JourneyLeaf: Life a Page at a Time

Graduating from the Nanny Share

Yesterday was Eli's last day in his nanny share.  Sniff!  We're really going to miss regularly seeing Nanny Stacy and Eli's buddies, Roshi, Henry, and Louis.  

Nanny Stacy created a small ceremony to celebrate Roshi and Eli moving on to preschool.  She asked me to bake some of Eli's favorite banana cupcakes, which I was happy to do.  Our creative nanny then outfitted both boys in a toddler version of the traditional mortar board graduation cap -- a dollar store foam dinosaur hat with a tassel borrowed from her living room curtains pinned to it!

  

 

Nanny Stacy also made the boys a "diploma."  She read them their Certificate of Achievement for Excellent Attitude & Effort at Preschool Boot Camp then told them how proud she was of them.

 

  
Next?  Moving the tassel from one side to the next, of course!

 

 

Yeah.  It was goofy.  But it was also fun and the boys were very somber and impressed by it.  Stacy and I got a little misty-eyed too.  It was a really great year.

Grubby

"Mama told me to quit rubbing my nose."

 

"She said that after digging in the gravel, my hands were too dirty to touch my face."

 

"But, really, my hands look pretty clean to me."

 

"If there was dirt all over my hands, where would it have gone?  I think Mama must be wrong."

Wouldn't It Be Nice...

"Wouldn't it be nice if we were older, then we didn't have to wait so long..."
--"Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys, 1966 

  

  

  

  

 

Eli and I were heading to lunch with his buddy, Amanda, when the kiddos decided to hold hands.  They were laughing like crazy, so I couldn't help but grab my camera even if the light was too harsh to get great photos.

Tots & Veggies -- A Few More Tricks

I didn't realize I had so many angles for getting Eli to eat his veggies until I started listing them.  (Click here.)  After those blog posts, a few mamas who kindly shared their tips....  

--Micha's family serves veggies as the first course when her tot is the hungriest (a move our nanny also uses), and it works so well her son is now a beet-lover.
--Elisa found success using tasty broth to cook the veggies in.  She's also had luck getting her tot to eat "coins" of sliced broccoli stems rather than just the flower portion of the broccoli.  
--Emily recommended Aidell's spinach and feta chicken sausages with lots of greens inside.  
--Mahnee said, "I put kale or spinach EVERYTHING. Whenever I make veggie pizza, J. picks off all the veggies, so I started chopping them up and sticking them in the sauce hidden under the cheese."
--Suruchi wrote, "Zucchini is like a magic veggie.  It tastes funny alone, but it melts into the background of all kinds of dishes. Meatloaf especially!" 

Suruchi is oh-so-right about the zucchini.  Now that Eli is used to flecks of color in everything, I can also slip in squash, carrots, turnips, radish, etc.  A handheld grater is quick and easy for adding a little fresh veggie to everything from meatballs to rice.  (Click here for a Rachel Ray recipe for shredded veggie patties.)

The last few things in my Bag o' Mama Tricks...

Presentation --
Eli mastered eating with a spoon quite a while before I trusted him not to poke his own eye with pointy fork tines.  Thus forks were exciting and he about would eat all sorts of veggies as long as they were presented on one.  At first he preferred eating them from a pint-sized fork.  Now he loves getting his hands on an adult-sized fork.  I still have pretty good luck getting Eli to taste a new food or start eating his serving of veggies if I stage a bite on the end of a big fork and leave it on the edge of his plate.  And you know what is even better?  Chopsticks.  I think I could offer Eli a piece of rubber tire dipped in diaper cream and he'd eat it as long as it was held out to him with chopsticks.

Cooking Method --
Long after Eli rejected steamed or pureed spinach, he'd still eat creamed spinach or saag paneer (Indian).  I'm a little torn about how much of this to do because I don't want Eli to slide into only eating healthy foods if they are slathered in cream, melted cheese, breading, or salt.  But it inspired me to try different herbs, spices, and such.  I discovered garlic, tarragon, Chinese Five Spice, cumin, and ginger are tot-lures at our house.  Too much basil and thyme (especially fresh), however, leads to rejects.  
        It's more than just seasonings, though.  With each veggie, I've found there's usually some way he'll eat it.  Eli disdains fresh or frozen peas but loves canned ones.  The same goes for green beans.  Overcook canned green beans and Eli is all over them.  Yeah, I'd rather he ate fresh, but I can stealthily add those to his diet by purees.  In the meantime, canned organic versions will make sure he's used to openly eating veggies.  With any new veggie Eli balks at, I try raw, roasted, and steamed but also varying degrees of mushy/crunchy.

Ready Purees -- In one of my previous posts, I wrote about using baby food pureed veggies to hide in my tot's food.  But there are other purees available such as Trader Joe's Butternut Squash Soup and canned pumpkin.  I add a few spoonfuls to spaghetti sauce, oatmeal, or rice then freeze the rest in ice cube trays to use later.

Veggie Garden -- I admit we don't have a garden yet.  But it is something I really want to do when Eli is bigger.  I've read in several sources that kids are more likely to eat veggies if they help grow them and know where they come from.

Tot Veggie Chef -- Eli loves to help me cook and he does eat more veggies if he's involved in preparing them.  He's much more likely to try things when we're cooking, sampling like a chef.  I try to talk to him about flavor and texture even though I'm not sure how much he understands yet.  (Someday!)  When we sit down to supper, I proudly tell Papa (while Eli is listening) that we're eating "Eli's veggies."  

My friend Elisa discovered that IKEA sells toddler silverware sets that include a blunt knife that is slightly serrated.  It keeps fingers safe yet allows kiddos to help chop veggies.  (With hard foods like carrots, Elisa scores them first.)

Eli and his buddy, Minna, chopping veggies for lunch...

  

Post Note:  Once Eli got older, he was pretty good about eating veggies, but there's always room for improvement.  Click HERE for a post about eating more veggies at age five.

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Food Trucks: Off the Grid

Wednesdays from 5PM to 9PM you can find gourmet trucks circled up around the end of the "Gourmet Ghetto" in Berkeley.  Officially, this is called Off the Grid.  Around our house, this is called "them yummy puppers (supper) trucks."

When it first opens, the avenue (blocked to vehicles) is sleepy.

 

It gets busier, though!

 

The eight to ten trucks offer a great variety of foods.  My current favorite is Senor Sisig, a Filipino fusion food truck -- fresh and flavorful burritos with a distinctive, saucy sweetness.

For an after-meal treat, I was drawn to the Skylite Snowball truck.  

 

These all-natural frozen concoctions are a cross between shaved ice and fresh fruit smoothies.  From their website:  "A million miles from the chemically-cloying, fake sno-cones of our childhoods, these snowballs encompass everything from the light subtle flavor of white-tip jasmine tea, to the bright taste of ripe strawberries or the complex and delicious hint of fresh-ground coffee beans."  Yup.  That about covers it.   (Eli enjoyed a kid cup of Plum Vanilla.)

 

Actually, what does cover it -- upon request -- is marshmallow sauce.  It's a surprisingly nice balance with the fresh fruit flavor of the ice.  Mmmm.  (Mine was fresh raspberry.)

 

Poor Papa couldn't come with us because he was working late.  So we brought him home a Senor Sisig California burrito (it has French fries inside!), yet we couldn't make a dessert snowball last the long drive home.  Ah well.  We had to make do with take-home Cupkates.  (Top:  Key Lime Pie complete with toasted meringue on the top and graham cracker crumbs on the bottom.  Middle, Left to Right:  Red Velvet and S'More.  Bottom:  Salted Caramel.)

 

If weekdays are too busy to get to Off the Grid, Golden Gate Fields racetrack is hosting over twenty trucks on four Saturdays -- Aug. 27, Sep. 3, Sep. 10, and Sep. 17.  Admission to the races is $6, although kids under 17 are free.  Races start at 12:45.   

One Mama's Two Cents:
This food truck event seems to be generally busier than Bites Off Broadway, but both offer great food and leisurely casual dining outside.  Don't forget your picnic blanket, although Off the Grid does set up some folding chairs.  I brought Eli's wagon to Off the Grid and it turned out to be a very helpful way to haul blankets and Eli's gear to the site.  It was even more helpful for transporting food and keeping track of Eli...  Little Guy loved helping me push the wagon, so I didn't have to worry about him wandering off in the crowd.  Go early to avoid the crowds and get what you want before the trucks start to run low, but also to nab a chair or a spot on the grassy median.  One handy thing is that most trucks participating in Off the Grid accept credit and debit cards rather than cash only.

Food Trucks: Bites Off Broadway

Here's a way to really go out to eat...  Bites Off Broadway is a little spot of culinary heaven in Oakland.  Every Friday from June 10 through October 21, food trucks and carts congregate in front of the Studio One Art Center.  From 5:30 to 8:30, you can sit on the lawn eating gourmet food, chatting, and playing lawn games like bean bag toss while the shadows grow long and the sunlight turns golden soft.  What's not to love?

 

 

 

My favorite is the Fist of Flour pizza station.  

   

 

Look at that!  Portable wood fired brick oven parked on the side of the street.  Mmmm.

 

Here's the results...arugula and potato pizza full of smoky, cheesy goodness.

  
Eli liked the entertainment even better than the food.  Soon he was dancing to the band, romping with other kids, and rolling down the grass slope.

 

 

  

 

A good time was had by all.  We'll be back!

One Mama's Two Cents:
Go early to avoid the crowds and to make sure the best foods don't run out before your turn.  A picnic blanket and/or lawn chairs are really nice to have as the grass is a little thin in some spots.  We found it handy to bring paper towels and some wet wipes; the napkins seem to run out early.  I guess that's because the foods are so juicy good.

Hayward Zucchini Festival

How could I resist a zucchini festival?!  I mean, if you've never celebrated a zucchini before in your entire life, you wouldn't want to miss out on the chance, right?

 

There were some whopper zucchini to be seen.  I heard the largest was fourteen pounds.

 

I'd heard rumors of zucchini ice cream, but it turned out they didn't have it this year.  They didn't have a zucchini carving contest as in years past either.  But they did have lots of deep fried zucchini.

 

Mmm.  Zucchini bread.

 

In fact, there was a pack of space aliens lined up for that zucchini bread.

 

Just kiddin'.  

 

Eli, of course, liked the rides the best.  Ferris wheel!

 

Carousel!

 

Monster Slide!  (Photo courtesy of our buddies Tiffany and Robynn, our fellow zucchini adventurers.)

Bouncy House!

 

But nothing...oh, nothing, could beat Eli's enthusiasm for the blow-up bouncy slide.

 

The picture below makes me laugh every time I look at it.  Little bitty boy wiped out at the bottom, cackling and belly-laughing, almost vanished from view except for his red socks waving in the air.  

Love.  My.  Boy.  

End of the Line...

Eli loves riding the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) commuter train.  Sometimes we'll take it if we have a few leisurely errands to do, but most of the time that involves a single stop and a ride that is mostly through a long tunnel so Eli can't see much.  On a recent quiet Saturday, we decided to ride to the end of one of the lines just to see the sights.  

We got on the train at Orinda.  The BART station straddles the intersection of highway 24 and San Pablo Dam Road (Camino Pablo), so there are lots of cars and trucks to see while you wait for your train.

 

From Orinda to Pittsburg/Bay Point, there are several small tunnels, but mostly tots get to ride along watching the traffic on highway 24 (parallel to the track) and get good views of the countryside.  Near the end of the line there is a BART train yard, so there are lots of parked trains and equipment to see.  Currently there is even a large construction area on the east side of the train near Concord with big dump trucks and excavators.  The ride was about thirty minutes long.  (Click here to see the BART schedule.)

  

When our train reached the terminus, it paused for about ten minutes.  Then it started back the way we came; we didn't even have to change trains.  We rode to Walnut Creek and caught the free downtown shuttle.  (Thanks for telling us about this, Jennifer S.)  It was super easy!  The bus stops right outside the BART station and allows strollers (either in use or folded).   

 

We ate some lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, did a little shopping, and peeked at the landscaping before heading home for nap.  (Click here for a list of shops in downtown Walnut Creek.  Click here for an interactive map.)

 

This was a cheap and easy excursion with something for both tots and grownups to enjoy.  We'll definitely be doing this again!

Preschool Art & Craft Supplies

I try to regularly set aside some mama/son time for Eli and me, and we both enjoy doing something creative side by side.  As someone with two Art Education degrees lately turning rusty, it makes me really happy.  Yet some days I found myself stalling on doing art with Eli because I not only had to come up with an idea, but I had to run around the house finding what we needed.  Hmmm.

With all the back-to-school sales, it was the perfect time to stock up on art supplies and get them organized.  I realized that with a little shifting, I could take over a shelf in the hall closet.  When Eli is bigger, he'll have full access.  Right now, though, I need a place with a door latch he can never reach.  (No tempera paint on the landlord's beige carpet, please!  And having to ask for art supplies actually makes them more exciting.)  Because I'm me, a goofball former archivist with Martha-Stewart-Turned-Waldorf leanings, I had oh-so-much fun settling the supplies into the space.  Sure, a couple of cardboard boxes would work fine, but I love organizing and now everything is easy to find for me but also Papa, the grandparents, babysitters, etc.

My stock up actually started in the summer housewares section at Target.  Big plastic trays with low edges contain messes (even just crayon marks), allowing kids freedom to create without an adult hovering.  After the work is done, you can just stack the trays to dry (offset like Lincoln Logs, so air circulates between trays).  The trays pictured below are perfect, so I bought four.  Eli can do projects with a buddy or two, but we also have extra trays for projects with lots of pieces.  The same picnic set also offered the great plastic mug/bowls pictured.  They are wide enough not to tip over when a kid rinses a paintbrush and are also big enough to get our hands into if we want to use them to mix art supplies.  A handle makes them easy to carry to the sink.  The square sectioned plate is great for finger paints, dipping glue, or other "puddley" supplies.

 

Below is a photo of Eli's art shelf.  I have an oversized pad of drawing paper and the stacked trays nestled against the wall.  Next there is a bin for play clay/dough and tools -- cookie cutters, presses, pattern makers, plastic butter knives, spatulas, etc.  Below it is a bin for paint -- finger paint, tempera paint, bristle brushes, sponge brushes, and paint containers.  I got very lucky earlier this year and found wonderful no spill paint canisters at the thrift store.

Target's Dollar Spot has magazine holders, so I got one to hold my back issues of Family Fun magazine as well as some of my favorite tot art idea books -- Scribble Art by MaryAnn Kohl,  The Little Hands Art Book by Judith Press, and The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions (I and II) by John E. Thomas and Danita Thomas.

 

Next come the smaller bins:  
Paper -- colored construction paper and white drawing paper but also some odd sheets of waxed paper, shiny paper, etc.  
Tools -- tot smocks and aprons, Elmer's Glue, glue stick, tape, a ruler, a hole punch, washable ink pads plus a few stamps, child safety scissors, cotton balls, and Q-tips.  
Drawing -- oversized beginner pencils and a sharpener, washable markers, chalk (white and colored), oversized washable crayons, and hard wax crayons.  
Craft Basics -- Last but not least, I have a bin for the sort of stuff you grab whether you're making a sack puppet or decorating a photo frame such as yarn, wiggle eyes, pom-poms, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, etc.

 

To the far right is Eli's big collage bin.  I keep a drop cloth in there but also squirrel away odds n' ends we might use -- paper towel and toilet paper tubes, brown paper bags, wine corks, foam meat trays, felt squares, fabric scraps, cotton batting, stickers, etc.  I try not to save too much, but a small hodge podge lets our imaginations nudge us in fun directions whether we're making sculptures or tub boats.  (We also dip into Eli's nature box sometimes for craft materials.)

I didn't have room for it on my shelf, but I do keep roll paper on hand.  It's great for long drawings and other large-scale projects that help kids think outside the box.  (IKEA has roll paper and even sells a wooden frame to hold it for easy tearing.  Need to get one of those!)

Between bins and supplies, I'm not sure how much I spent, but it wasn't much.  Back-to-school sales, dollar stores, thrift stores, Freecycle, and just gathering things from around the house took care of most of it.  Someday I want to invest in quality art supplies so Eli gets a fair chance to see if he likes creating art, but at this stage cheap and crafty is good.

Yes, I still have to run around the house gathering art supplies for certain projects, but it makes it so much easier to have the basics in one spot.  And since I straightened out our art display area earlier this summer, now we're set to create!

Mamas and papas, please share your tips/tricks for art supplies -- favorite products, storage methods, etc.  

What Became of the Blackberries...

Yesterday we picked blackberries.  Even after snacking and the blackberry-banana "ice cream," we still had more yummy berries full of possibility (thanks to Tiffany and her mom, Trish, sneaking some of their berries into my bucket).  I went searching on the web and found a recipe for Triple Berry Crumble.  It is designed for a combination of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, but noted that using all one berry was fine.

Washing the berries...

 

Stirring the crumble mixture used for both bottom crust and topping...

 

Cutting in the butter...

 

Uh oh!  Butter stuck in one big lump!

 

Pressing crust into the pans... 

 

In went the berries and more crumble on top.  Ready for the oven!

 

A half hour later our crisp is bubbling and the house smells divine!

 

The verdict?  Fabulous!  Definitely a keeper recipe and a great alternative to cobbler.  I have to admit that I never liked blackberry cobbler very much.  The traditional crust doesn't balance out the tart/bitter taste particular to all but the most perfectly ripe and well-watered blackberries.  This recipe pairs the berries with a sweet mixture almost like an oatmeal cookie but with a little spice thanks to the nutmeg.  It works great with strong-flavored wild berries.  The only thing that was missing was a little vanilla bean ice cream.

 

The Blackberry Crumble is dedicated to my cousin Buddy in Arkansas -- sick for many days now -- but also his siblings who have spent many hours in the hospital watching over him.  Wish we could bring over a warm pan of dessert as a comforting treat!  Love to all.