We're Loving Fruits!!

For my few readers out there, a very big hello!!! Despite feeling awful, I have decided that I am going to greet today with wide open arms and leave it with a great big smile on my face. However, that is kind of difficult when everyone in the house is sick!! I thought an apple a day, keeps the doctor away? Speaking of which, we have substituted cookies and ice cream for tons and tons of fruits; particularly, Granny Smith apples. Layth loves the sourness these green apples contain, and cannot get enough of them! I am so happy, he loves fruits. I was so worried he would inherit my sweet tooth, which he has, but still has a taste for the healthy stuff. Apples, Plums, Grapes, Blueberries, he's been enjoying it all. And now, we can add mangos to the list! As his mom, I love mangos, but I never thought of introducing it to him. It did not seem like your typical fruit to introduce to a toddler;but when his teacher, Ms Marie informed me had some at snack time and loved it, I went straight to Fresh Market and bought some. The boys finished it within minutes!! Unfortunately, all this fruit has not kept the illnesses caught at school from following him home. Currently, the three of us are battling some type of cold symptom Layth brought home, something I knew would happen. I just did not expect it to happen after just two and a half weeks! Nonetheless, I am just happy Layth is eating fruits!!!

When does it get easier?

It's Monday, and I'm not looking forward to sending Layth to school. I'm not looking forward to seeing him cry the moment we enter the building, reaching his hands towards me crying " no" or mumbling between his tears " mama, mama", but I know it's just what I have to go through until he gets adjusted; particularly, since he loves kids! This morning as we began to enter the building, Layth did not cry, which made me believe we wouldn't have to go through the whole ordeal of separation. Once we entered the building, we made our way straight into the classroom, and opened the door. The moment the door opened, the tears began. I went to put him down on the rocking horse in the classroom to help alleviate his own anxiety, when he ran straight to Ms. Marie with open arms indicating he wanted to be held. I wanted to cry myself when I saw him running into the arms of Ms. Marie. Immediately, she held him and indicated for me to leave such that it would be easier upon Layth. I opened the back door to see him still sitting in her lap crying when the headmaster came by and told me, " mondays are just hard."

All throughout the car ride I kept thinking to myself, is this intervention really necessary, should I just wait until he's two and send him to Mother's Day Out twice a week, when I remembered how much he has picked up in the few short days that includes his new favorite word, "nooo." Still feeling a little shaken up, I decide to pay some bills online to shake my mind off Layth being in school, when I saw these pictures awaiting in my inbox, making me feel so much better!

Plums, We All Scream For Plums!!!!

Hello Readers,

Today I decided to shy away from Layth's usual breakfast of one hard- boiled egg without the yolk, and chose fruit instead, a plum to be exact. And, he loved it!!! Yesterday, while at Fresh Market I saw the season for plums had begun, and being they are my favorite fruit, I decided to stock up!!! I've never had such difficulty finding plums as I have experienced here in Memphis. Apparently, they are only sold at Whole Foods, Fresh Market and/or Farmers Markets. So, when I saw them, I ran to them and filled a bags worth of them. And being that Layth loves fruits, I decided to introduce him to plums. At first, he was a bit reluctant as most kids are at his age when introduced to new foods, but when I allowed him to hold the fork, he went to town with them. Initially, I had cut up half a plum, but when I saw he'd finished his serving and was asking for more, I decided to cut up the remaining plum. Not only did he indulge in the sweet fruit, he was asking for more!! I couldn't be happier that he too, loves my favorite fruit!!!

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Hello Everyone,

Today I discovered the easiest way to make a healthy homemade grilled chicken Caesar salad without spending hours laboring in the kitchen, and the boys loved it! Although I do not categorize myself as a " working mom", I felt my schedule today resembled one. From the moment I woke up this morning, I have been on the go between dropping Layth at school, conducting errands for the hubby, meeting with some friends for a coffee date and picking Layth up and taking him to his doctors' appointment; I did not have much time to spend at home making a home cooked meal. But I was determined, we would eat at home. So, as Layth and I were driving home, I remembered my husband mentioning he's never had a grilled chicken salad of any sort when a light bulb switched on in my head. I stopped at the corner market grabbed some Bleu cheese, A Fresh Market Express Caesar Lite Kit, and some Italian Dressing. It also helped I already had some boneless grilled chicken breast thawing in case I did have time to conjure up something. Ten minutes later, we arrive home and Layth runs straight for his recliner and grabs a book giving me more than enough time to put the groceries in the fridge, grab a large Ziploc freezer bag, fill it up half way with Italian Dressing and add in two grilled chicken breasts. I figured this would be the easiest way to marinate the chicken while I changed Layth and took him to the playground. Ninety minutes later, Layth and I return home from running/playing on the playground, and it's time to start cooking....fifteen minutes later, dinner is served!

Ingredients:

• One Large Ziploc Freezer Bag
• Hidden Valley Italian Dressing
• Two Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• One Fresh Express Caesar Lite Kit ( includes: lettuce, dressing, and garlic baked croutons)
• One Tb of Fresh Bleu Cheese
• Skillet/George Foreman Grill

Directions:

Depending upon how much time you have to prepare the meal, I would advise grilling the chicken in a skillet. By first heating a tablespoon of oil over medium heat and adding the chicken breasts when appropriate. Then pulling out the chicken when you feel it is brown enough to your liking. Since I only had twenty minutes, I put the chicken breasts on my George Foreman Grill making them done in just ten minutes. Once the chicken breasts were done, I pulled them off the grill and cut them into strips. Meanwhile as they cooled off, I opened the Fresh Express Kit and added both the lettuce and croutons, I held off on adding the dressing until the very end. I then added the pieces of chicken, and took the blue cheese sprinkling it throughout the salad. Once all the ingredients were in, I took the dressing and mixed it within the salad, covering every inch of it, and the salad was ready to serve.

Layth's 2nd Day of School

I thought it would get easier on his second day especially since Chafeek was accompanying me this time, but it was just as difficult. Layth needed pull ups, and I had completely forgotten to purchase some between now and Monday, so I sent Chafeek out to Walgreens as I got Layth ready for school. As we both pulled up to the parking lot, we each waited for Layth to slide down out of his car seat and out of the car. I thought he would instantly run through the wooden fence and into the school building, but instead he pulled his hand out indicating he wanted me to hold his hand and the other to Chafeek. I nearly cried. And if that was not hard enough, he would not leave Chafeek's side once we got into his classroom. He kept running back to him. Then when Layth was not paying any attention Chafeek slowly left the classroom leaving me to say, " goodbye" to Layth. Luckily, a puzzle caught his attention and I, too was able to leave the classroom. And just as we were making our way to our respective cars, Chafeek says, " I don't know about this". Not knowing how to respond, I tell him, " let's see how it goes on Friday, and if we still feel uncomfortable, we'll stop it." And all throughout breakfast at Cafe Eclectic we kept deliberating whether or not we shall continue with the Montessori program or wait until he's two and send him to the Mother's Day Out Program provided by the local mosque. We came to the resolution we will try it out for this month, three full days a week, and see if Layth is progressing. Soon it was time to pick Layth up, and Chafeek insisted he do it, because he wanted to see Layth. I told him, " that was fine, and I'll meet you at the zoo." As I am driving to the zoo, Chafeek calls me telling me how Layth came running toward him with open arms. I am almost jealous, I didn't get to witness it myself....

It's 11:37 am and I'm out!!

As I mentioned in my previous post, it was really hard sending Layth to school, so when the clock read 11:37 I was on my out to pick him up. Chafeek called me at 11:40 asking how I'm taking it, and I told him I am on my way to pick him up. Of course, we laughed at how I was anxiously watching the clock until it was time to pick up our dear Layth. On my way, I got caught in a middle of storm and was worried I would not make it. I was praying that I make it safely to his school in the midst of the storm, because there really wasn't any place I could stop and wait for the storm to pass. Twenty five minutes later, I arrive to his school only to hear the tornado sirens going off. I run into the school to see Headmaster Angela, gathering the older kids and instructing them to bend their knees underneath their heads and hide under the cafeteria tables. Too busy to pay any attention to me to bring out Layth, I go ahead and make my way forward to Layth's classroom. As soon as I opened the door, there was Layth running to me with open arms. I almost cried at the sight of his excitement to see me. Meanwhile, the tornado sirens were still going off. Worried I'd be endangering Layth's life if I were to proceed driving in the storm, together we waited with the rest of the students for the storm to pass. Thirty minutes later, we were cleared to leave the building. Not bad, for Layth's first day!

The Saddest Day Thus Far

After months of researching and deliberating, the day had finally come to send my sweet Layth to school. Ideally, I wanted to send him to the Maria Montessori School which is just 1.75 miles away, but their waiting list was until March of 2011 when I began researching in October of 2010. I had found an alternate Montessori school in Midtown which goes by the name of Evergreen Montessori School, but didn't know of anyone who had sent their kids there. As a result, I had my reservations of sending Layth there; although, he seemed to fit right in when we went for a trial. Little did I know then, it would be the school Layth would eventually attend.

For years, residents and fellows alike had been regaling about the wonderful environment provided by the Maria Montessori School, which made it the obvious choice when it came down to send Layth to school. However, the tuition was a bit pricy, which made me reluctant to aggressively seek that Layth's name be on the waiting list. But when I found out, they had a half day option, I jumped on the opportunity of getting his name on the waiting list and researching the school and its teachers. The time is now November, and still the waiting list won't open until March. So, I thought to myself, " why not wait?". There was no harm in keeping Layth at home with me for a few more months, when in reality, it was the best decision ever made!! I love spending time with Layth!!! March came and went, and still Maria Montessori didn't have any openings. At this point, I decided to call back Evergreen Montessori to see if they still had an opening for Layth, and luckily, they had just one spot available. And so, today at 9 am I dropped off Layth at school. Expecting Layth to cry and cling on to me, he ran into the classroom and began playing with the toys, assuring me he was going to be fine. I, on the other hand, didn't take it so smoothly...the moment, I got into the car, my tears began building up only to be interrupted by Mercedes calling me wondering if I am still bringing my car in. Thankfully, I was able to compose myself and answer the phone. If it weren't for that phone call, I don't think I would have left the parking lot...now, I am anxiously awaiting until 12 to go pick him up. I thought I would get things done today while he was at school, and instead I'm eyeing the clock much like a predator watches his prey until it's 11:30 to pick him up.