous TV watching.
For example, Unfaithful; Stories of Betrayal on the OWN network.  It's an interesting concept where they take couples that have dealt with sexual infidelity and start from square one all the way through the incident(s) and whether they "made it" or not.  I like the idea of showcasing that marriage (and all relationships) are work and how easily one can find his or herself in circumstances which they never wanted to be.  And I like that they tell stories of gay couples and even those with "alternative" lifestyles like swinging.
What's so ridiculous?  They have reenactments.  And not just actors, but fitness models that only resemble the story-tellers vaguely by skin color.  So these half naked, muscled people groping and grinding out stories of betrayal.  The biggest betrayal is the sensationalism of the reenactments to the theme of the show!  It's so ridiculous it's funny.  Check it out sometime.

Twenty-One of Fifty-Two

{gap-toothed smile!}

{sun-bathing fatigue}

Cocoons, Gatsby & Pink

Heat free styles are great for natural hair and since I love big hair, I'd really liked the results I'd seen on some tutorials for cocoon curls and thought I'd give it a try.
I used the technique for date night and we went to see The Great Gatsby.  I re-read the book and was really pumped to see it.  And I liked it.  It felt too long, but I don't know what I would have cut out (they did basically trim out Nick and Jordan's relationship), so maybe I just had to pee really bad after two hours.  The cinematography was dazzling, the costumes and hair were on point, the acting was not too shabby!

I actually like the results better with the cocoon curls a couple days later after some of the product I'd used had kind of been brushed out and worn off, however, they basically fell out by 3pm.  I'll keep experimenting!

Twenty of Fifty-Two

The Weekend

Someone wants a big-boy bike for his birthday.

Brunch

After stuffing myself with everything gluten free on the Border Grill Mother's Day Brunch menu, of course I had to take some pictures in the restroom.  Of course.

Bilingual Hopes

I took several years of Spanish starting in middle school.  I did well and passed my AP test in high school and even went on to tutor Spanish-speaking kids and work in a box factory where most of the employees were Mexican, Gautamalan and El Salvadorian.
However, I never really felt that I had oral fluency.  I'm much more comfortable writing and reading Spanish than conversing.  I assume this is because I didn't start learning until I was a pre-teen and was never really fully immersed in the language.
So where do I start to teach my own kids the language without confidence in my verbal skills?
I was pleased to discover several tools to help me!  I found a musical cd with catchy songs about every-day activities, En mi Casa.  We listen to it daily and I try to implement use of the vocabulary when we're doing these activities in real life.  Without complete comprehension of what they're saying, they've already memorized most of the songs and have lovely accents!  And now they're starting to understand the words.
The other tool I've just started using is Whistlefritz dvds.  While we also watch Sprout en Espanol, I think they learn more from these dvds because they're geared more toward teaching Spanish rather than teaching pre-school level concepts to children already Spanish-speaking.  Emberly learns the most from these because of her attention span, but Bauer does tune in for the catchy songs and more interactive portions.
I'm also reviewing my Repaso book from AP Spanish to refresh and trying to speak Spanish at home and take every opportunity to use the vocabulary that they know.
My ultimate goal would be to take them to Spain or South America when they're older a for longer trip where they would get to feel real pride in their ability to communicate and appreciate the culture without anxiety from a language barrier.  And then that they could easily pick up a 3rd (and 4th and 5th if they so desire) language with greater ease when they're older.
I'd love to hear about other experiences and tips from parents teaching their child(ren) another language than what's primarily spoken at home!

Nineteen of Fifty-Two

{towel = instant Erykah}

{he gets cold so fast he mostly watches}

The Weekend

I had a wonderful Mother's Day, relishing my beautiful babies and the gifts they painstakingly handmade me (coincidentally both made hand bouquets)!

Happy Mother's Day!

{believe it or not, that aggressive expression on my son's face is his saying "cheese!"}

Goodbyes

One of the first people I ever met and became friends with when we moved here is putting Las Vegas in her rear view mirror and headed for new adventures.  We went out for a little dinner and dancing to bid her a fond farewell.

Eighteen of Fifty-Two

{patience is a virtue}

{gatito mio}

The Weekend

Unfortunate circumstances took me on a quick trip to Sacramento.  I got to see my mom and siblings, one of my favorite people from my childhood, her siblings and attend quite an inspirational service for their mother, another favorite person from my childhood.

{having breakfast at Orphan.  It was delish.}

And then it was right back to Vegas and errand running with my minions.

Sandals

All the cute closed toe sandals seemed to be for the walker and toddler sizes.  But little girls need them too!  Especially when the school dress code calls for them.
Here are some of the favorites I found:

{these are my favorite, but only go to size 12}

Nordstrom

De Osu

Sierra Trading Post

{these are what I ended up getting Emberly}

Amazon