So my friend Catherine is incredibly inspirational. She’s always thinking and doing the coolest stuff. I love her mind. She wrote a letter to one of her children and it was so beautiful that i felt instantly inspired to write one of my own. so here we go……

Dear Max,

Right now, you’re 2 and 4 months and you are quite possible the greatest little human that’s ever existed. I know how that sounds, I do. Some may think it’s just typical blathering from a new parent, or those who know me might think that it’s simply classic Leah over exaggeration, but the truth of the matter is that you really are a spectacular kid.

You defy every stereotype that one would have about a two-year-old boy (except for your love of trains and trucks…ok fine, and tools and toots). You’re calm and focused, pensive and careful, patient and cautious and so freaking hilarious. You love looking at photographs and reading books is your absolute favourite activity. You can find things in the world and relate it to any number of your stories, which blows my mind because you’re still so wee! You would much rather sit down, chillax and carefully look through a little catalogue of trains than run around.

Your memory is astounding. Truly. You remember the people you’ve encountered and places you’ve been from a long time ago. You know the names of every freaking Thomas the Tank Engine train (and for those you who don’t know, there are approximately 4700 of them). You remember all of the parts of your face in French and the entire Hanukkah prayer in Hebrew! You have memorized every book you have….. and we have a lot.

You’ve been slow and steady since the start. You hardly moved in my womb and you continue to approach life with a nice and easy pace. You were late to walk and running only really came to you in the past few months. We’re still working on jumping and climbing stairs, but you’re getting there. You prefer to stroll down the street at a leisurely pace, noting everything you observe along the way. You love stopping to listen to wind chimes or pointing out different kinds of flowers (impatiens vs. tiger lilies? THAT’S MY BOY!).

You are gentle. You wake up everything morning and run over to find our cat Sammy so you can say good morning and give him a little hug. You never need reminding to treat people and animals with care because it’s just how you are.

One of my fears about having a toddler was that they’re so unreasonable! But you’re very reasonable. You understand a lot and with just a little bit of explanation, you seem to comprehend and accept the logic behind what your dad and I ask you to do. Although you approach new situations with hesitancy, you eventually warm up and put on the charm (especially with the ladies!). I hope for you that slowly, over time, you feel more comfortable taking risks and recognizing that sometimes we fall down, but we can just get back up again and keep going.

A few more things:

I’m proud of you because:

* you can EASILY and quickly distinguish between Pearl Jam and the Beastie Boys AND YOU’RE NOT EVEN TWO AND A HALF! Come on now….

*  you’re always happy to share your toys when friends come over to play and you get a lot of joy from watching others play with your things

* your number one meal of choice is always sushi (THAT’S MY BOY!!)

*  you’re obsessed with letters and words and you have a penchant for language (I’m a teacher…I gotta be proud of that one!)

* you radiate sweetness and kindness and people all over the neighbourhood adore you for it.

You are going to be the BEST big brother the world has ever seen (again, not exaggerating).

I love you more than you will ever know (until you have kids of your own…)

Love,

Mama

ma pumpkins…..

ma kid…..

making smoothies! at first i decided to do it to try to sneak more veggies into my 2 year old, but once i started i kinda got addicted! my current favourite combo is kale + frozen mixed berries + plain greek yogurt + a bit of apple juice to thin and sweeten.

i need more ideas! come on now….don’t be shy…

i’m trying to get veggies into my kid every way i can! i modified this recipe from a similar loaf on allrecipes.com. i’ll give you both the original (in case you’re in the mood for bread) or the modified if you’re feelin’ like trying my delicious muffins…

ingredients:

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup vegetable oil (i used a flax omega oil instead)
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar (i used 2 cups coconut sugar….lower glycemic index)
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pint fresh blueberries (i used 1 pint frozen wild blueberries)

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans. (or 2 muffin trays….it’ll make about 18 muffins)
2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
3. Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven (or 25ish minutes for muffins), or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

out of nowhere, my 17 month old kid has started getting very selective about what he eats … classic toddler behaviour i guess? one day he’ll love it, the next day he declares, “ALL DONE!!!” as he sees it approaching. i decided to get a bit more creative about the food i prepare for him so i starting using The Hospital for Sick Children’s Better Baby Food cookbook. here’s a great, easy recipe that i adapted (by adding spinach and whole milk) that Max eats for breakfasts and lunches (oh heck…why not dinner too).

carrot, spinach and cheese crustless quiche

*preheat oven to 300 and grease an 8 or 9 inch cake pan

ingredients:

- 1 tbsp butter

- 1/2 onion chopped

- 2 medium carrots grated

- a handful of baby spinach, stems removed

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp curry powder (optional, but why not?)

- 4 eggs

- 2/3 cup whole milk

- 1 cup shredded cheese of your choice (i used less i think)

- paprika

1. in a skillet, heat butter over medium heat. add onions and saute for 5 minutes. add carrots, spinach, salt and curry powder and cook for 5 minutes or until golden brown. remove from heat and let cool.

2. in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk; stir unto vegetable mixture. pour into prepared baking pan. bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

3. remove quiche from oven. top with cheese and sprinkle with paprika. return to oven and back for another 15 minutes or until its firm and cheese is melted. i then cut it into little bit size squares and serve it. it lasts well for a few days in the fridge too!